Role of Soils in Determining Sites for Lowland Heathland Reconstruction in England

No guidelines are currently available that advise which soil properties of arable land can be used to suggest suitable locations for heathland reconstruction. This paper reviews studies comparing soil properties of heathland or semi-natural grassland with those of adjacent arable fields, investigations in the autecology of the dominant heathland plant, Calluna vulgaris (common heather), and long-term experiments of fertilizer inputs on arable soils. Three properties must be assessed before the suitability of a field can be determined: extractable phosphorus, exchangeable calcium, and pH. A number of other nutrients may also be important, but evidence is currently insufficient to substantiate this. Natural changes in levels of extractable phosphorus, exchangeable calcium, and pH appear to be very slow, so nutrient stripping and acidification will be necessary where recommended levels are exceeded to successfully restore heathland vegetation.     

Spinal Motion and Muscle Activity during Active Trunk Movements – Comparing Sheep and Humans Adopting Upright and Quadrupedal Postures

Sheep are used as models for the human spine, yet comparative in vivo data necessary for validation is limited. The purpose of this study was therefore to compare spinal motion and trunk muscle activity during active trunk movements in sheep and humans. Three-dimensional kinematic data as well as surface electromyography (sEMG) of spinal flexion and extension was compared in twenty-four humans in upright (UR) and 4-point kneeling (KN) postures and in 17 Austrian mountain sheep. Kinematic markers were attached over the sacrum, posterior iliac spines, and spinous and transverse processes of T5, T8, T11, L2 and L5 in humans and over the sacrum, tuber sacrale, T5, T8, T12, L3 and L7 in sheep. The activity of erector spinae (ES), rectus abdominis (RA), obliquus externus (OE), and obliquus internus (OI) were collected. Maximum sEMG (MOE) was identified for each muscle and trial, and reported as a percentage (MOE%) of the overall maximally observed sEMG from all trials. Spinal range of motion was significantly smaller in sheep compared to humans (UR / KN) during flexion (sheep: 6–11°; humans 12–34°) and extension (sheep: 4°; humans: 11–17°). During extension, MOE% of ES was greater in sheep (median: 77.37%) than UR humans (24.89%), and MOE% of OE and OI was greater in sheep (OE 76.20%; OI 67.31%) than KN humans (OE 21.45%; OI 19.34%), while MOE% of RA was lower in sheep (21.71%) than UR humans (82.69%). During flexion, MOE% of RA was greater in sheep (83.09%) than humans (KN 47.42%; UR 41.38%), and MOE% of ES in sheep (45.73%) was greater than KN humans (14.45%), but smaller than UR humans (72.36%). The differences in human and sheep spinal motion and muscle activity suggest that caution is warranted when ovine data are used to infer human spine biomechanics.     

Pore-forming Activity of the Escherichia coli Type III Secretion System Protein EspD

Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli is a causative agent of gastrointestinal and diarrheal diseases. Pathogenesis associated with enterohemorrhagic E. coli involves direct delivery of virulence factors from the bacteria into epithelial cell cytosol via a syringe-like organelle known as the type III secretion system. The type III secretion system protein EspD is a critical factor required for formation of a translocation pore on the host cell membrane. Here, we show that recombinant EspD spontaneously integrates into large unilamellar vesicle (LUV) lipid bilayers; however, pore formation required incorporation of anionic phospholipids such as phosphatidylserine and an acidic pH. Leakage assays performed with fluorescent dextrans confirmed that EspD formed a structure with an inner diameter of ∼2.5 nm. Protease mapping indicated that the two transmembrane helical hairpin of EspD penetrated the lipid layer positioning the N- and C-terminal domains on the extralumenal surface of LUVs. Finally, a combination of glutaraldehyde cross-linking and rate zonal centrifugation suggested that EspD in LUV membranes forms an ∼280–320-kDa oligomeric structure consisting of ∼6–7 subunits.     

Rapid degradation of D- and L-succinimide-containing peptides by a post-proline endopeptidase from human erythrocytes

We have been interested in the metabolic fate of proteins containing aspartyl succinimide (Asu) residues. These residues can be derived from the spontaneous rearrangement of Asp and Asn residues and from the spontaneous demethylation of enzymatically methylated L-isoAsp and D-Asp residues. Incubation of the synthetic hexapeptide N-Ac-Val-Tyr-Pro-Asu-Gly-Ala with the cytosolic fraction of human erythrocytes resulted in rapid cleavage of the prolyl-aspartyl succinimide bond producing the tripeptide N-Ac-Val-Tyr-Pro. The rate of this reaction is equal for both L- and D-Asu-containing peptides and is 10-fold greater than the rate of cleavage of a corresponding peptide containing a normal Pro-Asp linkage. When the aspartyl succinimide ring was replaced with an isoaspartyl residue, the cleavage rate was about 5 times that of the normal Pro-Asp peptide. The tripeptide-producing activity copurified on DEAE-cellulose chromatography with an activity that cleaves N-carbobenzoxy-Gly-Pro-4-methylcoumarin-7-amide, a post-proline endopeptidase substrate. These two activities were both inhibited by an antiserum to rat brain post-proline endopeptidase, and it appears that they are catalyzed by the same enzyme. This enzyme has a molecular weight of approximately 80,000 and is covalently labeled and inhibited by [3H]diisopropyl fluorophosphate. The facile cleavage of the succinimide- and isoaspartyl-containing peptides by this post-proline endopeptidase suggests that it may play a role in the metabolism of peptides containing altered aspartyl residues.