1,983 research outputs found
The Transcriptional Response of Diverse Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Strains to Simulated Microgravity
Spaceflight imposes multiple stresses on biological systems resulting in genome-scale adaptations. Understanding these adaptations and their underlying molecular mechanisms is important to clarifying and reducing the risks associated with spaceflight. One such risk is infection by microbes present in spacecraft and their associated systems and inhabitants. This risk is compounded by results suggesting that some microbes may exhibit increased virulence after exposure to spaceflight conditions. The yeast, S. cerevisiae, is a powerful microbial model system, and its response to spaceflight has been studied for decades. However, to date, these studies have utilized common lab strains. Yet studies on trait variation in S. cerevisiae demonstrate that these lab strains are not representative of wild yeast and instead respond to environmental stimuli in an atypical manner. Thus, it is not clear how transferable these results are to the wild S. cerevisiae strains likely to be encountered during spaceflight. To determine if diverse S. cerevisiae strains exhibit a conserved response to simulated microgravity, we will utilize a collection of 100 S. cerevisiae strains isolated from clinical, environmental and industrial settings. We will place selected S. cerevisiae strains in simulated microgravity using a high-aspect rotating vessel (HARV) and document their transcriptional response by RNA-sequencing and quantify similarities and differences between strains. Our research will have a strong impact on the understanding of how genetic diversity of microorganisms effects their response to spaceflight, and will serve as a platform for further studies
The Transcriptional Response of Diverse Saccharomyces cerevisiae Strains to Simulated Microgravity
Spaceflight imposes multiple stresses on biological systems resulting in genome-scale adaptations. Understanding these adaptations and their underlying molecular mechanisms is important to clarifying and reducing the risks associated with spaceflight. One such risk is infection by microbes present in spacecraft and their associated systems and inhabitants. This risk is compounded by results suggesting that some microbes may exhibit increased virulence after exposure to spaceflight conditions. The yeast, S. cerevisiae, is a powerful microbial model system, and it's response to spaceflight has been studied for decades. However, to date, these studies have utilized common lab strains. Yet studies on trait variation in S. cerevisiae demonstrate that these lab strains are not representative of wild yeast and instead respond to environmental stimuli in an a typical manner. Thus, it is not clear how transferable these results are to the wild S. cerevisiae strains likely to be encountered during spaceflight. To determine if diverse S. cerevisiae strains exhibit a conserved response to simulated microgravity, we will utilize a collection of 100 S. cerevisiae strains isolated from clinical, environmental and industrial settings. We will place selected S. cerevisiae strains in simulated microgravity using a high-aspect rotating vessel (HARV) and document their transcriptional response by RNA-sequencing and quantify similarities and differences between strains. Our research will have a strong impact on the understanding of how genetic diversity of microorganisms effects their response to spaceflight, and will serve as a platform for further studies
Engineering of Methane Metabolism in Pichia Pastoris Through Methane Monooxygenase Expression
Exploration of the solar system is constrained by the cost of moving mass off Earth. Producing materials in situ will reduce the mass that must be delivered from earth. CO2 is abundant on Mars and manned spacecraft. On the ISS, NASA reacts excess CO2 with H2 to generate CH4 and H2O using the Sabatier System. The resulting water is recovered into the ISS, but the methane is vented to space. Thus, there is a capability need for systems that convert methane into valuable materials. Methanotrophic bacteria consume methane but these are poor synthetic biology platforms. Thus, there is a knowledge gap in utilizing methane in a robust and flexible synthetic biology platform. The yeast Pichia pastoris is a refined microbial factory that is used widely by industry because it efficiently secretes products. Pichia could produce a variety of useful products in space. Pichia does not consume methane but robustly consumes methanol, which is one enzymatic step removed from methane. Our goal is to engineer Pichia to consume methane thereby creating a powerful methane-consuming microbial factory
Engineering of Methane Metabolism in Pichia Pastoris Through Methane Monooxygenase Expression
Exploration of the solar system is constrained by the cost of moving mass off Earth. Producing materials in situ will reduce the mass that must be delivered from earth. CO2 is abundant on Mars and manned spacecraft. On the ISS, NASA reacts excess CO2 with H2 to generate CH4 and H2O using the Sabatier System. The resulting water is recovered into the ISS, but the methane is vented to space. Thus, there is a capability need for systems that convert methane into valuable materials. Methanotrophic bacteria consume methane but these are poor synthetic biology platforms. Thus, there is a knowledge gap in utilizing methane in a robust and flexible synthetic biology platform. The yeast Pichia pastoris is a refined microbial factory that is used widely by industry because it efficiently secretes products. Pichia could produce a variety of useful products in space. Pichia does not consume methane but robustly consumes methanol, which is one enzymatic step removed from methane. Our goal is to engineer Pichia to consume methane thereby creating a powerful methane-consuming microbial factory
On the Representation Theory of Orthofermions and Orthosupersymmetric Realization of Parasupersymmetry and Fractional Supersymmetry
We construct a canonical irreducible representation for the orthofermion
algebra of arbitrary order, and show that every representation decomposes into
irreducible representations that are isomorphic to either the canonical
representation or the trivial representation. We use these results to show that
every orthosupersymmetric system of order has a parasupersymmetry of order
and a fractional supersymmetry of order .Comment: 13 pages, to appear in J. Phys. A: Math. Ge
Quantitative trait loci for yield and grain plumpness relative to maturity in three populations of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) grown in a low rain-fall environment
Identifying yield and grain plumpness QTL that are independent of developmental variation or phenology is of paramount importance for developing widely adapted and stable varieties through the application of marker assisted selection. The current study was designed to dissect the genetic basis of yield performance and grain plumpness in southern Australia using three doubled haploid (DH) populations developed from crosses between adapted parents that are similar in maturity and overall plant development. Three interconnected genetic populations, Commander x Fleet (CF), Commander x WI4304 (CW), and Fleet x WI4304 (FW) developed from crossing of Australian elite barley genotypes, were used to map QTL controlling yield and grain plumpness. QTL for grain plumpness and yield were analysed using genetic linkage maps made of genotyping-by-sequencing markers and major phenology genes, and field trials at three drought prone environments for two growing seasons. Seventeen QTL were detected for grain plumpness. Eighteen yield QTL explaining from 1.2% to 25.0% of the phenotypic variation were found across populations and environments. Significant QTL x environment interaction was observed for all grain plumpness and yield QTL, except QPlum.FW-4H.1 and QYld.FW-2H.1. Unlike previous yield QTL studies in barley, none of the major developmental genes, including Ppd-H1, Vrn-H1, Vrn-H2 and Vrn-H3, that drive barley adaption significantly affected grain plumpness and yield here. Twenty-two QTL controlled yield or grain plumpness independently of known maturity QTL or genes. Adjustment for maturity effects through co-variance analysis had no major effect on these yield QTL indicating that they control yield per se.Bulti Tesso Obsa, Jason Eglinton, Stewart Coventry, Timothy March, Maxime Guillaume, Thanh Phuoc Le, Matthew Hayden, Peter Langridge, Delphine Fleur
Early stages of ramified growth in quasi-two-dimensional electrochemical deposition
I have measured the early stages of the growth of branched metal aggregates
formed by electrochemical deposition in very thin layers. The growth rate of
spatial Fourier modes is described qualitatively by the results of a linear
stability analysis [D.P. Barkey, R.H. Muller, and C.W. Tobias, J. Electrochem.
Soc. {\bf 136}, 2207 (1989)]. The maximum growth rate is proportional to
where is the current through the electrochemical cell,
the electrolyte concentration, and . Differences
between my results and the theoretical predictions suggest that
electroconvection in the electrolyte has a large influence on the instability
leading to ramified growth.Comment: REVTeX, four ps figure
Theory of Non-Reciprocal Optical Effects in Antiferromagnets: The Case Cr_2O_3
A microscopic model of non-reciprocal optical effects in antiferromagnets is
developed by considering the case of Cr_2O_3 where such effects have been
observed. These effects are due to a direct coupling between light and the
antiferromagnetic order parameter. This coupling is mediated by the spin-orbit
interaction and involves an interplay between the breaking of inversion
symmetry due to the antiferromagnetic order parameter and the trigonal field
contribution to the ligand field at the magnetic ion. We evaluate the matrix
elements relevant for the non-reciprocal second harmonic generation and
gyrotropic birefringence.Comment: accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
Magnetic excitations in SrCu2O3: a Raman scattering study
We investigated temperature dependent Raman spectra of the one-dimensional
spin-ladder compound SrCu2O3. At low temperatures a two-magnon peak is
identified at 3160+/-10 cm^(-1) and its temperature dependence analyzed in
terms of a thermal expansion model. We find that the two-magnon peak position
must include a cyclic ring exchange of J_cycl/J_perp=0.09-0.25 with a coupling
constant along the rungs of J_perp approx. 1215 cm^(-1) (1750 K) in order to be
consistent with other experiments and theoretical results.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
The supernova CSS121015:004244+132827: a clue for understanding super-luminous supernovae
We present optical photometry and spectra of the super luminous type II/IIn
supernova CSS121015:004244+132827 (z=0.2868) spanning epochs from -30 days
(rest frame) to more than 200 days after maximum. CSS121015 is one of the more
luminous supernova ever found and one of the best observed. The photometric
evolution is characterized by a relatively fast rise to maximum (~40 days in
the SN rest frame), and by a linear post-maximum decline. The light curve shows
no sign of a break to an exponential tail. A broad Halpha is first detected at
~ +40 days (rest-frame). Narrow, barely-resolved Balmer and [O III] 5007 A
lines, with decreasing strength, are visible along the entire spectral
evolution. The spectra are very similar to other super luminous supernovae
(SLSNe) with hydrogen in their spectrum, and also to SN 2005gj, sometimes
considered a type Ia interacting with H-rich CSM. The spectra are also similar
to a subsample of H-deficient SLSNe. We propose that the properties of
CSS121015 are consistent with the interaction of the ejecta with a massive,
extended, opaque shell, lost by the progenitor decades before the final
explosion, although a magnetar powered model cannot be excluded. Based on the
similarity of CSS121015 with other SLSNe (with and without H), we suggest that
the shocked-shell scenario should be seriously considered as a plausible model
for both types of SLSN.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figures and 5 tables. In press to MNRAS. This version
matches the accepted one. Main conclusions are unchange
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