A biogeochemistry‐based dynamic vegetation model and its application along a moisture gradient in the continental United States

Abstract. We develop and evaluate a large‐scale dynamic vegetation model, TEM‐LPJ, which considers interactions among water, light and nitrogen in simulating ecosystem function and structure. We parameterized the model for three plant functional types (PFTs): a temperate deciduous forest, a temperate coniferous forest, and a temperate C₃ grassland. Model parameters were determined using data from forest stands at the Harvard Forest in Massachusetts. Applications of the model reasonably simulated stand development over 120 yr for Populus tremuloides in Wisconsin and for Pinus elliottii in Florida. Our evaluation of tree‐grass interactions simulated by the model indicated that competition for light led to dominance by the deciduous forest PFT in moist regions of eastern United States and that water competition led to dominance by the grass PFT in dry regions of the central United States. Along a moisture transect at 41.5° N in the eastern United States, simulations by TEM‐LPJ reproduced the composition of potential temperate deciduous forest, temperate savanna, and C3 grassland located along the transect.     

New Recombinant Escherichia coli Strain Tailored for the Production of Poly(3-Hydroxybutyrate) from Agroindustrial By-Products

A recombinant E. coli strain (K24K) was constructed and evaluated for poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) production from whey and corn steep liquor as main carbon and nitrogen sources. This strain bears the pha biosynthetic genes from Azotobacter sp. strain FA8 expressed from a T5 promoter under the control of the lactose operator. K24K does not produce the lactose repressor, ensuring constitutive expression of genes involved in lactose transport and utilization. PHB was efficiently produced by the recombinant strain grown aerobically in fed-batch cultures in a laboratory scale bioreactor on a semisynthetic medium supplemented with the agroindustrial by-products. After 24 h, cells accumulated PHB to 72.9% of their cell dry weight, reaching a volumetric productivity of 2.13 g PHB per liter per hour. Physical analysis of PHB recovered from the recombinants showed that its molecular weight was similar to that of PHB produced by Azotobacter sp. strain FA8 and higher than that of the polymer from Cupriavidus necator and that its glass transition temperature was approximately 20°C higher than those of PHBs from the natural producer strains.     

Cytotoxic T lymphocyte lysis of HTLV-1 infected cells is limited by weak HBZ protein expression,but non-specifically enhanced on induction of Tax expression

Background

Immunogenetic evidence indicates that cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) specific for the weak CTL antigen HBZ limit HTLV-1 proviral load in vivo, whereas there is no clear relationship between the proviral load and the frequency of CTLs specific for the immunodominant antigen Tax. In vivo, circulating HTLV-1-infected cells express HBZ mRNA in contrast, Tax expression is typically low or undetectable. To elucidate the virus-suppressing potential of CTLs targeting HBZ, we compared the ability of HBZ- and Tax-specific CTLs to lyse naturally-infected cells, by co-incubating HBZ- and Tax-specific CTL clones with primary CD4⁺ T cells from HLA-matched HTLV-1-infected donors. We quantified lysis of infected cells, and tested whether specific virus-induced host cell surface molecules determine the susceptibility of infected cells to CTL-mediated lysis.

Results

Primary infected cells upregulated HLA-A*02, ICAM-1, Fas and TRAIL-R1/2 in concert with Tax expression, forming efficient targets for both HTLV-1-specific CTLs and CTLs specific for an unrelated virus. We detected expression of HBZ mRNA (spliced isoform) in both Tax-expressing and non-expressing infected cells, and the HBZ_26–34 epitope was processed and presented by cells transfected with an HBZ expression plasmid. However, when coincubated with primary cells, a high-avidity HBZ-specific CTL clone killed significantly fewer infected cells than were killed by a Tax-specific CTL clone. Finally, incubation with Tax- or HBZ-specific CTLs resulted in a significant decrease in the frequency of cells expressing high levels of HLA-A*02.

Conclusions

HTLV-1 gene expression in primary CD4⁺ T cells non-specifically increases susceptibility to CTL lysis. Despite the presence of HBZ spliced-isoform mRNA, HBZ epitope presentation by primary cells is significantly less efficient than that of Tax.