Nomenclature systems for the neuroprostanes and for the neurofurans

The isolation of two new classes of human docosahexaenoic acid oxidation products, the neuroprostanes and the neurofurans, have been reported. Facile nomenclature systems that will allow the rational differentiation of each of the isomeric structures comprising the families of NeuroP's and NeuroF's, represented, respectively, by 17-F(4t)-NeuroP 1 and 10-epi-ST-Delta(15)-11-NeuroF 2 are presented.     

What's good for the host is good for the bug

Tuberculosis, caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, kills approximately two million people each year. The infection is characterized by an inflammatory response culminating in the formation of a granuloma, a collection of immune cells that controls the infection. However, the granuloma can be the source of immunopathology that encourages transmission. Recent data support the idea that mycobacterial products can positively and negatively regulate the inflammatory response. Our contention is that induction of the immune response and subsequent granuloma formation is beneficial to the host for control of infection, and is also beneficial to the bacillus, as a place to hide and as a means for transmitting the infection to naive hosts.     

Competition for water for the food system

Although the global agricultural system will need to provide more food for a growing and wealthier population in decades to come, increasing demands for water and potential impacts of climate change pose threats to food systems. We review the primary threats to agricultural water availability, and model the potential effects of increases in municipal and industrial (M&I) water demands, environmental flow requirements (EFRs) and changing water supplies given climate change. Our models show that, together, these factors cause an 18 per cent reduction in the availability of worldwide water for agriculture by 2050. Meeting EFRs, which can necessitate more than 50 per cent of the mean annual run-off in a basin depending on its hydrograph, presents the single biggest threat to agricultural water availability. Next are increases in M&I demands, which are projected to increase upwards of 200 per cent by 2050 in developing countries with rapidly increasing populations and incomes. Climate change will affect the spatial and temporal distribution of run-off, and thus affect availability from the supply side. The combined effect of these factors can be dramatic in particular hotspots, which include northern Africa, India, China, parts of Europe, the western US and eastern Australia, among others.     

MipZ: one for the pole, two for the DNA

In this issue of Molecular Cell,Kiekebusch et al. (2012) show that a novel regulatory mechanism of the ATPase cycle of MipZ, together with nonspecific DNA binding, generates the MipZ gradient that spatially regulates Z ring formation in Caulobacter crescentus.     

Eigenanalysis for the Kolmogorov backward equation for the neutral multi-allelic model

In a previous paper [9], we have given an algorithm for obtaining the time dependent solution of all polynomial moments of gene frequencies in neutral models. The recurrence formula for the moment generating functions obtained in [9] gives information about the eigenvalues and the eigenfunctions in neutral models. In this article, we solve the eigenvalue problem for the Kolmogorov backward equation for the case of neutral alleles under mutation pressure.     

Evidence for linkage between the locus for the AB0-system and the locus for phosphoglucoseisomerase (PGI)

Summary The investigation of 2 families with 9 informative siblings seems to give some evidence for linkage between the structural loci for AB0 and PGI. The recombination frequency is 1/9 or 0.1.Supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.     

Evidence for the spatial separation of the binding sites for substrate and for cytoskeletal proteins on the enzyme aldolase

The effect of the proteolysis of aldolase on both the substrate specificity of the enzyme and binding capacity for actin have been studied. Carboxypeptidase A, trypsin, chymotrypsin and pepsin, all acted to cleave peptides from the C-terminal portion of the enzyme, resulting initially in a marked loss of activity towards fructose-1:6-bisphosphate (FBP), without impairment of activity towards fructose-1-phosphate (F1P). In some cases, however, further proteolysis caused reductions in activity with F1P as well. By correlating the size of the peptide fragments released by these enzymes with the known sequence of aldolase, evidence has been provided that cleavage of His-359 and/or Tyr-361 lead to the loss of FBP activity, while further cleavage of up to six amino acids begin to affect activity against F1P, as well. In regard to the ability of the proteolysed aldolase to bind to F-actin, it was evident from these studies that binding ability was not impaired in the initial stages of proteolysis referred to above, but was retained until the enzyme was extensively degraded. This differential behaviour of the active and binding sites on aldolase clearly establish their separate topographical localization. These results have been discussed in relation to the positioning of these separate sites on the enzyme, the nature of the interaction between aldolase and actin and the phenomenon of enzyme ambiquity in cells and tissues.