Analysis of Multiple Isoenzyme Expression Among Twenty-Two Species of Mycoplasma and Acholeplasma

Crude extracts of triple-cloned, purified cultures of 22 species of Mycoplasma and Acholeplasma were examined for expression of 21 isozyme systems routinely used to type mammalian cells. Nine previously described enzymes (purine nucleoside phosphorylase, adenylate kinase, dipeptidase, esterase, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, glucose phosphate isomerase, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase, and superoxide dismutase) and three enzymes not previously reported in mycoplasma (triose phosphate isomerase, inorganic pyrophosphatase, and acid phosphatase) were detected in some or all of the species examined. These findings provide new information on the enzymatic expressions of these organisms. Three of the isozyme systems (superoxide dismutase, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, and 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase) were present in Acholeplasma species but not in any Mycoplasma species. The characteristic pattern of electrophoretic mobility of the 12 isozyme systems also provides a useful biochemical property for identification, characterization, and classification of these mycoplasmas. Mycoplasma isozyme expression for seven of the enzymes were readily detected in various infected-cell culture lines by using either cell extracts or concentrated cell culture fluids. Mycoplasma-specific enzymes found in infected-cell extracts had the same electrophoretic mobility patterns as enzymes obtained from broth-grown mycoplasmas of the same species. Expression of homologous mammalian enzymes was not detectably altered by infection with mycoplasmas

Characterization of the aquatic environment in Lake Mead near the proposed Spring Canyon pumped-storage project, and assessment of potential aquatic impacts

A pumped storage system consists of an upper reservoir and lower reservoir separated by an elevation difference. During low demand energy periods such as nights and weekends water is pumped from the lower to the upper reservoir using available energy from conventional steam electric power plants. During high energy demand periods, such as mornings and afternoons of weekdays, upper reservoir water is allowed to drop back down through the same system of water conduits and turbines, generating electricity to conveniently meet abrupt electrical energy requirements. The same water turbines thus act both as pumps and as conventional hydroelectric turbines. Because energy demands of electrical consumers vary considerably on a daily basis, the ability to economically store large amounts of energy during off - peak periods is of great advantage to utilities. Pumped-storage tends to stabilize a power generation and distribution system (Feickeisen 1979). Conventional steam electric power plants (fossil or nuclear fueled) operate more efficiently and have a longer life when they are run continuously rather than cycled to meet rapidly charging power demands. Pumped storage systems allow for a more continuous, efficient operation of base - load steam electric plants. Increasing populations in the Southwestern United States have resulted in increased peaking energy requirements. Following a decade of energy studies conducted by the Bureau of Reclamation and other Federal and non - Federal agencies, it was determined that pumped storage offered the best opportunity for meeting energy peaking needs while complementing large base-load steam electric plants. Some 200 potential pumped storage sites in Arizona, Nevada and southern California had been identified by 1982, and in \u27the same year, after an extensive screening process, the Bureau of Reclamation selected Spring Canyon as the preferred pumped storage site (USBR 1987). A total of 20 utility companies and power marketing agencies in Arizona, southern Nevada and southern California, are participating with the Bureau of Reclamation in a joint Spring Canyon Investigation that includes determination of potential environmental impacts, among other aspects. Contingent upon study findings, construction could begin in 1992 and be completed as early as 1997 (USBR 1987). The present study involves the aquatic environment of Lake Mead and addresses potential aquatic impacts of the Spring Canyon Pumped Storage Powerplant. The report is designed to aid the Bureau of Reclamation in development of a Draft Environmental Statement in 1988. The objectives were to evaluate the area of Lake Mead near the proposed pumped storage site (Virgin Canyon) and to predict the biological, hydrological and limnological conditions prevailing within Lake Mead and the Spring Canyon forebay (upper reservoir) once the project is operational. Items specifically considered include appraisal of existing conditions and impact assessment for the following: water temperature, water movements, dissolved oxygen, pH, conductivity and salinity, water transparency and light penetration, nutrients and chlorophyll, zooplankton, benthic macroinvertebrates, and fish (early life history stages and adults)

Critical reflection on knowledge and narratives of conservation agriculture

In the context of contemporary concerns about climate change and food security, Conservation Agriculture (CA) has emerged as a well-supported and central component of the agricultural sector development strategy across sub-Saharan Africa, including in Zambia, which is the focus of this paper. A variety of narratives about the benefits of CA over conventional agricultural systems underpin endeavours towards ‘scaling up’ CA and increasing rates of adoption amongst smallholder farmers nationwide. However, there is a knowledge politics underlying the translation of a weak evidence base around CA into persuasive narratives and financial and political support. In this paper, we trace the evolution of five narratives around CA in Zambia in relation to changing political agendas and the involvement of new public and private sector actors, and review the development of evidence bases and knowledge that support and challenge each of these narratives. We discuss the potential to open up space within this knowledge politics to alternative narratives and the contestation of the pervasive CA scaling up agenda. Critical reflection is essential to ensure that national and local evidence is more effectively used to guide national climate and agricultural policy developments and international donor initiatives

The Fourteenth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Spectroscopic Data from the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey and from the second phase of the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment

The fourth generation of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-IV) has been in operation since July 2014. This paper describes the second data release from this phase, and the fourteenth from SDSS overall (making this, Data Release Fourteen or DR14). This release makes public data taken by SDSS-IV in its first two years of operation (July 2014-2016). Like all previous SDSS releases, DR14 is cumulative, including the most recent reductions and calibrations of all data taken by SDSS since the first phase began operations in 2000. New in DR14 is the first public release of data from the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS); the first data from the second phase of the Apache Point Observatory (APO) Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE-2), including stellar parameter estimates from an innovative data driven machine learning algorithm known as "The Cannon"; and almost twice as many data cubes from the Mapping Nearby Galaxies at APO (MaNGA) survey as were in the previous release (N = 2812 in total). This paper describes the location and format of the publicly available data from SDSS-IV surveys. We provide references to the important technical papers describing how these data have been taken (both targeting and observation details) and processed for scientific use. The SDSS website (www.sdss.org) has been updated for this release, and provides links to data downloads, as well as tutorials and examples of data use. SDSS-IV is planning to continue to collect astronomical data until 2020, and will be followed by SDSS-V.Comment: SDSS-IV collaboration alphabetical author data release paper. DR14 happened on 31st July 2017. 19 pages, 5 figures. Accepted by ApJS on 28th Nov 2017 (this is the "post-print" and "post-proofs" version; minor corrections only from v1, and most of errors found in proofs corrected

Multiple interactions between the alpha2C- and beta1-adrenergic receptors influence heart failure survival

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Persistent stimulation of cardiac β₁-adrenergic receptors by endogenous norepinephrine promotes heart failure progression. Polymorphisms of this gene are known to alter receptor function or expression, as are polymorphisms of the α_2C-adrenergic receptor, which regulates norepinephrine release from cardiac presynaptic nerves. The purpose of this study was to investigate possible synergistic effects of polymorphisms of these two intronless genes (<it>ADRB1 </it>and <it>ADRA2C</it>, respectively) on the risk of death/transplant in heart failure patients.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Sixteen sequence variations in <it>ADRA2C </it>and 17 sequence variations in <it>ADRB1 </it>were genotyped in a longitudinal study of 655 white heart failure patients. Eleven sequence variations in each gene were polymorphic in the heart failure cohort. Cox proportional hazards modeling was used to identify polymorphisms and potential intra- or intergenic interactions that influenced risk of death or cardiac transplant. A leave-one-out cross-validation method was utilized for internal validation.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Three polymorphisms in <it>ADRA2C </it>and five polymorphisms in <it>ADRB1 </it>were involved in eight cross-validated epistatic interactions identifying several two-locus genotype classes with significant relative risks ranging from 3.02 to 9.23. There was no evidence of intragenic epistasis. Combining high risk genotype classes across epistatic pairs to take into account linkage disequilibrium, the relative risk of death or transplant was 3.35 (1.82, 6.18) relative to all other genotype classes.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Multiple polymorphisms act synergistically between the <it>ADRA2C </it>and <it>ADRB1 </it>genes to increase risk of death or cardiac transplant in heart failure patients.</p

Brainhack: a collaborative workshop for the open neuroscience community

International audienceBrainhack events offer a novel workshop format with participant-generated content that caters to the rapidly growing open neuroscience community. Including components from hackathons and unconferences, as well as parallel educational sessions, Brainhack fosters novel collaborations around the interests of its attendees. Here we provide an overview of its structure, past events, and example projects. Additionally, we outline current innovations such as regional events and post-conference publications. Through introducing Brainhack to the wider neuroscience community, we hope to provide a unique conference format that promotes the features of collaborative, open science

PDBe: improved findability of macromolecularstructure data in the PDB

© 2019 The Authors. Published by OUP. This is an open access article available under a Creative Commons licence. The published version can be accessed at the following link on the publisher’s website: https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkz990The Protein Data Bank in Europe (PDBe), a founding member of the Worldwide Protein Data Bank (wwPDB), actively participates in the deposition, curation, validation, archiving and dissemination of macromolecular structure data. PDBe supports diverse research communities in their use of macromolecular structures by enriching the PDB data and by providing advanced tools and services for effective data access, visualization and analysis. This paper details the enrichment of data at PDBe, including mapping of RNA structures to Rfam, and identification of molecules that act as cofactors. PDBe has developed an advanced search facility with ∼100 data categories and sequence searches. New features have been included in the LiteMol viewer at PDBe, with updated visualization of carbohydrates and nucleic acids. Small molecules are now mapped more extensively to external databases and their visual representation has been enhanced. These advances help users to more easily find and interpret macromolecular structure data in order to solve scientific problems.The Protein Data Bank in Europe is supported by European Molecular Biology Laboratory-European Bioinformatics Institute; Wellcome Trust [104948]; Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council [BB/N019172/1, BB/G022577/1, BB/J007471/1, BB/K016970/1, BB/K020013/1, BB/M013146/1, BB/M011674/1, BB/M020347/1, BB/M020428/1, BB/P024351/1]; European Union [284209]; ELIXIR and Open Targets. Funding for open access charge: EMB

Genomic Insights Into The Ixodes scapularis Tick Vector Of Lyme Disease

Ticks transmit more pathogens to humans and animals than any other arthropod. We describe the 2.1 Gbp nuclear genome of the tick, Ixodes scapularis (Say), which vectors pathogens that cause Lyme disease, human granulocytic anaplasmosis, babesiosis and other diseases. The large genome reflects accumulation of repetitive DNA, new lineages of retrotransposons, and gene architecture patterns resembling ancient metazoans rather than pancrustaceans. Annotation of scaffolds representing B57% of the genome, reveals 20,486 protein-coding genes and expansions of gene families associated with tick–host interactions. We report insights from genome analyses into parasitic processes unique to ticks, including host ‘questing’, prolonged feeding, cuticle synthesis, blood meal concentration, novel methods of haemoglobin digestion, haem detoxification, vitellogenesis and prolonged off-host survival. We identify proteins associated with the agent of human granulocytic anaplasmosis, an emerging disease, and the encephalitis-causing Langat virus, and a population structure correlated to life-history traits and transmission of the Lyme disease agent

Genomic Insights Into The Ixodes scapularis Tick Vector Of Lyme Disease

Ticks transmit more pathogens to humans and animals than any other arthropod. We describe the 2.1 Gbp nuclear genome of the tick, Ixodes scapularis (Say), which vectors pathogens that cause Lyme disease, human granulocytic anaplasmosis, babesiosis and other diseases. The large genome reflects accumulation of repetitive DNA, new lineages of retrotransposons, and gene architecture patterns resembling ancient metazoans rather than pancrustaceans. Annotation of scaffolds representing B57% of the genome, reveals 20,486 protein-coding genes and expansions of gene families associated with tick–host interactions. We report insights from genome analyses into parasitic processes unique to ticks, including host ‘questing’, prolonged feeding, cuticle synthesis, blood meal concentration, novel methods of haemoglobin digestion, haem detoxification, vitellogenesis and prolonged off-host survival. We identify proteins associated with the agent of human granulocytic anaplasmosis, an emerging disease, and the encephalitis-causing Langat virus, and a population structure correlated to life-history traits and transmission of the Lyme disease agent