Effects of Phosphorylation on Phosphoenolpyruvate Carboxykinase from the C4 Plant Guinea Grass

In the C4 plant Guinea grass (Panicum maximum), phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) is phosphorylated in darkened leaves and dephosphorylated in illuminated leaves. To determine whether the properties of phosphorylated and non-phosphorylated PEPCK were different, PEPCK was purified to homogeneity from both illuminated and darkened leaves. The final step of the purification procedure, gel filtration chromatography, further separated phosphorylated and non-phosphorylated forms. In the presence of a high ratio of ATP to ADP, the non-phosphorylated enzyme had a higher affinity for its substrates, oxaloacetate and phosphoenolpyruvate. The activity of the non-phosphorylated form was up to 6-fold higher when measured at low substrate concentrations. Comparison of proteoloytically cleaved PEPCK from Guinea grass, which lacked its N-terminal extension, from yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), which does not possess an N-terminal extension, and from the C4 plant Urochloa panicoides, which possesses an N-terminal extension but is not subject to phosphorylation, revealed similar properties to the non-phosphorylated full-length form from Guinea grass. Assay of PEPCK activity in crude extracts of Guinea grass leaves, showed a large difference between illuminated and darkened leaves when measured in a selective assay (a low concentration of phosphoenolpyruvate and a high ratio of ATP to ADP), but there was no difference under assay conditions used to estimate maximum activity. Immunoblots of sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis gels showed no difference in the abundance of PEPCK protein in illuminated and darkened leaves. There were no light/dark differences in activity detected in maize (Zea mays) leaves, in which PEPCK is not subject to phosphorylation

Phosphoenolpyruvate Carboxykinase Assayed at Physiological Concentrations of Metal Ions Has a High Affinity for CO2

The effect of Mn2+/Mg2+ concentration on the activity of intact, homogeneous phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) from leaves of the C4 grass, Guinea grass (Panicum maximum), have been investigated. Assay conditions were optimized so that PEPCK activity could be measured at concentrations of Mn2+/Mg2+ similar to those found in the cytosol (low micromolar Mn2+ and millimolar Mg2+). PEPCK activity was totally dependent on Mn2+ and was activated at low micromolar concentrations of Mn2+ by millimolar concentrations of Mg2+. Therefore, at physiological concentrations of Mn2+, PEPCK has a requirement for Mg2+. Assay at physiological concentrations of Mn2+/Mg2+ led to a marked decrease in its affinity for ATP and a 13-fold increase in its affinity for CO2. The Km (CO2) was further decreased by assay at physiological ATP to ADP ratios, reaching values as low as 20 μM CO2, comparable with the Km (CO2) of ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase-oxygenase. This means that PEPCK will catalyze a reversible reaction and that it could operate as a carboxylase in vivo, a feature that could be particularly important in algal CO2-concentrating systems

Density-dependent effects on the weight of female Ascaris lumbricoides infections of humans and its impact on patterns of egg production

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Ascaris lumbricoides </it>exhibits density-dependent egg production, a process which has a marked impact on both the transmission dynamics and the stability of the parasite population. Evidence suggests that the egg production of female <it>Ascaris </it>is also associated with the size of the worm. If worm size is mediated by density-dependent processes then the size of female worms may have a causal impact upon patterns of <it>Ascaris </it>egg production.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We analyse data collected from a cohort of human hosts, and demonstrate that the per host mean weight (a proxy for size) of female <it>Ascaris </it>is dependent on the number of infecting females (worm burden) following a pattern of initial facilitation followed by limitation. Applying a negative binomial (NB) generalized linear model (GLM) and a zero-inflated negative binomial (ZINB) model we confirm that the per host female mean weight is significantly associated with per host egg production. Despite these associations, the mean weight of female <it>Ascaris </it>has little causal impact on patterns of density-dependent egg output. The ZINB model is able to account for the disproportionately large number of zero egg counts within the data and is shown to be a consistently better fit than the NB model. The probability of observing a zero egg count is demonstrated as being negatively associated with both female worm burden and female mean weight.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The mean weight of female <it>Ascaris </it>is statistically significantly associated with egg output, and follows a consistent pattern of facilitation preceding limitation with increasing female worm burden. Despite these relationships, incorporation of female <it>Ascaris </it>mean weight into models of egg output has little effect on patterns of density dependence. The ZINB model is a superior fit to the data than the NB model and provides additional information regarding the mechanisms that result in a zero egg count. The ZINB model is shown to be a useful tool for the analysis of individual-based egg output data.</p

Automated verification of shape and size properties via separation logic.

Despite their popularity and importance, pointer-based programs remain a major challenge for program verification. In this paper, we propose an automated verification system that is concise, precise and expressive for ensuring the safety of pointer-based programs. Our approach uses user-definable shape predicates to allow programmers to describe a wide range of data structures with their associated size properties. To support automatic verification, we design a new entailment checking procedure that can handle well-founded inductive predicates using unfold/fold reasoning. We have proven the soundness and termination of our verification system, and have built a prototype system

Effects of Methylene Blue and Polyethelene Glycol on Facial Nerve Axotomy Recovery

poster abstractInjury and disease are common factors affecting peripheral nerves and can lead to loss of function. Recovery time after an injury is slow and not very efficient in humans. Treatment methods involving methylene blue (MB) and polyethylene glycol (PEG) have shown combinational effects in sciatic nerve axotomies. We are using behavior analysis of eye blink reflex and vibrissae orientation and movement as a measurement of rate of functional recovery. We will have treatment groups of both cut and crush rats. For each group we will be testing the effect of PEG/MB or no treatment control groups. The results of these treatment groups are significant to finding treatment options for clinical use

Multipole Amplitudes of Pion Photoproduction on Nucleons up to 2GeV within Dispersion Relations and Unitary Isobar Model

Two approaches for analysis of pion photo- and electroproduction on nucleons in the resonance energy region are checked at $Q^2=0$ using the results of GWU(VPI) partial-wave analysis of photoproduction data. The approaches are based on dispersion relations and unitary isobar model. Within dispersion relations good description of photoproduction multipoles is obtained up to $W=1.8 GeV$. Within unitary isobar model, modified with increasing energy by incorporation of Regge poles, and with unified Breit-Wigner parametrization of resonance contributions, good description of photoproduction multipoles is obtained up to $W=2 GeV$.Comment: 23 pages, LaTe

An Experimental Investigation of Colonel Blotto Games

"This article examines behavior in the two-player, constant-sum Colonel Blotto game with asymmetric resources in which players maximize the expected number of battlefields won. The experimental results support all major theoretical predictions. In the auction treatment, where winning a battlefield is deterministic, disadvantaged players use a 'guerilla warfare' strategy which stochastically allocates zero resources to a subset of battlefields. Advantaged players employ a 'stochastic complete coverage' strategy, allocating random, but positive, resource levels across the battlefields. In the lottery treatment, where winning a battlefield is probabilistic, both players divide their resources equally across all battlefields." (author's abstract)"Dieser Artikel untersucht das Verhalten von Individuen in einem 'constant-sum Colonel Blotto'-Spiel zwischen zwei Spielern, bei dem die Spieler mit unterschiedlichen Ressourcen ausgestattet sind und die erwartete Anzahl gewonnener Schlachtfelder maximieren. Die experimentellen Ergebnisse bestätigen alle wichtigen theoretischen Vorhersagen. Im Durchgang, in dem wie in einer Auktion der Sieg in einem Schlachtfeld deterministisch ist, wenden die Spieler, die sich im Nachteil befinden, eine 'Guerillataktik' an, und verteilen ihre Ressourcen stochastisch auf eine Teilmenge der Schlachtfelder. Spieler mit einem Vorteil verwenden eine Strategie der 'stochastischen vollständigen Abdeckung', indem sie zufällig eine positive Ressourcenmenge auf allen Schlachtfeldern positionieren. Im Durchgang, in dem sich der Gewinn eines Schlachtfeldes probabilistisch wie in einer Lotterie bestimmt, teilen beide Spieler ihre Ressourcen gleichmäßig auf alle Schlachtfelder auf." (Autorenreferat

Ground-state coherence versus orientation : competing mechanisms for light-induced magnetic self-organization in cold atoms

We investigate the interplay between two mechanisms for magnetic self-organization in a cloud of cold rubidium atoms subjected to a retroreflected laser beam. The transition between two different phases, one linked to a spontaneous spatial modulation of the Δm=2 ground-state coherence and the other to that of the magnetic orientation (spin), can be induced by tuning either a weak transverse magnetic field or the laser intensity. We observe both first- and second-order transitions depending on the presence of the magnetic field. The experimental observations are successfully compared to extended numerical simulations based on a spin-1 model

Sum rule for the backward spin polarizability of the nucleon from a backward dispersion relation

A new sum rule for $\gamma_\pi$, the backward spin polarizability of the nucleon, is derived from a backward-angle dispersion relation. Taking into account single- and multi-pion photoproduction in the s-channel up to the energy 1.5 GeV and resonances in the t-channel with mass below 1.5 GeV, it is found for the proton and neutron that $[\gamma_\pi]_p$ = -39.5 +/- 2.4 and $[\gamma_\pi]_n$ = 52.5 +/- 2.4, respectively, in units of 10^{-4} fm^4.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure, revtex. Submitted to Phys. Lett.