The region of the clock gene period (per) that encodes a repetitive tract
of threonine-glycine (Thr-Gly) pairs has been compared between Dipteran
species both within and outside the Drosophilidae. All the non-
Drosophilidae sequences in this region are short and present a remarkably
stable picture compared to the Drosophilidae, in which the region is much
larger and extremely variable, both in size and composition. The
accelerated evolution in the repetitive region of the Drosophilidae appears
to be mainly due to an expansion of two ancestral repeats, one encoding a
Thr-Gly dipeptide and the other a pentapeptide rich in serine, glycine, and
asparagine or threonine. In some drosophilids the expansion involves a
duplication of the pentapeptide sequence, but in Drosophila pseudoobscura
both the dipeptide and the pentapeptide repeats are present in larger
numbers. In the nondrosophilids, however, the pentapeptide sequence is
represented by one copy and the dipeptide by two copies. These observations
fulfill some of the predictions of recent theoretical models that have
simulated the evolution of repetitive sequences.
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We have analyzed the conserved regions of the gene coding for the
circumsporozoite protein (CSP) in 12 species of Plasmodium, the malaria
parasite. The closest evolutionary relative of P. falciparum, the agent of
malignant human malaria, is P. reichenowi, a chimpanzee parasite. This is
consistent with the hypothesis that P. falciparum is an ancient human
parasite, associated with humans since the divergence of the hominids from
their closest hominoid relatives. Three other human Plasmodium species are
each genetically indistinguishable from species parasitic to nonhuman
primates; that is, for the DNA sequences included in our analysis, the
differences between species are not greater than the differences between
strains of the human species. The human P. malariae is indistinguishable
from P. brasilianum, and P. vivax is indistinguishable from P. simium; P.
brasilianum and P. simium are parasitic to New World monkeys. The human P.
vivax-like is indistinguishable from P. simiovale, a parasite of Old World
macaques. We conjecture that P. malariae, P. vivax, and P. vivax-like are
evolutionarily recent human parasites, the first two at least acquired only
within the last several thousand years, and perhaps within the last few
hundred years, after the expansion of human populations in South America
following the European colonizations. We estimate the rate of evolution of
the conserved regions of the CSP gene as 2.46 x 10(-9) per site per year.
The divergence between the P. falciparum and P. reichenowi lineages is
accordingly dated 8.9 Myr ago. The divergence between the three lineages
leading to the human parasites is very ancient, about 100 Myr old between
P. malariae and P. vivax (and P. vivax-like) and about 165 Myr old between
P. falciparum and the other two.
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Photosynthetic enhancement studies performed at 619 nm (excitation of Systems I and II) and at 446 nm (mainly excitation of System I) revealed an 18% photosynthetic enhancement simultaneously with a 31% reduction in glycolate excretion. This observation supports the hypothesis that some glycolate may be consumed in an oxidation process associated with System I when System II is poorly excited and the supply of electrons from the water splitting process of photosynthesis is low. 相似文献
Plasma Physics Reports - The study of a diffuse vacuum arc (DVA) is of interest in connection with the developing methods of plasma processing of the spent nuclear fuel (SNF). This type of... 相似文献
Understanding what environmental drivers influence marine predator–prey relationships can be key to managing and protecting ecosystems, especially in the face of future climate change risks. This is especially important in environments such as the Black Sea, where strong biogeochemical gradients can drive marine habitat partitioning and ecological interactions. We used underwater video recordings in the north-eastern Black Sea in November 2013 to observe the distribution and behaviour of the Black Sea sprat (Sprattus sprattus phalericus, Risso 1827) and its zooplankton prey. Video recordings have shown that the Black Sea sprat S. sprattus phalericus tolerates severely hypoxic waters near the redoxcline. The school was distributed in the 33–96 m layer [oxygen concentration (O2) 277–84 μmol L−1]. Some individuals were observed to leave the school and descended 20 m deeper for foraging on copepods in the 119–123 m layer (O2 12–10 μmol L−1). Zooplankton appeared concentrated on the upper boundary of the suboxic zone (O2 < 10 μmol L−1). No zooplankton were observed below O2 6–7 μmol L−1 (128 m). Understanding the ability of this species to tolerate low oxygen waters is crucial to predicting future responses to natural and anthropogenic changes in hypoxia. 相似文献
In 2016, an outbreak of anthrax killing thousands of reindeer and affecting dozens of humans occurred on the Yamal peninsula, Northwest Siberia, after 70 years of epidemiological situation without outbreaks. The trigger of the outbreak has been ascribed to the activation of spores due to permafrost thaw that was accelerated during the summer heat wave. The focus of our study is on the dynamics of local environmental factors in connection with the observed anthrax revival. We show that permafrost was thawing rapidly for already 6 years before the outbreak. During 2011–2016, relatively warm years were followed by cold years with a thick snow cover, preventing freezing of the soil. Furthermore, the spread of anthrax was likely intensified by an extremely dry summer of 2016. Concurrent with the long-term decreasing trend in the regional annual precipitation, the rainfall in July 2016 was less than 10% of its 30-year mean value. We conclude that epidemiological situation of anthrax in the previously contaminated Arctic regions requires monitoring of climatic factors such as warming and precipitation extremes.
BACKGROUNDThe development of regenerative therapy for human spinal cord injury (SCI) is dramatically restricted by two main challenges: the need for a safe source of functionally active and reproducible neural stem cells and the need of adequate animal models for preclinical testing. Direct reprogramming of somatic cells into neuronal and glial precursors might be a promising solution to the first challenge. The use of non-human primates for preclinical studies exploring new treatment paradigms in SCI results in data with more translational relevance to human SCI.AIMTo investigate the safety and efficacy of intraspinal transplantation of directly reprogrammed neural precursor cells (drNPCs).METHODSSeven non-human primates with verified complete thoracic SCI were divided into two groups: drNPC group (n = 4) was subjected to intraspinal transplantation of 5 million drNPCs rostral and caudal to the lesion site 2 wk post injury, and lesion control (n = 3) was injected identically with the equivalent volume of vehicle.RESULTSFollow-up for 12 wk revealed that animals in the drNPC group demonstrated a significant recovery of the paralyzed hindlimb as well as recovery of somatosensory evoked potential and motor evoked potential of injured pathways. Magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging data confirmed the intraspinal transplantation of drNPCs did not adversely affect the morphology of the central nervous system or cerebrospinal fluid circulation. Subsequent immunohistochemical analysis showed that drNPCs maintained SOX2 expression characteristic of multipotency in the transplanted spinal cord for at least 12 wk, migrating to areas of axon growth cones.CONCLUSIONOur data demonstrated that drNPC transplantation was safe and contributed to improvement of spinal cord function after acute SCI, based on neurological status assessment and neurophysiological recovery within 12 wk after transplantation. The functional improvement described was not associated with neuronal differentiation of the allogeneic drNPCs. Instead, directed drNPCs migration to the areas of active growth cone formation may provide exosome and paracrine trophic support, thereby further supporting the regeneration processes. 相似文献
Effectiveness of saline suspension of Corynebacterium pseudodiphtheriticum containing spray was assessed in a 30-days chamber experiment modeling the effects of hyperthermia and polluted air on humans. Spray was targeted at eliminating Staphylococcus aureus from the nasal cavity of human subjects. Three of four volunteers became S. aureus carriers in the course of the experiment, and one was a chronic carrier of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA). Spray application eradicated S. aureus in three subjects and reduced its presence in the MRSA carrier. Results of the study suggest that C. pseudodiphtheriticum can be used for control of S. aureus in the nasal environment. However, further investigations are required. 相似文献
On the basis of the results of complex interdisciplinary investigations of the population composition and structure of the beaked redfish Sebastes mentella of the Atlantic and Arctic oceans, its three populations are discerned relatively isolated from each other by the system of permanent marine currents—North Atlantic, Flemish-Cape, and Norway-Barents Sea. The population structure of the species in the southern part of its area corresponds to the model of a local stock. Interaction of the North Atlantic and the Norway-Barents Sea populations well correspond to the model of fluctuating stocks. Redfish aggregations in different biotopes (mesobenthal and mesopelagial) are intrapopulational epigenetic groups. In the period of warm and anomalously warm years, a part of mature specimens from the pelagial of the North Irminger Sea make an irreversible migration to the southern part of the Norwegian Sea and form there mixed aggregations of fish from the North Atlantic and Norway-Barents Sea populations. With consideration of the effect of climatic–oceanological processes, a principally new scheme is elaborated describing the process of seasonal migrations of redfish in the mesobenthal and mesopelagial. The previous views on direction of return migrations of redfish of the Norway-Barents Sea population are reconsidered. Juveniles from the western part of the Barents Sea and Spitsbergen not only supplement the demersal aggregations but also migrate to the pelagial of the Norwegian Sea. 相似文献