699 research outputs found
Spectral signatures of photosynthesis I: Review of Earth organisms
Why do plants reflect in the green and have a 'red edge' in the red, and
should extrasolar photosynthesis be the same? We provide: 1) a brief review of
how photosynthesis works; 2) an overview of the diversity of photosynthetic
organisms, their light harvesting systems, and environmental ranges; 3) a
synthesis of photosynthetic surface spectral signatures; 4) evolutionary
rationales for photosynthetic surface reflectance spectra with regard to
utilization of photon energy and the planetary light environment. Given the
surface incident photon flux density spectrum and resonance transfer in light
harvesting, we propose some rules with regard to where photosynthetic pigments
will peak in absorbance: a) the wavelength of peak incident photon flux; b) the
longest available wavelength for core antenna or reaction center pigments; and
c) the shortest wavelengths within an atmospheric window for accessory
pigments. That plants absorb less green light may not be an inefficient legacy
of evolutionary history, but may actually satisfy the above criteria.Comment: 69 pages, 7 figures, forthcoming in Astrobiology March 200
Arabidopsis CURVATURE THYLAKOID1 Proteins Modify Thylakoid Architecture by Inducing Membrane Curvature
Chloroplasts of land plants characteristically contain grana, cylindrical stacks of thylakoid membranes. A granum consists of a core of appressed membranes, two stroma-exposed end membranes, and margins, which connect pairs of grana membranes at their lumenal sides. Multiple forces contribute to grana stacking, but it is not known how the extreme curvature at margins is generated and maintained. We report the identification of the CURVATURE THYLAKOID1 (CURT1) protein family, conserved in plants and cyanobacteria. The four Arabidopsis thaliana CURT1 proteins (CURT1A, B, C, and D) oligomerize and are highly enriched at grana margins. Grana architecture is correlated with the CURT1 protein level, ranging from flat lobe-like thylakoids with considerably fewer grana margins in plants without CURT1 proteins to an increased number of membrane layers (and margins) in grana at the expense of grana diameter in overexpressors of CURT1A. The endogenous CURT1 protein in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp PCC6803 can be partially replaced by its Arabidopsis counterpart, indicating that the function of CURT1 proteins is evolutionary conserved. In vitro, Arabidopsis CURT1A proteins oligomerize and induce tubulation of liposomes, implying that CURT1 proteins suffice to induce membrane curvature. We therefore propose that CURT1 proteins modify thylakoid architecture by inducing membrane curvature at grana margins
He Structure and Mechanisms of He Backward Elastic Scattering
The mechanism of He backward elastic scattering is studied.
It is found that the triangle diagrams with the subprocesses He,
He and He, where and
denote the singlet deuteron and diproton pair in the state,
respectively, dominate in the cross section at 0.3-0.8 GeV, and their
contribution is comparable with that for a sequential transfer of a pair
at 1-1.5 GeV.
The contribution of the , estimated on the basis of the spectator
mechanism of the He reaction, increases the HeHe cross section by one order of magnitude as compared to the
contribution of the deuteron alone.
Effects of the initial and final states interaction are taken into account.Comment: 17 pages, Latex, 4 postscript figures, expanded version, accepted by
Physical Review
Internally Electrodynamic Particle Model: Its Experimental Basis and Its Predictions
The internally electrodynamic (IED) particle model was derived based on
overall experimental observations, with the IED process itself being built
directly on three experimental facts, a) electric charges present with all
material particles, b) an accelerated charge generates electromagnetic waves
according to Maxwell's equations and Planck energy equation and c) source
motion produces Doppler effect. A set of well-known basic particle equations
and properties become predictable based on first principles solutions for the
IED process; several key solutions achieved are outlined, including the de
Broglie phase wave, de Broglie relations, Schr\"odinger equation, mass,
Einstein mass-energy relation, Newton's law of gravity, single particle self
interference, and electromagnetic radiation and absorption; these equations and
properties have long been broadly experimentally validated or demonstrated. A
specific solution also predicts the Doebner-Goldin equation which emerges to
represent a form of long-sought quantum wave equation including gravity. A
critical review of the key experiments is given which suggests that the IED
process underlies the basic particle equations and properties not just
sufficiently but also necessarily.Comment: Presentation at the 27th Int Colloq on Group Theo Meth in Phys, 200
A Complex containing PGRL1 and PGR5 is involved in the switch between linear and cyclic electron flow in Arabidopsis
During photosynthesis, two photoreaction centers
located in the thylakoid membranes of the chloroplast,
photosystems I and II (PSI and PSII), use light
energy to mobilize electrons to generate ATP and
NADPH. Different modes of electron flow exist, of
which the linear electron flow is driven by PSI and
PSII, generating ATP and NADPH, whereas the cyclic
electron flow (CEF) only generates ATP and is driven
by the PSI alone. Different environmental and metabolic
conditions require the adjustment of ATP/
NADPH ratios and a switch of electron distribution
between the two photosystems. With the exception
of PGR5, other components facilitating CEF are unknown.
Here, we report the identification of PGRL1,
a transmembrane protein present in thylakoids
of Arabidopsis thaliana. Plants lacking PGRL1 show
perturbation of CEF, similar to PGR5-deficient plants.
We find that PGRL1 and PGR5 interact physically
and associate with PSI. We therefore propose
that the PGRL1-PGR5 complex facilitates CEF in
eukaryotes
Single-neutron transfer from 11Be gs via the (p,d) reaction with a radioactive beam
The 11Be(p,d)10Be reaction has been performed in inverse kinematics with a
radioactive 11Be beam of E/A = 35.3 MeV. Angular distributions for the 0+
ground state, the 2+, 3.37 MeV state and the multiplet of states around 6 MeV
in 10Be were measured at angles up to 16 deg CM by detecting the 10Be in a
dispersion-matched spectrometer and the coincident deuterons in a silicon
array. Distorted wave and coupled-channels calculations have been performed to
investigate the amount of 2+ core excitation in 11Be gs. The use of "realistic"
11Be wave functions is emphasised and bound state form factors have been
obtained by solving the particle-vibration coupling equations. This calculation
gives a dominant 2s component in the 11Be gs wave function with a 16% [2+ x 1d]
core excitation admixture. Cross sections calculated with these form factors
are in good agreement with the present data. The Separation Energy prescription
for the bound state wave function also gives satisfactory fits to the data, but
leads to a significantly larger [2 x 1d] component in 11Be gs.Comment: 39 pages, 12 figures. Accepted for publication in Nuclear Physics A.
Added minor corrections made in proof to pages 26 and 3
CT Image Segmentation Using FEM with Optimized Boundary Condition
The authors propose a CT image segmentation method using structural analysis that is useful for objects with structural dynamic characteristics. Motivation of our research is from the area of genetic activity. In order to reveal the roles of genes, it is necessary to create mutant mice and measure differences among them by scanning their skeletons with an X-ray CT scanner. The CT image needs to be manually segmented into pieces of the bones. It is a very time consuming to manually segment many mutant mouse models in order to reveal the roles of genes. It is desirable to make this segmentation procedure automatic. Although numerous papers in the past have proposed segmentation techniques, no general segmentation method for skeletons of living creatures has been established. Against this background, the authors propose a segmentation method based on the concept of destruction analogy. To realize this concept, structural analysis is performed using the finite element method (FEM), as structurally weak areas can be expected to break under conditions of stress. The contribution of the method is its novelty, as no studies have so far used structural analysis for image segmentation. The method's implementation involves three steps. First, finite elements are created directly from the pixels of a CT image, and then candidates are also selected in areas where segmentation is thought to be appropriate. The second step involves destruction analogy to find a single candidate with high strain chosen as the segmentation target. The boundary conditions for FEM are also set automatically. Then, destruction analogy is implemented by replacing pixels with high strain as background ones, and this process is iterated until object is decomposed into two parts. Here, CT image segmentation is demonstrated using various types of CT imagery
Impact of chlororespiration on non-photochemical quenching of chlorophyll fluorescence and on the regulation of the diadinoxanthin cycle in the diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana
In diatoms, metabolic activity during long dark periods leads to a chlororespiratory electron flow, which is accompanied by the build-up of a proton gradient strong enough to activate the diadinoxanthin (Ddx) de-epoxidation reaction of the Ddx cycle. In the present study, the impact of chlororespiration on non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) of chlorophyll fluorescence and the regulation of the Ddx cycle in the diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana was investigated by manipulation of the redox state of the photosynthetic electron transport chain during darkness. The response of a transfer of T. pseudonana cells from growth light conditions to 60 min darkness was found to depend on oxygen: in its presence there was no significant reduction of the PQ pool and no de-epoxidation of Ddx to diatoxanthin (Dtx). Under anaerobic conditions a high reduction state of the electron transport chain and a slow but steady de-epoxidation of Ddx was observed, which resulted in a significant accumulation of Dtx after 60 min of anaerobiosis. Unexpectedly, this high concentration of Dtx did not induce a correspondingly high NPQ as it would have been observed with Dtx formed under high light conditions. However, the sensitivity of NPQ to Dtx in cells kept under dark anaerobic conditions increased during reoxygenation and far-red (FR) light illumination. The results are discussed with respect to the activation of the de-epoxidation reaction and the formation of NPQ and their dependence on the extent of the proton gradient across the thylakoid membrane
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