2-Methyl­pyrazine 1,4-dioxide

The title compound, C5H6N2O2, was prepared from 2-methyl­pyrazine, acetic acid and hydrogen peroxide. In the crystal, π–π stacking inter­actions between neighboring mol­ecules are observed, with a centroid–centroid distance of 3.7370 Å, an inter­planar distance of 3.167 Å, and a slippage of 1.984 Å. Each mol­ecule is linked to four neighbors through C—H⋯O hydrogen-bonding inter­actions, forming one-dimensional ribbons

On quantification of weak sequential completeness

We consider several quantities related to weak sequential completeness of a Banach space and prove some of their properties in general and in $L$-embedded Banach spaces, improving in particular an inequality of G. Godefroy, N. Kalton and D. Li. We show some examples witnessing natural limits of our positive results, in particular, we construct a separable Banach space $X$ with the Schur property that cannot be renormed to have a certain quantitative form of weak sequential completeness, thus providing a partial answer to a question of G. Godefroy.Comment: 9 page

2,5-Dimethyl­pyrazine 1,4-dioxide

The title compound, C6H8N2O2, was prepared from 2,5-dimethyl­pyrazine, acetic acid, and hydrogen peroxide. The 2,5-dimethyl­pyrazine 1,4-dioxide mol­ecule is located on an inversion center. π–π inter­actions between neighboring 2,5-dimethyl­pyrazine 1,4-dioxide mol­ecules are observed with an inter­planar distance of 3.191 Å. Each 2,5-dimethyl­pyrazine 1,4-dioxide mol­ecule is linked to four neighboring N-oxide mol­ecules through C—H⋯O hydrogen-bonding inter­actions, forming two-dimensional layers

Epistatic interactions between at least three loci determine the “rat-tail” phenotype in cattle

BACKGROUND: The “rat-tail” syndrome (RTS) is an inherited hypotrichosis in cattle, which is exclusively expressed in diluted coloured hair. The affected animals also suffer from disturbed thermoregulation, which impairs their health and growth performance. Phenotypic features that are similar to RTS are observed in dogs with black hair follicle dysplasia. RESULTS: We used a resource cross population between German Holstein and Charolais cattle breeds to prove that epistatic interactions between at least three independent genetic loci are required for the expression of the RTS phenotype. In this population, the RTS is exclusively expressed in animals with a eumelanic background that is due to the dominant E D allele at the melanocortin 1 receptor gene located on Bos taurus autosome (BTA) 18. In addition, only the individuals that are heterozygous at the dilution locus on BTA5 that corresponds to the premelanosome protein or silver gene variant c.64G>A were classified as displaying a RTS phenotype. Linkage and whole-genome association analyses using different models and different pedigrees allowed us to map a third locus (hereafter referred to as the RTS locus) that is essential for the expression of the RTS phenotype to the chromosomal region between 14 and 22 Mb on BTA5. Our findings clearly demonstrate that the RTS and dilution loci are distinct loci on BTA5. CONCLUSIONS: Our study provides evidence that the RTS locus has effects on hair conformation and coat colour dilution and that the effect on coat colour dilution is clearly independent from that of the dilution locus. Finally, our results excluded several other loci that were previously reported to be associated with or to underlie hair conformation or pigmentation traits as the causal mutations of RTS and also several major functional candidate genes that are associated with hypotrichosis in humans. Our finding on the identification of a three-locus interaction that underlies RTS provides a prime example of epistatic interaction between several independent loci that is required for the expression of a distinct phenotype

Analyses of the vrl gene cluster in Desulfococcus multivorans: Homologous to the virulence-associated locus of the ovine footrot pathogen Dichelobacter nodosus strain A198

Major parts of the virulence-associated vrl locus known from the gammaproteobacterium Dichelobacter nodosus, the causative agent of ovine footrot, were analyzed in the genome of the sulfate-reducing deltaproteobacterium Desulfococcus multivorans. In the genome of D. multivorans 13 of the 19 vrl genes described for D. nodosus are present and highly conserved with respect to gene sequence and order. The vrl locus and its flanking regions suggest a bacteriophage-mediated transfer into the genome of D. multivorans. Comparative analysis of the deduced Vrl proteins reveals a wide distribution of parts of the virulence-associated vrl locus in distantly related bacteria. Horizontal transfer is suggested as driving mechanism for the circulation of the vrl genes in bacteria. Except for the vrlBMN genes D. multivorans and Desulfovibrio desulfuricans G20 together contain all vrl genes displaying a high degree of similarity. For D. multivorans it could be shown that guanine plus cytosine (GC) content, GC skew, di-, tri- or tetranucleotide distribution did not differ between the vrl locus and its flanking sequences. This could be a hint that the vrl locus originated from a related organism or at least a genome with similar characteristics. The conspicuous high degree of conservation of the analyzed vrl genes may result from a recent transfer event or reflect a function of the vrl genes, which is still unknown and not necessarily disease associated. The latter is supported by the evidence for expression of the vrl genes in D. multivorans, which has not been described as pathogen or to be associated to any disease pattern before