Extracellular Protease of Pseudomonas fluorescens CHA0, a Biocontrol Factor with Activity against the Root-Knot Nematode Meloidogyne incognita

In Pseudomonas fluorescens CHA0, mutation of the GacA-controlled aprA gene (encoding the major extracellular protease) or the gacA regulatory gene resulted in reduced biocontrol activity against the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita during tomato and soybean infection. Culture supernatants of strain CHA0 inhibited egg hatching and induced mortality of M. incognita juveniles more strongly than did supernatants of aprA and gacA mutants, suggesting that AprA protease contributes to biocontrol.     

Diversity of plants in cocoa agroforests in the humid forest zone of Southern Cameroon

In the humid forest zone of Southern Cameroon, farmers generally associate cocoa with native and exotic trees in complex agroforestry systems. Despite the socio-economic and ecological importance of these systems, few studies have investigated their plant composition. We investigated tree composition of cocoa agroforests along a gradient of market access, population density and resource use intensity in the humid forest zone of southern Cameroon, comprising (i) the sub-region of Yaoundé, (ii) the sub-region of Mbalmayo, and (iii) the sub-region of Ebolowa. Market access, population density and resource use intensity all decreased from the first to the third sub-region. We quantified the diversity of tree species associated with cocoa within individual agroforests, among agroforests in the same region, and among the three sub-regions, and classified the tree species according to their main uses. A total of 9.1 ha belonging to 60 cocoa agroforests were inventoried in 12 villages. We encountered a total of 206 tree species with an average of 21 tree species per agroforest. In the more urbanized area around Yaoundé, agroforests were less diverse than in the other sub-regions. In all of the agroforests, food producing tree species tended to be more frequent than other species. Two thirds of the food trees were native forest species and one third was introduced. From Ebolowa to Yaoundé, the density of food producing trees doubled and the density of exotic food-producing species increased relative to native species. Some local species producing high-value non-timber forest products were found in the agroforests, but their density was far lower than that of exotic tree species. The agroforests also provide medicine, charcoal and other products for household consumption and sale. We conclude that unless there are specific efforts to promote local forest tree species in cocoa agroforests, these will progressively lose importance with increasing market access, population pressure and land use intensity.     

MolMod – an open access database of force fields for molecular simulations of fluids

The MolMod database is presented, which is openly accessible at http://molmod.boltzmann-zuse.de and contains intermolecular force fields for over 150 pure fluids at present. It was developed and is maintained by the Boltzmann-Zuse Society for Computational Molecular Engineering (BZS). The set of molecular models in the MolMod database provides a coherent framework for molecular simulations of fluids. The molecular models in the MolMod database consist of Lennard-Jones interaction sites, point charges, and point dipoles and quadrupoles, which can be equivalently represented by multiple point charges. The force fields can be exported as input files for the simulation programmes ms2 and ls1 mardyn, GROMACS, and LAMMPS. To characterise the semantics associated with the numerical database content, a force field nomenclature is introduced that can also be used in other contexts in materials modelling at the atomistic and mesoscopic levels. The models of the pure substances that are included in the database were generally optimised such as to yield good representations of experimental data of the vapour–liquid equilibrium with a focus on the vapour pressure and the saturated liquid density. In many cases, the models also yield good predictions of caloric, transport, and interfacial properties of the pure fluids. For all models, references to the original works in which they were developed are provided. The models can be used straightforwardly for predictions of properties of fluid mixtures using established combination rules. Input errors are a major source of errors in simulations. The MolMod database contributes to reducing such errors.     

Asthenozoospermia in mice with targeted deletion of the sperm mitochondrion-associated cysteine-rich protein (Smcp) gene

The sperm mitochondria-associated cysteine-rich protein (SMCP) is a cysteine- and proline-rich structural protein that is closely associated with the keratinous capsules of sperm mitochondria in the mitochondrial sheath surrounding the outer dense fibers and axoneme. To investigate the function of SMCP, we generated mice with a targeted disruption of the gene Smcp by homologous recombination. Homozygous mutant males on a mixed genetic background (C57BL/6J x 129/Sv) are fully fertile, while they are infertile on the 129/Sv background, although spermatogenesis and mating are normal. Homozygous Smcp(-/-) female mice are fertile on both genetic backgrounds. Electron microscopical examination demonstrated normal structures of sperm head, mitochondria, and tail. In vivo experiments with sperm of Smcp(-/-) 129/Sv mice revealed that the migration of spermatozoa from the uterus into the oviduct is reduced. This result is supported by the observation that sperm motility as determined by the computer-assisted semen analysis system (CASA) is significantly affected as compared to wild-type spermatozoa. In vitro fertilization assays showed that Smcp-deficient spermatozoa are able to bind to the oocyte but that the number of fertilized eggs is reduced by more than threefold relative to the wild-type control. However, removal of the zona pellucida resulted in an unaffected sperm-egg fusion which was monitored by the presence of pronuclei and generation of blastocyts. These results indicate that the infertility of the male Smcp(-/-) mice on the 129/Sv background is due to reduced motility of the spermatozoa and decreased capability of the spermatozoa to penetrate oocytes.     

Monitoring gradient formation in a jet aerated bioreactor

Jet aerated loop reactors (JLRs) provide high mass transfer coefficients (k_La) and can be used for the intensification of mass transfer limited reactions. The jet loop reactor achieves higher k_La values than a stirred tank reactor (STR). The improvement relies on significantly higher local power inputs (～10⁴) than those obtainable with the STR. Operation at high local turnover rates requires efficient macromixing, otherwise reactor inhomogeneities might occur. If sufficient homogenization is not achieved, the selectivity of the reaction and the respective yields are decreased. Therefore, the balance between mixing and mass transfer in jet loop reactors is a critical design aspect. Monitoring the dissolved oxygen levels during the turnover of a steady sodium sulfite feed implied the abundance of gradients in the JLR. Prolonged mixing times at identical power input and aeration rates (～100%) were identified for the JLR in comparison to the STR. The insertion of a draft tube to the JLR led to a more homogenous dissolved oxygen distribution, but unfortunately a reduction of mixing time was not achieved. In case of increased medium viscosities as they may arise in high cell density cultivations, no gradient formation was detected. However, differences in medium viscosity significantly altered the mass transfer and mixing performance of the JLR.     

Structural basis of successive adenosine modifications by the conserved ribosomal methyltransferase KsgA

Biogenesis of ribosomal subunits involves enzymatic modifications of rRNA that fine-tune functionally important regions. The universally conserved prokaryotic dimethyltransferase KsgA sequentially modifies two universally conserved adenosine residues in helix 45 of the small ribosomal subunit rRNA, which is in proximity of the decoding site. Here we present the cryo-EM structure of Escherichia coli KsgA bound to an E. coli 30S at a resolution of 3.1 Å. The high-resolution structure reveals how KsgA recognizes immature rRNA and binds helix 45 in a conformation where one of the substrate nucleotides is flipped-out into the active site. We suggest that successive processing of two adjacent nucleotides involves base-flipping of the rRNA, which allows modification of the second substrate nucleotide without dissociation of the enzyme. Since KsgA is homologous to the essential eukaryotic methyltransferase Dim1 involved in 40S maturation, these results have also implications for understanding eukaryotic ribosome maturation.     

Study on the Effect of Poly(Styrene 4-Sulfonic Acid-co-Maleic Acid) Toward Metallization and Plasmonic Tuning of Silver Nanoparticle Thin Films

Thin films with tunable optical properties from yellow to metallic were prepared from a monolayer coating of silver nanoparticles (AgNP) onto a polyelectrolyte multilayer (PEM) thin film. The AgNP were synthesized using various concentrations of stabilizing polyelectrolytes leading to a competitive adsorption concept in which AgNP compete with excess polyelectrolytes to coat the cationic PEM top layer. The AgNP were synthesized by chemical reduction of Ag salts using poly(styrene 4-sulfonic acid-co-maleic acid) (PSS-co-MA) as stabilizing agent to produce nanoparticles coated with both a strong acid (sulfonic) and a weak acid (carboxylic) moiety. Although all the nanoparticle solutions displayed a characteristic bright yellow due to the localized surface plasmon band around 420 nm, the monolayer films of nanoparticles obtained after dipping displayed striking different optical properties. When using a high PSS-co-MA content in the solution, a pale-yellow film was obtained which color shifted to orange and metallic when the capping concentration was decreased from 0.25 to 0.001 mM. The optical properties of the AgNP film could be further changed by galvanic replacement of the Ag with gold ions to produce a gold monolayer. These results are interesting to produce surface with tunable catalytic properties, tunable optical properties, or to be used as primer for the metallization of polymeric surfaces.