751 research outputs found
UBVJHKLM photometry and modeling of R Coronae Borealis
We present the results of UBVJHKLM photometry of R CrB spanning the period
from 1976 to 2001. Studies of the optical light curve have shown no evidence of
any stable harmonics in the variations of the stellar emission. In the L band
we found semi-regular oscillations with the two main periods of ~3.3 yr and
11.9 yr and the full amplitude of ~0.8 mag and ~0.6 mag, respectively. The
colors of the warm dust shell (resolved by Ohnaka et al. 2001) are found to be
remarkably stable in contrast to its brightness. This indicates that the inner
radius is a constant, time-independent characteristic of the dust shell. The
observed behavior of the IR light curve is mainly caused by the variation of
the optical thickness of the dust shell within the interval \tau(V)= 0.2-0.4.
Anticorrelated changes of the optical brightness (in particular with P ~ 3.3
yr) have not been found. Their absence suggests that the stellar wind of R CrB
deviates from spherical symmetry. The light curves suggest that the stellar
wind is variable. The variability of the stellar wind and the creation of dust
clouds may be caused by some kind of activity on the stellar surface. With some
time lag, periods of increased mass-loss cause an increase in the dust
formation rate at the inner boundary of the extended dust shell and an increase
in its IR brightness. We have derived the following parameters of the dust
shell (at mean brightness) by radiative transfer modeling: inner dust shell
radius r_in ~ 110 R_*, temperature T_dust(r_in) ~ 860 K, dust density
\rho_dust(r_in) ~ 1.1x10^{-20} g cm^-3, optical depth \tau(V) ~ 0.32 at 0.55
micron, mean dust formation rate [dM/dt]_dust ~ 3.1x10^-9 M_sun / yr, mass-loss
rate [dM/dt]_gas ~ 2.1x10^-7 M_sun / yr, size of the amorphous carbon grains
<(~) 0.01 micron, and B-V ~ -0.28.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in A&
High-to-low CO2 acclimation reveals plasticity of the photorespiratory pathway and indicates regulatory links to cellular metabolism of Arabidopsis
Background: Photorespiratory carbon metabolism was long considered as an essentially closed and nonregulated pathway with little interaction to other metabolic routes except nitrogen metabolism and respiration. Most mutants of this pathway cannot survive in ambient air and require CO 2-enriched air for normal growth. Several studies indicate that this CO 2 requirement is very different for individual mutants, suggesting a higher plasticity and more interaction of photorespiratory metabolism as generally thought. To understand this better, we examined a variety of high- and low-level parameters at 1% CO 2 and their alteration during acclimation of wild-type plants and selected photorespiratory mutants to ambient air. Methodology and Principal Findings: The wild type and four photorespiratory mutants of Arabidopsis thaliana (Arabidopsis) were grown to a defined stadium at 1% CO 2 and then transferred to normal air (0.038% CO 2). All other conditions remained unchanged. This approach allowed unbiased side-by-side monitoring of acclimation processes on several levels. For all lines, diel (24 h) leaf growth, photosynthetic gas exchange, and PSII fluorescence were monitored. Metabolite profiling was performed for the wild type and two mutants. During acclimation, considerable variation between the individual genotypes was detected in many of the examined parameters, which correlated with the position of the impaired reaction in the photorespiratory pathway. Conclusions: Photorespiratory carbon metabolism does not operate as a fully closed pathway. Acclimation from high to low CO 2 was typically steady and consistent for a number of features over several days, but we also found unexpected short-term events, such as an intermittent very massive rise of glycine levels after transition of one particular mutant to ambient air. We conclude that photorespiration is possibly exposed to redox regulation beyond known substrate-level effects. Additionally, our data support the view that 2-phosphoglycolate could be a key regulator of photosynthetic-photorespiratory metabolism as a whole. Ā© 2012 Timm et al
Amino Acid Specific Stable Nitrogen Isotope Values in Avian Tissues: Insights from Captive American Kestrels and Wild Herring Gulls
Through laboratory and field studies, the utility of amino acid compound-specific nitrogen isotope analysis (AA-CSIA) in avian studies is investigated. Captive American kestrels (Falco sparverius) were fed an isotopically characterized diet and patterns in Ī“15N values of amino acids (AAs) were compared to those in their tissues (muscle and red blood cells) and food. Based upon nitrogen isotope discrimination between diet and kestrel tissues, AAs could mostly be categorized as source AAs (retaining baseline Ī“15N values) and trophic AAs (showing 15N enrichment). Trophic discrimination factors based upon the source (phenylalanine, Phe) and trophic (glutamic acid, Glu) AAs were 4.1 (muscle) and 5.4 (red blood cells), lower than those reported for metazoan invertebrates. In a field study involving omnivorous herring gulls (Larus argentatus smithsonianus), egg AA isotopic patterns largely retained those observed in the laying femaleās tissues (muscle, red blood cells, and liver). Realistic estimates of gull trophic position were obtained using bird Glu and Phe Ī“15N values combined with Ī² values (difference in Glu and Phe Ī“15N in primary producers) for aquatic and terrestrial food webs. Egg fatty acids were used to weight Ī² values for proportions of aquatic and terrestrial food in gull diets. This novel approach can be applied to generalist species that feed across ecosystem boundaries
Metabolic profiles of six African cultivars of cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) highlight bottlenecks of root yield
Open Access Article; Published online: 17 Jan 2020Cassava is an important staple crop in subāSaharan Africa, due to its high productivity even on nutrient poor soils. The metabolic characteristics underlying this high productivity are poorly understood including the mode of photosynthesis, reasons for the high rate of photosynthesis, the extent of source/sink limitation, the impact of environment, and the extent of variation between cultivars. Six commercial African cassava cultivars were grown in a greenhouse in Erlangen, Germany, and in the field in Ibadan, Nigeria. Source leaves, sink leaves, stems and storage roots were harvested during storage root bulking and analyzed for sugars, organic acids, amino acids, phosphorylated intermediates, minerals, starch, protein, activities of enzymes in central metabolism and yield traits. High ratios of RuBisCO:phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase activity support a C3 mode of photosynthesis. The high rate of photosynthesis is likely to be attributed to high activities of enzymes in the CalvināBenson cycle and pathways for sucrose and starch synthesis. Nevertheless, source limitation is indicated because root yield traits correlated with metabolic traits in leaves rather than in the stem or storage roots. This situation was especially so in greenhouseāgrown plants, where irradiance will have been low. In the field, plants produced more storage roots. This was associated with higher AGPase activity and lower sucrose in the roots, indicating that feedforward loops enhanced sink capacity in the high light and low nitrogen environment in the field. Overall, these results indicated that carbon assimilation rate, the K battery, root starch synthesis, trehalose, and chlorogenic acid accumulation are potential target traits for genetic improvement
Analysis of subcellular metabolite levels of potato tubers (Solanum tuberosum) displaying alterations in cellular or extracellular sucrose metabolism
The expression of a heterologous invertase in potato tubers (Solanum tuberosum) in either the cytosol or apoplast leads to a decrease in total sucrose content and to an increase in glucose. Depending on the targeting of the enzyme different changes in phenotype and metabolism of the tubers occur: the cytosolic invertase expressing tubers show an increase in the glycolytic flux, accumulation of amino acids and organic acids, and the appearance of novel disaccharides; however, these changes are not observed when the enzyme is expressed in the apoplast [Roessner etĀ al. (2001). Plant Cell, 13, 11-29]. The analysis of these lines raised several questions concerning the regulation of compartmentation of metabolites in potato tubers. In the current study we addressed these questions by performing comparative subcellular metabolite profiling. We demonstrate that: (i) hexoses accumulate in the vacuole independently of their site of production, but that the cytosolic invertase expression led to a strong increase in the cytosolic glucose concentration and decrease in cytosolic sucrose, whereas these effects were more moderate in the apoplastic expressors; (ii) three out of four of the novel compounds found in the cytosolic overexpressors accumulate in the same compartment; (iii) despite changes in absolute cellular content the subcellular distribution of amino acids was invariant in the invertase overexpressing tubers. These results are discussed in the context of current models of the compartmentation of primary metabolism in heterotrophic plant tissues
Extended envelopes around Galactic Cepheids III. Y Oph and alpha Per from near-infrared interferometry with CHARA/FLUOR
Unbiased angular diameter measurements are required for accurate distances to
Cepheids using the interferometric Baade Wesselink method (IBWM). The precision
of this technique is currently limited by interferometric measurements at the
1.5% level. At this level, the center-to-limb darkening (CLD) and the presence
of circumstellar envelopes (CSE) seem to be the two main sources of bias. The
observations we performed aim at improving our knowledge of the interferometric
visibility profile of Cepheids. In particular, we assess the systematic
presence of CSE around Cepheids in order determine accurate distances with the
IBWM free from CSE biased angular diameters. We observed a Cepheid (Y Oph) for
which the pulsation is well resolved and a non-pulsating yellow supergiant
(alpha Per) using long-baseline near-infrared interferometry. We interpreted
these data using a simple CSE model we previously developed. We found that our
observations of alpha Per do not provide evidence for a CSE. The measured CLD
is explained by an hydrostatic photospheric model. Our observations of Y Oph,
when compared to smaller baseline measurements, suggest that it is surrounded
by a CSE with similar characteristics to CSE found previously around other
Cepheids. We have determined the distance to Y Oph to be d=491+/-18 pc.
Additional evidence points toward the conclusion that most Cepheids are
surrounded by faint CSE, detected by near infrared interferometry: after
observing four Cepheids, all show evidence for a CSE. Our CSE non-detection
around a non-pulsating supergiant in the instability strip, alpha Per, provides
confidence in the detection technique and suggests a pulsation driven mass-loss
mechanism for the Cepheids.Comment: accepted for publication in Ap
Demethylation of oligogalacturonides by FaPE1 in the fruits of the wild strawberry Fragaria vesca triggers metabolic and transcriptional changes associated with defence and development of the fruit
Ectopic expression of the strawberry (Fragariaxananassa) gene FaPE1 encoding pectin methyl esterase produced in the wild species Fragaria vesca partially demethylated oligogalacturonides (OGAs), which conferred partial resistance of ripe fruits to the fungus Botrytis cinerea. Analyses of metabolic and transcriptional changes in the receptacle of the transgenic fruits revealed channelling of metabolites to aspartate and aromatic amino acids as well as phenolics, flavanones, and sesquiterpenoids, which was in parallel with the increased expression of some genes related to plant defence. The results illustrate the changes associated with resistance to B. cinerea in the transgenic F. vesca. These changes were accompanied by a significant decrease in the auxin content of the receptacle of the ripe fruits of transgenic F. vesca, and enhanced expression of some auxin-repressed genes. The role of these OGAs in fruit development was revealed by the larger size of the ripe fruits in transgenic F. vesca. When taken together these results show that in cultivated F. ananassa FaPE1 participates in the de-esterification of pectins and the generation of partially demethylated OGAs, which might reinforce the plant defence system and play an active role in fruit development
The Cepheid mass discrepancy and pulsation-driven mass loss
Context. A longstanding challenge for understanding classical Cepheids is the
Cepheid mass discrepancy, where theoretical mass estimates using stellar
evolution and stellar pulsation calculations have been found to differ by
approximately 10 - 20%. Aims. We study the role of pulsation-driven mass loss
during the Cepheid stage of evolution as a possible solution to this mass
discrepancy. Methods. We computed stellar evolution models with a Cepheid
mass-loss prescription and various amounts of convective core overshooting. The
contribution of mass loss towards the mass discrepancy is determined using
these models, Results. Pulsation-driven mass loss is found to trap Cepheid
evolution on the instability strip, allowing them to lose about 5 - 10% of
their total mass when moderate convective core overshooting, an amount
consistent with observations of other stars, is included in the stellar models.
Conclusions. We find that the combination of moderate convective core
overshooting and pulsation-driven mass loss can solve the Cepheid mass
discrepancy.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures and 2 tables. Accepted for publication A&A Letter
The Shape and Scale of Galactic Rotation from Cepheid Kinematics
A catalog of Cepheid variables is used to probe the kinematics of the
Galactic disk. Radial velocities are measured for eight distant Cepheids toward
l = 300; these new Cepheids provide a particularly good constraint on the
distance to the Galactic center, R_0. We model the disk with both an
axisymmetric rotation curve and one with a weak elliptical component, and find
evidence for an ellipticity of 0.043 +/- 0.016 near the Sun. Using these
models, we derive R_0 = 7.66 +/- 0.32 kpc and v_circ = 237 +/- 12 km/s. The
distance to the Galactic center agrees well with recent determinations from the
distribution of RR Lyrae variables, and disfavors most models with large
ellipticities at the solar orbit.Comment: 36 pages, LaTeX, 10 figure
A novel seed plants gene regulates oxidative stress tolerance in arabidopsis thaliana
Oxidative stress can lead to plant growth retardation, yield loss, and death. TheĀ atr7Ā mutant ofĀ Arabidopsis thalianaĀ exhibits pronounced tolerance to oxidative stress. Using positional cloning, confirmed by knockout and RNA interference (RNAi) lines, we identified theĀ atr7Ā mutation and revealed thatĀ ATR7Ā is a previously uncharacterized gene with orthologs in other seed plants but with no homology to genes in lower plants, fungi or animals. Expression ofĀ ATR7-GFPĀ fusion shows that ATR7 is a nuclear-localized protein. RNA-seq analysis reveals that transcript levels of genes encoding abiotic- and oxidative stress-related transcription factors (DREB19, HSFA2, ZAT10), chromatin remodelers (CHR34), and unknown or uncharacterized proteins (AT5G59390, AT1G30170, AT1G21520) are elevated inĀ atr7. This indicates thatĀ atr7Ā is primed for an upcoming oxidative stress via pathways involving genes of unknown functions. Collectively, the data revealĀ ATR7Ā as a novel seed plants-specific nuclear regulator of oxidative stress response
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