The soils of the Pampas are thought to be generally non-contaminated but there is growing evidence of trace element accumulation at some specific sites. The goal of this study was to measure the current levels of the main Potentially Toxic Elements (PTE) in the top horizon and in specific soil profiles so that we would establish the baseline concentrations of these elements. Eighty-eight top soils and three soil profiles were sampled. The samples were acid digested. Arsenic, boron, barium, cadmium, cobalt, chromium, copper, lead, manganese, mercury, molybdenum, nickel, silver, selenium and zinc were determined with inductively coupled argon plasma emission spectrometry (ICPES).
All of the values found are within the normal range for uncontaminated soils as reported from several continents. Elements with high environmental risk potential are lower than the admissible range of the European Union and some of them are orders of magnitude lower than those of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US-EPA) 501 levels. Potentially Toxic Elements contents increased with depth or showed a maximum concentration at the B2 horizon. This is related to the parent material and the pedogenetic processes but not to recent contamination. Soil profiles showed higher concentrations of PTE in clayey horizons. However, these relationships did not appear in top soil samples in any soil Great Group studied. The shown data establishes a baseline for PTE concentrations for Pampas soils. 相似文献
The Gram negative anaerobic bacterium Porphyromonas gingivalis has long been recognized as a causative agent of periodontitis. Periodontitis is a chronic infectious disease of the tooth
supporting tissues eventually leading to tooth-loss. Capsular polysaccharide (CPS) of P. gingivalis has been shown to be an important virulence determinant. Seven capsular serotypes have been described. Here, we used micro-array
based comparative genomic hybridization analysis (CGH) to analyze a representative of each of the capsular serotypes and a
non-encapsulated strain against the highly virulent and sequenced W83 strain. We defined absent calls using Arabidopsis thaliana negative control probes, with the aim to distinguish between aberrations due to mutations and gene gain/loss. 相似文献
Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii are yeasts that cause meningoencephalitis, but that differ in host range and geographical distribution. Cryptococcus neoformans occurs world-wide and mostly infects immunocompromised patients, whereas C. gattii occurs mainly in (sub)tropical regions and infects healthy individuals. Anomalous C. neoformans strains were isolated from patients. These strains were found to be monokaryotic, and diploid or aneuploid. Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP) and sequence analyses indicated that AFLP genotypes 2 (C. neoformans) and 4 (C. gattii) were present. The strains were serologically BD. Mating- and serotype-specific PCR reactions showed that the strains were MATa-serotype D/MATalpha-serotype B. This study is the first to describe naturally occurring hybrids between C. neoformans and C. gattii. 相似文献
We report on the identification, molecular cloning, and characterization of
an alpha1,3 fucosyltransferase (alpha1,3FT) expressed by the nematode,
Caenorhabditis elegans . Although C. elegans glycoconjugates do not express
the Lewis x antigen Galbeta1-- >4[Fucalpha1-->3]GlcNAcbeta-->R,
detergent extracts of adult C.elegans contain an alpha1,3FT that can
fucosylate both nonsialylated and sialylated acceptor glycans to generate
the Lexand sialyl Lexantigens, as well as the lacdiNAc-containing acceptor
GalNAcbeta1-->4GlcNAcbeta1-- >R to generate GalNAcbeta1-->4
[Fucalpha1-->3]GlcNAcbeta1-->R. A search of the C.elegans genome
database revealed the existence of a gene with 20-23% overall identity to
all five cloned human alpha1,3FTs. The putative cDNA for the C.elegans
alpha1,3FT (CEFT-1) was amplified by PCR from a cDNA lambdaZAP library,
cloned, and sequenced. COS7 cells transiently transfected with cDNA
encoding CEFT-1 express the Lex, but not sLexantigen. The CEFT-1 in the
transfected cell extracts can synthesize Lex, but not sialyl Lex, using
exogenous acceptors. A second fucosyltransferase activity was detected in
extracts of C. elegans that transfers Fuc in alpha1,2 linkage to Gal
specifically on type-1 chains. The discovery of alpha-fucosyltransferases
in C. elegans opens the possibility of using this well-characterized
nematode as a model system for studying the role of fucosylated glycans in
the development and survival of C.elegans and possibly other helminths.
相似文献
Vibrational communication is important for successful mating in various stink bugs species. The vibrational signals from males and females of Dichelops melacanthus Dallas (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) are recorded from a nonresonant substrate (i.e. a loudspeaker membrane) to characterize the temporal and spectral properties of these vibrational signals, as well as on a resonant substrate (i.e. bean plants) to obtain information about how these signals are altered when they are transmitted through the plants. On the loudspeaker membrane, D. melacanthus males and females emit only one male or one female song, respectively. However, when the insects are placed on bean leaves, a more complex repertoire is recorded, with three different songs for each sex. The first female and male songs appear to have calling functions and the third male and female songs are emitted during courtship. The second female and male songs are emitted after the first song, although their functions in mating behaviour are not clear. The identified repertoire is similar to those of other Neotropical stink bugs, starting with songs 1 and 2 and developing into song 3. Frequency modulation is observed in the female songs recorded from the loudspeaker membrane and the plants. The signals recorded from plants present higher harmonic peaks compared with the signals recorded from the loudspeaker membrane. The presence of species and sex‐specific songs during mating confirms the important role of vibrational communication in mate location and recognition. The temporal and spectral characteristic signals are influenced by the substrate used to record the songs emitted by D. melacanthus. 相似文献
We address the problem of the possible significance of biological
speciation to the magnitude and pattern of divergence of asexually
transmitted characters in bisexual species. The empirical data for this
report consist of restriction endonuclease site variability in maternally
transmitted mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) isolated from 82 samples of
Peromyscus polionotus and P. leucopus collected from major portions of the
respective species' ranges. Data are analyzed together with previously
published information on P. maniculatus, a sibling species to polionotus.
Maps of restriction sites indicate that all of the variation observed can
be reasonably attributed to base substitutions leading to loss or gain of
particular recognition sites. Magnitude of mtDNA sequence divergence within
polionotus (maximum approximately equal to 2%) is roughly comparable to
that observed within any of five previously identified mtDNA assemblages in
maniculatus. Sequence divergence within leucopus (maximum approximately
equal to 4%) is somewhat greater than that within polionotus. Consideration
of probable evolutionary links among mtDNA restriction site maps allowed
estimation of matriarchal phylogenies within polionotus and leucopus.
Clustering algorithms and qualitative Wagner procedures were used to
generate phenograms and parsimony networks, respectively, for the
between-species comparisons. Three simple graphical models are presented to
illustrate some conceivable relationships of mtDNA differentiation to
speciation. In theoretical case I, each of two reproductively defined
species (A and B) is monophyletic in matriarchal genealogy; the common
female ancestor of either species can either predate or postdate the
speciation. In case II, neither species is monophyletic in matriarchal
genotype. In case III, species B is monophyletic but forms a subclade
within A which is thus paraphyletic with respect to B. The empirical
results for mtDNA in maniculatus and polionotus appear to conform closely
to case III. These theoretical and empirical considerations raise a number
of questions about the general relationship of the speciation process to
the evolution of uniparentally transmitted traits. Some of these
considerations are presented, and it is suggested that the distribution
patterns of mtDNA sequence variation within and among extant species should
be of considerable relevance to the particular demographies of speciation.
相似文献
Chromosome segregation depends on sister chromatid cohesion which is established by cohesin during DNA replication. Cohesive cohesin complexes become acetylated to prevent their precocious release by WAPL before cells have reached mitosis. To obtain insight into how DNA replication, cohesion establishment and cohesin acetylation are coordinated, we analysed the interaction partners of 55 human proteins implicated in these processes by mass spectrometry. This proteomic screen revealed that on chromatin the cohesin acetyltransferase ESCO2 associates with the MCM2‐7 subcomplex of the replicative Cdc45‐MCM‐GINS helicase. The analysis of ESCO2 mutants defective in MCM binding indicates that these interactions are required for proper recruitment of ESCO2 to chromatin, cohesin acetylation during DNA replication, and centromeric cohesion. We propose that MCM binding enables ESCO2 to travel with replisomes to acetylate cohesive cohesin complexes in the vicinity of replication forks so that these complexes can be protected from precocious release by WAPL. Our results also indicate that ESCO1 and ESCO2 have distinct functions in maintaining cohesion between chromosome arms and centromeres, respectively. 相似文献