Göttliche, menschliche und teuflische Komödien - Europäische Welttheater-Entwürfe im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert

Theater kann nicht nur Welt abbilden, sondern auch die Welt selbst als ein Theater darstellen, in dem Gott (oder das Schicksal) die Rollen verteilt und Regie führt. So wurde 'Welttheater' im europäischen Barock aufgefasst. Seit der Aufklärung schwindet der Glaube an den göttlichen Regisseur, die Denkfigur 'Welttheater' behält aber auch im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert ihre Attraktivität. Im Rahmen einer Ringvorlesung an der Fakultät Geistes- und Kulturwissenschaften der Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg im Wintersemester 2009/2010 wurden dreizehn Beispiele modernen Welttheaters aus Sprech- und Musiktheater Frankreichs, Italiens, Ungarns, Rußlands und Deutschlands vorgestellt (mit Ausblicken zu Film und Fernsehen), von Goethes Faust über Wagners Ring des Nibelungen, Imre Madàchs Tragödie des Menschen, Hofmannsthals Großes Salzburger Welttheater oder Paul Claudels Seidenen Schuh bis hin zu Tankred Dorsts Merlin und Karlheinz Stockausens LICHT-Zyklus. Den Abschluss bildet ein Werkstattgespräch mit dem Komponisten Peter Eötvös und seinem Librettisten Albert Ostermaier, deren Oper Die Tragödie des Teufels im Februar 2010 in München uraufgeführt wurde

New insights into lignin peroxidase

46-53Lignin peroxidase an extracellular haem containing glycoprotein is able to oxidise non-phenolic aromatic compounds with redox potentials exceeding 1.4 V. This enzyme is employed by ligninolytic fungi to degrade the recalcitrant biopolymer lignin, a cell wall constituent of woody plants. Due to its enlarged substrate range in the presence of specific mediators and due to its high redox potential this enzyme has the potentiality for the application in various industrial processes. But, until recently information concerning the binding mode of the substrate with the enzyme was lacking, therefore hampering progress in the elucidation of the catalytic mechanism. The finding of an unprecedented amino acid modification at a surface tryptophan initiated several investigations during the past few years on the role of this residue, which resulted in the identification of two distinct substrate interaction sites in lignin peroxidase. This mini-review summarises the major outcome of these investigations and describes the underlying structural factors that govern substrate interaction and electron transfer in lignin peroxidase

Bacterial biomass production measured in water samples of POLARSTERN cruise PS111 (ANT-XXXIII/2)

Global warming poses new threats to marine ecosystems since rising seawater temperature potentially induces cascading effects in biogeochemical cycles and food webs. Heterotrophic bacteria are the main producers of CO2 in the ocean, thereby counteracting the biological drawdown of CO2 by primary production. In Antarctic marine systems, low seawater temperature, and the low availability of labile organic matter are major environmental constraints on bacterial growth and degradation activity. However, temperature and the availability of resources for heterotrophic bacteria undergo considerable change induced by climate warming combined with subsequent ice melt and changes in primary productivity. This project aims to test single and combined effects of temperature and organic matter availability on Antarctic marine bacterioplankton. This data set includes measurements on bacterial biomass production at 0°C and 3°C measured alongside the CTD casts during the Polarstern cruise PS111 to the Weddell Sea. Samples were collected in the upper 100 m of the water column at the Eastern Weddell Sea Shelf and at the Filchner-Ronne ice shelf

Dissolved organic matter, chlorophyll a and bacterial abundance measured in water samples of POLARSTERN cruise PS111 (ANT-XXXIII/2)

Global warming poses new threats to marine ecosystems since rising seawater temperature potentially induces cascading effects in biogeochemical cycles and food webs. Heterotrophic bacteria are the main producers of CO2 in the ocean, thereby counteracting the biological drawdown of CO2 by primary production. In Antarctic marine systems, low seawater temperature, and the low availability of labile organic matter are major environmental constraints on bacterial growth and degradation activity. However, temperature and the availability of resources for heterotrophic bacteria undergo considerable change induced by climate warming combined with subsequent ice melt and changes in primary productivity. This project aims to test single and combined effects of temperature and organic matter availability on Antarctic marine bacterioplankton. This data set includes biological and biogeochemical parameters measured alongside the CTD casts during the Polarstern cruise PS111 to the Weddell Sea. Samples were collected in the upper 100 m of the water column at the Eastern Weddell Sea Shelf and at the Filchner-Ronne ice shelf. Concentrations of different components of dissolved organic matter and inorganic nutrients as well as chlorophyll a concentrations and bacterial cell numbers are reported

Crystal structures of pristine and oxidatively processed lignin peroxidase expressed in Escherichia coli and of the W171F variant that eliminates the redox active tryptophan 171. Implications for the reaction mechanism

The heme enzyme lignin peroxidase (LiP) from the white rot fungus Phanerochaete chrysosporium contains a solvent exposed redox active tryptophan residue (Trp171) that carries a unique hydroxy group stereospecifically attached to its C-beta atom. A Trp171Phe mutant has no activity at all towards the substrate veratryl alcohol. The mechanism of veratryl alcohol oxidation involving beta -hydroxy-Trp171 is largely unknown. Here, we present the first crystal structures of LiP isozyme H8 at high resolution in its pristine non-hydroxylated form, of the C-beta-hydroxylated form, and of the Trp171Phe mutant using recombinantly expressed and refolded protein produced from Escherichia coli. As a consequence, all structures are unglycosylated. Structural changes in response to the mutation are marginal and allow us to attribute the complete lack of activity exclusively to the absence of the redox active indole side-chain. The origin of the stereospecificity of the Trp171 hydroxylation can be explained on structural grounds. A reaction mechanism involving Trp171 is proposed and the possible function of the modification is discussed. Another important result regarding the ongoing debate on the co-ordination state of the heme iron in the resting state is that the iron is six coordinate in all cases the data being collected at room temperature. The mean distance from the iron to the distal water Ligand is 2.18(+/-0.08) Angstrom. The radical scavenger orcinol was found to decrease radiation damage to the crystals, during data collection at room temperature

Organic matter availability drives the spatial variation in the community composition and activity of Antarctic marine bacterioplankton

Carbon cycling by Antarctic microbial plankton is poorly understood but it plays a major role in CO2 sequestration in the Southern Ocean. We investigated the summer bacterioplankton community in the largely understudied Weddell Sea, applying Illumina amplicon sequencing, measurements of bacterial production and chemical analyses of organic matter. The results revealed that the patchy distribution of productive coastal polynyas and less productive, mostly ice-covered sites was the major driver of the spatial changes in the taxonomic composition and activity of bacterioplankton. Gradients in organic matter availability induced by phytoplankton blooms were reflected in the concentrations and composition of dissolved carbohydrates and proteins. Bacterial production at bloom stations was, on average, 2.7 times higher than at less productive sites. Abundant bloom-responsive lineages were predominately affiliated with ubiquitous marine taxa, including Polaribacter, Yoonia-Loktanella, Sulfitobacter, the SAR92 clade, and Ulvibacter, suggesting a widespread genetic potential for adaptation to sub-zero seawater temperatures. A co-occurrence network analysis showed that dominant taxa at stations with low phytoplankton productivity were highly connected, indicating beneficial interactions. Overall, our study demonstrates that heterotrophic bacterial communities along Weddell Sea ice shelves were primarily constrained by the availability of labile organic matter rather than low seawater temperature