A global analysis of terrestrial plant litter dynamics in non-perennial waterways

Perennial rivers and streams make a disproportionate contribution to global carbon (C) cycling. However, the contribution of intermittent rivers and ephemeral streams (IRES), which sometimes cease to flow and can dry completely, is largely ignored although they represent over half the global river network. Substantial amounts of terrestrial plant litter (TPL) accumulate in dry riverbeds and, upon rewetting, this material can undergo rapid microbial processing. We present the results of a global research collaboration that collected and analysed TPL from 212 dry riverbeds across major environmental gradients and climate zones. We assessed litter decomposability by quantifying the litter carbon-to-nitrogen ratio and oxygen (O2) consumption in standardized assays and estimated the potential short-term CO2 emissions during rewetting events. Aridity, cover of riparian vegetation, channel width and dry-phase duration explained most variability in the quantity and decomposability of plant litter in IRES. Our estimates indicate that a single pulse of CO2 emission upon litter rewetting contributes up to 10% of the daily CO2 emission from perennial rivers and stream, particularly in temperate climates. This indicates that the contributions of IRES should be included in global C-cycling assessments

Helix 12 Dynamics and Thyroid Hormone Receptor Activity: Experimental and Molecular Dynamics Studies of Ile280 Mutants

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Nuclear hormone receptors (NRs) form a family of transcription factors that mediate cellular responses initiated by hormone binding. It is generally recognized that the structure and dynamics of the C-terminal helix 12 (H12) of NRs' ligand binding domain (LBD) are fundamental to the recognition of coactivators and corepressors that modulate receptor function. Here we study the role of three mutations in the I280 residue of H12 of thyroid hormone receptors using site-directed mutagenesis, functional assays, and molecular dynamics simulations. Although residues at position 280 do not interact with coactivators or with the ligand, we show that its mutations can selectively block coactivator and corepressor binding, and affect hormone binding affinity differently. Molecular dynamics simulations suggest that ligand affinity is reduced by indirectly displacing the ligand in the binding pocket, facilitating water penetration and ligand destabilization. Mutations I280R and I280K link H12 to the LBD by forming salt bridges with E457 in H12, stabilizing H12 in a conformation that blocks both corepressor and coactivator recruitment. The I280M mutation, in turn, blocks corepressor binding, but appears to enhance coactivator affinity, suggesting stabilization of H12 in agonist conformation. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.4125SI882893Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)CNPq [476895/2008-1, 620195/2008

X-linked acrogigantism syndrome : Clinical Profile and Therapeutic responses

X-linked acrogigantism (X-LAG) is a new syndrome of pituitary gigantism, caused by microduplications on chromosome Xq26.3, encompassing the gene GPR101, which is highly upregulated in pituitary tumors.We conducted this study to explore the clinical, radiological, and hormonal phenotype and responses to therapy in patients with X-LAG syndrome. The study included 18 patients (13 sporadic) with X-LAG and microduplication of chromosome Xq26.3. All sporadic cases had unique duplications and the inheritance pattern in two families was dominant, with all Xq26.3 duplication carriers being affected. Patients began to grow rapidly as early as 2-3 months of age (median 12 months). At diagnosis (median delay 27months), patients had a median height and weight standard deviation scores (SDS) of > +3.9 SDS. Apart from the increased overall body size, the children had acromegalic symptoms including acral enlargement and facial coarsening. More than a third of cases had increased appetite. Patients had marked hypersecretion of GH/IGF1 and usually prolactin, due to a pituitary macroadenoma or hyperplasia. Primary neurosurgical control was achieved with extensive anterior pituitary resection, but postoperative hypopituitarism was frequent. Control with somatostatin analogs was not readily achieved despitemoderate to high levels of expression of somatostatin receptor subtype-2 in tumor tissue. Postoperative use of adjuvant pegvisomant resulted in control of IGF1 in allfive cases where it was employed. X-LAGis anewinfant-onset gigantismsyndrome thathas a severe clinical phenotype leading to challenging disease management