@article{NomdedeuWillenSchiefferetal.2012, author = {Nomdedeu, Mar Monsonis and Willen, Christine and Schieffer, Andre and Arndt, Hartmut}, title = {Temperature-dependent ranges of coexistence in a model of a two-prey-one-predator microbial food web}, series = {Marine Biology}, volume = {159}, journal = {Marine Biology}, number = {11}, publisher = {Springer}, address = {Berlin}, issn = {1432-1793}, doi = {10.1007/s00227-012-1966-x}, pages = {2423 -- 2430}, year = {2012}, abstract = {The objective of our study was to analyze the effects of temperature on the population dynamics of a three-species food web consisting of two prey bacteria (Pedobacter sp. and Acinetobacter johnsonii) and a protozoan predator (Tetrahymena pyriformis) as model organisms. We assessed the effects of temperature on the growth rates of all three species with the objective of developing a model with four differential equations based on the experimental data. The following hypotheses were tested at a theoretical level: Firstly, temperature changes can affect the dynamic behavior of a system by temperature-dependent parameters and interactions and secondly, food web response to temperature cannot be derived from the single species temperature response. The main outcome of the study is that temperature changes affect the parameter range where coexistence is possible within all three species. This has significant consequences on our ideas regarding the evaluation of effects of global warming.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Schieffer2012, author = {Schieffer, Andre}, title = {Studies on diversity and coexistence in an experimental microbial community}, pages = {76 Bl. : Ill.}, year = {2012}, abstract = {Biodiversity and the coexistence of species have puzzled and fascinated biologists since decades and is a hotspot in todays' natural sciences. Preserving this biodiversity is a great challenge as habitats and environments underlying tremendous changes like climate change and the loss of natural habitats, which are mainly due to anthropogenic influences. The coexistence of numerous species even in homogeneous environments is a stunning feature of natural communities and has been summarized under the term 'paradox of plankton'. Up to now, there are several mechanisms discussed, which may contribute to local and global diversity of organisms. Several interspecific trade offs have been identified maintaining the coexistence of species like their abilities regarding competition and predator avoidance, their capability to disperse in space and time, and their ability to exploit variable resources. Further, micro-evolutionary dynamics supporting the coexistence of species have been added to our knowledge, and deriving from theoretical deterministic models, non-linear dynamics which describe the temporal fluctuation of abundances of organisms. Whereas competition and predation seem to be clue structural elements within interacting organisms, the intrinsic dynamic behavior - by means of temporal changes in abundance - plays an important role regarding coexistence within a community. The present work sheds light on different factors affecting the coexistence of species using experimental microbial model systems consisting of a bacterivorous ciliate as the predator and two bacteria strains as prey organism. Additionally, another experimental setup consisting of two up to five bacteria species competing for one limiting resource was investigated. Highly controllable chemostat systems were established to exclude extrinsic disturbances. According to theoretical analyses I was able to show - experimentally and theoretically - that phenotypic plasticity of one species within a microbial one-predator-two-prey food web enlarges the range of possible coexistence of all species under different dynamic conditions, compared to a food web without phenotypic plasticity. This was accompanied by non-linear (chaotic) population dynamics within all experimental systems showing phenotypic plasticity. The experiments on the interplay of competition, predation and invasion showed that all aspects have an influence on species coexistence. Under undisturbed controlled conditions all aspects were analyzed in detail and in combination. Populations showed oscillations which were shown by quasi-chaotic attractors in phase space diagrams. Competition experiments with two up to five bacteria species competing for one limiting resource showed that all organisms were able to coexist which was mediated by species oscillations entering a regime of chaos. Besides that fact it was found, that the productivity (biomass) as well as the total cell numbers - under the same nutrition supply - increased by an increasing number of species in the experimental systems. Up to now, the occurrence of non-linear dynamics in well controlled experimental studies has been recognized several times and this phenomenon seemed to be more common in natural systems than generally assumed.}, language = {en} } @article{HeinzelSchaeferMuelleretal.2010, author = {Heinzel, Alexander and Sch{\"a}fer, Ralf and M{\"u}ller, Hans-Wilhelm and Schieffer, Andre and Ingenhag, Ariane and Eickhoff, Simon B. and Northoff, Georg and Franz, Matthias and Hautzel, Hubertus}, title = {Increased Activation of the Supragenual Anterior Cingulate Cortex during Visual Emotional Processing in Male Subjects with High Degrees of Alexithymia: An Event-Related fMRI Study}, series = {Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics}, volume = {79}, journal = {Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics}, number = {6}, publisher = {Karger}, address = {Basel}, issn = {0033-3190}, doi = {10.1159/000320121}, pages = {363 -- 370}, year = {2010}, abstract = {Background: One of the most prominent neurobiological models of alexithymia assumes an altered function of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) as the crucial neural correlate of alexithymia. So far functional imaging studies have yielded inconclusive results. Therefore, we tested this hypothesis in healthy alexithymics and nonalexithymics in an event-related fMRI study. Methods: Thirty high- and 30 low-alexithymic right-handed male subjects (selected by the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale, TAS-20) were investigated with event-related fMRI using a picture viewing paradigm. The stimuli consisted of happy, fearful and neutral facial expressions (Ekman-Friesen) as well as positive, negative and neutral pictures from the International Affective Picture System. Results: Contrasting the high-alexithymic with the low-alexithymic group we observed increased activation of the supragenual ACC for different emotional valences as well as for different emotional stimuli. Moreover, there was a positive correlation of the ACC with the individual TAS-20 scores but no correlations with the individual Beck Depression Inventory scores. Additionally, there was no difference in activity of the amygdala. Conclusions: We demonstrated that the supragenual ACC is constantly activated more strongly in alexithymic subjects and that this activation is related to the symptoms of alexithymia and not to associated symptoms such as depression. Therefore, our findings support the hypothesis of an altered function of the ACC in alexithymia.}, language = {en} } @article{TuraliyevaYeshibaevSaparbekovaetal.2016, author = {Turaliyeva, M. and Yeshibaev, A. and Saparbekova, A. and Akynova, L. and Abildayeva, R. and Sadenova, M. and Sartayeva, K. and Schieffer, Andre and Digel, Ilya}, title = {Species composition and injuriousness of stranger xylophilous fauna affecting indigenous urban dendroflora of Central Asia}, series = {Asian journal of microbiology, biotechnology \& environmental sciences : AJMBES}, volume = {18}, journal = {Asian journal of microbiology, biotechnology \& environmental sciences : AJMBES}, number = {2}, publisher = {EM International}, issn = {0972-3005}, pages = {359 -- 366}, year = {2016}, abstract = {At the present time, one of the most serious environmental problems of Central Asia and South Kazakhstan is the ongoing large-scale deterioration of principal urban tree populations. Several major centers of massive spread of invasive plant pests have been found in urban dendroflora of this region. The degree of damage of seven most wide-spread aboriginal tree species was found to range from 21.4±1.1 to 85.4±1.8\%. In particular, the integrity of the native communities of sycamore (Platanus spp.), willow (Salix spp.), poplar (Populus spp.) and elm (Ulmus spp.) is highly endangered. Our taxonomic analysis of the most dangerous tree pests of the region has revealed them as neobiontic xylophilous insects such as Cossus cossus L. (Order: Lepidoptera L.) Monochamus urussovi Fisch., Monochamus sutor L., Acanthocinus aedelis L. and {\~N}etonia aureate L. (Order: Coleoptera L.). We relate the origin of this threatening trend with the import of industrial wood in the mid 90’s of the last century that was associated with high degree of the constructional work in the region. Because of the absence of efficient natural predators of the pest species, the application of microbiological methods of the pest control and limitation is suggested.}, language = {en} } @article{HeinzelSchaeferMuelleretal.2010, author = {Heinzel, Alexander and Sch{\"a}fer, Ralf and M{\"u}ller, Hans-Wilhelm and Schieffer, Andre and Ingenhag, Ariane and Northoff, Georg and Franz, Matthias and Hautzel, Hubertus}, title = {Differential modulation of valence and arousal in high-alexithymic and low-alexithymic individuals}, series = {Neuroreport}, volume = {21}, journal = {Neuroreport}, number = {15}, publisher = {Lippincott Williams \& Wilkins}, address = {London}, issn = {1473-558X}, doi = {10.1097/WNR.0b013e32833f38e0}, pages = {998 -- 1002}, year = {2010}, abstract = {High-alexithymic individuals are characterized by an impaired ability to identify and communicate emotions whereas low-alexithymic individuals have a wide-ranging ability to deal with emotions. This study examined the hypothesis that valence and arousal modifications of emotional stimuli differentially modulate cortical regions in high-alexithymic and low-alexithymic individuals. To this end, 28 high-alexithymic and 25 low-alexithymic individuals were investigated with event-related fMRI using visual emotional stimuli. We found differential neural activations in the dorsal anterior cingulate, the insula and the amygdala. We suggest that these differences may account for the impaired ability of high-alexithymic individuals to appropriately handle emotional stimuli.}, language = {en} }