Biochars from local agricultural waste residues contribute to soil quality and plant growth in a Cerrado region (Brazil) Arenosol

Arenosols (sandy soils) in the Cerrado region of Mato Grosso, Brazil, are increasingly used for maize production, the second most important crop in the region after soybean. Yet, these soils are typically nutrient poor with low soil water retention, requiring high fertilizer inputs that are often lost in surface runoff or leached. The addition of biochar, a more recalcitrant organic amendment, may therefore be beneficial in Cerrado Arenosols, contributing to sustainable crop production in the region. To examine biochar contribution to soil nutrient levels and maize growth in a Cerrado Arenosol, we conducted a greenhouse experiment using biochars made from local agricultural waste feedstocks. These were cotton husks, swine manure, eucalyptus sawmill residue, and sugarcane filtercake, pyrolyzed at 400 °C, and applied to soil at five rates: 0%, 1%, 2%, 3%, and 4% by weight. Maize plants were grown under unstressed conditions (e.g., no nutrient or water limitations) to highlight any possible negative effects of the biochars. After 42 days, soils were analyzed for nutrient levels, and plant physical and physiological measurements were taken. Filtercake biochar had the highest plant biomass and physiological properties (e.g., photosynthesis, respiration, nitrogen use efficiency), while cotton biochar had the lowest. Importantly, maize biomass decreased with increasing application rates of cotton and swine manure biochars, while biomass did not vary in response to biochar application rate for filtercake and eucalyptus biochars. In this study, we found that while each biochar exhibited potential for improving chemical and physical properties of Cerrado Arenosols, filtercake biochar stood out as most promising. Biochar application rate was identified a key factor in ensuring crop productivity. Transforming these agricultural residues readily available in the region into more stable biochar can thus contribute to sustainable crop management and soil conservation, providing an alternative form of waste disposal for these residual materials.     

Localization of synapsin I in normal fibers and regenerating axonal sprouts of the rat sciatic nerve

The localization of synapsin I, a synaptic vesicle-associated protein, was investigated immunocytochemically in normal nerve fibers and regenerating axonal sprouts following crush-injuries to the rat sciatic nerve. In normal myelinated axons, weak synapsin I immunoreactivity was found in the axoplasmic/smooth endoplasmic domains, but not in the cytoskeletal domains comprising neurofilaments and microtubules. In non-myelinated axons without dense cytoskeletal structures, moderate immunoreactivity was distributed diffusely throughout the axoplasm. In the crush-injured nerves, intense synapsin I immunoreactivity was demonstrated by light microscopy in early regenerating sprouts emerging from nodes of Ranvier. These nodal sprouts subsequently elongated as regenerating axons through the space between the basal lamina and the myelin sheath (or Schwann cell plasma membrane). Intense synapsin I immunoreactivity was also found in the growth cones of such long regenerating axons. Electron microscopy revealed that synapsin I immunoreactivity was associated mainly with vesicular organelles in the nodal sprouts and growth cones of regenerating axons. Long regenerating axons exhibited no synapsin I immunoreactivity in the shaft, which contained an abundance of neurofilaments. However, vesicle accumulations remaining in the periphery of the shaft still exhibited intense synapsin I immunoreactivity. Thus, it can be concluded that synapsin I is localized at especially high density in the domains comprising vesicular organelles, which are characteristic of early nodal sprouts, as well as in growth cones of regenerating axons. These findings, together with the proposed functions of synapsin I investigated in other studies, suggest that synapsin I may play important roles in vesicular dynamics including the translocation of vesicles to the plasma membrane in sprouts and growth cones of regenerating axons.     

Intrinsic disorder accelerates dissociation rather than association

The intrinsically disordered protein (IDP) has distinct properties both physically and biologically: it often becomes folded when binding to the target and is frequently involved in signal transduction. The physical property seems to be compatible with the biological property where fast association and dissociation between IDP and the target are required. While fast association has been well studied, fueled by the fly‐casting mechanism, the dissociation kinetics has received less attention. We here study how the intrinsic disorder affects the dissociation kinetics, as well as the association kinetics, paying attention to the interaction strength at the binding site (i.e., the quality of the “fly lure”). Coarse‐grained molecular dynamics simulation of the pKID‐KIX system, a well‐studied IDP system, shows that the association rate becomes larger as the disorder‐inducing flexibility that was imparted to the model is increased, but the acceleration is marginal and turns into deceleration as the quality of the fly lure is worsened. In contrast, the dissociation rate is greatly enhanced as the disorder is increased, indicating that intrinsic disorder serves for rapid signal switching more effectively through dissociation than association. Proteins 2016; 84:1124–1133. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Visceral Fat Accumulation,Insulin Resistance,and Elevated Depressive Symptoms in Middle-Aged Japanese Men

Objective

To investigate visceral fat accumulation and markers of insulin resistance in relation to elevated depressive symptoms (EDS).

Methods

Participants were 4,333 male employees (mean age, 49.3 years) who underwent abdominal computed tomography scanning, measured fasting insulin, and did not self-report diabetes and mental disorders under treatment and history of cancer, myocardial infarction, and stroke. Multivariable logistic regression was used to assess the association of EDS with abdominal fat deposition and markers of insulin resistance.

Results

Visceral fat area (VFA) and fasting insulin were significantly, positively associated with EDS. Multivariable-adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence interval) of high VFA for the lowest through highest quartile of depression score were 1 (reference), 1.18 (0.97–1.42), 1.25 (1.02–1.54), 1.23 (1.01–1.51), respectively, and corresponding figures for high fasting insulin were 1 (reference), 0.98 (0.80–1.19), 1.12 (0.91–1.38), and 1.29 (1.06–1.57), respectively. Subcutaneous fat area was not associated with EDS.

Conclusions

Results suggest that EDS is related to visceral, but not subcutaneous, fat accumulation and insulin resistance in middle-aged Japanese men.     

Yeast ribosomal proteins. VIII. Isolation of two proteins and sequence characterization of twenty-four proteins from cytoplasmic ribosomes

Summary Two proteins, YL41 and YL43, were isolated from 80S ribosomes of Saccharomyces cerevisiae by filtration through a Sephacryl S-200 column and by chromatography on a column of carboxymethylcellulose. Their amino acid compositions are presented. Twenty-four proteins including these two proteins were subjected to sequence analyses by automated Edman degradation. Amino-terminal amino acid sequences were determined for 17 proteins, YS3, YS9, YS23, YS24, YS29, YL6, YL8, YL11, YL15, YL17, YL23, YL28, YL33, YL37, YL39, YL41, and YL43. YL41, which has a 72.7% lysine and arginine content, was found to be particular to eukaryotic ribosomes. The aminotermini of another seven proteins, YS2, YS5, YS8, YS12, YS13, YS20, and YS27, were suggested to be blocked.Comparison of the amino-terminal sequences with all other ribosomal protein sequences so far available indicates that YS9 shows sequence homology to rat liver ribosomal protein S8 (Wittmann-Liebold et al. 1979).     

Cloning and expression of cyclodextrin glycosyltransferase gene from Paenibacillus sp. T16 isolated from hot spring soil in northern Thailand

Gene encoding cyclodextrin glycosyltransferase (CGTase), from thermotolerant Paenibacillus sp. T16 isolated from hot spring area in northern Thailand, was cloned and expressed in E. coli (JM109). The nucleotide sequences of both wild type and transformed CGTases consisted of 2139 bp open reading frame, 713 deduced amino acids residues with difference of 4 amino acid residues. The recombinant cells required 24 h culture time and a neutral pH for culture medium to produce compatible amount of CGTase compared to 72 h culture time and pH 10 for wild type. The recombinant and wild-type CGTases were purified by starch adsorption and phenyl sepharose column chromatography and characterized in parallel. Both enzymes showed molecular weight of 77 kDa and similar optimum pHs and temperatures with recombinant enzyme showing broader range. There were some significant difference in pH, temperature stability and kinetic parameters. The presence of high starch concentration resulted in higher thermostability in recombinant enzyme than the wild type. The recombinant enzyme was more stable at higher temperature and lower pH, with lower K(m) for coupling reaction using cellobiose and cyclodextrins as substrates.     

Substrate-induced change in the quaternary structure of type 2 isopentenyl diphosphate isomerase from Sulfolobus shibatae

Type 2 isopentenyl diphosphate isomerase catalyzes the interconversion between two active units for isoprenoid biosynthesis, i.e., isopentenyl diphosphate and dimethylallyl diphosphate, in almost all archaea and in some bacteria, including human pathogens. The enzyme is a good target for discovery of antibiotics because it is essential for the organisms that use only the mevalonate pathway to produce the active isoprene units and because humans possess a nonhomologous isozyme, type 1 isopentenyl diphosphate isomerase. However, type 2 enzymes were reportedly inhibited by mechanism-based drugs for the type 1 enzyme due to their surprisingly similar reaction mechanisms. Thus, a different approach is now required to develop new inhibitors specific to the type 2 enzyme. X-ray crystallography and gel filtration chromatography revealed that the enzyme from a thermoacidophilic archaeon, Sulfolobus shibatae, is in the octameric state at a high concentration. Interestingly, a part of the regions that are involved in the substrate binding in the previously reported tetrameric structures is integral to the formation of the tetramer-tetramer interface in the substrate-free octameric structure. Site-directed mutagenesis at such regions resulted in stabilization of the tetramer. Small-angle X-ray scattering, tryptophan fluorescence, and dynamic light scattering analyses showed that substrate binding causes the dissociation of an octamer into tetramers. This property, i.e., incompatibility between octamer formation and substrate binding, might provide clues to develop new specific inhibitors of the archaeal enzyme.     

Reuptake of extracellular amelogenin by dental epithelial cells results in increased levels of amelogenin mRNA through enhanced mRNA stabilization

Amelogenin is an extracellular matrix protein secreted by ameloblasts and is a major component of enamel matrix. Recently, in addition to their role in enamel formation, the biological activity of enamel proteins in the process of cell differentiation has recently become widely appreciated. In this study, we examined the biological activity of amelogenin on ameloblast differentiation. Recombinant mouse amelogenin (rm-amelogenin) enhanced the expression of endogenous amelogenin mRNA in a cultured dental epithelial cell line (HAT-7), despite a lack of increased amelogenin promoter activity. To solve this discrepancy, we analyzed the effects of rm-amelogenin on the stability of amelogenin mRNA. The half-life of amelogenin mRNA is extremely short, but in the presence of rm-amelogenin its half-life was extended three times longer than the control. Furthermore, we showed the entry of exogenous fluorescein isothiocyanate-conjugated rm-amelogenin into the cytoplasm of HAT-7 cells. It follows from our results that exogenous amelogenin increases amelogenin mRNA levels through stabilization of mRNA in the cytoplasm of HAT-7 cells. Here we speculated that during differentiation, dental epithelial cells utilize a unique mechanism for increasing the production of amelogenin, the reuptake of secreted amelogenin.