Cytosine-5-methyltransferases add aldehydes to DNA.

Targeted methylation of cytosine residues by S-adenosylmethionine–dependent DNA methyltransferases modulates gene expression in vertebrates. Here we show that cytosine-5-methyltransferases catalyze reversible covalent addition of exogenous aliphatic aldehydes to their target residues in DNA, thus yielding corresponding 5-α-hydroxyalkylcytosines. Such atypical enzymatic reactions with non-cofactor-like substrates open new ways for sequence-specific derivatization of DNA and demonstrate enzymatic exchange of 5-hydroxymethyl groups on cytosine in support of an oxidative mechanism of DNA demethylation

Relationship among egodocuments by Šatrijos Ragana: letters and memoirs

The article aims to analyze the egodocuments by Šatrijos Ragana. Using categories defined by Philipe Lejeune which determine autobiography as a genre, Ragana‘ s letters written from 1895 to 1930 (about 400 letters in total) are investigated. The results of the research enables us to speak about an interim genre, i.e. The letter-autobiography, or the sub-genre of the letter; i.e. the epistolar biography. The authenticity of another egodocumentic genre (reminiscences about the author) also relates to letters by Šatrijos Ragana. Egodocumentic texts are written by different people: the letters are written in the first person, and the reminiscences are presented from the perspective of other people. As a genre the letter shows great flexibility. It might interact with both fiction (e.g. The writer‘s letter-autobiography to Juozas Tumas-Vaižgantas demonstrates that the novella Sename dvare [In the Old Manor] has clear autobiographical motifs) and other egodocumentic genres, memories in this case, in order to specify some parts of an epistolary text or artistic factography. The autobiographical data of the writer’s life denotes certain experiences in works of fiction. Šatrijos Ragana’s letters provide not only factual life information, but are also valuable as the story of a personality. Memoirs also supplement the image of the personality revealed in letters. Writer‘s letters are considered to be the unique egodocuments which demonstrate not only the history of an individual and a nation, but also provide proof for the argument that there are theoretical interfaces between genres in egodocuments

Phenomenology in Lithuania

The main thesis of the article is as follows: phenomenology is a living tradition that needs both development and interpretation. The minor thesis follows from the major one: the Western phenomenological tradition and Lithuanian philosophy interact and develop each other. According to the authors, the contact between poetics and philosophy is the dominant form of phenomenology in Lithuania. The phenomenological tradition is treated as a creative and vivid philosophical thought

Translations of William Shakespeare’s Sonnets: a Variant Translation by Sigitas Geda

Šiame studijinio pobūdžio straipsnyje analizuojami poeto Sigito Gedos atlikti Williamo Shakespeare’o sonetų vertimai į lietuvių kalbą (Vilnius: Žara, 2009). Atskleidžiama vertimų ir sekimų svarba formuojantis itališkajai bei angliškajai sonetų struktūrai; pateikiama trumpa Shakespeare’o sonetų vertimų į lietuvių kalbą ir jų tyrimų apžvalga; supažindinama su šiuolaikinėmis teorinėmis poetinio vertimo nuostatomis, liečiančiomis vertimo adekvatumo, ekvivalentiškumo, kultūrinių realijų perteikimo klausimus (James S. Holmes, Francis R. Jones, Raymond van den Broeck, Theodore Horace Savory); aptariamos bendrosios kalbinės, kultūrinės Shakespeare’o sonetų vertimo į lietuvių kalbą problemos. Taikant lyginamąjį ir atidžiojo skaitymo metodus, detaliai analizuojami šeši Gedos išversti sonetai, didesnį dėmesį skiriant originalo poetinės sintaksės ir semantikos figūrų perkėlimui (18, 73, 116 sonetai), prasmės atskleidimui ir jos transformacijoms vertimuose (27, 66, 13 sonetai). Naudojamasi moksliniu angliškuoju sonetų leidimu (redaktorė Katherine Duncan-Jones, 2012), užsienio autorių atliktais Shakespeare’o sonetų ir jų vertimų tyrimais (Manfred Pfister, Niveen Aziz Muhammed Tinah, Douglas Trevor, Lukas Erne, Catherine Belsey, Paul Edmondson, Stanley Wells, Zacharij Plavskin, Michail Morozov, Aleksandr Anikst). Epizodiniam lyginimui pasitelkiami Samuilo Maršako vertimai, turėję nemenkos įtakos Gedos vertimams, taip pat ir kiti rusiškieji bei lietuviškieji (Aleksio Churgino, Alfonso Tyruolio-Šešplaukio, Tautvydos Marcinkevičiūtės, Antano Danieliaus) vertimai. Daroma išvada, kad Gedos versti sonetai išlaiko originalaus teksto struktūrą, sintaksinį ir semantinį branduolį – išplėstinę metaforą ir antitezę, tačiau patiria nemenkų poetikos bei prasmės nuostolių ir nepasiekia vertėjo poetinio talento lygmens.The article examines the translation of William Shakespeare’s sonnets into Lithuanian by the poet Sigitas Geda (Vilnius: Žara, 2009). The authors discuss the importance of translations and interpreting via a third language for the formation of Italian and English sonnet structure; provide a short overview on Lithuanian translations of Shakespeare’s sonnets and their research; present some modern theoretical principles of poetry translation including translation adequacy, equivalence and cultural transfers (James S. Holmes, Francis R. Jones, Raymond van den Broeck, Theodore Horace Savory); examine general linguistic and cultural issues of Lithuanian translations of Shakespeare’s sonnets. A detailed analysis of the translation of six sonnets by Geda is done applying comparative and close reading methods. The article focuses on the transfer of figures of speech (sonnets 18, 73 and 116) and the deciphering and transformation of meaning (sonnets 27, 66 and 13). The resources include the edition of Shakespeare’s sonnets with commentaries (ed. Katherine Duncan Jones), the research of sonnets and their translations carried out by foreign authors (Manfred Pfister, Niveen Aziz Muhammed Tinah, Douglas Trevor, Lukas Erne, Catherine Belsey, Paul Edmondson, Stanley Wells, Zacharij Plavskin, Michail Morozov, Aleksandr Anikst). Occasionally, comparisons are made with translation by Samuil Marshak that had a greatly influence on Geda and with other variant translations of Russian and Lithuanian authors (Aleksys Churginas, Alfonsas Tyruolis-Šešplaukis, Tautvyda Marcinkevičiūtė, Antanas Danielius). In conclusion, sonnets translation by Geda preserves the text structure of the original, its syntactic and semantic nexus – extended metaphor and antithesis; however, it results in a great loss of poetic and semantic features and does not reveal the poetic talent of the translator