TY - JOUR A1 - Heinze, Johannes A1 - Gensch, Sabine A1 - Weber, Ewald A1 - Joshi, Jasmin Radha T1 - Soil temperature modifies effects of soil biota on plant growth JF - Journal of plant ecology N2 - Aims Plants directly and indirectly interact with many abiotic and biotic soil components. Research so far mostly focused on direct, individual abiotic or biotic effects on plant growth, but only few studies tested the indirect effects of abiotic soil factors on plant growth. Therefore, we investigated how abiotic soil conditions affect plant performance, via changes induced by soil biota. Methods In a full-factorial experiment, we grew the widespread grass Dactylis glomerata either with or without soil biota and investigated the impact of soil temperature, fertility and moisture on the soil biota effects on plant growth. We measured biomass production, root traits and colonization by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi as well as microbial respiration. Important Findings We found significant interaction effects between abiotic soil conditions and soil biota on plant growth for fertility, but especially for soil temperature, as an increase of 10 degrees C significantly changed the soil biota effects on plant growth from positive to neutral. However, if tested individually, an increase in soil temperature and fertility per se positively affected plant biomass production, whereas soil biota per se did not affect overall plant growth, but both influenced root architecture. By affecting soil microbial activity and root architecture, soil temperature might influence both mutualistic and pathogenic interactions between plants and soil biota. Such soil temperature effects should be considered in soil feedback studies to ensure greater transferability of results from artificial and experimental conditions to natural environmental conditions. KW - plant-soil interaction KW - soil biota KW - abiotic soil factors KW - root traits KW - plant growth Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1093/jpe/rtw097 SN - 1752-9921 SN - 1752-993X VL - 10 SP - 808 EP - 821 PB - Oxford Univ. Press CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Dellinger, Agnes S. A1 - Essl, Franz A1 - Hojsgaard, Diego A1 - Kirchheimer, Bernhard A1 - Klatt, Simone A1 - Dawson, Wayne A1 - Pergl, Jan A1 - Pysek, Petr A1 - van Kleunen, Mark A1 - Weber, Ewald A1 - Winter, Marten A1 - Hoerandl, Elvira A1 - Dullinger, Stefan T1 - Niche dynamics of alien species do not differ among sexual and apomictic flowering plants JF - New phytologist : international journal of plant science N2 - We compiled global occurrence data sets of 13 congeneric sexual and apomictic species pairs, and used principal components analysis (PCA) and kernel smoothers to compare changes in climatic niche optima, breadths and unfilling/expansion between native and alien ranges. Niche change metrics were compared between sexual and apomictic species. All 26 species showed changes in niche optima and/or breadth and 14 species significantly expanded their climatic niches. However, we found no effect of the reproductive system on niche dynamics. Instead, species with narrower native niches showed higher rates of niche expansion in the alien ranges. Our results suggest that niche shifts are frequent in plant invasions but evolutionary potential may not be of major importance for such shifts. Niche dynamics rather appear to be driven by changes of the realized niche without adaptive change of the fundamental climatic niche. KW - adaptation KW - asexual reproduction KW - niche shifts KW - plant invasion KW - reproductive system KW - species distribution modelling Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.13694 SN - 0028-646X SN - 1469-8137 VL - 209 SP - 1313 EP - 1323 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Westbury, Michael V. A1 - Prost, Stefan A1 - Seelenfreund, Andrea A1 - Ramirez, Jose-Miguel A1 - Matisoo-Smith, Elizabeth A. A1 - Knapp, Michael T1 - First complete mitochondrial genome data from ancient South American camelids - The mystery of the chilihueques from Isla Mocha (Chile) JF - Scientific reports Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/srep38708 SN - 2045-2322 VL - 6 PB - Nature Publ. Group CY - London ER - TY - THES A1 - Mengin, Virginie T1 - Role of the clock in the regulation of growth and metabolism in stable and fluctuating environmental conditions Y1 - 2016 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Lämke, Jörn A1 - Brzezinka, Krzysztof A1 - Altmann, Simone A1 - Bäurle, Isabel T1 - A hit-and-run heat shock factor governs sustained histone methylation and transcriptional stress memory JF - The EMBO journal N2 - In nature, plants often encounter chronic or recurring stressful conditions. Recent results indicate that plants can remember a past exposure to stress to be better prepared for a future stress incident. However, the molecular basis of this is poorly understood. Here, we report the involvement of chromatin modifications in the maintenance of acquired thermotolerance (heat stress [HS] memory). HS memory is associated with the accumulation of histone H3 lysine 4 di- and trimethylation at memory-related loci. This accumulation outlasts their transcriptional activity and marks them as recently transcriptionally active. High accumulation of H3K4 methylation is associated with hyper-induction of gene expression upon a recurring HS. This transcriptional memory and the sustained accumulation of H3K4 methylation depend on HSFA2, a transcription factor that is required for HS memory, but not initial heat responses. Interestingly, HSFA2 associates with memory-related loci transiently during the early stages following HS. In summary, we show that transcriptional memory after HS is associated with sustained H3K4 hyper-methylation and depends on a hit-and-run transcription factor, thus providing a molecular framework for HS memory. KW - chromatin KW - H3K4 methylation KW - heat shock transcription factor KW - priming KW - transcriptional memory Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.15252/embj.201592593 SN - 0261-4189 SN - 1460-2075 VL - 35 SP - 162 EP - 175 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Nowak-Szczepanska, Natalia A1 - Gomula, A. A1 - Ipsen, Marie Josephin A1 - Koziel, Slawomir T1 - Different effects of living conditions on the variation in BMI and height in children before the onset of puberty JF - European journal of clinical nutrition N2 - SUBJECTS/METHODS: The study included 5597 boys and 5479 girls aged 7-8 years of age. Socioeconomic status (SES) was defined in three categories: high, medium and low. RESULTS: Between 1966 and 2012, the mean values for height and BMI significantly increased in both sexes (P<0.001). The variation of these two parameters, however, showed a different pattern. Whereas the variation in Z-values for height remained unchanged in both sexes, the variation in BMI increased in boys (P<0.01) but not in girls. SES affected the variation in Z-BMI in 1978 in both sexes (P<0.001), whereas variation in Z-height between SES categories remained unchanged across all years of surveys in boys. Before the political transformation, significant regional differences were observed in the variances of Z-BMI (P<0.05) but not of Z-height. This pattern changed after the political transformation, when regional differences in variances of Z-BMI disappeared. CONCLUSIONS: It is concluded that the mean values and the variation of BMI are affected by a changing quality of life, whereas the variation in height is usually independent of living conditions. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2016.30 SN - 0954-3007 SN - 1476-5640 VL - 70 SP - 662 EP - 666 PB - Nature Publ. Group CY - London ER - TY - THES A1 - Xu, Ke T1 - Functional characterization of two MYB transcription factors, MYB95 and MYB47, in Arabidopsis thaliana Y1 - 2016 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wacker, Alexander A1 - Piepho, Maike A1 - Harwood, John L. A1 - Guschina, Irina A. A1 - Arts, Michael T. T1 - Light-Induced Changes in Fatty Acid Profiles of Specific Lipid Classes in Several Freshwater Phytoplankton Species JF - Frontiers in plant science : FPLS N2 - We tested the influence of two light intensities [40 and 300 μmol PAR / (m2s)] on the fatty acid composition of three distinct lipid classes in four freshwater phytoplankton species. We chose species of different taxonomic classes in order to detect potentially similar reaction characteristics that might also be present in natural phytoplankton communities. From samples of the bacillariophyte Asterionella formosa, the chrysophyte Chromulina sp., the cryptophyte Cryptomonas ovata and the zygnematophyte Cosmarium botrytis we first separated glycolipids (monogalactosyldiacylglycerol, digalactosyldiacylglycerol, and sulfoquinovosyldiacylglycerol), phospholipids (phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylinositol, and phosphatidylserine) as well as non-polar lipids (triacylglycerols), before analyzing the fatty acid composition of each lipid class. High variation in the fatty acid composition existed among different species. Individual fatty acid compositions differed in their reaction to changing light intensities in the four species. Although no generalizations could be made for species across taxonomic classes, individual species showed clear but small responses in their ecologically-relevant omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in terms of proportions and of per tissue carbon quotas. Knowledge on how lipids like fatty acids change with environmental or culture conditions is of great interest in ecological food web studies, aquaculture, and biotechnology, since algal lipids are the most important sources of omega-3 long-chain PUFA for aquatic and terrestrial consumers, including humans. KW - freshwater algae KW - light adaptation KW - lipid classes KW - fatty acid changes Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2016.00264 SN - 1664-462X VL - 7 SP - 1 EP - 13 PB - Frontiers Media CY - Lausanne ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sperfeld, Erik A1 - Raubenheimer, David A1 - Wacker, Alexander T1 - Bridging factorial and gradient concepts of resource co-limitation: towards a general framework applied to consumers JF - Ecology letters N2 - Organism growth can be limited either by a single resource or by multiple resources simultaneously (co-limitation). Efforts to characterise co-limitation have generated two influential approaches. One approach uses limitation scenarios of factorial growth assays to distinguish specific types of co-limitation; the other uses growth responses spanned over a continuous, multi-dimensional resource space to characterise different types of response surfaces. Both approaches have been useful in investigating particular aspects of co-limitation, but a synthesis is needed to stimulate development of this recent research area. We address this gap by integrating the two approaches, thereby presenting a more general framework of co-limitation. We found that various factorial (co-)limitation scenarios can emerge in different response surface types based on continuous availabilities of essential or substitutable resources. We tested our conceptual co-limitation framework on data sets of published and unpublished studies examining the limitation of two herbivorous consumers in a two-dimensional resource space. The experimental data corroborate the predictions, suggesting a general applicability of our co-limitation framework to generalist consumers and potentially also to other organisms. The presented framework might give insight into mechanisms that underlie co-limitation responses and thus can be a seminal starting point for evaluating co-limitation patterns in experiments and nature. KW - Consumer KW - essential nutrient KW - factorial design KW - food quality KW - growth rate KW - multi-nutrient limitation KW - nutritional ecology KW - performance landscape KW - substitutable resource KW - synergistic effect Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12554 SN - 1461-023X SN - 1461-0248 VL - 19 SP - 201 EP - 215 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Koussoroplis, Apostolos-Manuel A1 - Wacker, Alexander T1 - Covariance modulates the effect of joint temperature and food variance on ectotherm life-history traits JF - Ecology letters N2 - Understanding animal performance in heterogeneous or variable environments is a central question in ecology. We combine modelling and experiments to test how temperature and food availability variance jointly affect life-history traits of ectotherms. The model predicts that as mean temperatures move away from the ectotherm's thermal optimum, the effect size of joint thermal and food variance should become increasingly sensitive to their covariance. Below the thermal optimum, performance should be positively correlated with food–temperature covariance and the opposite is predicted above it. At lower temperatures, covariance should determine whether food and temperature variance increases or decreases performance compared to constant conditions. Somewhat stronger than predicted, the covariance effect below the thermal optimum was confirmed experimentally on an aquatic ectotherm (Daphnia magna) exposed to diurnal food and temperature variance with different amounts of covariance. Our findings have important implications for understanding ectotherm responses to climate-driven alterations of thermal mean and variance. KW - Biotic interactions KW - co-limitation KW - Daphnia KW - environmental fluctuations KW - heterogeneity KW - variability KW - vertical migration KW - zooplankton Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12546 SN - 1461-023X SN - 1461-0248 VL - 19 SP - 143 EP - 152 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Hoboken ER - TY - GEN A1 - Wacker, Alexander A1 - Piepho, Maike A1 - Harwood, John L. A1 - Guschina, Irina A. A1 - Arts, Michael T. T1 - Light-Induced Changes in Fatty Acid Profiles of Specific Lipid Classes in Several Freshwater Phytoplankton Species N2 - We tested the influence of two light intensities [40 and 300 μmol PAR / (m2s)] on the fatty acid composition of three distinct lipid classes in four freshwater phytoplankton species. We chose species of different taxonomic classes in order to detect potentially similar reaction characteristics that might also be present in natural phytoplankton communities. From samples of the bacillariophyte Asterionella formosa, the chrysophyte Chromulina sp., the cryptophyte Cryptomonas ovata and the zygnematophyte Cosmarium botrytis we first separated glycolipids (monogalactosyldiacylglycerol, digalactosyldiacylglycerol, and sulfoquinovosyldiacylglycerol), phospholipids (phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylinositol, and phosphatidylserine) as well as non-polar lipids (triacylglycerols), before analyzing the fatty acid composition of each lipid class. High variation in the fatty acid composition existed among different species. Individual fatty acid compositions differed in their reaction to changing light intensities in the four species. Although no generalizations could be made for species across taxonomic classes, individual species showed clear but small responses in their ecologically-relevant omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in terms of proportions and of per tissue carbon quotas. Knowledge on how lipids like fatty acids change with environmental or culture conditions is of great interest in ecological food web studies, aquaculture, and biotechnology, since algal lipids are the most important sources of omega-3 long-chain PUFA for aquatic and terrestrial consumers, including humans. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 223 KW - fatty acid changes KW - freshwater algae KW - light adaptation KW - lipid classes Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-90682 SP - 1 EP - 13 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kabelitz, Tina A1 - Brzezinka, Krzysztof A1 - Friedrich, Thomas A1 - Gorka, Michal A1 - Graf, Alexander A1 - Kappel, Christian A1 - Bäurle, Isabel T1 - A JUMONJI Protein with E3 Ligase and Histone H3 Binding Activities Affects Transposon Silencing in Arabidopsis JF - Plant physiology : an international journal devoted to physiology, biochemistry, cellular and molecular biology, biophysics and environmental biology of plants N2 - Transposable elements (TEs) make up a large proportion of eukaryotic genomes. As their mobilization creates genetic variation that threatens genome integrity, TEs are epigenetically silenced through several pathways, and this may spread to neighboring sequences. JUMONJI (JMJ) proteins can function as antisilencing factors and prevent silencing of genes next to TEs. Whether TE silencing is counterbalanced by the activity of antisilencing factors is still unclear. Here, we characterize JMJ24 as a regulator of TE silencing. We show that loss of JMJ24 results in increased silencing of the DNA transposon AtMu1c, while overexpression of JMJ24 reduces silencing. JMJ24 has a JumonjiC (JmjC) domain and two RING domains. JMJ24 autoubiquitinates in vitro, demonstrating E3 ligase activity of the RING domain(s). JMJ24-JmjC binds the N-terminal tail of histone H3, and full-length JMJ24 binds histone H3 in vivo. JMJ24 activity is anticorrelated with histone H3 Lys 9 dimethylation (H3K9me2) levels at AtMu1c. Double mutant analyses with epigenetic silencing mutants suggest that JMJ24 antagonizes histone H3K9me2 and requires H3K9 methyltransferases for its activity on AtMu1c. Genome-wide transcriptome analysis indicates that JMJ24 affects silencing at additional TEs. Our results suggest that the JmjC domain of JMJ24 has lost demethylase activity but has been retained as a binding domain for histone H3. This is in line with phylogenetic analyses indicating that JMJ24 (with the mutated JmjC domain) is widely conserved in angiosperms. Taken together, this study assigns a role in TE silencing to a conserved JmjC-domain protein with E3 ligase activity, but no demethylase activity. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1104/pp.15.01688 SN - 0032-0889 SN - 1532-2548 VL - 171 SP - 344 EP - 358 PB - American Society of Plant Physiologists CY - Rockville ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Grzesiuk, Malgorzata A1 - Wacker, Alexander A1 - Spijkerman, Elly T1 - Photosynthetic sensitivity of phytoplankton to commonly used pharmaceuticals and its dependence on cellular phosphorus status JF - Ecotoxicology N2 - Recently pharmaceuticals have become significant environmental pollutants in aquatic ecosystems, that could affect primary producers such as microalgae. Here we analyzed the effect of pharmaceuticals on the photosynthesis of microalgae commonly found in freshwater-two species of Chlorophyceae and a member of the Eustigmatophyceae, via PAM fluorometry. As pharmaceuticals, three medicines often consumed in households were chosen: (i) fluoxetine, an antidepressant, (ii) propranolol, a beta-blocker and (iii) ibuprofen, an anti-inflammatory and analgesic medicine. The EC50 for the quantum yield of photosystem II in phytoplankton acclimated to inorganic phosphorus (P-i)-replete and P-i-limited conditions was estimated. Acute toxicity experiments over a 5 h exposure revealed that Nannochloropsis limnetica was the least sensitive to pharmaceuticals in its photosynthetic yield out of all species tested. Although the estimation of sub-lethal effects can be vital in contrast to that of LC(50)s, the EC50 values in all species and for all medicines were orders of magnitude higher than concentrations found in polluted surface water. Chlamydomonas reinhardtii was the most sensitive to fluoxetine (EC50 of 1.6 mg L-1), and propranolol (EC50 of 3 mg L-1). Acutodesmus obliquus was most sensitive to ibuprofen (EC50 of 288 mg L-1). Additionally, the sensitivity to the pharmaceuticals changed under a P-i-limitation; the green algae became less sensitive to fluoxetine and propranolol. In contrast, P-i-limited algal species were more sensitive to ibuprofen. Our results suggest that the sensitivity of algae to pharmaceuticals is (i) highly compound- and species-specific and (ii) dependent on the cellular P status. KW - Freshwater algae KW - Medicine KW - EC50 KW - PAM fluorometry KW - Tolerance Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-016-1628-8 SN - 0963-9292 SN - 1573-3017 VL - 25 SP - 697 EP - 707 PB - Springer CY - Dordrecht ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Lachmann, Sabrina C. A1 - Maberly, Stephen C. A1 - Spijkerman, Elly T1 - ECOPHYSIOLOGY MATTERS: LINKING INORGANIC CARBON ACQUISITION TO ECOLOGICAL PREFERENCE IN FOUR SPECIES OF MICROALGAE (CHLOROPHYCEAE) JF - Journal of phycology N2 - The effect of CO2 supply is likely to play an important role in algal ecology. Since inorganic carbon (C-i) acquisition strategies are very diverse among microalgae and C-i availability varies greatly within and among habitats, we hypothesized that C-i acquisition depends on the pH of their preferred natural environment (adaptation) and that the efficiency of C-i uptake is affected by CO2 availability (acclimation). To test this, four species of green algae originating from different habitats were studied. The pH-drift and C-i uptake kinetic experiments were used to characterize C-i acquisition strategies and their ability to acclimate to high and low CO2 conditions and high and low pH was evaluated. Results from pH drift experiments revealed that the acidophile and acidotolerant Chlamydomonas species were mainly restricted to CO2, whereas the two neutrophiles were efficient bicarbonate users. CO2 compensation points in low CO2-acclimated cultures ranged between 0.6 and 1.4 mu M CO2 and acclimation to different culture pH and CO2 conditions suggested that CO2 concentrating mechanisms were present in most species. High CO2 acclimated cultures adapted rapidly to low CO2 condition during pH-drifts. C-i uptake kinetics at different pH values showed that the affinity for C-i was largely influenced by external pH, being highest under conditions where CO2 dominated the C-i pool. In conclusion, C-i acquisition was highly variable among four species of green algae and linked to growth pH preference, suggesting that there is a connection between C-i acquisition and ecological distribution. KW - acidophile KW - carbon acquisition KW - CCM KW - Chlamydomonas KW - Chlorella KW - CO2 supply KW - extremophile KW - inorganic carbon uptake kinetics KW - pH-drift KW - Scenedesmus Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/jpy.12462 SN - 0022-3646 SN - 1529-8817 VL - 52 SP - 1051 EP - 1063 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Spijkerman, Elly A1 - Stojkovic, Slobodanka A1 - Holland, Daryl A1 - Lachmann, Sabrina C. A1 - Beardall, John T1 - Nutrient induced fluorescence transients (NIFTs) provide a rapid measure of P and C (co-)limitation in a green alga JF - European journal of phycology N2 - Nutrient Induced Fluorescence Transients (NIFTs) have been shown to be a possible way of testing for the limiting nutrient in algal populations. In this study we tested the hypothesis that NIFTs can be used to detect a (co-)limitation for inorganic phosphorus (Pi) and CO2 in the green alga Chlamydomonas acidophila and that the magnitude of the NIFTs can be related to cellular P:C ratios. We show a co-limitation response for Pi and CO2 via traditional nutrient enrichment experiments in natural phytoplankton populations dominated by C. acidophila. We measured NIFT responses after a Pi- or a CO2-spike in C. acidophila batch cultures at various stages of Pi and inorganic C limitation. Significant NIFTs were observed in response to spikes in both nutrients. The NIFT response to a Pi-spike showed a strong negative correlation with cellular P:C ratio that was pronounced below 3 mmol P: mol C (equivalent to 0.2 pg P cell(-1)). Both cellular P and C content influenced the extent of the Pi-NIFT response. The NIFT response to a CO2-spike correlated to low CO2 culturing conditions and also had a negative correlation with cellular P content. A secondary response within the Pi-NIFT response was related to the CO2 concentration and potentially reflected co-limitation. In conclusion, NIFTs provided a quick and reliable method to detect the growth-limiting nutrient in an extremophile green alga, under Pi-, CO2- and Pi/CO2 (co-)limited growth conditions. KW - acidophile KW - Chlamydomonas KW - CO2 concentrating mechanism KW - CO2 limitation KW - extremophile KW - nutrient limitation KW - photosynthesis response KW - phytoplankton KW - stoichiometry Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/09670262.2015.1095355 SN - 0967-0262 SN - 1469-4433 VL - 51 SP - 47 EP - 58 PB - Hindawi CY - Abingdon ER - TY - THES A1 - Brzezinka, Magdalena T1 - Investigation of novel proteins and polysaccharides associated with coccoliths of Emiliania huxleyi Y1 - 2016 ER - TY - THES A1 - Rottstock, Tanja T1 - Effects of plant community diversity and composition on fungal pathogens in experimental grasslands Y1 - 2016 ER - TY - THES A1 - Barahimipour, Rouhollah T1 - Optimization of transgene expression in the nuclear genome of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and characterization of Chlamydomonas expression strains Y1 - 2016 ER - TY - THES A1 - Sviben, Sanja T1 - Calcite biomineralization in coccolithophores BT - new insights from ultrastructural and proteomic studies of Emiliania huxleyi Y1 - 2016 ER - TY - THES A1 - Armarego-Marriott, Tegan T1 - From dark to light BT - an overexpression and systems biology approach to investigate the development of functional thylakoid membranes Y1 - 2016 ER - TY - THES A1 - Prokopović, Vladimir Z. T1 - Light-triggered release of bioactive compounds from HA/PLL multilayer films for stimulation of cells T1 - Licht-induzierte Freisetzung von Biomolekülen aus Hyaluronsäure-Poly-L-Lysin-Schichten zur Stimulierung von Zellen N2 - The concept of targeting cells and tissues by controlled delivery of molecules is essential in the field of biomedicine. The layer-by-layer (LbL) technology for the fabrication of polymer multilayer films is widely implemented as a powerful tool to assemble tailor-made materials for controlled drug delivery. The LbL films can as well be engineered to act as mimics of the natural cellular microenvironment. Thus, due to the myriad possibilities such as controlled cellular adhesion and drug delivery offered by LbL films, it becomes easily achievable to direct the fate of cells by growing them on the films. The aim of this work was to develop an approach for non-invasive and precise control of the presentation of bioactive molecules to cells. The strategy is based on employment of the LbL films, which function as support for cells and at the same time as reservoirs for bioactive molecules to be released in a controlled manner. UV light is used to trigger the release of the stored ATP with high spatio-temporal resolution. Both physico-chemical (competitive intermolecular interactions in the film) and biological aspects (cellular response and viability) are addressed in this study. Biopolymers hyaluronic acid (HA) and poly-L-lysine (PLL) were chosen as the building blocks for the LbL film assembly. Poor cellular adhesion to native HA/PLL films as well as significant degradation by cells within a few days were shown. However, coating the films with gold nanoparticles not only improved cellular adhesion and protected the films from degradation, but also formed a size-exclusion barrier with adjustable cut-off in the size range of a few tens of kDa. The films were shown to have high reservoir capacity for small charged molecules (reaching mM levels in the film). Furthermore, they were able to release the stored molecules in a sustained manner. The loading and release are explained by a mechanism based on interactions between charges of the stored molecules and uncompensated charges of the biopolymers in the film. Charge balance and polymer dynamics in the film play the pivotal role. Finally, the concept of light-triggered release from the films has been proven using caged ATP loaded into the films from which ATP was released on demand. ATP induces a fast cellular response, i.e. increase in intracellular [Ca2+], which was monitored in real-time. Limitations of the cellular stimulation by the proposed approach are highlighted by studying the stimulation as a function of irradiation parameters (time, distance, light power). Moreover, caging molecules bind to the film stronger than ATP does, which opens new perspectives for the use of the most diverse chemical compounds as caging molecules. Employment of HA/PLL films as a nouvelle support for cellular growth and hosting of bioactive molecules, along with the possibility to stimulate individual cells using focused light renders this approach highly efficient and unique in terms of precision and spatio-temporal resolution among those previously described. With its high potential, the concept presented herein provides the foundation for the design of new intelligent materials for single cell studies, with the focus on tissue engineering, diagnostics, and other cell-based applications. N2 - Das Konzept des Targetings von Zellen und Geweben mittels kontrollierter Wirkstoffverabreichung ist im Bereich der Biomedizin unerlässlich. Die layer-by-layer (LbL) Technologie ist eine etablierte Methode für die Herstellung von Polyelektrolyt-Multischichten, um intelligente, maßgeschneiderte Materialien für eine kontrollierte Wirkstoffabgabe aufzubauen. Die LbL Filme können das Verhalten einer natürlichen zellulären Mikroumgebung nachahmen. Wegen der unzähligen Möglichkeiten dieser Filme sind nicht nur das Wachstum und die Beeinflussung der Zellen, sondern auch die kontrollierte Wirkstoffabgabe leicht umzusetzen. Das Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit war die Entwicklung eines nicht-invasiven Systems für die präzise Verabreichung von Biomolekülen an einzelne Zellen. Die Strategie beruht auf LbL Filmen, die einerseits als geeignete Oberfläche für das Zellwachstum dienen, andererseits aber auch die kontrollierte Abgabe von Biomolekülen ermöglichen. Die zeitlich und räumlich präzise Freisetzung von ATP wurde durch UV Bestrahlung eingeleitet/ausgelöst. Sowohl die physiko-chemischen als auch die biologischen Eigenschaften des Verfahrens wurden analysiert. Die LbL Filme wurden auf Basis der biokompatiblen Polymere Hyaluronsäure (HA) und Poly-L-Lysin (PLL) assembliert. Nach der Assemblierung waren die Filme zunächst zellabweisend und wurden von den Zellen innerhalb von ein paar Tagen abgebaut. Die Beschichtigung der Filme mit Gold-Nanopartikeln verbesserte nicht nur die Adhäsion der Zellen, sondern auch den Schutz gegen Abbau. Zudem wurde gezeigt, dass die Beschichtigung eine Molekulargewichtsausschlussgrenze mit verstellbarem cut-off in einem Bereich von nur einigen 10 kDa darstellt. Weiterhin wurde gezeigt, dass die Filme eine enorme Beladungskapazität aufweisen (bis hin zu einer Beladung im mM Bereich). Darüber hinaus konnten die Biomoleküle, die in diese Filme eingebettet wurden, langfristig und nachhaltig freigesetzt werden. Die Beladung und Freisetzung der Moleküle erfolgt durch die Interaktion zwischen eingebetteten Molekülen und freien Ladungen innerhalb des Polymerfilms. Das Ladungsverhältnis und die Polymerdynamik spielen dabei eine zentrale Rolle. Schließlich wurde gezeigt, dass die in Filmen eingebetteten caged-ATP Moleküle gezielt durch einen Laser freigesetzt werden können. ATP verursacht die schnelle zelluläre Antwort durch den Anstieg von intrazellulären Ca2+-Ionen, der in Echtzeit beobachtet werden kann. Um die Limitierungen dieses Ansatzes bei der zellulären Stimulation hervorzuheben, wurden verschiedene Bestrahlungsparameter (Zeit, Abstand, Laserleistung) analysiert. Außerdem binden viele caging-Moleküle stärker an die Polymerfilme als ATP, wodurch eine Vielzahl von chemischen Verbindungen als geeignete Moleküle für die Caging zur Verfügung stehen. Der Einsatz von HA/PLL Filmen als neue Oberfläche für Zellwachstum und als Reservoire für die Einbettung bioaktiver Moleküle samt der Möglichkeit einzelne Zellen mittels fokussierter Laserbestrahlung anzuregen, machen die Methode hoch effizient und einzigartig. Die Vorteile dieser Methode kommen durch die zeitliche und räumliche Präzision zustande. In Zukunft kann das in dieser Arbeit beschriebene Konzept für den Entwurf neuer Materialien für Untersuchungen mit einzelnen Zellen eingesetzt werden; mit dem Fokus auf Tissue Engineering, Diagnostik und anderen Zell- und biomedizinisch-basierten Applikationen. KW - multilayer films KW - light-triggered KW - stimulation of cells KW - drug release KW - Polyelektrolyt-Multischichten KW - Licht-induzierte KW - kontrollierte Freisetzung von Biomolekülen KW - Stimulierung von Zellen Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-97927 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Cui, Huanhuan A1 - Schlesinger, Jenny A1 - Schoenhals, Sophia A1 - Toenjes, Martje A1 - Dunkel, Ilona A1 - Meierhofer, David A1 - Cano, Elena A1 - Schulz, Kerstin A1 - Berger, Michael F. A1 - Haack, Timm A1 - Abdelilah-Seyfried, Salim A1 - Bulyk, Martha L. A1 - Sauer, Sascha A1 - Sperling, Silke R. T1 - Phosphorylation of the chromatin remodeling factor DPF3a induces cardiac hypertrophy through releasing HEY repressors from DNA JF - Nucleic acids research N2 - DPF3 (BAF45c) is a member of the BAF chromatin remodeling complex. Two isoforms have been described, namely DPF3a and DPF3b. The latter binds to acetylated and methylated lysine residues of histones. Here, we elaborate on the role of DPF3a and describe a novel pathway of cardiac gene transcription leading to pathological cardiac hypertrophy. Upon hypertrophic stimuli, casein kinase 2 phosphorylates DPF3a at serine 348. This initiates the interaction of DPF3a with the transcriptional repressors HEY, followed by the release of HEY from the DNA. Moreover, BRG1 is bound by DPF3a, and is thus recruited to HEY genomic targets upon interaction of the two components. Consequently, the transcription of downstream targets such as NPPA and GATA4 is initiated and pathological cardiac hypertrophy is established. In human, DPF3a is significantly up-regulated in hypertrophic hearts of patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy or aortic stenosis. Taken together, we show that activation of DPF3a upon hypertrophic stimuli switches cardiac fetal gene expression from being silenced by HEY to being activated by BRG1. Thus, we present a novel pathway for pathological cardiac hypertrophy, whose inhibition is a long-term therapeutic goal for the treatment of the course of heart failure. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkv1244 SN - 0305-1048 SN - 1362-4962 VL - 44 SP - 2538 EP - 2553 PB - Oxford Univ. Press CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - de Vinuesa, Amaya Garcia A1 - Abdelilah-Seyfried, Salim A1 - Knaus, Petra A1 - Zwijsen, An A1 - Bailly, Sabine T1 - BMP signaling in vascular biology and dysfunction JF - New journal of physics : the open-access journal for physics N2 - The vascular system is critical for developmental growth, tissue homeostasis and repair but also for tumor development. Bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling has recently emerged as a fundamental pathway of the endothelium by regulating cardiovascular and lymphatic development and by being causative for several vascular dysfunctions. Two vascular disorders have been directly linked to impaired BMP signaling: pulmonary arterial hypertension and hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia. Endothelial BMP signaling critically depends on the cellular context, which includes among others vascular heterogeneity, exposure to flow, and the intertwining with other signaling cascades (Notch, WNT, Hippo and hypoxia). The purpose of this review is to highlight the most recent findings illustrating the clear need for reconsidering the role of BMPs in vascular biology. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. KW - Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMP) KW - Signaling KW - Vasculature KW - Development KW - Disease Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cytogfr.2015.12.005 SN - 1359-6101 SN - 1879-0305 VL - 27 SP - 65 EP - 79 PB - Elsevier CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Haack, Timm A1 - Abdelilah-Seyfried, Salim T1 - The force within: endocardial development, mechanotransduction and signalling during cardiac morphogenesis JF - Development : Company of Biologists N2 - Endocardial cells are cardiac endothelial cells that line the interior of the heart tube. Historically, their contribution to cardiac development has mainly been considered from a morphological perspective. However, recent studies have begun to define novel instructive roles of the endocardium, as a sensor and signal transducer of biophysical forces induced by blood flow, and as an angiocrine signalling centre that is involved in myocardial cellular morphogenesis, regeneration and reprogramming. In this Review, we discuss how the endocardium develops, how endocardial-myocardial interactions influence the developing embryonic heart, and how the dysregulation of blood flowresponsive endocardial signalling can result in pathophysiological changes. KW - Endocardium KW - Cardiac development KW - Hemodynamics KW - Bmp KW - Kruppel-like factor 2 KW - Vegf KW - Mechanotransduction KW - Zebrafish KW - Mouse Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.131425 SN - 0950-1991 SN - 1477-9129 VL - 143 SP - 373 EP - 386 PB - Company of Biologists Limited CY - Cambridge ER - TY - JOUR A1 - ´Cwiek-Kupczynska, Hanna A1 - Altmann, Thomas A1 - Arend, Daniel A1 - Arnaud, Elizabeth A1 - Chen, Dijun A1 - Cornut, Guillaume A1 - Fiorani, Fabio A1 - Frohmberg, Wojciech A1 - Junker, Astrid A1 - Klukas, Christian A1 - Lange, Matthias A1 - Mazurek, Cezary A1 - Nafissi, Anahita A1 - Neveu, Pascal A1 - van Oeveren, Jan A1 - Pommier, Cyril A1 - Poorter, Hendrik A1 - Rocca-Serra, Philippe A1 - Sansone, Susanna-Assunta A1 - Scholz, Uwe A1 - van Schriek, Marco A1 - Seren, Ümit A1 - Usadel, Bjorn A1 - Weise, Stephan A1 - Kersey, Paul A1 - Krajewski, Pawel T1 - Measures for interoperability of phenotypic data: minimum information requirements and formatting JF - Plant Methods N2 - Background: Plant phenotypic data shrouds a wealth of information which, when accurately analysed and linked to other data types, brings to light the knowledge about the mechanisms of life. As phenotyping is a field of research comprising manifold, diverse and time-consuming experiments, the findings can be fostered by reusing and combining existing datasets. Their correct interpretation, and thus replicability, comparability and interoperability, is possible provided that the collected observations are equipped with an adequate set of metadata. So far there have been no common standards governing phenotypic data description, which hampered data exchange and reuse. Results: In this paper we propose the guidelines for proper handling of the information about plant phenotyping experiments, in terms of both the recommended content of the description and its formatting. We provide a document called "Minimum Information About a Plant Phenotyping Experiment", which specifies what information about each experiment should be given, and a Phenotyping Configuration for the ISA-Tab format, which allows to practically organise this information within a dataset. We provide examples of ISA-Tab-formatted phenotypic data, and a general description of a few systems where the recommendations have been implemented. Conclusions: Acceptance of the rules described in this paper by the plant phenotyping community will help to achieve findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable data. KW - Data standardisation and formatting KW - Experimental metadata KW - Minimum information recommendations KW - Plant phenotyping KW - Experiment description Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1186/s13007-016-0144-4 SN - 1746-4811 VL - 12 PB - BioMed Central CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Yan, Wenhao A1 - Chen, Dijun A1 - Kaufmann, Kerstin T1 - Efficient multiplex mutagenesis by RNA-guided Cas9 and its use in the characterization of regulatory elements in the AGAMOUS gene JF - Plant methods N2 - Background The efficiency of multiplex editing in plants by the RNA-guided Cas9 system is limited by efficient introduction of its components into the genome and by their activity. The possibility of introducing large fragment deletions by RNA-guided Cas9 tool provides the potential to study the function of any DNA region of interest in its ‘endogenous’ environment. Results Here, an RNA-guided Cas9 system was optimized to enable efficient multiplex editing in Arabidopsis thaliana. We demonstrate the flexibility of our system for knockout of multiple genes, and to generate heritable large-fragment deletions in the genome. As a proof of concept, the function of part of the second intron of the flower development gene AGAMOUS in Arabidopsis was studied by generating a Cas9-free mutant plant line in which part of this intron was removed from the genome. Further analysis revealed that deletion of this intron fragment results 40 % decrease of AGAMOUS gene expression without changing the splicing of the gene which indicates that this regulatory region functions as an activator of AGAMOUS gene expression. Conclusions Our modified RNA-guided Cas9 system offers a versatile tool for the functional dissection of coding and non-coding DNA sequences in plants. KW - RNA-guided Cas9 KW - Multiplex mutagenesis KW - Large fragment deletion KW - Germline transmission Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1186/s13007-016-0125-7 SN - 1746-4811 VL - 12 SP - 1 EP - 9 PB - BioMed Central CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Yan, Wenhao A1 - Chen, Dijun A1 - Kaufmann, Kerstin T1 - Efficient multiplex mutagenesis by RNA-guided Cas9 and its use in the characterization of regulatory elements in the AGAMOUS gene JF - Plant Methods N2 - Results: Here, an RNA-guided Cas9 system was optimized to enable efficient multiplex editing in Arabidopsis thaliana. We demonstrate the flexibility of our system for knockout of multiple genes, and to generate heritable large-fragment deletions in the genome. As a proof of concept, the function of part of the second intron of the flower development gene AGAMOUS in Arabidopsis was studied by generating a Cas9-free mutant plant line in which part of this intron was removed from the genome. Further analysis revealed that deletion of this intron fragment results 40 % decrease of AGAMOUS gene expression without changing the splicing of the gene which indicates that this regulatory region functions as an activator of AGAMOUS gene expression. Conclusions: Our modified RNA-guided Cas9 system offers a versatile tool for the functional dissection of coding and non-coding DNA sequences in plants. KW - RNA-guided Cas9 KW - Multiplex mutagenesis KW - Large fragment deletion KW - Germline transmission Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1186/s13007-016-0125-7 SN - 1746-4811 VL - 12 SP - 2381 EP - 2389 PB - BioMed Central CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Yan, Wenhao A1 - Chen, Dijun A1 - Kaufmann, Kerstin T1 - Molecular mechanisms of floral organ specification by MADS domain proteins JF - Current opinion in plant biology N2 - Flower development is a model system to understand organ specification in plants. The identities of different types of floral organs are specified by homeotic MADS transcription factors that interact in a combinatorial fashion. Systematic identification of DNA-binding sites and target genes of these key regulators show that they have shared and unique sets of target genes. DNA binding by MADS proteins is not based on ‘simple’ recognition of a specific DNA sequence, but depends on DNA structure and combinatorial interactions. Homeotic MADS proteins regulate gene expression via alternative mechanisms, one of which may be to modulate chromatin structure and accessibility in their target gene promoters. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pbi.2015.12.004 SN - 1369-5266 SN - 1879-0356 VL - 29 SP - 154 EP - 162 PB - Elsevier CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Memczak, Henry A1 - Lauster, Daniel A1 - Kar, Parimal A1 - Di Lella, Santiago A1 - Volkmer, Rudolf A1 - Knecht, Volker A1 - Herrmann, Andreas A1 - Ehrentreich-Foerster, Eva A1 - Bier, Frank Fabian A1 - Stoecklein, Walter F. M. T1 - Anti-Hemagglutinin Antibody Derived Lead Peptides for Inhibitors of Influenza Virus Binding JF - PLoS one N2 - Antibodies against spike proteins of influenza are used as a tool for characterization of viruses and therapeutic approaches. However, development, production and quality control of antibodies is expensive and time consuming. To circumvent these difficulties, three peptides were derived from complementarity determining regions of an antibody heavy chain against influenza A spike glycoprotein. Their binding properties were studied experimentally, and by molecular dynamics simulations. Two peptide candidates showed binding to influenza A/Aichi/2/68 H3N2. One of them, termed PeB, with the highest affinity prevented binding to and infection of target cells in the micromolar region without any cytotoxic effect. PeB matches best the conserved receptor binding site of hemagglutinin. PeB bound also to other medical relevant influenza strains, such as human-pathogenic A/California/7/2009 H1N1, and avian-pathogenic A/MuteSwan/Rostock/R901/2006 H7N1. Strategies to improve the affinity and to adapt specificity are discussed and exemplified by a double amino acid substituted peptide, obtained by substitutional analysis. The peptides and their derivatives are of great potential for drug development as well as biosensing. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0159074 SN - 1932-6203 VL - 11 SP - 82 EP - 90 PB - PLoS CY - San Fransisco ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Connor, Daniel Oliver A1 - Zantow, Jonas A1 - Hust, Michael A1 - Bier, Frank Fabian A1 - von Nickisch-Rosenegk, Markus T1 - Identification of Novel Immunogenic Proteins of Neisseria gonorrhoeae by Phage Display JF - PLoS one N2 - Neisseria gonorrhoeae is one of the most prevalent sexually transmitted diseases worldwide with more than 100 million new infections per year. A lack of intense research over the last decades and increasing resistances to the recommended antibiotics call for a better understanding of gonococcal infection, fast diagnostics and therapeutic measures against N. gonorrhoeae. Therefore, the aim of this work was to identify novel immunogenic proteins as a first step to advance those unresolved problems. For the identification of immunogenic proteins, pHORF oligopeptide phage display libraries of the entire N. gonorrhoeae genome were constructed. Several immunogenic oligopeptides were identified using polyclonal rabbit antibodies against N. gonorrhoeae. Corresponding full-length proteins of the identified oligopeptides were expressed and their immunogenic character was verified by ELISA. The immunogenic character of six proteins was identified for the first time. Additional 13 proteins were verified as immunogenic proteins in N. gonorrhoeae. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0148986 SN - 1932-6203 VL - 11 PB - PLoS CY - San Fransisco ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bader, Denise A1 - Klier, Dennis Tobias A1 - Hettrich, C. A1 - Bier, Frank Fabian A1 - Wessig, Pablo T1 - Detecting carbohydrate-lectin interactions using a fluorescent probe based on DBD dyes JF - Analytical methods : advancing methods and applications N2 - Herein we present an efficient synthesis of a biomimetic probe with modular construction that can be specifically bound by the mannose binding FimH protein - a surface adhesion protein of E. coli bacteria. The synthesis combines the new and interesting DBD dye with the carbohydrate ligand mannose via a Click reaction. We demonstrate the binding to E. coli bacteria over a large concentration range and also present some special characteristics of those molecules that are of particular interest for the application as a biosensor. In particular, the mix-and-measure ability and the very good photo-stability should be highlighted here. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1039/c5ay02991k SN - 1759-9660 SN - 1759-9679 VL - 8 SP - 1235 EP - 1238 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry CY - Cambridge ER - TY - GEN A1 - Zancolli, Giulia A1 - Baker, Timothy G. A1 - Barlow, Axel A1 - Bradley, Rebecca K. A1 - Calvete, Juan J. A1 - Carter, Kimberley C. A1 - de Jager, Kaylah A1 - Owens, John Benjamin A1 - Price, Jenny Forrester A1 - Sanz, Libia A1 - Scholes-Higham, Amy A1 - Shier, Liam A1 - Wood, Liam A1 - Wüster, Catharine E. A1 - Wüster, Wolfgang T1 - Is hybridization a source of adaptive venom variation in rattlesnakes? BT - a test, using a crotalus scutulatus × viridis hybrid zone in southwestern New Mexico T2 - Toxins N2 - Venomous snakes often display extensive variation in venom composition both between and within species. However, the mechanisms underlying the distribution of different toxins and venom types among populations and taxa remain insufficiently known. Rattlesnakes (Crotalus, Sistrurus) display extreme inter-and intraspecific variation in venom composition, centered particularly on the presence or absence of presynaptically neurotoxic phospholipases A2 such as Mojave toxin (MTX). Interspecific hybridization has been invoked as a mechanism to explain the distribution of these toxins across rattlesnakes, with the implicit assumption that they are adaptively advantageous. Here, we test the potential of adaptive hybridization as a mechanism for venom evolution by assessing the distribution of genes encoding the acidic and basic subunits of Mojave toxin across a hybrid zone between MTX-positive Crotalus scutulatus and MTX-negative C. viridis in southwestern New Mexico, USA. Analyses of morphology, mitochondrial and single copy-nuclear genes document extensive admixture within a narrow hybrid zone. The genes encoding the two MTX subunits are strictly linked, and found in most hybrids and backcrossed individuals, but not in C. viridis away from the hybrid zone. Presence of the genes is invariably associated with presence of the corresponding toxin in the venom. We conclude that introgression of highly lethal neurotoxins through hybridization is not necessarily favored by natural selection in rattlesnakes, and that even extensive hybridization may not lead to introgression of these genes into another species. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 443 KW - adaptation KW - Crotalus KW - evolution KW - hybridization KW - introgression KW - Mojave toxin KW - molecular evolution KW - venom Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-407595 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zancolli, Giulia A1 - Baker, Timothy G. A1 - Barlow, Axel A1 - Bradley, Rebecca K. A1 - Calvete, Juan J. A1 - Carter, Kimberley C. A1 - de Jager, Kaylah A1 - Owens, John Benjamin A1 - Price, Jenny Forrester A1 - Sanz, Libia A1 - Scholes-Higham, Amy A1 - Shier, Liam A1 - Wood, Liam A1 - Wüster, Catharine E. A1 - Wüster, Wolfgang T1 - Is Hybridization a Source of Adaptive Venom Variation in Rattlesnakes? A Test, Using a Crotalus scutulatus x viridis Hybrid Zone in Southwestern New Mexico JF - Toxins N2 - Venomous snakes often display extensive variation in venom composition both between and within species. However, the mechanisms underlying the distribution of different toxins and venom types among populations and taxa remain insufficiently known. Rattlesnakes (Crotalus, Sistrurus) display extreme inter-and intraspecific variation in venom composition, centered particularly on the presence or absence of presynaptically neurotoxic phospholipases A2 such as Mojave toxin (MTX). Interspecific hybridization has been invoked as a mechanism to explain the distribution of these toxins across rattlesnakes, with the implicit assumption that they are adaptively advantageous. Here, we test the potential of adaptive hybridization as a mechanism for venom evolution by assessing the distribution of genes encoding the acidic and basic subunits of Mojave toxin across a hybrid zone between MTX-positive Crotalus scutulatus and MTX-negative C. viridis in southwestern New Mexico, USA. Analyses of morphology, mitochondrial and single copy-nuclear genes document extensive admixture within a narrow hybrid zone. The genes encoding the two MTX subunits are strictly linked, and found in most hybrids and backcrossed individuals, but not in C. viridis away from the hybrid zone. Presence of the genes is invariably associated with presence of the corresponding toxin in the venom. We conclude that introgression of highly lethal neurotoxins through hybridization is not necessarily favored by natural selection in rattlesnakes, and that even extensive hybridization may not lead to introgression of these genes into another species. KW - adaptation KW - Crotalus KW - evolution KW - hybridization KW - introgression KW - Mojave toxin KW - molecular evolution KW - venom Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins8060188 SN - 2072-6651 VL - 8 PB - MDPI CY - Basel ER - TY - JOUR A1 - González-Fortes, Gloria M. A1 - Kolbe, Ben A1 - Fernandes, Daniel A1 - Meleg, Ioana N. A1 - Garcia-Vazquez, Ana A1 - Pinto-Llona, Ana C. A1 - Constantin, Silviu A1 - de Torres, Trino J. A1 - Ortiz, Jose E. A1 - Frischauf, Christine A1 - Rabeder, Gernot A1 - Hofreiter, Michael A1 - Barlow, Axel T1 - Ancient DNA reveals differences in behaviour and sociality between brown bears and extinct cave bears JF - Molecular ecology N2 - Ancient DNA studies have revolutionized the study of extinct species and populations, providing insights on phylogeny, phylogeography, admixture and demographic history. However, inferences on behaviour and sociality have been far less frequent. Here, we investigate the complete mitochondrial genomes of extinct Late Pleistocene cave bears and middle Holocene brown bears that each inhabited multiple geographically proximate caves in northern Spain. In cave bears, we find that, although most caves were occupied simultaneously, each cave almost exclusively contains a unique lineage of closely related haplotypes. This remarkable pattern suggests extreme fidelity to their birth site in cave bears, best described as homing behaviour, and that cave bears formed stable maternal social groups at least for hibernation. In contrast, brown bears do not show any strong association of mitochondrial lineage and cave, suggesting that these two closely related species differed in aspects of their behaviour and sociality. This difference is likely to have contributed to cave bear extinction, which occurred at a time in which competition for caves between bears and humans was likely intense and the ability to rapidly colonize new hibernation sites would have been crucial for the survival of a species so dependent on caves for hibernation as cave bears. Our study demonstrates the potential of ancient DNA to uncover patterns of behaviour and sociality in ancient species and populations, even those that went extinct many tens of thousands of years ago. KW - ancient DNA KW - extinction KW - homing KW - sociality KW - Ursus arctos KW - Ursus spelaeus Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.13800 SN - 0962-1083 SN - 1365-294X VL - 25 SP - 4907 EP - 4918 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Foti, Alessandro A1 - Hartmann, Tobias A1 - Coelho, Catarina A1 - Santos-Silva, Teresa A1 - Romao, Maria Joao A1 - Leimkühler, Silke T1 - Optimization of the Expression of Human Aldehyde Oxidase for Investigations of Single-Nucleotide Polymorphisms JF - Drug metabolism and disposition : the biological fate of chemicals N2 - Aldehyde oxidase (AOX1) is an enzyme with broad substrate specificity, catalyzing the oxidation of a wide range of endogenous and exogenous aldehydes as well as N-heterocyclic aromatic compounds. In humans, the enzyme’s role in phase I drug metabolism has been established and its importance is now emerging. However, the true physiologic function of AOX1 in mammals is still unknown. Further, numerous single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have been identified in human AOX1. SNPs are a major source of interindividual variability in the human population, and SNP-based amino acid exchanges in AOX1 reportedly modulate the catalytic function of the enzyme in either a positive or negative fashion. For the reliable analysis of the effect of amino acid exchanges in human proteins, the existence of reproducible expression systems for the production of active protein in ample amounts for kinetic, spectroscopic, and crystallographic studies is required. In our study we report an optimized expression system for hAOX1 in Escherichia coli using a codon-optimized construct. The codon-optimization resulted in an up to 15-fold increase of protein production and a simplified purification procedure. The optimized expression system was used to study three SNPs that result in amino acid changes C44W, G1269R, and S1271L. In addition, the crystal structure of the S1271L SNP was solved. We demonstrate that the recombinant enzyme can be used for future studies to exploit the role of AOX in drug metabolism, and for the identification and synthesis of new drugs targeting AOX when combined with crystallographic and modeling studies. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1124/dmd.115.068395 SN - 0090-9556 SN - 1521-009X VL - 44 SP - 1277 EP - 1285 PB - American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics CY - Bethesda ER - TY - THES A1 - Connor, Daniel Oliver T1 - Identifikation und Charakterisierung neuer immunogener Proteine und anschließende Generierung rekombinanter Antikörper mittels Phage Display T1 - Identification and characterisation of novel immunogenic proteins and subsequent generation of recombinant antibodies by phage display N2 - Seit der Einführung von Antibiotika in die medizinische Behandlung von bakteriellen Infektionskrankheiten existiert ein Wettlauf zwischen der Evolution von Bakterienresistenzen und der Entwicklung wirksamer Antibiotika. Während bis in die 80er Jahre verstärkt an neuen Antibiotika geforscht wurde, gewinnen multiresistente Keime heute zunehmend die Oberhand. Um einzelne Pathogene erfolgreich nachzuweisen und zu bekämpfen, ist ein grundlegendes Wissen über den Erreger unumgänglich. Bakterielle Proteine, die bei einer Infektion vorrangig vom Immunsystem prozessiert und präsentiert werden, könnten für die Entwicklung von Impfstoffen oder gezielten Therapeutika nützlich sein. Auch für die Diagnostik wären diese immundominanten Proteine interessant. Allerdings herrscht ein Mangel an Wissen über spezifische Antigene vieler pathogener Bakterien, die eine eindeutige Diagnostik eines einzelnen Erregers erlauben würden. Daher wurden in dieser Arbeit vier verschiedene Humanpathogene mittels Phage Display untersucht: Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Neisseria meningitidis, Borrelia burgdorferi und Clostridium difficile. Hierfür wurden aus der genomischen DNA der vier Erreger Bibliotheken konstruiert und durch wiederholte Selektion und Amplifikation, dem sogenannten Panning, immunogene Proteine isoliert. Für alle Erreger bis auf C. difficile wurden immunogene Proteine aus den jeweiligen Bibliotheken isoliert. Die identifizierten Proteine von N. meningitidis und B. burgdorferi waren größtenteils bekannt, konnten aber in dieser Arbeit durch Phage Display verifiziert werden. Für N. gonorrhoeae wurden 21 potentiell immunogene Oligopeptide isoliert, von denen sechs Proteine als neue zuvor unbeschriebene Proteine mit immunogenem Charakter identifiziert wurden. Von den Phagen-präsentierten Oligopeptide der 21 immunogenen Proteine wurden Epitopmappings mit verschiedenen polyklonalen Antikörpern durchgeführt, um immunogene Bereiche näher zu identifizieren und zu charakterisieren. Bei zehn Proteinen wurden lineare Epitope eindeutig mit drei polyklonalen Antikörpern identifiziert, von fünf weiteren Proteinen waren Epitope mit mindestens einem Antikörper detektierbar. Für eine weitere Charakterisierung der ermittelten Epitope wurden Alaninscans durchgeführt, die eine detaillierte Auskunft über kritische Aminosäuren für die Bindung des Antikörpers an das Epitop geben. Ausgehend von dem neu identifizierten Protein mit immunogenem Charakter NGO1634 wurden 26 weitere Proteine aufgrund ihrer funktionellen Ähnlichkeit ausgewählt und mithilfe bioinformatischer Analysen auf ihre Eignung zur Entwicklung einer diagnostischen Anwendung analysiert. Durch Ausschluss der meisten Proteine aufgrund ihrer Lokalisation, Membrantopologie oder unspezifischen Proteinsequenz wurden scFv-Antikörper gegen acht Proteine mittels Phage Display generiert und anschließend als scFv-Fc-Fusionsantikörper produziert und charakterisiert. Die hier identifizierten Proteine und linearen Epitope könnten einen Ansatzpunkt für die Entwicklung einer diagnostischen oder therapeutischen Anwendung bieten. Lineare Epitopsequenzen werden häufig für die Impfstoffentwicklung eingesetzt, sodass vor allem die in dieser Arbeit bestimmten Epitope von Membranproteinen interessante Kandidaten für weitere Untersuchungen in diese Richtung sind. Durch weitere Untersuchungen könnten möglicherweise unbekannte Virulenzfaktoren entdeckt werden, deren Inhibierung einen entscheidenden Einfluss auf Infektionen haben könnten. N2 - Since the advent of antibiotics into the field of medical therapy of bacterial infections, there has been a battle of effective antibiotics and the everlasting evolution of bacterial resistances. Until the 1980s many antibiotics were developed after invention of the first applied antibiotic penicillin in 1946. Since then, antibiotic research has been largely neglected resulting in the evolution of numerous strains from different bacteria with multiple resistances to available antibiotics. Therefore, extensive knowledge of a pathogen is crucial to detect and fight a particular disease. Hence, proteins that are processed and presented preferentially by the immune system during an infection could be beneficial for the development of vaccines and targeted therapeutic agents. Furthermore, immunodominant proteins could be interesting for the development of a diagnostic tool. However, many potential antigen targets of most pathogenic bacteria are still unknown. On this account, four human pathogens were examined in this work utilising phage display: Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Neisseria meningitidis, Borrelia burgdorferi und Clostridium difficile. Phage libraries were constructed from genomic DNA of the four pathogens. These libraries were used to isolate immunogenic proteins by panning through repetitive rounds of selection and amplification. Immunogenic proteins were successfully isolated for all pathogens except C. difficile. The identified proteins from N. meningitidis and B. burgdorferi had mostly been described before. However, they were verified by phage display in this work. Twenty-one potentially immunogenic oligopeptides were isolated from the N. gonorrhoeae library. Six of those were identified as novel proteins with an immunogenic character and validated also as full length proteins. Epitope mappings were conducted for all of the 21 phage presented oligopeptides with different polyclonal antibodies to identify and characterise the immunogenic regions. Linear epitopes were found unambiguously for ten proteins with the three applied antibodies. In addition, epitopes for five proteins were identified with at least one antibody. The determined epitopes were then further characterized by alanine scans to investigate the impact of each individual amino acid on the binding of the antibody to the antigen’s epitope. Based on the novel identified immunogenic protein NGO1634, 26 additional proteins were selected due to their functional resemblance. These proteins were analysed with bioinformatic tools and amongst others checked for their localisation, membrane topology and conservation of their protein sequence. Finally, scFv antibody fragments were isolated from a phage display library (HAL9/10) against eight proteins. The best antibodies were then produced as scFv-Fc fusion antibodies and their binding behaviour was further characterised. The identified proteins and linear epitopes could serve as a starting point for the development of diagnostic or therapeutic tools. Further studies could unveil unknown virulence factors. Inhibition of those virulence factors could possibly have a vital impact on countering infections. Furthermore, linear epitopes are commonly used for vaccine development. Novel epitopes of membrane proteins could be interesting candidates for further immunization studies. KW - Immunogene Proteine KW - Phage Display KW - Rekombinante Antikörper KW - Neisseria gonorrhoeae KW - Neisseria meningitidis KW - Clostridium difficile KW - Borrelia burgdorferi KW - Epitopmapping KW - Immunogenic Proteins KW - Recombinant Antibodies KW - Epitope mapping KW - Phage Display KW - Neisseria gonorrhoeae KW - Neisseria meningitidis KW - Clostridium difficile KW - Borrelia burgdorferi Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-104120 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Correia, Marcia A. S. A1 - Otrelo-Cardoso, Ana Rita A1 - Schwuchow, Viola A1 - Clauss, Kajsa G. V. Sigfridsson A1 - Haumann, Michael A1 - Romao, Maria Joao A1 - Leimkühler, Silke A1 - Santos-Silva, Teresa T1 - The Escherichia coli Periplasmic Aldehyde Oxidoreductase Is an Exceptional Member of the Xanthine Oxidase Family of Molybdoenzymes JF - ACS chemical biology N2 - The xanthine oxidase (XO) family comprises molybdenum-dependent enzymes that usually form homodimers (or dimers of heterodimers/trimers) organized in three domains that harbor two [2Fe-2S] clusters, one FAD, and a Mo cofactor. In this work, we crystallized an unusual member of the family, the periplasmic aldehyde oxidoreductase PaoABC from Escherichia coli. This is the first example of an E. coli protein containing a molybdopterin-cytosine-dinucleotide cofactor and is the only heterotrimer of the XO family so far structurally characterized. The crystal structure revealed the presence of an unexpected [4Fe-4S] cluster, anchored to an additional 40 residues subdomain. According to phylogenetic analysis, proteins containing this cluster are widely spread in many bacteria phyla, putatively through repeated gene transfer events. The active site of PaoABC is highly exposed to the surface with no aromatic residues and an arginine (PaoC-R440) making a direct interaction with PaoC-E692, which acts as a base catalyst. In order to understand the importance of R440, kinetic assays were carried out, and the crystal structure of the PaoC-R440H variant was also determined. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/acschembio.6b00572 SN - 1554-8929 SN - 1554-8937 VL - 11 SP - 2923 EP - 2935 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Terao, Mineko A1 - Romao, Maria Joao A1 - Leimkühler, Silke A1 - Bolis, Marco A1 - Fratelli, Maddalena A1 - Coelho, Catarina A1 - Santos-Silva, Teresa A1 - Garattini, Enrico T1 - Structure and function of mammalian aldehyde oxidases JF - Archives of toxicology : official journal of EUROTOX N2 - Mammalian aldehyde oxidases (AOXs; EC1.2.3.1) are a group of conserved proteins belonging to the family of molybdo-flavoenzymes along with the structurally related xanthine dehydrogenase enzyme. AOXs are characterized by broad substrate specificity, oxidizing not only aromatic and aliphatic aldehydes into the corresponding carboxylic acids, but also hydroxylating a series of heteroaromatic rings. The number of AOX isoenzymes expressed in different vertebrate species is variable. The two extremes are represented by humans, which express a single enzyme (AOX1) in many organs and mice or rats which are characterized by tissue-specific expression of four isoforms (AOX1, AOX2, AOX3, and AOX4). In vertebrates each AOX isoenzyme is the product of a distinct gene consisting of 35 highly conserved exons. The extant species-specific complement of AOX isoenzymes is the result of a complex evolutionary process consisting of a first phase characterized by a series of asynchronous gene duplications and a second phase where the pseudogenization and gene deletion events prevail. In the last few years remarkable advances in the elucidation of the structural characteristics and the catalytic mechanisms of mammalian AOXs have been made thanks to the successful crystallization of human AOX1 and mouse AOX3. Much less is known about the physiological function and physiological substrates of human AOX1 and other mammalian AOX isoenzymes, although the importance of these proteins in xenobiotic metabolism is fairly well established and their relevance in drug development is increasing. This review article provides an overview and a discussion of the current knowledge on mammalian AOX. KW - Aldehyde oxidase KW - Molybdo-flavoenzymes KW - Xanthine oxidoreductase KW - Drug metabolism Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00204-016-1683-1 SN - 0340-5761 SN - 1432-0738 VL - 90 SP - 753 EP - 780 PB - Springer CY - Heidelberg ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Rotics, Shay A1 - Kaatz, Michael A1 - Resheff, Yehezkel S. A1 - Turjeman, Sondra Feldman A1 - Zurell, Damaris A1 - Sapir, Nir A1 - Eggers, Ute A1 - Flack, Andrea A1 - Fiedler, Wolfgang A1 - Jeltsch, Florian A1 - Wikelski, Martin A1 - Nathan, Ran T1 - The challenges of the first migration: movement and behaviour of juvenile vs. adult white storks with insights regarding juvenile mortality JF - Journal of animal ecology : a journal of the British Ecological Society N2 - 1. Migration conveys an immense challenge, especially for juvenile birds coping with enduring and risky journeys shortly after fledging. Accordingly, juveniles exhibit considerably lower survival rates compared to adults, particularly during migration. Juvenile white storks (Ciconia ciconia), which are known to rely on adults during their first fall migration presumably for navigational purposes, also display much lower annual survival than adults. 2. Using detailed GPS and body acceleration data, we examined the patterns and potential causes of age-related differences in fall migration properties of white storks by comparing first-year juveniles and adults. We compared juvenile and adult parameters of movement, behaviour and energy expenditure (estimated from overall dynamic body acceleration) and placed this in the context of the juveniles’ lower survival rate. 3. Juveniles used flapping flight vs. soaring flight 23% more than adults and were estimated to expend 14% more energy during flight. Juveniles did not compensate for their higher flight costs by increased refuelling or resting during migration. When juveniles and adults migrated together in the same flock, the juvenile flew mostly behind the adult and was left behind when they separated. Juveniles showed greater improvement in flight efficiency throughout migration compared to adults which appears crucial because juveniles exhibiting higher flight costs suffered increased mortality. 4. Our findings demonstrate the conflict between the juveniles’ inferior flight skills and their urge to keep up with mixed adult–juvenile flocks. We suggest that increased flight costs are an important proximate cause of juvenile mortality in white storks and likely in other soaring migrants and that natural selection is operating on juvenile variation in flight efficiency. KW - flight KW - flight efficiency KW - juvenile mortality KW - migration KW - white stork Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.12525 SN - 0021-8790 SN - 1365-2656 VL - 85 SP - 938 EP - 947 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Tanski, George A1 - Couture, Nicole A1 - Lantuit, Hugues A1 - Eulenburg, Antje A1 - Fritz, Michael T1 - Eroding permafrost coasts release low amounts of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) from ground ice into the nearshore zone of the Arctic Ocean JF - Global biogeochemical cycles N2 - Ice-rich permafrost coasts in the Arctic are highly sensitive to climate warming and erode at a pace that exceeds the global average. Permafrost coasts deliver vast amounts of organic carbon into the nearshore zone of the Arctic Ocean. Numbers on flux exist for particulate organic carbon (POC) and total or soil organic carbon (TOC, SOC). However, they do not exist for dissolved organic carbon (DOC), which is known to be highly bioavailable. This study aims to estimate DOC stocks in coastal permafrost as well as the annual flux into the ocean. DOC concentrations in ground ice were analyzed along the ice-rich Yukon coast (YC) in the western Canadian Arctic. The annual DOC flux was estimated using available numbers for coast length, cliff height, annual erosion rate, and volumetric ice content in different stratigraphic horizons. Our results showed that DOC concentrations in ground ice range between 0.3 and 347.0mgL(-1) with an estimated stock of 13.63.0gm(-3) along the YC. An annual DOC flux of 54.90.9Mgyr(-1) was computed. These DOC fluxes are low compared to POC and SOC fluxes from coastal erosion or POC and DOC fluxes from Arctic rivers. We conclude that DOC fluxes from permafrost coasts play a secondary role in the Arctic carbon budget. However, this DOC is assumed to be highly bioavailable. We hypothesize that DOC from coastal erosion is important for ecosystems in the Arctic nearshore zones, particularly in summer when river discharge is low, and in areas where rivers are absent. KW - Arctic KW - permafrost KW - coastal erosion KW - biogeochemistry KW - carbon cycle Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/2015GB005337 SN - 0886-6236 SN - 1944-9224 VL - 30 SP - 1054 EP - 1068 PB - American Geophysical Union CY - Cambridge ER - TY - GEN A1 - Wessig, Pablo A1 - Bader, Denise A1 - Klier, Dennis Tobias A1 - Hettrich, Cornelia A1 - Bier, Frank Fabian T1 - Detecting carbohydrate–lectin interactions using a fluorescent probe based on DBD dyes N2 - Herein we present an efficient synthesis of a biomimetic probe with modular construction that can be specifically bound by the mannose binding FimH protein – a surface adhesion protein of E. coli bacteria. The synthesis combines the new and interesting DBD dye with the carbohydrate ligand mannose via a Click reaction. We demonstrate the binding to E. coli bacteria over a large concentration range and also present some special characteristics of those molecules that are of particular interest for the application as a biosensor. In particular, the mix-and-measure ability and the very good photo-stability should be highlighted here. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 314 KW - conformational-changes KW - green-i KW - protein KW - binding KW - assay Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-394382 SP - 1235 EP - 1238 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Cazelles, R. A1 - Lalaoui, N. A1 - Hartmann, Tobias A1 - Leimkühler, Silke A1 - Wollenberger, Ursula A1 - Antonietti, Markus A1 - Cosnier, S. T1 - Ready to use bioinformatics analysis as a tool to predict immobilisation strategies for protein direct electron transfer (DET) JF - Polymer : the international journal for the science and technology of polymers KW - Bioinformatic KW - Bioelectrocatalysis KW - Electron transfer KW - Dehydrogenase KW - Nicotinamide Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bios.2016.04.078 SN - 0956-5663 SN - 1873-4235 VL - 85 SP - 90 EP - 95 PB - Elsevier CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Roggenbuck, Dirk A1 - Borghi, Maria Orietta A1 - Somma, Valentina A1 - Buettner, Thomas A1 - Schierack, Peter A1 - Hanack, Katja A1 - Grossi, Claudia A1 - Bodio, Caterina A1 - Macor, Paolo A1 - von Landenberg, Philipp A1 - Boccellato, Francesco A1 - Mahler, Michael A1 - Meroni, Pier Luigi T1 - Antiphospholipid antibodies detected by line immunoassay differentiate among patients with antiphospholipid syndrome, with infections and asymptomatic carriers JF - IEEE transactions on geoscience and remote sensing N2 - Background: Antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) can be detected in asymptomatic carriers and infectious patients. The aim was to investigate whether a novel line immunoassay (LIA) differentiates between antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) and asymptomatic aPL+ carriers or patients with infectious diseases (infectious diseases controls (IDC)). Methods: Sixty-one patients with APS (56 primary, 22/56 with obstetric events only, and 5 secondary), 146 controls including 24 aPL+ asymptomatic carriers and 73 IDC were tested on a novel hydrophobic solid phase coated with cardiolipin (CL), phosphatic acid, phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylserine, beta2-glycoprotein I (beta 2GPI), prothrombin, and annexin V. Samples were also tested by anti-CL and anti-beta 2GPI ELISAs and for lupus anticoagulant activity. Human monoclonal antibodies (humoAbs) against human beta 2GPI or PL alone were tested on the same LIA substrates in the absence or presence of human serum, purified human beta 2GPI or after CL-micelle absorption. Results: Comparison of LIA with the aPL-classification assays revealed good agreement for IgG/IgM a beta 2GPI and aCL. Anti-CL and anti-beta 2GPI IgG/IgM reactivity assessed by LIA was significantly higher in patients with APS versus healthy controls and IDCs, as detected by ELISA. IgG binding to CL and beta 2GPI in the LIA was significantly lower in aPL+ carriers and Venereal Disease Research Laboratory test (VDRL) + samples than in patients with APS. HumoAb against domain 1 recognized beta 2GPI bound to the LIA-matrix and in anionic phospholipid (PL) complexes. Absorption with CL micelles abolished the reactivity of a PL-specific humoAb but did not affect the binding of anti-beta 2GPI humoAbs. Conclusions: The LIA and ELISA have good agreement in detecting aPL in APS, but the LIA differentiates patients with APS from infectious patients and asymptomatic carriers, likely through the exposure of domain 1. KW - Antiphospholipid syndrome KW - Antiphospholipid antibody KW - Phospholipid binding proteins KW - Beta2-glycoprotein I KW - Line immunoassay Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1186/s13075-016-1018-x SN - 1478-6354 SN - 1478-6362 VL - 18 PB - BioMed Central CY - London ER - TY - GEN A1 - Hanack, Katja A1 - Schloer, Anja A1 - Holzloehner, Pamela A1 - Listek, Martin A1 - Bauer, Cindy A1 - Butze, Monique A1 - Micheel, Burkhard A1 - Hentschel, Christian A1 - Sowa, Mandy A1 - Roggenbuck, Dirk A1 - Schierack, Peter A1 - Fuener, Jonas A1 - Schliebs, Erik A1 - Goihl, Alexander A1 - Reinhold, Dirk T1 - Camelid nanobodies specific to human pancreatic glycoprotein 2 T2 - The journal of immunology N2 - Pancreatic secretory zymogen-granule membrane glycoprotein 2 (GP2) has been identified to be a major autoantigenic target in Crohn’s disease patients. It was discussed recently that a long and a short isoform of GP2 exists whereas the short isoform is often detected by GP2-specific autoantibodies. In the outcome of inflammatory bowel diseases, these GP2-specific autoantibodies are discussed as new serological markers for diagnosis and therapeutic monitoring. To investigate this further, camelid nanobodies were generated by phage display and selected against the short isoform of GP2 in order to isolate specific tools for the discrimination of both isoforms. Nanobodies are single domain antibodies derived from camelid heavy chain only antibodies and characterized by a high stability and solubility. The selected candidates were expressed, purified and validated regarding their binding properties in different enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays formats, immunofluorescence, immunohistochemistry and surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy. Four different nanobodies could be selected whereof three recognize the short isoform of GP2 very specifically and one nanobody showed a high binding capacity for both isoforms. The KD values measured for all nanobodies were between 1.3 nM and 2.3 pM indicating highly specific binders suitable for the application as diagnostic tool in inflammatory bowel disease. Y1 - 2016 SN - 0022-1767 SN - 1550-6606 VL - 196 SP - 313 EP - 328 PB - American Assoc. of Immunologists CY - Bethesda ER - TY - GEN A1 - Maier, Natalia A1 - Holzlöhner, Pamela A1 - Hoenow, Anja A1 - Scheunemann, Astrid A1 - Weschke, Daniel A1 - Hanack, Katja T1 - Characterization of monoclonal antibodies generated by in vitro immunization T2 - The journal of immunology N2 - Monoclonal antibodies are highly valuable tools in biomedicine but the generation by hybridoma technology is very time-consuming and elaborate. In order to circumvent the consisting drawbacks an in vitro immunization approach was established by which murine as well as human monoclonal antibodies against a viral coat protein could be developed. The in vitro immunization process was performed by isolation of murine hematopoietic stem cells or human monocytes and an in vitro differentiation into immature dendritic cells. After antigen loading the cells were co-cultivated with naive T and B lymphocytes for three days in order to obtain antigen-specific B lymphocytes in culture, followed by fusion with murine myeloma cells or human/murine heteromyeloma cells. Antigen-specific hybridomas were selected and the generated antibodies were purified and characterized in this study by ELISA, western blot, gene sequencing, affinity measurements. Further the characteristics were compared to a monoclonal antibody against the same target generated by conventional hybridoma technology. Isotype detection revealed a murine IgM and a human IgG4 antibody in comparison to an IgG1 for the conventionally generated antibody. The antibodies derived from in vitro immunization showed indeed a lower affinity for the antigen as compared to the conventionally generated one, which is probably based on the significantly shorter B cell maturation (3 days) during the immunization process. Nevertheless, they were suitable for building up a sandwich based detection system. Therefore, the in vitro immunization approach seems to be a good and particularly fast alternative to conventional hybridoma technology. Y1 - 2016 SN - 0022-1767 SN - 1550-6606 VL - 196 PB - American Assoc. of Immunologists CY - Bethesda ER - TY - THES A1 - Maier, Natalia T1 - Aufbau eines Testsystems zum Nachweis von Ethylglucuronid (EtG) in Haaren Y1 - 2016 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Roggenbuck, Dirk A1 - Borghi, Maria Orietta A1 - Somma, Valentina A1 - Büttner, Thomas A1 - Schierack, Peter A1 - Hanack, Katja A1 - Grossi, Claudia A1 - Bodio, Caterina A1 - Macor, Paolo A1 - von Landenberg, Philipp A1 - Boccellato, Francesco A1 - Mahler, Michael A1 - Meroni, Pier Luigi T1 - Antiphospholipid antibodies detected by line immunoassay differentiate among patients with antiphospholipid syndrome, with infections and asymptomatic carriers T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - Background Antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) can be detected in asymptomatic carriers and infectious patients. The aim was to investigate whether a novel line immunoassay (LIA) differentiates between antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) and asymptomatic aPL+ carriers or patients with infectious diseases (infectious diseases controls (IDC)). Methods Sixty-one patients with APS (56 primary, 22/56 with obstetric events only, and 5 secondary), 146 controls including 24 aPL+ asymptomatic carriers and 73 IDC were tested on a novel hydrophobic solid phase coated with cardiolipin (CL), phosphatic acid, phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylserine, beta2-glycoprotein I (β2GPI), prothrombin, and annexin V. Samples were also tested by anti-CL and anti-β2GPI ELISAs and for lupus anticoagulant activity. Human monoclonal antibodies (humoAbs) against human β2GPI or PL alone were tested on the same LIA substrates in the absence or presence of human serum, purified human β2GPI or after CL-micelle absorption. Results Comparison of LIA with the aPL-classification assays revealed good agreement for IgG/IgM aß2GPI and aCL. Anti-CL and anti-ß2GPI IgG/IgM reactivity assessed by LIA was significantly higher in patients with APS versus healthy controls and IDCs, as detected by ELISA. IgG binding to CL and ß2GPI in the LIA was significantly lower in aPL+ carriers and Venereal Disease Research Laboratory test (VDRL) + samples than in patients with APS. HumoAb against domain 1 recognized β2GPI bound to the LIA-matrix and in anionic phospholipid (PL) complexes. Absorption with CL micelles abolished the reactivity of a PL-specific humoAb but did not affect the binding of anti-β2GPI humoAbs. Conclusions The LIA and ELISA have good agreement in detecting aPL in APS, but the LIA differentiates patients with APS from infectious patients and asymptomatic carriers, likely through the exposure of domain 1. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 436 KW - Antiphospholipid syndrome KW - Antiphospholipid antibody KW - Phospholipid binding proteins KW - Beta2 - glycoprotein I KW - Line immunoassay Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-407211 SN - 1866-8372 IS - 436 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Holzlöhner, Pamela A1 - Butze, Monique A1 - Hebel, Nicole A1 - Weschke, Daniel A1 - Schliebs, E. A1 - Naumann, F. A1 - Füner, J. A1 - Micheel, Burkhard A1 - Hanack, Katja T1 - Monoclonal mouse antibodies against PBMC subpopulations of New World camelides T2 - European journal of immunology Y1 - 2016 SN - 0014-2980 SN - 1521-4141 VL - 46 SP - 1175 EP - 1175 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schmidt, Carsten A1 - Roediger, Stefan A1 - Gruner, Melanie A1 - Moncsek, Anja A1 - Stohwasser, Ralf A1 - Hanack, Katja A1 - Schierack, Peter A1 - Schroeder, Christian T1 - Multiplex localization of sequential peptide epitopes by use of a planar microbead chip JF - Analytica chimica acta : an international journal devoted to all branches of analytical chemistry N2 - Epitope mapping is crucial for the characterization of protein-specific antibodies. Commonly, small overlapping peptides are chemically synthesized and immobilized to determine the specific peptide sequence. In this study, we report the use of a fast and inexpensive planar microbead chip for epitope mapping. We developed a generic strategy for expressing recombinant peptide libraries instead of using expensive synthetic peptide libraries. A biotin moiety was introduced in vivo at a defined peptide position using biotin ligase. Peptides in crude Escherichia coli lysate were coupled onto streptavidin-coated microbeads by incubation, thereby avoiding tedious purification procedures. For read-out we used a multiplex planar microbead chip with size- and fluorescence-encoded microbead populations. For epitope mapping, up to 18 populations of peptide-loaded microbeads (at least 20 microbeads per peptide) displaying the primary sequence of a protein were analyzed simultaneously. If an epitope was recognized by an antibody, a secondary fluorescence-labeled antibody generated a signal that was quantified, and the mean value of all microbeads in the population was calculated. We mapped the epitopes for rabbit anti-PA28 gamma (proteasome activator 28 gamma) polyclonal serum, for a murine monoclonal antibody against PA28 gamma, and for a murine monoclonal antibody against the hamster polyoma virus major capsid protein VP1 as models. In each case, the identification of one distinct peptide sequence out of up to 18 sequences was possible. Using this approach, an epitope can be mapped multiparametrically within three weeks. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. KW - Epitope mapping KW - In vivo biotinylation KW - Multiplexed assays KW - Microbeads KW - VideoScan technology Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aca.2015.12.030 SN - 0003-2670 SN - 1873-4324 VL - 908 SP - 150 EP - 160 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - GEN A1 - Rainford, James L. A1 - Hofreiter, Michael A1 - Mayhew, Peter J. T1 - Phylogenetic analyses suggest that diversification and body size evolution are independent in insects T2 - BMC evolutionary biology N2 - Background: Skewed body size distributions and the high relative richness of small-bodied taxa are a fundamental property of a wide range of animal clades. The evolutionary processes responsible for generating these distributions are well described in vertebrate model systems but have yet to be explored in detail for other major terrestrial clades. In this study, we explore the macro-evolutionary patterns of body size variation across families of Hexapoda (insects and their close relatives), using recent advances in phylogenetic understanding, with an aim to investigate the link between size and diversity within this ancient and highly diverse lineage. Results: The maximum, minimum and mean-log body lengths of hexapod families are all approximately log-normally distributed, consistent with previous studies at lower taxonomic levels, and contrasting with skewed distributions typical of vertebrate groups. After taking phylogeny and within-tip variation into account, we find no evidence for a negative relationship between diversification rate and body size, suggesting decoupling of the forces controlling these two traits. Likelihood-based modeling of the log-mean body size identifies distinct processes operating within Holometabola and Diptera compared with other hexapod groups, consistent with accelerating rates of size evolution within these clades, while as a whole, hexapod body size evolution is found to be dominated by neutral processes including significant phylogenetic conservatism. Conclusions: Based on our findings we suggest that the use of models derived from well-studied but atypical clades, such as vertebrates may lead to misleading conclusions when applied to other major terrestrial lineages. Our results indicate that within hexapods, and within the limits of current systematic and phylogenetic knowledge, insect diversification is generally unfettered by size-biased macro-evolutionary processes, and that these processes over large timescales tend to converge on apparently neutral evolutionary processes. We also identify limitations on available data within the clade and modeling approaches for the resolution of trees of higher taxa, the resolution of which may collectively enhance our understanding of this key component of terrestrial ecosystems. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 441 KW - body size KW - diversification KW - hexapoda KW - insects KW - phylogeny Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-407328 ER - TY - THES A1 - Matzk, Sören T1 - Predictive analysis of metabolic and preventive patient data T1 - Prädiktive Analyse metabolischer und präventiver Patienten Daten N2 - Every day huge amounts of medical records are stored by means of hospitals’ and medical offices’ software. These data are generally unconsidered in research. In this work anonymized everyday medical records ascertained in a physician’s office, cov- ering holistic internal medicine in combination with orthomolecular medicine, are analyzed. Due to the lack of cooperation by the provider of the medical practice software a selection of diagnoses and anthropometric parameters was extracted manually. Information about patients’ treatment are not available in this study. Nevertheless, data mining approaches in- cluding machine learning techniques are used to enable research, prevention and monitoring of patients’ course of treatment. The potential of these everyday medical data is demonstrated by investigating co-morbidity and pyroluria which is a metabolic dysfunction indicated by increased levels of hydroxy- hemopyrrolin-2-one (HPL). It points out that the metabolic syndrome forms a cluster of its components and cancer, as well as mental disorders are grouped with thyroid diseases including autoimmune thyroid diseases. In contrast to prevailing assumptions in which it was estimated that approximately 10 % of the population show increased levels of HPL, in this analysis 84.9 % of the tested patients have an increased concentration of HPL. Prevention is illustrated by using decision tree models to predict diseases. Evaluation of the obtained model for Hashimoto’s disease yield an accuracy of 87.5 %. The model generated for hypothyroidism (accuracy of 60.9 %) reveals shortcomings due to missing information about the treatment. Dynamics in the biomolecular status of 20 patients who have visited the medical office at least one time a year between 2010 and 2014 for laboratory tests are visualized by STATIS, a consensus analysis based on an extension to principal component analysis. Thereby, one can obtain patterns which are predestinated for specific diseases as hypertension. This study demonstrates that these often overlooked everyday data are challenging due to its sparsity and heterogeneity but its analysis is a great possibility to do research on disease profiles of real patients. N2 - Jeden Tag werden unzählige Mengen an medizinischen Patientendaten in Krankenhäusern und Arztpraxen digital gespeichert. Für Forschungszwecke werden diese Daten bisher größtenteils nicht verwendet. Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es täglich anfallende anonymisierte Patientendaten, die aus einer Praxis für ganzheitliche Innere Medizin stammen, zu analysieren. Aufgrund mangelnder Kooperation seitens des Anbieters der Praxissoftware konnten die Patientendaten nicht automatisch extrahiert werden. Daher wurde eine Auswahl an Diagnosen und anthropometrischen Parametern manuell in eine Datenbank übertragen. Informationen über die Behandlung wurden dabei nicht berücksichtigt. Data-Mining Verfahren ermöglichen die Forschung auf der Grundlage von alltäglichen Patientendaten. Durch die Anwendung maschinellen Lernens kann Präventionsmedizin und die Überwachung von Behandlungsverläufen unterstützt werden. Das Potenzial der Analyse dieser sonst weitgehend ungenutzten Daten wird anhand von Untersuchungen zur Komorbidität verdeutlicht. Dabei zeigt sich, dass einerseits das Metabolische Syndrom und dessen Komponenten zusammen mit Krebserkrankungen ein Cluster bilden und andererseits psychosomatische Störungen vermehrt mit Autoimmunerkrankungen der Schilddrüse auftreten. Außerdem wird eine noch nicht schulmedizinisch anerkannte Stoffwechselerkrankung, die Hämopyrrollaktamurie (HPU) untersucht. Diese lässt sich durch eine vermehrte Ausscheidung von Pyrrolen im Urin nachweisen. Bezüglich der Patienten bei denen ein HPU-Test vorliegt, weisen 84 % einen erhöhten Titer auf. Diese Beobachtung steht im Widerspruch zur vorherigen Annahme, dass in etwa 10 % der Bevölkerung von HPU betroffen sind. Präventives Handeln ermöglicht es Gesundheit zu erhalten. Zu diesem Zweck ist es notwen- dig Krankheiten möglichst früh zu erkennen. In dieser Studie können Entscheidungsbaum-Modelle die Hashimoto Thyreoiditis mit einer Genauigkeit von 87.5 % bei einem Patienten diagnostizieren. Defizite durch die fehlenden Informationen über die medikamentöse Behandlung werden anhand des Modells zur Vorhersage von Hypothyreoiditis (Genauigkeit von 60.9 %) aufgezeigt. Mit Hilfe von STATIS, das auf einer Erweiterung der Hauptkomponentenanalyse basiert, die es ermöglicht mehrere Tabellen simultan zu vergleichen, wurde der Behandlungsverlauf von 20 Patienten über einen Zeitraum von fünf Jahren überwacht. Anhand von Hypertonie wird gezeigt, dass sich sich die Patenten bezüglich Ihrer Laborwerte voneinander unterscheiden und sich Muster für Krankheiten erkennen lassen. Diese Arbeit demonstriert den Nutzen, der durch die vermehrte Analyse alltäglicher hochdimensionaler und heterogener Daten erbracht werden kann. KW - predictive analysis KW - database KW - personalised medicine KW - prädiktive Analyse KW - Datenbank KW - personalisierte Medizin Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-406103 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Liaimer, Anton A1 - Jensen, John B. A1 - Dittmann-Thünemann, Elke T1 - A genetic and chemical perspective on symbiotic recruitment of cyanobacteria of the genus Nostoc into the host plant Blasia pusilla L. T2 - Frontiers in microbiology N2 - Liverwort Blasia pusilla L. recruits soil nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria of genus Nostoc as symbiotic partners. In this work we compared Nostoc community composition inside the plants and in the soil around them from two distant locations in Northern Norway. STRR fingerprinting and 16S rDNA phylogeny reconstruction showed a remarkable local diversity among isolates assigned to several Nostoc clades. An extensive web of negative allelopathic interactions was recorded at an agricultural site, but not at the undisturbed natural site. The cell extracts of the cyanobacteria did not show antimicrobial activities, but four isolates were shown to be cytotoxic to human cells. The secondary metabolite profiles of the isolates were mapped by MALDI-TOF MS, and the most prominent ions were further analyzed by Q-TOF for MS/MS aided identification. Symbiotic isolates produced a great variety of small peptide-like substances, most of which lack any record in the databases. Among identified compounds we found microcystin and nodularin variants toxic to eukaryotic cells. Microcystin producing chemotypes were dominating as symbiotic recruits but not in the free-living community. In addition, we were able to identify several novel aeruginosins and banyaside-like compounds, as well as nostocyclopeptides and nosperin. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 434 KW - cyanobacteria KW - secondary metabolites KW - symbiosis KW - Blasia KW - Nostoc KW - allelopathy Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-407179 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Krupinski, Pawel A1 - Bozorg, Behruz A1 - Larsson, André A1 - Pietra, Stefano A1 - Grebe, Markus A1 - Jönsson, Henrik T1 - A model analysis of mechanisms for radial microtubular patterns at root hair initiation sites T2 - Frontiers in plant science N2 - Plant cells have two main modes of growth generating anisotropic structures. Diffuse growth where whole cell walls extend in specific directions, guided by anisotropically positioned cellulose fibers, and tip growth, with inhomogeneous addition of new cell wall material at the tip of the structure. Cells are known to regulate these processes via molecular signals and the cytoskeleton. Mechanical stress has been proposed to provide an input to the positioning of the cellulose fibers via cortical microtubules in diffuse growth. In particular, a stress feedback model predicts a circumferential pattern of fibers surrounding apical tissues and growing primordia, guided by the anisotropic curvature in such tissues. In contrast, during the initiation of tip growing root hairs, a star-like radial pattern has recently been observed. Here, we use detailed finite element models to analyze how a change in mechanical properties at the root hair initiation site can lead to star-like stress patterns in order to understand whether a stress-based feedback model can also explain the microtubule patterns seen during root hair initiation. We show that two independent mechanisms, individually or combined, can be sufficient to generate radial patterns. In the first, new material is added locally at the position of the root hair. In the second, increased tension in the initiation area provides a mechanism. Finally, we describe how a molecular model of Rho-of-plant (ROP) GTPases activation driven by auxin can position a patch of activated ROP protein basally along a 2D root epidermal cell plasma membrane, paving the way for models where mechanical and molecular mechanisms cooperate in the initial placement and outgrowth of root hairs. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 435 KW - plant cell wall KW - finite element modeling KW - computational morphodynamics KW - root hair initiation KW - microtubules KW - cellulose fibers KW - composite material Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-407181 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Lukoszek, Radoslaw A1 - Feist, Peter A1 - Ignatova, Zoya T1 - Insights into the adaptive response of Arabidopsis thaliana to prolonged thermal stress by ribosomal profiling and RNA-Seq T2 - BMC plant biology N2 - Background: Environmental stress puts organisms at risk and requires specific stress-tailored responses to maximize survival. Long-term exposure to stress necessitates a global reprogramming of the cellular activities at different levels of gene expression. Results: Here, we use ribosome profiling and RNA sequencing to globally profile the adaptive response of Arabidopsis thaliana to prolonged heat stress. To adapt to long heat exposure, the expression of many genes is modulated in a coordinated manner at a transcriptional and translational level. However, a significant group of genes opposes this trend and shows mainly translational regulation. Different secondary structure elements are likely candidates to play a role in regulating translation of those genes. Conclusions: Our data also uncover on how the subunit stoichiometry of multimeric protein complexes in plastids is maintained upon heat exposure. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 438 KW - translation KW - ribosome profiling KW - transcription KW - RNA-Seq KW - secondary structure KW - G-quadruplexes, KW - heat stress response Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-407262 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Feoktistova, Natalia A1 - Rose, Jürgen A1 - Prokopovic, Vladimir Z. A1 - Vikulina, Anna S. A1 - Skirtach, Andre A1 - Volodkin, Dmitry T1 - Controlling the Vaterite CaCO3 Crystal Pores. Design of Tailor-Made Polymer Based Microcapsules by Hard Templating JF - Langmuir N2 - The spherical vaterite CaCO3 microcrystals are nowadays widely used as sacrificial templates for fabrication of various microcarriers made of biopolymers (e.g., proteins, nucleic acids, enzymes) due to porous structure and mild template elimination conditions. Here, we demonstrated for the first time that polymer microcarriers with tuned internal nanoarchitecture can be designed by employing the CaCO3 crystals of controlled porosity. The layer-by-layer deposition has been utilized to assemble shell-like (hollow) and matrix-like (filled) polymer capsules due to restricted and free polymer diffusion through the crystal pores, respectively. The crystal pore size in the range of few tens of nanometers can be adjusted without any additives by variation of the crystal preparation temperature in the range 745 degrees C. The temperature-mediated growth mechanism is explained by the Ostwald ripening of nanocrystallites forming the crystal secondary structure. Various techniques including SEM, AFM, CLSM, Raman microscopy, nitrogen adsorptiondesorption, and XRD have been employed for crystal and microcapsule analysis. A three-dimensional model is introduced to describe the crystal internal structure and predict the pore cutoff and available surface for the pore diffusing molecules. Inherent biocompatibility of CaCO3 and a possibility to scale the porosity in the size range of typical biomacromolecules make the CaCO3 crystals extremely attractive tools for template assisted designing tailor-made biopolymer-based architectures in 2D to 3D targeted at drug delivery and other bioapplications. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.langmuir.6b00717 SN - 0743-7463 VL - 32 SP - 4229 EP - 4238 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Erdossy, Julia A1 - Horvath, Viola A1 - Yarman, Aysu A1 - Scheller, Frieder W. A1 - Gyurcsanyi, Robert E. T1 - Electrosynthesized molecularly imprinted polymers for protein recognition JF - Trends in Analytical Chemistry N2 - Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) for the recognition of proteins are expected to possess high affinity through the establishment of multiple interactions between the polymer matrix and the large number of functional groups of the target. However, while highly affine recognition sites need building blocks rich in complementary functionalities to their target, such units are likely to generate high levels of nonspecific binding. This paradox, that nature solved by evolution for biological receptors, needs to be addressed by the implementation of new concepts in molecular imprinting of proteins. Additionally, the structural variability, large size and incompatibility with a range of monomers made the development of protein MIPs to take a slow start. While the majority of MIP preparation methods are variants of chemical polymerization, the polymerization of electroactive functional monomers emerged as a particularly advantageous approach for chemical sensing application. Electropolymerization can be performed from aqueous solutions to preserve the natural conformation of the protein templates, with high spatial resolution and electrochemical control of the polymerization process. This review compiles the latest results, identifying major trends and providing an outlook on the perspectives of electrosynthesised protein-imprinted MIPs for chemical sensing. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. KW - Molecularly imprinted polymers KW - Proteins KW - Surface imprinting KW - Electropolymerization KW - Nanostructuring KW - Hybrid nanofilms Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trac.2015.12.018 SN - 0165-9936 SN - 1879-3142 VL - 79 SP - 179 EP - 190 PB - Elsevier CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Pinyou, Piyanut A1 - Ruff, Adrian A1 - Poeller, Sascha A1 - Alsaoub, Sabine A1 - Leimkühler, Silke A1 - Wollenberger, Ursula A1 - Schuhmann, Wolfgang T1 - Wiring of the aldehyde oxidoreductase PaoABC to electrode surfaces via entrapment in low potential phenothiazine-modified redox polymers JF - Bioelectrochemistry : an international journal devoted to electrochemical aspects of biology and biological aspects of electrochemistry ; official journal of the Bioelectrochemical Society N2 - Phenothiazine-modified redox hydrogels were synthesized and used for the wiring of the aldehyde oxidoreductase PaoABC to electrode surfaces. The effects of the pH value and electrode surface modification on the biocatalytic activity of the layers were studied in the presence of vanillin as the substrate. The enzyme electrodes were successfully employed as bioanodes in vanillin/O-2 biofuel cells in combination with a high potential bilirubin oxidase biocathode. Open circuit voltages of around 700 mV could be obtained in a two compartment biofuel cell setup. Moreover, the use of a rather hydrophobic polymer with a high degree of crosslinking sites ensures the formation of stable polymer/enzyme films which were successfully used as bioanode in membrane-less biofuel cells. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. KW - Aldehyde oxidoreductase KW - Enzyme electrode KW - Redox polymer KW - Phenothiazine KW - Biosensor KW - Biofuel cell Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bioelechem.2015.12.005 SN - 1567-5394 SN - 1878-562X VL - 109 SP - 24 EP - 30 PB - Elsevier CY - Lausanne ER - TY - GEN A1 - Lechon, Tamara A1 - Sanz, Luis A1 - Pollmann, Stephan A1 - Sauer, Michael A1 - Sandalio, Luisa A1 - Lorenzo, Oscar T1 - Nitric oxide modification of plant endocytosis and PIN1 localization T2 - New biotechnology Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nbt.2015.10.028 SN - 1871-6784 SN - 1876-4347 VL - 33 SP - 424 EP - 424 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hartmann, Tobias A1 - Schrapers, Peer A1 - Utesch, Tillmann A1 - Nimtz, Manfred A1 - Rippers, Yvonne A1 - Dau, Holger A1 - Mroginski, Maria Andrea A1 - Haumann, Michael A1 - Leimkühler, Silke T1 - The Molybdenum Active Site of Formate Dehydrogenase Is Capable of Catalyzing C-H Bond Cleavage and Oxygen Atom Transfer Reactions JF - Biochemistry N2 - Formate dehydrogenases (FDHs) are capable of performing the reversible oxidation of formate and are enzymes of great interest for fuel cell applications and for the production of reduced carbon compounds as energy sources from CO2. Metal containing FDHs in general contain a highly conserved active site, comprising a molybdenum (or tungsten) center coordinated by two molybdopterin guanine dinucleotide molecules, a sulfido and a (seleno-)cysteine ligand, in addition to a histidine and arginine residue in the second coordination sphere. So far, the role of these amino acids in catalysis has not been studied in detail, because of the lack of suitable expression systems and the lability or oxygen sensitivity of the enzymes. Here, the roles of these active site residues is revealed using the Mo-containing FDH from Rhodobacter capsulatus. Our results show that the cysteine ligand at the Mo ion is displaced by the formate substrate during the reaction, the arginine has a direct role in substrate binding and stabilization, and the histidine elevates the pK(a) of the active site cysteine. We further found that in addition to reversible formate oxidation, the enzyme is further capable of reducing nitrate to nitrite. We propose a mechanistic scheme that combines both functionalities and provides important insights into the distinct mechanisms of C-H bond cleavage and oxygen atom transfer catalyzed by formate dehydrogenase. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.biochem.6b00002 SN - 0006-2960 VL - 55 SP - 2381 EP - 2389 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Stein, F. A1 - Doering-Arjes, P. A1 - Fladung, Erik A1 - Brämick, Uwe A1 - Bendall, B. A1 - Schroeder, B. T1 - Downstream Migration of the European Eel (Anguilla Anguilla) in the Elbe River, Germany: Movement Patterns and the Potential Impact of Environmental Factors JF - River Research and Applications N2 - Recruitment of European eels (Anguilla anguilla) has declined to the extent that they have been added to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Therefore, it is critical to ensure that eels complete their outward river migration in order to contribute to the available spawning stock. We conducted a 4-year (2007-2011) telemetry study to understand the migratory behaviour and potential impact of environmental factors on the eel during this critical life stage. Out of 399 female eels tagged with acoustic transmitters, only 28% demonstrated clear downstream migratory behaviour. Fifty-five percent were detected exhibiting no downstream migration behaviour and 17% were not detected at any monitoring station. Movement patterns of downstream-migrating (silver) eels were characterized by nocturnal activity and seasonal migration, with distinct peaks in autumn and spring. Migration was often discontinuous and exhibited phases of active locomotion and expanded stopovers. The most important determinants of movement activity were water temperature, cumulative precipitation and moonlight, although the significance varied by season and location in the river basin. Our results evidence a discontinuous, stepwise migration over an extended period. Furthermore, our findings indicate that migration success depends on holding duration prior to tagging and environmental predictors with varying importance depending on the season, as well as the locations of capture, tagging and release. Copyright (c) 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. KW - acoustic telemetry KW - fish migration KW - environmental trigger KW - generalized linear model KW - handling effect KW - discontinuous migration KW - Anguilla anguilla KW - seasonal migration Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.2881 SN - 1535-1459 SN - 1535-1467 VL - 32 SP - 666 EP - 676 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - van de Weijer, Steve A1 - Bijleveld, Catrien A1 - Huschek, Doreen T1 - Offending and mortality JF - Advances in life course research N2 - Background: Previous research has shown that offenders are at increased risk to die prematurely, but the etiology of this association is still unknown. Moreover, most previous studies use relatively short follow-up periods and do not take into account variation within the offender population with respect to frequency, timing and types of offenses. Method: Using conviction data for a number of families at high-risk of offending born on average in 1932, we study mortality in both offenders and non-offenders, from a similar socio-economic background, until 2007. We condition on life expectancy of the parents, age, gender, year of birth and marital status. We investigate associations between mortality and offending for different types of offenses: violent offenses, property offenses, weapons offenses, drugs offenses and driving under influence. Results: In general, offending sample members were not significantly more likely to have died than non offending sample members. Compared to the general population, however, both the offending and non offending sample members were at increased risk to die. Sample members who were convicted for driving under the influence of alcohol or weapons offenses were at increased risk to die prematurely compared to non-offending sample members. Conclusions: The relationship between offending in general and mortality is largely spurious. Limitations: The use of official conviction data might have influenced the results. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. KW - Mortality KW - Offending KW - Mechanisms KW - Survival KW - The Netherlands Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.alcr.2015.11.004 SN - 1569-4909 SN - 1879-6974 VL - 28 SP - 91 EP - 99 PB - Elsevier CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Fer, Istem A1 - Tietjen, Britta A1 - Jeltsch, Florian T1 - High-resolution modelling closes the gap between data and model simulations for Mid-Holocene and present-day biomes of East Africa JF - Palaeogeography, palaeoclimatology, palaeoecology : an international journal for the geo-sciences N2 - East Africa hosts a striking diversity of terrestrial ecosystems, which vary both in space and time due to complex regional topography and a dynamic climate. The structure and functioning of these ecosystems under this environmental setting can be studied with dynamic vegetation models (DVMs) in a spatially explicit way. Yet, regional applications of DVMs to East Africa are rare and a comprehensive validation of such applications is missing. Here, we simulated the present-day and mid-Holocene vegetation of East Africa with the DVM, LPJ-GUESS and we conducted an exhaustive comparison of model outputs with maps of potential modern vegetation distribution, and with pollen records of local change through time. Overall, the model was able to reproduce the observed spatial patterns of East African vegetation. To see whether running the model at higher spatial resolutions (10′ × 10′) contribute to resolve the vegetation distribution better and have a better comparison scale with the observational data (i.e. pollen data), we run the model with coarser spatial resolution (0.5° × 0.5°) for the present-day as well. Both the area- and point-wise comparison showed that a higher spatial resolution allows to better describe spatial vegetation changes induced by the complex topography of East Africa. Our analysis of the difference between modelled mid-Holocene and modern-day vegetation showed that whether a biome shifts to another is best explained by both the amount of change in precipitation it experiences and the amount of precipitation it received originally. We also confirmed that tropical forest biomes were more sensitive to a decrease in precipitation compared to woodland and savanna biomes and that Holocene vegetation changes in East Africa were driven not only by changes in annual precipitation but also by changes in its seasonality. KW - Dynamic vegetation models KW - Biome KW - Mid-Holocene KW - Leaf area index KW - Climate change KW - East Africa Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2015.12.001 SN - 0031-0182 SN - 1872-616X VL - 444 SP - 144 EP - 151 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Orawetz, Tom A1 - Malinova, Irina A1 - Orzechowski, Slawomir A1 - Fettke, Jörg T1 - Reduction of the plastidial phosphorylase in potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) reveals impact on storage starch structure during growth at low temperature JF - Plant physiology and biochemistry : an official journal of the Federation of European Societies of Plant Physiology N2 - Tubers of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.), one of the most important crops, are a prominent example for an efficient production of storage starch. Nevertheless, the synthesis of this storage starch is not completely understood. The plastidial phosphorylase (Phol; EC 2.4.11) catalyzes the reversible transfer of glucosyl residues from glucose-1-phosphate to the non-reducing end of alpha-glucans with the release of orthophosphate. Thus, the enzyme is in principle able to act during starch synthesis. However, so far under normal growth conditions no alterations in tuber starch metabolism were observed. Based on analyses of other species and also from in vitro experiments with potato tuber slices it was supposed, that Phol has a stronger impact on starch metabolism, when plants grow under low temperature conditions. Therefore, we analyzed the starch content, granule size, as well as the internal structure of starch granules isolated from potato plants grown under low temperatures. Besides wild type, transgenic potato plants with a strong reduction in the Phol activity were analyzed. No significant alterations in starch content and granule size were detected. In contrast, when plants were cultivated at low temperatures the chain length distributions of the starch granules were altered. Thus, the granules contained more short glucan chains. That was not observed in the transgenic plants, revealing that Pho1 in wild type is involved in the formation of the short glucan chains, at least at low temperatures. (C) 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved. KW - Potato KW - Solanum tuberosum L. KW - Plastidial phosphorylase KW - Starch synthase KW - Starch metabolism KW - Starch granule Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plaphy.2016.01.013 SN - 0981-9428 VL - 100 SP - 141 EP - 149 PB - Elsevier CY - Paris ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Pfestorf, Hans A1 - Körner, Katrin A1 - Sonnemann, Ilja A1 - Wurst, Susanne A1 - Jeltsch, Florian T1 - Coupling experimental data with individual-based modelling reveals differential effects of root herbivory on grassland plant co-existence along a resource gradient JF - Journal of vegetation science N2 - QuestionThe empirical evidence of root herbivory effects on plant community composition and co-existence is contradictory. This originates from difficulties connected to below-ground research and confinement of experimental studies to a small range of environmental conditions. Here we suggest coupling experimental data with an individual-based model to overcome the limitations inherent in either approach. To demonstrate this, we investigated the consequences of root herbivory, as experimentally observed on individual plants, on plant competition and co-existence in a population and community context under different root herbivory intensities (RHI), fluctuating and constant root herbivore activity and grazing along a resource gradient. LocationBerlin, Germany, glasshouse; Potsdam, Germany, high performance cluster computer. MethodsThe well-established community model IBC-Grass was adapted to allow for a flexible species parameterization and to include annual species. Experimentally observed root herbivory effects on performance of eight common grassland plant species were incorporated into the model by altering plant growth rates. We then determined root herbivore effects on plant populations, competitive hierarchy and consequences for co-existence and community diversity. ResultsRoot herbivory reduced individual biomass, but temporal fluctuation allowed for compensation of herbivore effects. Reducing resource availability strongly shifted competitive hierarchies, with, however, more similar hierarchies along the gradient under root herbivory, pointing to reduced ecological species differences. Consequently, negative effects on co-existence and diversity prevailed, with the exception of a few positive effects on co-existence of selected species pairs. Temporal fluctuation alleviated but did not remove negative root herbivore effects, despite of the stronger influence of intra- compared to interspecific competition. Grazing in general augmented co-existence. Most interestingly, grazing interacted with RHI and resource availability by promoting positive effects of root herbivory. ConclusionsThrough integrating experimental data on the scale of individual plants with a simulation model we verified that root herbivory could affect plant competition with consequences for species co-existence. Our approach demonstrates the benefit that accrues when empirical and modelling approaches are brought more closely together, and that gathering data on distinct processes and under specific conditions, combined with appropriate models, can be used to answer challenging research questions in a more general way. KW - Above-/below-ground interactions KW - Below-ground resources KW - Competitive hierarchies KW - Grassland KW - Greenhouse experiment KW - Simulation experiment KW - Species co-existence KW - Wireworms Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/jvs.12357 SN - 1100-9233 SN - 1654-1103 VL - 27 SP - 269 EP - 282 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Jargosch, M. A1 - Kroeger, S. A1 - Gralinska, E. A1 - Klotz, Ulrike A1 - Fang, Z. A1 - Chen, W. A1 - Leser, U. A1 - Selbig, Joachim A1 - Groth, Detlef A1 - Baumgrass, Ria T1 - Data integration for identification of important transcription factors of STAT6-mediated cell fate decisions JF - Genetics and molecular research N2 - Data integration has become a useful strategy for uncovering new insights into complex biological networks. We studied whether this approach can help to delineate the signal transducer and activator of transcription 6 (STAT6)-mediated transcriptional network driving T helper (Th) 2 cell fate decisions. To this end, we performed an integrative analysis of publicly available RNA-seq data of Stat6-knockout mouse studies together with STAT6 ChIP-seq data and our own gene expression time series data during Th2 cell differentiation. We focused on transcription factors (TFs), cytokines, and cytokine receptors and delineated 59 positively and 41 negatively STAT6-regulated genes, which were used to construct a transcriptional network around STAT6. The network illustrates that important and well-known TFs for Th2 cell differentiation are positively regulated by STAT6 and act either as activators for Th2 cells (e.g., Gata3, Atf3, Satb1, Nfil3, Maf, and Pparg) or as suppressors for other Th cell subpopulations such as Th1 (e.g., Ar), Th17 (e.g., Etv6), or iTreg (e.g., Stat3 and Hifla) cells. Moreover, our approach reveals 11 TFs (e.g., Atf5, Creb3l2, and Asb2) with unknown functions in Th cell differentiation. This fact together with the observed enrichment of asthma risk genes among those regulated by STAT6 underlines the potential value of the data integration strategy used here. Thus, our results clearly support the opinion that data integration is a useful tool to delineate complex physiological processes. KW - Data integration KW - Th2 cells KW - Gene regulatory network KW - STAT6 KW - Transcription factors Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.4238/gmr.15028493 SN - 1676-5680 VL - 15 PB - FUNPEC CY - Ribeirao Preto ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ud-Din, Aziz A1 - Rauf, Mamoona A1 - Ghafoor, S. A1 - Khattak, M. N. K. A1 - Hameed, M. W. A1 - Shah, H. A1 - Jan, S. A1 - Muhammad, K. A1 - Rehman, A. A1 - Inamullah, T1 - Efficient use of artificial micro-RNA to downregulate the expression of genes at the post-transcriptional level in Arabidopsis thaliana JF - Genetics and molecular research N2 - Micro-RNAs are cellular components regulating gene expression at the post-transcription level. In the present study, artificial micro-RNAs were used to decrease the transcript level of two genes, AtExpA8 (encoding an expansin) and AHL25 (encoding an AT-hook motif nuclear localized protein) in Arabidopsis thaliana. The backbone of the Arabidopsis endogenous MIR319a micro-RNA was used in a site-directed mutagenesis approach for the generation of artificial micro-RNAs targeting two genes. The recombinant cassettes were expressed under the control of the CaMV 35S promoter in individual A. thaliana plants. Transgenic lines of the third generation were tested by isolating total RNA and by subsequent cDNA synthesis using oligo-dT18 primers and mRNAs as templates. The expression of the two target genes was checked through quantitative realtime polymerase chain reaction to confirm reduced transcript levels for AtExpA8 and AHL25. Downregulation of AtExpA8 resulted in the formation of short hypocotyls compared with those of the wild-type control in response to low pH and high salt concentration. This technology could be used to prevent the expression of exogenous and invading genes posing a threat to the normal cellular physiology of the host plant. KW - Artificial micro-RNA KW - Arabidopsis thaliana KW - qRT-PCR KW - AtExpA8 KW - AHL25 Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.4238/gmr.15027439 SN - 1676-5680 VL - 15 PB - FUNPEC CY - Ribeirao Preto ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kruse, Michaela A1 - Stein-Bachinger, Karin A1 - Gottwald, Frank A1 - Schmidt, Elisabeth A1 - Heinken, Thilo T1 - Influence of grassland management on the biodiversity of plants and butterflies on organic suckler cow farms JF - Tuexenia : Mitteilungen der Floristisch-Soziologischen Arbeitsgemeinschaft N2 - The intensification of agricultural practices has led to a severe decrease in grassland biodiversity. Although there is strong evidence that organic farming can reduce the negative impacts of land use, knowledge regarding the most beneficial management system for species richness on organic grasslands is still scarce. This study examines differences in the biodiversity of plants and butterflies on rotationally and continuously grazed pastures as well as on meadows cut twice per year on two large organic suckler cow farms in NE Germany. Vegetation and flower abundance, as factors likely to influence butterfly abundance and diversity, were compared and used to explain the differences. The data attained by vegetation assessments and monthly transect inspections from May to August were analyzed using descriptive statistics and nonparametric methods. The abiotic site conditions of the studied plots had more influence on plant species numbers than the management method. Dry and nutrient-poor areas (mainly poor types of Cynosurion) and undrained wet fens (Calthion) were important for phytodiversity, measured by the absolute number of species, indicator species for ecologically valuable grasslands and the Shannon Index. Meadows tended to have more indicator species than pastures, where small-scale special sites such as wet depressions were crucial for plant diversity. Butterfly diversity was very low, and 90% of the recorded butterflies were individuals of the generalist species Pieris napi. Butterfly abundance depended mainly on occurrence of specific habitat types and specific larval host plants. Supply of flowers was crucial only in certain time periods. Differences in butterfly abundance between the management systems could be explained by the site conditions of the studied grasslands. We conclude that meadows are more favorable to support ecologically valuable plant species; however, their extension is contradictory to the organic farming method of suckler cows maintained outside of stables. Rotationally grazed pastures could be a compromise that would enhance the temporal heterogeneity of flower abundance and vegetation structure. The plant diversity on pastures should be improved by less intensive grazing on special sites and plant species enrichment by means of hay transfer. For enhancing butterfly diversity we suggest to reduce land use intensity especially on poor soils. Considering the economic perspective of the farms, small parts of the agricultural area could be sufficient if connectivity to other suitable habitats is assured. Flower abundance and diversity of larval host plants could be promoted by high diversity of farming practices as well as preserving small uncut strips of meadows. KW - cattle grazing KW - continuous pasture KW - land use impact KW - lowland fen KW - meadow KW - organic farming KW - plant community KW - rotational pasture KW - species diversity KW - wet grassland Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.14471/2016.56.006 SN - 0722-494X VL - 37 SP - 97 EP - 119 PB - Floristisch-Soziologische Arbeitsgemeinschaft CY - Göttingen ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mao, Hailiang A1 - Nakamura, Moritaka A1 - Viotti, Corrado A1 - Grebe, Markus T1 - A Framework for Lateral Membrane Trafficking and Polar Tethering of the PEN3 ATP-Binding Cassette Transporter JF - Plant physiology : an international journal devoted to physiology, biochemistry, cellular and molecular biology, biophysics and environmental biology of plants N2 - The outermost cell layer of plants, the epidermis, and its outer (lateral) membrane domain facing the environment are continuously challenged by biotic and abiotic stresses. Therefore, the epidermis and the outer membrane domain provide important selective and protective barriers. However, only a small number of specifically outer membrane-localized proteins are known. Similarly, molecular mechanisms underlying the trafficking and the polar placement of outer membrane domain proteins require further exploration. Here, we demonstrate that ACTIN7 (ACT7) mediates trafficking of the PENETRATION3 (PEN3) outer membrane protein from the trans-Golgi network (TGN) to the plasma membrane in the root epidermis of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) and that actin function contributes to PEN3 endocytic recycling. In contrast to such generic ACT7-dependent trafficking from the TGN, the EXOCYST84b (EXO84b) tethering factor mediates PEN3 outer-membrane polarity. Moreover, precise EXO84b placement at the outer membrane domain itself requires ACT7 function. Hence, our results uncover spatially and mechanistically distinct requirements for ACT7 function during outer lateral membrane cargo trafficking and polarity establishment. They further identify an exocyst tethering complex mediator of outer lateral membrane cargo polarity. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1104/pp.16.01252 SN - 0032-0889 SN - 1532-2548 VL - 172 SP - 2245 EP - 2260 PB - American Society of Plant Physiologists CY - Rockville ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Reinecke, J. A1 - Wulf, M. A1 - Baeten, Lander A1 - Brunet, J. A1 - Decocq, G. A1 - De Frenne, G. A1 - Diekmann, M. A1 - Graae, B. J. A1 - Heinken, Thilo A1 - Hermy, M. A1 - Jamoneau, A. A1 - Lenoir, J. A1 - Plue, J. A1 - Orczewska, A. A1 - Van Calster, H. A1 - Verheyen, Kris A1 - Naaf, T. T1 - Acido- and neutrophilic temperate forest plants display distinct shifts in ecological pH niche across north-western Europe JF - Ecography : pattern and diversity in ecology ; research papers forum N2 - Ecological niches of organisms vary across geographical space, but niche shift patterns between regions and the underlying mechanisms remain largely unexplored. We studied shifts in the pH niche of 42 temperate forest plant species across a latitudinal gradient from northern France to boreo-nemoral Sweden. We asked 1) whether species restrict their niches with increasing latitude as they reach their northern range margin (environmental constraints); 2) whether species expand their niches with increasing latitude as regional plant species richness decreases (competitive release); and 3) whether species shift their niche position toward more acidic sites with increasing latitude as the relative proportion of acidic soils increases (local adaptation). Based on 1458 vegetation plots and corresponding soil pH values, we modelled species response curves using Huisman-Olff-Fresco models. Four niche measures (width, position, left and right border) were compared among regions by randomization tests. We found that with increasing latitude, neutrophilic species tended to retreat from acidic sites, indicating that these species retreat to more favorable sites when approaching their range margin. Alternatively, these species might benefit from enhanced nitrogen deposition on formerly nutrient-poor, acidic sites in southern regions or lag behind in post-glacial recolonization of potential habitats in northern regions. Most acidophilic species extended their niche toward more base-rich sites with increasing latitude, indicating competitive release from neutrophilic species. Alternatively, acidophilic species might benefit from optimal climatic conditions in the north where some have their core distribution area. Shifts in the niche position suggested that local adaptation is of minor importance. We conclude that shifts in the pH niche of temperate forest plants are the rule, but the directions of the niche shifts and possible explanations vary. Our study demonstrates that differentiating between acidophilic and neutrophilic species is crucial to identify general patterns and underlying mechanisms. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.02051 SN - 0906-7590 SN - 1600-0587 VL - 39 SP - 1164 EP - 1175 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Procter, Duncan S. A1 - Cottrell, Joan E. A1 - Watts, Kevin A1 - Hofreiter, Michael A1 - Robinson, Elva J. H. T1 - Does cooperation mean kinship between spatially discrete ant nests? JF - Ecology and evolution N2 - Eusociality is one of the most complex forms of social organization, characterized by cooperative and reproductive units termed colonies. Altruistic behavior of workers within colonies is explained by inclusive fitness, with indirect fitness benefits accrued by helping kin. Members of a social insect colony are expected to be more closely related to one another than they are to other conspecifics. In many social insects, the colony can extend to multiple socially connected but spatially separate nests (polydomy). Social connections, such as trails between nests, promote cooperation and resource exchange, and we predict that workers from socially connected nests will have higher internest relatedness than those from socially unconnected, and noncooperating, nests. We measure social connections, resource exchange, and internest genetic relatedness in the polydomous wood ant Formica lugubris to test whether (1) socially connected but spatially separate nests cooperate, and (2) high internest relatedness is the underlying driver of this cooperation. Our results show that socially connected nests exhibit movement of workers and resources, which suggests they do cooperate, whereas unconnected nests do not. However, we find no difference in internest genetic relatedness between socially connected and unconnected nest pairs, both show high kinship. Our results suggest that neighboring pairs of connected nests show a social and cooperative distinction, but no genetic distinction. We hypothesize that the loss of a social connection may initiate ecological divergence within colonies. Genetic divergence between neighboring nests may build up only later, as a consequence rather than a cause of colony separation. KW - colony organization KW - eusociality KW - Formica lugubris KW - kin selection KW - polydomy KW - social organization Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.2590 SN - 2045-7758 VL - 6 SP - 8846 EP - 8856 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wutke, Saskia A1 - Benecke, Norbert A1 - Sandoval-Castellanos, Edson A1 - Döhle, Hans-Jürgen A1 - Friederich, Susanne A1 - Gonzalez Soto, Javier Esteban A1 - Hallsson, Jon Hallsteinn A1 - Hofreiter, Michael A1 - Lougas, Lembi A1 - Magnell, Ola A1 - Morales-Muniz, Arturo A1 - Orlando, Ludovic A1 - Palsdottir, Albina Hulda A1 - Reissmann, Monika A1 - Ruttkay, Matej A1 - Trinks, Alexandra A1 - Ludwig, Arne T1 - Spotted phenotypes in horses lost attractiveness in the Middle Ages JF - Scientific reports N2 - Horses have been valued for their diversity of coat colour since prehistoric times; this is especially the case since their domestication in the Caspian steppe in similar to 3,500 BC. Although we can assume that human preferences were not constant, we have only anecdotal information about how domestic horses were influenced by humans. Our results from genotype analyses show a significant increase in spotted coats in early domestic horses (Copper Age to Iron Age). In contrast, medieval horses carried significantly fewer alleles for these phenotypes, whereas solid phenotypes (i.e., chestnut) became dominant. This shift may have been supported because of (i) pleiotropic disadvantages, (ii) a reduced need to separate domestic horses from their wild counterparts, (iii) a lower religious prestige, or (iv) novel developments in weaponry. These scenarios may have acted alone or in combination. However, the dominance of chestnut is a remarkable feature of the medieval horse population. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/srep38548 SN - 2045-2322 VL - 6 PB - Nature Publ. Group CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Coutinho, Renato Mendes A1 - Klauschies, Toni A1 - Gaedke, Ursula T1 - Bimodal trait distributions with large variances question the reliability of trait-based aggregate models JF - Theoretical ecology N2 - Functionally diverse communities can adjust their species composition to altered environmental conditions, which may influence food web dynamics. Trait-based aggregate models cope with this complexity by ignoring details about species identities and focusing on their functional characteristics (traits). They describe the temporal changes of the aggregate properties of entire communities, including their total biomasses, mean trait values, and trait variances. The applicability of aggregate models depends on the validity of their underlying assumptions that trait distributions are normal and exhibit small variances. We investigated to what extent this can be expected to work by comparing an innovative model that accounts for the full trait distributions of predator and prey communities to a corresponding aggregate model. We used a food web structure with well-established trade-offs among traits promoting mutual adjustments between prey edibility and predator selectivity in response to selection. We altered the shape of the trade-offs to compare the outcome of the two models under different selection regimes, leading to trait distributions increasingly deviating from normality. Their biomass and trait dynamics agreed very well for stabilizing selection and reasonably well for directional selection, under which different trait values are favored at different times. However, for disruptive selection, the results of the aggregate model strongly deviated from the full trait distribution model that showed bimodal trait distributions with large variances. Hence, the outcome of aggregate models is reliable under ideal conditions but has to be questioned when confronted with more complex selection regimes and trait distributions, which are commonly observed in nature. KW - Fitness gradient KW - Communities as complex adaptive systems KW - Moment closure for trait-based aggregate model approaches KW - Multimodal trait distributions KW - Lumpiness in pattern formation and self-organization KW - Shape of trade-offs and stabilizing and disruptive selection Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s12080-016-0297-9 SN - 1874-1738 SN - 1874-1746 VL - 9 SP - 389 EP - 408 PB - Springer CY - Heidelberg ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Lukoszek, Radoslaw A1 - Feist, Peter A1 - Ignatova, Zoya T1 - Insights into the adaptive response of Arabidopsis thaliana to prolonged thermal stress by ribosomal profiling and RNA-Seq JF - BMC plant biology N2 - Background: Environmental stress puts organisms at risk and requires specific stress-tailored responses to maximize survival. Long-term exposure to stress necessitates a global reprogramming of the cellular activities at different levels of gene expression. Results: Here, we use ribosome profiling and RNA sequencing to globally profile the adaptive response of Arabidopsis thaliana to prolonged heat stress. To adapt to long heat exposure, the expression of many genes is modulated in a coordinated manner at a transcriptional and translational level. However, a significant group of genes opposes this trend and shows mainly translational regulation. Different secondary structure elements are likely candidates to play a role in regulating translation of those genes. Conclusions: Our data also uncover on how the subunit stoichiometry of multimeric protein complexes in plastids is maintained upon heat exposure. KW - Translation KW - Ribosome profiling KW - Transcription KW - RNA-Seq KW - Secondary structure KW - G-quadruplexes KW - Heat stress response Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1186/s12870-016-0915-0 SN - 1471-2229 VL - 16 PB - BioMed Central CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Krupinski, Pawel A1 - Bozorg, Behruz A1 - Larsson, Andre A1 - Pietra, Stefano A1 - Grebe, Markus A1 - Jönsson, Henrik T1 - A Model Analysis of Mechanisms for Radial Microtubular Patterns at Root Hair Initiation Sites JF - Frontiers in plant science N2 - Plant cells have two main modes of growth generating anisotropic structures. Diffuse growth where whole cell walls extend in specific directions, guided by anisotropically positioned cellulose fibers, and tip growth, with inhomogeneous addition of new cell wall material at the tip of the structure. Cells are known to regulate these processes via molecular signals and the cytoskeleton. Mechanical stress has been proposed to provide an input to the positioning of the cellulose fibers via cortical microtubules in diffuse growth. In particular, a stress feedback model predicts a circumferential pattern of fibers surrounding apical tissues and growing primordia, guided by the anisotropic curvature in such tissues. In contrast, during the initiation of tip growing root hairs, a star-like radial pattern has recently been observed. Here, we use detailed finite element models to analyze how a change in mechanical properties at the root hair initiation site can lead to star-like stress patterns in order to understand whether a stress-based feedback model can also explain the microtubule patterns seen during root hair initiation. We show that two independent mechanisms, individually or combined, can be sufficient to generate radial patterns. In the first, new material is added locally at the position of the root hair. In the second, increased tension in the initiation area provides a mechanism. Finally, we describe how a molecular model of Rho-of-plant (ROP) GTPases activation driven by auxin can position a patch of activated ROP protein basally along a 2D root epidermal cell plasma membrane, paving the way for models where mechanical and molecular mechanisms cooperate in the initial placement and outgrowth of root hairs. KW - plant cell wall KW - finite element modeling KW - computational morphodynamics KW - root hair initiation KW - microtubules KW - cellulose fibers KW - composite material Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2016.01560 SN - 1664-462X VL - 7 PB - Frontiers Research Foundation CY - Lausanne ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Navarro-Retamal, Carlos A1 - Bremer, Anne A1 - Alzate-Morales, Jans H. A1 - Caballero, Julio A1 - Hincha, Dirk K. A1 - Gonzalez, Wendy A1 - Thalhammer, Anja T1 - Molecular dynamics simulations and CD spectroscopy reveal hydration-induced unfolding of the intrinsically disordered LEA proteins COR15A and COR15B from Arabidopsis thaliana JF - Physical chemistry, chemical physics : a journal of European Chemical Societies N2 - The LEA (late embryogenesis abundant) proteins COR15A and COR15B from Arabidopsis thaliana are intrinsically disordered under fully hydrated conditions, but obtain alpha-helical structure during dehydration, which is reversible upon rehydration. To understand this unusual structural transition, both proteins were investigated by circular dichroism (CD) and molecular dynamics (MD) approaches. MD simulations showed unfolding of the proteins in water, in agreement with CD data obtained with both HIS-tagged and untagged recombinant proteins. Mainly intramolecular hydrogen bonds (H-bonds) formed by the protein backbone were replaced by H-bonds with water molecules. As COR15 proteins function in vivo as protectants in leaves partially dehydrated by freezing, unfolding was further assessed under crowded conditions. Glycerol reduced (40%) or prevented (100%) unfolding during MD simulations, in agreement with CD spectroscopy results. H-bonding analysis indicated that preferential exclusion of glycerol from the protein backbone increased stability of the folded state. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1039/c6cp02272c SN - 1463-9076 SN - 1463-9084 VL - 18 SP - 25806 EP - 25816 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry CY - Cambridge ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schneider, Florian D. A1 - Brose, Ulrich A1 - Rall, Björn C. A1 - Guill, Christian T1 - Animal diversity and ecosystem functioning in dynamic food webs JF - Nature Communications N2 - Species diversity is changing globally and locally, but the complexity of ecological communities hampers a general understanding of the consequences of animal species loss on ecosystem functioning. High animal diversity increases complementarity of herbivores but also increases feeding rates within the consumer guild. Depending on the balance of these counteracting mechanisms, species-rich animal communities may put plants under top-down control or may release them from grazing pressure. Using a dynamic food-web model with body-mass constraints, we simulate ecosystem functions of 20,000 communities of varying animal diversity. We show that diverse animal communities accumulate more biomass and are more exploitative on plants, despite their higher rates of intra-guild predation. However, they do not reduce plant biomass because the communities are composed of larger, and thus energetically more efficient, plant and animal species. This plasticity of community body-size structure reconciles the debate on the consequences of animal species loss for primary productivity. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms12718 SN - 2041-1723 VL - 7 SP - 3129 EP - 3138 PB - Nature Publ. Group CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Han, Xiao Xia A1 - Li, Junbo A1 - Öner, Ibrahim Halil A1 - Zhao, Bing A1 - Leimkühler, Silke A1 - Hildebrandt, Peter A1 - Weidinger, Inez M. T1 - Nickel electrodes as a cheap and versatile platform for studying structure and function of immobilized redox proteins JF - Analytica chimica acta : an international journal devoted to all branches of analytical chemistry N2 - Practical use of many bioelectronic and bioanalytical devices is limited by the need of expensive materials and time consuming fabrication. Here we demonstrate the use of nickel electrodes as a simple and cheap solid support material for bioelectronic applications. The naturally nanostructured electrodes showed a surprisingly high electromagnetic surface enhancement upon light illumination such that immobilization and electron transfer reactions of the model redox proteins cytochrome b(5) (Cyt b(5)) and cytochrome c (Cyt c) could be followed via surface enhanced resonance Raman spectroscopy. It could be shown that the nickel surface, when used as received, promotes a very efficient binding of the proteins upon preservation of their native structure. The immobilized redox proteins could efficiently exchange electrons with the electrode and could even act as an electron relay between the electrode and solubilized myoglobin. Our results open up new possibility for nickel electrodes as an exceptional good support for bioelectronic devices and biosensors on the one hand and for surface enhanced spectroscopic investigations on the other hand. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. KW - Ni electrodes KW - Redox proteins KW - Surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy KW - Electron relay KW - Biocompatibility KW - Electron transfer Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aca.2016.08.053 SN - 0003-2670 SN - 1873-4324 VL - 941 SP - 35 EP - 40 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zeng, Ting A1 - Frasca, Stefano A1 - Rumschöttel, Jens A1 - Koetz, Joachim A1 - Leimkühler, Silke A1 - Wollenberger, Ursula T1 - Role of Conductive Nanoparticles in the Direct Unmediated Bioelectrocatalysis of Immobilized Sulfite Oxidase JF - Electroanalysis : an international journal devoted to fundamental and practical aspects of electroanalysis KW - Direct electron transfer KW - Protein voltammetry KW - Human sulfite oxidase KW - Bioelectrocatalysis KW - Nanoparticles Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/elan.201600246 SN - 1040-0397 SN - 1521-4109 VL - 28 SP - 2303 EP - 2310 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Dongmo, Saustin A1 - Leyk, Janina A1 - Dosche, Carsten A1 - Richter-Landsberg, Christiane A1 - Wollenberger, Ursula A1 - Wittstock, Gunther T1 - Electrogeneration of O-2(center dot-) and H2O2 Using Polymer-modified Microelectrodes in the Environment of Living Cells JF - Electroanalysis : an international journal devoted to fundamental and practical aspects of electroanalysis N2 - Microelectrodes modified with electropolymerized plumbagin (PLG) were used for the generation of superoxide radical (O-2(center dot-)) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) during oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in an aqueous medium, specifically in serum-free cell culture media. This is enabled by the specific design of a polymer film on the microelectrode. The generation and diffusion of O-2(center dot-) during electrocatalytic ORR at a positionable PLG polymer-modified microelectrode was followed by fluorescence microscopy with the selective dye 4-chloro-7-nitrobenzo-2-oxa-1,3-diazole (NBD-Cl) and by amperometric detection using a cytochrome c-modified electrode at + 0.13 V. H2O2 production, either by direct oxygen reduction or as product of O-2(center dot-) disproportionation, was monitored by the reaction with Amplex UltraRed. The PLG polymer-modified microelectrodes were used to expose mammalian B6-RPE07 retinal cells to defined local fluxes of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and cellular responses and morphological alterations were observed. The use of a controllable source of ROS opens many possibilities to study how living cells respond to the presence of a certain flux of specific ROS. KW - reactive oxygen species KW - microelectrode KW - scanning electrochemical microscopy KW - biosensor KW - polymer-modified electrode KW - oxygen reduction reaction Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/elan.201600267 SN - 1040-0397 SN - 1521-4109 VL - 28 SP - 2400 EP - 2407 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Guardado-Calvo, Pablo A1 - Bignon, Eduardo A. A1 - Stettner, Eva A1 - Jeffers, Scott Allen A1 - Perez-Vargas, Jimena A1 - Pehau-Arnaudet, Gerard A1 - Tortoric, M. Alejandra A1 - Jestin, Jean-Luc A1 - England, Patrick A1 - Tischler, Nicole D. A1 - Rey, Felix A. T1 - Mechanistic Insight into Bunyavirus-Induced Membrane Fusion from Structure-Function Analyses of the Hantavirus Envelope Glycoprotein Gc JF - PLoS Pathogens N2 - Hantaviruses are zoonotic viruses transmitted to humans by persistently infected rodents, giving rise to serious outbreaks of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) or of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS), depending on the virus, which are associated with high case fatality rates. There is only limited knowledge about the organization of the viral particles and in particular, about the hantavirus membrane fusion glycoprotein Gc, the function of which is essential for virus entry. We describe here the X-ray structures of Gc from Hantaan virus, the type species hantavirus and responsible for HFRS, both in its neutral pH, monomeric pre-fusion conformation, and in its acidic pH, trimeric post-fusion form. The structures confirm the prediction that Gc is a class II fusion protein, containing the characteristic beta-sheet rich domains termed I, II and III as initially identified in the fusion proteins of arboviruses such as alpha-and flaviviruses. The structures also show a number of features of Gc that are distinct from arbovirus class II proteins. In particular, hantavirus Gc inserts residues from three different loops into the target membrane to drive fusion, as confirmed functionally by structure-guided mutagenesis on the HPS-inducing Andes virus, instead of having a single "fusion loop". We further show that the membrane interacting region of Gc becomes structured only at acidic pH via a set of polar and electrostatic interactions. Furthermore, the structure reveals that hantavirus Gc has an additional N-terminal "tail" that is crucial in stabilizing the post-fusion trimer, accompanying the swapping of domain III in the quaternary arrangement of the trimer as compared to the standard class II fusion proteins. The mechanistic understandings derived from these data are likely to provide a unique handle for devising treatments against these human pathogens. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1005813 SN - 1553-7366 SN - 1553-7374 VL - 12 SP - 153 EP - 166 PB - PLoS CY - San Fransisco ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Gietler, Marta A1 - Nykiel, Malgorzata A1 - Orzechowski, Slawomir A1 - Zagdanska, Barbara A1 - Fettke, Jörg T1 - Proteomic analysis of S-nitrosylated and S-glutathionylated proteins in wheat seedlings with different dehydration tolerances JF - Plant physiology and biochemistry : an official journal of the Federation of European Societies of Plant Physiology N2 - A loss of dehydration tolerance in wheat seedlings on the fifth day following imbibition is associated with a disturbance in cellular redox homeostasis, as documented by a shift of the reduced/oxidized glutathione ratio to a more oxidized state and a significant increase in the ratio of protein thiols to the total thiol group content. Therefore, the identification and characterization of redox-sensitive proteins are important steps toward understanding the molecular mechanisms of the loss of dehydration tolerance. In the present study, proteins that were differentially expressed between fully turgid (control), dehydrated tolerant (four-day-old) and dehydrated sensitive (six-day-old) wheat seedlings were analysed. Protein spots having at least a significant (p < 0.05) two-fold change in protein abundance were selected by Delta2D as differentially expressed, identified by MALDI-TOF and LC-MS/MS, and classified according to their function. The observed changes in the proteomic patterns of the differentially S-nitrosylated and S-glutathionylated proteins were highly specific in dehydration-tolerant and-sensitive wheat seedlings. The metabolic function of these proteins indicates that dehydration tolerance is mainly related to nucleic acids, protein metabolism, and energy metabolism. It has been proven that leaf-specific thionins BTH6 and DB4, chloroplastic 50S ribosomal protein L16, phospholipase A1-II delta, and chloroplastic thioredoxin M2 are both S-nitrosylated and S-glutathionylated upon water deficiency. Our results revealed the existence of interplay between S-nitrosylation and S-glutathionylation, two redox-regulated protein posttranslational modifications that could enhance plant defence mechanisms and/or facilitate the acclimation of plants to unfavourable environmental conditions. (C) 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved. KW - Dehydration tolerance KW - Proteomics KW - Redox sensitive proteins KW - S-glutathionylation KW - S-nitrosylation KW - Triticum aestivum L. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plaphy.2016.08.017 SN - 0981-9428 VL - 108 SP - 507 EP - 518 PB - Elsevier CY - Paris ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Nukarinen, Ella A1 - Nägele, Thomas A1 - Pedrotti, Lorenzo A1 - Wurzinger, Bernhard A1 - Mair, Andrea A1 - Landgraf, Ramona A1 - Börnke, Frederik A1 - Hanson, Johannes A1 - Teige, Markus A1 - Baena-Gonzalez, Elena A1 - Dröge-Laser, Wolfgang A1 - Weckwerth, Wolfram T1 - Quantitative phosphoproteomics reveals the role of the AMPK plant ortholog SnRK1 as a metabolic master regulator under energy deprivation JF - Scientific reports N2 - Since years, research on SnRK1, the major cellular energy sensor in plants, has tried to define its role in energy signalling. However, these attempts were notoriously hampered by the lethality of a complete knockout of SnRK1. Therefore, we generated an inducible amiRNA:: SnRK1 alpha 2 in a snrk1 alpha 1 knock out background (snrk1 alpha 1/alpha 2) to abolish SnRK1 activity to understand major systemic functions of SnRK1 signalling under energy deprivation triggered by extended night treatment. We analysed the in vivo phosphoproteome, proteome and metabolome and found that activation of SnRK1 is essential for repression of high energy demanding cell processes such as protein synthesis. The most abundant effect was the constitutively high phosphorylation of ribosomal protein S6 (RPS6) in the snrk1 alpha 1/alpha 2 mutant. RPS6 is a major target of TOR signalling and its phosphorylation correlates with translation. Further evidence for an antagonistic SnRK1 and TOR crosstalk comparable to the animal system was demonstrated by the in vivo interaction of SnRK1 alpha 1 and RAPTOR1B in the cytosol and by phosphorylation of RAPTOR1B by SnRK1 alpha 1 in kinase assays. Moreover, changed levels of phosphorylation states of several chloroplastic proteins in the snrk1 alpha 1/alpha 2 mutant indicated an unexpected link to regulation of photosynthesis, the main energy source in plants. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/srep31697 SN - 2045-2322 VL - 6 SP - 10248 EP - 10252 PB - Nature Publ. Group CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Périllon, Cécile A1 - Hilt, Sabine T1 - Groundwater influence differentially affects periphyton and macrophyte production in lakes JF - Hydrobiologia : acta hydrobiologica, hydrographica, limnologica et protistologica N2 - Groundwater influx can significantly contribute to nutrient and carbon budgets of lakes, and its influence is the strongest in littoral areas dominated by macrophytes and periphyton. We have reviewed the effects of groundwater-borne nitrogen and phosphorus and dissolved inorganic and organic carbon (DIC, DOC) on these benthic primary producers in lakes. We develop a hypothesis for groundwater effects including the less studied impacts of periphyton shading on macrophytes. Groundwater-borne nutrients and DIC promote both macrophytes and periphyton. Direct studies on groundwater-borne DOC effects are lacking, but coloured DOC contributes to light attenuation and thus can restrict the growth of benthic primary producers. We predict that above certain threshold levels of nutrient influx by groundwater, periphyton and macrophyte biomass should decline owing to shading by phytoplankton and periphyton, respectively. However, because of their higher light requirements, those thresholds should be lower for macrophytes. For macrophytes, a threshold level is also predicted for a shift from DIC limitation to light limitation. Differences in light requirements are expected to result in lower thresholds of DOC loading for declines of macrophytes than periphyton. KW - Dissolved inorganic carbon KW - Dissolved organic carbon KW - Light KW - Macrophytes KW - Nutrients KW - Periphyton Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-015-2485-9 SN - 0018-8158 SN - 1573-5117 VL - 778 SP - 91 EP - 103 PB - Springer CY - Dordrecht ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Saffert, Paul A1 - Adamla, Frauke A1 - Schieweck, Rico A1 - Atkins, John F. A1 - Ignatova, Zoya T1 - An Expanded CAG Repeat in Huntingtin Causes+1 Frameshifting JF - The journal of biological chemistry N2 - Maintenance of triplet decoding is crucial for the expression of functional protein because deviations either into the -1 or +1 reading frames are often non-functional. We report here that expression of huntingtin (Htt) exon 1 with expanded CAG repeats, implicated in Huntington pathology, undergoes a sporadic +1 frameshift to generate from the CAG repeat a trans-frame AGC repeat-encoded product. This +1 recoding is exclusively detected in pathological Htt variants, i.e. those with expanded repeats with more than 35 consecutive CAG codons. An atypical +1 shift site, UUC C at the 5 end of CAG repeats, which has some resemblance to the influenza A virus shift site, triggers the +1 frameshifting and is enhanced by the increased propensity of the expanded CAG repeats to form a stem-loop structure. The +1 trans-frame-encoded product can directly influence the aggregation of the parental Htt exon 1. KW - aggregation KW - Huntington disease KW - translation KW - translation regulation KW - trinucleotide repeat disease KW - frameshifting KW - seeding Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1074/jbc.M116.744326 SN - 0021-9258 SN - 1083-351X VL - 291 SP - 18505 EP - 18513 PB - American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology CY - Bethesda ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Soliveres, Santiago A1 - van der Plas, Fons A1 - Manning, Peter A1 - Prati, Daniel A1 - Gossner, Martin M. A1 - Renner, Swen C. A1 - Alt, Fabian A1 - Arndt, Hartmut A1 - Baumgartner, Vanessa A1 - Binkenstein, Julia A1 - Birkhofer, Klaus A1 - Blaser, Stefan A1 - Blüthgen, Nico A1 - Boch, Steffen A1 - Böhm, Stefan A1 - Börschig, Carmen A1 - Buscot, Francois A1 - Diekötter, Tim A1 - Heinze, Johannes A1 - Hölzel, Norbert A1 - Jung, Kirsten A1 - Klaus, Valentin H. A1 - Kleinebecker, Till A1 - Klemmer, Sandra A1 - Krauss, Jochen A1 - Lange, Markus A1 - Morris, E. Kathryn A1 - Müller, Jörg A1 - Oelmann, Yvonne A1 - Overmann, Jörg A1 - Pasalic, Esther A1 - Rillig, Matthias C. A1 - Schaefer, H. Martin A1 - Schloter, Michael A1 - Schmitt, Barbara A1 - Schöning, Ingo A1 - Schrumpf, Marion A1 - Sikorski, Johannes A1 - Socher, Stephanie A. A1 - Solly, Emily F. A1 - Sonnemann, Ilja A1 - Sorkau, Elisabeth A1 - Steckel, Juliane A1 - Steffan-Dewenter, Ingolf A1 - Stempfhuber, Barbara A1 - Tschapka, Marco A1 - Türke, Manfred A1 - Venter, Paul C. A1 - Weiner, Christiane N. A1 - Weisser, Wolfgang W. A1 - Werner, Michael A1 - Westphal, Catrin A1 - Wilcke, Wolfgang A1 - Wolters, Volkmar A1 - Wubet, Tesfaye A1 - Wurst, Susanne A1 - Fischer, Markus A1 - Allan, Eric T1 - Biodiversity at multiple trophic levels is needed for ecosystem multifunctionality JF - Nature : the international weekly journal of science Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/nature19092 SN - 0028-0836 SN - 1476-4687 VL - 536 SP - 456 EP - + PB - Nature Publ. Group CY - London ER - TY - GEN A1 - Wutke, Saskia A1 - Andersson, Leif A1 - Benecke, Norbert A1 - Sandoval-Castellanos, Edson A1 - Gonzalez, Javier A1 - Hallsson, Jon Hallsteinn A1 - Lougas, Lembi A1 - Magnell, Ola A1 - Morales-Muniz, Arturo A1 - Orlando, Ludovic A1 - Palsdottir, Albina Hulda A1 - Reissmann, Monika A1 - Munoz-Rodriguez, Mariana B. A1 - Ruttkay, Matej A1 - Trinks, Alexandra A1 - Hofreiter, Michael A1 - Ludwig, Arne T1 - The origin of ambling horses T2 - Current biology N2 - Horseback riding is the most fundamental use of domestic horses and has had a huge influence on the development of human societies for millennia. Over time, riding techniques and the style of riding improved. Therefore, horses with the ability to perform comfortable gaits (e.g. ambling or pacing), so-called ‘gaited’ horses, have been highly valued by humans, especially for long distance travel. Recently, the causative mutation for gaitedness in horses has been linked to a substitution causing a premature stop codon in the DMRT3 gene (DMRT3_Ser301STOP) [1]. In mice, Dmrt3 is expressed in spinal cord interneurons and plays an important role in the development of limb movement coordination [1]. Genotyping the position in 4396 modern horses from 141 breeds revealed that nowadays the mutated allele is distributed worldwide with an especially high frequency in gaited horses and breeds used for harness racing [2]. Here, we examine historic horse remains for the DMRT3 SNP, tracking the origin of gaitedness to Medieval England between 850 and 900 AD. The presence of the corresponding allele in Icelandic horses (9th–11th century) strongly suggests that ambling horses were brought from the British Isles to Iceland by Norse people. Considering the high frequency of the ambling allele in early Icelandic horses, we believe that Norse settlers selected for this comfortable mode of horse riding soon after arrival. The absence of the allele in samples from continental Europe (including Scandinavia) at this time implies that ambling horses may have spread from Iceland and maybe also the British Isles across the continent at a later date. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2016.07.001 SN - 0960-9822 SN - 1879-0445 VL - 26 SP - R697 EP - R699 PB - Cell Press CY - Cambridge ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Turjeman, Sondra Feldman A1 - Centeno-Cuadros, Alejandro A1 - Eggers, Ute A1 - Rotics, Shay A1 - Blas, Julio A1 - Fiedler, Wolfgang A1 - Kaatz, Michael A1 - Jeltsch, Florian A1 - Wikelski, Martin A1 - Nathan, Ran T1 - Extra-pair paternity in the socially monogamous white stork (Ciconia ciconia) is fairly common and independent of local density JF - Scientific reports N2 - Although many birds are socially monogamous, most (>75%) studied species are not strictly genetically monogamous, especially under high breeding density. We used molecular tools to reevaluate the reproductive strategy of the socially monogamous white stork (Ciconia ciconia) and examined local density effects. DNA samples of nestlings (Germany, Spain) were genotyped and assigned relationships using a two-program maximum likelihood classification. Relationships were successfully classified in 79.2% of German (n = 120) and 84.8% of Spanish (n = 59) nests. For each population respectively, 76.8% (n = 73) and 66.0% (n = 33) of nests contained only full-siblings, 10.5% (n = 10) and 18.0% (n = 9) had half-siblings (at least one nestling with a different parent), 3.2% (n = 3) and 10.0% (n = 5) had unrelated nestlings (at least two nestlings, each with different parents), and 9.5% (n = 9) and 6.0% (n = 3) had “not full-siblings” (could not differentiate between latter two cases). These deviations from strict monogamy place the white stork in the 59th percentile for extra-pair paternity among studied bird species. Although high breeding density generally increases extra-pair paternity, we found no significant association with this species’ mating strategies. Thus although genetic monogamy is indeed prominent in the white stork, extra-pair paternity is fairly common compared to other bird species and cannot be explained by breeding density. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/srep27976 SN - 2045-2322 VL - 6 PB - Nature Publ. Group CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wettstein, Christoph A1 - Kano, Kenji A1 - Schaefer, Daniel A1 - Wollenberger, Ursula A1 - Lisdat, Fred T1 - Interaction of Flavin-Dependent Fructose Dehydrogenase with Cytochrome c as Basis for the Construction of Biomacromolecular Architectures on Electrodes JF - Analytical chemistry N2 - The creation of electron transfer (ET) chains based on the defined arrangement of enzymes and redox proteins on electrode surfaces represents an interesting approach within the field of bioelectrocatalysis. In this study, we investigated the ET reaction of the flavin-dependent enzyme fructose dehydrogenase (FDH) with the redox protein cytochrome c (cyt c). Two different pH optima were found for the reaction in acidic and neutral solutions. When cyt c was adsorbed on an electrode surface while the enzyme remained in solution, ET proceeded efficiently in media of neutral pH. Interprotein ET was also observed in acidic media; however, it appeared to be less efficient. These findings suggest that two different ET pathways between the enzyme and cyt c may occur. Moreover, cyt c and FDH were immobilized in multiple layers on an electrode surface by means of another biomacromolecule: DNA (double stranded) using the layer -by -layer technique. The biprotein multilayer architecture showed a catalytic response in dependence on the fructose concentration, indicating that the ET reaction between both proteins is feasible even in the immobilized state. The electrode showed a defined response to fructose and a good storage stability. Our results contribute to the better understanding of the ET reaction between FDH and cyt c and provide the basis for the creation of all-biomolecule based fructose sensors the sensitivity of which can be controlled by the layer preparation. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.6b00815 SN - 0003-2700 SN - 1520-6882 VL - 88 SP - 6382 EP - 6389 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Almathen, Faisal A1 - Charruau, Pauline A1 - Mohandesan, Elmira A1 - Mwacharo, Joram M. A1 - Orozco-terWengel, Pablo A1 - Pitt, Daniel A1 - Abdussamad, Abdussamad M. A1 - Uerpmann, Margarethe A1 - Uerpmann, Hans-Peter A1 - De Cupere, Bea A1 - Magee, Peter A1 - Alnaqeeb, Majed A. A1 - Salim, Bashir A1 - Raziq, Abdul A1 - Dessie, Tadelle A1 - Abdelhadi, Omer M. A1 - Banabazi, Mohammad H. A1 - Al-Eknah, Marzook A1 - Walzer, Chris A1 - Fayer, Bernard A1 - Hofreiter, Michael A1 - Peters, Joris A1 - Hanotte, Olivier A1 - Burger, Pamela A. T1 - Ancient and modern DNA reveal dynamics of domestication and cross-continental dispersal of the dromedary JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America N2 - Dromedaries have been fundamental to the development of human societies in arid landscapes and for long-distance trade across hostile hot terrains for 3,000 y. Today they continue to be an important livestock resource in marginal agro-ecological zones. However, the history of dromedary domestication and the influence of ancient trading networks on their genetic structure have remained elusive. We combined ancient DNA sequences of wild and early-domesticated dromedary samples from arid regions with nuclear microsatellite and mitochondrial genotype information from 1,083 extant animals collected across the species’ range. We observe little phylogeographic signal in the modern population, indicative of extensive gene flow and virtually affecting all regions except East Africa, where dromedary populations have remained relatively isolated. In agreement with archaeological findings, we identify wild dromedaries from the southeast Arabian Peninsula among the founders of the domestic dromedary gene pool. Approximate Bayesian computations further support the “restocking from the wild” hypothesis, with an initial domestication followed by introgression from individuals from wild, now-extinct populations. Compared with other livestock, which show a long history of gene flow with their wild ancestors, we find a high initial diversity relative to the native distribution of the wild ancestor on the Arabian Peninsula and to the brief coexistence of early-domesticated and wild individuals. This study also demonstrates the potential to retrieve ancient DNA sequences from osseous remains excavated in hot and dry desert environments. KW - anthropogenic admixture KW - Camelus dromedarius KW - demographic history KW - paleogenetics KW - wild dromedary Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1519508113 SN - 0027-8424 VL - 113 SP - 6707 EP - 6712 PB - National Acad. of Sciences CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hoffmann, Stefan A. A1 - Kruse, Sabrina M. A1 - Arndt, Katja Maren T1 - Long-range transcriptional interference in E-coli used to construct a dual positive selection system for genetic switches JF - Nucleic acids research N2 - We have investigated transcriptional interference between convergent genes in E. coli and demonstrate substantial interference for inter-promoter distances of as far as 3 kb. Interference can be elicited by both strong σ70 dependent and T7 promoters. In the presented design, a strong promoter driving gene expression of a ‘forward’ gene interferes with the expression of a ‘reverse’ gene by a weak promoter. This arrangement allows inversely correlated gene expression without requiring further regulatory components. Thus, modulation of the activity of the strong promoter alters expression of both the forward and the reverse gene. We used this design to develop a dual selection system for conditional operator site binding, allowing positive selection both for binding and for non-binding to DNA. This study demonstrates the utility of this novel system using the Lac repressor as a model protein for conditional DNA binding, and spectinomycin and chloramphenicol resistance genes as positive selection markers in liquid culture. Randomized LacI libraries were created and subjected to subsequent dual selection, but mispairing IPTG and selection cues in respect to the wild-type LacI response, allowing the isolation of a LacI variant with a reversed IPTG response within three rounds of library generation and dual selection. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkw125 SN - 0305-1048 SN - 1362-4962 VL - 44 PB - Oxford Univ. Press CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mahlow, Sebastian A1 - Orzechowski, Slawomir A1 - Fettke, Jörg T1 - Starch phosphorylation: insights and perspectives JF - Cellular and molecular life sciences N2 - During starch metabolism, the phosphorylation of glucosyl residues of starch, to be more precise of amylopectin, is a repeatedly observed process. This phosphorylation is mediated by dikinases, the glucan, water dikinase (GWD) and the phosphoglucan, water dikinase (PWD). The starch-related dikinases utilize ATP as dual phosphate donor transferring the terminal gamma-phosphate group to water and the beta-phosphate group selectively to either C6 position or C3 position of a glucosyl residue within amylopectin. By the collaborative action of both enzymes, the initiation of a transition of alpha-glucans from highly ordered, water-insoluble state to a less order state is realized and thus the initial process of starch degradation. Consequently, mutants lacking either GWD or PWD reveal a starch excess phenotype as well as growth retardation. In this review, we focus on the increased knowledge collected over the last years related to enzymatic properties, the precise definition of the substrates, the physiological implications, and discuss ongoing questions. KW - Starch metabolism KW - Glucan, water dikinase KW - Phosphoglucan, water dikinase KW - Starch phosphorylation KW - Starch degradation Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00018-016-2248-4 SN - 1420-682X SN - 1420-9071 VL - 73 SP - 2753 EP - 2764 PB - Springer CY - Basel ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Gorochowski, Thomas E. A1 - Aycilar-Kucukgoze, Irem A1 - Bovenberg, Roel A. L. A1 - Roubos, Johannes A. A1 - Ignatova, Zoya T1 - A Minimal Model of Ribosome Allocation Dynamics Captures Trade-offs in Expression between Endogenous and Synthetic Genes JF - ACS synthetic biology N2 - Cells contain a finite set of resources that must be distributed across many processes to ensure survival. Among them, the largest proportion of cellular resources is dedicated to protein translation. Synthetic biology often exploits these resources in executing orthogonal genetic circuits, yet the burden this places on the cell is rarely considered. Here, we develop a minimal model of ribosome allocation dynamics capturing the demands on translation when expressing a synthetic construct together with endogenous genes required for the maintenance of cell physiology. Critically, it contains three key variables related to design parameters of the synthetic construct covering transcript abundance, translation initiation rate, and elongation time. We show that model-predicted changes in ribosome allocation closely match experimental shifts in synthetic protein expression rate and cellular growth. Intriguingly, the model is also able to accurately infer transcript levels and translation times after further exposure to additional ambient stress. Our results demonstrate that a simple model of resource allocation faithfully captures the redistribution of protein synthesis resources when faced with the burden of synthetic gene expression and environmental stress. The tractable nature of the model makes it a versatile tool for exploring the guiding principles of efficient heterologous expression and the indirect interactions that can arise between synthetic circuits and their host chassis because of competition for shared translational resources. KW - protein biosynthesis KW - translation KW - synthetic biology KW - systems biology Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/acssynbio.6b00040 SN - 2161-5063 VL - 5 SP - 710 EP - 720 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Beenken, Ludwig A1 - Sainge, Moses N. A1 - Kocyan, Alexander T1 - Lactarius megalopterus, a new angiocarpous species from a tropical rainforest in Central Africa, shows adaptations to endozoochorous spore dispersal JF - Mycological progress : international journal of the German Mycological Society N2 - A new sequestrate Lactarius species was found in a humid evergreen tropical rainforest dominated by Fabaceae of the subfamily Caesalpinioideae in Cameroon, Central Africa. It is described here as new to science and is named Lactarius megalopterus, referring to its spore ornamentation of extraordinarily high wings. Anatomical characters and molecular systematic analyses confirm its relationship to Lactarius subgenus Plinthogali. Phylogenetic analyses based on two nuclear DNA regions revealed its close relationship to Lactarius angiocarpus, which is also an angiocarpous species from Zambia in Africa. Molecular studies have shown that tuber-like, sequestrate sporocarps evolved independently in several lineages of Basidiomycota. The findings of sequestrate fungi in tropical rainforests raise questions regarding the evolutionary benefit of enclosing the spore-producing hymenium. The enclosure of spore-producing tissue has often been associated with the protection of the delicate hymenium against desiccation in arid habitats or against frost in cold habitats. However, these cannot be the selective factors in warm and humid areas like the tropics. This controversy is exemplarily studied and discussed in the family of Russulaceae, especially in the genus Lactarius. Characters shown by the angiocarpous sporocarp of the new Lactarius, such as thick-walled statismospores, an aromatic smell and mild taste, can be interpreted as adaptations to endozoochorous spore dispersal by mammals. Therefore, here we prefer the alternative hypothesis that sequestrate sporocarps are the result of adaptation to endozoochorous spore dispersal. KW - Russulaceae KW - Lactarius subgenus Plinthogali KW - Mycophagy KW - Endozoochory syndrome KW - Cameroon Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s11557-016-1198-4 SN - 1617-416X SN - 1861-8952 VL - 15 SP - 158 EP - 173 PB - Springer CY - Heidelberg ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wadke, Namita A1 - Kandasamy, Dineshkumar A1 - Vogel, Heiko A1 - Lah, Ljerka A1 - Wingfield, Brenda D. A1 - Paetz, Christian A1 - Wright, Louwrance P. A1 - Gershenzon, Jonathan A1 - Hammerbacher, Almuth T1 - The Bark-Beetle-Associated Fungus, Endoconidiophora polonica, Utilizes the Phenolic Defense Compounds of Its Host as a Carbon Source JF - Plant physiology : an international journal devoted to physiology, biochemistry, cellular and molecular biology, biophysics and environmental biology of plants N2 - Norway spruce (Picea abies) is periodically attacked by the bark beetle Ips typographus and its fungal associate, Endoconidiophora polonica, whose infection is thought to be required for successful beetle attack. Norway spruce produces terpenoid resins and phenolics in response to fungal and bark beetle invasion. However, how the fungal associate copes with these chemical defenses is still unclear. In this study, we investigated changes in the phenolic content of Norway spruce bark upon E. polonica infection and the biochemical factors mediating these changes. Although genes encoding the rate-limiting enzymes in Norway spruce stilbene and flavonoid biosynthesis were actively transcribed during fungal infection, there was a significant time-dependent decline of the corresponding metabolites in fungal lesions. In vitro feeding experiments with pure phenolics revealed that E. polonica transforms both stilbenes and flavonoids to muconoid-type ring-cleavage products, which are likely the first steps in the degradation of spruce defenses to substrates that can enter the tricarboxylic acid cycle. Four genes were identified in E. polonica that encode catechol dioxygenases carrying out these reactions. These enzymes catalyze the cleavage of phenolic rings with a vicinal dihydroxyl group to muconoid products accepting a wide range of Norway spruce-produced phenolics as substrates. The expression of these genes and E. polonica utilization of the most abundant spruce phenolics as carbon sources both correlated positively with fungal virulence in several strains. Thus, the pathways for the degradation of phenolic compounds in E. polonica, initiated by catechol dioxygenase action, are important to the infection, growth, and survival of this bark beetle-vectored fungus and may play a major role in the ability of I. typographus to colonize spruce trees. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1104/pp.15.01916 SN - 0032-0889 SN - 1532-2548 VL - 171 SP - 914 EP - 931 PB - American Society of Plant Physiologists CY - Rockville ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kocyan, Alexander A1 - Wiland-Szymanska, Justyna T1 - Friedmannia: a new genus from the Seychelles and the beginning of a generic realignment of Curculigo (Hypoxidaceae) JF - Phytotaxa : a rapid international journal for accelerating the publication of botanical taxonomy N2 - Recent molecular phylogenetic reconstruction of the monocot Hypoxidaceae implies that the genus Curculigo is non-monophyletic. Curculigo seychellensis occurs on the Seychelles islands and is part of an isolated though geographically well-defined clade. However, Curculigo seychellensis differs in a wide range of character-states from other species of Curculigo and from the genus Hypoxidia, representing the sister clade of C. seychellensis. Therefore, we here propose a new-though monotypic-genus, endemic to the Seychelles: Friedmannia. A detailed reasoning combined with a whole set of new data is presented. A neotype for the genus and the species is designated here. KW - Curculigo KW - Asparagales KW - neotypification KW - taxonomy Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.283.1.3 SN - 1179-3155 SN - 1179-3163 VL - 283 SP - 54 EP - 64 PB - Magnolia Press CY - Auckland ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sander, Martha Maria A1 - Scheffler, Christiane T1 - Bilateral asymmetry in left handers increased concerning morphological laterality in a recent sample of young adults JF - Journal of biological and clinical anthropology : Anthropologischer Anzeiger ; Mitteilungsorgan der Gesellschaft für Anthropologie KW - anthropometry KW - handedness KW - laterality KW - bilateral asymmetry KW - left handers KW - upper extremity KW - reskilling KW - elbow breadth Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1127/anthranz/2016/0663 SN - 0003-5548 VL - 73 SP - 335 EP - 342 PB - Schweizerbart CY - Stuttgart ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ali, Tahir A1 - Runge, Fabian A1 - Dutbayev, Ayan A1 - Schmuker, Angelika A1 - Solovyeva, Irina A1 - Nigrelli, Lisa A1 - Buch, Ann-Katrin A1 - Xia, Xiaojuan A1 - Ploch, Sebastian A1 - Orren, Ouria A1 - Kummer, Volker A1 - Paule, Juraj A1 - Celik, Ali A1 - Vakhrusheva, Ljudmila A1 - Gabrielyan, Ivan A1 - Thines, Marco T1 - Microthlaspi erraticum (Jord.) T. Ali et Thines has a wide distribution, ranging from the Alps to the Tien Shan JF - Flora : morphology, distribution, functional ecology of plants N2 - Microthlaspi is a predominantly Eurasian genus which also occurs in the northernmost parts of Africa (Maghreb). The most widespread species of the genus is M. perfoliatum, which can be found from Sweden to Algeria and from Portugal to China. The other species are thought to have much more confined distribution ranges, often covering only a few hundred kilometres. This is also believed for the diploid M. erraticum, which was recently re-appraised as a taxon independent from the tetra- to hexaploid M. perfoliatum. Previously, M. erraticum was believed to be present only in Central Europe, from the East of France to Slovenia. In order to gain a deeper understanding of the ecology, evolution and migration history of Microthlaspi it was the focus of the current study to investigate, if M. erraticum is present in habitats outside Central Europe, but with microclimates similar to Central Europe. It is demonstrated that M. erraticum is much more widespread than previously thought, while other lineages apart from M. perfoliatum s.str. and M. erraticum seem to have restricted distribution ranges. The latter species was observed from the Alps and their foreland, the Balkans, the mountainous areas around the Black Sea, Southern Siberia, as well as the Altai and Tien Shan mountains. This demonstrates a widespread occurrence of this easily-overlooked species. (C) 2016 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved. KW - Biogeography KW - Coluteocarpeae KW - Noccaea KW - Phylogeny KW - Species complex KW - Thlaspi perfoliatum Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.flora.2016.09.008 SN - 0367-2530 SN - 1618-0585 VL - 225 SP - 76 EP - 81 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Jena ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zwickel, Theresa A1 - Kahl, Sandra M. A1 - Klaffke, Horst A1 - Rychlik, Michael A1 - Müller, Marina E. H. T1 - Spotlight on the Underdogs-An Analysis of Underrepresented Alternaria Mycotoxins Formed Depending on Varying Substrate, Time and Temperature Conditions JF - Toxins N2 - Alternaria (A.) is a genus of widespread fungi capable of producing numerous, possibly health-endangering Alternaria toxins (ATs), which are usually not the focus of attention. The formation of ATs depends on the species and complex interactions of various environmental factors and is not fully understood. In this study the influence of temperature (7 degrees C, 25 degrees C), substrate (rice, wheat kernels) and incubation time (4, 7, and 14 days) on the production of thirteen ATs and three sulfoconjugated ATs by three different Alternaria isolates from the species groups A. tenuissima and A. infectoria was determined. High-performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry was used for quantification. Under nearly all conditions, tenuazonic acid was the most extensively produced toxin. At 25 degrees C and with increasing incubation time all toxins were formed in high amounts by the two A. tenuissima strains on both substrates with comparable mycotoxin profiles. However, for some of the toxins, stagnation or a decrease in production was observed from day 7 to 14. As opposed to the A. tenuissima strains, the A. infectoria strain only produced low amounts of ATs, but high concentrations of stemphyltoxin III. The results provide an essential insight into the quantitative in vitro AT formation under different environmental conditions, potentially transferable to different field and storage conditions. KW - Alternaria infectoria KW - A. tenuissima KW - mycotoxin profile KW - wheat KW - rice KW - Alternaria toxin sulfates KW - modified Alternaria toxins KW - altertoxins KW - altenuic acid KW - HPLC-MS/MS Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins8110344 SN - 2072-6651 VL - 8 SP - 570 EP - 583 PB - MDPI CY - Basel ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bergmann, Joana A1 - Verbruggen, Erik A1 - Heinze, Johannes A1 - Xiang, Dan A1 - Chen, Baodong A1 - Joshi, Jasmin Radha A1 - Rillig, Matthias C. T1 - The interplay between soil structure, roots, and microbiota as a determinant of plant-soil feedback JF - Ecology and evolution N2 - Plant-soil feedback (PSF) can influence plant community structure via changes in the soil microbiome. However, how these feedbacks depend on the soil environment remains poorly understood. We hypothesized that disintegrating a naturally aggregated soil may influence the outcome of PSF by affecting microbial communities. Furthermore, we expected plants to differentially interact with soil structure and the microbial communities due to varying root morphology. We carried out a feedback experiment with nine plant species (five forbs and four grasses) where the training phase consisted of aggregated versus disintegrated soil. In the feedback phase, a uniform soil was inoculated in a fully factorial design with soil washings from conspecific- versus heterospecific-trained soil that had been either disintegrated or aggregated. This way, the effects of prior soil structure on plant performance in terms of biomass production and allocation were examined. In the training phase, soil structure did not affect plant biomass. But on disintegrated soil, plants with lower specific root length (SRL) allocated more biomass aboveground. PSF in the feedback phase was negative overall. With training on disintegrated soil, conspecific feedback was positively correlated with SRL and significantly differed between grasses and forbs. Plants with higher SRL were likely able to easily explore the disintegrated soil with smaller pores, while plants with lower SRL invested in belowground biomass for soil exploration and seemed to be more susceptible to fungal pathogens. This suggests that plants with low SRL could be more limited by PSF on disintegrated soils of early successional stages. This study is the first to examine the influence of soil structure on PSF. Our results suggest that soil structure determines the outcome of PSF mediated by SRL. We recommend to further explore the effects of soil structure and propose to include root performance when working with PSF. KW - arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi KW - biomass allocation KW - plant functional traits KW - plant-soil (belowground) interactions KW - soil aggregation KW - specific root length KW - succession KW - water-stable aggregates Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.2456 SN - 2045-7758 VL - 6 SP - 7633 EP - 7644 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sakschewski, Boris A1 - von Bloh, Werner A1 - Boit, Alice A1 - Poorter, Lourens A1 - Pe~na-Claros, Marielos A1 - Heinke, Jens A1 - Joshi, Jasmin Radha A1 - Thonicke, Kirsten T1 - Resilience of Amazon forests emerges from plant trait diversity JF - Nature climate change Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/NCLIMATE3109 SN - 1758-678X SN - 1758-6798 VL - 6 SP - 1032 EP - + PB - Nature Publ. Group CY - London ER -