Structure-Function Analysis of Human TYW2 Enzyme Required for the Biosynthesis of a Highly Modified Wybutosine (yW) Base in Phenylalanine-tRNA

Posttranscriptional modifications are critical for structure and function of tRNAs. Wybutosine (yW) and its derivatives are hyper-modified guanosines found at the position 37 of eukaryotic and archaeal tRNAPhe. TYW2 is an enzyme that catalyzes α-amino-α-carboxypropyl transfer activity at the third step of yW biogenesis. Using complementation of a ΔTYW2 strain, we demonstrate here that human TYW2 (hTYW2) is active in yeast and can synthesize the yW of yeast tRNAPhe. Structure-guided analysis identified several conserved residues in hTYW2 that interact with S-adenosyl-methionine (AdoMet), and mutation studies revealed that K225 and E265 are critical residues for the enzymatic activity. We previously reported that the human TYW2 is overexpressed in breast cancer. However, no difference in the tRNAPhe modification status was observed in either normal mouse tissue or a mouse tumor model that overexpresses Tyw2, indicating that hTYW2 may have a role in tumorigenesis unrelated to yW biogenesis

Material Culture Across the Aleutian Archipelago

The material evidence from sites across the Aleutian Islands reflects colonization events, subsequent adaptations, and influxes of ideas and/or people from the east. The occurrence in the eastern Aleutians of bifacial technology around 7000 BP, of artifacts similar to the Arctic Small Tool tradition between 4000 and 3500 BP, and of slate and jet objects around 1000 BP reflects repeated surges of influence or movement of peoples from further east into the eastern end of the chain. In the central and western Aleutians, influence or perhaps colonization from east of the Aleutians is also marked by the occurrence of bifacial technology about 6500 BP and the appearance of slate artifacts after 1000 BP, suggesting the movement of ideas or people from further east. Basic trends across the archipelago include a decrease in formal chipped-stone tools, an increase in the use and the complexity of bone technology, and the increase in use and variety of ground-stone tools. In addition, increasing village site sizes and denser midden deposits are seen later in time throughout the archipelago. The similarity in sites and assemblages, albeit with regional variations, reflects trends that are seen across the chain and indicates that these island communities were not isolated from one another or from mainland Alaska. Pay-Per-View Download To access this article as a PDF pay-per-view download via BioOne, please click here

Testing and Data Recovery Excavations at 11 Native American Archeological Sites Along the U.S. Highway 271 Mount Pleasant Relief Route, Titus County, Texas Volume I

This report deals with three episodes of archeological work that began in 2005 and concluded in 2010 for the proposed U.S. Highway 271 Mount Pleasant relief route in Titus County, Texas. The early part of the work was done for the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), Environmental Affairs Division. The later part was done for PTP, LP, acting on behalf of Titus County. The work was done to address the requirements of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act and the Texas Antiquities Code and was governed by the terms of Texas Antiquities Permit Nos. 3786, 4303, and 5495. The project involved 11 Native American archeological sites: 41TT6, 41TT846, 41TT847, 41TT851–41TT854, 41TT858, 41TT862, 41TT865, and 41TT866. The overall goal was to assess these 11 sites in terms of their eligibility for listing in the National Register of Historic Places and designation as State Antiquities Landmarks, and to conduct data recovery excavations at any that were found to be eligible. The project began with intensive auger or shovel testing at all 11 sites in July–August 2005. Formal testing was done between December 2006 and February 2008, and data recovery excavations were undertaken at three sites—George Richey (41TT851), William Ford (41TT852), and James Richey (41TT853)—between January and June 2010. In total, the excavations consisted of the following: 1,147 auger tests at 10 sites and 31 shovel tests at the eleventh site; 386 backhoe trenches covering 2,695 m2 and 225 m2 of manual excavations at all 11 sites; and machine excavation of 215 sample units measuring 2.0 m long and 1.0 m wide on average and trackhoe stripping of about 6,875 m2 at the 3 data recovery sites. The excavations identified 378 cultural features, mostly postholes and pits, with much smaller numbers of burials, burned rock concentrations, artifact clusters, and middens. The artifacts recovered consist mainly of 11,713 ceramic sherds and vessels and 8,729 lithic tools and debitage. Most of these remains relate to occupation of the project area during the Middle–Late Caddo periods (a.d. 1250–1700), with minor amounts resulting from earlier and later use during the Paleoindian, Archaic, Woodland, Early Caddo, and Historic Caddo periods. The primary Middle–Late Caddo components at the three fully excavated sites represent use as rural farmsteads within a dispersed local community associated with the Titus phase Caddo. At least four of the tested sites were occupied less intensively during this same interval

Michael J. Germana

This paper explores the relationality between Modernism and Postmodernism as well as between literature and theory by examining the works of two writers: master novelist William Faulkner, and high priest of Postmodernism, Jean Baudrillard. Specifically, this paper examines Faulkner's eleventh novel---the oft-neglected If I Forget Thee, Jerusalem---as a proto-postmodern text which, when examined by the light of Baudrillard's theory of simulacra and simulations, informs the transition from Modernism to Postmodernism

Human resilience and resettlement among the Islands of Four Mountains, Aleutians, Alaska

Combined archaeological, ecological, and geologic research on Chuginadak and Carlisle Islands in the Islands of Four Mountains (IFM) probed questions about the sustainability of human settlements over the past 4000 years in the face of geologic, ecological, and social hazards.We use a human ecodynamics approach to frame the investigation and present original archaeological evidence from this poorly known region of the remote Aleutian Islands. Several village sites occupied during the last four millennia are clustered in locations that were not damaged by earthquake-induced tsunamis; however, new geologic evidence indicates that at least one volcanic eruption forced humans to abandon one or more prehistoric village sites. Combined archaeological, ecological, and geologic analyses demonstrate resilient Unangax̂ occupations of the IFM through long-term climate change as well as earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions with occasional community vulnerability to volcanic eruptions

Statistical analysis of large simulated yield datasets for studying climate change effects

Chapitre 11Statistical analysis of large simulated yield datasets for studying climate change effect