The Arabidopsis thaliana SOMATIC EMBRYOGENESIS RECEPTOR-LIKE KINASES1 and 2 control male sporogenesis

The Arabidopsis thaliana SOMATIC EMBRYOGENESIS RECEPTOR-LIKE KINASE (SERK) family of plasma membrane receptors consists of five closely related members. The SERK1 and SERK2 genes show a complex expression pattern throughout development. Both are expressed in anther primordia up to the second parietal division. After this point, expression ceases in the sporocytes and is continued in the tapetum and middle layer precursors. Single knockout mutants of SERK1 and SERK2 show no obvious phenotypes. Double mutants of SERK1 and SERK2 are completely male sterile due to a failure in tapetum specification. Fertility can be restored by a single copy of either gene. The SERK1 and SERK2 proteins can form homodimers or heterodimers in vivo, suggesting they are interchangeable in the SERK1/SERK2 signaling comple

Quantitative and Cost Comparison of Ultrasensitive Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 RNA Viral Load Assays: Bayer bDNA Quantiplex Versions 3.0 and 2.0 and Roche PCR Amplicor Monitor Version 1.5

Quantification of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) RNA as a measure of viral load has greatly improved the monitoring of therapies for infected individuals. With the significant reductions in viral load now observed in individuals treated with highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART), viral load assays have been adapted to achieve greater sensitivity. Two commercially available ultrasensitive assays, the Bayer Quantiplex HIV-1 bDNA version 3.0 (bDNA 3.0) assay and the Roche Amplicor HIV-1 Monitor Ultrasensitive version 1.5 (Amplicor 1.5) assay, are now being used to monitor HIV-1-infected individuals. Both of these ultrasensitive assays have a reported lower limit of 50 HIV-1 RNA copies/ml and were developed from corresponding older generation assays with lower limits of 400 to 500 copies/ml. However, the comparability of viral load data generated by these ultrasensitive assays and the relative costs of labor, disposables, and biohazardous wastes were not determined in most cases. In this study, we used matched clinical plasma samples to compare the quantification of the newer bDNA 3.0 assay with that of the older bDNA 2.0 assay and to compare the quantification and costs of the bDNA 3.0 assay and the Amplicor 1.5 assay. We found that quantification by the bDNA 3.0 assay was approximately twofold higher than that by the bDNA 2.0 assay and was highly correlated to that by the Amplicor 1.5 assay. Moreover, cost analysis based on labor, disposables, and biohazardous wastes showed significant savings with the bDNA 3.0 assay as compared to the costs of the Amplicor 1.5 assay

QEXAFS and UV/Vis Simultaneous Monitoring of the TiO2-Nanoparticles Formation by Hydrolytic Sol-Gel Route

The hydrolysis of titanium(IV) tetraisopropoxide and the following condensation and aggregation to titania nanoparticles under slow water solution addition were concomitantly investigated by in situ QEXAFS and UV/vis spectroscopies The amount of dominant utanate species in the solution was determined as a function of time. Impel attire. and water addition rate Resulting from last hydrolysis and condensation of isopropoxide precursors an intermediate oligomeric species is initially formed at the early stages of the reaction This oligomeric species has been identified as a dodecatitanate species with Ti11O13 or Ti12O16 molecular framework. At the subsequent stage of the reaction corresponding to slower processes compared to the fast hydrolysis, titania nanoparticles are formed by a cluster-cluster growth mechanism involving the consumption of the dodecatitanate species following a pseudo first-order reaction Finally, at the advanced stage, sudden aggregation of mania nanoparticles occurs at a given threshold of amount of nanoparticlesCoordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES

Isolation and functional analysis of CONSTANS-LIKE genes suggests that a central role for CONSTANS in flowering time control is not evolutionarily conserved in Medicago truncatula

The zinc finger transcription factor CONSTANS has a well-established central role in the mechanism for photoperiod sensing in Arabidopsis, integrating light and circadian clock signals to upregulate the florigen gene FT under long-day but not short-day conditions. Although CONSTANS-like (COL) genes in other species have also been shown to regulate flowering time, it is not clear how widely this central role in photoperiod sensing is conserved.Legumes are a major plant group and various legume species show significant natural variation for photoperiod responsive flowering. Orthologs of several Arabidopsis genes have been shown to participate in photoperiodic flowering in legumes, but the possible function of COL genes as integrators of the photoperiod response has not yet been examined in detail. Here we characterize the COL family in the temperate long-day legume Medicago truncatula, using expression analyses, reverse genetics, transient activation assays and Arabidopsis transformation. Our results provide several lines of evidence suggesting that COL genes are unlikely to have a central role in the photoperiod response mechanism in this species

QEXAFS and UV/Vis Simultaneous Monitoring of the TiO2-Nanoparticles Formation by Hydrolytic Sol-Gel Route

The hydrolysis of titanium(IV) tetraisopropoxide and the following condensation and aggregation to titania nanoparticles under slow water solution addition were concomitantly investigated by in situ QEXAFS and UV/vis spectroscopies The amount of dominant utanate species in the solution was determined as a function of time. Impel attire. and water addition rate Resulting from last hydrolysis and condensation of isopropoxide precursors an intermediate oligomeric species is initially formed at the early stages of the reaction This oligomeric species has been identified as a dodecatitanate species with Ti11O13 or Ti12O16 molecular framework. At the subsequent stage of the reaction corresponding to slower processes compared to the fast hydrolysis, titania nanoparticles are formed by a cluster-cluster growth mechanism involving the consumption of the dodecatitanate species following a pseudo first-order reaction Finally, at the advanced stage, sudden aggregation of mania nanoparticles occurs at a given threshold of amount of nanoparticlesCoordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES

The English-only movement: A communication analysis of changing perceptions of language vitality

This paper reexamines the potential impact of the English-only movement on linguistic minorities and Anglos' perceptions of their own and minority groups' language vitality. Of particular interest is the Hispanic population-the fastest growing minority in the U.S. Communication scholars have paid only scant attention to the English-only movement and how it affects the social and communication climate for Latinos. However, literature reviews prepared for the American Psychological Association and for the Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (in 1991 and 1995, respectively) concluded that English-only initiatives have negative consequences for limited-English proficiency groups. Revisiting this still-growing issue in the light of more recent studies across disciplines and media reports, we examine how Anglo support for English-only policies limits the use, promotion, and salience of minority languages like Spanish in institutional settings and in the linguistic landscape and suggest directions for future research

Sexual and Apomictic Reproduction in Hieracium subgenus Pilosella Are Closely Interrelated Developmental Pathways

Seed formation in flowering plants requires meiosis of the megaspore mother cell (MMC) inside the ovule, selection of a megaspore that undergoes mitosis to form an embryo sac, and double fertilization to initiate embryo and endosperm formation. During apomixis, or asexual seed formation, in Hieracium ovules, a somatic aposporous initial (AI) cell divides to form a structurally variable aposporous embryo sac and embryo. This entire process, including endosperm development, is fertilization independent. Introduction of reproductive tissue marker genes into sexual and apomictic Hieracium showed that AI cells do not express a MMC marker. Spatial and temporal gene expression patterns of other introduced genes were conserved commencing with the first nuclear division of the AI cell in apomicts and the mitotic initiation of embryo sac formation in sexual plants. Conservation in expression patterns also occurred during embryo and endosperm development, indicating that sexuality and apomixis are interrelated pathways that share regulatory components. The induction of a modified sexual reproduction program in AI cells may enable the manifestation of apomixis in Hieracium

Altered Expression of an FT Cluster Underlies a Major Locus Controlling Domestication-Related Changes to Chickpea Phenology and Growth Habit

Flowering time is a key trait in breeding and crop evolution, due to its importance for adaptation to different environments and for yield. In the particular case of chickpea, selection for early phenology was essential for the successful transition of this species from a winter to a summer crop. Here, we used genetic and expression analyses in two different inbred populations to examine the genetic control of domestication-related differences in flowering time and growth habit between domesticated chickpea and its wild progenitor Cicer reticulatum. A single major quantitative trait locus for flowering time under short-day conditions [Days To Flower (DTF)3A] was mapped to a 59-gene interval on chromosome three containing a cluster of three FT genes, which collectively showed upregulated expression in domesticated relative to wild parent lines. An equally strong association with growth habit suggests a pleiotropic effect of the region on both traits. These results indicate the likely molecular explanation for the characteristic early flowering of domesticated chickpea, and the previously described growth habit locus Hg. More generally, they point to de-repression of this specific gene cluster as a conserved mechanism for achieving adaptive early phenology in temperate legumes