Evidence from mosaic analysis of the masculinizing gene her-1 for cell interactions in C. elegans sex determination.

Sex in Caenorhabditis elegans is determined by a regulatory cascade of seven interacting autosomal genes controlled by three X-linked genes in response to the X chromosome-to-autosome (X/A) ratio. XX animals (high X/A) develop as self-fertile hermaphrodites, and XO animals (low X/A) develop as males. The activity of the first gene in the sex-determining cascade, her-1, is required for male sexual development. XO her-1 loss-of-function mutants develop as self-fertile hermaphrodites, whereas XX her-1 gain-of-function mutants develop as masculinized intersexes. By genetic mosaic analysis using a fused free duplication linking her-1 to a cell-autonomous marker gene, we show here that her-1 expression in a sexually dimorphic cell is neither necessary nor sufficient for that cell to adopt a male fate. Our results suggest that her-1 is expressed in many, possibly all, cells and that its gene product can function non-autonomously through cell interactions to determine male sexual development.     

The variety of thermal conduction resulting from segmented degree of heat source body and its bearing on temperature change

The differences of thermal conduction and its temperature-varying track of the heat source body at various structural environments have been studied. Hypothetically , geologic heat source body is cut successively into several segregative bodies with a fixed cubage . With the segmented number increasing , the conductive surface area of heat source body begins to get larger, which separately is similar to the heat geologic body in different tectonic zones that has a various enclosed coefficient . Finite-element simulation result shows that the thermal conduction speed of spreading from the heat source body to its wall rock is slow→higher→ highest, when heat source bodies are situated respectively at compressive, shear and tensile deformation zones, corresponding rates of their temperature drop are low→ higher→ highest . Research indicates that the temperature ' s dropping rate of heat source body has an inverse relationship with enclosed coefficient η for different structural zones . This result can explain the tectono-physicochemical reason of magmatite evolution and its. difference .     

Mitochondrial glutamate acts as a messenger in glucose-induced insulin exocytosis

The hormone insulin is stored in secretory granules and released from the pancreatic beta-cells by exocytosis. In the consensus model of glucose-stimulated insulin secretion, ATP is generated by mitochondrial metabolism, promoting closure of ATP-sensitive potassium (KATP) channels, which depolarizes the plasma membrane. Subsequently, opening of voltage-sensitive Ca2+ channels increases the cytosolic Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]c) which constitutes the main trigger initiating insulin exocytosis. Nevertheless, the Ca2+ signal alone is not sufficient for sustained secretion. Furthermore, glucose elicits a secretory response under conditions of clamped, elevated [Ca2+]c. A mitochondrial messenger must therefore exist which is distinct from ATP. We have now identified this as glutamate. We show that glucose generates glutamate from beta-cell mitochondria. A membrane-permeant glutamate analogue sensitizes the glucose-evoked secretory response, acting downstream of mitochondrial metabolism. In permeabilized cells, under conditions of fixed [Ca2+]c, added glutamate directly stimulates insulin exocytosis, independently of mitochondrial function. Glutamate uptake by the secretory granules is likely to be involved, as inhibitors of vesicular glutamate transport suppress the glutamate-evoked exocytosis. These results demonstrate that glutamate acts as an intracellular messenger that couples glucose metabolism to insulin secretion.     

Sequence and analysis of chromosome 2 of the plant Arabidopsis thaliana

Arabidopsis thaliana (Arabidopsis) is unique among plant model organisms in having a small genome (130-140 Mb), excellent physical and genetic maps, and little repetitive DNA. Here we report the sequence of chromosome 2 from the Columbia ecotype in two gap-free assemblies (contigs) of 3.6 and 16 megabases (Mb). The latter represents the longest published stretch of uninterrupted DNA sequence assembled from any organism to date. Chromosome 2 represents 15% of the genome and encodes 4,037 genes, 49% of which have no predicted function. Roughly 250 tandem gene duplications were found in addition to large-scale duplications of about 0.5 and 4.5 Mb between chromosomes 2 and 1 and between chromosomes 2 and 4, respectively. Sequencing of nearly 2 Mb within the genetically defined centromere revealed a low density of recognizable genes, and a high density and diverse range of vestigial and presumably inactive mobile elements. More unexpected is what appears to be a recent insertion of a continuous stretch of 75% of the mitochondrial genome into chromosome 2.