A small protein is involved in tryptophan biosynthesis and morpho-physiological differentiation in Streptomyces coelicolor

A small protein is involved in tryptophan biosynthesis and morpho-physiological differentiation in Streptomyces coelicolo

Giacomo Serpotta e il "pareggiamento delle arti": la decorazione degli oratori fra manipolazione vitalistica e vocazione classicista

ABSTRACT GIACOMO SERPOTTA AND THE “EQUALIZATION OF THE ARTS”: DECORATION OF THE ORATORIES BETWEEN VITALISTIC MANIPULATION AND CLASSICIST VOCATION Ettore Sessa The value of the whole of Giacomo Serpotta's artistic vision in the orchestration of the figu¬rative apparatuses of his oratories was certainly one of the principal primers of his historical-critical raising in the modernist period. In 1901 Mauceri and in 1911 Ricci and Basile heighten a profile of it, however synthetic, of angling and above all of different breath from the rediscovery realized in positivist age. Classifiable, in fact, among the eighteenth century precedents of Gesamtkunstwerk aesthetical plant (according to a rather diffused custom within the artistic historiography of modernist culturaI area or of decadentist origin, as in different formalistic demonstrations of the wealthiest society Belle Époque) the progress of Serpottas artistic way towards tangible expressions of the idea of «the whole work of art» has a unmistakable im¬print of his and, at the same time, a feasibility thanks to the plasticism of gestures and to the uni¬tary multiplicity of his modeled. In his oratories arrangements the "realist" component, not exempted from hedonistic sensual witty remarks, acts on a foundation of Hellenic taste (also in the use of profiles and architectural elements). With wise modulation and with dosing diversified for intensity, according the nature of the subjects, combines history (see the «teatrini» with perspective sceneries, among which the Lepanto battle), micro history (from feminine allegorical subjects, to attractive dames modernly adorned with ends and brocades, to "picciotti" proudly ragged and to the anecdotal of the daily life), mysticism (from the devotional subjects to the allegories of the virtues), obscurity (from numerological components to philosophical attributes) and, finally, mythology (from the allegorical correspondences between Christianity and paganism to classical simbology). Despite the actual halving of this group of oratories (was destroyed by traumatic events as earthquakes and war actions, or by villainous demolitions big part of Serpottas works, among which the SS. Sacrament oratories to Kalsa and those of Saint Maria del Ponticello), the comparison among the palermitan examples reached us entire allows the individualization of the characters of originality typical of the generaI composition, over that of those figurative unanimously accredited among the most valid of the late- Baroque European sculpture. The typical scheme of these oratories, places with a strong secular imprint (predisposed as for cultural reunions how as for the preclusive congregational assemblies, to which the only ones not admitted affiliate were the artists), has as constants: the hall with a rectangular plant; the skiff or pavilion vault with plaster decorations dissimulating the constructive geometry; the sculptural wall register above of a high plinth; windows on the greatest sides (in number of three); two doors in the counterfacade, originally with desk for the assemblies in central position, below the principal devotional allegorical composition. The first oratory to which Giacomo Serpotta imposes an unitary imprint, except the cappellone only defined between 1717 and the following year) is that of SS. Rosary in S. Cita; he has worked since 1685 to 1688 on behalf of SS. Rosary Company. Serpotta is twenty nine, but already since almost ten years, after the apprenticeship with subordinate roles, he showed himself almost beginning in mute with the decorations of Madonna of the Pity church in Monreale, where he operated like Procopio De' Ferrari's collaborator, and perhaps with his interventions in 1678 in the lateral walls of S. Mercurio oratory, to which follow the 1679 decoration works in the Charity oratory in St. Bartholomeo of the Incurable people (no more existing), perhaps S. Pietro and S. Paolo statues dating back to 1680 for the greatest altar in Gancia church, the marble model for Charles H's equestrian monument for Messina (then realized in 1684) and during the two years 1683-1684 the scenic decorations for the transept altars of Carmine Maggiore church (where he collaborates with his brother Giuseppe and realizes the couples of twisted columns gilded and commented by a theory of plaster miniature scenes disposed according to a spiral development). Immediately after S. Cita oratory he realized, between 1688 and 1691, the decorative apparatuses of the Sacrament oratory in S. Nicolò to Kalsa (destroyed because of 1823 earthquake). Only eight years after the completion of this work (about which it was hypothesized that it were an advancement in comparison to the intervention in S. Cita) Giacomo Serpotta is entrusted by S. Francesco from Assisi and S. Lorenzo Companies to realize the complex allegorical and explanatory cycle of the plasters of S. Lorenzo orato¬ry. He worked partly on Giacomo Amato's sketches (to which are probably owed the reform interventions that confer to this oratory a great architectural "squaring" in comparison to others), completing the presbytery within 1706, while already from 1701 he is busy in the definition of the walls. In 1703 he began the counter facade with the monumental wall framework and high-relief representation of St. Lorenzo Martyrdom

Nuovi Uffici Giudiziari a Termini Imerese (PA)

Poster descrittivo del progetto realizzato per i NUovi Uffici Giudiziari a Termini Imerese (PA), presentato alla mostra/convegno "Architetture 1990-2010

Composition and geographic variation of the bacterial microbiota associated with the coelomic fluid of the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus

In the present work, culture-based and culture-independent investigations were performed to determine the microbiota structure of the coelomic fluid of Mediterranean sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus individuals collected from two distinct geographical sites neighboring a high-density population bay and a nature reserve, respectively. Next Generation Sequencing analysis of 16S rRNA gene (rDNA) showed that members of the Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes and Fusobacteria phyla, which have been previously reported to be commonly retrieved from marine invertebrates, dominate the overall population of microorganisms colonizing this liquid tissue, with minority bacterial genera exhibiting remarkable differences among individuals. Our results showed that there is a correlation between microbiota structure and geographical location of the echinoderm collection site, highlighting over-representation of metagenomic functions related to amino acid and bioactive peptides metabolism in specimens inhabiting the nature reserve. Finally, we also described the developmental delay and aberrations exhibited by sea urchin embryos exposed to distinct bacterial isolates, and showed that these defects rely upon hydrophilic compound(s) synthesized by the bacterial strains assayed. Altogether, our findings lay the groundwork to decipher the relationships of bacteria with sea urchins in their aquatic environment, also providing an additional layer of information to understand the biological roles of the coelomic fluid

THE SMALL PROTEIN TRPM MODULATES MORPHO-PHYSIOLOGICAL DIFFERENTIATION IN THE MODEL ACTINOMYCETE STREPTOMYCES COELICOLOR A3(2)

BACKGROUNDS TrpM, a small protein of 63 amino acids, modulates tryptophan (Trp) metabolism and morpho-physiological differentiation in the filamentous bacterium Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2), a model organism for antibiotic production and cell differentiation. Indeed, the trpM knock-out mutant strain is characterized by a delayed growth on minimal medium, smaller aerial hyphae, and reduction of both spore and antibiotic actinorhodin production in comparison with the wild-type strain. These observations were in agreement with proteomic analyses which highlighted a role for TrpM in controlling i) Trp production through Trp precursor availability and, thus ii) bacterial growth and morpho-physiological differentiation. OBJECTIVES Construction and morpho-physiological characterization of a S. coelicolor A3(2) trpM knock-in mutant. METHODS - Construction of a trpM knock-in mutant by E. coli-S. coelicolor interspecific conjugation using the pIJ8600/trpM integrative plasmid. - Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) analysis. - Spectrophotometric analysis and microbiological assays for evaluating antibiotic production. CONCLUSIONS A trpM knock-in mutant strain of S. celicolor A3(2) was constructed and showed an increased production of actinorhodin and spores: moreover, SEM analysis revealed an earlier formation of septa in aerial hyphae and confirmed that TrpM has a role in controlling the morpho-physiological differentiation of S. coelicolor A3(2)

Futura. Come abiteremo domani

Come abiteremo domani \ue8 la domanda posta nell'ambito del workshop "Futura", che si \ue8 svolto a Palermo nel marzo 2005. Attraverso il progetto di architettura vengono indagati alcuni aspetti della questione dell\u2019abitare, sullo sfondo delle trasformazioni e dei problemi del nostro tempo. La scelta condivisa \ue8 quella di prescindere dall\u2019attualit\ue0 e lavorare su alcuni temi specifici dell\u2019architettura, su alcuni segnali/indizi che sembrano condurre a nuovi modi di vita e a nuove forme della casa. Emergono usi differenziati del tempo domestico, dei riti di riunione, dei momenti del ciclo vitale quotidiano; spazi che cambiano di carattere e di funzione in momenti diversi della giornata: da privato a pubblico, dalla transizione alla permanenza, dal rassicurante al \u201cperturbante\u201d; narrazioni, infine, che non aspirano ad alcuna fissit\ue0 ideologica ma si costituiscono come frammenti, disponibili a successive metamorfosi

Characterization of the microbiota from coelomic fluid of the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus

The study of the microbiota is a subject of considerable and growing interest since it is drawing new important perspectives in the life sciences concerning the functional relationships between metazoans and microbial cells. In fact, it has already shown that the endogenous microbial community affects various physiological activities of multicellular organisms. The coelomic cavity of echinoderms contains a fluid in which coelomocytes are reported to exert immune functions like phagocytosis, opsonization and production of antimicrobial agents against marine bacteria [1, 2]. However, up to day nothing is known about the endogenous bacterial population of coelomic fluid. We focused on this issue, and, to this aim, both bacterial culture-dependent and \u2013independent approaches were adopted. By the former approach, we isolated 8 distinct Gram-negative marine bacterial strains identified for their 16S rDNA sequence. Interestingly, almost all isolated strains show a considerable extracellular hydrolytic activity. Moreover, one of them exerts antimicrobial effect against Gram-negative bacteria, including most of the other strains isolated from the coelomic fluid. Finally, molecular investigation on metagenomic DNA composition is currently ongoing using Next Generation Sequence Technology. This study not only suggests insights on functional interaction between sea urchin and marine microorganisms, but also could provide a novel source of biochemical diversity for the production of bioactive compounds and enzymes that can find biotechnological applications. 1. Remziye Deveci et al. (2015). Journal of Morphology 276(5):583-8 2. Stabili L et al. (1996). Comp Biochem Physiol B Biochem Mol Biol 113(3):639-4