Differential heat-sensitivity of esterase electromorphs in natural polyploid populations ofUrginea maritima (Liliaceae)

Summary The esterase electromorphs of tetra and hexaploid populations ofUrginea maritima show differences in both heat-sensitivity and geographical distribution. Its possible adaptative significance is discussed.     

Functional coordination of intraflagellar transport motors

Cilia have diverse roles in motility and sensory reception, and defects in cilia function contribute to ciliary diseases such as Bardet-Biedl syndrome (BBS). Intraflagellar transport (IFT) motors assemble and maintain cilia by transporting ciliary precursors, bound to protein complexes called IFT particles, from the base of the cilium to their site of incorporation at the distal tip. In Caenorhabditis elegans, this is accomplished by two IFT motors, kinesin-II and osmotic avoidance defective (OSM)-3 kinesin, which cooperate to form two sequential anterograde IFT pathways that build distinct parts of cilia. By observing the movement of fluorescent IFT motors and IFT particles along the cilia of numerous ciliary mutants, we identified three genes whose protein products mediate the functional coordination of these motors. The BBS proteins BBS-7 and BBS-8 are required to stabilize complexes of IFT particles containing both of the IFT motors, because IFT particles in bbs-7 and bbs-8 mutants break down into two subcomplexes, IFT-A and IFT-B, which are moved separately by kinesin-II and OSM-3 kinesin, respectively. A conserved ciliary protein, DYF-1, is specifically required for OSM-3 kinesin to dock onto and move IFT particles, because OSM-3 kinesin is inactive and intact IFT particles are moved by kinesin-II alone in dyf-1 mutants. These findings implicate BBS ciliary disease proteins and an OSM-3 kinesin activator in the formation of two IFT pathways that build functional cilia.     

Photoperiod manipulation to control diapause in the pink bollworm,Pectinophora gossypiella

Zusammenfassung Im 12-h Kurztag gehaltenePectinophora gossypiella gehen zu 78% in Diapause. Zusätzlich applizierte, einstÜndige Perioden mit 15 Lichtpulsen von je 1 min Dauer reduzieren die Diapauserate. Die besten Resultate ergeben 2 Pulsperioden, je 1,5 h vor und nach der Hellphase appliziert.     

The suppression of star formation by powerful active galactic nuclei

The old, red stars that constitute the bulges of galaxies, and the massive black holes at their centres, are the relics of a period in cosmic history when galaxies formed stars at remarkable rates and active galactic nuclei (AGN) shone brightly as a result of accretion onto black holes. It is widely suspected, but unproved, that the tight correlation between the mass of the black hole and the mass of the stellar bulge results from the AGN quenching the surrounding star formation as it approaches its peak luminosity. X-rays trace emission from AGN unambiguously, whereas powerful star-forming galaxies are usually dust-obscured and are brightest at infrared and submillimetre wavelengths. Here we report submillimetre and X-ray observations that show that rapid star formation was common in the host galaxies of AGN when the Universe was 2-6 billion years old, but that the most vigorous star formation is not observed around black holes above an X-ray luminosity of 10(44) ergs per second. This suppression of star formation in the host galaxy of a powerful AGN is a key prediction of models in which the AGN drives an outflow, expelling the interstellar medium of its host and transforming the galaxy's properties in a brief period of cosmic time.     

Magnetostratigraphy of the Zanda basin in southwest Tibet Plateau and its tectonic implications

The Zanda basin is one of the very important basins at the north slope of the Himalaya Range. Thus the study of the basin strata will provide critical information about the tectonic evolution of the Himalayan Orogenic Belt. 268 oriented block samples were collected in the 750-m-thick sections of the Zanda basin. The characteristic remanent magnetization （ChRM） was isolated that decays linearly to the origin between 500℃ and 690℃for most studied samples. An age range of 9.5-2.6 Ma was estimated from the correlation between our observed polarity column and the Geomagnetic Polarity Time Scale （GPTS）. The age of the Zanda basin does not support the models that the South Tibetan Detach system （STDS） is one of the basin controlling faults. Given the sedimentological features in the basin and the tectonic features at the north edge of the basin, the Zanda basin was a half graben that was possibly controlled by the Karakorum fault on the northeast.     

Crystal structure of the ligand-free G-protein-coupled receptor opsin

In the G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) rhodopsin, the inactivating ligand 11-cis-retinal is bound in the seven-transmembrane helix (TM) bundle and is cis/trans isomerized by light to form active metarhodopsin II. With metarhodopsin II decay, all-trans-retinal is released, and opsin is reloaded with new 11-cis-retinal. Here we present the crystal structure of ligand-free native opsin from bovine retinal rod cells at 2.9 ?ngstr?m (A) resolution. Compared to rhodopsin, opsin shows prominent structural changes in the conserved E(D)RY and NPxxY(x)(5,6)F regions and in TM5-TM7. At the cytoplasmic side, TM6 is tilted outwards by 6-7 A, whereas the helix structure of TM5 is more elongated and close to TM6. These structural changes, some of which were attributed to an active GPCR state, reorganize the empty retinal-binding pocket to disclose two openings that may serve the entry and exit of retinal. The opsin structure sheds new light on ligand binding to GPCRs and on GPCR activation.     

Tibetan plateau river incision inhibited by glacial stabilization of the Tsangpo gorge

A considerable amount of research has focused on how and when the Tibetan plateau formed in the wake of tectonic convergence between India and Asia. Although far less enquiry has addressed the controls on river incision into the plateau itself, widely accepted theory predicts that steep fluvial knick points (river reaches with very steep gradients) in the eastern Himalayan syntaxis at the southeastern plateau margin should erode rapidly, driving a wave of incision back into the plateau. Preservation of the plateau edge thus presents something of a conundrum that may be resolved by invoking either differential rock uplift matching erosional decay, or other mechanisms for retarding bedrock river incision in this region where high stream power excludes the potential for aridity as a simple limit to dissection of the plateau. Here we report morphologic evidence showing that Quaternary depression of the regional equilibrium line altitude, where long-term glacier mass gain equals mass loss, was sufficient to repeatedly form moraine dams on major rivers: such damming substantially impeded river incision into the southeastern edge of the Tibetan plateau through the coupled effects of upstream impoundment and interglacial aggradation. Such glacial stabilization of the resulting highly focused river incision centred on the Tsangpo gorge could further contribute to initiating and accentuating a locus of rapid exhumation, known as tectonic anaeurysm.