A Petrified Basidiomycete From Patagonia

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/141270/1/ajb212209.pd

New and unusual basidiomycetes with comments on hyphal and spore wall reactions with Melzer's solution

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/43285/1/11046_2005_Article_BF02049566.pd

Ultrafast deactivation of bilirubin: dark intermediates and two-photon isomerization

Bilirubin is a neurotoxic product responsible for neonatal jaundice, which is generally treated by phototherapy. The photoreaction involves ultrafast internal conversion via an elusive intermediate and Z–E isomerization with minor yield (less than 3% in solution). The structure of the intermediate remains unclear. Here, the combination of UV-vis and mid-IR ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy reports a comprehensive picture of the mechanism and provides essential structural information about the intermediate species. Thus, spectral dynamics during the earliest ps unveils a wavepacket travelling from the Franck–Condon region to the crossing point with a dark state. The latter shows a tighter molecular skeleton than the ground state and decays with 15 ps time constant. Remarkably, the relative contribution of a non-decaying component increases linearly with pump energy, suggesting that Z–E isomerization could also be triggered by two-photon excitation. Implications for the photochemistry of protein-bound open tetrapyrroles are discussedJLPL thanks the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICINN) for funding through the grant CTQ2010-17026 (FEDER Funds) and the ‘‘Ramón y Cajal’’ Program 2009, as well as the Xunta de Galicia (Spain) for grants EM2012/091, GPC2013/052 and R2014/051. CCB thanks the Spanish Ministry of Education for a FPU doctoral grantS

Litter decomposition and Ectomycorrhiza in Amazonian forests. 1. A comparison of litter decomposing and ectomycorrhizal Basidiomycetes in latosol-terra-firme rain forest and white podzol campinarana

Application of a mycosociological method (adaptation of the Lange method) in Central Amazonia produced the following resultsIn the white-sand podzol campinarana type of forests the dominant trees are obligatorily ectotrophically mycorrhizal; litter is accumulated as raw humus as a consequence of ectotroph dominance; fewer leaf inhabiting litter fungi occur in the dry as well as the wet seasons than are counted in the latosol terra-firme rain forest, and the fungi of that category are most strongly represented F-dominance") by other species here than in the terra-firme stands tested. The ectomycorrhizal trees and fungi are enumerated. On the other hand, in the terra-firme forest, ectotrophically mycorrhizal fungi did not occur in the test plots. The trees are almost all non-ectomycorrhizal in primary terra-firme forest; here, litter does not appreciably accumulate as a deep raw humus layer because the considerably higher number of leaf inhabiting litter fungi (ratios of 4:1 to 4.2:1 in favor cf terra-firme) and greater diversification (a larger number of species) is potentially capable of reducing more than the yearly leaf-fall. In this study, a group of fungi was mainly considered which is not represented in laboratory litter decomposition experiments. However, a comparison with unpublished and published data shows that our results satisfactorily match the experimental and phyto-sociological data obtained both with other classes of microorganisms and with observations in other regions. The quantity of litter decomposing fungi in the foliicolous group depends mainly on the amount of precipitation during the last few days before counting. This does not hold for all lignicolous fungi. The reasons for this as well as the mechanisms by which the ectomycorrhizas may reduce litter decomposition rates and influence the nutrient cycling patterns are discussed. The most important genera of Basidiomycetes involved in litter decomposition in the Lower Rio Negro forest associations are enumerated. Possible economic significance of introducing ectotrophs in the terra-firme forest is indicated.A aplicação de um método micossociológico (adaptação do método de Lange) na Amazônia Central produziu os seguintes resultados: Na campinarana, tipo de floresta sobre podzol de areia branca, as árvores dominantes são, obrigatoriamente, ectotroficamente micorrizais; a liteira é acumulada como humus em consequência da dominancia de ectótrofos; tanto na estação seca bem como na úmida, o número de folhas habitadas por fungos da liteira é menor do que o número encontrado na floresta úmida de terra firme sobre latossol e os fungos dessa categoria são aqui, mais fortemente representados F-dominància") por outras espécies do que nas áreas testados de terra firme. As árvores ectomicorrizais e fungos são enumerados. Por outro lado, na floresta de terra firme, não ocorreram fungos ectotroficamente micorrizais nas áreas testadas. Na floresta primária de terra firme, quase todas as árvores não são ectomicorrizais; a liteira não é apreciavelmente acumulada como uma camada profunda de humus porque o considerável número de fungos habitantes das folhas da liteira (relação de 4:1 a 4.2:1 em favor da terra firme) e a grande diversidade (um grande número de espécies) permitem que a decomposição seja, potencialmente, maior do que a quantidade de folhas que cai anualmente. Neste estudo, um grupo de fungos que não é representado em experimentos de decomposição da liteira em laboratório, foi principalmente enfocado. Contudo, uma comparação com dados publicados e não publicados mostra que os nossos resultados igualaram satisfatoriamente os dados obtidos com outras classes de microrganismos e observações em outras regiões. No grupo folícola, a quantidade de fungos decomposilores da liteira depende, principalmente, da precipitação durante os dias anteriores à contagem. Isto não é válido para todos os fungos lignícolas. As razões para isso, bem como o mecanismo pelo qual os fungos ectomicorrizais podem reduzir a taxa de decomposição da liteira e influenciar os padrões dos ciclos de nutrientes, são discutidos. Os mais importantes gêneros de Basidiomycetes envolvidos na decomposição da liteira nas associações florestais do baixo rio Negro são enumerados. A possível significação económica de introdução de ectótrofos na floresta de terra firme é indicada

Dos especies nuevas del género Boletus (Boletales: Agaricomycetes) en México

RESUMEN Se describen e ilustran 2 especies nuevas para la ciencia del género Boletus encontradas en bosques de Quercus en los estados de Nuevo León y Tamaulipas, México: Boletus paulae y B. singeri. B. paulae pertenece a la secc. Luridi y B. singeri a la secc. Subpruinosi del género Boletus. Ambas especies son consideradas micorrizógenas, la primera con Quercus fusiformis y Q. polymorpha y la segunda con Q. canbyi. Los especímenes están depositados en los Herbarios ITCV y UNL con duplicados en F y ENCB. Además, se presentan claves para la determinación de las especies mexicanas de las secc. Luridi y Subpruinosi que crecen en México ABSTRACT Two new species of the genus Boletus collected in a Quercus Forest from Nuevo León and Tamaulipas states, Mexico, are described and illustrated for the first time for science: Boletus paulae and B. singeri. Boletus paulae belongs to the sect. Luridi and B. singeri to the sect. Subpruinosi of the genus Boletus. Both species are considered mycorrhizal, the first with Quercus fusiformis and Q. polymorpha and the second with Q. canbyi. The specimens are deposited in the Herbaria ITCV and UNL with duplicates in F and ENCB Herbaria. Besides, keys are provided for determining Mexican species of the sect. Luridi and Subpruinosi that grow in Mexic

Microscale analysis of metal uptake by argillaceous rocks using positive matrix factorization of microscopic X-ray fluorescence elemental maps

Argillaceous rocks are considered in most European countries as suitable host rock formations for the deep geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste (HLW). The most important chemical characteristic in this respect is their generally strong radionuclide retention property due to the high sorption capacity. Consequently, the physico-chemical parameters of these processes have to be studied in great detail. Synchrotron radiation microscopic X-ray fluorescence (SR µ-XRF) has sufficient sensitivity to study these processes on the microscale without the necessity of the application of radioactive substances. The present study focuses on the interaction between the escaped ions and the host-rock surrounding the planned HLW repository. SR µ-XRF measurements were performed on thin sections subjected to sorption experiments using 5 µm spatial resolution. Inactive Cs(I), Ni(II), Nd(III) and natural U(VI) were selected for the experiments chemically representing key radionuclides. The thin sections were prepared on high-purity silicon wafers from geochemically characterized cores of Boda Claystone Formation, Hungary. Samples were subjected to 72-hour sorption experiments with one ion of interest added. The µ-XRF elemental maps taken usually on several thousand pixels indicate a correlation of Cs and Ni with Fe- and K-rich regions suggesting that these elements are predominantly taken up by clay-rich phases. U and Nd was found to be bound not only to the clayey matrix, but the cavity filling minerals also played important role in the uptake. Multivariate methods were found to be efficient tools for extracting information from the elemental distribution maps even when the clayey matrix and fracture infilling regions were examined in the same measured area. By using positive matrix factorization as a new approach the factors with higher sorption capacity could be identified and with additional mineralogical information the uptake capacity of the different mineral phases could be quantified. The results were compared with cluster analysis when the regions dominated by different mineral phases are segmented. The multivariate approach based on µ-XRF to identify the minerals was validated using microscopic X-ray diffraction

Platelet activating factor stimulates arachidonic acid release in differentiated keratinocytes via arachidonyl non-selective phospholipase A2

Platelet activating factor (PAF, 1-O-alkyl-2-acetyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine) is known to be present in excess in psoriatic skin, but its exact role is uncertain. In the present study we demonstrate for the first time the role of group VI PLA2 in PAF-induced arachidonic acid release in highly differentiated human keratinocytes. The group IVα PLA2 also participates in the release, while secretory PLA2s play a minor role. Two anti-inflammatory synthetic fatty acids, tetradecylthioacetic acid and tetradecylselenoacetic acid, are shown to interfere with signalling events upstream of group IVα PLA2 activation. In summary, our major novel finding is the involvement of the arachidonyl non-selective group VI PLA2 in PAF-induced inflammatory responses

Dancing with death. A historical perspective on coping with covid-19

In this paper, we address the question on how societies coped with pandemic crises, how they tried to control or adapt to the disease, or even managed to overcome the death trap in history. On the basis of historical research, we describe how societies in the western world accommodated to or exited hardship and restrictive measures over the course of the last four centuries. In particular, we are interested in how historically embedded citizens' resources were directed towards living with and to a certain extent accepting the virus. Such an approach of “applied history” to the management of crises and public hazards, we believe, helps address today's pressing question of what adaptive strategies can be adopted to return to a normalized life, including living with socially acceptable medical, hygienic and other pandemic‐related measures

A comprehensive assessment of somatic mutation detection in cancer using whole-genome sequencing.

As whole-genome sequencing for cancer genome analysis becomes a clinical tool, a full understanding of the variables affecting sequencing analysis output is required. Here using tumour-normal sample pairs from two different types of cancer, chronic lymphocytic leukaemia and medulloblastoma, we conduct a benchmarking exercise within the context of the International Cancer Genome Consortium. We compare sequencing methods, analysis pipelines and validation methods. We show that using PCR-free methods and increasing sequencing depth to ∼ 100 × shows benefits, as long as the tumour:control coverage ratio remains balanced. We observe widely varying mutation call rates and low concordance among analysis pipelines, reflecting the artefact-prone nature of the raw data and lack of standards for dealing with the artefacts. However, we show that, using the benchmark mutation set we have created, many issues are in fact easy to remedy and have an immediate positive impact on mutation detection accuracy.We thank the DKFZ Genomics and Proteomics Core Facility and the OICR Genome Technologies Platform for provision of sequencing services. Financial support was provided by the consortium projects READNA under grant agreement FP7 Health-F4-2008-201418, ESGI under grant agreement 262055, GEUVADIS under grant agreement 261123 of the European Commission Framework Programme 7, ICGC-CLL through the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICINN), the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) and the Generalitat de Catalunya. Additional financial support was provided by the PedBrain Tumor Project contributing to the International Cancer Genome Consortium, funded by German Cancer Aid (109252) and by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF, grants #01KU1201A, MedSys #0315416C and NGFNplus #01GS0883; the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research to PCB and JDM through funding provided by the Government of Ontario, Ministry of Research and Innovation; Genome Canada; the Canada Foundation for Innovation and Prostate Cancer Canada with funding from the Movember Foundation (PCB). PCB was also supported by a Terry Fox Research Institute New Investigator Award, a CIHR New Investigator Award and a Genome Canada Large-Scale Applied Project Contract. The Synergie Lyon Cancer platform has received support from the French National Institute of Cancer (INCa) and from the ABS4NGS ANR project (ANR-11-BINF-0001-06). The ICGC RIKEN study was supported partially by RIKEN President’s Fund 2011, and the supercomputing resource for the RIKEN study was provided by the Human Genome Center, University of Tokyo. MDE, LB, AGL and CLA were supported by Cancer Research UK, the University of Cambridge and Hutchison-Whampoa Limited. SD is supported by the Torres Quevedo subprogram (MI CINN) under grant agreement PTQ-12-05391. EH is supported by the Research Council of Norway under grant agreements 221580 and 218241 and by the Norwegian Cancer Society under grant agreement 71220-PR-2006-0433. Very special thanks go to Jennifer Jennings for administrating the activity of the ICGC Verification Working Group and Anna Borrell for administrative support.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Nature Publishing Group via http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms1000