Chromospheric anemone jets as evidence of ubiquitous reconnection

The heating of the solar chromosphere and corona is a long-standing puzzle in solar physics. Hinode observations show the ubiquitous presence of chromospheric anemone jets outside sunspots in active regions. They are typically 3 to 7 arc seconds = 2000 to 5000 kilometers long and 0.2 to 0.4 arc second = 150 to 300 kilometers wide, and their velocity is 10 to 20 kilometers per second. These small jets have an inverted Y-shape, similar to the shape of x-ray anemone jets in the corona. These features imply that magnetic reconnection similar to that in the corona is occurring at a much smaller spatial scale throughout the chromosphere and suggest that the heating of the solar chromosphere and corona may be related to small-scale ubiquitous reconnection.     

Persistence without pathology in phosphoglycan-deficient Leishmania major

Leishmania infections involve an acute phase of replication within macrophages, typically associated with pathology. After recovery parasites persist for long periods, which can lead to severe disease upon reactivation. Unlike the role of host factors, parasite factors affecting persistence are poorly understood. Leishmania major lacking phosphoglycans (lpg2-) were unable to survive in sand flies and macrophages, but retained the ability to persist indefinitely in the mammalian host without inducing disease. The L. major lpg2- thus provides a platform for probing parasite factors implicated in persistence and its role in disease and immunity.     

Role of adaptor TRIF in the MyD88-independent toll-like receptor signaling pathway

Stimulation of Toll-like receptors (TLRs) triggers activation of a common MyD88-dependent signaling pathway as well as a MyD88-independent pathway that is unique to TLR3 and TLR4 signaling pathways leading to interferon (IFN)-beta production. Here we disrupted the gene encoding a Toll/IL-1 receptor (TIR) domain-containing adaptor, TRIF. TRIF-deficient mice were defective in both TLR3- and TLR4-mediated expression of IFN-beta and activation of IRF-3. Furthermore, inflammatory cytokine production in response to the TLR4 ligand, but not to other TLR ligands, was severely impaired in TRIF-deficient macrophages. Mice deficient in both MyD88 and TRIF showed complete loss of nuclear factor kappa B activation in response to TLR4 stimulation. These findings demonstrate that TRIF is essential for TLR3- and TLR4-mediated signaling pathways facilitating mammalian antiviral host defense.     

The electrical conductivity of post-perovskite in Earth's D' layer

Recent discovery of a phase transition from perovskite to post-perovskite suggests that the physical properties of Earth's lowermost mantle, called the D' layer, may be different from those of the overlying mantle. We report that the electrical conductivity of (Mg0.9Fe0.1)SiO3 post-perovskite is >10(2) siemens per meter and does not vary greatly with temperature at the conditions of the D' layer. A post-perovskite layer above the core-mantle boundary would, by electromagnetic coupling, enhance the exchange of angular momentum between the fluid core and the solid mantle, which can explain the observed changes in the length of a day on decadal time scales. Heterogeneity in the conductivity of the lowermost mantle is likely to depend on changes in chemistry of the boundary region, not fluctuations in temperature.     

Variation and homology in the mu and gamma heavy chains of human immunoglobulins

Sequence analysis of an 1gM immunoglobulin shows that the variable regions of hunman micro and gamma1 heavy chainis may have twice as much homology as their constant regions and that evolutionary divergence of micro and gamma1 heavy chain genes occurred not long after the separation of heavy and light chain genes.     

Rotational movement of the formin mDia1 along the double helical strand of an actin filament

Formin homology proteins (formins) elongate actin filaments (F-actin) by continuously associating with filament tips, potentially harnessing actin-generated pushing forces. During this processive elongation, formins are predicted to rotate along the axis of the double helical F-actin structure (referred to here as helical rotation), although this has not yet been definitively shown. We demonstrated helical rotation of the formin mDia1 by single-molecule fluorescence polarization (FL(P)). FL(P) of labeled F-actin, both elongating and depolymerizing from immobilized mDia1, oscillated with a periodicity corresponding to that of the F-actin long-pitch helix, and this was not altered by actin-bound nucleotides or the actin-binding protein profilin. Thus, helical rotation is an intrinsic property of formins. To harness pushing forces from growing F-actin, formins must be anchored flexibly to cell structures.     

Long-term rice-rice-green manure rotation changing the microbial communities in typical red paddy soil in South China

On the basis of a long-term(30 years) field experiment that involved four rotation systems, rice-rice-winter fallow(RRF), rice-rice-ryegrass(RRG), rice-rice-rape(RRP), and rice-rice-milk vetch(RRV), this study described the effects of green manure on the microbial communities in the red paddy soils using 454 pyrosequencing for the 16 S r RNA gene. The Chao1 richness and non-parametric Shannon's index increased in all soil samples that received green manure treatments. The communities' structures with the green manure applications were significantly dissimilar from that under the winter fallow. Using Metastats tests, many genera in the RRG, RRP and RRV soils were significantly different from those in the RRF soil, including a number of genera that functioned in the nitrogen and sulfur cycles. Analyses of the genera with these functions revealed the shifts in microbial ecosystem functions after long-term green manuring. Changes in the microbial communities increased the ammonium supply and decreased the soil acidification in green-manure-amended soils. Together, these data suggested powerful effects of green manure on both the microbial communities and the biogeochemical cycle driven by the shifts in bacterial functional groups.     

Influence of Amylose Content on Cookie and Sponge Cake Quality and Solvent Retention Capacities in Wheat Flour

Reduced amylose wheat (Triticum æstivum L.) produces better quality noodles and bread less prone to going stale, while little is known about the relationships between amylose content and the quality of soft wheat baking products such as sugar snap cookies (SSC) and Japanese sponge cakes (JSC). Near‐isogenic lines developed from wheat cultivar Norin 61, differing in their level of granule‐bound starch synthase (Wx protein) activity, were used to produce wheat grains and ultimately flours of different amylose contents. These were tested with regard to their effect on soft wheat baking quality and solvent retention capacities (SRC). Amylose content was strongly correlated to cookie diameter (r = 0.969, P < 0.001) and cake volume (r = 0.976, P < 0.001), indicating that the soft wheat baking quality associated with SSC diameter and JSC volume were improved by an incremental increases in amylose content. Among the four kinds of SRC tests (water, sodium carbonate, sucrose and lactic acid), the water SRC test showed the highest correlation with amylose content, SSC diameter, and JSC volume. When the regression analysis was conducted between the nonwaxy and partial waxy isogenic lines that are available in commercial markets, only water SRC was significantly correlated to amylose content (r = –0.982, P < 0.001) among of four SRC tests. This suggests that, unlike udon noodle quality, high‐amylose content is indispensable in improving soft wheat baking quality, a process requiring less water retention capacity.     

Effect of Growing Environment of Soft Wheats on Amylose Content and Its Relationship with Cookie and Sponge Cake Quality and Solvent Retention Capacity

The effect of growing environments of soft wheat on amylose content and its relationship with baking quality and solvent retention capacities (SRC) was investigated. Near‐isogenic soft wheat lines of Norin 61 differing in granule‐bound starch synthase (Wx protein) activity and grown in three different regions of Japan: Hokkaido (spring‐sown) for 2006 and 2007, Kanto (autumn‐sown), and Kyushu (autumn‐sown) for 2007 were evaluated. Spring‐sown samples produced grains of greater protein content (10.9–12.4%) than autumn‐sown samples (7.3–9.1%). In contrast, spring‐sown samples of 2007 with higher maturing temperature had lower amylose content (25.5% for Norin 61) compare to the autumn‐sown and spring‐sown samples of 2006 (27.6–28.4% for Norin 61). Amylose content was strongly correlated to sugar snap cookie (SSCD) diameter (r = 0.957–0.961; n = 10, all samples; P ≤ 0.001, r = 0.701–0.976; n = 7 partial waxy and nonwaxy samples; and Japanese sponge cake (JSCV) volume r = 0.971–0.993; n = 10; P≤ 0.001, r = 0.764–0.922; n = 7 partial waxy and nonwaxy samples), regardless of seeding season and growing conditions. The strength of the JSVC‐amylose relationship (slope) was similar among the three regions, whereas the strength of the SSCD‐amylose relationship was slightly weaker for spring‐sown samples and slightly stronger for partial waxy and nonwaxy autumn‐sown samples. Among of the four solvents (water, solutions of sodium carbonate, sucrose, or lactic acid), water‐SRC showed the greatest correlation to amylose content (r = –0.969 to –0.996; n = 10; P ≤ 0.001, r = –0.629 to –0.983; n = 7 partial waxy and nonwaxy samples), indicated that amylose content can be accurately estimated from the water‐SRC within the samples from the same grown environment.