Genome-wide CRISPR Screens Reveal Host Factors Critical for SARS-CoV-2 Infection

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Enzymic synthesis ofL-Lysine fromDL-α-Amino-ε-caprolactam by new microbial strains

The production of L-lysine fromDL-α-amino-ε-caprolactam (DL-ACL) by new strains producingL-α-amino-ε-caprolactamase and aminocaprolactam racemase is described. Optimal conditions for hydrolysis ofL-ACL byCryptococcus sp. and for racemization of ACL by cells of a strain isolated in nature and identified asPseudomonas sp. were determined. Synthesis ofL-α-amino-ε-caprolactamase is induced byDL-ACL orL-lysine with the same effectivity. A positive effect of phosphates (potassium salts) on reduction of the induction lag was detected, the synthesis of this enzyme was found to be repressed by glucose and some possibilities of the reversion of this repressive effect were demonstrated. Under conditions optimal for the production of both enzymes a quantitative theoretical conversion of 10 % aqueousDL-ACL toL-lysine by a mixture of native cells in a mass ratio of 1: 2 (producer of ACL-hydrolase to producer of ACL-racemase) occurred in 8 h at 40 °C and pH 8.0     

Effect of precursors on biosynthesis of monensins A and B

Precursors of monensins (acetate, propionate, butyrate, isobutyrate) affect the total production and the relative proportion of monensins A and B. Addition of propionate into the fermentation medium causes a prevalence of monensin B whereas butyrate and isobutyrate stimulate the production of monensin A and suppress the production of monensin B.     

BioEssays 10/2020

Frequent independent origins of environmental sex determination (ESD) are assumed within amniotes. However, the phylogenetic distribution of sex-determining modes suggests that ESD is likely very ancient and may be homologous across ESD groups. Sex chromosomes are demonstrated to be old and stable in endothermic (mammals and birds) and many ectothermic (non-avian reptiles) lineages, but they are mostly non-homologous between individual amniote lineages. The phylogenetic pattern may be explained by ancestral ESD with multiple transitions to later evolutionary stable genotypic sex determination. It is pointed out here that amniote ESD shares several key aspects with sequential hermaphroditism of fishes such as a lack of sex differences in genomes, biased population sex ratios, and potentially also molecular mechanism related to general stress responses. Here, it is speculated that ESD evolves via a heterochronic shift of the sensitive period of sex change from the adult to the embryonic stage in a hermaphroditic amniote ancestor. Also see the video abstract here https://youtu.be/q2mjtlCefu4 .     

From Regional to National Clouds: TV Coverage in the Czech Republic

Media, and particularly TV media, have a great impact on the general public. In recent years, spatial patterns of information and the relevance of intangible geographies have become increasingly important. Gatekeeping plays a critical role in the selection of information that is transformed into media. Therefore, gatekeeping, through national media, also co-forms the generation of mental maps. In this paper, correspondence analysis (a statistical method) combined with cloud lines (a new visual analytics technique) is used to analyze how individual major regional events in one of the post-communist countries, the Czech Republic, penetrate into the media on a national scale. Although national news should minimize distortions about regions, this assumption has not been verified by our research. Impressions presented by the media of selected regions that were markedly influenced by one or several events in those regions demonstrate that gatekeepers, especially news reporters, functioned as a filter by selecting only a few specific, and in many cases, unusual events for dissemination.