The Bajnok-Janik formula and wrapping corrections

We write down the simplified TBA equations of the $AdS_5 \times S^5$ string sigma-model for minimal energy twist-two operators in the sl(2) sector of the model. By using the linearized version of these TBA equations it is shown that the wrapping corrected Bethe equations for these states are identical, up to O(g^8), to the Bethe equations calculated in the generalized L\"uscher approach (Bajnok-Janik formula). Applications of the Bajnok-Janik formula to relativistic integrable models, the nonlinear O(n) sigma models for n=2,3,4 and the SU(n) principal sigma models, are also discussed.Comment: Latex, 22 pages, published versio

Genetic and environmental influence on thyroid gland volume and thickness of thyroid isthmus: a twin study.

Objectives Decreased thyroid volume has been related to increased prevalence of thyroid cancer.Subjects and methods One hundred and fourteen Hungarian adult twin pairs (69 monozygotic, 45 dizygotic) with or without known thyroid disorders underwent thyroid ultrasound. Thickness of the thyroid isthmus was measured at the thickest portion of the gland in the midline using electronic calipers at the time of scanning. Volume of the thyroid lobe was computed according to the following formula: thyroid height*width*depth*correction factor (0.63).Results Age-, sex-, body mass index- and smoking-adjusted heritability of the thickness of thyroid isthmus was 50% (95% confidence interval [CI], 35 to 66%). Neither left nor right thyroid volume showed additive genetic effects, but shared environments were 68% (95% CI, 48 to 80%) and 79% (95% CI, 72 to 87%), respectively. Magnitudes of monozygotic and dizygotic co-twin correlations were not substantially impacted by the correction of covariates of body mass index and smoking. Unshared environmental effects showed a moderate influence on dependent parameters (24-50%).Conclusions Our analysis support that familial factors are important for thyroid measures in a general twin population. A larger sample size is needed to show whether this is because of common environmental (e.g. intrauterine effects, regional nutrition habits, iodine supply) or genetic effects

The secret world of shrimps: polarisation vision at its best

Animal vision spans a great range of complexity, with systems evolving to detect variations in optical intensity, distribution, colour, and polarisation. Polarisation vision systems studied to date detect one to four channels of linear polarisation, combining them in opponent pairs to provide intensity-independent operation. Circular polarisation vision has never been seen, and is widely believed to play no part in animal vision. Polarisation is fully measured via Stokes' parameters--obtained by combined linear and circular polarisation measurements. Optimal polarisation vision is the ability to see Stokes' parameters: here we show that the crustacean \emph{Gonodactylus smithii} measures the exact components required. This vision provides optimal contrast-enhancement, and precise determination of polarisation with no confusion-states or neutral-points--significant advantages. We emphasise that linear and circular polarisation vision are not different modalities--both are necessary for optimal polarisation vision, regardless of the presence of strongly linear or circularly polarised features in the animal's environment.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, 2 table

Comparative genomics reveals the origin of fungal hyphae and multicellularity

Hyphae represent a hallmark structure of multicellular fungi. The evolutionary origins of hyphae and of the underlying genes are, however, hardly known. By systematically analyzing 72 complete genomes, we here show that hyphae evolved early in fungal evolution probably via diverse genetic changes, including co-option and exaptation of ancient eukaryotic (e.g. phagocytosis-related) genes, the origin of new gene families, gene duplications and alterations of gene structure, among others. Contrary to most multicellular lineages, the origin of filamentous fungi did not correlate with expansions of kinases, receptors or adhesive proteins. Co-option was probably the dominant mechanism for recruiting genes for hypha morphogenesis, while gene duplication was apparently less prevalent, except in transcriptional regulators and cell wall - related genes. We identified 414 novel gene families that show correlated evolution with hyphae and that may have contributed to its evolution. Our results suggest that hyphae represent a unique multicellular organization that evolved by limited fungal-specific innovations and gene duplication but pervasive co-option and modification of ancient eukaryotic functions

Testing SNe Ia distance measurement methods with SN 2011fe

The nearby, bright, almost completely unreddened Type Ia supernova 2011fe in M101 provides a unique opportunity to test both the precision and the accuracy of the extragalactic distances derived from SNe Ia light curve fitters. We apply the current, public versions of the independent light curve fitting codes MLCS2k2 and SALT2 to compute the distance modulus of SN 2011fe from high-precision, multi-color (BVRI) light curves. The results from the two fitting codes confirm that 2011fe is a "normal" (not peculiar) and only slightly reddened SN Ia. New unreddened distance moduli are derived as 29.21 +/- 0.07 mag (D ~ 6.95 +/- 0.23$ Mpc, MLCS2k2), and 29.05 +/- 0.07 mag (6.46 +/- 0.21 Mpc, SALT2). Despite the very good fitting quality achieved with both light curve fitters, the resulting distance moduli are inconsistent by 2 sigma. Both are marginally consistent (at ~1 sigma) with the HST Key Project distance modulus for M101. The SALT2 distance is in good agreement with the recently revised Cepheid- and TRGB-distance to M101. Averaging all SN- and Cepheid-based estimates, the absolute distance to M101 is ~6.6 +/- 0.5 Mpc.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in A&

Unmatched Level of Molecular Convergence among Deeply Divergent Complex Multicellular Fungi

Convergent evolution is pervasive in nature, but it is poorly understood how various constraints and natural selection limit the diversity of evolvable phenotypes. Here, we analyze the transcriptome across fruiting body development to understand the independent evolution of complex multicellularity in the two largest clades of fungi-the Agarico- and Pezizomycotina. Despite >650 My of divergence between these clades, we find that very similar sets of genes have convergently been co-opted for complex multicellularity, followed by expansions of their gene families by duplications. Over 82% of shared multicellularity-related gene families were expanding in both clades, indicating a high prevalence of convergence also at the gene family level. This convergence is coupled with a rich inferred repertoire of multicellularityrelated genes in the most recent common ancestor of the Agarico- and Pezizomycotina, consistent with the hypothesis that the coding capacity of ancestral fungal genomes might have promoted the repeated evolution of complex multicellularity. We interpret this repertoire as an indication of evolutionary predisposition of fungal ancestors for evolving complex multicellular fruiting bodies. Our work suggests that evolutionary convergence may happen not only when organisms are closely related or are under similar selection pressures, but also when ancestral genomic repertoires render certain evolutionary trajectories more likely than others, even across large phylogenetic distances

A nontoxic polypeptide oligomer with a fungicide potency under agricultural conditions which is equal or greater than that of their chemical counterparts

Research ArticleThere are literally hundreds of polypeptides described in the literature which exhibit fungicide activity. Tens of them have had attempted protection by patent applications but none, as far as we are aware, have found application under real agricultural conditions. The reasons behind may be multiple where the sensitivity to the Sun UV radiation can come in first place. Here we describe a multifunctional glyco-oligomer with 210 kDa which is mainly composed by a 20 kDa polypeptide termed Blad that has been previously shown to be a stable intermediary product of β-conglutin catabolism. This oligomer accumulates exclusively in the cotyledons of Lupinus species, between days 4 and 12 after the onset of germination. Blad-oligomer reveals a plethora of biochemical properties, like lectin and catalytic activities, which are not unusual per si, but are remarkable when found to coexist in the same protein molecule. With this vast range of chemical characteristics, antifungal activity arises almost as a natural consequence. The biological significance and potential technological applications of Blad-oligomer as a plant fungicide to agriculture, its uniqueness stems from being of polypeptidic in nature, and with efficacies which are either equal or greater than the top fungicides currently in the market are addressedinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Lessons on fruiting body morphogenesis from genomes and transcriptomes of Agaricomycetes.

Fruiting bodies (sporocarps, sporophores or basidiomata) of mushroom-forming fungi ( Agaricomycetes) are among the most complex structures produced by fungi. Unlike vegetative hyphae, fruiting bodies grow determinately and follow a genetically encoded developmental program that orchestrates their growth, tissue differentiation and sexual sporulation. In spite of more than a century of research, our understanding of the molecular details of fruiting body morphogenesis is still limited and a general synthesis on the genetics of this complex process is lacking. In this paper, we aim at a comprehensive identification of conserved genes related to fruiting body morphogenesis and distil novel functional hypotheses for functionally poorly characterised ones. As a result of this analysis, we report 921 conserved developmentally expressed gene families, only a few dozens of which have previously been reported to be involved in fruiting body development. Based on literature data, conserved expression patterns and functional annotations, we provide hypotheses on the potential role of these gene families in fruiting body development, yielding the most complete description of molecular processes in fruiting body morphogenesis to date. We discuss genes related to the initiation of fruiting, differentiation, growth, cell surface and cell wall, defence, transcriptional regulation as well as signal transduction. Based on these data we derive a general model of fruiting body development, which includes an early, proliferative phase that is mostly concerned with laying out the mushroom body plan (via cell division and differentiation), and a second phase of growth via cell expansion as well as meiotic events and sporulation. Altogether, our discussions cover 1 480 genes of Coprinopsis cinerea, and their orthologs in Agaricus bisporus, Cyclocybe aegerita, Armillaria ostoyae, Auriculariopsis ampla, Laccaria bicolor, Lentinula edodes, Lentinus tigrinus, Mycena kentingensis, Phanerochaete chrysosporium, Pleurotus ostreatus, and Schizophyllum commune, providing functional hypotheses for ~10 % of genes in the genomes of these species. Although experimental evidence for the role of these genes will need to be established in the future, our data provide a roadmap for guiding functional analyses of fruiting related genes in the Agaricomycetes. We anticipate that the gene compendium presented here, combined with developments in functional genomics approaches will contribute to uncovering the genetic bases of one of the most spectacular multicellular developmental processes in fungi. Citation: Nagy LG, Vonk PJ, Künzler M, Földi C, Virágh M, Ohm RA, Hennicke F, Bálint B, Csernetics Á, Hegedüs B, Hou Z, Liu XB, Nan S, M. Pareek M, Sahu N, Szathmári B, Varga T, Wu W, Yang X, Merényi Z (2023). Lessons on fruiting body morphogenesis from genomes and transcriptomes of Agaricomycetes. Studies in Mycology 104: 1-85. doi: 10.3114/sim.2022.104.01