667 research outputs found
Phage Orf family recombinases:conservation of activities and involvement of the central channel in DNA binding
Genetic and biochemical evidence suggests that λ Orf is a recombination mediator, promoting nucleation of either bacterial RecA or phage RedÎČ recombinases onto single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) bound by SSB protein. We have identified a diverse family of Orf proteins that includes representatives implicated in DNA base flipping and those fused to an HNH endonuclease domain. To confirm a functional relationship with the Orf family, a distantly-related homolog, YbcN, from Escherichia coli cryptic prophage DLP12 was purified and characterized. As with its λ relative, YbcN showed a preference for binding ssDNA over duplex. Neither Orf nor YbcN displayed a significant preference for duplex DNA containing mismatches or 1-3 nucleotide bulges. YbcN also bound E. coli SSB, although unlike Orf, it failed to associate with an SSB mutant lacking the flexible C-terminal tail involved in coordinating heterologous protein-protein interactions. Residues conserved in the Orf family that flank the central cavity in the λ Orf crystal structure were targeted for mutagenesis to help determine the mode of DNA binding. Several of these mutant proteins showed significant defects in DNA binding consistent with the central aperture being important for substrate recognition. The widespread conservation of Orf-like proteins highlights the importance of targeting SSB coated ssDNA during lambdoid phage recombination
Photoproduction of phi(1020) mesons on the proton at large momentum transfer
The cross section for meson photoproduction on the proton has been
measured for the first time up to a four-momentum transfer -t = 4 GeV^2, using
the CLAS detector at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. At low
four-momentum transfer, the differential cross section is well described by
Pomeron exchange. At large four-momentum transfer, above -t = 1.8 GeV^2, the
data support a model where the Pomeron is resolved into its simplest component,
two gluons, which may couple to any quark in the proton and in the .Comment: 5 pages; 7 figure
Q^2 Dependence of the S_{11}(1535) Photocoupling and Evidence for a P-wave resonance in eta electroproduction
New cross sections for the reaction are reported for total
center of mass energy =1.5--2.3 GeV and invariant squared momentum transfer
=0.13--3.3 GeV. This large kinematic range allows extraction of new
information about response functions, photocouplings, and coupling
strengths of baryon resonances. A sharp structure is seen at 1.7 GeV.
The shape of the differential cross section is indicative of the presence of a
-wave resonance that persists to high . Improved values are derived for
the photon coupling amplitude for the (1535) resonance. The new data
greatly expands the range covered and an interpretation of all data with
a consistent parameterization is provided.Comment: 31 pages, 9 figure
Deeply virtual and exclusive electroproduction of omega mesons
The exclusive omega electroproduction off the proton was studied in a large
kinematical domain above the nucleon resonance region and for the highest
possible photon virtuality (Q2) with the 5.75 GeV beam at CEBAF and the CLAS
spectrometer. Cross sections were measured up to large values of the
four-momentum transfer (-t < 2.7 GeV2) to the proton. The contributions of the
interference terms sigma_TT and sigma_TL to the cross sections, as well as an
analysis of the omega spin density matrix, indicate that helicity is not
conserved in this process. The t-channel pi0 exchange, or more generally the
exchange of the associated Regge trajectory, seems to dominate the reaction
gamma* p -> omega p, even for Q2 as large as 5 GeV2. Contributions of handbag
diagrams, related to Generalized Parton Distributions in the nucleon, are
therefore difficult to extract for this process. Remarkably, the high-t
behaviour of the cross sections is nearly Q2-independent, which may be
interpreted as a coupling of the photon to a point-like object in this
kinematical limit.Comment: 15 pages,19 figure
The e p -> e' p eta reaction at and above the S11(1535) baryon resonance
New cross sections for the reaction e p -> ep eta are reported for total
center of mass energy W = 1.5--1.86 GeV and invariant momentum transfer Q^2 =
0.25--1.5 GeV^2. This large kinematic range allows extraction of important new
information about response functions, photocouplings, and eta N coupling
strengths of baryon resonances. Expanded W coverage shows sharp structure at W
\~ 1.7 GeV; this is shown to come from interference between S and P waves and
can be interpreted in terms of known resonances. Improved values are derived
for the photon coupling amplitude for the S11(1535) resonance.Comment: 11 pages, RevTeX, 5 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let
A Precise Measurement of the Neutron Magnetic Form Factor GMn in the Few-GeV2 Region
The neutron elastic magnetic form factor GMn has been extracted from
quasielastic electron scattering data on deuterium with the CEBAF Large
Acceptance Spectrometer (CLAS) at Jefferson Lab. The kinematic coverage of the
measurement is continuous from Q2=1 GeV2 to 4.8 GeV2. High precision was
achieved by employing a ratio technique in which many uncertainties cancel, and
by a simultaneous in-situ calibration of the neutron detection efficiency, the
largest correction to the data. Neutrons were detected using the CLAS
electromagnetic calorimeters and the time-of-flight scintillators. Data were
taken at two different electron beam energies, allowing up to four
semi-independent measurements of GMn to be made at each value of Q2. The dipole
parameterization is found to provide a good description of the data over the
measured Q2 range.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures, revtex4, submitted to Physical Review Letters,
Revised version has changes recommended by journal referee
Transverse Polarization of in Photoproduction on a Hydrogen Target in CLAS
Experimental results on the hyperon transverse polarization
in photoproduction on a hydrogen target using the CLAS detector at Jefferson
laboratory are presented. The was reconstructed in the
exclusive reaction via the
decay mode. The was reconstructed in the
invariant mass of two oppositely charged pions with the identified in
the missing mass of the detected final state. Experimental data
were collected in the photon energy range = 1.0-3.5 GeV
( range 1.66-2.73 GeV). We observe a large negative polarization of
up to 95%. As the mechanism of transverse polarization of hyperons produced in
unpolarized photoproduction experiments is still not well understood, these
results will help to distinguish between different theoretical models on
hyperon production and provide valuable information for the searches of missing
baryon resonances.Comment: pages 1
Measurement of Exclusive Electroproduction Structure Functions and their Relationship to Transversity GPDs
Exclusive electroproduction at a beam energy of 5.75 GeV has been
measured with the Jefferson Lab CLAS spectrometer. Differential cross sections
were measured at more than 1800 kinematic values in , , , and
, in the range from 1.0 to 4.6 GeV,\ up to 2 GeV,
and from 0.1 to 0.58. Structure functions and were extracted as functions of for each of
17 combinations of and . The data were compared directly with two
handbag-based calculations including both longitudinal and transversity GPDs.
Inclusion of only longitudinal GPDs very strongly underestimates and fails to account for and ,
while inclusion of transversity GPDs brings the calculations into substantially
better agreement with the data. There is very strong sensitivity to the
relative contributions of nucleon helicity flip and helicity non-flip
processes. The results confirm that exclusive electroproduction offers
direct experimental access to the transversity GPDs.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figure
Dependence of Quadrupole Strength in the Transition
Models of baryon structure predict a small quadrupole deformation of the
nucleon due to residual tensor forces between quarks or distortions from the
pion cloud. Sensitivity to quark versus pion degrees of freedom occurs through
the dependence of the magnetic (), electric (), and
scalar () multipoles in the
transition. We report new experimental values for the ratios
and over the range = 0.4-1.8 GeV, extracted from
precision data using a truncated multipole expansion.
Results are best described by recent unitary models in which the pion cloud
plays a dominant role.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, 1 table. To be published in Phys. Rev. Lett.
(References, figures and table updated, minor changes.
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