The Determination of induction and differentiation in grape vines

The induction and differentiation of 8-year-old Alphonse Lavallee and Sultana grape vines were studied.Defoliation methods enabled us to determine the induction time in grape vines as in other fruit species.Induction and differentiation in the tested varieties were not connected with temporary growth cessation; on the contrary, process took place during the most intensive growth.A correlation was found between the number of leaves and induction period. 18-21 leaves above the examined buds were needed in bot-h varieties to complete the induction.The leaf area needed for induction in a bud of Sultana was lYe times larger than that needed for Alphonse. The efficiency of the leaves of Alphonse to induce differentiation was thus greater.The primordia ,development from induction to detection under the microscope (differentiation) was connected with a constant vegetative development. The time needed for this development was determined by the growth rate of the variety (18 days in Sultana, 14 days in Alphonse).The translocation of materials inducing differentiation from the base of the shoot upwar,ds has not been proved in our work.In Alphonse a lag period of two days was found for the differentiation of each bud along the cane

Analysis of water consumption of various grapevine cultivars

The efficiency of water use (transpiration ratio) was investigated in various cultivars of grapevine by gravimetric and gasometric methods. Results of gravimetric measurements showed positive correlation between water use efficiency and vigor. Regression lines of the transpiration ratio on the final dry weight differed significantly in their curves and their distance from the coordinate axes. Statistical analysis showed that the quantitative effect of vigor on the water use efficiency was smaller in the cultivar Muscat Hamburg than in Sultanina and Queen of the Vineyards. Covariance analysis showed that Sultanina was a less efficient water user than Queen of the Vineyards for plants with the same vigor. Gasometric methods did not reveal any significant differences between the cultivars, probably due to the elimination of interference and boundary layer resistance effect

Knowledge-Based Potential for Positioning Membrane-Associated Structures and Assessing Residue-Specific Energetic Contributions

The complex hydrophobic and hydrophilic milieus of membrane-associated proteins pose experimental and theoretical challenges to their understanding. Here we produce a non-redundant database to compute knowledge-based asymmetric cross-membrane potentials from the per-residue distributions of Cβ, Cγ and functional group atoms. We predict transmembrane and peripherally associated regions from genomic sequence and position peptides and protein structures relative to the bilayer (available at http://www.degradolab.org/ez). The pseudo-energy topological landscapes underscore positional stability and functional mechanisms demonstrated here for antimicrobial peptides, transmembrane proteins, and viral fusion proteins. Moreover, experimental effects of point mutations on the relative ratio changes of dual-topology proteins are quantitatively reproduced. The functional group potential and the membrane-exposed residues display the largest energetic changes enabling to detect native-like structures from decoys. Hence, focusing on the uniqueness of membrane-associated proteins and peptides, we quantitatively parameterize their cross-membrane propensity thus facilitating structural refinement, characterization, prediction and design

Study on avifauna and species richness in Karanja-Sohol wildlife sanctuary, (MS) India

The present study was carried out during a bird race organized in Karanja-Sohol Wildlife sanctuary Karanja, district Washim Maharashtra, India. The objective of this study was to assess the avifauna of wildlife sanctuaries. Due to the geological and ecological complexity of the area, it has become imperative to conduct research on the region's avian diversity. It is challenging to conduct this assessment, as the wildlife sanctuary is divided into numerous patches by the state highway running through it. Sanctuary is surrounded by numerous villages and agricultural land, which creates human interference and livestock grazing. This checklist will serve as a baseline for further study, as there is no published checklist of this area. In the present investigation, we reported a total of 151 bird species during the exhaustive survey by the authors and accompanied volunteers during the census organized by the wildlife department. The observed species of birds belong to 55 families and 17 orders. They also recorded their residential and IUCN red data status

Computational Physics on Graphics Processing Units

The use of graphics processing units for scientific computations is an emerging strategy that can significantly speed up various different algorithms. In this review, we discuss advances made in the field of computational physics, focusing on classical molecular dynamics, and on quantum simulations for electronic structure calculations using the density functional theory, wave function techniques, and quantum field theory.Comment: Proceedings of the 11th International Conference, PARA 2012, Helsinki, Finland, June 10-13, 201

DNA sequence-specific recognition by a transcriptional regulator requires indirect readout of A-tracts

The bacteriophage Ø29 transcriptional regulator p4 binds to promoters of different intrinsic activities. The p4–DNA complex contains two identical protomers that make similar interactions with the target sequence 5′-AACTTTTT-15 bp-AAAATGTT-3′. To define how the various elements in the target sequence contribute to p4's affinity, we studied p4 binding to a series of mutated binding sites. The binding specificity depends critically on base pairs of the target sequence through both direct as well as indirect readout. There is only one specific contact between a base and an amino acid residue; other contacts take place with the phosphate backbone. Alteration of direct amino acid–base contacts, or mutation of non-contacted A·T base pairs at A-tracts abolished binding. We generated three 5 ns molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to investigate the basis for the p4–DNA complex specificity. Recognition is controlled by the protein and depends on DNA dynamic properties. MD results on protein–DNA contacts and the divergence of p4 affinity to modified binding sites reveal an inherent asymmetry, which is required for p4-specific binding and may be crucial for transcription regulation