Untangling Biocultural and Socioeconomical Drivers of African Plum Tree (Dacryodes edulis) Local Nomenclature Along a Rural-Urban Gradient in Central Cameroon

In Cameroon, the African plum tree (Dacryodes edulis [G. Don] H. J. Lam) is widely cultivated for its fruits, which contribute significantly to household food security and economy. In order to analyze the links between the social and ecological systems that result in the remarkable fruit diversity, we focused on how the important varietal diversity of African plums was perceived and named by tree owners. We conducted semi‑structured interviews in Center-Cameroon with 142 people belonging to the Beti ethnic group, in urban (Yaoundé), peri-urban and rural areas, and analyzed the data qualitatively and quantitatively. Along this urbanization gradient linking production to consumption regions, 158 different translated names were recorded. Most names (80%) were cited once, but some names based on fruit size and taste were common across the gradient. Although the highest total number of names was recorded in the rural site, many different names were also found along the urban–rural gradient. We did not detect difference in the number of named African plums between respondents with different characteristics. The local classification of African plums among the Beti was structured predominantly according to morphological and organoleptic criteria, but also to symbolic and practical criteria. African plums’ names were based on people’s fruit preferences, that favor large, oily, and blue to black fruits, and disregard pink-colored watery plums. This study is an entry point to explore the rising trade and thus ongoing domestication of the African plum tree from an often neglected perspective, that of local nomenclature

Adsorption of Bovine Serum Albumin onto Polystyrene Latex Particles Bearing Saccharidic Moieties

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Morphopoietic Determinants of HIV-1 Gag Particles Assembled in Baculovirus-Infected Cells

International audienceThe determinants for HIV-1 particle morphology were investigated using various deletion and insertion mutants of the Gag precursor protein (Gag) expressed in baculovirus-infected cells and ultrastructural analysis of membrane-enveloped Gag particles under the electron microscope. Five discrete regions were found to influence the size, the variability in dimension, and the sphericity of the particles: (i) the matrix (MA) N-terminal domain, within residues 10±21, the junctions of (ii) MA±CA (capsid), (iii) CA-spacer peptide SP1 and (iv) nucleocapsid (NC)±SP2, and (v) the p6 gag C-terminus. Internal regions (ii), (iii), and (iv) contained HIV-1 protease cleavage sites separating major structural domains. No particle assembly was observed for amb276, a MA±CA polyprotein mutant lacking the C-terminal third of the CA domain. However, MA±CA domains including the MHR (residues 277±306), or downstream sequence to CA residue 357, resulted in the assembly into tubular or filamentous structures, suggesting a helical symmetry of Gag packing. Mutant amb374, derived from amb357 by further addition of the heptadecapeptide motif 358 HKARVLAEAMSQVTNSA 374 , overlapping the CA±SP1 junction and the SP1 domain, showed a drastic change in the pattern of Gag assembly, compared to amb357, with formation of spherical particles. These data suggested a novel function for the spacer domain SP1, acting as a spherical shape determinant of the Gag particle which would negatively affect the helical symmetry of assembly of the Gag precursor molecules conferred by the MHR and the downsteam CA sequence, within residues 307±357

Laminar heat transfer in the MLLM static mixer

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Probing Conformational Changes and Interfacial Recognition Site of Lipases With Surfactants and Inhibitors

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Probing Conformational Changes and Interfacial Recognition Site of Lipases With Surfactants and Inhibitors

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Melting pots of biodiversity : tropical smallholder farm landscapes as guarantors of sustainability

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