Ribosomal RNA and the Early Evolution of Flowering Plants.

Since the end of the last century, the predominant theories of the early radiation of the angiosperms have been that the earliest flowering plants were most similar to the present-day Magnoliidae (sensu Takhtajan, 1969). This position has been adopted by many, though there are some who suggest that the base of angiosperm radiation lies within the monocots (Burger, 1981) or a combination of monocots and dicots (Burger, 1977; Donoghue and Doyle, 1989a, 1989b). Many different ancestors to the angiosperms themselves have been proposed including, at one time or another, most of the extant gymnosperms, extinct gymnosperms and the extinct seed ferns. Morphologically-, cytologically- and phytochemically-based classifications have not provided unequivocal phylogenies of the angiosperm lineages, although recent cladistic treatments of morphological characters by Crane (1985) and Donoghue and Doyle (1989a) provide a logical framework for testing molecular genealogies. The most fundamental comparison between homologous molecules of different species is a comparison of the primary nucleotide structure. In this dissertation, I report on comparisons of the primary structure of the nuclear-encoded cytoplasmic ribosomal RNAs (rRNAs) to produce phylogenetic hypotheses for the extant angiosperms and other seed plant lineages. Computer-assisted phylogenetic analyses based on the comparisons of 1700 nucleotides from five regions of the nuclear-encoded cytoplasmic 18S rRNA and three regions of the nuclear-encoded cytoplasmic 26S rRNA from 46 angiosperm taxa, 12 gymnosperm taxa and two seedless vascular plants (as outgroups), suggest that: (1) The seed plants (gymnosperms and angiosperms) are a natural (monophyletic) group; (2) The angiosperms arose from within the gymnosperms and are a natural group; (3) The Gnetales are a coherent group with tenuous support as the sister group of the angiosperms; (4) The earliest angiosperm divergences involve the paleoherbs of Donoghue and Doyle (1989a, 1989b), i.e., the Piperales (Piperaceae and Saururaceae), the Nymphaeales (Nymphaeaceae, Cabombaceae, Barclayaceae, but not Ceratophyllaceae or Nelumboaceae) and the monocots; (5) Both the monocots and dicots are paraphyletic groups

In vivo biodistribution of 125IPIP and internal dosimetry of 123IPIP radioiodinated agents selective to the muscarinic acetylcholinergic receptor complex

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134943/1/mp8941.pd

AVGS, AR and D for Satellites, ISS, the Moon, Mars and Beyond

With the continuous need to rotate crew and re-supply the International Space Station (ISS) and the desire to return humans to the Moon and for the first time, place humans on Mars, NASA must develop a more robust and highly reliable capability to perform Autonomous Rendezvous and Capture (AR&C) because, unlike the Apollo missions, NASA plans to send the entire crew to the Lunar or Martian surface and must be able to dock with the Orion spacecraft upon return. In 1997, NASA developed the Video Guidance Sensor (VGS) which was flown and tested on STS-87 and STS-95. In 2001, NASA designed and built a more enhanced version of the VGS, called the Advanced Video Guidance Sensor (AVGS). The AVGS offered significant technology improvements to the precursor VGS design. This paper will describe the AVGS as it was in the DART mission of 2005 and the Orbital Express mission of 2007. The paper will describe the capabilities and design concepts of the AVGS as it was flown on the DART 2005 Mission and the DARPA Orbital Express Mission slated to fly in 2007. The paper will cover the Flight Software, problems encountered, testing for Orbital Express and where NASA is going in the future

A Protein-Protein Interaction Map of the Trypanosoma brucei Paraflagellar Rod

We have conducted a protein interaction study of components within a specific sub-compartment of a eukaryotic flagellum. The trypanosome flagellum contains a para-crystalline extra-axonemal structure termed the paraflagellar rod (PFR) with around forty identified components. We have used a Gateway cloning approach coupled with yeast two-hybrid, RNAi and 2D DiGE to define a protein-protein interaction network taking place in this structure. We define two clusters of interactions; the first being characterised by two proteins with a shared domain which is not sufficient for maintaining the interaction. The other cohort is populated by eight proteins, a number of which possess a PFR domain and sub-populations of this network exhibit dependency relationships. Finally, we provide clues as to the structural organisation of the PFR at the molecular level. This multi-strand approach shows that protein interactome data can be generated for insoluble protein complexes