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- Fayle, Tom M, et al.
(author)
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A positive relationship between ant biodiversity (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and rate of scavenger-mediated nutrient redistribution along a disturbance gradient in a south-east Asian rain forest
- 2011
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In: MYRMECOLOGICAL NEWS. - : OESTERREICHISCHE GESELL ENTOMOFAUNISTIK, C/O NATURHISTOR MUSEUM WIEN, ZWEITE ZOOLOGISCHE ABTEILUNG (INSEKTEN), BURGRING 7, WIEN, AUSTRIA. - 1994-4136. ; 14, s. 5-12
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Human modification of pristine habitats almost always leads to the local extinction of a subset of the species present. This means that the ecosystem processes carried out by the remaining species may change. It is well documented that particular species of ants carry out important ecosystem processes. However, while much work has been carried out to investigate the link between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in other taxa, this has received relatively little attention for ant communities. In particular, no attempt has been made to link levels of ant diversity with the rates of nutrient redistribution carried out by scavenging species. Here we investigate the impacts of anthropogenic disturbance on the rate of scavenger-mediated nutrient redistribution, using bait-removal rate as a surrogate measure. We found that although ant species richness, diversity, biomass and rates of bait removal did not change systematically across the disturbance gradient, the rate of bait removal was related to ant species richness. Sites with more ant species experienced a faster rate of bait removal. This is the first documented positive relationship between ant species richness and the rate of an ecosystem process. If these results are applicable at larger spatial scales for a wider range of nutrient sources, loss of ant species could lead to important changes in the way that ecosystems function.
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- Osorio, Ana, et al.
(author)
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DNA Glycosylases Involved in Base Excision Repair May Be Associated with Cancer Risk in BRCA1 and BRCA2 Mutation Carriers.
- 2014
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In: PLoS Genetics. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1553-7404. ; 10:4
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes involved in the DNA Base Excision Repair (BER) pathway could be associated with cancer risk in carriers of mutations in the high-penetrance susceptibility genes BRCA1 and BRCA2, given the relation of synthetic lethality that exists between one of the components of the BER pathway, PARP1 (poly ADP ribose polymerase), and both BRCA1 and BRCA2. In the present study, we have performed a comprehensive analysis of 18 genes involved in BER using a tagging SNP approach in a large series of BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers. 144 SNPs were analyzed in a two stage study involving 23,463 carriers from the CIMBA consortium (the Consortium of Investigators of Modifiers of BRCA1 and BRCA2). Eleven SNPs showed evidence of association with breast and/or ovarian cancer at p<0.05 in the combined analysis. Four of the five genes for which strongest evidence of association was observed were DNA glycosylases. The strongest evidence was for rs1466785 in the NEIL2 (endonuclease VIII-like 2) gene (HR: 1.09, 95% CI (1.03-1.16), p = 2.7×10-3) for association with breast cancer risk in BRCA2 mutation carriers, and rs2304277 in the OGG1 (8-guanine DNA glycosylase) gene, with ovarian cancer risk in BRCA1 mutation carriers (HR: 1.12 95%CI: 1.03-1.21, p = 4.8×10-3). DNA glycosylases involved in the first steps of the BER pathway may be associated with cancer risk in BRCA1/2 mutation carriers and should be more comprehensively studied.
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