A heterologous expression system for bovine lens transmembrane main intrinsic protein (MIP) in Nicotiana tabacum plants

We have developed a heterologous expression system for transmembrane lens main intrinsic protein (MIP) in Nicotiana tabacum plant tissue. A native bovine MIP26 amplicon was subcloned into an expression cassette under the control of a constitutive Cauliflower Mosaic Virus promoter, also containing a neomycin phosphotransferase operon. This cassette was transformed into Agrobacterium tumefaciens by triparental mating and used to infect plant tissue grown in culture. Recombinant plants were selected by their ability to grow and root on kanamycin-containing media. The presence of MIP in the plant tissues was confirmed by PCR, RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry. A number of benefits of this system for the study of MIP will be discussed, and also its application as a tool for the study of heterologously expressed proteins in general

Reducing Moisture Swell of Densified Wood With Polycarboxylic Acid Resin

A water-soluble polycarboxylic acid (PCA) resin was assessed for ability to limit moisture swelling of densified wood. Aspen flakes were treated in 0 (control), 1, 5, 10, and 20% PCA resin solutions and drained for 1, 10, and 20-min time periods. Following treatments, flakes were compressed to roughly 50% strain at 170°C. The PCA content of flakes significantly increased with increasing concentration and drain time. Water absorption and thickness swell of flakes decreased with increasing PCA content. Both water absorption and thickness swell of untreated flakes were over 100%; but for PCA-treated flakes, water absorption and thickness swell as low as 45% and 16%, respectively, were achieved. Irreversible thickness swell decreased with increasing PCA content, while reversible thickness swell remained relatively constant. The swelling coefficient decreased with increasing PCA content, a behavior that often is associated with bulking agents for treated, uncompressed wood. However, dynamic mechanical analysis further suggested that PCA resin acts as a cross-linking agent to stabilize the position of the collapsed cell walls

Leptin-Receptor-Expressing Mesenchymal Stromal Cells Represent the Main Source of Bone Formed by Adult Bone Marrow

SummaryStudies of the identity and physiological function of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) have been hampered by a lack of markers that permit both prospective identification and fate mapping in vivo. We found that Leptin Receptor (LepR) is a marker that highly enriches bone marrow MSCs. Approximately 0.3% of bone marrow cells were LepR+, 10% of which were CFU-Fs, accounting for 94% of bone marrow CFU-Fs. LepR+ cells formed bone, cartilage, and adipocytes in culture and upon transplantation in vivo. LepR+ cells were Scf-GFP+, Cxcl12-DsRedhigh, and Nestin-GFPlow, markers which also highly enriched CFU-Fs, but negative for Nestin-CreER and NG2-CreER, markers which were unlikely to be found in CFU-Fs. Fate-mapping showed that LepR+ cells arose postnatally and gave rise to most bone and adipocytes formed in adult bone marrow, including bone regenerated after irradiation or fracture. LepR+ cells were quiescent, but they proliferated after injury. Therefore, LepR+ cells are the major source of bone and adipocytes in adult bone marrow

Movement of Artificial Bacterial Flagella in Heterogeneous Viscous Environments at the Microscale

Swimming microrobots have the potential to be used in medical applications such as targeted drug delivery. The challenges for navigating microrobots in the human body lie not only in the viscosity of body fluids but also in the existence of different types of fibers and cells such as blood cells or protein strands. This paper investigates artificial bacterial flagella (ABFs), which are helical microrobots actuated by an external magnetic field, in methyl cellulose solutions of different concentrations. It can be shown that the microrobots can be propelled in these gel-like heterogeneous solutions and successful swimming was demonstrated in solutions with a viscosity of more than 20 times that of water. Furthermore, results indicate that the existence of fibers can help ABFs swim more effectively, which agrees with previous experimental results reported for natural bacteria

An Unusual Digestive Foreign Body

Foreign digestive bodies present unusual circumstances because they are associated with various degrees of local trauma and may lead to direct perforation or delayed local injury. Patients with foreign bodies should be evaluated upon admission for signs of impaction and perforation. While all objects impacted in the esophagus require urgent treatment, rectal foreign bodies are usually removable through the anus. The current case illustrates successful endoscopic retrieval of a proximally located foreign body in a particular legal situation where physicians had to work closely with police officers and court members

Thermal Imaging Efficacy in Predicting Trim Loss from Cull Sow Carcasses

Abattoir-level digital image measurement and assessments recorded during the harvest process could contribute to better estimates of the economic value of each animal and could be used as animal health and well-being assessment tools to provide information/feedback for commercial pork producers. This study evaluated the association between live animal infrared images and nonedible trim loss from cull sows. Eighty sow carcasses selected from cull sows normally presented at a Midwest cull sow abattoir were evaluated. A thermal image and corresponding trim losses were collected from each sow.Regions of interest, referred to as hotspots, were isolated from the thermal images of individual sows. The relationships between the thermal hotspots, trim loss weight, and trim loss percentage from each carcass were evaluated using Pearson correlation coefficients, stepwise regression, and prediction equations. The most predictive model included covariates for the number of hotspots, live identification category, hotspot location, and explanatory continuous covariates for pixels with elevated temperature. Live animal defect classification and hotspot location categories significantly contributed to variation in percent trim. This suggests that visually identifying defects like abscesses, poor condition, mammary infection, or a combination on live cull sows is associated with trim losses from their carcass

Bacterial Bioluminescence Regulates Expression of a Host Cryptochrome Gene in the Squid-Vibrio Symbiosis

ABSTRACTThe symbiosis between the squid Euprymna scolopes and its luminous symbiont, Vibrio fischeri, is characterized by daily transcriptional rhythms in both partners and daily fluctuations in symbiont luminescence. In this study, we sought to determine whether symbionts affect host transcriptional rhythms. We identified two transcripts in host tissues (E. scolopes cry1 [escry1] and escry2) that encode cryptochromes, proteins that influence circadian rhythms in other systems. Both genes cycled daily in the head of the squid, with a pattern similar to that of other animals, in which expression of certain cry genes is entrained by environmental light. In contrast, escry1 expression cycled in the symbiont-colonized light organ with 8-fold upregulation coincident with the rhythms of bacterial luminescence, which are offset from the day/night light regime. Colonization of the juvenile light organ by symbionts was required for induction of escry1 cycling. Further, analysis with a mutant strain defective in light production showed that symbiont luminescence is essential for cycling of escry1; this defect could be complemented by presentation of exogenous blue light. However, blue-light exposure alone did not induce cycling in nonsymbiotic animals, but addition of molecules of the symbiont cell envelope to light-exposed animals did recover significant cycling activity, showing that light acts in synergy with other symbiont features to induce cycling. While symbiont luminescence may be a character specific to rhythms of the squid-vibrio association, resident microbial partners could similarly influence well-documented daily rhythms in other systems, such as the mammalian gut.IMPORTANCEIn mammals, biological rhythms of the intestinal epithelium and the associated mucosal immune system regulate such diverse processes as lipid trafficking and the immune response to pathogens. While these same processes are affected by the diverse resident microbiota, the extent to which these microbial communities control or are controlled by these rhythms has not been addressed. This study provides evidence that the presentation of three bacterial products (lipid A, peptidoglycan monomer, and blue light) is required for cyclic expression of a cryptochrome gene in the symbiotic organ. The finding that bacteria can directly influence the transcription of a gene encoding a protein implicated in the entrainment of circadian rhythms provides the first evidence for the role of bacterial symbionts in influencing, and perhaps driving, peripheral circadian oscillators in the host

In search of the authentic nation: landscape and national identity in Canada and Switzerland

While the study of nationalism and national identity has flourished in the last decade, little attention has been devoted to the conditions under which natural environments acquire significance in definitions of nationhood. This article examines the identity-forming role of landscape depictions in two polyethnic nation-states: Canada and Switzerland. Two types of geographical national identity are identified. The first – what we call the ‘nationalisation of nature’– portrays zarticular landscapes as expressions of national authenticity. The second pattern – what we refer to as the ‘naturalisation of the nation’– rests upon a notion of geographical determinism that depicts specific landscapes as forces capable of determining national identity. The authors offer two reasons why the second pattern came to prevail in the cases under consideration: (1) the affinity between wild landscape and the Romantic ideal of pure, rugged nature, and (2) a divergence between the nationalist ideal of ethnic homogeneity and the polyethnic composition of the two societies under consideration

Development and evolution of dentition pattern and tooth order in the Skates and Rays (Batoidea; Chondrichthyes)

Shark and ray (elasmobranch) dentitions are well known for their multiple generations of teeth, with isolated teeth being common in the fossil record. However, how the diverse dentitions characteristic of elasmobranchs form is still poorly understood. Data on the development and maintenance of the dental patterning in this major vertebrate group will allow comparisons to other morphologically diverse taxa, including the bony fishes, in order to identify shared pattern characters for the vertebrate dentition as a whole. Data is especially lacking from the Batoidea (skates and rays), hence our objective is to compile data on embryonic and adult batoid tooth development contributing to ordering of the dentition, from cleared and stained specimens and micro-CT scans, with 3D rendered models. We selected species (adult and embryonic) spanning phylogenetically significant batoid clades, such that our observations may raise questions about relationships within the batoids, particularly with respect to current molecular-based analyses. We include developmental data from embryos of recent model organisms Leucoraja erinacea and Raja clavata to evaluate the earliest establishment of the dentition. Characters of the batoid dentition investigated include alternate addition of teeth as offset successional tooth rows (versus single separate files), presence of a symphyseal initiator region (symphyseal tooth present, or absent, but with two parasymphyseal teeth) and a restriction to tooth addition along each jaw reducing the number of tooth families, relative to addition of successor teeth within each family. Our ultimate aim is to understand the shared characters of the batoids, and whether or not these dental characters are shared more broadly within elasmobranchs, by comparing these to dentitions in shark outgroups. These developmental morphological analyses will provide a solid basis to better understand dental evolution in these important vertebrate groups as well as the general plesiomorphic vertebrate dental condition