The Medicago genome provides insight into the evolution of rhizobial symbioses

Legumes (Fabaceae or Leguminosae) are unique among cultivated plants for their ability to carry out endosymbiotic nitrogen fixation with rhizobial bacteria, a process that takes place in a specialized structure known as the nodule. Legumes belong to one of the two main groups of eurosids, the Fabidae, which includes most species capable of endosymbiotic nitrogen fixation. Legumes comprise several evolutionary lineages derived from a common ancestor 60 million years ago (Myr ago). Papilionoids are the largest clade, dating nearly to the origin of legumes and containing most cultivated species. Medicago truncatula is a long-established model for the study of legume biology. Here we describe the draft sequence of the M. truncatula euchromatin based on a recently completed BAC assembly supplemented with Illumina shotgun sequence, together capturing ～94% of all M. truncatula genes. A whole-genome duplication (WGD) approximately 58 Myr ago had a major role in shaping the M. truncatula genome and thereby contributed to the evolution of endosymbiotic nitrogen fixation. Subsequent to the WGD, the M. truncatula genome experienced higher levels of rearrangement than two other sequenced legumes, Glycine max and Lotus japonicus. M. truncatula is a close relative of alfalfa (Medicago sativa), a widely cultivated crop with limited genomics tools and complex autotetraploid genetics. As such, the M. truncatula genome sequence provides significant opportunities to expand alfalfa's genomic toolbox.     

Wetting of flexible fibre arrays

Fibrous media are functional and versatile materials, as demonstrated by their ubiquity both in natural systems such as feathers and adhesive pads and in engineered systems from nanotextured surfaces to textile products, where they offer benefits in filtration, insulation, wetting and colouring. The elasticity and high aspect ratios of the fibres allow deformation under capillary forces, which cause mechanical damage, matting self-assembly or colour changes, with many industrial and ecological consequences. Attempts to understand these systems have mostly focused on the wetting of rigid fibres or on elastocapillary effects in planar geometries and on a fibre brush withdrawn from an infinite bath. Here we consider the frequently encountered case of a liquid drop deposited on a flexible fibre array and show that flexibility, fibre geometry and drop volume are the crucial parameters that are necessary to understand the various observations referred to above. We identify the conditions required for a drop to remain compact with minimal spreading or to cause a pair of elastic fibres to coalesce. We find that there is a critical volume of liquid, and, hence, a critical drop size, above which this coalescence does not occur. We also identify a drop size that maximizes liquid capture. For both wetting and deformation of the substrates, we present rules that are deduced from the geometric and material properties of the fibres and the volume of the drop. These ideas are applicable to a wide range of fibrous materials, as we illustrate with examples for feathers, beetle tarsi, sprays and microfabricated systems.     

Casein, a prohormone with an immunomodulating role for the newborn?

Maternal colostrum and milk, the earliest food of the newborn, should not only be considered as supplying nutrients, but also as agents providing protection against aggressions from the new environment. Indeed by enzymatic digestion of the main milk proteins, the caseins, biologically active peptides are released; they may be implicated in the stimulation of the newborn's immune system. From this point of view a 'strategic active zone' has been characterized in beta-casein. A possible role of casein as a 'prohormone' for the newborn is suggested.     

Effect of human interferon on viral production in a cell line chronically infected by a type D retrovirus (Mason-Pfizer virus)]

Human interferon specifically inhibits the viral multiplication in a human cell line infected by a type D retrovirus, the Mason-Pfizer virus (MPV). This inhibition is less important than for type C viruses.     

Ultrastructural autoradiographic study of the intracellular fixation of 3H-acrolein.

The fixation of 3H acrolein in Dunaliella bioculata was followed by means of quantitative autoradiography electron microscopy. A fixation was observed mostly in the nucleus where aldehyde linkage remained stable at least for 48 hours.