Bidirectional communication system in katydids: the effect on chorus structure

Unlike most acoustic systems evolved for pair formation whereonly males signal, the katydidPhaneroptera nana has a bidirectional communication system where both males and females sing. Despiteextensive study on male chorusing behavior in different communicationsystems, this behavior has rarely been explored in duettingspecies. I examined how this bidirectional communication systemaffects the collective pattern of male signaling.P. nana malesalternate their songs, and in response to synthetic stimulidelay their calls, according to the phase of stimulation. Pairsof synthetic calls (simulating alternating males) presentedto females elicited equal female response, as long as the intercallinterval was 200 ms. Thus, male alternation is imposed by thefemale's responsiveness and may be interpreted as a "jammingavoidance reaction." Further evidence suggests that chorusstructure is not merely constrained by the female sensory temporalresolution, but rather is adaptively related to female choicein this species.     

Functional restitution of cardiac control in heart transplant patients

Cardiovascular control is fundamentally altered after heart transplantation (HT) because of surgical denervation of the heart. The main goal of this work was the noninvasive characterization of cardiac rate control mechanisms after HT and the understanding of their nature. We obtained 25 recordings from 13 male HT patients [age = 28-68 yr, time after transplant (TAT) = 0.5-62.5 mo]. The control group included 14 healthy men (age = 28-59 yr). Electrocardiogram, continuous blood pressure (BP), and respiration were recorded for 45 min in the supine position and then during active change of posture (CP) to standing. The signals were analyzed in the time domain [mean and variance of heart rate (HR) and rise time of HR in response to CP] and the frequency domain [low and high frequency (LF and HF)]. Our principal finding was the consistent pattern of evolution of the HR response to standing: from no response, via a slow response (>40 s, TAT > 6 wk), to a fast increase (<20 s, TAT > 24 mo). HR response correlated with TAT (P < 0.001). LF correlated with HR response to CP (P < 0.0001); HF and HR did not. An important finding was the presence of very-high-frequency peaks in the power spectrum of HR and BP fluctuations. Extensive arrhythmias tended to appear at the TAT that corresponds to the transition from slow to fast HR response to CP. Our results indicate a biphasic evolution in cardiac control mechanisms from lack of control to a first-order control loop followed by partial sympathetic reinnervation and, finally, the direct effect of the old sinoatrial node on the pacemaker cell of the new sinoatrial node. There was no indication of vagal reinnervation.     

Enzymatic synthesis and purification of aromatic coenzyme a esters

Two recombinant His-tagged proteins, a plant 4-coumarate:coenzyme A ligase (EC 6.2.1.12) and a bacterial benzoate:coenzyme A ligase (EC 6.2.1.25), were expressed in Escherichia coli and purified in a single step using Ni-chelating chromatography. Purified enzymes were used to synthesize cinnamoyl-coenzyme A (CoA), p-coumaroyl-CoA, feruloyl-CoA, caffeoyl-CoA, and benzoyl-CoA. Conversions up to 95% were achieved. Using a rapid solid-phase extraction procedure, the target CoA esters were isolated with yields of up to 80%. Structures were confirmed by analytical comparison with chemically synthesized reference compounds and electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry. The recombinant enzymes were stable for several months at -80 degrees C, thus providing a reliable and facile method to produce these delicate biological intermediates.     

Molecular dynamics simulation of dipalmitoylphosphatidylserine bilayer with Na+ counterions

We performed a molecular dynamics simulation of dipalmitoylphosphatidylserine (DPPS) bilayer with Na+ counterions. We found that hydrogen bonding between the NH group and the phosphate group leads to a reduction in the area per headgroup when compared to the area in dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine bilayer. The Na+ ions bind to the oxygen in the carboxyl group of serine, thus giving rise to a dipolar bilayer similar to dipalmitoylphosphatidylethanolamine bilayer. The results of the simulation show that counterions play a crucial role in determining the structural and electrostatic properties of DPPS bilayer.     

Axoplasmic importins enable retrograde injury signaling in lesioned nerve

Axoplasmic proteins containing nuclear localization signals (NLS) signal retrogradely by an unknown mechanism in injured nerve. Here we demonstrate that the importin/karyopherin alpha and beta families underlie this process. We show that importins are found in axons at significant distances from the cell body and that importin beta protein is increased after nerve lesion by local translation of axonal mRNA. This leads to formation of a high-affinity NLS binding complex that traffics retrogradely with the motor protein dynein. Trituration of synthetic NLS peptide at the injury site of axotomized dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons delays their regenerative outgrowth, and NLS introduction to sciatic nerve concomitantly with a crush injury suppresses the conditioning lesion induced transition from arborizing to elongating growth in L4/L5 DRG neurons. These data suggest a model whereby lesion-induced upregulation of axonal importin beta may enable retrograde transport of signals that modulate the regeneration of injured neurons.     

An Arabidopsis thaliana gene for methylsalicylate biosynthesis, identified by a biochemical genomics approach, has a role in defense

Emission of methylsalicylate (MeSA), and occasionally of methylbenzoate (MeBA), from Arabidopsis thaliana leaves was detected following the application of some forms of both biotic and abiotic stresses to the plant. Maximal emission of MeSA was observed following alamethicin treatment of leaves. A gene (AtBSMT1) encoding a protein with both benzoic acid (BA) and salicylic acid (SA) carboxyl methyltransferase activities was identified using a biochemical genomics approach. Its ortholog (AlBSMT1) in A. lyrata, a close relative of A. thaliana, was also isolated. The AtBSMT1 protein utilizes SA more efficiently than BA, whereas AlBSMT1 catalyzes the methylation of SA less effectively than that of BA. The AtBSMT1 and AlBSMT1 genes showed expression in leaves under normal growth conditions and were more highly expressed in the flowers. In A. thaliana leaves, the expression of AtBSMT1 was induced by alamethicin, Plutella xylostella herbivory, uprooting, physical wounding, and methyl jasmonate. SA was not an effective inducer. Using a beta-glucuronidase (GUS) reporter approach, the promoter activity of AtBSMT1 was localized to the sepals of flowers, and also to leaf trichomes and hydathodes. Upon thrip damage to leaves, AtBSMT1 promoter activity was induced specifically around the lesions.     

MES-1, a protein required for unequal divisions of the germline in early C. elegans embryos, resembles receptor tyrosine kinases and is localized to the boundary between the germline and gut cells

During Caenorhabditis elegans embryogenesis the primordial germ cell, P(4), is generated via a series of unequal divisions. These divisions produce germline blastomeres (P(1), P(2), P(3), P(4)) that differ from their somatic sisters in their size, fate and cytoplasmic content (e.g. germ granules). mes-1 mutant embryos display the striking phenotype of transformation of P(4) into a muscle precursor, like its somatic sister. A loss of polarity in P(2) and P(3) cell-specific events underlies the Mes-1 phenotype. In mes-1 embryos, P(2) and P(3) undergo symmetric divisions and partition germ granules to both daughters. This paper shows that mes-1 encodes a receptor tyrosine kinase-like protein, though it lacks several residues conserved in all kinases and therefore is predicted not to have kinase activity. Immunolocalization analysis shows that MES-1 is present in four- to 24-cell embryos, where it is localized in a crescent at the junction between the germline cell and its neighboring gut cell. This is the region of P(2) and P(3) to which the spindle and P granules must move to ensure normal division asymmetry and cytoplasmic partitioning. Indeed, during early stages of mitosis in P(2) and P(3), one centrosome is positioned adjacent to the MES-1 crescent. Staining of isolated blastomeres demonstrated that MES-1 was present in the membrane of the germline blastomeres, consistent with a cell-autonomous function. Analysis of MES-1 distribution in various cell-fate and patterning mutants suggests that its localization is not dependent on the correct fate of either the germline or the gut blastomere but is dependent upon correct spatial organization of the embryo. Our results suggest that MES-1 directly positions the developing mitotic spindle and its associated P granules within P(2) and P(3), or provides an orientation signal for P(2)- and P(3)-specific events.     

Molecular dynamics simulation of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine membrane with cholesterol sulfate

Using the molecular dynamics simulation technique, we studied the changes occurring in a dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC):cholesterol (CH) membrane at 50 mol% sterol when cholesterol is replaced with cholesterol sulfate (CS). Our simulations were performed at constant pressure and temperature on a nanosecond time scale. We found that 1) the area per DPPC:CS heterodimer is greater than the area of the DPPC:CH heterodimer; 2) CS increases ordering of DPPC acyl chains, but to a lesser extent than CH; 3) the number of hydrogen bonds between DPPC and water is decreased in a CS-containing membrane, but CS forms more water hydrogen bonds than CH; and 4) the membrane dipole potential reverses its sign for a DPPC-CS membrane compared to a DPPC-CH bilayer. We also studied the changes occurring in lipid headgroup conformations and determined the location of CS molecules in the membrane. Our results are in good agreement with the data available from experiments.