1,666 research outputs found
Spectral signatures of photosynthesis II: coevolution with other stars and the atmosphere on extrasolar worlds
As photosynthesis on Earth produces the primary signatures of life that can
be detected astronomically at the global scale, a strong focus of the search
for extrasolar life will be photosynthesis, particularly photosynthesis that
has evolved with a different parent star. We take planetary atmospheric
compositions simulated by Segura, et al. (2003, 2005) for Earth-like planets
around observed F2V and K2V stars, modeled M1V and M5V stars, and around the
active M4.5V star AD Leo; our scenarios use Earth's atmospheric composition as
well as very low O2 content in case anoxygenic photosynthesis dominates. We
calculate the incident spectral photon flux densities at the surface of the
planet and under water. We identify bands of available photosynthetically
relevant radiation and find that photosynthetic pigments on planets around F2V
stars may peak in absorbance in the blue, K2V in the red-orange, and M stars in
the NIR, in bands at 0.93-1.1 microns, 1.1-1.4 microns, 1.5-1.8 microns, and
1.8-2.5 microns. In addition, we calculate wavelength restrictions for
underwater organisms and depths of water at which they would be protected from
UV flares in the early life of M stars. We estimate the potential productivity
for both surface and underwater photosynthesis, for both oxygenic and
anoxygenic photosynthesis, and for hypothetical photosynthesis in which longer
wavelength, multi-photosystem series are used.Comment: 59 pages, 4 figures, 4 tables, forthcoming in Astrobiology ~March
200
Solving the riddle of codon usage preferences: a test for translational selection
Translational selection is responsible for the unequal usage of synonymous codons in protein coding genes in a wide variety of organisms. It is one of the most subtle and pervasive forces of molecular evolution, yet, establishing the underlying causes for its idiosyncratic behaviour across living kingdoms has proven elusive to researchers over the past 20 years. In this study, a statistical model for measuring translational selection in any given genome is developed, and the test is applied to 126 fully sequenced genomes, ranging from archaea to eukaryotes. It is shown that tRNA gene redundancy and genome size are interacting forces that ultimately determine the action of translational selection, and that an optimal genome size exists for which this kind of selection is maximal. Accordingly, genome size also presents upper and lower boundaries beyond which selection on codon usage is not possible. We propose a model where the coevolution of genome size and tRNA genes explains the observed patterns in translational selection in all living organisms. This model finally unifies our understanding of codon usage across prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Helicobacter pylori, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Homo sapiens are codon usage paradigms that can be better understood under the proposed model
Depinning of three-dimensional drops from wettability defects
Substrate defects crucially influence the onset of sliding drop motion under
lateral driving. A finite force is necessary to overcome the pinning influence
even of microscale heterogeneities. The depinning dynamics of three-dimensional
drops is studied for hydrophilic and hydrophobic wettability defects using a
long-wave evolution equation for the film thickness profile. It is found that
the nature of the depinning transition explains the experimentally observed
stick-slip motion.Comment: 6 pages, 9 figures, submitted to ep
L^2 stability estimates for shock solutions of scalar conservation laws using the relative entropy method
We consider scalar nonviscous conservation laws with strictly convex flux in
one spatial dimension, and we investigate the behavior of bounded L^2
perturbations of shock wave solutions to the Riemann problem using the relative
entropy method. We show that up to a time-dependent translation of the shock,
the L^2 norm of a perturbed solution relative to the shock wave is bounded
above by the L^2 norm of the initial perturbation.Comment: 17 page
Molecular and Ionic shocks in the Supernova Remnant 3C391
New observations of the supernova remnant 3C391 are in the H2 2.12 micron and
[Fe II] 1.64 micron narrow-band filters at the Palomar 200-inch telescope, and
in the 5-15 micron CVF on ISOCAM. Shocked H2 emission was detected from the
region 3C391:BML, where broad millimeter CO and CS lines had previously been
detected. A new H2 clump was confirmed to have broad CO emission, demonstrating
that the near-infrared H2 images can trace previously undetected molecular
shocks. The [Fe II] emission has a significantly different distribution, being
brightest in the bright radio bar, at the interface between the supernova
remnant and the giant molecular cloud, and following filaments in the radio
shell. The near-infrared [Fe II] and the mid-infrared 12-18 micron filter
images are the first images to reveal the radiative shell of 3C391. The
mid-infrared spectrum is dominated by bright ionic lines and H2 S(2) through
S(7). There are no aromatic hydrocarbons associated with the shocks, nor is
their any mid-infrared continuum, suggesting that macromolecules and very small
grains are destroyed. Comparing 3C391 to the better-studied IC443, both
remnants have molecular- and ionic-dominated regions; for 3C391, the
ionic-dominated region is the interface into the giant molecular cloud, showing
that the main bodies of giant molecular clouds contain significant regions with
densities 100 to 1000/cm^3 and a small filling factor with higher-density. The
molecular shocked region resolves into 16 clumps of H2 emission, with some
fainter diffuse emission but with no associated near-infrared continuum
sources. One of the clumps is coincident with a previously-detected OH 1720 MHz
maser. These clumps are interpreted as a cluster of pre-stellar, dense
molecular cores that are presently being shocked by the supernova blast wave
Mid-Infrared Images of Stars and Dust in Irregular Galaxies
We present mid-infrared to optical properties of 22 representative irregular
galaxies: 18 Im, 3 BCDs, and one Sm. The mid-IR is based on images from the
Spitzer Space Telescope archives. The 3.6 and 4.5 micron bands and the UBVJHK
images are used to examine disk morphology and the integrated and azimuthally
averaged magnitudes and colors of stars. The non-stellar contribution to the
4.5 micron images is used to trace hot dust. The 5.8 and 8.0 micron images
reveal emission from hot dust and PAHs, and both may contribute to these
passbands, although we refer to the non-stellar emission as PAH emission. We
compare the 8.0 micron images to Halpha. Im galaxies have no hidden bars, and
those with double-exponential optical light profiles have the same at mid-IR.
Most galaxies have similar optical mid-IR scale lengths. Four galaxies have
super star clusters that are not visible at optical bands. Galaxies with higher
area-normalized star formation rates have more dust and PAH emission relative
to starlight. Hot dust and PAH emission is found mostly in high surface
brightness HII regions, implying that massive stars are the primary source of
heating. Galaxies with intense, wide-spread star formation have more extended
PAH emssion. The ratio of PAH to Halpha emission is not constant on small
scales. PAHs are associated with shell and giant filaments, so they are not
destroyed during shell formation.Comment: To be published in AJ Available from
ftp.lowell.edu/pub/dah/papers/ira
The MrCYP52 Cytochrome P450 Monoxygenase Gene of Metarhizium robertsii Is Important for Utilizing Insect Epicuticular Hydrocarbons
Fungal pathogens of plants and insects infect their hosts by direct penetration of the cuticle. Plant and insect cuticles are covered by a hydrocarbon-rich waxy outer layer that represents the first barrier against infection. However, the fungal genes that underlie insect waxy layer degradation have received little attention. Here we characterize the single cytochrome P450 monoxygenase family 52 (MrCYP52) gene of the insect pathogen Metarhizium robertsii, and demonstrate that it encodes an enzyme required for efficient utilization of host hydrocarbons. Expressing a green florescent protein gene under control of the MrCYP52 promoter confirmed that MrCYP52 is up regulated on insect cuticle as well as by artificial media containing decane (C10), extracted cuticle hydrocarbons, and to a lesser extent long chain alkanes. Disrupting MrCYP52 resulted in reduced growth on epicuticular hydrocarbons and delayed developmental processes on insect cuticle, including germination and production of appressoria (infection structures). Extraction of alkanes from cuticle prevented induction of MrCYP52 and reduced growth. Insect bioassays against caterpillars (Galleria mellonella) confirmed that disruption of MrCYP52 significantly reduces virulence. However, MrCYP52 was dispensable for normal germination and appressorial formation in vitro when the fungus was supplied with nitrogenous nutrients. We conclude therefore that MrCYP52 mediates degradation of epicuticular hydrocarbons and these are an important nutrient source, but not a source of chemical signals that trigger infection processes
Mid-Infrared Emission Features in the ISM: Feature-to-Feature Flux Ratios
Using a limited, but representative sample of sources in the ISM of our
Galaxy with published spectra from the Infrared Space Observatory, we analyze
flux ratios between the major mid-IR emission features (EFs) centered around
6.2, 7.7, 8.6 and 11.3 microns, respectively. In a flux ratio-to-flux ratio
plot of EF(6.2)/EF(7.7) as a function of EF(11.3)/EF(7.7), the sample sources
form roughly a -shaped locus which appear to trace, on an overall
basis, the hardness of a local heating radiation field. But some driving
parameters other than the radiation field may also be required for a full
interpretation of this trend. On the other hand, the flux ratio of
EF(8.6)/EF(7.7) shows little variation over the sample sources, except for two
HII regions which have much higher values for this ratio due to an ``EF(8.6\um)
anomaly,'' a phenomenon clearly associated with environments of an intense
far-UV radiation field. If further confirmed on a larger database, these trends
should provide crucial information on how the EF carriers collectively respond
to a changing environment.Comment: 16 pages, 1 figure, 1 table; accepted for publication in ApJ Letter
Transparent dense sodium
Under pressure, metals exhibit increasingly shorter interatomic distances.
Intuitively, this response is expected to be accompanied by an increase in the
widths of the valence and conduction bands and hence a more pronounced
free-electron-like behaviour. But at the densities that can now be achieved
experimentally, compression can be so substantial that core electrons overlap.
This effect dramatically alters electronic properties from those typically
associated with simple free-electron metals such as lithium and sodium, leading
in turn to structurally complex phases and superconductivity with a high
critical temperature. But the most intriguing prediction - that the seemingly
simple metals Li and Na will transform under pressure into insulating states,
owing to pairing of alkali atoms - has yet to be experimentally confirmed. Here
we report experimental observations of a pressure-induced transformation of Na
into an optically transparent phase at 200 GPa (corresponding to 5.0-fold
compression). Experimental and computational data identify the new phase as a
wide bandgap dielectric with a six-coordinated, highly distorted
double-hexagonal close-packed structure. We attribute the emergence of this
dense insulating state not to atom pairing, but to p-d hybridizations of
valence electrons and their repulsion by core electrons into the lattice
interstices. We expect that such insulating states may also form in other
elements and compounds when compression is sufficiently strong that atomic
cores start to overlap strongly.Comment: Published in Nature 458, 182-185 (2009
Optical probing of spin fluctuations of a single magnetic atom
We analyzed the photoluminescence intermittency generated by a single
paramagnetic spin localized in an individual semiconductor quantum dot. The
statistics of the photons emitted by the quantum dot reflect the quantum
fluctuations of the localized spin interacting with the injected carriers.
Photon correlation measurements which are reported here reveal unique
signatures of these fluctuations. A phenomenological model is proposed to
quantitatively describe these observations, allowing a measurement of the spin
dynamics of an individual magnetic atom at zero magnetic field. These results
demonstrate the existence of an efficient spin relaxation channel arising from
a spin-exchange with individual carriers surrounding the quantum dot. A
theoretical description of a spin-flip mechanism involving spin exchange with
surrounding carriers gives relaxation times in good agreement with the measured
dynamics
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