MacStylet, software to analyse electrical penetration graph data on the Macintosh

Conclusion Since the EPG method is increasingly utilized in the investigation of plant-Homoptera interactions, this software has been developed to enable fast processing of abundant data. The objective seems to have been achieved and, with a little practice, a 2-hour experiment may be analysed in about 10–15 minutes. Mac-Stylet is stand-alone shareware, freely distributed to all persons interested (request to G. Febvay, email: febvay@jouy.inra.fr).     

A spectral correlation function for efficient sequential NMR assignments of uniformly 15N-labeled proteins

Summary A new computer-based approach is described for efficient sequence-specific assignment of uniformly ¹⁵N-labeled proteins. For this purpose three-dimensional ¹⁵N-correlated [¹H, ¹H]-NOESY spectra are divided up into two-dimensional ¹H-¹H strips which extend over the entire spectral width along one dimension and have a width of ca. 100 Hz, centered about the amide proton chemical shifts along the other dimension. A spectral correlation function enables sorting of these strips according to proximity of the corresponding residues in the amino acid sequence. Thereby, starting from a given strip in the spectrum, the probability of its corresponding to the C-terminal neighboring residue is calculated for all other strips from the similarity of their peak patterns with a pattern predicted for the sequentially adjoining residue, as manifested in the scalar product of the vectors representing the predicted and measured peak patterns. Tests with five different proteins containing both -helices and -sheets, and ranging in size from 58 to 165 amino acid residues show that the discrimination achieved between the sequentially neighboring residue and all other residues compares well with that obtained with an unguided interactive search of pairs of sequentially neighboring strips, with important savings in the time needed for complete analysis of 3D ¹⁵N-correlated [¹H, ¹H]-NOESY spectra. The integration of this routine into the program package XEASY ensures that remaining ambiguities can be resolved by visual inspection of the strips, combined with reference to the amino acid sequence and information on spin-system types obtained from additional NMR spectra.Abbreviations 1D, 2D, 3D, 4D one-, two-, three-, four-dimensional - NOE nuclear Overhauser enhancement - NOESY nuclear Overhauser enhancement spectroscopy - COSY correlation spectroscopy - TOCSY total correlation spectroscopy     

Epstein-Barr病毒基因组编码的BARF-1和EC-LF4蛋白质与免疫球蛋白结构同源

将EB病毒蛋白质BARF-1和EC-LF4与NBRF蛋白质库的序列进行局部同源性检索以及与已知的Ig V或C功能区相关分子进行对准比较,检查了同源性积分的统计学意义,并进行了二级结构预测和疏水性分析,确定了BARF-1的第13-124位和第126-221位残基片段分别与V和C样功能区类似,EC-LF4的第20-135位残基片段与V样功能区相似,BARF-1是非膜蛋白,EC-LF4是膜整合蛋白,其胞外部分近膜侧有一个类似于Ig绞链区的序列。因此,BARF-1与Ig轻链结构相似,EC-LF4与CD8抗原的第一条链相似。根据Ig超族分子的一般功能(即介导细胞粘附和细胞识别),推测EC-LF4可能作为一种粘附分子与淋巴细胞表面的Ig相关分子结合而促进EB病毒对淋巴细胞的感染。BARF-1因已知与病毒复制有关,与Ig超族的一般功能无关。EC-LF4和BARF-1的Ig样功能区可能来源于EB病毒对宿主细胞Ig基因的整合。     

hw‐quickcheck: an easy‐to‐use computer program for checking genotypes for agreement with Hardy–Weinberg expectations

Deviations from Hardy–Weinberg expectations are frequently a sign of genotyping error. hw‐quickcheck is an easy‐to‐use computer program for detecting departures from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium. hw‐quickcheck uses exact tests for all of its calculations. These tests include a global test for heterozygote excess/deficiency and genotype‐specific tests.     

burnr: Fire history analysis and graphics in R

We developed a new software package, burnr, for fire history analysis and plotting in the R statistical programming environment. It was developed for tree-ring fire-scar analysis, but is broadly applicable to other event analyses (e.g., avalanches, frost rings, or culturally modified trees). Our new package can read, write, and manipulate standard tree-ring fire history FHX files, produce fire—demography charts, calculate fire frequency and seasonality statistics, and run superposed epoch analysis (SEA). A key benefit of burnr is that it enables automation of analyses and plotting, especially for large data sets. The package also facilitates creative plotting, mapping, and analyses when combined with the thousands of packages available in R. In this paper, we describe the basic functionality of burnr and introduce users to fire history analyses in R.     

MultiGWAS: An integrative tool for Genome Wide Association Studies in tetraploid organisms

The genome‐wide association studies (GWASs) are essential to determine the genetic bases of either ecological or economic phenotypic variation across individuals within populations of the model and nonmodel organisms. For this research question, the GWAS replication testing different parameters and models to validate the results'' reproducibility is common. However, straightforward methodologies that manage both replication and tetraploid data are still missing. To solve this problem, we designed the MultiGWAS, a tool that does GWAS for diploid and tetraploid organisms by executing in parallel four software packages, two designed for polyploid data (GWASpoly and SHEsis) and two designed for diploid data (GAPIT and TASSEL). MultiGWAS has several advantages. It runs either in the command line or in a graphical interface; it manages different genotype formats, including VCF. Moreover, it allows control for population structure, relatedness, and several quality control checks on genotype data. Besides, MultiGWAS can test for additive and dominant gene action models, and, through a proprietary scoring function, select the best model to report its associations. Finally, it generates several reports that facilitate identifying false associations from both the significant and the best‐ranked association Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) among the four software packages. We tested MultiGWAS with public tetraploid potato data for tuber shape and several simulated data under both additive and dominant models. These tests demonstrated that MultiGWAS is better at detecting reliable associations than using each of the four software packages individually. Moreover, the parallel analysis of polyploid and diploid software that only offers MultiGWAS demonstrates its utility in understanding the best genetic model behind the SNP association in tetraploid organisms. Therefore, MultiGWAS probed to be an excellent alternative for wrapping GWAS replication in diploid and tetraploid organisms in a single analysis environment.     

Investigations of the kinetic energy parameters of irradiated (La)‐doped phosphate glass

The current study characterizes and analyzes glow curves obtained from phosphate glass doped with different concentrations of lanthanum. Kinetic parameters of the glow curves obtained from beta‐irradiated phosphate glass samples doped with lanthanum were determined using a newly designed deconvoluted software. The obtained results from the analyses indicated that the glow curves of the phosphate glass samples were composed of five overlapping peaks. The activation energies of the five electron traps were located between 0.622 and 1.133 eV. The obtained kinetic parameters were evaluated using the designed software and another two methods and all revealed good agreement. The first three traps displayed non‐first‐order behaviour, while the two deep traps obeyed nearly first‐order kinetics.     

Geographical distribution patterns of Metaeuchromius in Asia and description of a new species from China (Lepidoptera,Crambidae)

The geographical distribution patterns of Asian Metaeuchromius are analysed with MaxEnt and ArcGIS based on known localities and nineteen environmental variables. The results suggest that the most highly suitable area of the genus located in southeastern China. Precipitation of the warmest quarter (Bio18) and temperature seasonality (Bio4) are the most significant variables affecting geographical distribution Metaeuchromius. Furthermore, a new species from Jiangxi Province, southeast China is added to the genus, Metaeuchromius grandispinata Li, sp. nov. Its habitus, tympanic organs and genitalia are illustrated, and two maps showing geographical distribution patterns of Metaeuchromius in Asia are provided.     

BacStalk: A comprehensive and interactive image analysis software tool for bacterial cell biology

Prokaryotic cells display a striking subcellular organization. Studies of the underlying mechanisms in different species have greatly enhanced our understanding of the morphological and physiological adaptation of bacteria to different environmental niches. The image analysis software tool BacStalk is designed to extract comprehensive quantitative information from the images of morphologically complex bacteria with stalks, flagella, or other appendages. The resulting data can be visualized in interactive demographs, kymographs, cell lineage plots, and scatter plots to enable fast and thorough data analysis and representation. Notably, BacStalk can generate demographs and kymographs that display fluorescence signals within the two-dimensional cellular outlines, to accurately represent their subcellular location. Beyond organisms with visible appendages, BacStalk is also suitable for established, non-stalked model organisms with common or uncommon cell shapes. BacStalk, therefore, contributes to the advancement of prokaryotic cell biology and physiology, as it widens the spectrum of easily accessible model organisms and enables highly intuitive and interactive data analysis and visualization.