Missouri Department of Conservation

Recent evidence indicates that plant cells contain specific endogenous suppressors of RNA silencing (ESRs) that plant viruses can exploit to counteract host defences. However, the underlying mechanisms are not yet fully understood. The helper component-proteinase (HC-Pro) of potyviruses is known to suppress RNA silencing and facilitate viral infection. Here, we used affinity purification followed by mass spectrometry to identify potential host proteins that interact with HC-Pro during telosma mosaic virus (TelMV, genus Potyvirus) infection in plants. We found that the molecular co-chaperone SGT1 (suppressor of the G2 allele of Skp1) interacts with HC-Pro via its SGS domain. Virus-induced gene silencing and RNAi-mediated knockdown of NbSGT1 resulted in decreased viral accumulation in Nicotiana benthamiana plants. Conversely, transient overexpression of NbSGT1 promoted TelMV multiplication. Through alanine-scanning mutagenesis, we identified three residues (K217, I227 and E332) in HC-Pro that are essential for its interaction with NbSGT1. Mutant viruses carrying these mutations exhibited reduced viral accumulation without affecting the RNA suppression of silencing (RSS) activity of HC-Pro. NbSGT1 enhanced the RSS activity of HC-Pro and increased the expression of foreign genes at both the protein and mRNA levels. Additionally, we demonstrated, through an Agrobacterium infiltratrion assay, that NbSGT1 may act as an ESR, inhibiting local but not systemic RNA silencing in plants. Finally, NbSGT1 significantly downregulated the expression of AGOs, DCLs, RDRs and SGS3, key genes of the RNA silencing pathway. Collectively, our findings provide evidence that the molecular co-chaperone SGT1 may act as a host ESR and is recruited by a potyvirus to facilitate viral infection.

Place-based climate adaptation workshops are designed to help communities understand their climate-related vulnerabilities and plan adaptive actions in response. Through a series of surveys and interviews with participants, we examined the immediate and long-term impacts of eight place-based climate adaptation workshops in the United States. Six took place online due to COVID-19 restrictions; two took place in-person. All workshops positively enhanced declarative, procedural, and relational knowledge of participants and, to a lesser extent, their personal commitment to work on climate adaptation, optimism about climate adaptation in their communities, and perceptions of qualities of the network of actors engaged locally in climate adaptation. In-person workshops yielded somewhat stronger positive influences on relationship-building than online workshops. Most participants who responded to surveys 6 months to a year after the workshop reported that their workshop had a “minor” to “moderate” impact on stimulating meaningful adaptation actions in their area. Reported actions attributed to the workshops included the incorporation of climate adaptation into formal planning documents, the expansion of adaptation outreach, consideration of climate adaptation in day-to-day planning and decision-making in local government departments, and both successful and unsuccessful grant applications for projects and positions associated with climate adaptation. We describe the workshops’ design, as well as participant assessments of the value of different workshop components. We conclude with lessons learned for future effective workshop planning and design.

Bison were historically a dominant large grazer in the Great Plains but were extirpated from much of their historic range. From reintroduction efforts, we understand bison and their associated activities have keystone effects on plants and wildlife in bison-grazed areas. Their specific activities modify the soil and plant community, but these effects on invertebrate communities are less explored, despite the diverse functional roles of grassland invertebrates. Wallowing, a unique behavior of bison in which they repeatedly roll on the ground and create bare depressions, may influence nesting resources of important ground-nesting pollinators (bees and wasps). This behavior provides one of the sources of bison-associated landscape heterogeneity, but how wallowing affects ground-nesting pollinators and other insects is not well-understood. Our broad objectives were to identify ground-nesting insects using wallows as nesting sites in north-central Montana and collate a list of other bison wallow-associated arthropods documented in the literature to understand the ecological interactions associated with bison-specific disturbances to the landscape. For our field study, we used emergence traps and sweep netting surveys to compare wallow and non-wallow prairie sites to determine differences of ground-nesting bee and wasp richness and abundance. Additionally, we surveyed surrounding vegetation communities and soil compaction at wallow and non-wallow sites. Our collections of 52 taxa were dominated by various wasp families (Mutillidae, Chrysididae, Crabronidae, Pompilidae), with few bees. Overall, we found higher abundance and taxonomic richness of ground-nesting pollinators emerging from within our adjacent prairie sites compared to within wallows. Vegetation surveys revealed distinct plant communities around bison wallows compared to adjacent prairie sites, with the most common forbs being non-native species. We found a small number of studies that collectively sampled 40 arthropod families associated with wallows, but our field study is the first published data on ground-nesting pollinator use of wallows. These data increase our knowledge of bison-engineered ecological interactions and how bison reintroductions might influence ground-nesting insects such as bees and wasps within the shortgrass prairie/sagebrush steppe ecosystem of the Northern Great Plains.

Abstract Context. Flood protection zones in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley, the often-inundated unprotected side or “batture” and the intermittently flooded protected side, are a juxtaposition of sharply different landscapes and ecological conditions. Swamp rabbits (Sylvilagus aquaticus), an indicator species for bottomland hardwood forests, inhabit both zones in the southeastern USA. Though the batture side of the levee offers more habitat and better-connected patches, increased flood severity (frequency and duration) due to climate change or other factors may displace swamp rabbits and other terrestrial vertebrates potentially making the area less habitable. Objectives. We used a habitat model to delineate swamp rabbit habitat patches in the flood zones and conducted occupancy surveys of the patches to determine whether swamp rabbits benefited from conditions on the batture side, despite the flood risk. Methods. The presence of swamp rabbits in habitat patches of southeastern Missouri, USA was ascertained through the observation of latrine logs. Swamp rabbit habitat patches were identified using species distribution modeling and a subset were further characterized using Q1 LiDAR. We evaluated detection and occupancy models which included patch and detection covariates to determine differences across flood risk zones. Results. Patch occupancy was high and similar across zones but detection probability was much higher on the batture side. Forest structure in habitat patches was not drastically different among patches on the protected and unprotected sides of the levee. The higher detection rate may have resulted from greater abundance driven by lower patch isolation. Conclusions. Levees that disconnect rivers from the floodplains have a profound effect on landscapes. Swamp rabbits can thrive in the landscape and habitat of the unprotected floodplain, despite their increased exposure to frequent flooding.

Abstract We report records on habitat characteristics and environmental parameters found associated with adult specimens of the predacious diving beetle genus Heterosternuta Strand identified in aquatic macroinvertebrate community samples collected from reaches of 80 wadeable stream sites during years 2002 through 2018 and first documentation on occurrence of Heterosternuta wickhami (Zaitzev) in Missouri, USA.

The American Fisheries Society, organized in 1870, is the world's oldest and largest professional fisheries society.Its objectives are conservation, development, and wise use of recreational and commercial fisheries; promotion of all branches of fisheries science and practice; and exchange and dissemination of knowledge about fish, fisheries, and related subjects.

Abstract Contributory citizen science projects (hereafter “contributory projects”) are a powerful tool for avian conservation science. Large-scale projects such as eBird have produced data that have advanced science and contributed to many conservation applications. These projects also provide a means to engage the public in scientific data collection. A common challenge across contributory projects like eBird is to maintain participation, as some volunteers contribute just a few times before disengaging. To maximize contributions and manage an effective program that has broad appeal, it is useful to better understand factors that influence contribution rates. For projects capitalizing on recreation activities (e.g., birding), differences in contribution levels might be explained by the recreation specialization framework, which describes how recreationists vary in skill, behavior, and motives. We paired data from a survey of birders across the United States and Canada with data on their eBird contributions (n = 28,926) to test whether those who contributed most are more specialized birders. We assigned participants to 4 contribution groups based on eBird checklist submissions and compared groups’ specialization levels and motivations. More active contribution groups had higher specialization, yet some specialized birders were not active participants. The most distinguishing feature among groups was the behavioral dimension of specialization, with active eBird participants owning specialized equipment and taking frequent trips away from home to bird. Active participants had the strongest achievement motivations for birding (e.g., keeping a life list), whereas all groups had strong appreciation motivations (e.g., enjoying the sights and sounds of birding). Using recreation specialization to characterize eBird participants can help explain why some do not regularly contribute data. Project managers may be able to promote participation, particularly by those who are specialized but not contributing, by appealing to a broader suite of motivations that includes both appreciation and achievement motivations, and thereby increase data for conservation.

Cell lines are valuable tools to safeguard genetic material from species threatened with extinction that is mainly due to human action. In this scenario, the puma constitutes a species whose population is being rapidly reduced in the ecosystems it inhabits. For the first time, we characterized puma skin-derived cell lines and assessed these cells after extended culture (experiment 1) and cryopreservation (experiment 2). Initially, we identified and characterized four dermal fibroblast lines using morphology, ultrastructure, and immunofluorescence assays. Moreover, we evaluated the effects of culture time (1st, 3rd, and 10th passages) and cryopreservation on their morphology, ultrastructure, viability, metabolism, proliferative activity, reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm), and apoptosis. The cells showed a typical spindle-shaped morphology with centrally located oval nuclei. The cells were identified as fibroblasts by staining for vimentin. In vitro culture after the 1st, 3rd, and 10th passages did not alter most of the evaluated parameters. Cells in the 3rd and 10th passages showed a reduction in ROS levels (p < 0.05). The ultrastructure revealed morphological damage in the prolongments, and nuclei of cells derived from the 3rd and 10th passages. Moreover, cryopreservation resulted in a reduction in ΔΨm compared with that of noncryopreserved cells, suggesting that the optimization of cryopreservation methods for puma fibroblasts is essential. In conclusion, we found that viable fibroblasts could be obtained from puma skin, with slight changes after the 10th passage in in vitro culture and cryopreservation. This is the first report on the development of cell lines derived from pumas.