Plant degradation: a nematode expansin acting on plants

Expansin proteins, which have so far been identified only in plants, rapidly induce extension of plant cell walls by weakening the non-covalent interactions that help to maintain their integrity. Here we show that an animal, the plant-parasitic roundworm Globodera rostochiensis, can also produce a functional expansin, which it uses to loosen cell walls when invading its host plant. As this nematode is known to be able to disrupt covalent bonds in plant cell walls, its accompanying ability to loosen non-covalent bonds challenges the prevailing view that animals are genetically poorly equipped to degrade plant cell walls.     

The gene mutated in bare patches and striated mice encodes a novel 3beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase.

X-linked dominant disorders that are exclusively lethal prenatally in hemizygous males have been described in human and mouse. None of the genes responsible has been isolated in either species. The bare patches (Bpa) and striated (Str) mouse mutations were originally identified in female offspring of X-irradiated males. Subsequently, additional independent alleles were described. We have previously mapped these X-linked dominant, male-lethal mutations to an overlapping region of 600 kb that is homologous to human Xq28 (ref. 4) and identified several candidate genes in this interval. Here we report mutations in one of these genes, Nsdhl, encoding an NAD(P)H steroid dehydrogenase-like protein, in two independent Bpa and three independent Str alleles. Quantitative analysis of sterols from tissues of affected Bpa mice support a role for Nsdhl in cholesterol biosynthesis. Our results demonstrate that Bpa and Str are allelic mutations and identify the first mammalian locus associated with an X-linked dominant, male-lethal phenotype. They also expand the spectrum of phenotypes associated with abnormalities of cholesterol metabolism.     

Magnitude and distribution of linkage disequilibrium in population isolates and implications for genome-wide association studies

The genome-wide distribution of linkage disequilibrium (LD) determines the strategy for selecting markers for association studies, but it varies between populations. We assayed LD in large samples (200 individuals) from each of 11 well-described population isolates and an outbred European-derived sample, using SNP markers spaced across chromosome 22. Most isolates show substantially higher levels of LD than the outbred sample and many fewer regions of very low LD (termed 'holes'). Young isolates known to have had relatively few founders show particularly extensive LD with very few holes; these populations offer substantial advantages for genome-wide association mapping.     

火炸药燃烧与爆轰产物的非理想普适状态方程

本文研究火炸药燃烧与爆轰反应产物的非理想状态方程的建立和应用。通过对载短维里方程、Haar—Shenker方程和BKW状态方程的评估,用“多方程组合法”建立的普适方程适用于从理想气体到类固体气体宽广的密度范围。该方程用于燃烧转爆轰研究。与过去使用的方程比较表明,燃烧转爆轰理论预测的准确性得到了提高。文中提供了奥克托金炸药反应产物的大量数据和方程的参数值。     

The value of data

Data citation and the derivation of semantic constructs directly from datasets have now both found their place in scientific communication. The social challenge facing us is to maintain the value of traditional narrative publications and their relationship to the datasets they report upon while at the same time developing appropriate metrics for citation of data and data constructs.     

Serotonin and neuropeptide F have opposite modulatory effects on fly aggression

Both serotonin (5-HT) and neuropeptide Y have been shown to affect a variety of mammalian behaviors, including aggression. Here we show in Drosophila melanogaster that both 5-HT and neuropeptide F, the invertebrate homolog of neuropeptide Y, modulate aggression. We show that drug-induced increases of 5-HT in the fly brain increase aggression. Elevating 5-HT genetically in the serotonergic circuits recapitulates these pharmacological effects, whereas genetic silencing of these circuits makes the flies behaviorally unresponsive to the drug-induced increase of 5-HT but leaves them capable of aggression. Genetic silencing of the neuropeptide F (npf) circuit also increases fly aggression, demonstrating an opposite modulation to 5-HT. Moreover, this neuropeptide F effect seems to be independent of 5-HT. The implication of these two modulatory systems in fly and mouse aggression suggest a marked degree of conservation and a deep molecular root for this behavior.     

GSK-3α/β kinases and amyloid production in vivo

Arising from C. J. Phiel, C. A. Wilson, V. M.-Y. Lee & P. S. Klein 423, 435-439 (2003)A major unresolved issue in Alzheimer's disease is identifying the mechanisms that regulate proteolytic processing of amyloid precursor protein (APP)-glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3) isozymes are thought to be important in this regulation. Phiel et al. proposed that GSK-3α, but not GSK-3β, controls production of amyloid. We analysed the proteolytic processing of mouse and human APP in mouse brain in vivo in five different genetic and viral models. Our data do not yield evidence for either GSK-3α-mediated or GSK-3β-mediated control of APP processing in brain in vivo.     

Macrophage activity of thymectomized mice infected withLeishmania donovani

Resumen Fagocitosis y destrucción deLeishmania donovani por macrófagos in vivo o in vitro es igual en macrofagos de ratones timectomizados e infectados que en macrófagos de ratones no timectomizados e infectados. Se concluye que la resistencia natural contra infección conL. donovani no es disminuida por la timectomía. Además, los datos indican que la actividad de los macrófagos es independiente del timo.

---

---

Guest Worker, NIAID. Fellowship holder from the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas de la Argentina and holder of award No. 5 F05 TW 1468-02 from the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Public Health Service.     

Nitroglycerin on the carotid artery and femoral artery of the dog

Résumé In vitro, la nitroglycérine antagonise aisément la contraction de l'artère carotidienne du chien provoquée par la noradrénaline, ce qui n'est pas le cas pour l'artère fémorale. In vivo cependant les différences de comportement de ces deux artères envers la nitroglycérine ne semblent pas être liées à des propriétés intrinsèques des vaisseaux, mais bien à des reflexes sympathiques.