1,607 research outputs found
Parthenogenetic populations can remain stable in spite of high mutation rate and random drift
Effect of tomato variety, cultivation, climate and processing on Sola l 4, an allergen from Solanum lycopersicum
Tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum) are one of the most consumed vegetables worldwide.
However, tomato allergies in patients suffering from birch pollen allergy occur frequently.
Due to highly similar protein structures of the tomato allergen Sola l 4 and the major birch
pollen allergen Bet v 1, patients cross-react with allergenic proteins from tomato as well as
other fruits or vegetables. The aim of this study was to quantify Sola l 4 in various tomatoes
differing in color, size and shape for identification of varieties with a reduced allergen level.
Therefore, an indirect competitive ELISA using a specific polyclonal Sola l 4 antibody was
developed. In addition, two varieties, both cultivated either conventionally or organically and
furthermore dried with different methods, were analyzed to investigate the influence of the
cultivation method and processing techniques on Sola l 4 level. Within 23 varieties, Sola l 4
content varied significantly between 0.24 and 1.71 μg Sola l 4/g FW. The tomato cultivars
Rugantino and Rhianna showed the significantly lowest level, whereas in cultivars Farbini
and Bambello the significantly highest concentration was determined. Drying of tomatoes in
the oven and by sun resulted in a significant decrease. The thermal instability was verified
for the recombinant Sola l 4 emphasizing the results for the native protein in dried tomato
samples. Overall, the Sola l 4 content is cultivar-dependent and no correlation between
color and Sola l 4 amount was found. During the drying process of tomatoes Sola l 4 level
was significantly reduced due to thermal instability. Growing conditions have a minor effect
whereas seasonal effects show a more pronounced impact. These findings could extend
the knowledge about the allergen level of different tomato varieties and may help to improve
food safety to potentially increase the life quality of patients suffering from birch pollen
allergy
Histamine release after intravenous application of short-acting hypnotics. A comparison of etomidate, Althesin (CT1341) and propanidid
The subject of histamine release was investigated in 16 volunteers by means of plasma histamine determination after the administration of etornidate, Althesin, propanidid, and Cremophor EL. Althesin and propanidid caused release of histamine in various degrees of frequency. Blood pressure changes were rather pronounced with both anaesthetic agents; tachycardia reached its maximum in the first and second minute, which seems to be an argument against histamine release as the underlying cause of this reaction. Histamine was, indeed, only released to such an extent (with the exception of one borderline case) that no clinical symptoms other than secretion of gastric juice and erythema were to be expected. After the application of etomidate and Cremophor EL an increase in plasma histamine was not detectable. Changes in the differential blood picture in terms of a decrease in basophils only occurred after Althesin and propanidid; not, however, after etomidate and Cremophor EL. Etomidate is, therefore, the first hypnotic drug for intravenous application which is unlikely to cause chemical histamine release
Rotational Splitting of Pulsational Modes
Mode splittings produced by uniform rotation and a particular form of
differential rotation are computed for two-dimensional rotating 10 Mo ZAMS
stellar models. The change in the character of the mode splitting is traced as
a function of uniform rotation rate, and it is found that only relatively slow
rotation rates are required before the mode splitting becomes asymmetric about
the azimuthally symmetric (m=0) mode. Increased rotation produces a
progressively altered pattern of the individual modes with respect to each
other. Large mode splittings begin to overlap with the mode splittings produced
by different radial and latitudinal modes at relatively low rotation rates. The
mode splitting pattern for the differentially rotating stars we model is
different than that for uniformly rotating stars, making the mode splitting a
possible discriminant of the internal angular momentum distribution if one
assumes the formidable challenge of mode identification can be overcome.Comment: 6 journal pages, 7 Figures, accepted by Ap
Increased Substitution Rates Surrounding Low-Complexity Regions within Primate Proteins
Previous studies have found that DNA-flanking low-complexity regions (LCRs) have an increased substitution rate. Here, the substitution rate was confirmed to increase in the vicinity of LCRs in several primate species, including humans. This effect was also found among human sequences from the 1000 Genomes Project. A strong correlation was found between average substitution rate per site and distance from the LCR, as well as the proportion of genes with gaps in the alignment at each site and distance from the LCR. Along with substitution rates, dN/dS ratios were also determined for each site, and the proportion of sites undergoing negative selection was found to have a negative relationship with distance from the LCR
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