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A global climatology of wind–wave interaction
Generally, ocean waves are thought to act as a drag on the surface
wind so that momentum is transferred downwards, from the atmosphere
into the waves. Recent observations have suggested that when long
wavelength waves, characteristic of remotely generated swell,
propagate faster than the surface wind momentum can also be
transferred upwards. This upward momentum transfer acts to accelerate
the near-surface wind, resulting in a low-level wave-driven wind
jet. Previous studies have suggested that the sign reversal of the
momentum flux is well predicted by the inverse wave age, the ratio of
the surface wind speed to the speed of the waves at the peak of the
spectrum. ECMWF ERA-40 data has been used here to calculate the global
distribution of the inverse wave age to determine whether there are
regions of the ocean that are usually in the wind-driven wave regime
and others that are generally in the wave-driven wind regime. The
wind-driven wave regime is found to occur most often in the
mid-latitude storm tracks where wind speeds are generally high. The
wave-driven wind regime is found to be prevalent in the tropics where
wind speeds are generally light and swell can propagate from storms at
higher latitudes. The inverse wave age is also a useful indicator of
the degree of coupling between the local wind and wave fields. The
climatologies presented emphasise the non-equilibrium that exists
between the local wind and wave fields and highlight the importance of
swell in the global oceans
Metacaspase gene function in the mushroom fungus Schizophyllum commune
The overall goal of this project was to investigate the biological role of a putative metacaspase gene present in the mushroom fungus Schizophyllum commune. For this study, we have utilized a strain of S. commune that is unable to integrate DNA via the non-homologous end joining pathway. This forces transforming DNA to integrate homologously, as is required for the purposes of gene knockout. The gene Scp1 encodes a likely member of the metacaspase protein family, which are suspected to have activity similar to caspases, the latter crucial to programmed cell death. A knockout construct containing a non-functional version of Scp1 was previously generated in our laboratory. This DNA was then transformed into Schizophyllum commune in an attempt to knockout the native Scp1 gene. At present a likely knockout (null) strain has been identified, and analysis by polymerase chain reaction has supported its status as a true knockout. A homozygous null mutant of Scp1 will then be generated, and will be compared to a wild-type strain for any alterations in colony growth and/or mushroom development. The role(s) of other members of the metacaspase family will eventually be examined by a similar approach
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