Riserve religiose - Strategie di soppravivenza a Palermo

Der Mezzogiorno und vor allem Sizilien sehen sich von Stereotypen – Mafia, Katholizismus, questione meridionale – überzogen. Diesen stigmatisierenden Vorstellungen widersprechen nicht zuletzt die Antimafiabewegung und ihre Vorstellung einer Zivilgesellschaft. In dieser Bewegung spielt, was bisher kaum beachtet wurde, auch der Katholizismus eine zentrale Rolle. Die vorliegende Ethnographie des Lebens in einem Armutsviertel Palermos untersucht religiöse Praktiken, die sich aus den materiellen und ideellen Reserven der sizilianischen Gesellschaft speisen: Sie zielen auf eine Heilung und Heiligung der Menschen und eine Sakralisierung ihrer Umwelt, die sich von der Mafia durchdrungenen Sozialleben entgegenstellt.The Mezzogiorno, and above all, Sicily, is often assumed to be a society seeping with Mafia influence and rife with clientelism and questione meridionale. The ideas of the antimafia movement, however, would seek to work against these prejudices which they consider to be loaded with stigma, and would rather work towards the creation of a civil society. It has, until now, hardly been recognized that Catholicism has played an important role in this movement. This ethnography about life in a poor district of Palermo analyses the religious practices which have arisen out of the material resources and ideals of Sicilian society: they aim to heal and sanctify the people and their environment, in order to help them confront their everyday life which is interfused by the Mafia

Die Wiederholungsübung im katholischen Religionsunterricht. Eine Analyse des Beginns einer Unterrichtsstunde

Zuweilen wird die Qualität des konfessionellen Religionsunterrichts stark an des­sen Orientierung an Kriterien bemessen, die die empirische Bildungsforschung auch für anderen Fachunterricht empfiehlt. Die Klarheit der thematischen Struktur, Class­room-Management, herausfordernde Fragestellungen, unterstützende Lernatmo­sphäre und entsprechendes Lehrkraftverhalten seien hier genannt (Schweitzer, 2020). Mindestens ebenso wichtig ist für den Religionsunterricht die Erkenntnis, dass sich das Beste an ihm kaum empirisch fassen lässt. Die suchend-tastende Erarbeitung der Schüler*innen mündet manchmal in eine zutiefst treffende Frage, die es aufzugreifen und weiter zu entwickeln gilt. Was die Allgemeinpädagogik intensiv als den „pädago­gischen Moment" diskutierte, bekommt so im Blick auf religiöse Bildung eine spezi­fische Kontur. Der religionspädagogische Moment ist ein ephemeres Ereignis, und die Kunst des Unterrichtens besteht unter anderem darin, solche Ereignisse anzubah­nen, zu erkennen und aufzugreifen

Characterization of rubber particles and rubber chain elongation in Taraxacum koksaghyz

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Natural rubber is a biopolymer with exceptional qualities that cannot be completely replaced using synthetic alternatives. Although several key enzymes in the rubber biosynthetic pathway have been isolated, mainly from plants such as <it>Hevea brasiliensis</it>, <it>Ficus spec. </it>and the desert shrub <it>Parthenium argentatum</it>, there have been no <it>in planta </it>functional studies, e.g. by RNA interference, due to the absence of efficient and reproducible protocols for genetic engineering. In contrast, the Russian dandelion <it>Taraxacum koksaghyz</it>, which has long been considered as a potential alternative source of low-cost natural rubber, has a rapid life cycle and can be genetically transformed using a simple and reliable procedure. However, there is very little molecular data available for either the rubber polymer itself or its biosynthesis in <it>T. koksaghyz</it>.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We established a method for the purification of rubber particles - the active sites of rubber biosynthesis - from <it>T. koksaghyz </it>latex. Photon correlation spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy revealed an average particle size of 320 nm, and ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy confirmed that isolated rubber particles contain poly(<it>cis</it>-1,4-isoprene) with a purity >95%. Size exclusion chromatography indicated that the weight average molecular mass (<inline-formula><graphic file="1471-2091-11-11-i1.gif"/></inline-formula>w) of <it>T. koksaghyz </it>natural rubber is 4,000-5,000 kDa. Rubber particles showed rubber transferase activity of 0.2 pmol min^-1mg^-1. <it>Ex vivo </it>rubber biosynthesis experiments resulted in a skewed unimodal distribution of [1-¹⁴C]isopentenyl pyrophosphate (IPP) incorporation at a <inline-formula><graphic file="1471-2091-11-11-i1.gif"/></inline-formula>w of 2,500 kDa. Characterization of recently isolated <it>cis</it>-prenyltransferases (CPTs) from <it>T. koksaghyz </it>revealed that these enzymes are associated with rubber particles and are able to produce long-chain polyprenols in yeast.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p><it>T. koksaghyz </it>rubber particles are similar to those described for <it>H. brasiliensis</it>. They contain very pure, high molecular mass poly(<it>cis</it>-1,4-isoprene) and the chain elongation process can be studied <it>ex vivo</it>. Because of their localization on rubber particles and their activity in yeast, we propose that the recently described <it>T. koksaghyz </it>CPTs are the major rubber chain elongating enzymes in this species. <it>T. koksaghyz </it>is amenable to genetic analysis and modification, and therefore could be used as a model species for the investigation and comparison of rubber biosynthesis.</p

Flavonol glycosides from aerial parts of Astragalus thracicus Griseb

Plant science

El oxímoron de la protección temporal perpetua: Sirios en Turquía

The crisis in Syria has entered its fifth year, becoming a protracted conflict in international conflict terminology. Based on figures compiled by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), as of March 16, 2016, there were 4.8 million registered Syrians in the neighboring countries of Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey. Data provided by the Directorate General of Migration Management (DGMM) in Turkey show that as of March 24, 2016, 2.75 million, or 57 % of the people mentioned above, were registered in Turkey. While 10 percent of the Syrians in Turkey were living in camps, the rest were dispersed in various Turkish cities. Three cities—Şanlıurfa, Istanbul, and Hatay— host more Syrians combined (1.2 million) than the entire European continent, where the total Syrian asylum applications were 935,008 for the period between April 2011 and January 2016.publisher versio

Overexpression of a pseudo-etiolated-in-light-like protein in Taraxacum koksaghyz leads to a pale green phenotype and enables transcriptome-based network analysis of photomorphogenesis and isoprenoid biosynthesis

IntroductionPlant growth and greening in response to light require the synthesis of photosynthetic pigments such as chlorophylls and carotenoids, which are derived from isoprenoid precursors. In Arabidopsis, the pseudo-etiolated-in-light phenotype is caused by the overexpression of repressor of photosynthetic genes 2 (RPGE2), which regulates chlorophyll synthesis and photosynthetic genes.MethodsWe investigated a homologous protein in the Russian dandelion (Taraxacum koksaghyz) to determine its influence on the rich isoprenoid network in this species, using a combination of in silico analysis, gene overexpression, transcriptomics and metabolic profiling.ResultsHomology-based screening revealed a gene designated pseudo-etiolated-in-light-like (TkPEL-like), and in silico analysis identified a light-responsive G-box element in its promoter. TkPEL-like overexpression in dandelion plants and other systems reduced the levels of chlorophylls and carotenoids, but this was ameliorated by the mutation of one or both conserved cysteine residues. Comparative transcriptomics in dandelions overexpressing TkPEL-like showed that genes responsible for the synthesis of isoprenoid precursors and chlorophyll were downregulated, probably explaining the observed pale green leaf phenotype. In contrast, genes responsible for carotenoid synthesis were upregulated, possibly in response to feedback signaling. The evaluation of additional differentially expressed genes revealed interactions between pathways.DiscussionWe propose that TkPEL-like negatively regulates chlorophyll- and photosynthesis-related genes in a light-dependent manner, which appears to be conserved across species. Our data will inform future studies addressing the regulation of leaf isoprenoid biosynthesis and photomorphogenesis and could be used in future breeding strategies to optimize selected plant isoprenoid profiles and generate suitable plant-based production platforms

Differences in the gene transcription state of Botrytis cinerea between necrotic and symptomless infections of lettuce and Arabidopsis thaliana

Botrytis cinerea can establish long-lived, symptomless, systemic infections in plant species. It is unclear how the fungus colonizes plant tissues without causing tissue damage and necrosis. Three hypotheses are: (1) the fungus state is similar in the two forms of infection, but the plant defences are more effective, leading to multiple small quiescent centres; (2) excreted molecules that would trigger plant defences are suppressed; (3) signal exchanges occur avoiding both extensive host cell death and complete spatial restriction of the pathogen. We tested these by comparing transcript levels of a set of B. cinerea genes between symptomless and necrotising infections. Four genes were analysed that participate in signalling pathways required for virulence, as well as five genes that directly participate in causing host cell death or degrading plant cell wall polysaccharides. In lettuce, necrotic infections on detached leaves (12-48 h after inoculation) had similar gene expression patterns to necrotic infections on leaves 44 d after inoculation of the seedlings. Symptomless infections on leaves that expanded after inoculation of young seedlings had similar fungal gene expression patterns at 14, 24 and 34 d after inoculation, which clearly differed from those in necrotising infections. In A. thaliana, there were differences in gene expression patterns between droplet inoculations on leaves, resulting in necrotic lesions, and symptomless infections in stems and leaves. The fungal gene expression patterns differed in detail between lettuce and A. thaliana. The observations suggest that the physiological state of B. cinerea during symptomless infection is distinct from necrotising infections