A reverse genetics approach for studying histone H4 structure-function relationships in yeast

A previously constructed mutation of the histone H4 gene has been the subject of a detailed analysis. The mutation involves an H4 gene encoding two amino acid changes which substitute aspartic acid for glycine at positions 13 and 42 of the polypeptide. These substitutions result in a nonfunctional H4 protein when assayed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In contrast, an analysis of an amino terminal deletion of amino acids 3-26 results in a functional H4 protein. Physical biochemistry studies identify the sites of histone-histone interactions between residues 38-102 of histone H4, the same area in which position 42 resides. The question being asked is: Is the amino acid substitution at position 13 and/or position 42 responsible for rendering histone H4 nonfunctional? And if H4 is functional with a single amino acid change, are there any phenotypes associated with the mutation? Two new H4 genes were constructed in vitro, each encoding a single amino acid substitution. The first gene (hhfl-9) substitutes aspartic acid for glycine at position 13 of the histone H4 and the second gene (hhfl-10) encodes an identical substitution at position 42. When assayed in yeast deleted for both chromosomal gene sets, both genes encoded for nonfunctional proteins resulting in a loss of histone function. This analysis indicates that the amino acids at positions 13 and 42 play critical structural roles in rendering the histone H4 protein functional

THE OSTRACODS IN THE PALAEOENVIRONMENTAL INTERPRETATION OF THE LATE LANGHIAN - EARLY SERRAVALLIAN SECTION OF RAS IL-PELLEGRIN (MALTA)

The distribution of ostracods in the composed Langhian-Serravallian section of Ras il Pellegrin (Malta) has been studied quantitatively to define the evolution of both the assemblages and the palaeoenvironmental conditions. 99 samples have been examined at a stratigraphic distance of about 1 m. 78 species have been identified whose assemblages indicate an epibathyal environment and a sedimentation depth of 500-700 m. In particular, the almost continuous occurrence of the genus Oblitacythereis, which characterizes the water layer just above the psychrosphere, together with the absolute absence of the psychrospheric genus Agrenocythere confirm this interpretation. The sudden drop of both the simple diversity and abundance near the boundary "Upper Globigerina Limestone" - "Blue Clays" Formations, especially at the top of the succession, in our opinion may be due to the the decrease of dissolved bottom oxygen content as supported also by the Cytherellidae.&nbsp

Deamidation at Asparagine and Glutamine As a Major Modification upon Deterioration/Aging of Proteinaceous Binders in MuralPaintings

Proteomic strategies are herein proved to be a complementary approach to the well established amino acid composition analysis for the characterization of the aging and deterioration phenomena occurring to proteinaceous materials in works-of-art. Amino acid analyses on several samples demonstrated that proteins in the frescoes from the Camposanto Monumentale in Pisa are deteriorated as revealed by the decrease in Met, Lys, and Tyr content and by the presence in all the samples of amino malonic acid as a result of Ser, Phe, and Cys oxidation. Proteomic analysis identified deamidation at Asn and Gln as a further major event occurred. This work paves the way to the exploitation of proteomic strategies for the investigation of the molecular effects of aging and deterioration in historical objects. Results show that proteomic searches for deamidation by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) could constitute a routine analysis for paintings or any artistic and historic objects where proteins are present. Peptides that can be used as molecular markers when casein is present were identified

The darkness syndrome in subsurface-shallow and deep-sea dwelling Ostracoda (Crustacea)

Biosystematics and Ecology-Series. Año 1996, Vol. 1

The enzymatic deamination of 6-aminopyrimidine deoxyribonucleotides. II. Purification and properties of a 6-aminopyrimidine deoxyribonucleoside 5'-phosphate deaminase from unfertilized eggs of sea urchine.

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The Enzymatic Aminohydrolysis of 4-Aminopyrimidine Deoxyribonucleotides III. PURIFICATION AND PROPERTIES OF 2'-DEOXYRIBOSYL 4-AMINOPYRIMIDONE-2,5'-PHOSPHATE AMINOHYDROLASE FROM MONKEY LIVER

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Steric sea level changes from ocean reanalyses at global and regional scales

Sea level has risen significantly in the recent decades and is expected to rise further based on recent climate projections. Ocean reanalyses that synthetize information from observing networks, dynamical ocean general circulation models, and atmospheric forcing data offer an attractive way to evaluate sea level trend and variability and partition the causes of such sea level changes at both global and regional scales. Here, we review recent utilization of reanalyses for steric sea level trend investigations. State-of-the-science ocean reanalysis products are then used to further infer steric sea level changes. In particular, we used an ensemble of centennial reanalyses at moderate spatial resolution (between 0.5 × 0.5 and 1 × 1 degree) and an ensemble of eddy-permitting reanalyses to quantify the trends and their uncertainty over the last century and the last two decades, respectively. All the datasets showed good performance in reproducing sea level changes. Centennial reanalyses reveal a 1900–2010 trend of steric sea level equal to 0.47 ± 0.04 mm year−1, in agreement with previous studies, with unprecedented rise since the mid-1990s. During the altimetry era, the latest vintage of reanalyses is shown to outperform the previous ones in terms of skill scores against the independent satellite data. They consistently reproduce global and regional upper ocean steric expansion and the association with climate variability, such as ENSO. However, the mass contribution to the global mean sea level rise is varying with products and its representability needs to be improved, as well as the contribution of deep and abyssal waters to the steric sea level rise. Similarly, high-resolution regional reanalyses for the European seas provide valuable information on sea level trends, their patterns, and their causes

sensitivity of the mediterranean sea level to atmospheric pressure and free surface elevation numerical formulation in nemo

Abstract. The sensitivity of the dynamics of the Mediterranean Sea to atmospheric pressure and free surface elevation formulation using NEMO (Nucleus for European Modelling of the Ocean) was evaluated. Four different experiments were carried out in the Mediterranean Sea using filtered or explicit free surface numerical schemes and accounting for the effect of atmospheric pressure in addition to wind and buoyancy fluxes. Model results were evaluated by coherency and power spectrum analysis with tide gauge data. We found that atmospheric pressure plays an important role for periods shorter than 100 days. The free surface formulation is important to obtain the correct ocean response for periods shorter than 30 days. At frequencies higher than 15 days−1 the Mediterranean basin's response to atmospheric pressure was not coherent and the performance of the model strongly depended on the specific area considered. A large-amplitude seasonal oscillation observed in the experiments using a filtered free surface was not evident in the corresponding explicit free surface formulation case, which was due to a phase shift between mass fluxes in the Gibraltar Strait and at the surface. The configuration with time splitting and atmospheric pressure always performed best; the differences were enhanced at very high frequencies

Scaling graphs of heart rate time series in athletes demonstrate the VLF, LF and HF regions

Scaling analysis of heart rate time series has emerged as an useful tool for assessment of autonomic cardiac control. We investigate the heart rate time series of ten athletes (five males and five females), by applying detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA). High resolution ECGs are recorded under standardized resting conditions over 30 minutes and subsequently heart rate time series are extracted and artefacts filtered. We find three distinct regions of scale-invariance, which correspond to the well-known VLF, LF, and HF bands in the power spectra of heart rate variability. The scaling exponents alpha are alphaHF: 1.15 [0.96-1.22], alphaLF: 0.68 [0.57-0.84], alphaVLF: 0.83[0.82-0.99]; p<10^-5). In conclusion, DFA scaling exponents of heart rate time series should be fitted to the VLF, LF, and HF ranges, respectively