Showing 351 - 360 of 733 Items
Assembly of the precursor and processed light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b protein of Lemna into the light-harvesting complex II of barley etiochloroplasts.
Date: 1986-01-01
Creator: P. R. Chitnis, E. Harel, B. D. Kohorn, E. M. Tobin, J. P., Thornber
Access: Open access
- When the in vitro synthesized precursor of a light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b binding protein (LHCP) from Lemna gibba is imported into barley etiochloroplasts, it is processed to a single form. Both the processed form and the precursor are found in the thylakoid membranes, assembled into the light-harvesting complex of photosystem II. Neither form can be detected in the stromal fraction. The relative amounts of precursor and processed forms observed in the thylakoids are dependent on the developmental stage of the plastids used for uptake. The precursor as well as the processed form can also be detected in thylakoids of greening maize plastids used in similar uptake experiments. This detection of a precursor in the thylakoids, which has not been previously reported, could be a result of using rapidly developing plastids and/or using an heterologous system. Our results demonstrate that the extent of processing of LHCP precursor is not a prerequisite for its inclusion in the complex. They are also consistent with the possibility that the processing step can occur after insertion of the protein into the thylakoid membrane.
Animal-to-animal variability in the phasing of the crustacean cardiac motor pattern: An experimental and computational analysis
Date: 2013-01-01
Creator: Alex H. Williams, Molly A. Kwiatkowski, Adam L. Mortimer, Eve Marder, Mary Lou, Zeeman, Patsy S. Dickinson
Access: Open access
- The cardiac ganglion (CG) of Homarus americanus is a central pattern generator that consists of two oscillatory groups of neurons: "small cells" (SCs) and "large cells" (LCs). We have shown that SCs and LCs begin their bursts nearly simultaneously but end their bursts at variable phases. This variability contrasts with many other central pattern generator systems in which phase is well maintained. To determine both the consequences of this variability and how CG phasing is controlled, we modeled the CG as a pair of Morris-Lecar oscillators coupled by electrical and excitatory synapses and constructed a database of 15,000 simulated networks using random parameter sets. These simulations, like our experimental results, displayed variable phase relationships, with the bursts beginning together but ending at variable phases. The model suggests that the variable phasing of the pattern has important implications for the functional role of the excitatory synapses. In networks in which the two oscillators had similar duty cycles, the excitatory coupling functioned to increase cycle frequency. In networks with disparate duty cycles, it functioned to decrease network frequency. Overall, we suggest that the phasing of the CG may vary without compromising appropriate motor output and that this variability may critically determine how the network behaves in response to manipulations. Ā© 2013 the American Physiological Society.
Third-generation effects on fermion mass predictions in supersymmetric grand unified theories
Date: 1993-01-01
Creator: Stephen G. Naculich
Access: Open access
- Relations among fermion masses and mixing angles at the scale of grand unification are modified at lower energies by renormalization group running induced by gauge and Yukawa couplings. In super-symmetric theories, the b quark and lepton Yukawa couplings, as well as the t quark coupling, may cause significant running if tan, the ratio of Higgs field expectation values, is large. We present approximate analytic expressions for the scaling factors for fermion masses and CKM matrix elements induced by all three third generation Yukawa couplings. We then determine how running caused by the third generation of fermions affects the predictions arising from three possible forms for the Yukawa coupling matrices at the GUT scale: the Georgi-Jarlskog, Giudice, and Fritzsch textures. Ā© 1993 The American Physical Society.
Quantum kinks: Solitons at strong coupling
Date: 1992-01-01
Creator: Stephen G. Naculich
Access: Open access
- We examine solitons in theories with heavy fermions. These "quantum" solitons differ dramatically from semiclassical (perturbative) solitons because fermion loop effects are important when the Yukawa coupling is strong. We focus on kinks in a (1 + 1)-dimensional 4 theory coupled to fermions; a large-N expansion is employed to treat the Yukawa coupling g nonperturbatively. A local expression for the fermion vacuum energy is derived using the WKB approximation for the Dirac eigenvalues. We find that fermion loop corrections increase the energy of the kink and (for large g) decrease its size. For large g, the energy of the quantum kink is proportional to g, and its size scales as 1g, unlike the classical kink; we argue that these features are generic to quantum solitons in theories with strong Yukawa couplings. We also discuss the possible instability of fermions to solitons. Ā© 1992 The American Physical Society.
Phononic rogue waves
Date: 2018-09-13
Creator: E. G. Charalampidis, J. Lee, P. G. Kevrekidis, C. Chong
Access: Open access
- We present a theoretical study of extreme events occurring in phononic lattices. In particular, we focus on the formation of rogue or freak waves, which are characterized by their localization in both spatial and temporal domains. We consider two examples. The first one is the prototypical nonlinear mass-spring system in the form of a homogeneous Fermi-Pasta-Ulam-Tsingou (FPUT) lattice with a polynomial potential. By deriving an approximation based on the nonlinear Schrƶdinger (NLS) equation, we are able to initialize the FPUT model using a suitably transformed Peregrine soliton solution of the NLS equation, obtaining dynamics that resembles a rogue wave on the FPUT lattice. We also show that Gaussian initial data can lead to dynamics featuring a rogue wave for sufficiently wide Gaussians. The second example is a diatomic granular crystal exhibiting rogue-wave-like dynamics, which we also obtain through an NLS reduction and numerical simulations. The granular crystal (a chain of particles that interact elastically) is a widely studied system that lends itself to experimental studies. This study serves to illustrate the potential of such dynamical lattices towards the experimental observation of acoustic rogue waves.
A genomewide survey argues that every zygotic gene product is dispensable for the initiation of somatic homolog pairing in Drosophila
Date: 2008-11-01
Creator: Jack R. Bateman, C. Ting Wu
Access: Open access
- Studies from diverse organisms show that distinct interchromosomal interactions are associated with many developmental events. Despite recent advances in uncovering such phenomena, our understanding of how interchromosomal interactions are initiated and regulated is incomplete. During the maternal-to-zygotic transition (MZT) of Drosophila embryogenesis, stable interchromosomal contacts form between maternal and paternal homologous chromosomes, a phenomenon known as somatic homolog pairing. To better understand the events that initiate pairing, we performed a genomewide assessment of the zygotic contribution to this process. Specifically, we took advantage of the segregational properties of compound chromosomes to generate embryos lacking entire chromosome arms and, thus, all zygotic gene products derived from those arms. Using DNA fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) to assess the initiation of pairing at five separate loci, this approach allowed us to survey the entire zygotic genome using just a handful of crosses. Remarkably, we found no defect in pairing in embryos lacking any chromosome arm, indicating that no zygotic gene product is essential for pairing to initiate. From these data, we conclude that the initiation of pairing can occur independently of zygotic control and may therefore be part of the developmental program encoded by the maternal genome. Copyright Ā© 2008 by the Genetics Society of America.
Context-dependent protein stabilization by methionine-to-leucine substitution shown in T4 lysozyme
Date: 1998-01-01
Creator: Leigh Ann Lipscomb, Nadine C. Gassner, Sheila D. Snow, Aimee M. Eldridge, Walter A., Baase, Devin L. Drew, Brian W. Matthews
Access: Open access
- The substitution of methionines with leucines within the interior of a protein is expected to increase stability both because of a more favorable solvent transfer team as well as the reduced entropic cost of holding a leucine side chain in a defined position. Together, these two terms are expected to contribute about 1.4 kcal/mol to protein stability for each Met ā Leu substitution when fully buried. At the same time, this expected beneficial effect may be offset by steric factors due to differences in the shape of leucine and methionine. To investigate the interplay between these factors, all methionines in T4 lysozyme except at the amino-terminus were individually replaced with leucine. Of these mutants, M106L and M120L have stabilities 0.5 kcal/mol higher than wild-type T4 lysozyme, while M6L is significantly destabilized (-2.8 kcal/mol). M102L, described previously, is also destabilized (-0.9 kcal/mol). Based on this limited sample it appears that methionine-to-leucine substitutions can increase protein stability but only in a situation where the methionine side chain is fully or partially buried, yet allows the introduction of the leucine without concomitant steric interference. The variants, together with methionine-to-lysine substitutions at the same sites, follow the general pattern that substitutions at rigid, internal sites tend to be most destabilizing, whereas replacements at more solvent-exposed sites are better tolerated.
Site-specific transformation of Drosophila via ĻC31 integrase-mediated cassette exchange
Date: 2006-06-30
Creator: Jack R. Bateman, Anne M. Lee, C. Ting Wu
Access: Open access
- Position effects can complicate transgene analyses. This is especially true when comparing transgenes that have inserted randomly into different genomic positions and are therefore subject to varying position effects. Here, we introduce a method for the precise targeting of transgenic constructs to predetermined genomic sites in Drosophila using the ĻC31 integrase system in conjunction with recombinase-mediated cassette exchange (RMCE). We demonstrate the feasibility of this system using two donor cassettes, one carrying the yellow gene and the other carrying GFP. At all four genomic sites tested, we observed exchange of donor cassettes with an integrated target cassette carrying the mini-white gene. Furthermore, because RMCE-mediated integration of the donor cassette is necessarily accompanied by loss of the target cassette, we were able to identify integrants simply by the loss of mini-white eye color. Importantly, this feature of the technology will permit integration of unmarked constructs into Drosophila, even those lacking functional genes. Thus, ĻC31 integrase-mediated RMCE should greatly facilitate transgene analysis as well as permit new experimental designs. Copyright Ā© 2006 by the Genetics Society of America.
Ī„(1S)āĪ³+noninteracting particles
Date: 1995-01-01
Creator: R. Balest, K. Cho, T. Ford, D. R. Johnson, K., Lingel, M. Lohner, P. Rankin, J. G. Smith, J. P. Alexander, C. Bebek, K. Berkelman, K. Bloom, T. E. Browder, D. G. Cassel, H. A. Cho, D. M. Coffman, D. S. Crowcroft, P. S. Drell, D. Dumas, R. Ehrlich, P. Gaidarev, R. S. Galik, M. Garcia-Sciveres, B. Geiser, B. Gittelman, S. W. Gray, D. L. Hartill, B. K. Heltsley, S. Henderson, C. D. Jones, S. L. Jones
Access: Open access
- We consider the decay of Ī„(1S) particles produced at CESR into a photon which is observed by the CLEO detector plus particles which are not seen. These could be real particles which fall outside of our acceptance, or particles which are noninteracting. We report the results of our search fo the process Ī„(1S)āĪ³+''unseen'' for photon energies >1 GeV, obtaining limits for the case where ''unseen'' is either a single particle or a particle-antiparticle pair. Our upper limits represent the highest sensitivity measurements for such decays to date. Ā© 1995 The American Physical Society.
A measurement of B(D+S ā Ļl+Ī½) B(D+S ā ĻĻ+)
Date: 1994-03-31
Creator: F. Butler, X. Fu, G. Kalbfleisch, W. R. Ross, P., Skubic, J. Snow, P. L. Wang, M. Wood, D. N. Brown, J. Fast, R. L. McIlwain, T. Miao, D. H. Miller, M. Modesitt, D. Payne, E. I. Shibata, I. P.J. Shipsey, P. N. Wang, M. Battle, J. Ernst, Y. Kwon, S. Roberts, E. H. Thorndike, C. H. Wang, J. Dominick, M. Lambrecht, S. Sanghera, V. Shelkov, T. Skwarnicki, R. Stroynowski, I. Volobouev
Access: Open access
- Using the CLEO II detector at CESR, we have measured the ratio of branching fractions B(D+S ā Ļl+Ī½) B(D+S ā ĻĻ+) = 0.54 Ā± 0.05 Ā± 0.04. We use this measurement to obtain a model dependent estimate of B(D+S ā ĻĻ+). Ā© 1994.