The evolution of modern eukaryotic phytoplankton

The community structure and ecological function of contemporary marine ecosystems are critically dependent on eukaryotic phytoplankton. Although numerically inferior to cyanobacteria, these organisms are responsible for the majority of the flux of organic matter to higher trophic levels and the ocean interior. Photosynthetic eukaryotes evolved more than 1.5 billion years ago in the Proterozoic oceans. However, it was not until the Mesozoic Era (251 to 65 million years ago) that the three principal phytoplankton clades that would come to dominate the modern seas rose to ecological prominence. In contrast to their pioneering predecessors, the dinoflagellates, coccolithophores, and diatoms all contain plastids derived from an ancestral red alga by secondary symbiosis. Here we examine the geological, geochemical, and biological processes that contributed to the rise of these three, distantly related, phytoplankton groups.     

Bacterial chromosome dynamics

Bacterial chromosomes are highly compacted structures and share many properties with their eukaryote counterparts, despite not being organized into chromatin or being contained within a cell nucleus. Proteins conserved across all branches of life act in chromosome organization, and common mechanisms maintain genome integrity and ensure faithful replication. The principles that underlie chromosome segregation in bacteria and eukaryotes share similarities, although bacteria segregate DNA as it replicates and lack a eukaryote-like mitotic apparatus for segregating chromosomes. This may be because the distances that newly replicated bacterial chromosomes move apart before cell division are small as compared to those in eukaryotes. Bacteria specify positional information, which determines where cell division will occur and which places the replication machinery and chromosomal loci at defined locations that change during cell cycle progression.     

Dynamics of mammalian chromosome evolution inferred from multispecies comparative maps

The genome organizations of eight phylogenetically distinct species from five mammalian orders were compared in order to address fundamental questions relating to mammalian chromosomal evolution. Rates of chromosome evolution within mammalian orders were found to increase since the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary. Nearly 20% of chromosome breakpoint regions were reused during mammalian evolution; these reuse sites are also enriched for centromeres. Analysis of gene content in and around evolutionary breakpoint regions revealed increased gene density relative to the genome-wide average. We found that segmental duplications populate the majority of primate-specific breakpoints and often flank inverted chromosome segments, implicating their role in chromosomal rearrangement.     

In-depth view of structure,activity, and evolution of rice chromosome 10

Rice is the world's most important food crop and a model for cereal research. At 430 megabases in size, its genome is the most compact of the cereals. We report the sequence of chromosome 10, the smallest of the 12 rice chromosomes (22.4 megabases), which contains 3471 genes. Chromosome 10 contains considerable heterochromatin with an enrichment of repetitive elements on 10S and an enrichment of expressed genes on 10L. Multiple insertions from organellar genomes were detected. Collinearity was apparent between rice chromosome 10 and sorghum and maize. Comparison between the draft and finished sequence demonstrates the importance of finished sequence.     

湿压剪条件下黄土结构性演化特性研究

【目的】分析增湿及剪切条件下黄土结构性的演化发展特性。【方法】在初始含水率为10%,15%,18%,22%,44%(饱和)以及固结围压为50,100,200,300kPa条件下对黄土进行三轴剪切试验,测定并分析应力结构性参数、应力比结构性参数与综合应变的关系。【结果】黄土应力结构性参数和应力比结构性参数均能够反映出在整个应力加载过程中压剪作用对土结构性渐变演化特性的影响。但是在初始剪切阶段应力结构性参数的变化规律受试验条件的影响相对较大,在低固结围压、低含水率情况下,应力结构性参数随着综合应变的增加总体呈现出先上升后下降,之后趋于稳定的变化趋势;在固结围压及含水率较高的情况下,应力结构性参数随着综合应变的增加而逐渐减小。在增湿及剪切条件下,应力比结构性参数随综合应变的增加呈现单调衰减的趋势,且二者之间的关系曲线光滑,规律性较强;应力比结构性参数与综合应变之间呈指数函数关系。【结论】与应力结构性参数相比,应力比结构性参数能有效且完整地描述增湿和压剪应力作用下黄土结构性演化的整个过程。     

Structural dynamics of a catalytic monolayer probed by ultrafast 2D IR vibrational echoes

Ultrafast two-dimensional infrared (2D IR) vibrational echo spectroscopy has proven broadly useful for studying molecular dynamics in solutions. Here, we extend the technique to probing the interfacial dynamics and structure of a silica surface-tethered transition metal carbonyl complex--tricarbonyl (1,10-phenanthroline)rhenium chloride--of interest as a photoreduction catalyst. We interpret the data using a theoretical framework devised to separate the roles of structural evolution and excitation transfer in inducing spectral diffusion. The structural dynamics, as reported on by a carbonyl stretch vibration of the surface-bound complex, have a characteristic time of ~150 picoseconds in the absence of solvent, decrease in duration by a factor of three upon addition of chloroform, and decrease another order of magnitude for the bulk solution. Conversely, solvent-complex interactions increase the lifetime of the probed vibration by 160% when solvent is applied to the monolayer.     

鹅细小病毒辽宁株主要结构蛋白基因的克隆及遗传进化分析

根据GenBank登陆的鹅细小病毒B株全基因组的核苷酸序列.设计合成一对引物.用PCR方法对GPV LN-1/06株的主要结构蛋白基因进行克隆,并对克隆的片段进行序列测定,用生物信息学软件进行序列分析.结果表明:所扩增的GPV LN-1/06株的基因长度为1605bp,包括VP3完整的开放阅读框,共编码534个氨基酸.与登录的20株国内和国外的GPV的VP3基因序列进行同源性分析表明,GPV LN-1/06株与其他20株VP3基因的核苷酸同源性较高,从93%至99%,说明GPV的VP3基因较为保守.系统进化树分析表明GPV-LN01/06病毒株与HG5/82为一组,具有较近的亲缘关系.本试验首次获得辽宁地区鹅细小病毒流行株的主要结构蛋白基因(VP3)的核苷酸序列,为研究国内外GPV的遗传演化规律提供参考资料.     

Structural evidence for evolution of the beta/alpha barrel scaffold by gene duplication and fusion

The atomic structures of two proteins in the histidine biosynthesis pathway consist of beta/alpha barrels with a twofold repeat pattern. It is likely that these proteins evolved by twofold gene duplication and gene fusion from a common half-barrel ancestor. These ancestral domains are not visible as independent domains in the extant proteins but can be inferred from a combination of sequence and structural analysis. The detection of subdomain structures may be useful in efforts to search genome sequences for functionally and structurally related proteins.     

Modeling effects of environmental change on wolf population dynamics, trait evolution, and life history

Environmental change has been observed to generate simultaneous responses in population dynamics, life history, gene frequencies, and morphology in a number of species. But how common are such eco-evolutionary responses to environmental change likely to be? Are they inevitable, or do they require a specific type of change? Can we accurately predict eco-evolutionary responses? We address these questions using theory and data from the study of Yellowstone wolves. We show that environmental change is expected to generate eco-evolutionary change, that changes in the average environment will affect wolves to a greater extent than changes in how variable it is, and that accurate prediction of the consequences of environmental change will probably prove elusive.     

Crystal structure of the eukaryotic ribosome

Crystal structures of prokaryotic ribosomes have described in detail the universally conserved core of the translation mechanism. However, many facets of the translation process in eukaryotes are not shared with prokaryotes. The crystal structure of the yeast 80S ribosome determined at 4.15 angstrom resolution reveals the higher complexity of eukaryotic ribosomes, which are 40% larger than their bacterial counterparts. Our model shows how eukaryote-specific elements considerably expand the network of interactions within the ribosome and provides insights into eukaryote-specific features of protein synthesis. Our crystals capture the ribosome in the ratcheted state, which is essential for translocation of mRNA and transfer RNA (tRNA), and in which the small ribosomal subunit has rotated with respect to the large subunit. We describe the conformational changes in both ribosomal subunits that are involved in ratcheting and their implications in coordination between the two associated subunits and in mRNA and tRNA translocation.     

An expanded eukaryotic genetic code

We describe a general and rapid route for the addition of unnatural amino acids to the genetic code of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Five amino acids have been incorporated into proteins efficiently and with high fidelity in response to the nonsense codon TAG. The side chains of these amino acids contain a keto group, which can be uniquely modified in vitro and in vivo with a wide range of chemical probes and reagents; a heavy atom-containing amino acid for structural studies; and photocrosslinkers for cellular studies of protein interactions. This methodology not only removes the constraints imposed by the genetic code on our ability to manipulate protein structure and function in yeast, it provides a gateway to the systematic expansion of the genetic codes of multicellular eukaryotes.     

Hemoglobin I mutation encoded at both alpha-globin loci on the same chromosome: concerted evolution in the human genome

Genetic analysis of an individual expressing an unexpectedly high level of hemoglobin I, an alpha-globin structural mutant, reveals that the mutation is present at both the alpha 1- and the alpha 2-globin gene loci. Kindred analysis confirms that the two affected genes are located in cis. The most likely explanation for this finding is that a recent conversion event occurred within the human alpha-globin gene cluster.     

Making sense of eukaryotic DNA replication origins

DNA replication is the process by which cells make one complete copy of their genetic information before cell division. In bacteria, readily identifiable DNA sequences constitute the start sites or origins of DNA replication. In eukaryotes, replication origins have been difficult to identify. In some systems, any DNA sequence can promote replication, but other systems require specific DNA sequences. Despite these disparities, the proteins that regulate replication are highly conserved from yeast to humans. The resolution may lie in a current model for once-per-cell-cycle regulation of eukaryotic replication that does not require defined origin sequences. This model implies that the specification of precise origins is a response to selective pressures that transcend those of once-per-cell-cycle replication, such as the coordination of replication with other chromosomal functions. Viewed in this context, the locations of origins may be an integral part of the functional organization of eukaryotic chromosomes.