ALBERT

Notes: Plants that have evolved to survive on metal-rich soils—metallophytes—have key values that must drive research of their unique properties and ultimately their conservation. The ability of metallophytes to tolerate extreme metal concentrations commends them for revegetation of mines and metal-contaminated sites. Metallophytes can also be exploited in environmental technologies, for example, phytostabilization, phytoremediation, and phytomining. Actions towards conserving metallophyte species are imperative, as metallophytes are increasingly under threat of extinction from mining activity. Although many hundreds of papers describe both the biology and applications of metallophytes, few have investigated the urgent need to conserve these unique species. This paper identifies the current state of metallophyte research, and advocates future research needs for the conservation of metallophyte biodiversity and the sustainable uses of metallophyte species in restoration, rehabilitation, contaminated site remediation, and other nascent phytotechnologies. Six fundamental questions are addressed: (1) Is enough known about the global status of metallophytes to ensure their conservation? (2) Are metallophytes threatened by the activities of the minerals industry, and can their potential for the restoration or rehabilitation of mined and disturbed land be realized? (3) What problems exist in gaining prior informed consent to access metallophyte genetic resources and how can the benefits arising from their uses be equitably shared? (4) What potential do metallophytes offer as a resource base for phytotechnologies? (5) Can genetic modification be used to “design” metallophytes to use in the remediation of contaminated land? (6) Does the prospect of using metallophytes in site remediation and restoration raise ethical issues?

Notes: Antitaxial non-deforming strain fringes from Lourdes, France, show complex quartz, calcite and chlorite fibre patterns that grew around pyrite in a slate during non-coaxial progressive deformation. Development of these fringes was modelled using a computer program ‘Fringe Growth 2.0’ which can simulate incremental growth of crystal fibres around core-objects of variable shape. It uses object-centre paths as input, which are obtained from fibre patterns in thin section. The numerical experiments produced fibre patterns that show complex intergrowth of displacement-controlled, face-controlled and intermediate fibres similar to those in the natural examples. The direction of displacement-controlled growth is only dependent on the relative movement between core-object and fringe, so that core-object rotation with respect to the fringe influences the fibre patterns and produces characteristic asymmetric fibre curvature. Object-centre paths should be used for kinematic analysis of strain fringes instead of single fibres since these paths represent the fringe as a whole. The length along the path can be interpreted in terms of finite strain and path curvature in terms of rigid body rotation of fringes with respect to an external reference frame.

Notes: Neospora caninum (Apicomplexa: Sarcocystidae) is a coccidian parasite with a two-host life-cycle. Dogs and coyotes are definitive hosts. A wide spectrum of mammals serves as intermediate hosts (i.a. ruminants, horses, canids). The reproductive failures associated with abortion in cattle have an economic impact. A milk ELISA is a simple serological method for diagnostics of anti-Neospora caninum antibodies in dairy herds. We used a commercial Neospora caninum iscom ELISA kit (Svanova, Sweden) designed to detect bovine Neospora-specific antibodies in blood serum. We examined 332 dairy herds in the Czech Republic. Milk serum was examined at dilution 1:100 according to manufacturer's instructions. The number of milking cows in the examined herds varied, but never exceeded 200 per one bulk sample. Four out of 332 examined herds were significantly positive, the positive bulk milk samples were obtained from herds consisting of 7, 19, 35 and 98 cows. Hitherto, we have studied in detail the smallest herd. The milk and blood samples or only blood samples (in some animals, e.g. calves) were examined individually. We observed the correlation of positivity between milk and blood. Moreover, the mother-descendant positivity/negativity was found. A dog living in the farm was examined, being coprologically negative but serologically positive (IFAT).This is the next proof of the occurrence of N. caninum in cattle in the Czech Republic. In addition, our results refer to an importance of transplacental transmission in cattle.

Notes: Abstract Granulite facies metapelites of the Mather and Filla Paragneisses within the Rauer Group, east Antarctica, possess markedly different compositions. The metamorphic evolution of the two metapelite types has been interpreted as temporally distinct, with the Rauer Group preserving at least two distinct granulite facies tectonothermal episodes. Calculated P–T pseudosections and orthopyroxene Al content indicate the revised maximum-preserved P–T conditions within the Mather Paragneiss to lie in the vicinity of 950–975 °C and 10–10.6 kbar, less extreme than previous estimates. The range of possible P–T paths for the Mather Paragneiss consistent with mineral textural relationships and pseudosections contoured for mineral proportion are significantly shallower (dP/dT) than previous estimates. A near-isothermal decompression P–T path, and extreme peak metamorphic conditions, are not necessary to explain the development of preserved mineral reaction textures. The Filla Paragneiss contains pelitic assemblages less amenable to rigorous quantitative analysis. Nevertheless, possibilities for the shared or otherwise metamorphic evolution of the Mather and Filla Paragneisses may be postulated on the basis of calculated pseudosections in the context of existing geochronology for the Rauer Group and preserved microstructures. A shared evolution, most likely during Pan-African granulite facies metamorphism, is plausible and consistent with mineral assemblage development, geochronology and microstructures. A revised interpretation of the Rauer Group's preserved metamorphic evolution may warrant the revision of existing tectonic models, applicable also to the remainder of Prydz Bay. More generally, the employed approach may incite a revision of peak P–T and P–T paths in other granulite facies terranes.

Notes: Mineral textures, coupled with thermodynamic modelling in the MnO–Na2O–CaO–K2O–FeO–MgO–Al2O3–SiO2–H2O (MnNCKFMASH) model system, of mid-amphibolite facies metapelites from the Georgetown Inlier, northeast Australia, point to the recording of two separate and unrelated metamorphic events. The first occurred contemporaneously with Palaeo- to Mesoproterozoic orogenesis and involved heating and burial to temperatures and pressures of approximately 600–650 °C and 6.0–7.0 kbar. Textural evidence for the up-temperature (and pressure) prograde part of this path is inferred from the inclusion of garnet in biotite and staurolite. The second metamorphic event resulted in a low-pressure thermal overprint that is equated with the advective addition of heat to the terrane via the emplacement of the Forsayth Batholith (c. 1550 Ma). This event is inferred from subsequent growth of andalusite and randomly orientated fibrolitic sillimanite after garnet, biotite and staurolite. This two stage metamorphic evolution, when coupled with a number of other distinct geological characteristics, suggests that the Georgetown Inlier is dissimilar to the other Australian Palaeoproterozoic terranes with which it is commonly correlated.

Notes: Dipeptidyl peptidases (DPP) are ubiquitous enzymes. Several DPPs have been described and the most known among them is dipeptidyl peptidase IV, a type II multifunctional cell surface protein that belong to the prolyl oligopeptidase family of serine proteases. DPP IV specifically cleaves dipeptides from the N-terminus of peptides with a Pro, Hyp or Ala in the penultimate position. DPP IV substrates include certain chemokines, growth factors (e.g. growth hormone, growth hormone-releasing factor, glucagon-like peptides 1 and 2) and neuro- and vasoactive peptides including neuropeptide Y, peptide YY and substance P. In this work, we present the identification of a dipeptidyl peptidase from Trypanosoma brucei (DPPTb). Its gene was isolated by PCR using primers designed from T. brucei ESTs sequences that matched with human DPP IV. However, the cloned and sequenced insert obtained displays similarity mainly with human DPP8 and DPP9. Active recombinant DPP Tb was expressed in insect cells using the baculovirus system. We observed by immunofluorescence, using anti-DPPTb antibodies, that native DPPTb is localized in vesicles in the cytoplasm from procyclic forms of T. brucei.

Notes: In endemic areas, clinical manifestations of Plasmodium falciparum infection range from asymptomatic parasitaemia to life-threatening severe syndromes. Immune differences that could account for this disparity are poorly understood. Using tight criteria to classify patients into non-overlapping clinical categories, we showed that cerebral malaria and severe anaemia were distinct immunological syndromes and that a proper quantitative description of cytokine profiles in the various clinical groups is essential to the understanding of the activation of immunocompetent cells.Due to the limited size of paediatric blood samples, we chose to measure cytokine mRNA using real-time RT-PCR. We showed that RT efficiency displayed intra-and intergenic variations that have to be taken into consideration for reliable absolute RNA quantification when comparing clinical cases. We thus developed a SYBR Green I-based real-time RT-PCR method using synthetic external RNA standards specific for each gene. Absolute RNA quantification is achieved by reverse transcribing known copy numbers of this RNA standard in parallel with cellular RNA. Strictly specific primers were designed to allow the quantification of any RNA in the same thermocycling parameters for future automation. Our method gave similar results for a lower cost when compared with TaqMan, and led to reproducible and reliable absolute RNA quantification. We validated it in vitro on naïve PBMC stimulated by LPS and ex vivo on PBMC from malaria patients. This new method raises the unprecedented possibility to compare cytokine mRNA levels between different clinical groups and is a powerful tool to further study the inflammation processes associated to malaria.

Notes: Semi-pelitic rocks ranging in grade from the prehnite–pumpellyite to the greenschist facies from south-eastern Otago, New Zealand, have been investigated in order to evaluate the reactions leading to formation and breakdown of stilpnomelane. Detrital grains of mica and chlorite along with fine-grained authigenic illite and chlorite occur in lower-grade rocks with compactional fabric parallel to bedding. At higher grades, detrital grains have undergone dissolution, and metamorphic phyllosilicates have crystallized with preferred orientation (sub)parallel to bedding, leading to slaty cleavage. Stilpnomelane is found in metapelites of the pumpellyite–actinolite facies and the chlorite zone of the greenschist facies, but only rarely in the biotite zone of the greenschist facies. Illite or phengite is ubiquitous, whereas chlorite occurs only rarely with stilpnomelane upgrade of the pumpellyite-out isograd. Chemical and textural relationships suggest that stilpnomelane formed from chlorite, phengite, quartz, K-feldspar and iron oxides. Stilpnomelane was produced by grain-boundary replacement of chlorite and by precipitation from solution, overprinting earlier textures. Some relict 14 Å chlorite layers are observed by TEM to be in the process of transforming to 12 Å stilpnomelane layers. The AEM analyses show that Fe is strongly partitioned over Mg into stilpnomelane relative to chlorite (KD≈2.5) and into chlorite relative to phengite (KD≈1.9). Modified A′FM diagrams, projected from the measured phengite composition rather than from ideal KAl3Si3O10(OH)2, are used to elucidate reactions among chlorite, stilpnomelane, phengite and biotite. In addition to pressure, temperature and bulk rock composition, the stilpnomelane-in isograd is controlled by variations in K, Fe3+/Fe2+, O/OH and H2O contents, and the locus of the isograd is expected to vary in rocks of different oxidation states and permeabilities. Biotite, quartz and less phengitic muscovite form from stilpnomelane, chlorite and phengite in the biotite zone. Projection of bulk rock compositions from phengite, NaAlO2, SiO2 and H2O reveals that they lie close to the polyhedra defined by the A′FM minerals and albite. Other extended A′FM diagrams, such as one projected from phengite, NaAlO2, CaAl2O4, SiO2 and H2O, may prove useful in the evaluation of other low-grade assemblages.

Notes: Andalusite–staurolite–biotite hornfels metamorphosed beneath the mafic layered rocks of the Bushveld Complex, South Africa, preserves a detailed record of the relative timing of porphyroblast growth and metamorphic reactions. The sequence inferred from microstructures shows considerable overlap of the period of growth of porphyroblasts of staurolite, cordierite, biotite and andalusite, and the persistence over a similar interval of the reactant porphyroblastic phase chloritoid. This is inconsistent with calculations of equilibrium phase relations, and implies that disequilibrium processes controlled the prograde reaction sequence, despite the slow heating rates involved (1 °C per 10 000 yr). The early appearance of cordierite by a metastable reaction and its subsequent disappearance indicates that delayed nucleation of porphyroblastic phases, rather than simply sluggish reaction, is required to account for the sequence of growth. The predicted reactions for the first appearance of andalusite and staurolite have low entropy of reaction, and do not occur until they have been overtaken in terms of reaction affinity by high-entropy devolatilisation reactions involving the breakdown of chlorite. Once the porphyroblasts have nucleated, metastable chloritoid-breakdown reactions also contribute to their growth. The implied magnitude of the critical overstepping for andalusite nucleation is around 5 kJ mole−1 (equivalent to 40 °C for the chlorite-breakdown reaction), and that for other phases is expected to decrease in the order andalusite〉staurolite〉cordierite. Coupling between nucleation rate, crystal growth rates and the resulting grain size distribution suggests that the rate constants of natural reactions are at least an order of magnitude lower than those measured in the laboratory. Pseudomorphs after chloritoid and cordierite conserve volume but not Al or other species of low mobility, suggesting a breakdown mechanism controlled by an interface process such as the slow dissolution of the refractory porphyroblast phase, rather than by a transport step.