2,226 research outputs found
Characterizing fruit ripening in plantain and Cavendish bananas: A proteomics approach
The fruit physiology of banana cultivars other than Cavendish is poorly understood. To study the ripening process, samples were taken daily from plantain and Cavendish bananas and the ripening stages were determined. We present data from the green to the fully mature stage. By
analyzing the protein abundances during ripening we provide some new insights into the
ripening process and how plantains fruits are different. Multivariate analysis of the proteins was performed correlated to the starch dynamics. A drop in sucrose synthase and a rise of acid
invertase during ripening indicated a change in the balance of the sucrose fate. During ripening, sugars may no longer be available for respiration since they are stored in the vacuoles, making citrate the preferred respiratory substrate. We found significant cultivar specific differences in granule-bound starch synthase, alpha- and beta amylases and cell wall invertase when comparing the protein content at the same ripening stage. This corroborates the difference in starch content/structure between both banana types. Differences in small heat shock proteins and in the cell wall-modifying enzyme xyloglucan endotransglucosylase/hydrolase support respectively the presumed higher carotenoid content and the firmer fruit structure of plantains
Dephasing by a nonstationary classical intermittent noise
We consider a new phenomenological model for a classical
intermittent noise and study its effects on the dephasing of a two-level
system. Within this model, the evolution of the relative phase between the
states is described as a continuous time random walk (CTRW). Using
renewal theory, we find exact expressions for the dephasing factor and identify
the physically relevant various regimes in terms of the coupling to the noise.
In particular, we point out the consequences of the non-stationarity and
pronounced non-Gaussian features of this noise, including some new anomalous
and aging dephasing scenarii.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev.
Current facilitation by plasmon resonances between parallel wires of finite length
The current voltage (IV) characteristics for perpendicular transport through
two sequentially coupled wires of finite length is calculated analytically. The
transport within a Coulomb blockade step is assisted by plasmon resonances that
appear as steps in the IV characteristics with positions and heights depending
on inter- and intrawire interactions. In particular, due to the interwire
interactions, the peak positions shift to lower voltages in comparison to the
noninteracting wires which reflects the facilitation of current by
interactions. The interwire interactions are also found to enhance the
thermally activated current.Comment: 5 pages, 1figur
Some algebraic properties of differential operators
First, we study the subskewfield of rational pseudodifferential operators
over a differential field K generated in the skewfield of pseudodifferential
operators over K by the subalgebra of all differential operators.
Second, we show that the Dieudonne' determinant of a matrix
pseudodifferential operator with coefficients in a differential subring A of K
lies in the integral closure of A in K, and we give an example of a 2x2 matrix
differential operator with coefficients in A whose Dieudonne' determiant does
not lie in A.Comment: 15 page
On the relevance of polyynyl-substituted PAHs to astrophysics
We report on the absorption spectra of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon
(PAH) molecules anthracene, phenanthrene, and pyrene carrying either an ethynyl
(-C2H) or a butadiynyl (-C4H) group. Measurements were carried out in the mid
infrared at room temperature on grains embedded in CsI pellets and in the near
ultraviolet at cryogenic temperature on molecules isolated in Ne matrices. The
infrared measurements show that interstellar populations of
polyynyl-substituted PAHs would give rise to collective features in the same
way non-substituted PAHs give rise to the aromatic infrared bands. The main
features characteristic of the substituted molecules correspond to the
acetylenic CH stretching mode near 3.05 mum and to the almost isoenergetic
acetylenic CCH in- and out-of-plane bending modes near 15.9 mum.
Sub-populations defined by the length of the polyynyl side group cause
collective features which correspond to the various acetylenic CC stretching
modes. The ultraviolet spectra reveal that the addition of an ethynyl group to
a non-substituted PAH molecule results in all its electronic transitions being
redshifted. Due to fast internal energy conversion, the bands at shorter
wavelengths are significantly broadened. Those at longer wavelengths are only
barely affected in this respect. As a consequence, their relative peak
absorption increases. The substitution with the longer butadiynyl chain causes
the same effects with a larger magnitude, resulting in the spectra to show a
prominent if not dominating pi-pi* transition at long wavelength. After
discussing the relevance of polyynyl-substituted PAHs to astrophysics, we
conclude that this class of highly conjugated, unsaturated molecules are valid
candidates for the carriers of the diffuse interstellar bands.Comment: 29 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ 2 April 201
Description of Maribacter forsetii sp nov., a marine Flavobacteriaceae isolated from North Sea water, and emended description of the genus Maribacter
Three rod-shaped, Gram-negative, chemo-organotrophic, heterotrophic, strictly aerobic, gliding bacterial strains, KT02ds18-4, KT02ds18-5 and KT02ds18-6T, were isolated from North Sea surface waters near the island of Helgoland, Germany. Their taxonomic position was investigated by a polyphasic approach. The three strains were light yellow, oxidase- and catalase-positive, and grew optimally at 25 degrees C, at pH 7.5, and in the presence of 2.5 % (w/v) NaCl. The Chargaff's coefficient was 34.2-34.4 mol%. The three strains shared >90 % DNA-DNA relatedness and an identical 16S rRNA gene sequence. Comparative 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis allocated the three strains to the genus Maribacter in the family Flavobacteriaceae, with similarities of 97.0-97.4 % to five of the recognized Maribacter species. Their low level of DNA-DNA relatedness (<20 %) with these species and differentiating phenotypic characteristics demonstrated that they constitute a new Maribacter species for which the name Maribacter forsetii sp. nov. is proposed. Strain KT02ds18-6T (=CIP 109504T=DSM 18668T) is the type strain. An emended description of the genus Maribacter is also proposed
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