Cytokinesis and nodal anatomy in the charophycean green algaChara zeylanica

Summary Cell plate formation inChara zeylanica was compared with recent models of cytokinesis in higher plants in order to gain insight into the evolutionary origin of plant cytokinetic processes. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) reveals that while cytokinesis inC. zeylanica bears many features in common with that in higher plants, there are significant differences. Unlike that in higher plants, cytokinesis inC. zeylanica begins with a congregation of smooth membrane tubules that are closely associated with endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and Golgi membranes. Mitochondria and other organelles excluded by the phragmoplast in higher plants are present as well. Unlike in higher plants, phragmoplast microtubules persist throughout cytokinesis inC. zeylanica, and the cell plate generally forms across the whole cell at once, though development is patchy, due to small regions developing at different rates; the ends of the plate form last. By identifying aspects of cytokinesis that are different inC. zeylanica and plants, our study indicates which cytokinetic features are more likely to be derived, and which are more likely to be ancestral. In addition, we demonstrated that all nodal cells ofC. zeylanica are interconnected via plasmodesmata, lending support to the idea that, whileChara spp. are generally considered to be filamentous organisms, nodal regions may be thought of as meristemlike tissues.Abbreviations HPF high-pressure freezing - KFe potassium ferricyanide - SCF stepwise chemical fixation - TEM transmission electron microscopy     

Effect of conformational states on protein dynamical transition

In order to examine the properties specific to the folded protein, the effect of the conformational states on protein dynamical transition was studied by incoherent elastic neutron scattering for both wild type and a deletion mutant of staphylococcal nuclease. The deletion mutant of SNase which lacks C-terminal 13 residues takes a compact denatured structure, and can be regarded as a model of intrinsic unstructured protein. Incoherent elastic neutron scattering experiments were carried out at various temperature between 10 K and 300 K on IN10 and IN13 installed at ILL. Temperature dependence of mean-square displacements was obtained by the q-dependence of elastic scattering intensity. The measurements were performed on dried and hydrated powder samples. No significant differences were observed between wild type and the mutant for the hydrated samples, while significant differences were observed for the dried samples. A dynamical transition at ∼ 140 K observed for both dried and hydrated samples. The slopes of the temperature dependence of MSD before transition and after transition are different between wild type and the mutant, indicating the folding induces hardening. The hydration water activates a further transition at ∼ 240 K. The behavior of the temperature dependence of MSD is indistinguishable for wild type and the mutant, indicating that hydration water dynamics dominate the dynamical properties.     

Phylogeography of lateral plate dimorphism in the freshwater type of ninespine sticklebacks, genus Pungitius

The freshwater type of ninespine sticklebacks, genus Pungitius, is widely distributed in northern Japan and reproductively isolated from other genetically divergent types endemic to small regions in Japan. This type expresses dimorphism in its lateral plate morphology: complete and partial row morphs. The two morphs show a parapatric distribution in Japan. To clarify the process involving the distribution of these two morphs, we examined their phylogeography based on restriction fragment length polymorphism of an entire mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). The survey was carried out with seven restriction enzymes on the populations of the freshwater type collected from 41 localities across the distribution range in Japan, and 6 further Pungitius populations from the Okhotsk Sea coast of Russia were appended. An unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic averages (UPGMA) tree among 54 mtDNA haplotypes resolved eight clustering groups that differed in sequence divergence by approximately 1.3%–2.1%. Two of the eight groups were found only in Russia. mtDNA phylogenies constructed by neighbor-joining and Wagner parsimony methods suggested that the haplotypes of each plate morph were polyphyletic. The geographic distribution pattern of these groups suggests that they should be classified into two broad categories, one with extensive distribution and the other with localized distribution of the constituent haplotypes within a group. The former groups were found mainly in the populations with the completely plated morph and the latter groups with the partially plated morph. It is supposed that twice dispersals of dimorphic or complete plated ancestors and genetic differentiation during the interglacial played an important role in the formation of the present distribution of the two morphs in Japan. Received: March 28, 2000 / Revised: November 3, 2000 / Accepted: January 16, 2001     

轮耕对关中一年两熟区土壤物理性状和冬小麦根系生长的影响

针对关中地区土壤连续单一耕作存在的主要问题,进行了土壤轮耕效应研究。2009年至2012年在关中一年两熟区采用连续4a旋耕(RT)、翻耕-免耕-翻耕-免耕(PNT)和深松-免耕-深松-免耕(SNT)3种耕作处理,对土壤容重、紧实度及小麦根系生长进行了研究。结果表明,与试验前相比,夏玉米收获后(2013年10月)两种轮耕处理显著(P0.05)降低了0—10、10—20 cm土壤容重,旋耕处理在0—10 cm处差异不显著,而10—20 cm土壤容重显著增大;与旋耕处理相比,两种轮耕处理0—10、10—20 cm土壤容重在第4季冬小麦整个生育期内变异系数较小,土壤紧实度较低,且改善效果在冬小麦生育中后期10—20 cm土层体现更为显著;旋耕处理0—10、10—20 cm土壤紧实度与含水量均呈显著负相关,相关系数分别为-0.89、-0.85,两种轮耕处理相关性不显著;0—40 cm土层根重密度和根系活力表现为:两种轮耕处理连年旋耕。可见,长期旋耕后进行轮耕(免耕与翻耕、深松)有利于改善土壤物理状况,促进作物根系生长。     

Genomic-assisted characterisation of Pseudomonas sp. strain Pf4, a potential biocontrol agent in hydroponics

In an attempt to select potential biocontrol agents against Pythium spp. and Rhizoctonia spp. root pathogens for use in soilless systems, 12 promising bacteria were selected for further investigations. Sequence analysis of the 16S rRNA gene revealed that three strains belonged to the genus Enterobacter, whereas nine strains belonged to the genus Pseudomonas. In in vitro assays, one strain of Pseudomonas sp., Pf4, closely related to Pseudomonas protegens (formerly Pseudomonas fluorescens), showed noteworthy antagonistic activity against two strains of Pythium aphanidermatum and two strains of Rhizoctonia solani AG 1-IB, with average inhibition of mycelial growth >80%. Strain Pf4 was used for in vivo treatments on lamb’s lettuce against R. solani root rot in small-scale hydroponics. Pf4-treated and untreated plants were daily monitored for symptom development and after two weeks of infection, a significant protective effect of Pf4 against root rot was recorded. The survival and population density of Pf4 on roots were also checked, demonstrating a density above the threshold value of 10⁵?CFU?g^?1 of root required for disease suppression. Known loci for the synthesis of antifungal metabolites, detected using PCR, and draft-genome sequencing of Pf4 demonstrated that Pseudomonas sp. Pf4 has the potential to produce an arsenal of secondary metabolites (plt, phl, ofa and fit-rzx gene clusters) very similar to that of the well-known biocontrol P. protegens strain Pf-5.     

Chondrocyte hypertrophy in skeletal development,growth, and disease

Most of our bones form through the process of endochondral ossification, which is tightly regulated by the activity of the cartilage growth plate. Chondrocyte maturation through the various stages of growth plate physiology ultimately results in hypertrophy. Chondrocyte hypertrophy is an essential contributor to longitudinal bone growth, but recent data suggest that these cells also play fundamental roles in signaling to other skeletal cells, thus coordinating endochondral ossification. On the other hand, ectopic hypertrophy of articular chondrocytes has been implicated in the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis. Thus, a better understanding of the processes that control chondrocyte hypertrophy in the growth plate as well as in articular cartilage is required for improved management of both skeletal growth disorders and osteoarthritis. This review summarizes recent findings on the regulation of hypertrophic chondrocyte differentiation, the cellular mechanisms involved in hypertrophy, and the role of chondrocyte hypertrophy in skeletal physiology and pathophysiology. Birth Defects Research (Part C) 102:74–82, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Low-temperature dynamic light scattering. I. Structural reorganization and physical gel formation in cellulose triacetate/methyl acetate dilute solution at -99 - 45 degrees C

Curious low-temperature solubility of cellulose triacetates (CTA; here we use nominally "CTA," but the sample still contains 7% of C-6 position hydroxyls) in an organic solvent, methyl acetate (MA), was studied by a newly designed low-temperature type of DLS apparatus, which enabled for the first time to investigate the structural change of CTA in solution from 45 degrees C down to -100 degrees C. A molecularly dissolved CTA was found to coexist with three types of self-assemblies over all the temperature ranges except for the three specific temperatures T* of 30, -10, and -75 degrees C. However, these multiple self-assemblies are not in real thermodynamic equilibrium but in a metastable state, which could be stabilized effectively by the intermolecular hydrogen bonding (HB) with the help of the dipole interaction at low temperatures. In more detail, with decreasing temperature, these assemblies performed the structural reorganization drastically at three T*'s and would finally be frozen in a physical gel structure at -99 degrees C; around the freezing temperature of MA, CTA molecules could be trapped homogeneously in the frozen MA. The crucial role in such structural reorganizations is played by the balance between the intermolecular HB and the dipole interaction worked in the highly electronegative solvent. Because these interactions, which are mediated by the solvent electronegativity, change drastically with temperature, they result in the control of not only the single CTA chain conformation (= the intramolecular HB) but also the binding ways of the intermolecular HBs between CTA molecules and they induce multitudinous metastable structures in solution. Here it is noted that HB could work mainly between the C-6 position hydroxyls in the anhydroglucose units of CTA and are essentially effective at low temperatures.     

人类最大可持续海洋足迹的模拟

在William Rees ＆ Mathis Wackernagel最初提出的生态足迹模型理论所划分的六类基本生态生产性土地面积中,海洋以其能为人类提供鱼类等海产品而被单独列为水域一项。海洋生物资源是一种典型的可再生资源,人类只有采取合理的开发策略方可保证海洋生物资源最大的可持续生产量。借用生态足迹、生物承载力概念的内涵,提出海洋足迹、海洋承载力两个新概念;运用非线性科学理论在海洋足迹与海洋承载力呈二次非线性关系的假设下,建立海洋承载力二次非线性开发的动力模式,并运用稳定性分析理论对其求解、分析。结果表明：（1）海洋承载力与其增长率呈正相关关系,与海洋足迹增长率呈负相关关系;（2）为保证海洋生物资源的可持续利用,人类必须控制最大海洋足迹增长率为r/xm（r为海洋承载力增长率,xm为最大海洋承载力）,方可获得可持续的最大海洋足迹为rxm/4,此时海洋承载力可以维持在稳定的平衡态（为其最大承载力的一半）。     

Validation of discrete time-to-event prediction models in the presence of competing risks

Clinical prediction models play a key role in risk stratification, therapy assignment and many other fields of medical decision making. Before they can enter clinical practice, their usefulness has to be demonstrated using systematic validation. Methods to assess their predictive performance have been proposed for continuous, binary, and time-to-event outcomes, but the literature on validation methods for discrete time-to-event models with competing risks is sparse. The present paper tries to fill this gap and proposes new methodology to quantify discrimination, calibration, and prediction error (PE) for discrete time-to-event outcomes in the presence of competing risks. In our case study, the goal was to predict the risk of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) attributed to Pseudomonas aeruginosa in intensive care units (ICUs). Competing events are extubation, death, and VAP due to other bacteria. The aim of this application is to validate complex prediction models developed in previous work on more recently available validation data.