In this contribution, we address the question of iron bioavailability to cyanobacteria by measuring Fe uptake rates and probing for a reductive uptake pathway in diverse cyanobacterial species. We examined three Fe-substrates: dissolved inorganic iron (Fe') and the Fe-siderophores Ferrioxamine B (FOB) and FeAerobactin (FeAB). In order to compare across substrates and strains, we extracted uptak...

BACKGROUND The self-report of medical history and medication use is a common feature of epidemiological research. METHODS In a unique re-interview study, we evaluated the concordance of medical conditions and past medication use reported in two similar interviews 5 years apart. RESULTS In 196 re-interviews with the subjects themselves, and in 107 with next-of-kin of subjects who died after ...

Studies of social birds and mammals have produced extensive theory regarding the formation and dynamics of kin-based social groups in vertebrates. However, comparing kin dynamics in birds and mammals to social reptiles provides the opportunity to identify selective factors that promote independent origins of kin sociality across vertebrates. We combined a 5-year mark-recapture study with a DNA ...

Two alternative frameworks explain the evolution of cooperation in the face of conflicting interests. Conflicts can be alleviated by kinship, the alignment of interests by virtue of shared genes, or by negotiation strategies, allowing mutually beneficial trading of services or commodities. Although negotiation often occurs in kin-structured populations, the interplay of kin- and negotiation-bas...

Changes in fertility and mortality affect the size of surviving sibling sets and thus numbers of surviving kin. Because the genealogical generations specifying kinship relations are not temporal cohorts and most plausible demographic changes in anthropological populations are period shocks, the effect of such shocks on kin counts are complex. Shocks increasing fertility or decreasing mortality ...

Individual organisms are complex in a special way. The organization and function of their parts seem directed toward a purpose: the survival and reproduction of that individual. Groups of organisms are different. They may also be complex, but that is usually because their parts, the individual organisms, are working at cross-purposes. The most obvious exception to this rule is the social insect...

Patterns of within-group relatedness are expected to affect the prospects for cooperation among group members through kin selection. It has long been established that dispersal patterns determine the availability of kin and there is ample evidence of matrilineal kin biases in social behavior across primate species. However, in 1979, Jeanne Altmann(1) suggested that mating patterns also influenc...

Particular features of human female life history, such as short birth intervals and the early cessation of female reproduction (menopause), are argued to be evidence that humans are 'cooperative breeders', with a reproductive strategy adapted to conditions where mothers receive substantial assistance in childraising. Evolutionary anthropologists have so far largely focussed on measuring the inf...

Animals should benefit from the ability to recognise their kin, yet curiously this faculty is often absent. New theory confirms that genetic kin recognition is inherently unstable, explaining its rarity.