When 2D is not enough,go for an extra dimension

The use of an extra SDS separation in a different buffer system provide a technique for deconvoluting 2D gel spots made of several proteins (Colignon et al. Proteomics, 2013, 13, 2077–2082). This technique keeps the quantitative analysis of the protein amounts and combines it with a strongly improved identification process by mass spectrometry, removing identification ambiguities in most cases. In some favorable cases, posttranslational variants can be separated by this procedure. This versatile and easy to use technique is anticipated to be a very valuable addition to the toolbox used in 2D gel‐based proteomics.     

Differential Evolutionary Fate of an Ancestral Primate Endogenous Retrovirus Envelope Gene,the EnvV Syncytin,Captured for a Function in Placentation

Syncytins are envelope genes of retroviral origin that have been co-opted for a role in placentation. They promote cell–cell fusion and are involved in the formation of a syncytium layer—the syncytiotrophoblast—at the materno-fetal interface. They were captured independently in eutherian mammals, and knockout mice demonstrated that they are absolutely required for placenta formation and embryo survival. Here we provide evidence that these “necessary” genes acquired “by chance” have a definite lifetime with diverse fates depending on the animal lineage, being both gained and lost in the course of evolution. Analysis of a retroviral envelope gene, the envV gene, present in primate genomes and belonging to the endogenous retrovirus type V (ERV-V) provirus, shows that this captured gene, which entered the primate lineage >45 million years ago, behaves as a syncytin in Old World monkeys, but lost its canonical fusogenic activity in other primate lineages, including humans. In the Old World monkeys, we show—by in situ analyses and ex vivo assays—that envV is both specifically expressed at the level of the placental syncytiotrophoblast and fusogenic, and that it further displays signs of purifying selection based on analysis of non-synonymous to synonymous substitution rates. We further show that purifying selection still operates in the primate lineages where the gene is no longer fusogenic, indicating that degeneracy of this ancestral syncytin is a slow, lineage-dependent, and multi-step process, in which the fusogenic activity would be the first canonical property of this retroviral envelope gene to be lost.     

A Comprehensive Molecular Phylogeny of Dalytyphloplanida (Platyhelminthes: Rhabdocoela) Reveals Multiple Escapes from the Marine Environment and Origins of Symbiotic Relationships

In this study we elaborate the phylogeny of Dalytyphloplanida based on complete 18S rDNA (156 sequences) and partial 28S rDNA (125 sequences), using a Maximum Likelihood and a Bayesian Inference approach, in order to investigate the origin of a limnic or limnoterrestrial and of a symbiotic lifestyle in this large group of rhabditophoran flatworms. The results of our phylogenetic analyses and ancestral state reconstructions indicate that dalytyphloplanids have their origin in the marine environment and that there was one highly successful invasion of the freshwater environment, leading to a large radiation of limnic and limnoterrestrial dalytyphloplanids. This monophyletic freshwater clade, Limnotyphloplanida, comprises the taxa Dalyelliidae, Temnocephalida, and most Typhloplanidae. Temnocephalida can be considered ectosymbiotic Dalyelliidae as they are embedded within this group. Secondary returns to brackish water and marine environments occurred relatively frequently in several dalyeliid and typhloplanid taxa. Our phylogenies also show that, apart from the Limnotyphloplanida, there have been only few independent invasions of the limnic environment, and apparently these were not followed by spectacular speciation events. The distinct phylogenetic positions of the symbiotic taxa also suggest multiple origins of commensal and parasitic life strategies within Dalytyphloplanida. The previously established higher-level dalytyphloplanid clades are confirmed in our topologies, but many of the traditional families are not monophyletic. Alternative hypothesis testing constraining the monophyly of these families in the topologies and using the approximately unbiased test, also statistically rejects their monophyly.     

Length-weight relationship of twelve mesopelagic fishes from the western Tropical Atlantic

Length-weight relationship parameters were calculated for twelve mesopelagic fish species from the western Tropical Atlantic: Diretmus argenteus, Melamphaes polylepis, Bolinichthys distofax, Diaphus lucidus, Diaphus splendidus, Electrona risso, Hygophum taaningi, Taaningichthys bathyphilus, Melanolagus bericoides, Winteria telescopa, Diplophos taenia, Astronesthes similus. Data was collected off northeastern Brazil from April 9th to May 6th, 2017. Hauls were conducted during day and night at 47 stations by using a micronekton trawl (body mesh: 40 mm, cod-end mesh: 10 mm) from 10 to 1,113 m depth. The material was fixed in a 4% formalin solution for 1 month and then preserved in a 70% alcohol solution for proximally 6 months before processing for length (nearest 0.1 cm of standard length) and weight (nearest 0.01 g of total weight). A new maximum standard length for Winteria telescopa is also provided.     

Ecological significance of seed desiccation sensitivity in Quercus ilex

Background and Aims

Several widespread tree species of temperate forests, such as species of the genus Quercus, produce recalcitrant (desiccation-sensitive) seeds. However, the ecological significance of seed desiccation sensitivity in temperate regions is largely unknown. Do seeds of such species suffer from drying during the period when they remain on the soil, between shedding in autumn and the return of conditions required for germination in spring?

Methods

To test this hypothesis, the Mediterranean holm oak (Quercus ilex) forest was used as a model system. The relationships between the climate in winter, the characteristics of microhabitats, acorn morphological traits, and the water status and viability of seeds after winter were then investigated in 42 woodlands sampled over the entire French distribution of the species.

Key Results

The percentages of germination and normal seedling development were tightly linked to the water content of seeds after the winter period, revealing that in situ desiccation is a major cause of mortality. The homogeneity of seed response to drying suggests that neither intraspecific genetic variation nor environmental conditions had a significant impact on the level of desiccation sensitivity of seeds. In contrast, the water and viability status of seeds at the time of collection were dramatically influenced by cumulative rainfall and maximum temperatures during winter. A significant effect of shade and of the type of soil cover was also evidenced.

Conclusions

The findings establish that seed desiccation sensitivity is a key functional trait which may influence the success of recruitment in temperate recalcitrant seed species. Considering that most models of climate change predict changes in rainfall and temperature in the Mediterranean basin, the present work could help foresee changes in the distribution of Q. ilex and other oak species, and hence plant community alterations.     

Molecular Mechanics Studies of Molybdenum Disulphide Catalysts Parameterisation of Molybdenum and Sulphur

Abstract

A method for the parameterisation of molybdenum disulphide is presented which reproduces the crystal structure accurately. The method involves calculating parameters such that there is no net force contribution from any individual term of the potential on any atom. Ideal bond lengths and bond angles are taken from the X-ray crystal structure; stretching and bending force constants are calculated from a combination of spectroscopic data and quantum mechanics calculations, whereby the energy function with bond length or bond angle is calculated and fitted with an harmonic potential. For the non-bonded Lennard-Jones parameters, the dispersion coefficient C was calculated by an interpolation of existing published parameters using a multiple regression and then the crystal energy was minimised with respect to the van der Waals radius r₀ using a fixed crystal fragment.

These parameters were tested for various models of the hexagonal and rhombohedral forms of MoS₂. RMS fits between structures minimised with molecular mechanics and experimental models ranged from 0.006 Å to 0.012 Å.     

Conformational Equilibria of Bridled Chiroporphyrins in Solution Investigated by Vibrational Circular Dichroism

A series of bridled chiroporphyrins (BCP) and their metal complexes were prepared, in which two n‐methylene straps connect adjacent meso substituents by ester linkages. These compounds can exist as four atropisomers (αααα, αβαβ, αααβ, or ααββ) depending on the position of the meso groups relative to the macrocycle (α when above and β when below). We characterized the conformation of these chiral porphyrins and their metal (Zn, Ni, Mn) complexes by vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) associated with ab initio calculations. VCD spectra of the three metalloporphyrins were recorded in CDCl₃ and benzene solutions and ab initio calculations of their four atropoisomers were performed at the Density Functional Theory (DFT) level. The bridled chiroporphyrin with the longer straps (9 CH₂) and its nickel(II) complex can be isolated as the αβαβ atropisomer in the solid state and were found with the same conformation in CDCl₃ and benzene solutions. The bridled chiroporphyrin with the shortest straps (8 CH₂) and its zinc(II) complex can be isolated as the αααα atropisomer in the solid state, but in solution they are subject to atropisomeric equilibria, resulting in atropisomer distributions that are strongly solvent‐dependent. Comparison of the experimental VCD spectra with the predicted spectra of the four atropisomers allowed the quantification of these distributions. Finally, the manganese(III) complex also exhibits an atropisomeric equilibria in solution which is slightly solvent‐dependent. Chirality 25:480–486, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Spinning of hydroalcoholic chitosan solutions

We investigated the spinning of hydroalcoholic chitosan solutions. The dope composition was optimized in order to obtain a continuous alcogel fiber by water evaporation on heating the extruded hydroalcoholic solution. This alcogel fiber was then neutralized in aqueous alkali baths and washed in water to eliminate the residual alcohol and salts before final drying. Depending on the alcohol content in the filament at the neutralization step, on specific alcohol–chitosan interactions and on the nature and concentration of the coagulation base, the process yielded semicrystalline chitosan fibers with different proportions of anhydrous and hydrated allomorphs. Contrarily to the classical annealing method, the formation of mainly anhydrous crystals was obtained without significant molecular weight decrease by neutralizing the polymer in hydrophobic conditions. The control of allomorph content was shown to be related to the hydrophobicity of the solvent (alcohol fraction) at the neutralization step.     

Mineral and Bacterial Diversities of Desert Sand Grains from South-East Morocco

Mineralogy and microbiology of sand from Merzouga (Morocco) were simultaneously characterized, with the purpose of contributing to a better understanding of the geomicrobiology of deserts. In spite of very low measured bacterial biomass, bacterial diversity on each of the five defined mineralogical classes, was found high. An original grain by grain cultivation method enabled to obtain bacterial isolates with an unusually high recovery rate. The results of this study show that the genus Arthrobacter is well adapted to this environment with a preference for grains other than the dominant mineral quartz, and that the genera Chelatococcus and Saccharotrix are strongly attached to the grains.