Ribosome biogenesis factor OLI2 and its interactor BRX1-2 are associated with morphogenesis and lifespan extension in Arabidopsis thaliana

Mutations that reduce the expression of ribosomal proteins (RPs) or limit the activity of ribosome biogenesis-related factors frequently cause physiological and morphological changes in Arabidopsis. Arabidopsis OLI2/NOP2A, a homolog of yeast Nop2, encodes a nucleolar methyltransferase that is required for the maturation of the 25S ribosomal RNA of the 60S large ribosomal subunit. Mutant oli2 plants exhibit pointed leaves and shortened primary roots. In this study, detailed phenotypic analysis of oli2 mutant and OLI2 overexpressor lines revealed a range of phenotypes. Seeds produced by oli2 mutant and OLI2 overexpressor plants were lighter and heavier than wild-type seeds, respectively. Seeds of the oli2 mutant also showed delayed germination, whereas seeds from the OLI2 overexpressor lines germinated earlier than the wild type. The oli2 mutant also had fewer and shorter lateral roots than the wild type. The lateral root development phenotype in the oli2 mutant was similar to that of auxin-related mutants, but was not enhanced by exogenously supplied auxin. Furthermore, the oli2 mutant and OLI2 overexpressor lines were hypersensitive and less sensitive to high concentrations of sugar, respectively. Split-GFP-based bimolecular fluorescence complementation analysis revealed that OLI2 interacted with a nucleolar protein, BRX1-2, which is involved in rRNA processing for the large ribosomal subunit. Moreover, overexpression of OLI2 and BRX1-2 caused similar morphological changes, including extension of plant lifespans. These results suggest that the functions of OLI2 and its interactor BRX1-2 are intimately associated with a range of developmental events in Arabidopsis.     

An A alpha Ser-434 to N-glycosylated Asn substitution in a dysfibrinogen, fibrinogen Caracas II, characterized by impaired fibrin gel formation.

We have identified a unique N-glycosylated Asn substitution for a Ser at position 434 of the A alpha chain of an abnormal fibrinogen designated fibrinogen Caracas II. This dysfibrinogen was characterized by impaired fibrin monomer aggregation. Since there were 4 Thr residues immediately following the mutation, a new Asn-X-Thr/Ser-type consensus sequence, Asn-Thr-Thr arose for N-glycosylation of the Asn. The extra oligosaccharide was found to consist mainly of a disialylated biantennary structure comprising 81.9%, while a neutral and a monosialylated biantennary oligosaccharide represented only 3.6% and 14.5%, respectively. The mutation resides in the carboxyl-terminal region of the A alpha chain, which could fold back to form an extra small globular region located near the central region of the molecule (Erickson, H.P., and Fowler, W.E. (1983) Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 408, 146-163; Weisel, H.P., Stauffacher, C.V., Bullitt, E., and Cohen, C. (1985) Science 230, 3124-3133). Therefore, the participation of this region, referred to as an additional central domain or an alpha domain, in fibrin gel formation is strongly implicated.     

Possible involvement of Hcn1 ion channel in learning and memory dysfunction in SAMP8 mice

The senescence-accelerated mouse prone 8 (SAMP8) strain exhibits age-related learning and memory deficits (LMD) at 2 months of age. Combined linkage analysis of 264 F2 intercross SAMP8 × JF1 mice and RNA-seq analysis identified Hcn1 gene out of 29 genes in the LMD region on chromosome 13. Hcn1 in SAMP8 strain showed 15 times less polyglutamine repetition compared to Japanese fancy mouse 1 (JF1). Whole cell patch clamp analysis showed that Hcn1 ion conductivity was significantly lower in SAMP8 compared to that of JF1, which may be associated with learning and memory deficiency.     

Novel autotrophic nitrogen removal system using gel entrapment technology

A pilot plant involving a nitritation-anammox process was operated for treating digester supernatant. In the preceding nitritation process, ammonium-oxidizing bacteria were immobilized in gel carriers, and the growth of nitrite-oxidizing bacteria was suppressed by heat-shock treatment. For the following anammox process, in order to maintain the anammox biomass in the reactor, a novel process using anammox bacteria entrapped in gel carriers was also developed. The nitritation performance was stable, and the average nitrogen loading and nitritation rates were 3.0 and 1.7 kg N m⁻³ d⁻¹, respectively. In the nitritation process, nitrate production was completely suppressed. For the anammox process, the startup time was about two months. Stable nitrogen removal was achieved, and an average nitrogen conversion rate of 5.0 kg N m⁻³ d⁻¹ was obtained. Since the anammox bacteria were entrapped in gel carriers, stable nitrogen removal performance was attained even at an influent suspended solids concentration of 1500 mg L⁻¹.     

Rapid detection of blaIMP-6 by amplification refractory mutation system

Klebsiella pneumoniae resistant to almost all ß-lactams except imipenem designated as ISMRK (imipenem-susceptible meropenem-resistant Klebsiella) is emerging in Japan. All ISMRK carries bla_IMP-6 which differs from bla_IMP-1 by only a single nucleotide at position 640. We devised a rapid detection system of bla_IMP-6 by using ARMS PCR.     

Possible use of heterospecific food-associated calls of macaques by sika deer for foraging efficiency

Heterospecific communication signals sometimes convey relevant information for animal survival. For example, animals use or eavesdrop on heterospecific alarm calls concerning common predators. Indeed, most observations have been reported regarding anti-predator strategies. Use of heterospecific signals has rarely been observed as part of a foraging strategy. Here, I report empirical evidence, collected using playback experiments, showing that Japanese sika deer, Cevus nippon, use heterospecific food calls of Japanese macaques, Macaca fuscata yakui, for foraging efficiency. The deer and macaques both inhabit the wild forest of Yakushima Island with high population densities and share many food items. Anecdotal observations suggest that deer often wait to browse fruit falls under the tree where a macaque group is foraging. Furthermore, macaques frequently produce food calls during their foraging. If deer effectively obtain fruit from the leftovers of macaques, browsing fruit fall would provide a potential benefit to the deer, and, further, deer are likely to associate macaque food calls with feeding activity. The results showed that playback of macaque food calls under trees gathered significantly more deer than silence control periods. These results suggest that deer can associate macaque food calls with foraging activities and use heterospecific calls for foraging efficiency.     

Urban development and sustainability challenges chronicled by a century of construction material flows and stocks in Tiexi,China

Construction materials are considerable forces of global environmental impacts, but their dynamics vis‐à‐vis urban development are poorly documented, in part because their long lifespans require elusive and sometimes nonexistent decade‐long high‐resolution data. This study analyzes the construction material flow and stock trends that shaped and were shaped by the development, decline, and renewal of the Tiexi district of Shenyang, a microcosm of China's urban transformations since the early 20th century. Chronicling building‐by‐building the material flows and stock accumulations involved in the buildup of this area, we shed light on the physical resource context of its socioeconomic history. We find that 42 million tonnes of construction materials were needed to develop the Tiexi district from 1910 to 2018, and 18 million tonnes of material outflows were generated by end‐of‐life building demolition. However, over 55% of inflows and 93% of outflows occurred since 2002 during a complete redevelopment of the district. Only small portions of end‐of‐life materials could have been reused or recycled because of temporal and typological mismatches of supply and demand and technical limitations. Our analysis reveals a dramatic decrease in median building lifetimes to as low as 6 years in the early 21st century. These findings contribute to the discussion of long‐term environmental efficiency and sustainability of societal development through construction and reflect on the challenges of urban renewal processes not only in China but also in other developing and developed countries that lost (or may lose) their traditional economic base and restructure their urban forms. This article met the requirements for a Silver/Silver JIE data openness badge described at http://jie.click/badges .