TY - GEN A1 - Eggert, Kai A1 - Rawel, Harshadrai Manilal A1 - Pawelzik, Elke T1 - In vitro degradation of wheat gluten fractions by Fusarium graminearum proteases T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - Fusarium spp. infection of cereal grain is a common problem, which leads to a dramatic loss of grain quality. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of Fusarium infection on the wheat storage protein gluten and its fractions, the gliadins and glutenins, in an in vitro model system. Gluten proteins were digested by F. graminearum proteases for 2, 4, 8 and 24 h, separated by Osborne fractionation and characterised by chromatographic (RP-HPLC) and electrophoretic analysis (SDS-Page). Gluten digestion by F. graminearum proteases showed in comparison with gliadins a preference for the glutenins whereas the HMW subfraction was at most affected. In comparison with a untreated control, the HMW subfraction was degraded of about 97% after 4 h incubation with Fusarium proteases. Separate digestion of gliadin and glutenin underlined the preference for HMW-GS. Analogue to the observed change in the gluten composition, the yield of the proteins extracted changed. A higher amount of glutenin fragments was found in the gliadin extraction solution after digestion and could mask a gliadin destruction at the same time. This observation can contribute to explain the frequently reported reduced glutenin amount parallel to an increase in gliadin quantity after Fusarium infection in grains. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 877 KW - gluten KW - gliadin and glutenin fractions KW - peptides KW - serine and trypsin protease Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-435102 SN - 1866-8372 IS - 877 SP - 697 EP - 705 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Van Donk, Ellen A1 - Ianora, Adrianna A1 - Vos, Matthijs T1 - Induced defences in marine and freshwater phytoplankton BT - a review T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - Many organisms have developed defences to avoid predation by species at higher trophic levels. The capability of primary producers to defend themselves against herbivores affects their own survival, can modulate the strength of trophic cascades and changes rates of competitive exclusion in aquatic communities. Algal species are highly flexible in their morphology, growth form, biochemical composition and production of toxic and deterrent compounds. Several of these variable traits in phytoplankton have been interpreted as defence mechanisms against grazing. Zooplankton feed with differing success on various phytoplankton species, depending primarily on size, shape, cell wall structure and the production of toxins and deterrents. Chemical cues associated with (i) mechanical damage, (ii) herbivore presence and (iii) grazing are the main factors triggering induced defences in both marine and freshwater phytoplankton, but most studies have failed to disentangle the exact mechanism(s) governing defence induction in any particular species. Induced defences in phytoplankton include changes in morphology (e.g. the formation of spines, colonies and thicker cell walls), biochemistry (such as production of toxins, repellents) and in life history characteristics (formation of cysts, reduced recruitment rate). Our categorization of inducible defences in terms of the responsible induction mechanism provides guidance for future work, as hardly any of the available studies on marine or freshwater plankton have performed all the treatments that are required to pinpoint the actual cue(s) for induction. We discuss the ecology of inducible defences in marine and freshwater phytoplankton with a special focus on the mechanisms of induction, the types of defences, their costs and benefits, and their consequences at the community level. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 881 KW - defenses KW - algae KW - review KW - plankton community KW - cyanobacteria KW - toxins Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-435130 SN - 1866-8372 IS - 881 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Idzik, Krzysztof Ryszard A1 - Cywinski, Piotr J. A1 - Cranfield, Charles G. A1 - Mohr, Gerhard J. A1 - Beckert, Rainer T1 - Molecular recognition of the antiretroviral drug Abacavir BT - towards the development of a novel carbazole-based fluorosensor T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - Due to their optical and electro-conductive attributes, carbazole derivatives are interesting materials for a large range of biosensor applications. In this study, we present the synthesis routes and fluorescence evaluation of newly designed carbazole fluorosensors that, by modification with uracil, have a special affinity for antiretroviral drugs via either Watson–Crick or Hoogsteen base pairing. To an N-octylcarbazole-uracil compound, four different groups were attached, namely thiophene, furane, ethylenedioxythiophene, and another uracil; yielding four different derivatives. Photophysical properties of these newly obtained derivatives are described, as are their interactions with the reverse transcriptase inhibitors such as abacavir, zidovudine, lamivudine and didanosine. The influence of each analyte on biosensor fluorescence was assessed on the basis of the Stern–Volmer equation and represented by Stern–Volmer constants. Consequently we have demonstrated that these structures based on carbazole, with a uracil group, may be successfully incorporated into alternative carbazole derivatives to form biosensors for the molecular recognition of antiretroviral drugs. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 847 KW - HIV KW - HAART KW - antiretroviral drugs KW - carbazole KW - base pairing KW - fluorescence spectroscopy Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-430372 SN - 1866-8372 IS - 847 SP - 1195 EP - 1204 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Lamprecht, Anna-Lena A1 - Naujokat, Stefan A1 - Margaria, Tiziana A1 - Steffen, Bernhard T1 - Semantics-based composition of EMBOSS services T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - Background More than in other domains the heterogeneous services world in bioinformatics demands for a methodology to classify and relate resources in a both human and machine accessible manner. The Semantic Web, which is meant to address exactly this challenge, is currently one of the most ambitious projects in computer science. Collective efforts within the community have already led to a basis of standards for semantic service descriptions and meta-information. In combination with process synthesis and planning methods, such knowledge about types and services can facilitate the automatic composition of workflows for particular research questions. Results In this study we apply the synthesis methodology that is available in the Bio-jETI workflow management framework for the semantics-based composition of EMBOSS services. EMBOSS (European Molecular Biology Open Software Suite) is a collection of 350 tools (March 2010) for various sequence analysis tasks, and thus a rich source of services and types that imply comprehensive domain models for planning and synthesis approaches. We use and compare two different setups of our EMBOSS synthesis domain: 1) a manually defined domain setup where an intuitive, high-level, semantically meaningful nomenclature is applied to describe the input/output behavior of the single EMBOSS tools and their classifications, and 2) a domain setup where this information has been automatically derived from the EMBOSS Ajax Command Definition (ACD) files and the EMBRACE Data and Methods ontology (EDAM). Our experiments demonstrate that these domain models in combination with our synthesis methodology greatly simplify working with the large, heterogeneous, and hence manually intractable EMBOSS collection. However, they also show that with the information that can be derived from the (current) ACD files and EDAM ontology alone, some essential connections between services can not be recognized. Conclusions Our results show that adequate domain modeling requires to incorporate as much domain knowledge as possible, far beyond the mere technical aspects of the different types and services. Finding or defining semantically appropriate service and type descriptions is a difficult task, but the bioinformatics community appears to be on the right track towards a Life Science Semantic Web, which will eventually allow automatic service composition methods to unfold their full potential. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 956 KW - service description KW - synthesis algorithm KW - input type KW - synthesis methodology KW - electronic tool integration Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-431830 SN - 1866-8372 IS - 956 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Alter, Markus L. A1 - Ott, Ina A1 - von Websky, Karoline A1 - Tsuprykov, Oleg A1 - Sharkovska, Yuliya A1 - Krause-Relle, Katharina A1 - Raila, Jens A1 - Henze, Andrea A1 - Kretschmer, Axel A1 - Stasch, Johannes-Peter A1 - Hocher, Berthold T1 - Additional stimulation of sGC on top of standard treatment with ARB`s may offer a new therapeutic approach for the treatment of diabetic nephropathy resistant to ARB treatment alone T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - Background Riociguat is the first of a new class of drugs, the soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC) stimulators. Riociguat has a dual mode of action: it sensitizes sGC to the body’s own NO and can also increase sGC activity in the absence of NO. The NO-sGC-pathway is impaired in many cardiovascular diseases such as heart failure, pulmonary hypertension and diabetic nephropathy (DN). DN leads to high cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. There is still a high unmet medical need. The urinary albumin excretion rate is a predictive biomarker for these clinical events. Therefore, we investigated the effect of riociguat, alone and in combination with the angiotensin II receptor antagonist (ARB) telmisartan on the progression of DN in diabetic eNOS knock out mice, a new model closely resembling human pathology. Methods Seventy-six male eNOS knockout C57BL/6J mice were divided into 4 groups after receiving intraperitoneal high-dose streptozotocin: telmisartan (1 mg/kg), riociguat (3 mg/kg), riociguat+telmisartan (3 and 1 mg/kg), and vehicle. Fourteen mice were used as non-diabetic controls. After 12 weeks, urine and blood were obtained and blood pressure measured. Glucose concentrations were highly increased and similar in all diabetic groups. Results Riociguat, alone (105.2 ± 2.5 mmHg; mean±SEM; n = 14) and in combination with telmisartan (105.0 ± 3.2 mmHg; n = 12), significantly reduced blood pressure versus diabetic controls (117.1 ± 2.2 mmHg; n = 14; p = 0.002 and p = 0.004, respectively), whereas telmisartan alone (111.2 ± 2.6 mmHg) showed a modest blood pressure lowering trend (p = 0.071; n = 14). The effects of single treatment with either riociguat (97.1 ± 15.7 µg/d; n = 13) or telmisartan (97.8 ± 26.4 µg/d; n = 14) did not significantly lower albumin excretion on its own (p = 0.067 and p = 0.101, respectively). However, the combined treatment led to significantly lower urinary albumin excretion (47.3 ± 9.6 µg/d; n = 12) compared to diabetic controls (170.8 ± 34.2 µg/d; n = 13; p = 0.004), and reached levels similar to non-diabetic controls (31.4 ± 10.1 µg/d, n = 12). Conclusion Riociguat significantly reduced urinary albumin excretion in diabetic eNOS knock out mice that were refractory to treatment with ARB’s alone. Patients with diabetic nephropathy refractory to treatment with ARB’s have the worst prognosis among all patients with diabetic nephropathy. Our data indicate that additional stimulation of sGC on top of standard treatment with ARB`s may offer a new therapeutic approach for patients with diabetic nephropathy resistant to ARB treatment. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 855 KW - pulmonary hypertension KW - diabetic nephropathy KW - diabetic control KW - telmisartan KW - guanylate cyclase Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-428250 SN - 1866-8372 IS - 855 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Gebser, Martin A1 - Kaminski, Roland A1 - Schaub, Torsten H. T1 - Complex optimization in answer set programming T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - Preference handling and optimization are indispensable means for addressing nontrivial applications in Answer Set Programming (ASP). However, their implementation becomes difficult whenever they bring about a significant increase in computational complexity. As a consequence, existing ASP systems do not offer complex optimization capacities, supporting, for instance, inclusion-based minimization or Pareto efficiency. Rather, such complex criteria are typically addressed by resorting to dedicated modeling techniques, like saturation. Unlike the ease of common ASP modeling, however, these techniques are rather involved and hardly usable by ASP laymen. We address this problem by developing a general implementation technique by means of meta-prpogramming, thus reusing existing ASP systems to capture various forms of qualitative preferences among answer sets. In this way, complex preferences and optimization capacities become readily available for ASP applications. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 554 KW - answer set programming KW - preference handling KW - complex optimization KW - meta-programming Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-412436 SN - 1866-8372 IS - 554 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Wagner, Markus A1 - Pywell, Richard F. A1 - Knopp, Tatjana A1 - Bullock, James M. A1 - Heard, Matthew S. T1 - The germination niches of grassland species targeted for restoration BT - effects of seed pre-treatments T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - Restoration of semi-natural grassland communities involves a combination of (1) sward disturbance to create a temporal window for establishment, and (2) target species introduction, the latter usually by seed sowing. With great regularity, particular species establish only poorly. More reliable establishment could improve outcome of restoration projects and increase cost-effectiveness. We investigated the abiotic germination niche of ten poorly establishing calcareous grassland species by simultaneously exploring the effects of moisture and light availability and temperature fluctuation on percentage germina- tion and speed of germination. We also investigated the effects of three different pre-treatments used to enhance seed germination – cold-stratification, osmo- tic priming and priming in combination with gibberellic acid (GA 3 ) – and how these affected abiotic germination niches. Species varied markedly in width of abiotic germination niche, ranging from Carex flacca with very strict abiotic requirements, to several species reliably germinating across the whole range of abiotic conditions. Our results suggest pronounced differ- ences between species in gap requirements for establishment. Germination was improved in most species by at least one pre-treatment. Evidence for positive effects of adding GA 3 to seed priming solutions was limited. In several species, pre-treated seeds germinated under a wider range of abiotic conditions than untreated seeds. Improved knowledge of species-specific germination niches and the effects of seed pre-treatments may help to improve species establishment by sowing, and to identify species for which sowing at a later stage of restoration or introduction as small plants may represent a more viable strategy. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 675 KW - abiotic germination niche KW - calcareous grassland species KW - cold-stratification KW - osmotic seed priming KW - seed sowing KW - temperature fluctuation Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-413438 SN - 1866-8372 IS - 675 SP - 117 EP - 131 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Raila, Jens A1 - Rohn, Sascha A1 - Schweigert, Florian J. A1 - Abraham, Getu T1 - Increased antioxidant capacity in the plasma of dogs after a single oral dosage of tocotrienols T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - The intestinal absorption of tocotrienols (TCT) in dogs is, to our knowledge, so far unknown. Adult Beagle dogs (n 8) were administered a single oral dosage of a TCT-rich fraction (TRF; 40 mg/kg body weight) containing 32 % a-TCT, 2 % b-TCT, 27 % g-TCT, 14 % d-TCT and 25 % a-tocopherol (a-TCP). Blood was sampled at baseline (fasted), 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 and 12 h after supplementation. Plasma and chylomicron concentrations of TCT and a-TCP were measured at each time point. Plasma TAG were measured enzymatically, and plasma antioxidant capacity was assessed by the Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity assay. In fasted dogs, levels of TCT were 0·07 ( SD 0·03) mmol/l. Following the administration of the TRF, total plasma TCT peaked at 2 h (7·16 ( SD 3·88) mmol/l; P, 0·01) and remained above baseline levels (0·67 ( SD 0·44) mmol/l; P, 0·01) at 12 h. The TCT response in chylomicrons paralleled the increase in TCT in plasma with a maximum peak (3·49 ( SD 2·06) mmol/l; P, 0·01) at 2 h post-dosage. a-TCP was the major vitamin E detected in plasma and unaffected by TRF supplementation. The Trolox equivalent values increased from 2 h (776 ( SD 51·2) mmol/l) to a maximum at 12 h (1130 ( SD 7·72) mmol/l; P,0·01). The results show that TCT are detected in postprandial plasma of dogs. The increase in antioxidant capacity suggests a potential beneficial role of TCT supplementation in the prevention or treatment of several diseases in dogs. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 571 KW - dogs KW - tocotrienols KW - intestinal absorption KW - antioxidant capacity Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-413085 SN - 1866-8372 IS - 571 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Gebser, Martin A1 - Schaub, Torsten H. A1 - Thiele, Sven A1 - Veber, Philippe T1 - Detecting inconsistencies in large biological networks with answer set programming T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - We introduce an approach to detecting inconsistencies in large biological networks by using answer set programming. To this end, we build upon a recently proposed notion of consistency between biochemical/genetic reactions and high-throughput profiles of cell activity. We then present an approach based on answer set programming to check the consistency of large-scale data sets. Moreover, we extend this methodology to provide explanations for inconsistencies by determining minimal representations of conflicts. In practice, this can be used to identify unreliable data or to indicate missing reactions. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 561 KW - answer set programming KW - bioinformatics KW - consistency KW - diagnosis Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-412467 SN - 1866-8372 IS - 561 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Durzinsky, Markus A1 - Marwan, Wolfgang A1 - Ostrowski, Max A1 - Schaub, Torsten H. A1 - Wagler, Annegret T1 - Automatic network reconstruction using ASP T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - Building biological models by inferring functional dependencies from experimental data is an important issue in Molecular Biology. To relieve the biologist from this traditionally manual process, various approaches have been proposed to increase the degree of automation. However, available approaches often yield a single model only, rely on specific assumptions, and/or use dedicated, heuristic algorithms that are intolerant to changing circumstances or requirements in the view of the rapid progress made in Biotechnology. Our aim is to provide a declarative solution to the problem by appeal to Answer Set Programming (ASP) overcoming these difficulties. We build upon an existing approach to Automatic Network Reconstruction proposed by part of the authors. This approach has firm mathematical foundations and is well suited for ASP due to its combinatorial flavor providing a characterization of all models explaining a set of experiments. The usage of ASP has several benefits over the existing heuristic algorithms. First, it is declarative and thus transparent for biological experts. Second, it is elaboration tolerant and thus allows for an easy exploration and incorporation of biological constraints. Third, it allows for exploring the entire space of possible models. Finally, our approach offers an excellent performance, matching existing, special-purpose systems. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 560 KW - regulatory networks KW - biological networks KW - answer Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-412419 SN - 1866-8372 IS - 560 ER -