The Widespread Colonization Island of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans

Genomic islands, such as pathogenicity islands, contribute to the evolution and diversification of microbial life. Here we report on the Widespread Colonization Island, which encompasses the tad (tight adherence) locus for colonization of surfaces and biofilm formation by the human pathogen Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans. At least 12 of the 14 genes at the tad locus are required for tenacious biofilm formation and synthesis of bundled Flp pili (fibrils) that mediate adherence. The pilin subunit, Flp1, remains inside the cell in tad-locus mutants, indicating that these genes encode a secretion system for export and assembly of fibrils. We found tad-related regions in a wide variety of Bacterial and Archaeal species, and their sequence characteristics indicate possible horizontal transfer. To test the hypothesis of horizontal transfer, we compared the phylogeny of the tad locus to a robust organismal phylogeny using statistical tests of congruence and tree reconciliation techniques. Our analysis strongly supports a complex history of gene shuffling by recombination and multiple horizontal transfers, duplications and losses. We present evidence for a specific horizontal transfer event leading to the establishment of this region as a determinant of disease.     

Recent temperature increase recorded in an ice core in the source region of Yangtze River

Interests on climate change in the source region of Yangtze River have been raised since it is a region with the greatest warming over the Tibetan Plateau (TP). A 70-year history of precipitation δ~(18)O has been recovered using an ice core record retrieved in a plat portion of the firn area in the Guoqu Glacier (33°34′37.8″N, 91°10′35.3″E, 5720 m a.s.l.), Mt. Geladaindong (the source region of Yangtze River), in November, 2005. By using a significant positive relationship between ice core δ~(18)O record and summer air temperature (July to September) from the nearby meteorological stations, a history of summer air temperature has been reconstructed for the last 70 years. Summer temperature was relatively low in 1940s and high in 1950s to the middle of 1960s. The lowest temperature occurred in the middle of 1970s. Temperature was low in 1980s and dramatically increased since 1990s, keeping the trend to the begin-ning of the 21st century. The warming rate recorded in the ice core with 0.5℃/10 a since 1970s is much higher that that in the central TP and the Northern Hemisphere (NH), and it becomes 1.1℃/10 a since 1990s which is also higher than these from the central TP and the NH, reflecting an accelerated warm-ing and a more sensitive response to global warming in the high elevation region.     

Regional and seasonal diet of the Western Burrowing Owl in south central Nevada

We examined diets of Western Burrowing Owls ( Athene cunicularia hypugaea ) based on contents of pellets and large prey remains collected year-round at burrows in each of the 3 regions in south central Nevada (Mojave Desert, Great Basin Desert, and Transition region). The most common prey items, based on percent frequency of occurrence, were crickets and grasshoppers, beetles, rodents, sun spiders, and scorpions. The most common vertebrate prey was kangaroo rats ( Dipodomys spp.). True bugs (Hemiptera), scorpions, and western harvest mice ( Reithrodontomys megalotis ) occurred most frequently in pellets from the Great Basin Desert region. Kangaroo rats ( Dipodomys spp.) and pocket mice (Perognathinae) were the most important vertebrate prey items in the Transition and Mojave Desert regions, respectively. Frequency of occurrence of any invertebrate prey was high (>80%) in samples year-round but dropped in winter samples, with scorpions and sun spiders exhibiting the steepest declines. Frequency of occurrence of any vertebrate prey peaked in spring samples, was intermediate for winter and summer samples, and was lowest in fall samples. With the possible exception of selecting for western harvest mice in the Great Basin Desert region, Western Burrowing Owls in our study appeared to be opportunistic foragers with a generalist feeding strategy.     

Structure assignments of two new C-18-oxygenated steroidal ketals isolated from a pacific soft coral of the genusSinularia

Summary Two new C-18-oxygenated sterols possessing a spiroketal function (1 and2) have been isolated from a soft coral of the genusSinularia. The proposed structures are based on spectral data.     

介孔材料-酸性红12染料分子体系动力学模型的建立和模拟

以酸性红12作为多苯环长链发色有机物的代表,通过对有效扩散系数的测定,确定其在介孔材料颗粒体上的吸附等温式和平衡接近率随时间变化的关系.利用非稳态扩散传质与非稳态热传导过程类比速率方程相似的特点,应用Peterson的热传导近似公式,用计算机求解超越方程,得到了酸性红12在介孔复合材料颗粒内的有效扩散系数并进行了拟合验证,得出该传质过程的主要作用力类型.     

Protein arginine deiminase 4: a target for an epigenetic cancer therapy

The recent approvals of anticancer therapeutic agents targeting the histone deacetylases and DNA methyltransferases have highlighted the important role that epigenetics plays in human diseases, and suggested that the factors controlling gene expression are novel drug targets. Protein arginine deiminase 4 (PAD4) is one such target because its effects on gene expression parallel those observed for the histone deacetylases. We demonstrated that F- and Cl-amidine, two potent PAD4 inhibitors, display micromolar cytotoxic effects towards several cancerous cell lines (HL-60, MCF7 and HT-29); no effect was observed in noncancerous lines (NIH 3T3 and HL-60 granulocytes). These compounds also induced the differentiation of HL-60 and HT29 cells. Finally, these compounds synergistically potentiated the cell killing effects of doxorubicin. Taken together, these findings suggest PAD4 inhibition as a novel epigenetic approach for the treatment of cancer, and suggest that F- and Cl-amidine are candidate therapeutic agents for this disease.