EEF2 Analysis Challenges the Monophyly of Archaeplastida and Chromalveolata

BACKGROUND: Classification of eukaryotes provides a fundamental phylogenetic framework for ecological, medical, and industrial research. In recent years eukaryotes have been classified into six major supergroups: Amoebozoa, Archaeplastida, Chromalveolata, Excavata, Opisthokonta, and Rhizaria. According to this supergroup classification, Archaeplastida and Chromalveolata each arose from a single plastid-generating endosymbiotic event involving a cyanobacterium (Archaeplastida) or red alga (Chromalveolata). Although the plastids within members of the Archaeplastida and Chromalveolata share some features, no nucleocytoplasmic synapomorphies supporting these supergroups are currently known. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: This study was designed to test the validity of the Archaeplastida and Chromalveolata through the analysis of nucleus-encoded eukaryotic translation elongation factor 2 (EEF2) and cytosolic heat-shock protein of 70 kDa (HSP70) sequences generated from the glaucophyte Cyanophora paradoxa, the cryptophytes Goniomonas truncata and Guillardia theta, the katablepharid Leucocryptos marina, the rhizarian Thaumatomonas sp. and the green alga Mesostigma viride. The HSP70 phylogeny was largely unresolved except for certain well-established groups. In contrast, EEF2 phylogeny recovered many well-established eukaryotic groups and, most interestingly, revealed a well-supported clade composed of cryptophytes, katablepharids, haptophytes, rhodophytes, and Viridiplantae (green algae and land plants). This clade is further supported by the presence of a two amino acid signature within EEF2, which appears to have arisen from amino acid replacement before the common origin of these eukaryotic groups. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our EEF2 analysis strongly refutes the monophyly of the Archaeplastida and the Chromalveolata, adding to a growing body of evidence that limits the utility of these supergroups. In view of EEF2 phylogeny and other morphological evidence, we discuss the possibility of an alternative eukaryotic supergroup

Characterization of Quaternary and suspected Quaternary faults, regional studies, Nevada and California

This report presents the results of geologic studies that help define the Quaternary history of selected faults in the region around Yucca Mountain, Nevada. These results are relevant to the seismic-design basis of a potential nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain. The relevancy is based, in part, on a need for additional geologic data that became apparent in ongoing studies that resulted in the identification of 51 relevant and potentially relevant individual and compound faults and fault zones in the 100-km-radius region around the Yucca Mountain site. Geologic data used to characterize the regional faults and fault zones as relevant or potentially relevant seismic sources includes age and displacement information, maximum fault lengths, and minimum distances between the fault and the Yucca Mountain site. For many of the regional faults, no paleoseismic field studies have previously been conducted, and age and displacement data are sparse to nonexistent. In November 1994, the Branch of Earthquake and Landslide Hazards entered into two Memoranda of Agreement with the Yucca Mountain Project Branch to conduct field reconnaissance, analysis, and interpretation of six relevant and six potentially relevant regional faults. This report describes the results of study of those faults exclusive of those in the Pahrump-Stewart Valley-Ash Meadows-Amargosa Valley areas. We also include results of a cursory study of faults on the west flank of the Specter Range and in the northern part of the Last Chance Range. A four-phase strategy was implemented for the field study

Characterization of Quaternary and suspected Quaternary faults, regional studies, Nevada and California

This report presents the results of geologic studies that help define the Quaternary history of selected faults in the region around Yucca Mountain, Nevada. These results are relevant to the seismic-design basis of a potential nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain. The relevancy is based, in part, on a need for additional geologic data that became apparent in ongoing studies that resulted in the identification of 51 relevant and potentially relevant individual and compound faults and fault zones in the 100-km-radius region around the Yucca Mountain site. Geologic data used to characterize the regional faults and fault zones as relevant or potentially relevant seismic sources includes age and displacement information, maximum fault lengths, and minimum distances between the fault and the Yucca Mountain site. For many of the regional faults, no paleoseismic field studies have previously been conducted, and age and displacement data are sparse to nonexistent. In November 1994, the Branch of Earthquake and Landslide Hazards entered into two Memoranda of Agreement with the Yucca Mountain Project Branch to conduct field reconnaissance, analysis, and interpretation of six relevant and six potentially relevant regional faults. This report describes the results of study of those faults exclusive of those in the Pahrump-Stewart Valley-Ash Meadows-Amargosa Valley areas. We also include results of a cursory study of faults on the west flank of the Specter Range and in the northern part of the Last Chance Range. A four-phase strategy was implemented for the field study

NHE3 modulates the severity of colitis in IL-10-deficient mice.

NHE3, the major intestinal Na(+)/H(+) exchanger, was shown to be downregulated and/or inhibited in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), a phenomenon believed to contribute to inflammation-associated diarrhea. NHE3(-/-) mice spontaneously develop colitis and demonstrate high susceptibility to dextran sulfate-induced mucosal injury. We investigated the effects of NHE3 deficiency on the development of chronic colitis in an IL-10 knockout (KO) mouse model of Crohn's disease. NHE3(-/-) mice were first backcrossed to 129/SvEv mice for >10 generations, with no apparent changes in their survival or phenotype. These mice were crossed with IL-10(-/-) mice on the same genetic background, and the phenotypes of 10-wk-old wild-type (WT), IL-10(-/-), NHE3(-/-), and IL-10(-/-)/NHE3(-/-) (double-KO) mice were studied. Histological and immunohistochemical examination of the colon established important architectural alterations, including increased neutrophilic and mononuclear cell infiltration in double- compared with single-KO mice. Double-KO mice demonstrated increased colonic expression of neutrophil collagenase matrix metalloproteinase-8 and the chemokines macrophage inflammatory protein-2, CXCL1, CXCL10, and CXCL11. Colonic IFNγ, IL-17, and IL-12/23 p40 protein secretion was significantly increased in double- compared with single-KO mice. IL-10(-/-)/NHE3(-/-) mouse colonic epithelium exhibited increased hallmarks of apoptosis, including a significantly increased number of cleaved caspase-3-positive surface epithelial cells. These results highlight the importance of NHE3 in the maintenance of intestinal barrier integrity and in modulating the inflammatory process in IL-10-deficient mice. Chronic NHE3 inhibition or underexpression observed in IBD may therefore contribute to the pathogenesis of IBD by influencing the extent of the epithelial barrier defect and affect the ultimate degree of inflammation