Search results for "VAI"
showing 10 items of 5155 documents
Comparable response of wild rodent gut microbiome to anthropogenic habitat contamination
2021
Abstract Species identity is thought to dominate over environment in shaping wild rodent gut microbiota, but it remains unknown whether the responses of host gut microbiota to shared anthropogenic habitat impacts are species-specific or if the general gut microbiota response is similar across host species. Here, we compare the influence of exposure to radionuclide contamination on the gut microbiota of four wild mouse species: Apodemus flavicollis, A. sylvaticus, A. speciosus and A. argenteus. Building on the evidence that radiation impacts bank vole (Myodes glareolus) gut microbiota, we hypothesized that radiation exposure has a general impact on rodent gut microbiota. Because we sampled (…
Marine Cryptophytes Are Great Sources of EPA and DHA
2017
Microalgae have the ability to synthetize many compounds, some of which have been recognized as a source of functional ingredients for nutraceuticals with positive health effects. One well-known example is the long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), which are essential for human nutrition. Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) are the two most important long-chain omega-3 (-3) PUFAs involved in human physiology, and both industries are almost exclusively based on microalgae. In addition, algae produce phytosterols that reduce serum cholesterol. Here we determined the growth rates, biomass yields, PUFA and sterol content, and daily gain of eight strains of marine…
Parameterising a public good: how experiments on predation can be used to predict cheat frequencies
2016
Chemical defence is superficially easy to understand as a means for individuals to protect themselves from enemies. The evolution of chemical defence is however potentially complex because such defences may cause the generation of a public good, protecting members of the population as a whole as well as individuals that deploy toxins defensively. If a public good of protection exists, it may be exploited and degraded by “cheats” that do not invest in defence. This can in turn lead to complex frequency (and density) dependent effects in toxin evolution. To investigate this we used ecologically relevant predators (Great tits, Parus major) and examined how individual and public benefits vary d…
Does silica concentration and phytolith ultrastructure relate to phytolith hardness?
2017
Abstract Grasses are an important part of the forage of many herbivorous mammals and their phytoliths have long been regarded as the most important agent of tooth wear. Recent work has challenged this “paradigm” in finding evidence 1. of native phytoliths to be much softer then tooth enamel and 2. indicating, that phytolith hardness is highly variable, 3. prone to methodology and 4. not easy to be related to habitat conditions. We conduct controlled silica-cultivations measuring SiO2 content in the common forage grass Themeda triandra. Phytoliths are extracted natively, and nano-indentation values are measured. Phytolith hardness in Themeda triandra is found to be independent of silicate av…
Evaluating responses to temperature during pre-metamorphosis and carry-over effects at post-metamorphosis in the wood tiger moth (Arctia plantaginis)
2019
Insect metamorphosis is one of the most recognized processes delimiting transitions between phenotypes. It has been traditionally postulated as an adaptive process decoupling traits between life stages, allowing evolutionary independence of pre- and post-metamorphic phenotypes. However, the degree of autonomy between these life stages varies depending on the species and has not been studied in detail over multiple traits simultaneously. Here, we reared full-sib larvae of the warningly coloured wood tiger moth ( Arctia plantaginis ) in different temperatures and examined their responses for phenotypic (melanization change, number of moults), gene expression (RNA-seq and qPCR of candidate ge…
New Approaches to Optimize Somatic Embryogenesis in Maritime Pine
2019
Maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Aiton) is a coniferous native of the Mediterranean basin. Because of its adaptability to a wide range of environmental conditions, the species have become a model for studies in coniferous forest management and functional genomics. Somatic embryogenesis (SE) has been so far, the preferred biotechnological strategy for maritime pine breeding programs initiated at the middle-end of the 20th century. To overcome the limitations of the induction and maturation phases in maritime pine SE, we analyzed the possible maternal influence on the embryogenic capability of megagametophytes from controlled crosses, as well as the effect of the temperature and water availabili…
Micro and nano-encapsulation of vegetable and essential oils to develop functional food products with improved nutritional profiles
2020
Abstract Background A growing awareness regarding the benefits of consumption of functional foods has resulted in the development of new food products through using bioactive compounds. Vegetable-essential oils (V-EOs) are among the most popular ingredients used for the enrichment of different food products to boost their functional properties. However, these oils are sensitive to harsh conditions such as oxidation stress and high temperatures. Recently, different micro/nanoencapsulation systems have been applied to produce suitable carriers for V-EOs to be incorporated into food formulations, which can overcome the limitation of their pure application in foods. Scope and approach Controlle…
Variability in δ13C values between individual Daphnia ephippia: Implications for palaeo-studies
2018
The stable carbon isotope ratio (δ13 C value) of Daphnia spp. resting egg shells (ephippia) provides information on past changes in Daphnia diet. Measurements are typically performed on samples of _20 ephippia, which obscures the range of values associated with individual ephippia. Using a recently developed laser ablation-based technique, we perform multiple δ13 C analyses on individual ephippia, which show a high degree of reproducibility (standard deviations 0.1e0.5‰). We further measured δ13 C values of 13 ephippia from surface sediments of three Swiss lakes. In the well-oxygenated lake with low methane concentrations, δ13 C values are close to values typical for algae (_31.4‰) and the …
Fifteen operationally important decisions in the planning of biodiversity offsets
2018
Many development projects, whether they are about construction of factories, mines, roads, railways, new suburbs, shopping malls, or even individual houses, have negative environmental consequences. Biodiversity offsetting is about compensating that damage, typically via habitat restoration, land management, or by establishment of new protected areas. Offsets are the fourth step of the so-called mitigation hierarchy, in which ecological damage is first avoided, minimized second, and third restored locally. Whatever residual damage remains is then offset. Offsetting has been increasingly adopted all around the world, but simultaneously serious concerns are expressed about the validity of the…
Occurrence of Two-Year Cyclicity, “Saw-Blade Fluctuation”, in Vendace Populations in Finland
2021
The tendency towards two-year cyclicity is considered typical of many Fennoscandian vendace populations, especially in fluctuation of recruitment, based on time series of individual lakes. We used two robust indicators to identify and quantify two-year cycles in vendace population proxy time series at different life-stages — spawning stock biomass (SB), density of newly hatched larvae (LD) and recruitment (REC) — from 22 Finnish lakes. Then we applied Fisher’s meta-analytical test to assess the adequacy of the evidence to support the hypothesis that vendace population dynam-ics include two-year cyclicity. The results supported this hypothesis for RECbut not for SB or LD. Yet, the indicators…