ABI4 Mediates Antagonistic Effects of Abscisic Acid and Gibberellins at Transcript and Protein Levels

Abscisic acid (ABA) and gibberellins (GA) are plant hormones which antagonistically mediate numerous physiological processes, and their optimal balance is essential for normal plant development. However, the molecular mechanism underlying ABA and GA antagonism still needs to be determined. Here, we report that ABA- INSENSITIVE 4 (ABI4) is a central factor for GA/ABA homeostasis and antagonism in post-germination stages. ABI4 over-expression in Arabidopsis (OE-ABI4) leads to developmental defects including a decrease in plant height and poor seed production. The transcription of a key ABA biosynthetic gene, NCED6, and of a key GA catabolic gene, GA2ox7, is significantly enhanced by ABI4 over-expression. ABI4 activates NCED6 and GA2ox7 transcription by directly binding to the promoters, and genetic analysis revealed that mutation in these two genes partially rescues the dwarf phenotype of ABI4 overexpressing plants. Consistently, ABI4 overexpressing seedlings have a lower GA/ABA ratio compared to the wild type. We further show that ABA induces GA2ox7 transcription while GA represses NCED6 expression in an ABI4-dependent manner; and that ABA stabilizes the ABI4 protein, whereas GA promotes its degradation. Taken together, these results propose that ABA and GA antagonize each other by oppositely acting on ABI4 transcript and protein levels

Measurement of fatty acids in toenail clippings using GC-MS

Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on March 11, 2013).The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file.Thesis advisor: Dr. J. David RobertsonIncludes bibliographical references.M.S. University of Missouri--Columbia 2012."December 2012"Omega-3 fatty acids play an important role in human health and nutrition. Here, we investigated human toenail clippings as a potential, non-invasive and cumulative biomonitor for fatty acids, and successfully developed a method to extract fatty acids and quantified them by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Although omega-3 fatty acids were not detected in the nail samples, the nail may still prove to be a biomonitor for them if the percent recoveries and detection limits could be improved

SDSS J013127.34−-032100.1: A newly discovered radio-loud quasar at z=5.18z=5.18 with extremely high luminosity

Only very few z>5 quasars discovered to date are radio-loud, with a radio-to-optical flux ratio (radio-loudness parameter) higher than 10. Here we report the discovery of an optically luminous radio-loud quasar, SDSS J013127.34-032100.1 (J0131-0321 in short), at z=5.18+-0.01 using the Lijiang 2.4m and Magellan telescopes. J0131-0321 has a spectral energy distribution consistent with that of radio-loud quasars. With an i-band magnitude of 18.47 and radio flux density of 33 mJy, its radio-loudness parameter is ~100. The optical and near-infrared spectra taken by Magellan enable us to estimate its bolometric luminosity to be L_bol ~ 1.1E48 erg/s, approximately 4.5 times greater than that of the most distant quasar known to date. The black hole mass of J0131-0321 is estimated to be 2.7E9 solar masses, with an uncertainty up to 0.4 dex. Detailed physical properties of this high-redshift, radio-loud, potentially super-Eddington quasar can be probed in the future with more dedicated and intensive follow-up observations using multi-wavelength facilities.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, accepted to ApJ

ψ-type stability of reaction–diffusion neural networks with time-varying discrete delays and bounded distributed delays

In this paper, the ψ-type stability and robust ψ-type stability for reaction–diffusion neural networks (RDNNs) with Dirichlet boundary conditions, time-varying discrete delays and bounded distributed delays are investigated, respectively. Firstly, we analyze the ψ-type stability and robust ψ-type stability of RDNNs with time-varying discrete delays by means of ψ-type functions combined with some inequality techniques, and put forward several ψ-type stability criteria for the considered networks. Additionally, the models of RDNNs with bounded distributed delays are established and some sufficient conditions to guarantee the ψ-type stability and robust ψ-type stability are given. Lastly, two examples are provided to confirm the effectiveness of the derived results

General decay lag anti-synchronization of multi-weighted delayed coupled neural networks with reaction–diffusion terms

We propose a new anti-synchronization concept, called general decay lag anti-synchronization, by combining the definitions of decay synchronization and lag synchronization. Novel criteria for the decay lag anti-synchronization of multi-weighted delayed coupled reaction–diffusion neural networks (MWDCRDNNs) with and without bounded distributed delays are derived by constructing an appropriate nonlinear controller and using the Lyapunov functional method. Moreover, the robust decay lag anti-synchronization of MWDCRDNNs with and without bounded distributed delays is considered. Finally, two numerical simulations are performed to validate the obtained results

Robust passivity of coupled Cohen-Grossberg neural networks with reaction-diffusion terms

In this paper, we deal with the robust passivity problem for coupled reaction-diffusion Cohen-Grossberg neural networks (CRDCGNNs) with spatial diffusion coupling and state coupling. First, we present the network model for CRDCGNNs with state coupling and establish some robust passivity conditions for this kind of CRDCGNNs. Then, the investigation on robust passivity for CRDCGNNs with spatial diffusion coupling is carried out similarly. At last, the feasibility of the obtained theoretical results is demonstrated by one example with simulation results