Pratia platycalyx is a synonym of P. irrigua (Campanulaceae: Lobelioideae)

Pratia irrigua (R. Br) Benth., hitherto believed to be a restricted Tasmanian endemic, is shown 1.0 be conspecific v;;ith the extremely variable P. platycalyx (F. Mudll.) Benth. The name P. irrigua is retained, as its basionym predates that of P.platycalyx. An amended morphological description is presented

The Arabidopsis thaliana SOMATIC EMBRYOGENESIS RECEPTOR-LIKE KINASES1 and 2 control male sporogenesis

The Arabidopsis thaliana SOMATIC EMBRYOGENESIS RECEPTOR-LIKE KINASE (SERK) family of plasma membrane receptors consists of five closely related members. The SERK1 and SERK2 genes show a complex expression pattern throughout development. Both are expressed in anther primordia up to the second parietal division. After this point, expression ceases in the sporocytes and is continued in the tapetum and middle layer precursors. Single knockout mutants of SERK1 and SERK2 show no obvious phenotypes. Double mutants of SERK1 and SERK2 are completely male sterile due to a failure in tapetum specification. Fertility can be restored by a single copy of either gene. The SERK1 and SERK2 proteins can form homodimers or heterodimers in vivo, suggesting they are interchangeable in the SERK1/SERK2 signaling comple

The orbital motion, absolute mass, and high-altitude winds of exoplanet HD209458b

For extrasolar planets discovered using the radial velocity method, the spectral characterization of the host star leads to a mass-estimate of the star and subsequently of the orbiting planet. In contrast, if also the orbital velocity of the planet would be known, the masses of both star and planet could be determined directly using Newton's law of gravity, just as in the case of stellar double-line eclipsing binaries. Here we report on the detection of the orbital velocity of extrasolar planet HD209458b. High dispersion ground-based spectroscopy during a transit of this planet reveals absorption lines from carbon monoxide produced in the planet atmosphere, which shift significantly in wavelength due to the change in the radial component of the planet orbital velocity. These observations result in a mass determination of the star and planet of 1.00+-0.22 Msun and 0.64+-0.09 Mjup respectively. A ~2 km/sec blueshift of the carbon monoxide signal with respect to the systemic velocity of the host star suggests the presence of a strong wind flowing from the irradiated dayside to the non-irradiated nightside of the planet within the 0.01-0.1 mbar atmospheric pressure range probed by these observations. The strength of the carbon monoxide signal suggests a CO mixing ratio of 1-3x10-3 in this planet's upper atmosphere.Comment: 11 Pages main article and 6 pages suppl. information: A final, edited version appears in the 24 May 2010 issue of Natur

Non-classical correlations between a C-band telecom photon and a stored spin-wave

Future ground-based quantum information networks will likely use single photons transmitted through optical fibers to entangle individual network nodes. To extend communication distances and overcome limitations due to photon absorption in fibers the concept of quantum repeaters has been proposed. For that purpose, it is required to achieve quantum correlations between the material nodes and photons at telecom wavelengths which can be sent over long distances in optical fibers. Here we demonstrate non-classical correlation between a frequency converted telecom C-band photon and a spin-wave stored in an atomic ensemble quantum memory. The photons emitted from the ensemble and heralding the spin-waves are converted from 780 nm to 1552 nm by means of an all-solid-state integrated waveguide non-linear device. We show ultra-low noise operation of the device enabling a high signal to noise ratio of the converted single photon, leading to a high spin-wave heralding efficiency. The presented work is an enabling step towards the practical entanglement of remote quantum memories and the entanglement of quantum systems operating at different wavelengths.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figure