The melting ice cellar: what native traditional knowledge is teaching us about global warming and environmental change.
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Environmental problems have often been observed by Alaska Native communities decades before they have been confirmed by scientific research. (+info)
Hydroxylated PCB metabolites and PCBs in serum from pregnant Faroese women.
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In the Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic, the traditional diet includes pilot whale meat and blubber and other marine food. Fatty fish and blubber of mammals may contain high concentrations of organohalogen substances (OHSs). Elevated levels of OHSs have been reported from the Faroe Islands, first documented in breast milk samples obtained in 1987. The aim of this study was to determine the concentrations of hydroxylated polychlorinated biphenyls (OH-PCBs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in serum samples from pregnant Faroese women known to differ in their dietary habits. High concentrations of OH-PCBs and PCBs were found in part of the human serum samples analyzed, and the relative OH-PCB and PCB congener distributions were similar to those observed elsewhere. There was a wide span between the lowest and highest OH-PCB and PCB concentrations in the serum samples analyzed, with ranges of 19-1,800 ng/g lipid weight (lw) and 150-22,000 ng/g lw, respectively. The ratio of sigmaOH-PCB/sigmaPCB averaged about 10% and varied little. 4-Hydroxy-2,2,3,4,5,5,6-heptachlorobiphenyl was the most abundant OH-PCB metabolite in all samples analyzed, with four other OH-PCB congeners as dominating metabolites in the serum. More than 25 additional OH-PCBs were indicated. This study confirms the presence of high concentrations of organohalogen substances in populations or areas far removed from their sources. (+info)
Seaweeds in cold seas: evolution and carbon acquisition.
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Much evidence suggests that life originated in hydrothermal habitats, and for much of the time since the origin of cyanobacteria (at least 2.5 Ga ago) and of eukaryotic algae (at least 2.1 Ga ago) the average sea surface and land surface temperatures were higher than they are today. However, there have been at least four significant glacial episodes prior to the Pleistocene glaciations. Two of these (approx. 2.1 and 0.7 Ga ago) may have involved a 'Snowball Earth' with a very great impact on the algae (sensu lato) of the time (cyanobacteria, Chlorophyta and Rhodophyta) and especially those that were adapted to warm habitats. By contrast, it is possible that heterokont, dinophyte and haptophyte phototrophs only evolved after the Carboniferous-Permian ice age (approx. 250 Ma ago) and so did not encounter low (+info)
Multiple glacial refugia in the North American Arctic: inference from phylogeography of the collared lemming (Dicrostonyx groenlandicus).
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Cryptic northern refugia beyond the ice limit of the Pleistocene glaciations may have had significant influence on the current pattern of biodiversity in Arctic regions. In order to evaluate whether northern glacial refugia existed in the Canadian Arctic, we examined mitochondrial DNA phylogeography in the northernmost species of rodents, the collared lemming (Dicrostonyx groenlandicus) sampled across its range of distribution in the North American Arctic and Greenland. The division of the collared lemming into the Canadian Arctic and eastern Beringia phylogroups does not support postglacial colonization of the North American Arctic from a single eastern Beringia refugium. Rather, the phylogeographical structure and sparse fossil records indicate that, during the last glaciation, some biologically significant refugia and important sources of postglacial colonization were located to the northwest of the main ice sheet in the Canadian Arctic. (+info)
A comparative mitogenomic analysis of the potential adaptive value of Arctic charr mtDNA introgression in brook charr populations (Salvelinus fontinalis Mitchill).
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Wild brook charr populations (Salvelinus fontinalis) completely introgressed with the mitochondrial genome (mtDNA) of arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) are found in several lakes of northeastern Quebec, Canada. Mitochondrial respiratory enzymes of these populations are thus encoded by their own nuclear DNA and by arctic charr mtDNA. In the present study we performed a comparative sequence analysis of the whole mitochondrial genome of both brook and arctic charr to identify the distribution of mutational differences across these two genomes. This analysis revealed 47 amino acid replacements, 45 of which were confined to subunits of the NADH dehydrogenase complex (Complex I), one in the cox3 gene (Complex IV), and one in the atp8 gene (Complex V). A cladistic approach performed with brook charr, arctic charr, and two other salmonid fishes (rainbow trout [Oncorhynchus mykiss] and Atlantic salmon [Salmo salar]) revealed that only five amino acid replacements were specific to the charr comparison and not shared with the other two salmonids. In addition, five amino acid substitutions localized in the nad2 and nad5 genes denoted negative scores according to the functional properties of amino acids and, therefore, could possibly have an impact on the structure and functional properties of these mitochondrial peptides. The comparison of both brook and arctic charr mtDNA with that of rainbow trout also revealed a relatively constant mutation rate for each specific gene among species, whereas the rate was quite different among genes. This pattern held for both synonymous and nonsynonymous nucleotide positions. These results, therefore, support the hypothesis of selective constraints acting on synonymous codon usage. (+info)
Metabolic plasticity and critical temperatures for aerobic scope in a eurythermal marine invertebrate (Littorina saxatilis, Gastropoda: Littorinidae) from different latitudes.
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Effects of latitudinal cold adaptation and cold acclimation on metabolic rates and aerobic scope were studied in the eurythermal marine gastropod Littorina saxatilis from temperate North Sea and sub-arctic White Sea areas. Animals were acclimated for 6-8 weeks at control temperature (13 degrees C) or at 4 degrees C, and their respiration rates were measured during acute temperature change (1-1.5 degrees C h(-1)) in a range between 0 degrees C and 32 degrees C. In parallel, the accumulation of anaerobic end products and changes in energy status were monitored. Starting from 0 degrees C, aerobic metabolic rates of L. saxatilis rose quickly with increasing temperatures up to a point at or slightly above the respective acclimation temperature. Beyond this value, thermal sensitivity of oxygen consumption rate V((O(2))) greatly decreased in a wide, 15 degrees C range of experimental temperatures. This change in metabolic regulation was also reflected in the activation energy of aerobic metabolism (E(a)), which was approximately seven times lower at temperatures above Arrhenius breakpoint temperatures (ABTs) than at temperatures below ABTs. Warming progressively led to a discrepancy between energy demand and energy production, as demonstrated by a decrease in the levels of high-energy phosphates [phosho-L-arginine (PLA) and ATP], and resulted in the onset of anaerobiosis at critically high temperatures, indicating a limitation of aerobic scope. The comparison of aerobic and anaerobic metabolic rates in L. saxatilis in air and water suggests that the heat-induced onset of anaerobiosis is due to the insufficient oxygen supply to tissues at high temperatures. Cold acclimation led to an increase in aerobic metabolic rates and a considerable downward shift of the upper critical temperature in North Sea L. saxatilis but not in White Sea L. saxatilis. Limited metabolic plasticity in response to cold acclimation in sub-arctic White Sea snails as compared with their temperate North Sea counterparts suggests that metabolic depression occurs during overwintering under the more extreme winter conditions at the White Sea. (+info)
Degradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons at low temperature under aerobic and nitrate-reducing conditions in enrichment cultures from northern soils.
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The potential for biodegradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)at low temperature and under anaerobic conditions is not well understood, but such biodegradation would be very useful for remediation of polluted sites. Biodegradation of a mixture of 11 different PAHs with two to five aromatic rings, each at a concentration of 10 micro g/ml, was studied in enrichment cultures inoculated with samples of four northern soils. Under aerobic conditions, low temperature severely limited PAH biodegradation. After 90 days, aerobic cultures at 20 degrees C removed 52 to 88% of the PAHs. The most extensive PAH degradation under aerobic conditions at 7 degrees C,53% removal, occurred in a culture from creosote-contaminated soil. Low temperature did not substantially limit PAH biodegradation under nitrate-reducing conditions. Under nitrate-reducing conditions,naphthalene, 2-methylnaphthalene, fluorene, and phenanthrene were degraded. The most extensive PAH degradation under nitrate-reducing conditions at 7 degrees C, 39% removal, occurred in a culture from fuel-contaminated Arctic soil. In separate transfer cultures from the above Arctic soil, incubated anaerobically at 7 degrees C, removal of 2-methylnaphthalene and fluorene was stoichiometrically coupled to nitrate removal. Ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis suggested that enrichment resulted in a few predominant bacterial populations,including members of the genera Acidovorax,Bordetella, Pseudomonas, Sphingomonas, and Variovorax. Predominant populations from different soils often included phylotypes with nearly identical partial 16S rRNA gene sequences (i.e., same genus) but never included phylotypes with identical ribosomal intergenic spacers (i.e., different species or subspecies). The composition of the enriched communities appeared to be more affected by presence of oxygen, than by temperature or source of the inoculum. (+info)
Distribution of vitamin A-storing lipid droplets in hepatic stellate cells in liver lobules--a comparative study.
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To investigate the storage mechanisms of vitamin A, we examined the liver of adult polar bears and arctic foxes, which physiologically store a large amount of vitamin A, by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) morphometry, gold chloride staining, fluorescence microscopy for the detection of autofluorescence of vitamin A, staining with hematoxylin-eosin (H&E), Masson's trichrome, and Ishii and Ishii's silver impregnation. HPLC revealed that the polar bears and arctic foxes contained 1.8-1.9 x 10(4) nmol total retinol (retinol plus retinyl esters) per gram liver. In the arctic foxes, the composition of the retinyl esters was found to be 51.1% palmitate, 26.6% oleate, 15.4% stearate, and 7% linoleate. The hepatic stellate cells of the arctic animals were demonstrated by TEM to contain the bulk of the vitamin A-lipid droplets in their cytoplasm. The liver lobules of the arctic animals showed a zonal gradient in the storage of vitamin A. The gradient was expressed as a symmetric crescendo-decrescendo profile starting at the periportal zone, peaking at the middle zone, and sloping down toward the central zone in the liver lobule. The density (i.e., cell number per area) of hepatic stellate cells was essentially the same among the zones. The gradient and the composition of the retinyl esters in storing vitamin A were not changed by differences in the vitamin A amount in the livers. These results indicate that the heterogeneity of vitamin A-storage capacity in hepatic stellate cells of arctic foxes and polar bears is genetically determined. (+info)