Regulation von Teilungswahrscheinlichkeit und Zellzyklusdauer durch das Onkoprotein c-Myc

In der vorgelegten Dissertation wurde die Rolle des onkogenen Transkriptionsfaktors c-Myc für eine schnelle Zellzyklusprogression untersucht. Der Stand der Forschung zu Beginn der Arbeit legte nahe, dass ohne die Expression von c-Myc eine Zelle nur verzögert den Teilungszyklus durchlaufen kann (Mateyak et al., 1997). Mit Hilfe eines neuen Experimentansatzes konnte gezeigt werden, dass diese Beobachtung korrigiert werden muss. Die Analyse der Zellzyklusprogression von einzelnen Zellen mit Hilfe von Zeitrafferfilmen ergab, dass c-myc-/- Zellen in gleicher Zeit die Teilung durchführen wie c-myc+/+ Zellen. Das Aufstellen von Stammbäumen zu den einzelnen Zellen ebnete den Weg zu einer umfassenden statistischen Auswertung. Mit der Kaplan-Meier Methode gelang eine detaillierte Beschreibung des beobachteten Sachverhaltes. c-myc-/- und c-myc+/+ Zellkulturen unterschieden sich vor allem in ihrer Teilungswahrscheinlichkeit und nicht in der Zellzyklusdauer der einzelnen Zellen. In Abwesenheit von c-Myc-Expression wurde ein großer Teil der Zellen nach erfolgter Teilung inaktiv. Der Anteil teilungsinaktiver Zellen akkumuliert und ließ die Gesamtzahl der Population deutlich langsamer ansteigen. Dieses Ergebnis konnte durch die Generierung einer neuen Zellinie weiter untermauert werden. Die Expression eines MycER Fusionsproteins in c-myc-/- Zellen (Smoxi-4) ermöglichte die wahlweise Aktivierung des MycER Proteins durch Zugabe von Tamoxifen (4-OHT). Eine unmittelbare Untersuchung der Auswirkung von c-Myc-Aktivität in einer einzigen Zellinie war dadurch möglich. Zeitrafferfilme und deren Auswertung bestätigten die bereits gemachten Ergebnisse. Durch die Verwendung der publizierten Osteosarkomzellinie M47 (Gehring et al., 2000) konnten die Beobachtung weiter verallgemeinert werden. In diesen Zellen ließ sich die Expression des c-Myc-antagonistisch wirkenden Transkriptionsfaktors Mad1 durch Zugabe von Tetrazyklin steuern. Der Antagonist Mad1 senkte vor allem die Teilungswahrscheinlichkeit der Zellen. Zusammenfassend ergibt sich daraus der Vorschlag eines neuen Modells. Die Expression von c-Myc in einer Zelle beeinflusst vor allem die Entscheidung, ob sie in einen weiteren Zellzyklus eintritt oder nicht. Der Geschwindigkeit der Zellzyklusprogression kommt dabei nur eine untergeordnete Rolle zu. Diese Beobachtung unterstreicht die Bedeutung von Restriktionspunkten und Aktivierungsschwellen bei der Kontrolle der Zellteilung durch c-Myc. Die erhöhte Apoptose- und Mitoserate von Smoxi-4 Zellen zeigte auf anschauliche Weise, wie durch eine einzige onkogene Läsion (c-Myc) die Entstehung weiterer Mutationen begünstigt werden kann

Does presence of a mid-ocean ridge enhance biomass and biodiversity?

In contrast to generally sparse biological communities in open-ocean settings, seamounts and ridges are perceived as areas of elevated productivity and biodiversity capable of supporting commercial fisheries. We investigated the origin of this apparent biological enhancement over a segment of the North Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) using sonar, corers, trawls, traps, and a remotely operated vehicle to survey habitat, biomass, and biodiversity. Satellite remote sensing provided information on flow patterns, thermal fronts, and primary production, while sediment traps measured export flux during 2007-2010. The MAR, 3,704,404 km 2 in area, accounts for 44.7% lower bathyal habitat (800-3500 m depth) in the North Atlantic and is dominated by fine soft sediment substrate (95% of area) on a series of flat terraces with intervening slopes either side of the ridge axis contributing to habitat heterogeneity. The MAR fauna comprises mainly species known from continental margins with no evidence of greater biodiversity. Primary production and export flux over the MAR were not enhanced compared with a nearby reference station over the Porcupine Abyssal Plain. Biomasses of benthic macrofauna and megafauna were similar to global averages at the same depths totalling an estimated 258.9 kt C over the entire lower bathyal north MAR. A hypothetical flat plain at 3500 m depth in place of the MAR would contain 85.6 kt C, implying an increase of 173.3 kt C attributable to the presence of the Ridge. This is approximately equal to 167 kt C of estimated pelagic biomass displaced by the volume of the MAR. There is no enhancement of biological productivity over the MAR; oceanic bathypelagic species are replaced by benthic fauna otherwise unable to survive in the mid ocean. We propose that globally sea floor elevation has no effect on deep sea biomass; pelagic plus benthic biomass is constant within a given surface productivity regime.Peer reviewe

Field-induced phase transition in Bi1/2Na1/2TiO3-based lead-free piezoelectric ceramics

The origin of the electric field-induced strain in the polycrystalline ceramic 0.92Bi(1/2)Na(1/2)TiO(3)-0.06BaTiO(3)-0.02K(1/2)Na(1/2)NbO(3) was investigated using in situ high-resolution X-ray and neutron diffraction techniques. The initially existing tetragonal phase with pseudocubic lattice undergoes a reversible phase transition to a significantly distorted rhombohedral phase under electric field, accompanied by a change in the oxygen octahedral tilting from a 0 a 0 c + to a - a - a - and in the tilting angle. The polarization values for the tetragonal and rhombohedral phases were calculated based on the structural information from Rietveld refinements. The large recoverable electric field-induced strain is a consequence of a reversible electric field-induced phase transition from an almost nonpolar tetragonal phase to a ferroelectrically active rhombohedral phase.open686

Kinetics of Martensite Decomposition and Microstructure Stability of Ti-6246 during Rapid Heating to Service Temperatures

The aerospace alloy Ti-6246 was subjected to inductive heat treatments with high heating and quenching rates (up to 1500 K/s) while being applied to an in situ diffraction study at the HEMS beamline P07B at DESY. Thereby, the characterization of the emerging phases was possible at any point in the process. The heat treatment schedules include the preparation of Ti-6246 samples by means of a homogenization treatment and subsequent quenching to trigger α″-martensite formation. In order to simulate fast reheating within the scope of application, the samples were reheated to the upper range of possible service temperatures (550–650 °C) with a heating rate of 100 K/s. In a second heat treatment design, the homogenized and quenched sample state was exposed to high-temperature tempering at 840 °C, which aims for the elimination of α″. Again, fast reheating to the same service temperatures was executed. With the aim of this approach, the stability of the microstructure consisting of α-Ti, β-Ti and α″-martensite was characterized. Further, the martensite decomposition path was analyzed. It shows a two-tier nature, firstly approaching the bcc β-unit cell in the low-temperature range (<400 °C) but subsequently transforming into an hcp-like unit cell and later on into equilibrium α-Ti

Conservation of adaptive potential and functional diversity

The conservation of adaptive potential to enable populations and species to respond to environmental change is one of the cornerstones of conservation genetics. To date, however, most work has by necessity focused on neutral markers and demographic questions. Now, with the rapid development of genomic technologies, we have new tools with which to address this essential but poorly understood aspect of conservation strategy. This was the motivation for a meeting on this subject held at Durham University in November 2017 that generated papers for this special issue. In this brief introduction we summarise the presentations and discussions that took place over the course of the meeting, and provide some initial conclusions together with ideas about the way forward

Diffraction-based determination of single-crystal elastic constants of polycrystalline titanium alloys

Single-crystal elastic constants have been derived by lattice strain measurements using neutron diffraction on polycrystalline Ti-6Al-4V, Ti-6Al-2Sn-4Zr-6Mo and Ti-3Al-8V-6Cr-4Zr-4Mo alloy samples. A variety of model approximations for the grain-to-grain interactions, namely approaches by Voigt, Reuss, Hill, Kroener, de Wit and Matthies, including texture weightings, have been applied and compared. A load-transfer approach for multiphase alloys was also implemented and the results are compared with single-phase data. For the materials under investigation, the results for multiphase alloys agree well with the results for single-phase materials in the corresponding phases. In this respect, all eight elastic constants in the dual-phase Ti-6Al-2Sn-4Zr-6Mo alloy have been derived for the first time

Phylogenomics of the genus Tursiops and closely related Delphininae reveals extensive reticulation among lineages and provides inference about eco-evolutionary drivers

Phylogeographic inference has provided extensive insight into the relative roles of geographical isolation and ecological processes during evolutionary radiations. However, the importance of cross-lineage admixture in facilitating adaptive radiations is increasingly being recognised, and suggested as a main cause of phylogenetic uncertainty. In this study, we used a double digest RADseq protocol to provide a high resolution (∼ 4 Million bp) nuclear phylogeny of the Delphininae. Phylogenetic resolution of this group has been especially intractable, likely because it has experienced a recent species radiation. We carried out cross-lineage reticulation analyses, and tested for several sources of potential bias in determining phylogenies from genome sampling data. We assessed the divergence time and historical demography of T. truncatus and T. aduncus by sequencing the T. aduncus genome and comparing it with the T. truncatus reference genome. Our results suggest monophyly for the genus Tursiops, with the recently proposed T. australis species falling within the T. aduncus lineage. We also show the presence of extensive cross-lineage gene flow between pelagic and European coastal ecotypes of T. truncatus, as well as in the early stages of diversification between spotted (Stenella frontalis; Stenella attenuata), spinner (Stenella longirostris), striped (Stenella coeruleoalba), common (Delphinus delphis), and Fraser’s (Lagenodelphis hosei) dolphins. Our study suggests that cross-lineage gene flow in this group has been more extensive and complex than previously thought. In the context of biogeography and local habitat dependence, these results improve our understanding of the evolutionary processes determining the history of this lineage

Flavin Monooxygenase-Generated N-Hydroxypipecolic Acid Is a Critical Element of Plant Systemic Immunity

Hartmann M, Zeier T, Bernsdorff F, et al. Flavin Monooxygenase-Generated N-Hydroxypipecolic Acid Is a Critical Element of Plant Systemic Immunity. Cell. 2018;173(2):456-469.e16.Following a previous microbial inoculation, plants can induce broad-spectrum immunity to pathogen infection, a phenomenon known as systemic acquired resistance (SAR). SAR establishment in Arabidopsis thaliana is regulated by the Lys catabolite pipecolic acid (Pip) and flavin-dependent-monooxygenase1 (FMO1). Here, we show that elevated Pip is sufficient to induce an FMO1-dependent transcriptional reprogramming of leaves that is reminiscent of SAR. In planta and in vitro analyses demonstrate that FMO1 functions as a pipecolate N-hydroxylase, catalyzing the biochemical conversion of Pip to N-hydroxypipecolic acid (NHP). NHP-systemically accumulates in plants after microbial attack. When exogenously applied, it overrides the defect of NHP-deficient fmo1 in acquired resistance and acts as a potent inducer of plant immunity to bacterial and oomycete infection. Our work has identified a pathogen-inducible L-Lys catabolic pathway in plants that generates the N-hydroxylated amino acid NHP as a critical regulator of systemic acquired resistance to pathogen infection