Nuclear mutations affecting mitochondrial structure and function in Chlamydomonas

Wild type cells of the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii can grow in the in the dark by taking up and respiring exogenously supplied acetate. Obligate photoautotrophic (dark dier, dk) mutants of this alga have been selected which grow at near wild type rates in the light, but rapidly die when transferred to darkness because of defects in mitochondrial structure and function. In crosses of the dk mutants to wild type, the majority of the mutants are inherited in a mendelian fashion, although two have been isolated which are inherited in a clearly nonmendelian fashion. Nine mendelian dk mutants have been analyzed in detail, and belong to eight different complementation groups representing eight gene loci. These mutants have been tentatively grouped into three classes on the basis of the pleiotropic nature of their phenotypic defects. Mutants in Class I have gross alterations in the ultrastructure of their mitochondrial inner membranes together with deficiencies in cytochrome oxidase and antimycin/rotenone-sensitive NADH-cytochrome c reductase activities. Mutants in Class II have a variety of less severe alterations in mitochondrial ultrastructure and deficiencies in cytochrome oxidase activity. Mutants in Class III have normal or near normal mitochondrial ultrastructure and reduced cytochrome oxidase activity. Eight of the nine mutants show corresponding reductions in cyanide-sensitive respiration

Powered Wheelchair Platform for Assistive Technology Development

Literature shows that numerous wheelchair platforms, of various complexities, have been developed and evaluated for Assistive Technology purposes. However there has been little consideration to providing researchers with an embedded system which is fully compatible, and communicates seamlessly with current manufacturer's wheelchair systems. We present our powered wheelchair platform which allows researchers to mount various inertial and environment sensors, and run guidance and navigation algorithms which can modify the human desired joystick trajectory, so as to assist users with negotiating obstacles, and moving from room to room. We are also able to directly access other currently manufactured human input devices and integrate new and novel input devices into the powered wheelchair platform for clinical and research assessment

Field comparison of the point velocity probe with other groundwater velocity measurement methods

Field testing of a new tool for measuring groundwater velocities at the centimeter scale, the point velocity probe (PVP), was undertaken at Canadian Forces Base, Borden, Ontario, Canada. The measurements were performed in a sheet pile-bounded alleyway in which bulk flow rate and direction could be controlled. PVP velocities were compared with those estimated from bulk flow, a Geoflo® instrument, borehole dilution, colloidal borescope measurements, and a forced gradient tracer test. In addition, the velocity profiles were compared with vertical variations in hydraulic conductivity (K) measured by permeameter testing of core samples and in situ high-resolution slug tests. There was qualitative agreement between the trends in velocity and K among all the various methods. The PVP and Geoflo® meter tests returned average velocity magnitudes of 30.2 ± 7.7 to 34.7 ± 13.1 cm/d (depending on prior knowledge of flow direction in PVP tests) and 36.5 ± 10.6, respectively, which were near the estimated bulk velocity (20 cm/d). The other direct velocity measurement techniques yielded velocity estimates 5 to 12 times the bulk velocity. Best results with the PVP instrument were obtained by jetting the instrument into place, though this method may have introduced a slight positive bias to the measured velocities. The individual estimates of point velocity direction varied, but the average of the point velocity directions agreed quite well with the expected bulk flow direction. It was concluded that the PVP method is a viable technique for use in the field, where high-resolution velocity data are required.The NSERC/Motorola/ETI Industrial Research Chair in Groundwater Remediation, NSERC, CRESTech, the National Council for Scientific Research of Lebanon (NCSR), OGSST, and NSF under grant 0134545 are acknowledged for funding this work. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. Carl McElwee performed the high-definition slug tests; Peter Kearl performed the colloidal borescope measurements; and Bob Ingleton, Paul Johnson, and Greg Friday assisted with probe construction and field installatio

Developing Effective Intelligent Assistance for the Powered Wheelchair User

This research is working towards developing a pre-production prototype system which can provide a low-cost real-time adjustable and adaptable driving assistance system for powered wheelchair users. Currently we are seeking to obtain information from user joystick input and their driving quality to identify symptoms and make adjustments to the driving assistance system

Inhibition of Chloroplast DNA Recombination and Repair by Dominant Negative Mutants of \u3ci\u3eEscherichia coli\u3c/i\u3e RecA

Escherichia coli RecA, suggest that the plastid recombination system is related to its eubacterial counterpart. Therefore, we examined whether dominant negative mutants of the E. coli RecA protein can interfere with the activity of their putative homolog in the chloroplast of the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Transformants expressing these mutant RecA proteins showed reduced survival rates when exposed to DNA-damaging agents, deficient repair of chloroplast DNA, and diminished plastid DNA recombination. These results strongly support the existence of a RecA-mediated recombination system in chloroplasts. We also found that the wild-type E. coli RecA protein enhances the frequency of plastid DNA recombination over 15-fold, although it has no effect on DNA repair or cell survival. Thus, chloroplast DNA recombination appears to be limited by the availability of enzymes involved in strand exchange rather than by the level of initiating DNA substrates. Our observations suggest that a primary biological role of the recombination system in plastids is in the repair of their DNA, most likely needed to cope with damage due to photooxidation and other environmental stresses. This hypothesis could explain the evolutionary conservation of DNA recombination in chloroplasts despite the predominantly uniparental inheritance of their genomes