Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of herbicide resistance in creeping bentgrass and colonial bentgrass

Embryogenic calli were induced from the seeds of creeping bentgrass ( Agrostis palustris Huds. ) cv. Regent and colonial bentgrass ( Agrostis Tenuis Sibth. F1. Oxen. ) cv. Tiger. The embryogenic calli were precultured on fresh medium for 4-7 days and then co-cultivated with Agrobacterium tumefaciens, LBA4404,which contains plasmid vector-pSBGM harboring bar coding region, synthetic green fluorescent protein (sGFP) coding region and matrix attachment region (MAR) . After 3 days of co-cultivation, the calli were washed thoroughly and transferred to MS medium containing 2 mg/L of 2, 4-D, 12-15 mg/L phosphinothricin (PPT) and 250 mg/L of cefotaxime. After 2-3 months of selection, the actively growing calli of ‘Regent‘ and ‘Ti-ger‘ were transferred to MS medium with 12-15 mg/L PPT and 250 mg/L cefotaxime for regeneration. The putative transformants were maintained on MS medium with 3 mg/L PPT for long period but control died within 1 month. After establishing in greenhouse, the transformants also showed strong resistance to 0.4 % of herbi-cide Basta but control plants died within 2 weeks. Under confocal microscope, both young leaves and roots showed significant GFP expression. PCR analysis revealed the presence of a DNA fragment of GFP gene at the expected size (380 bp) in the transformants and its absence in a randomly selected control plant.     

Structure of the Ebola virus glycoprotein bound to an antibody from a human survivor

Ebola virus (EBOV) entry requires the surface glycoprotein (GP) to initiate attachment and fusion of viral and host membranes. Here we report the crystal structure of EBOV GP in its trimeric, pre-fusion conformation (GP1+GP2) bound to a neutralizing antibody, KZ52, derived from a human survivor of the 1995 Kikwit outbreak. Three GP1 viral attachment subunits assemble to form a chalice, cradled by the GP2 fusion subunits, while a novel glycan cap and projected mucin-like domain restrict access to the conserved receptor-binding site sequestered in the chalice bowl. The glycocalyx surrounding GP is likely central to immune evasion and may explain why survivors have insignificant neutralizing antibody titres. KZ52 recognizes a protein epitope at the chalice base where it clamps several regions of the pre-fusion GP2 to the amino terminus of GP1. This structure provides a template for unravelling the mechanism of EBOV GP-mediated fusion and for future immunotherapeutic development.     

The redox state of arc mantle using Zn/Fe systematics

Many arc lavas are more oxidized than mid-ocean-ridge basalts and subduction introduces oxidized components into the mantle. As a consequence, the sub-arc mantle wedge is widely believed to be oxidized. The Fe oxidation state of sub-arc mantle is, however, difficult to determine directly, and debate persists as to whether this oxidation is intrinsic to the mantle source. Here we show that Zn/Fe(T) (where Fe(T) = Fe(2+)?+?Fe(3+)) is redox-sensitive and retains a memory of the valence state of Fe in primary arc basalts and their mantle sources. During melting of mantle peridotite, Fe(2+) and Zn behave similarly, but because Fe(3+) is more incompatible than Fe(2+), melts generated in oxidized environments have low Zn/Fe(T). Primitive arc magmas have identical Zn/Fe(T) to mid-ocean-ridge basalts, suggesting that primary mantle melts in arcs and ridges have similar Fe oxidation states. The constancy of Zn/Fe(T) during early differentiation involving olivine requires that Fe(3+)/Fe(T) remains low in the magma. Only after progressive fractionation does Fe(3+)/Fe(T) increase and stabilize magnetite as a fractionating phase. These results suggest that subduction of oxidized crustal material may not significantly alter the redox state of the mantle wedge. Thus, the higher oxidation states of arc lavas must be in part a consequence of shallow-level differentiation processes, though such processes remain poorly understood.     

Dynamics of travelling waves in visual perception

Nonlinear wave propagation is ubiquitous in nature, appearing in chemical reaction kinetics, cardiac tissue dynamics, cortical spreading depression and slow wave sleep. The application of dynamical modelling has provided valuable insights into the mechanisms underlying such nonlinear wave phenomena in several domains. Wave propagation can also be perceived as sweeping waves of visibility that occur when the two eyes view radically different stimuli. Termed binocular rivalry, these fluctuating states of perceptual dominance and suppression are thought to provide a window into the neural dynamics that underlie conscious visual awareness. Here we introduce a technique to measure the speed of rivalry dominance waves propagating around a large, essentially one-dimensional annulus. When mapped onto visual cortex, propagation speed is independent of eccentricity. Propagation speed doubles when waves travel along continuous contours, thus demonstrating effects of collinear facilitation. A neural model with reciprocal inhibition between two layers of units provides a quantitative explanation of dominance wave propagation in terms of disinhibition. Dominance waves provide a new tool for investigating fundamental cortical dynamics.     

Modern optics in exceptionally preserved eyes of Early Cambrian arthropods from Australia

Despite the status of the eye as an "organ of extreme perfection", theory suggests that complex eyes can evolve very rapidly. The fossil record has, until now, been inadequate in providing insight into the early evolution of eyes during the initial radiation of many animal groups known as the Cambrian explosion. This is surprising because Cambrian Burgess-Shale-type deposits are replete with exquisitely preserved animals, especially arthropods, that possess eyes. However, with the exception of biomineralized trilobite eyes, virtually nothing is known about the details of their optical design. Here we report exceptionally preserved fossil eyes from the Early Cambrian (～ 515 million years ago) Emu Bay Shale of South Australia, revealing that some of the earliest arthropods possessed highly advanced compound eyes, each with over 3,000 large ommatidial lenses and a specialized 'bright zone'. These are the oldest non-biomineralized eyes known in such detail, with preservation quality exceeding that found in the Burgess Shale and Chengjiang deposits. Non-biomineralized eyes of similar complexity are otherwise unknown until about 85 million years later. The arrangement and size of the lenses indicate that these eyes belonged to an active predator that was capable of seeing in low light. The eyes are more complex than those known from contemporaneous trilobites and are as advanced as those of many living forms. They provide further evidence that the Cambrian explosion involved rapid innovation in fine-scale anatomy as well as gross morphology, and are consistent with the concept that the development of advanced vision helped to drive this great evolutionary event.     

Energy-dependent regulation of cell structure by AMP-activated protein kinase

AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK, also known as SNF1A) has been primarily studied as a metabolic regulator that is activated in response to energy deprivation. Although there is relatively ample information on the biochemical characteristics of AMPK, not enough data exist on the in vivo function of the kinase. Here, using the Drosophila model system, we generated the first animal model with no AMPK activity and discovered physiological functions of the kinase. Surprisingly, AMPK-null mutants were lethal with severe abnormalities in cell polarity and mitosis, similar to those of lkb1-null mutants. Constitutive activation of AMPK restored many of the phenotypes of lkb1-null mutants, suggesting that AMPK mediates the polarity- and mitosis-controlling functions of the LKB1 serine/threonine kinase. Interestingly, the regulatory site of non-muscle myosin regulatory light chain (MRLC; also known as MLC2) was directly phosphorylated by AMPK. Moreover, the phosphomimetic mutant of MRLC rescued the AMPK-null defects in cell polarity and mitosis, suggesting MRLC is a critical downstream target of AMPK. Furthermore, the activation of AMPK by energy deprivation was sufficient to cause dramatic changes in cell shape, inducing complete polarization and brush border formation in the human LS174T cell line, through the phosphorylation of MRLC. Taken together, our results demonstrate that AMPK has highly conserved roles across metazoan species not only in the control of metabolism, but also in the regulation of cellular structures.     

Personalized Metaheuristic Clustering Onto Web Documents

Optimal clustering for the web documents is known to complicated combinatorial Optimization problem and it is hard to develop a generally applicable oplimal algorithm. An accelerated simuIated arlneaIing aIgorithm is developed for automatic web document classification. The web document classification problem is addressed as the problem of best describing a match between a web query and a hypothesized web object. The normalized term frequency and inverse document frequency coetficient is used as a measure of the match. Test beds are generated on - line during the search by transforming model web sites. As a result,web sites can be clustered optimally in terms of keyword vectors of corresponding web documents.     

Seasonal variation and sources of low molecular weight organic acids in precipitation in the rural area of Anshun

Low molecular weight (LMW) organic acids are important and ubiquitous chemical constituents in the atmosphere. A comprehensive study of the chemical composition of precipitation was carried out from June 2007 to June 2008 at a rural site in Anshun, in the west of Guizhou Province, China. During this period, 118 rainwater samples were collected and the main LMW carboxylic acids were determined using ion chromatography. The average pH of rainwater was 4.89 which is a typical acidic value. The most abundant carboxylic acids were formic acid (volume weight mean concentration: 8.77 μmol L⁻¹) and acetic acid (6.90 μmol L⁻¹), followed by oxalic acid (2.05 μmol L⁻¹). The seasonal variation of concentrations and wet deposition fluxes of organic acids indicated that direct vegetation emissions were the main sources of the organic acids. Highest concentrations were observed in winter and were ascribed to the low winter rainfall and the contribution of other air pollution sources northeast of the study area. The ratio of formic and acetic acids in the precipitation ([F/A] _T ) was proposed as an indicator of pollution source. This suggested that the pollution resulted from direct emissions from natural or anthropogenic sources. Comparison with acid precipitation in other urban and rural areas in Guizhou showed that there was a decreasing contribution of LMW organic acids to free acidity and all anions in rainwater from urban to remote rural areas. Consequently, it is necessary to control emissions of organic acids to reduce the frequency of acid rain, especially in rural and remote areas.     

Bone morphogenetic protein 2 improves patellar tendon healing by promoting migration and proliferation of tenocytes

The repair of injured tendons remains a great challenge because of the poor intrinsic healing capacity of tendons. In this study, we examined the spatiotemporal expression pattern of the bone morphogenetic protein 2 (bmp-2) gene in normal and experimentally injured rat patellar tendons. We also investigated the ability of exogenously applied BMP-2 to promote patellar tendon healing. In situ hybridization with bmp-2 and alk-6 (bmp-2 receptor) antisense riboprobes revealed that both genes were normally expressed at low levels in intact rat tendons. However, bmp-2 expression was significantly upregulated in tenocytes found in the wound site at 7 d and later following tendon injury. In addition, it was found that bmp-2 was expressed in cultured patellar tenocytes. Appli- cation of exogenous BMP-2 to the tendon wound site significantly enhanced tendon repair. Moreover, in vitro and in vivo studies further demonstrated that BMP-2 enhanced tenocyte proliferation and migration to the wound site. The detectable amount of BMP-2 in normal tendons suggests that a basal level of bmp-2 expression was likely present to maintain the normal functions of the patellar tendon. Injury to the tendon induced increased bmp-2 expression intrinsically, but the expression level was insufficient for proper tendon repair. Our findings indicate that it is possible to significantly improve tendon healing by applying exogenous BMP-2 to the wound site, inferring that this protein could be developed as a potential therapeutic reagent for the treatment of damaged tendons.