Multivariate EEG spectral analysis evidences the functional link between motor and visual cortex during integrative sensorimotor tasks

The identification of the networks connecting brain areas and the understanding of their role in executing complex tasks is a crucial issue in cognitive neuroscience. In this study, specific visuomotor tasks were devised to reveal the functional network underlying the cooperation process between visual and motor regions. Electroencephalography (EEG) data were recorded from twelve healthy subjects during a combined visuomotor task, which integrated precise grip motor commands with sensory visual feedback (VM). This condition was compared with control tasks involving pure motor action (M), pure visual perception (V) and visuomotor performance without feedback (V + M). Multivariate parametric cross-spectral analysis was applied to ten EEG derivations in each subject to assess changes in the oscillatory activity of the involved cortical regions and quantify their coupling. Spectral decomposition was applied to precisely and objectively determine the power associated with each oscillatory component of the spectrum, while surrogate data analysis was performed to assess the statistical significance of estimated coherence values. A significant decrease of the alpha and/or beta power in EEG spectra with respect to rest values was assumed as indicative of specific cortical area activation during task execution. Indeed alpha band coherence increased in proximity of task-involved areas, while it was suppressed or remained unchanged in other regions, suggesting the activation of a specific network for each task. According to our coherence analysis, a direct link between visual and motor areas was activated during V + M and VM tasks. The effect of visual feedback was evident in the beta band, where the increase of coherence was observed only during the VM task. Multivariate analysis suggested the presence of a functional link between motor and visual cortex subserving sensorimotor integration. Furthermore, network activation was related to the sum of single task (M and V) local effects in the alpha band, and to the presence of visual feedback in the beta band.     

h-TBP: an approach based on intron-length polymorphism for the rapid isolation and characterization of the multiple members of the β-tubulin gene family in <Emphasis Type=Italic>Camelina sativa</Emphasis> (L.) Crantz

We have developed a new version of the cTBP (combinatorial tubulin-based polymorphism) method, a previously described approach based on intron-length polymorphism (ILP), to rapidly characterize the β-tubulin gene family of Camelina sativa (L.) Crantz, a plant species of importance for oil production but still largely unexplored at genomic level. The method, named h-TBP, allows the rapid cloning of the β-tubulin genomic sequences that encompass the two introns, invariantly present at fixed positions within the coding region of the vast majority of the plant species. The β-tubulin sequences cloned by h-TBP also comprise part of exon1 and exon3 and the whole sequence of exon2. The h-TBP method has then been used to isolate, clone and characterize the β-tubulin gene family of C. sativa, composed of at least 20 different β-tubulin isotypes, named CsTUB1 through CsTUB20. The relatively high number of β-tubulin genes has been further substantiated by Southern-blot analysis. Comparison of the β-tubulin exon sequences of C. sativa with those of Arabidopsis thaliana, the closest relative among crucifers, defines distinct groups of putative orthologous genes, identified by a UPMGA cluster analysis. Analysis of the C. sativa β-tubulin intron sequences reveals some molecular features that can provide the first hints for the understanding of intron plasticity and evolution. From a more immediate perspective, these data provide the first substantial contribution to the characterization of the largely unexplored genome of C. sativa, and the tools for assisting programmes of breeding and selection of the most productive plants.     

The extremo-α-carbonic anhydrase (CA) from Sulfurihydrogenibium azorense,the fastest CA known,is highly activated by amino acids and amines

The α-carbonic anhydrase (CA, EC 4.2.1.1) from the extremophilic bacterium Sulfurihydrogenibium azorense (SazCA) was recently shown to be the fastest CA known. Here we investigated this enzyme for its activation with a series of amino acids and amines. The best SazCA activators were d-Phe, l-DOPA, l- and d-Trp, dopamine and serotonin, which showed activation constants in the range of 3–23 nM. l- and d-His, l-Phe, l-Tyr, 2-pyridyl-methylamine and L-adrenaline were also effective activators (K_As in the range of 62–90 nM), whereas d-Dopa, d-Tyr and several heterocyclic amines showed activity in the micromolar range. The good thermal stability, robustness, very high catalytic activity and propensity to be activated by simple amino acids and amines, make SazCA a very interesting candidate for biomimetic CO₂ capture processes.     

Immunological Detection and Quantitation of Tryptophan Decarboxylase in Developing Catharanthus roseus Seedlings

l-Tryptophan decarboxylase (TDC) (EC 4.2.1.27) enzyme activity was induced in cell suspension cultures of Catharanthus roseus after treatment with a Pythium aphanidermatum elicitor preparation. The enzyme was extracted from lyophilized cells containing high levels of TDC and the protein was purified to homogeneity. The pure protein was used to produce highly specific polyclonal antibodies, and an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed to quantitate the level of TDC antigen during seedling development and in leaves of the mature plant. Western immunoblotting of proteins after SDS-PAGE with anti-TDC antibodies detected several immunoreactive proteins (40, 44, 54.8, 55, and 67 kilodaltons) which appeared at different stages during seedling development and in leaves of the mature plant. The major 54.8 and 55 kilodalton antigenic proteins in immunoblots appeared transiently between days 1 to 5 and 5 to 8 of seedling development, respectively. The 54.8 kilodalton protein was devoid of TDC enzyme activity, whereas the appearance of the 55 kilodalton protein coincided with the appearance of this decarboxylase activity. The minor immunoreactive proteins (40, 44, and 67 kilodaltons) appeared after day 5 of seedling development and in older leaves of the mature plant, and their relationship, if any, to TDC is presently unknown. Results suggest that the synthesis and degradation of TDC protein is highly regulated in Catharanthus roseus and that this regulation follows a preset developmental program.     

Carbon exchange and water use efficiency of a growing, irrigated olive orchard

We measured eddy covariance fluxes of CO₂ and H₂O over a flat irrigated olive orchard during growth, in different periods from Leaf Area Index (LAI) of 0.3–1.9; measurements of soil respiration were also collected. The daily net ecosystem exchange flux (F_NEE) was practically zero at LAI around 0.4 or when the orchard intercepted 11% of the incoming daily radiation; at the end of the experiment, with LAI of 1.9 (and the fraction of intercepted daily radiation close to 0.5), F_NEE was around 10 g CO₂ m⁻² day⁻¹. The night-time ecosystem respiration (R_eco), calculated from eddy fluxes in well-mixed night conditions, show a clear but non-linear dependence with LAI; it ranged from 0.05 to 0.15 mg CO₂ m⁻² s⁻¹ (in average), being the lower limit ideally close to the heterotrophic soil respiration at the site. The gross primary production flux (F_GPP) was linearly related to LAI within the LAI range of this experiment (with 11 g CO₂ m⁻² day⁻¹ increments per unit of LAI) and to the fraction of intercepted radiation. The maximum rates of F_GPP (0.75 mg CO₂ m⁻² s⁻¹) were obtained in the summer mornings of 2002, at LAI close to 1.9. F_GPP was strongly modulated by vapour pressure deficit (VPD) through the canopy conductance, even in absence of water stress. Hence, especially in the summer, the maximum rates of carbon assimilation are reached always before noon. The daily course of F_GPP shows a two-phase pattern, first related to irradiance and then to canopy conductance. The water use efficiency (WUE) was, in average, 3.8, 6.3 and 7 g CO₂ L⁻¹ in 1999, 2001 and 2002, respectively, with maxima always in the early morning. Hourly WUE was strongly related to VPD (WUE = −10.25 + 22.52 × VPD^−0.34). Our results suggest that drip irrigated orchards in general, and olive in particular, deserve specific carbon exchange and carbon budget studies and cannot be easily included in other biomes.     

Plasma glutamine decreases immediately after surgery and is related to incisiveness

Glutamine (gln) is the most abundant free amino acid in the blood. It is involved in important metabolic and biochemical processes, like cell proliferation and oxidative stress. Previous studies have demonstrated that gln concentration in human plasma decreases in several conditions such as sepsis, ischemia-reperfusion, trauma, major surgery and burn. The aim of the present work was to compare the acute effects of different types of surgical interventions and of anesthetization on blood gln concentration. Plasma samples from 88 subjects (30 males and 58 females) were collected before and after major or minor surgery and the gln concentration was analyzed with high-performance liquid chromatography. The results showed that plasma gln concentration after surgery was lower than pre-surgery values and that in major surgery the decrease of gln was higher than in minor surgery. No significant effect was shown for sex or type of anesthesia. These results demonstrate the importance of a gln supplementation before a surgical intervention and show that the amount of gln supplementation should also be adjusted based on the type of surgery.     

Evidence that alpha7 nicotinic receptor modulates glutamate release from mouse neocortical gliosomes

The presence of nicotinic receptors on astrocytes in human and rat brain has been previously demonstrated however their possible functional role is still poorly understood. In this study we investigated on the presence of nicotinic receptors on gliosomes, purified from mouse cortex, and on their role in eliciting glutamate release. Epibatidine significantly increased basal release of [3H]D-aspartate and of endogenous glutamate from mouse gliosomes but not from synaptosomes. This effect was prevented by methyllycaconitine, alpha-bungarotoxin and mecamylamine but not by dihydro-beta-erythroidine. Epibatidine provoked also a significant increase of calcium concentration in gliosomes but not in synaptosomes; the increase in [Ca2+]i induced by epibatidine and KCl in gliosomes was very similar to each other. The present results indicate that alpha7 nicotinic receptors exist on mouse cortical glial particles and stimulate glutamate release.     

Leveraging substrate flexibility and product selectivity of acetogens in two‐stage systems for chemical production

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) stands out as sustainable feedstock for developing a circular carbon economy whose energy supply could be obtained by boosting the production of clean hydrogen from renewable electricity. H₂‐dependent CO₂ gas fermentation using acetogenic microorganisms offers a viable solution of increasingly demonstrated value. While gas fermentation advances to achieve commercial process scalability, which is currently limited to a few products such as acetate and ethanol, it is worth taking the best of the current state‐of‐the‐art technology by its integration within innovative bioconversion schemes. This review presents multiple scenarios where gas fermentation by acetogens integrate into double‐stage biotechnological production processes that use CO₂ as sole carbon feedstock and H₂ as energy carrier for products'' synthesis. In the integration schemes here reviewed, the first stage can be biotic or abiotic while the second stage is biotic. When the first stage is biotic, acetogens act as a biological platform to generate chemical intermediates such as acetate, formate and ethanol that become substrates for a second fermentation stage. This approach holds the potential to enhance process titre/rate/yield metrics and products'' spectrum. Alternatively, when the first stage is abiotic, the integrated two‐stage scheme foresees, in the first stage, the catalytic transformation of CO₂ into C₁ products that, in the second stage, can be metabolized by acetogens. This latter scheme leverages the metabolic flexibility of acetogens in efficient utilization of the products of CO₂ abiotic hydrogenation, namely formate and methanol, to synthesize multicarbon compounds but also to act as flexible catalysts for hydrogen storage or production.

Carbon dioxide recycling is a compelling need and microbial carbon dioxide fixation in value‐added compounds is a valuable opportunity. Fermentation of CO₂ gas streams using acetogenic bacteria is consolidating as a key biotechnology to move toward a cyclic carbon economy. Throughout the review, we pinpointed an ample range of products that are technically attainable by reframing a CO₂‐based gas fermentation process within a two‐stage context with the aim of highlighting some avenues available for fruitful exploitation of the current technology.