109 research outputs found
Background Light in Potential Sites for the ANTARES Undersea Neutrino Telescope
The ANTARES collaboration has performed a series of {\em in situ}
measurements to study the background light for a planned undersea neutrino
telescope. Such background can be caused by K decays or by biological
activity. We report on measurements at two sites in the Mediterranean Sea at
depths of 2400~m and 2700~m, respectively. Three photomultiplier tubes were
used to measure single counting rates and coincidence rates for pairs of tubes
at various distances. The background rate is seen to consist of three
components: a constant rate due to K decays, a continuum rate that
varies on a time scale of several hours simultaneously over distances up to at
least 40~m, and random bursts a few seconds long that are only correlated in
time over distances of the order of a meter. A trigger requiring coincidences
between nearby photomultiplier tubes should reduce the trigger rate for a
neutrino telescope to a manageable level with only a small loss in efficiency.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in Astroparticle
Physic
Prototype ATLAS IBL Modules using the FE-I4A Front-End Readout Chip
The ATLAS Collaboration will upgrade its semiconductor pixel tracking
detector with a new Insertable B-layer (IBL) between the existing pixel
detector and the vacuum pipe of the Large Hadron Collider. The extreme
operating conditions at this location have necessitated the development of new
radiation hard pixel sensor technologies and a new front-end readout chip,
called the FE-I4. Planar pixel sensors and 3D pixel sensors have been
investigated to equip this new pixel layer, and prototype modules using the
FE-I4A have been fabricated and characterized using 120 GeV pions at the CERN
SPS and 4 GeV positrons at DESY, before and after module irradiation. Beam test
results are presented, including charge collection efficiency, tracking
efficiency and charge sharing.Comment: 45 pages, 30 figures, submitted to JINS
An Intergenic Region Shared by At4g35985 and At4g35987 in Arabidopsis Thaliana is a Tissue Specific and Stress Inducible Bidirectional Promoter Analyzed in Transgenic Arabidopsis and Tobacco Plants
On chromosome 4 in the Arabidopsis genome, two neighboring genes (calmodulin methyl transferase At4g35987 and senescence associated gene At4g35985) are located in a head-to-head divergent orientation sharing a putative bidirectional promoter. This 1258 bp intergenic region contains a number of environmental stress responsive and tissue specific cis-regulatory elements. Transcript analysis of At4g35985 and At4g35987 genes by quantitative real time PCR showed tissue specific and stress inducible expression profiles. We tested the bidirectional promoter-function of the intergenic region shared by the divergent genes At4g35985 and At4g35987 using two reporter genes (GFP and GUS) in both orientations in transient tobacco protoplast and Agro-infiltration assays, as well as in stably transformed transgenic Arabidopsis and tobacco plants. In transient assays with GFP and GUS reporter genes the At4g35985 promoter (P85) showed stronger expression (about 3.5 fold) compared to the At4g35987 promoter (P87). The tissue specific as well as stress responsive functional nature of the bidirectional promoter was evaluated in independent transgenic Arabidopsis and tobacco lines. Expression of P85 activity was detected in the midrib of leaves, leaf trichomes, apical meristemic regions, throughout the root, lateral roots and flowers. The expression of P87 was observed in leaf-tip, hydathodes, apical meristem, root tips, emerging lateral root tips, root stele region and in floral tissues. The bidirectional promoter in both orientations shows differential up-regulation (2.5 to 3 fold) under salt stress. Use of such regulatory elements of bidirectional promoters showing spatial and stress inducible promoter-functions in heterologous system might be an important tool for plant biotechnology and gene stacking applications
SIMULATION OF MICROALGAL GROWTH IN A CONTINUOUS PHOTOBIOREACTOR WITH SEDIMENTATION AND PARTIAL BIOMASS RECYCLING
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An integrated omics analysis reveals molecular mechanisms that are associated with differences in seed oil content between Glycine max and Brassica napus
Abstract
Background: Rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) and soybean (Glycine max L.) seeds are rich in both protein and oil, which
are major sources of biofuels and nutrition. Although the difference in seed oil content between soybean (~ 20%) and
rapeseed (~ 40%) exists, little is known about its underlying molecular mechanism.
Results: An integrated omics analysis was performed in soybean, rapeseed, Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana L. Heynh),
and sesame (Sesamum indicum L.), based on Arabidopsis acyl-lipid metabolism- and carbon metabolism-related genes.
As a result, candidate genes and their transcription factors and microRNAs, along with phylogenetic analysis and
co-expression network analysis of the PEPC gene family, were found to be largely associated with the difference
between the two species. First, three soybean genes (Glyma.13G148600, Glyma.13G207900 and Glyma.12G122900)
co-expressed with GmPEPC1 are specifically enriched during seed storage protein accumulation stages, while the
expression of BnPEPC1 is putatively inhibited by bna-miR169, and two genes BnSTKA and BnCKII are co-expressed
with BnPEPC1 and are specifically associated with plant circadian rhythm, which are related to seed oil biosynthesis. Then,
in de novo fatty acid synthesis there are rapeseed-specific genes encoding subunits β-CT (BnaC05g37990D) and BCCP1
(BnaA03g06000D) of heterogeneous ACCase, which could interfere with synthesis rate, and β-CT is positively regulated by
four transcription factors (BnaA01g37250D, BnaA02g26190D, BnaC01g01040D and BnaC07g21470D). In triglyceride synthesis,
GmLPAAT2 is putatively inhibited by three miRNAs (gma-miR171, gma-miR1516 and gma-miR5775). Finally, in rapeseed
there was evidence for the expansion of gene families, CALO, OBO and STERO, related to lipid storage, and
the contraction of gene families, LOX, LAH and HSI2, related to oil degradation.
Conclusions: The molecular mechanisms associated with differences in seed oil content provide the basis for
future breeding efforts to improve seed oil content
Improving pulse crops as a source of protein, starch and micronutrients
Pulse crops have been known for a long time to have beneficial nutritional profiles for human diets but have been neglected in terms of cultivation, consumption and scientific research in many parts of the world. Broad dietary shifts will be required if anthropogenic climate change is to be mitigated in the future, and pulse crops should be an important component of this change by providing an environmentally sustainable source of protein, resistant starch and micronutrients. Further enhancement of the nutritional composition of pulse crops could benefit human health, helping to alleviate micronutrient deficiencies and reduce risk of chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes. This paper reviews current knowledge regarding the nutritional content of pea (Pisum sativum L.) and faba bean (Vicia faba L.), two major UK pulse crops, and discusses the potential for their genetic improvement
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An integrated bioinformatics analysis reveals divergent evolutionary pattern of oil biosynthesis in high- and low-oil plants
Seed oils provide a renewable source of food, biofuel and industrial raw materials that is important for humans. Although many genes and pathways for acyl-lipid metabolism have been identified, little is known about whether there is a specific mechanism for high-oil content in high-oil plants. Based on the distinct differences in seed oil content between four high-oil dicots (20~50%) and three low-oil grasses (<3%), comparative genome, transcriptome and differential expression analyses were used to investigate this mechanism. Among 4,051 dicot-specific soybean genes identified from 252,443 genes in the seven species, 54 genes were shown to directly participate in acyl-lipid metabolism, and 93 genes were found to be associated with acyl-lipid metabolism. Among the 93 dicot-specific genes, 42 and 27 genes, including CBM20-like SBDs and GPT2, participate in carbohydrate degradation and transport, respectively. 40 genes highly up-regulated during seed oil rapid accumulation period are mainly involved in initial fatty acid synthesis, triacylglyceride assembly and oil-body formation, for example, ACCase, PP, DGAT1, PDAT1, OLEs and STEROs, which were also found to be differentially expressed between high- and low-oil soybean accessions. Phylogenetic analysis revealed distinct differences of oleosin in patterns of gene duplication and loss between high-oil dicots and low-oil grasses. In addition, seed-specific GmGRF5, ABI5 and GmTZF4 were predicted to be candidate regulators in seed oil accumulation. This study facilitates future research on lipid biosynthesis and potential genetic improvement of seed oil content
Global Analysis of Gene Expression Profiles in Developing Physic Nut (Jatropha curcas L.) Seeds
Background: Physic nut (Jatropha curcas L.) is an oilseed plant species with high potential utility as a biofuel. Furthermore, following recent sequencing of its genome and the availability of expressed sequence tag (EST) libraries, it is a valuable model plant for studying carbon assimilation in endosperms of oilseed plants. There have been several transcriptomic analyses of developing physic nut seeds using ESTs, but they have provided limited information on the accumulation of stored resources in the seeds. Methodology/Principal Findings: We applied next-generation Illumina sequencing technology to analyze global gen
Contribution du CNRS/IN2P3 à l'upgrade d'ATLAS. Proposition soumise au Conseil Scientifique de l'IN2P3 du 21 Juin 2012
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