Fragmentation of extracellular DNA by long-term exposure to radiation from uranium in aquatic environments

Persistent harmful scenarios associated with disposal of radioactive waste, high-background radiation areas and severe nuclear accidents are of great concern regarding consequences to both human health and the environment. Of particular concern is the extracellular DNA in aquatic environments contaminated by radiological substances. Strand breaks induced by radiation promote decrease in the transformation efficiency for extracellular DNA. The focus of this study is the quantification of DNA damage following long-term exposure (over one year) to low doses of natural uranium (an alpha particle emitter) to simulate natural conditions, since nothing is known about alpha radiation induced damage to extracellular DNA. A high-resolution Atomic Force Microscope was used to evaluate DNA fragments. Double-stranded plasmid pBS as a model for extracellular DNA was exposed to different amounts of natural uranium. It was demonstrated that low concentrations of U in water (50 to 150 ppm) produce appreciable numbers of double strand breaks, scaling with the square of the average doses. The importance of these findings for environment monitoring of radiological pollution is addressed.Brazilian agency FAPESPFAPESP Brazilian agencyCNPq Brazilian agencyBrazilian agency CNP

Estudo de efeitos não térmicos da radiação laser em tecidos vivos

Orientador: Jorge Humberto NicolaDissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Fisica Gleb WataghinResumo: Neste trabalho, nosso objetivo é o de dar idéias físicas sobre vários fenômenos biológicos funcionais relacionados a irradiação de tecidos vivos com lasers de baixa potência, que denominamos efeitos não térmicos. Devido a diversidade de comprimento de ondas e densidades de energia com os quais foram observados anteriormente efeitos desse tipo, lançamos a hipótese de que a coerência da radiação utilizada fosse fator importante no processo. Para testar a validade dessa hipótese, dividimos o trabalho em duas partes: uma experimental onde construímos um dispositivo permitindo a irradiação de lesões criadas artificialmente no dorso de ratos por um laser de He-Ne, ou ¿ colocando-se um vidro fosco em movimento a frente do feixe laser, por radiação desse mesmo laser co seu grau de coerência diminuído. Pela observação da cicatrização das lesões, nosso teste mostrou ser a coerência da radiação relevante no processo e apontou a necessidade de estudos mais detalhados nessa área. Do ponto de vista teórico, constituindo a outra parte desse trabalho, realizamos um estudo sobre a distribuição do campo elétrico e intensidade sobre uma superfície dotada de micro-rugosidades quando irradiada por luz coerente. Em nossa opinião, uma distribuição deste tipo pode ocorrer em superfícies celulares e influir decisivamente na fisiologia da própria célula, em grandeAbstract: In this work, our objective is giving physical ideas about several functional biological effects related to the irradiation of live tissues with low power lasers, which we called non-thermal effects. Due to the diversity of wavelengths and energy densities these effects have been previously observed with, we propose that the coherence of the used radiation was an Important factor in this process. To test the validity of this hypothesis, we divided the work in two parts, one experimental and one theoretical. In the experimental part, we constructed a device which permitted the irradiation of lesions artificially created on the back of rats by an He-Ne laser, or - putting a moving ground glass in the path of the laser beam, by radiation of this same laser with its coherence degree decreased. By observation of the lesions cicatrization, our test showed that the coherence of the radiation is relevant in the process and pointed to the necessity of more detailed studies in this area. From the theoretical viewpoint, we performed a study about the electrical field and intensity distribution over a surface with micro-roughness when irradiated by coherent light. In our opinion, this kind of distribution might occur in cellular surfaces and influence decisively the cell physiology, which is to a great extent controlled by electrical phenomena at the membrane levelMestradoFísicaMestre em Físic

Role of group V atoms during gaas nanowire growth revealed by molecular dynamics simulations: implications in the formation of sharp interfaces

Understanding atomistic mechanisms for catalyst-assisted nanowire growth is an essential step to improve control over the properties of these versatile nanomaterials. However, in silico approaches for III-V nanowire growth have been hindered so far mainly by the limited number of interatomic potentials. Here, we present an original interatomic potential for molecular dynamics simulations of Au-catalyzed GaAs nanowire growth. Our simulations provide important insights about the atomic distribution in the nanowire catalyst and the role of As atoms during GaAs nanowire growth. We show that a stable, thin layer of As around the catalyst is essential for nanowire growth and that the composition of the region close to the solid–liquid interface is nonuniform, alternating between Ga-rich and As/Au-rich layers. These features contribute to the reservoir effect, enlarging interface widths when exchanging group III or V species for heterostructure growth. Our simulation results also provide directions for challenging in situ experiments to further probe the existence of this thin As layer on the catalyst surface, as well as for finding improved conditions to obtain sharp interfaces in nanowires with axial heterostructuresCONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQFUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO - FAPESP422621/2018-8; 429326/2018-12019/07616-

The antitoxin protein of a toxin-antitoxin system from Xylella fastidiosa is secreted via outer membrane vesicles.

The Xylella fastidiosa subsp pauca strain 9a5c is a Gram-negative, xylem-limited bacterium that is able to form a biofilm and affects citrus crops in Brazil. Some genes are considered to be involved in biofilm formation, but the specific mechanisms involved in this process remain unknown. This limited understanding of how some bacteria form biofilms is a major barrier to our comprehension of the progression of diseases caused by biofilm-producing bacteria. Several investigations have shown that the toxin-antitoxin (TA) operon is related to biofilm formation. This operon is composed of a toxin with RNAse activity and its cognate antitoxin. Previous reports have indicated that the antitoxin is able to inhibit toxin activity and modulate the expression of the operon as well as other target genes involved in oxidative stress and mobility. In this study, we characterize a toxin-antitoxin system consisting of XfMqsR and XfYgiT, respectively, from X. fastidiosa subsp pauca strain 9a5c. These proteins display a high similarity to their homologues in X. fastidiosa strain Temecula and a predicted tridimensional structure that is similar to MqsR-YgiT from Escherichia coli. The characterization was performed using in vitro assays such as analytical ultracentrifugation (AUC), size exclusion chromatography, isothermal titration calorimetry and western blotting. Using a fluorometric assay to detect RNAses, we demonstrated that XfMqsR is thermostable and can degrade RNA. XfMqsR is inhibited by XfYgiT, which interacts with its own promoter. XfYgiT is known to be localized in the intracellular compartment; however, we provide strong evidence that X. fastidiosa secretes wild-type XfYgiT into the extracellular environment via outer membrane vesicles, as confirmed by western blotting and specific immunofluorescence labeling visualized by fluorescence microscopy. Taken together, our results characterize the TA system from X. fastidiosa strain 9a5c, and we also discuss the possible influence of wild-type XfYgiT in the cell

Structural and optical properties of InP quantum dots grown on GaAs(001)

We investigated structural and optical properties of type-II InP/GaAs quantum dots using reflection high energy electron diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, grazing incidence x-ray diffraction, and photoluminescence techniques. The InP dots present an efficient optical emission even when they are uncapped, which is attributed to the low surface recombination velocity in InP. We compare the difference in the optical properties between surface free dots, which are not covered by any material, with dots covered by a GaAs capping layer. We observed a bimodal dispersion of the dot size distribution, giving rise to two distinct emission bands. The results also revealed that the strain accumulated in the InP islands is slightly relieved for samples with large InP amounts. An unexpected result is the relatively large blue shift of the emission band from uncapped samples as compared to capped dots

Structural and optical properties of InP quantum dots grown on GaAs(001)

We investigated structural and optical properties of type-II InP/GaAs quantum dots using reflection high energy electron diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, grazing incidence x-ray diffraction, and photoluminescence techniques. The InP dots present an efficient optical emission even when they are uncapped, which is attributed to the low surface recombination velocity in InP. We compare the difference in the optical properties between surface free dots, which are not covered by any material, with dots covered by a GaAs capping layer. We observed a bimodal dispersion of the dot size distribution, giving rise to two distinct emission bands. The results also revealed that the strain accumulated in the InP islands is slightly relieved for samples with large InP amounts. An unexpected result is the relatively large blue shift of the emission band from uncapped samples as compared to capped dots

Carrier dynamics in stacked InP/GaAs quantum dots

We investigated two stacked layers of InP/GaAs type-II quantum dots by transmission electron microscopy and optical spectroscopy. The results reveal that InP quantum dots formed in two quantum dot layers are more uniform than those from a single layer structure. The thermal activation energies as well as the photoluminescence decays are rather independent of the separation between quantum dot layers and the presence of the second layer. The quantum dot optical emission persists for thermal activation energy larger than the calculated exciton binding energy. The photoluminescence decay is relatively fast for type-II alignment