44 research outputs found
The relation between bar formation, galaxy luminosity, and environment
We derive the bar fraction in three different environments ranging from the
field to Virgo and Coma clusters, covering an unprecedentedly large range of
galaxy luminosities (or, equivalently, stellar masses). We confirm that the
fraction of barred galaxies strongly depends on galaxy luminosity. We also show
that the difference between the bar fraction distributions as a function of
galaxy luminosity (and mass) in the field and Coma cluster are statistically
significant, with Virgo being an intermediate case. We interpret this result as
a variation of the effect of environment on bar formation depending on galaxy
luminosity. We speculate that brighter disk galaxies are stable enough against
interactions to keep their cold structure, thus, the interactions are able to
trigger bar formation. For fainter galaxies the interactions become strong
enough to heat up the disks inhibiting bar formation and even destroying the
disks. Finally, we point out that the controversy regarding whether the bar
fraction depends on environment could be resolved by taking into account the
different luminosity ranges of the galaxy samples studied so far.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures. To appear in the proceedings of EWASS 2012
Special Session 4, Structure of galaxy disks shaped by secular evolution and
environmental processes, ed. P. Di Matteo and C. Jog, Memorie della Societ\`a
Astronomica Italiana Supplement Serie
Fossil group origins - VI. Global X-ray scaling relations of fossil galaxy clusters
We present the first pointed X-ray observations of 10 candidate fossil galaxy
groups and clusters. With these Suzaku observations, we determine global
temperatures and bolometric X-ray luminosities of the intracluster medium (ICM)
out to for six systems in our sample. The remaining four systems show
signs of significant contamination from non-ICM sources. For the six objects
with successfully determined properties, we measure global
temperatures in the range ,
bolometric X-ray luminosities of , and estimate masses,
as derived from , of .
Fossil cluster scaling relations are constructed for a sample that combines our
Suzaku observed fossils with fossils in the literature. Using measurements of
global X-ray luminosity, temperature, optical luminosity, and velocity
dispersion, scaling relations for the fossil sample are then compared with a
control sample of non-fossil systems. We find the fits of our fossil cluster
scaling relations are consistent with the relations for normal groups and
clusters, indicating fossil clusters have global ICM X-ray properties similar
to those of comparable mass non-fossil systems.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures, 8 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRA
The combined cartilage growth â calcification patterns in the wing-fins of Rajidae (Chondrichthyes): A divergent model from endochondral ossification of tetrapods
The relationship between cartilage growth â mineralization patterns were studied in adult Rajidae with X-ray morphology/morphometry, undecalcified resin-embedded, heat-deproteinated histology and scanning electron microscopy. Morphometry of the wing-fins, nine central rays of the youngest and oldest specimens documented a significant decrement of radials mean length between inner, middle and outer zones, but without a regular progression along the ray. This suggests that single radial length growth is regulated in such a way to align inter-radial joints parallel to the wing metapterygia curvature. Trans-illumination and heat-deproteination techniques showed polygonal and cylindrical morphotypes of tesserae, whose aligned pattern ranged from mono-columnar, bi-columnar, and multi-columnar up to the crustal-like layout. Histology of tessellated cartilage allowed to identify of zones of the incoming mineral deposition characterized by enhanced duplication rate of chondrocytes with the formation of isogenic groups, whose morphology and topography suggested a relationship with the impending formation of the radials calcified column. The morphotype and layout of radial tesserae were related to mechanical demands (stiffening) and the size/mass of the radial cartilage body. The cartilage calcification pattern of the batoids model shares several morphological features with tetrapods' endochondral ossification, that is, (chondrocytes' high duplication rate, alignment in rows, increased volume of chondrocyte lacunae), but without the typical geometry of the metaphyseal growth plates
Fossil group origins V. The dependence of the luminosity function on the magnitude gap
In nature we observe galaxy aggregations that span a wide range of magnitude
gaps between the two first-ranked galaxies of a system (). There
are systems with gaps close to zero (e.g., the Coma cluster), and at the other
extreme of the distribution, the largest gaps are found among the so-called
fossil systems. Fossil and non-fossil systems could have different galaxy
populations that should be reflected in their luminosity functions. In this
work we study, for the first time, the dependence of the luminosity function
parameters on using data obtained by the fossil group origins
(FOGO) project. We constructed a hybrid luminosity function for 102 groups and
clusters at . We stacked all the individual luminosity functions,
dividing them into bins of , and studied their best-fit
Schechter parameters. We additionally computed a relative luminosity function,
expressed as a function of the central galaxy luminosity, which boosts our
capacity to detect differences, especially at the bright end. We find trends as
a function of at both the bright and faint ends of the
luminosity function. In particular, at the bright end, the larger the magnitude
gap, the fainter the characteristic magnitude . We also find
differences at the faint end. In this region, the larger the gap, the flatter
the faint-end slope . The differences found at the bright end support a
dissipationless, dynamical friction-driven merging model for the growth of the
central galaxy in group- and cluster-sized halos. The differences in the faint
end cannot be explained by this mechanism. Other processes, such as enhanced
tidal disruption due to early infall and/or prevalence of eccentric orbits, may
play a role. However, a larger sample of systems with is
needed to establish the differences at the faint end.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in A&
Fossil Groups Origins III. The relation between optical and X-ray luminosities
This study is part of the FOssil Groups Origin (FOGO) project which aims at
carrying out a systematic and multiwavelength study of a large sample of fossil
systems. Here we focus on the relation between the optical luminosity (Lopt)
and X-ray luminosity (Lx). Out of a sample of 28 candidate fossil systems, we
consider a sample of 12 systems whose fossil classification has been confirmed
by a companion study. They are compared with the complementary sample of 16
systems whose fossil nature is not confirmed and with a subsample of 102 galaxy
systems from the RASS-SDSS galaxy cluster survey. Fossil and normal systems
span the same redshift range 0<z<0.5 and have the same Lx distribution. For
each fossil system, the Lx in the 0.1-2.4 keV band is computed using data from
the ROSAT All Sky Survey. For each fossil and normal system we homogeneously
compute Lopt in the r-band within the characteristic cluster radius, using data
from the SDSS DR7. We sample the Lx-Lopt relation over two orders of magnitude
in Lx. Our analysis shows that fossil systems are not statistically
distinguishable from the normal systems both through the 2D KS test and the fit
of the Lx-Lopt relation. The optical luminosity of the galaxy system does
strongly correlate with the X-ray luminosity of the hot gas component,
independently of whether the system is fossil or not. We conclude that our
results are consistent with the classical "merging scenario" of the brightest
galaxy formed via merger/cannibalism of other group galaxies, with conservation
of the optical light. We find no evidence for a peculiar state of the hot
intracluster medium.Comment: A&A, 12 pages, 4 figures, 3 tables, typos corr. and paper re-numbe
Fossil Groups Origins III. Characterization of the sample and observational properties of fossil systems
(Abridged) Fossil systems are group- or cluster-sized objects whose
luminosity is dominated by a very massive central galaxy. In the current cold
dark matter scenario, these objects formed hierarchically at an early epoch of
the Universe and then slowly evolved until present day. That is the reason why
they are called {\it fossils}. We started an extensive observational program to
characterize a sample of 34 fossil group candidates spanning a broad range of
physical properties. Deep band images were taken for each candidate and
optical spectroscopic observations were obtained for 1200 galaxies. This
new dataset was completed with SDSS DR7 archival data to obtain robust cluster
membership and global properties of each fossil group candidate. For each
system, we recomputed the magnitude gaps between the two brightest galaxies
() and the first and fourth ranked galaxies ()
within 0.5 . We consider fossil systems those with mag or mag within the errors. We find
that 15 candidates turned out to be fossil systems. Their observational
properties agree with those of non-fossil systems. Both follow the same
correlations, but fossils are always extreme cases. In particular, they host
the brightest central galaxies and the fraction of total galaxy light enclosed
in the central galaxy is larger in fossil than in non-fossil systems. Finally,
we confirm the existence of genuine fossil clusters. Combining our results with
others in the literature, we favor the merging scenario in which fossil systems
formed due to mergers of galaxies. The large magnitude gap is a
consequence of the extreme merger ratio within fossil systems and therefore it
is an evolutionary effect. Moreover, we suggest that at least one candidate in
our sample could represent a transitional fossil stage.Comment: 14 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in A&
Fossil group origins : VII. Galaxy substructures in fossil systems
This work has been partially funded by the MINECO (grant AIA2013-43188-P). M.G. acknowledges financial support from MIUR PRIN2010-2011 (J91J12000450001). Funding for the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and SDSS-II has been provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Participating Institutions, the National Science Foundation, the US Department of Energy, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Japanese Monbukagakusho, and the Max Planck Society, and the Higher Education Funding Council for England.Context. Fossil groups (FG) are expected to be the final product of galaxy merging within galaxy groups. In simulations, they are predicted to assemble their mass at high redshift. This early formation allows for the innermost M galaxies to merge into a massive central galaxy. Then, they are expected to maintain their fossil status because of the few interactions with the large-scale structure. In this context, the magnitude gap between the two brightest galaxies of the system is considered a good indicator of its dynamical status. As a consequence, the systems with the largest gaps should be dynamically relaxed. Aims. In order to examine the dynamical status of these systems, we systematically analyze, for the first time, the presence of galaxy substructures in a sample of 12 spectroscopically-confirmed fossil systems with redshift z 0:25. Methods. We apply a number of tests to investigate the substructure in fossil systems in the two-dimensional space of projected positions out to R200. Moreover, for a subsample of five systems with at least 30 spectroscopically-confirmed members we also analyze the substructure in the velocity and in the three-dimensional velocity-position spaces. Additionally, we look for signs of recent mergers in the regions around the central galaxies. Results. We find that an important fraction of fossil systems show substructure. The fraction depends critically on the adopted test, since each test is more sensitive to a particular type of substructure. Conclusions. Our interpretation of the results is that fossil systems are not, in general, as relaxed as expected from simulations. Our sample of 12 spectroscopically-confirmed fossil systems need to be extended to compute an accurate fraction, but our conclusion is that this fraction is similar to the fraction of substructure detected in nonfossil clusters. This result points out that the magnitude gap alone is not a good indicator of the dynamical status of a system. However, the subsample of five FGs for which we were able to use velocities as a probe for substructures is dominated by high-mass FGs. These massive systems could have a different evolution compared to low-mass FGs, since they are expected to form via the merging of a fossil group with another group of galaxies. This merger would lengthen the relaxation time and it could be responsible for the substructure detected in present-time massive FGs. If this is the case, only low-mass FGs are expected to be dynamically old and relaxed.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe
Inferring the Regulatory Network of the miRNA-mediated Response to Biotic and Abiotic Stress in Melon
[EN] Background: MiRNAs have emerged as key regulators of stress response in plants, suggesting their potential as candidates for knock-in/out to improve stress tolerance in agricultural crops. Although diverse assays have been performed, systematic and detailed studies of miRNA expression and function during exposure to multiple environments in crops are limited.
Results: Here, we present such pioneering analysis in melon plants in response to seven biotic and abiotic stress conditions. Deep-sequencing and computational approaches have identified twenty-four known miRNAs whose expression was significantly altered under at least one stress condition, observing that down-regulation was preponderant. Additionally, miRNA function was characterized by high scale degradome assays and quantitative RNA measurements over the intended target mRNAs, providing mechanistic insight. Clustering analysis provided evidence that eight miRNAs showed a broad response range under the stress conditions analyzed, whereas another eight miRNAs displayed a narrow response range. Transcription factors were predominantly targeted by stressresponsive miRNAs in melon. Furthermore, our results show that the miRNAs that are down-regulated upon stress predominantly have as targets genes that are known to participate in the stress response by the plant, whereas the miRNAs that are up-regulated control genes linked to development.
Conclusion: Altogether, this high-resolution analysis of miRNA-target interactions, combining experimental and computational work, Illustrates the close interplay between miRNAs and the response to diverse environmental conditions, in melon.The authors thank Dr. A. Monforte for providing melon seeds and Dra. B.
Pico (Cucurbits Group - COMAV) for providing melon seeds and
Monosporascus isolate respectively.
This work was supported by grants AGL2016-79825-R, BIO2014-61826-EXP (GG), and BFU2015-66894-P (GR) from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (co-supported by FEDER). The funders had no role in the experiment design, data analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Sanz-Carbonell, A.; Marques Romero, MC.; Bustamante-GonzĂĄlez, AJ.; Fares Riaño, MA.; Rodrigo Tarrega, G.; Gomez, GG. (2019). Inferring the Regulatory Network of the miRNA-mediated Response to Biotic and Abiotic Stress in Melon. BMC Plant Biology. 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12870-019-1679-0S117Zhang B. MicroRNAs: a new target for improving plant tolerance to abiotic stress. J Exp Bot. 2015;66:1749â61.Zhu JK. Abiotic stress signaling and responses in plants. Cell. 2016;167:313â24.Bielach A, Hrtyan M, Tognetti VB. Plants under stress: involvement of auxin and Cytokinin. Int J Mol Sci. 2017;4(18):7.Zarattini M, Forlani G. 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Applications of yeast flocculation in biotechnological processes
A review on the main aspects associated with yeast flocculation and its application
in biotechnological processes is presented. This subject is addressed following three
main aspects â the basics of yeast flocculation, the development of ânewâ flocculating yeast
strains and bioreactor development. In what concerns the basics of yeast flocculation, the
state of the art on the most relevant aspects of mechanism, physiology and genetics of yeast
flocculation is reported. The construction of flocculating yeast strains includes not only the
recombinant constitutive flocculent brewerâs yeast, but also recombinant flocculent yeast
for lactose metabolisation and ethanol production. Furthermore, recent work on the
heterologous ÎČ-galactosidase production using a recombinant flocculent Saccharomyces
cerevisiae is considered. As bioreactors using flocculating yeast cells have particular properties,
mainly associated with a high solid phase hold-up, a section dedicated to its operation is
presented. Aspects such as bioreactor productivity and culture stability as well as bioreactor
hydrodynamics and mass transfer properties of flocculating cell cultures are considered.
Finally, the paper concludes describing some of the applications of high cell density
flocculation bioreactors and discussing potential new uses of these systems.Fundação para a CiĂȘncia e a Tecnologia (FCT) â PRAXIS XXI - BD11306/97