Single yeast cell nanomotions correlate with cellular activity.

Living single yeast cells show a specific cellular motion at the nanometer scale with a magnitude that is proportional to the cellular activity of the cell. We characterized this cellular nanomotion pattern of nonattached single yeast cells using classical optical microscopy. The distribution of the cellular displacements over a short time period is distinct from random motion. The range and shape of such nanomotion displacement distributions change substantially according to the metabolic state of the cell. The analysis of the nanomotion frequency pattern demonstrated that single living yeast cells oscillate at relatively low frequencies of around 2 hertz. The simplicity of the technique should open the way to numerous applications among which antifungal susceptibility tests seem the most straightforward

Structure and mineral element composition of the lyophilised freshwater bryozoan Hyallinela punctata

Structure of the lyophilised colonies of the freshwater bryozoan Hyalinella punctata (Hancock, 1850) and their mineral element composition were studied by X ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and inductively coupled plasma (ICP) spectrometry for the first time ever. The X ray measurements showed amorphous structure of the bryozoan, while SEM indicated porous connected structure without regular structural motifs. Considerable presence of phosphorus (7949.69 μg/ml), sulphur (6204.7 μg/ml) and calcium (6139.58 μg/ml), as well as low heavy metal content was found by ICP. The obtained results jointly indicate the potential of the investigated animal species as a base for bioscaffolds and nanocompositesPhysical chemistry 2012 : 11th international conference on fundamental and applied aspects of physical chemistry; Belgrade (Serbia); 24-28 September 201

Session 17 Ecophysiology

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Fuzzy logic point of view applied to diseases caused by dynamic mutations

For the first time, this paper tries to explain the origins of diseases caused by unstable DNA repeats, known as dynamic mutations. It is common to find fairly simplified correlation between the number of DNA repeats and severity of diseases. By examining the case studies, it is possible to see that simplified model does not reflect real condition of the patients, so we have proposed more complex model which involves gender, immunological condition, age of onset and analysis of family tree. Conclusions are related to known molecular biology phenomenon such as DNA methylation, histone binding and RNA secondary structure

A study of lignin formation at the molecular level by scanning tunneling microscopy.

A scanning tunneling microscope (STM) was used to observe the temporal formation and organization of dehydrogenative polymer (DHP) synthesized from coniferyl alcohol. The images obtained elucidate this structure for the first time. The structure of DHP, as seen from STM images, shows long-range order. It appears that DHP consists of building units or modules assembled into larger assemblies called supermodules. Supermodules are interconnected into the overall lattice-like polymer structure with or without spherical regions. One module consists of about 20 monomers, while the supermodule contains about 500 monomers. Calculated molecular weights for modules and supermodules agree with DHP molecular weight distribution peaks. Samples prepared at two different pH values, 6.4 and 7.6, have the same characteristics. The results presented demonstrate that the process of lignification, even in in vitro conditions, is highly ordered, and as such contribute to our understanding of the structure of lignin, a significant constitutive and functional element of cell walls

Determination of gene point mutations by application of higher order central moments — Preliminary research

Point mutations in conserved gene sequences are used as the trace marker for determination of evolutionary distance among the species. Novel method is based on calculation of nucleotide occurrence probability in fixed size moving window and determination of high order central moments. Description of nucleotide occurrence probability can provide high accuracy point mutation detection, and the insight into local sequence