Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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The effects of prescribed burning on forage abundance and suitability for elk (Cervus elaphus) during the snow-free season was evaluated in east-central Banff National Park, Canada. Six coniferous forest and mixed shrub-herb plant communities (n=144 plots), and 5223ha of burned (n=131) vegetation <12 years old were sampled using a stratified semi-random design. Sampling units represented various combinations of vegetation, terrain conditions, and stand ages that were derived from digital biophysical data, with plant communities the basic unit of analysis. Burning coniferous forest stands reduced woody biomass, and increased herbaceous forage from 146 to 790 kg/ha. Increases commonly occurred in the percent cover of hairy wild rye (Leymus innovatus (Beal) Pigler) and fireweed (Chamerion angustifolium (L.) Holub.). The herbaceous components of mixed shrub-herb communities increased from 336-747 kg/ha to 517-1104 kg/ha in response to burning (P<0.025, Mann-Whitney U-test). Browse biomass (mostly Salix spp. and Betula nana L.) increased >or=220% (P<or=0.003, Mann-Whitney U-test) from 653 kg/ha in deciduous shrub types. Elk preferences for unburned and burned vegetation-types were assessed as low and moderate, respectively. Potential summer carrying capacity, based on forage availability, increased from eight to 28 elk/100 km2 within burned areas, whereas spring grazing potential rose from 13 to 45 elk/100 km2. Most of the increase (73%) was attributable to changes within burned Engelmann Spruce stands, which composed 58% of the burned area.
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PMID:Prescribed burning effects on summer elk forage availability in the subalpine zone, Banff National Park, Canada. 1610 91

To better understand the role of herbivory and fire as potential disturbance processes in sagebrush communities, we examined responses of a grazing ungulate, elk (Cervus elaphus), following prescribed burning of sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata ssp. vaseyana) in south-central Montana (USA.) with concurrent monitoring of changes in plant production, nutritional quality, and community diversity from 1989-1999. Burning transformed low-diversity, sagebrush-dominated communities into high-diversity, graminoid-forb communities that persisted for 10 years without significant reestablishment of sagebrush. Elk increased use of burned sites one year after burning, but elk use returned to pre-burn levels over the next two to nine years. Forage biomass and nutritional quality declined after initial increases that coincided with increased elk use. Increases in elk use appeared to be influenced by increases in combined graminoid and forb production and changes in structural vegetation characteristics that permitted greater foraging efficiency. Declines in use were associated with loss of nutritional enhancement and declines in combined graminoid and forb production. Managers may observe only short-term responses from grazing ungulates to prescribed fire in sagebrush communities, but can expect longer-term increases in plant diversity and establishment of graminoid-forb communities.
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PMID:Short- and longer-term effects of fire and herbivory on sagebrush communities in south-central Montana. 1673 97

Gallbladder cancer (GBC) is the most aggressive malignancy of the biliary tract with poor prognosis. Several targetable genetic alterations have been identified in GBC; however, responses to targeted therapy are disappointing. We report a case of a 58-year-old Chinese woman with GBC who was detected with a novel ALK genomic rearrangement and received crizotinib after progression from first-line chemotherapy. The patient was diagnosed with stage IV adenocarcinoma of the neck of the gallbladder and received oxaliplatin combined with capecitabine as first-line therapy. After four cycles of this chemotherapy regimen, the patient started to show obstructive jaundice, and progressive disease was evaluated. Biliary drainage surgery was performed to alleviate the symptoms of obstructive jaundice. Upon referral to our department, her archived tissue samples were submitted for next-generation sequencing (Burning Rock Biotech) and immunohistochemistry, which identified the presence of a novel AMBRA1-ALK rearrangement and ALK overexpression, respectively. Oral crizotinib was administered achieving partial response within two cycles of treatment, which lasted for 7 months. AMBRA1-ALK has not been previously reported in any solid tumors and its sensitivity to crizotinib is not well characterized. Moreover, ALK alterations have been rarely reported for GBC. This case suggests that a subset of GBC might be driven by aberrant ALK signaling, which could potentially be explored as a biomarker of therapeutic response to ALK inhibitors in GBC. Moreover, our case report contributes an incremental step in understanding the genetic heterogeneity in GBC and provides clinical evidence of the utility of next-generation sequencing in exploring actionable mutations to expand treatment choices in rare solid tumors including GBC.
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PMID:Novel AMBRA1-ALK fusion identified by next-generation sequencing in advanced gallbladder cancer responds to crizotinib: a case report. 3314 18