TY - JOUR A1 - Bogin, Barry A1 - Hermanussen, Michael A1 - Scheffler, Christiane T1 - As tall as my peers BT - similarity in body height between migrants and hosts JF - Journal of biological and clinical anthropology JF - Anthropologischer Anzeiger ; Mitteilungsorgan der Gesellschaft für Anthropologie N2 - Background: We define migrants as people who move from their place of birth to a new place of residence. Migration usually is directed by "Push-Pull" factors, for example to escape from poor living conditions or to find more prosperous socio-economic conditions. Migrant children tend to assimilate quickly, and soon perceive themselves as peers within their new social networks. Differences exist between growth of first generation and second generation migrants. Methods: We review body heights and height distributions of historic and modern migrant populations to test two hypotheses: 1) that migrant and adopted children coming from lower social status localities to higher status localities adjust their height growth toward the mean of the dominant recipient social network, and 2) social dominant colonial and military migrants display growth that significantly surpasses the median height of both the conquered population and the population of origin. Our analytical framework also considered social networks. Recent publications indicate that spatial connectedness (community effects) and social competitiveness can affect human growth. Results: Migrant children and adolescents of lower social status rapidly adjust in height towards average height of their hosts, but tend to mature earlier, and are prone to overweight. The mean height of colonial/military migrants does surpass that of the conquered and origin population. Conclusion: Observations on human social networks, non-human animal strategic growth adjustments, and competitive growth processes strengthen the concept of social connectedness being involved in the regulation of human migrant growth. KW - growth of migrants KW - community effect on height KW - dominance KW - strategic growth adjustments KW - competitive growth Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1127/anthranz/2018/0828 SN - 0003-5548 VL - 74 IS - 5 SP - 365 EP - 376 PB - Schweizerbart CY - Stuttgart ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Khozroughi, Amin Ghadiri A1 - Kroh, Lothar W. A1 - Schlueter, Oliver A1 - Rawel, Harshadrai Manilal T1 - Assessment of the bacterial impact on the post-mortem formation of zinc protoporphyrin IX in pork meat JF - Food chemistry N2 - The post-mortem accumulation of the heme biosynthesis metabolite zinc protoporphyrin IX (ZnPP) in porcine muscle is associated with both a meat-inherent and a bacterial enzymatic reaction during meat storage. To estimate the bacterial impact on ZnPP formation, meat and meat-like media were investigated by HPLC-FLD (and MALDI-TOF-MS) after inoculation with a representative microorganism (P. fluorescens). Results indicate the principal ability of meat-inherent bacteria to form ZnPP in meat extracts and meat-like media, but not on the meat muscle. Thus it was concluded that the ZnPP formation in meat is due to a meat-inherent enzymatic reaction induced by porcine ferrochelatase (FECH), while the bacterial (FECH) induced reaction seems to be not significant. KW - Meat storage KW - Pseudomonas KW - Post mortem chemistry KW - Microorganisms KW - Fluorescence Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2018.01.045 SN - 0308-8146 SN - 1873-7072 VL - 256 SP - 25 EP - 30 PB - Elsevier CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bollier, Norbert A1 - Sicard, Adrien A1 - Leblond, Julie A1 - Latrasse, David A1 - Gonzalez, Nathalie A1 - Gevaudant, Frederic A1 - Benhamed, Moussa A1 - Raynaud, Cecile A1 - Lenhard, Michael A1 - Chevalier, Christian A1 - Hernould, Michel A1 - Delmas, Frederic T1 - At-MINI ZINC FINGER2 and Sl-INHIBITOR OF MERISTEM ACTIVITY, a Conserved Missing Link in the Regulation of Floral Meristem Termination in Arabidopsis and Tomato JF - The plant cell N2 - In angiosperms, the gynoecium is the last structure to develop within the flower due to the determinate fate of floral meristem (FM) stem cells. The maintenance of stem cell activity before its arrest at the stage called FM termination affects the number of carpels that develop. The necessary inhibition at this stage of WUSCHEL (WUS), which is responsible for stem cell maintenance, involves a two-step mechanism. Direct repression mediated by the MADS domain transcription factor AGAMOUS (AG), followed by indirect repression requiring the C2H2 zinc-finger protein KNUCKLES (KNU), allow for the complete termination of floral stem cell activity. Here, we show that Arabidopsis thaliana MINI ZINC FINGER2 (AtMIF2) and its homolog in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), INHIBITOR OF MERISTEM ACTIVITY (SlIMA), participate in the FM termination process by functioning as adaptor proteins. AtMIF2 and SlIMA recruit AtKNU and SlKNU, respectively, to form a transcriptional repressor complex together with TOPLESS and HISTONE DEACETYLASE19. AtMIF2 and SlIMA bind to the WUS and SIWUS loci in the respective plants, leading to their repression. These results provide important insights into the molecular mechanisms governing (FM) termination and highlight the essential role of AtMIF2/SlIMA during this developmental step, which determines carpel number and therefore fruit size. Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00653 SN - 1040-4651 SN - 1532-298X VL - 30 IS - 1 SP - 83 EP - 100 PB - American Society of Plant Physiologists CY - Rockville ER - TY - JOUR A1 - De Frenne, Pieter A1 - Blondeel, H. A1 - Brunet, J. A1 - Caron, M. M. A1 - Chabrerie, O. A1 - Cougnon, M. A1 - Cousins, S. A. O. A1 - Decocq, G. A1 - Diekmann, M. A1 - Graae, B. J. A1 - Hanley, M. E. A1 - Heinken, Thilo A1 - Hermy, M. A1 - Kolb, A. A1 - Lenoir, J. A1 - Liira, J. A1 - Orczewska, A. A1 - Shevtsova, A. A1 - Vanneste, T. A1 - Verheyen, K. T1 - Atmospheric nitrogen deposition on petals enhances seed quality of the forest herb Anemone nemorosa JF - Plant biology N2 - Elevated atmospheric input of nitrogen (N) is currently affecting plant biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. The growth and survival of numerous plant species is known to respond strongly to N fertilisation. Yet, few studies have assessed the effects of N deposition on seed quality and reproductive performance, which is an important life-history stage of plants. Here we address this knowledge gap by assessing the effects of atmospheric N deposition on seed quality of the ancient forest herb Anemone nemorosa using two complementary approaches. By taking advantage of the wide spatiotemporal variation in N deposition rates in pan-European temperate and boreal forests over 2years, we detected positive effects of N deposition on the N concentration (percentage N per unit seed mass, increased from 2.8% to 4.1%) and N content (total N mass per seed more than doubled) of A.nemorosa seeds. In a complementary experiment, we applied ammonium nitrate to aboveground plant tissues and the soil surface to determine whether dissolved N sources in precipitation could be incorporated into seeds. Although the addition of N to leaves and the soil surface had no effect, a concentrated N solution applied to petals during anthesis resulted in increased seed mass, seed N concentration and N content. Our results demonstrate that N deposition on the petals enhances bioaccumulation of N in the seeds of A.nemorosa. Enhanced atmospheric inputs of N can thus not only affect growth and population dynamics via root or canopy uptake, but can also influence seed quality and reproduction via intake through the inflorescences. KW - Latitudinal gradient KW - nitrogen deposition KW - nutrient stoichiometry KW - seed provisioning KW - seed quality KW - sexual reproduction KW - wood anemone Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/plb.12688 SN - 1435-8603 SN - 1438-8677 VL - 20 IS - 3 SP - 619 EP - 626 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - THES A1 - Stößel, Daniel T1 - Biomarker Discovery in Multiple Sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease T1 - Biomarkerentwicklung in Multiple Sklerose und der Parkinson-Krankheit BT - novel insights into metabolic disease mechanisms N2 - Neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's (PD) and multiple sclerosis (MS) often result in a severe impairment of the patient´s quality of life. Effective therapies for the treatment are currently not available, which results in a high socio-economic burden. Due to the heterogeneity of the disease subtypes, stratification is particularly difficult in the early phase of the disease and is mainly based on clinical parameters such as neurophysiological tests and central nervous imaging. Due to good accessibility and stability, blood and cerebrospinal fluid metabolite markers could serve as surrogates for neurodegenerative processes. This can lead to an improved mechanistic understanding of these diseases and further be used as "treatment response" biomarkers in preclinical and clinical development programs. Therefore, plasma and CSF metabolite profiles will be identified that allow differentiation of PD from healthy controls, association of PD with dementia (PDD) and differentiation of PD subtypes such as akinetic rigid and tremor dominant PD patients. In addition, plasma metabolites for the diagnosis of primary progressive MS (PPMS) should be investigated and tested for their specificity to relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) and their development during PPMS progression. By applying untargeted high-resolution metabolomics of PD patient samples and in using random forest and partial least square machine learning algorithms, this study identified 20 plasma metabolites and 14 CSF metabolite biomarkers. These differentiate against healthy individuals with an AUC of 0.8 and 0.9 in PD, respectively. We also identify ten PDD specific serum metabolites, which differentiate against healthy individuals and PD patients without dementia with an AUC of 1.0, respectively. Furthermore, 23 akinetic-rigid specific plasma markers were identified, which differentiate against tremor-dominant PD patients with an AUC of 0.94 and against healthy individuals with an AUC of 0.98. These findings also suggest more severe disease pathology in the akinetic-rigid PD than in tremor dominant PD. In the analysis of MS patient samples a partial least square analysis yielded predictive models for the classification of PPMS and resulted in 20 PPMS specific metabolites. In another MS study unknown changes in human metabolism were identified after administration of the multiple sclerosis drug dimethylfumarate, which is used for the treatment of RRMS. These results allow to describe and understand the hitherto completely unknown mechanism of action of this new drug and to use these findings for the further development of new drugs and targets against RRMS. In conclusion, these results have the potential for improved diagnosis of these diseases and improvement of mechanistic understandings, as multiple deregulated pathways were identified. Moreover, novel Dimethylfumarate targets can be used to aid drug development and treatment efficiency. Overall, metabolite profiling in combination with machine learning identified as a promising approach for biomarker discovery and mode of action elucidation. N2 - Neuroinflammatorische and neurodegenerative Erkrankungen wie Parkinson (PD) und Multiple Sklerose (MS) gehen oft mit einer starken Beeinträchtigung der Lebensqualität einher. Effektive Therapien für die Behandlung sind derzeit nicht verfügbar, was nicht zuletzt eine hohe sozioökonomische Last zur Folge hat. Aufgrund der Heterogenität der Krankheitsbilder ist eine Stratifizierung gerade in der Frühphase der Erkrankung schwierig und basiert hauptsächlich auf klinischen Parametern wie bspw. neurophysiologischen Tests und bildgebenden Verfahren. Aufgrund ihrer guten Zugänglichkeit und Stabilität könnten bestimmte Blut- und Liquor-Metabolitenmarker als Surrogat für neurodegenerative Prozesse dienen, zu einem verbesserten mechanistischen Verständnis dieser Krankheiten führen und nicht zuletzt als “treatment response“ Biomarker in präklinischen und klinischen Entwicklungsprogrammen herangezogen werden. In dieser Arbeit sollten deshalb Plasma- und CSF-Metabolitprofile identifiziert werden, die eine Differenzierung von PD zu gesunden Kontrollen, Assoziierung zu PD mit Demenz (PDD) sowie eine Abgrenzung zu unterschiedlichen PD-Subtypen wie akinetisch-rigiden sowie tremor-dominanten PD-Patienten ermöglichen. Weiterhin wurden in dieser Arbeit Plasmametabolite zur Diagnose von primär-progressiver MS (PPMS) erforscht und auf ihre Spezifität gegenüber schubförmig remittierender MS (RRMS) und PD geprüft sowie deren Verlauf während der PPMS Progression getestet. Hierbei konnten durch “untargeted Metabolomics“ in Kombination mit statistischen Modellen mehrere Plasma- und CSF-Metabolite in PD-Patienten/Erkrankten ermittelt werden, die mit Hilfe von statistischen Diagnosemodellen eine Differenzierung zu gesunden Personen ermöglichen. Darüber hinaus wurden in dieser Arbeit PDD-spezifische Serummetabolite identifiziert, die wiederum genutzt werden können, um diesen PD-Typen von gesunden Individuen und PD-Patienten ohne Demenz abzugrenzen. Des Weiteren konnten bei akinetisch-rigiden PD-Patienten spezifische Metabolite entdeckt werden, die im Vergleich zu tremor-dominanten PD-Patienten eine stärkere metabolische Krankheitssymptomatik suggerieren. Im Zusammenhang mit PPMS wurden in dieser Arbeit spezifische Plasma-Metabolite entdeckt, die zur Diagnose gegen RRMS, PD und gesunden Kontrollen genutzt werden können. Interessanterweise zeigte dabei ein spezifisches Lipid geringere Werte im PPMS Krankheitsverlauf, wodurch sich dieses als möglicher Marker zur Progressionsdiagnostik dieser Krankheit qualifiziert. Abschließend konnten in dieser Arbeit im humanen Stoffwechsel bisher unbekannte Angriffspunkte des Medikaments Dimethylfumarat, das zur Behandlung von RRMS verwendet wird, ermittelt werden. Durch diese Ergebnisse kann der bis jetzt gänzlich unbekannte Wirkungsmechanismus dieses neuen Medikaments besser beschrieben und verstanden, sowie zur Weiterentwicklung neuer Medikamente gegen RRMS genutzt werden. KW - metabolomics KW - biomarker KW - multiple sclerosis KW - Parkinson's disease KW - neurodegeneration KW - neuroinflammation KW - machine-learning KW - Parkinson-Krankheit KW - Biomarker KW - Maschinelles-Lernen KW - Metabolomics KW - Multiple-Sklerose Y1 - 2018 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Liu, Yuk-Chien A1 - Groth, Detlef T1 - Body height, social dominance and the political climate BT - a comment JF - Journal of biological and clinical anthropology JF - Anthropologischer Anzeiger ; Mitteilungsorgan der Gesellschaft für Anthropologie N2 - Background: The association between stature and social dominance is known. Dominance within social groups and current politics are related issues. We therefore aimed to compare estimates of the opinion of a population about their current political issues, with physical growth. Material and methods: We used data on the 2012 and the 2014 elections for the Japanese House of Representatives and the percent proportion of votes of the 47 prefectures of Japan, and regional data on body height of 17.5 year old men and women. Information on capita income, possession of mobile phones, urban/rural population ratio, and age distribution were added to capture socioeconomic factors. Four political parties were present in most of the 47 prefectures: the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), the New Komeito Party (Kom) that is known for their social network community, and the Japanese Communist Party (JCP). Results: A dense network of associations exists between height, age distribution, per capita income, number of smartphones, and voting results. Male and female body height was inversely related with the proportion of votes for New Komeito Party. Average stature decreases by one mm per percent votes for this political party. Medium strong positive associations were found for male body height and voting results of the DPJ and for female body height with the JCP election results. Conclusion: In modern Japan, popular preferences for conservative political structures coincide with shorter stature. KW - stature KW - social dominance KW - strategic growth adjustments Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1127/anthranz/2018/0855 SN - 0003-5548 VL - 74 IS - 5 SP - 445 EP - 450 PB - Schweizerbart CY - Stuttgart ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bäurle, Isabel A1 - Brzezinka, Krzysztof A1 - Altmann, Simone T1 - BRUSHY1/TONSOKU/MGOUN3 is required for heat stress memory JF - Plant Cell & Environment N2 - Plants encounter biotic and abiotic stresses many times during their life cycle and this limits their productivity. Moderate heat stress (HS) primes a plant to survive higher temperatures that are lethal in the naïve state. Once temperature stress subsides, the memory of the priming event is actively retained for several days preparing the plant to better cope with recurring HS. Recently, chromatin regulation at different levels has been implicated in HS memory. Here, we report that the chromatin protein BRUSHY1 (BRU1)/TONSOKU/MGOUN3 plays a role in the HS memory in Arabidopsis thaliana. BRU1 is also involved in transcriptional gene silencing and DNA damage repair. This corresponds with the functions of its mammalian orthologue TONSOKU‐LIKE/NFΚBIL2. During HS memory, BRU1 is required to maintain sustained induction of HS memory‐associated genes, whereas it is dispensable for the acquisition of thermotolerance. In summary, we report that BRU1 is required for HS memory in A. thaliana, and propose a model where BRU1 mediates the epigenetic inheritance of chromatin states across DNA replication and cell division. KW - Arabidopsis thaliana KW - BRUSHY1 KW - chromatin KW - priming Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/pce.13365 VL - 42 SP - 771 EP - 781 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Endesfelder, Stefanie A1 - Weichelt, Ulrike A1 - Schiller, Cornelia A1 - Winter, Katja A1 - von Haefen, Clarissa A1 - Bührer, Christoph T1 - Caffeine protects against anticonvulsant-induced impaired neurogenesis in the developing rat brain JF - Neurotoxicity Research N2 - In preterm infants, phenobarbital is the first-line antiepileptic drug for neonatal seizures while caffeine is used for the treatment of apnea. Data from experimental animals suggest that phenobarbital and other anticonvulsants are toxic for the developing brain, while neuroprotective effects have been reported for caffeine both in newborn rodents and preterm human infants. To characterize the interaction of phenobarbital and caffeine in the hippocampus of the developing rodent brain, we examined the effects of both drugs given separately or together on postnatal neurogenesis after administration to neonatal rats throughout postnatal day (P) 4 to P6. Phenobarbital treatment (50 mg/kg) resulted in a significant decrease of proliferative capacity in the dentate gyrus. Phenobarbital also reduced expression of neuronal markers (doublecortin (DCX), calretinin, NeuN), neuronal transcription factors (Pax6, Sox2, Tbr1/2, Prox1), and neurotrophins (NGF, BDNF, NT-3) up to 24 h after the last administration. The phenobarbital-mediated impairment of neurogenesis was largely ameliorated by preconditioning with caffeine (10 mg/kg). In contrast, caffeine alone reduced proliferative capacity and expression of the neuronal markers DCX and NeuN at 6 h, but increased expression of neurotrophins and neuronal transcription factors at 6 and 12 h. These results indicate that administration of phenobarbital during the vulnerable phase of brain development negatively interferes with neuronal development, which can be prevented in part by co-administration of caffeine. KW - Caffeine KW - Developing brain KW - Phenobarbital KW - Preterminfants KW - Hippocampal neurogenesis Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s12640-018-9872-8 SN - 1029-8428 SN - 1476-3524 VL - 34 IS - 2 SP - 173 EP - 187 PB - Springer CY - New York ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kobel-Höller, Konstanze A1 - Gley, Kevin A1 - Jochinke, Janina A1 - Heider, Kristina A1 - Fritsch, Verena Nadin A1 - Ha Viet Duc Nguyen, A1 - Lischke, Timo A1 - Radek, Renate A1 - Baumgrass, Ria A1 - Mutzel, Rupert A1 - Thewes, Sascha T1 - Calcineurin Silencing in Dictyostelium discoideum Leads to Cellular Alterations Affecting Mitochondria, Gene Expression, and Oxidative Stress Response JF - Protist N2 - Calcineurin is involved in development and cell differentiation of the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum. However, since knockouts of the calcineurin-encoding genes are not possible in D. discoideum it is assumed that the phosphatase also plays a crucial role during vegetative growth of the amoebae. Therefore, we investigated the role of calcineurin during vegetative growth in D. discoideum. RNAi-silenced calcineurin mutants showed cellular alterations with an abnormal morphology of mitochondria and had increased content of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). In contrast, mitochondria showed no substantial functional impairment. Calcineurin-silencing led to altered expression of calcium-regulated genes as well as mitochondrially-encoded genes. Furthermore, genes related to oxidative stress were higher expressed in the mutants, which correlated to an increased resistance towards reactive oxygen species (ROS). Most of the changes observed during vegetative growth were not seen after starvation of the calcineurin mutants. We show that impairment of calcineurin led to many subtle, but in the sum crucial cellular alterations in vegetative D. discoideum cells. As these alterations were not observed after starvation we propose a dual role for calcineurin during growth and development. Our results imply that calcineurin is one player in the mutual interplay between mitochondria and ROS during vegetative growth. KW - mtDNA KW - mitochondrial remodelling KW - calcium KW - oxidative stress KW - phototaxis Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.protis.2018.04.004 SN - 1434-4610 VL - 169 IS - 4 SP - 584 EP - 602 PB - Elsevier GMBH CY - München ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Pitzen, Valentin A1 - Askarzada, Sophie A1 - Gräf, Ralph A1 - Meyer, Irene T1 - CDK5RAP2 Is an Essential Scaffolding Protein of the Corona of the Dictyostelium Centrosome JF - Cells N2 - Dictyostelium centrosomes consist of a nucleus-associated cylindrical, three-layered core structure surrounded by a corona consisting of microtubule-nucleation complexes embedded in a scaffold of large coiled-coil proteins. One of them is the conserved CDK5RAP2 protein. Here we focus on the role of Dictyostelium CDK5RAP2 for maintenance of centrosome integrity, its interaction partners and its dynamic behavior during interphase and mitosis. GFP-CDK5RAP2 is present at the centrosome during the entire cell cycle except from a short period during prophase, correlating with the normal dissociation of the corona at this stage. RNAi depletion of CDK5RAP2 results in complete disorganization of centrosomes and microtubules suggesting that CDK5RAP2 is required for organization of the corona and its association to the core structure. This is in line with the observation that overexpressed GFP-CDK5RAP2 elicited supernumerary cytosolic MTOCs. The phenotype of CDK5RAP2 depletion was very reminiscent of that observed upon depletion of CP148, another scaffolding protein of the corona. BioID interaction assays revealed an interaction of CDK5RAP2 not only with the corona markers CP148, gamma-tubulin, and CP248, but also with the core components Cep192, CP75, and CP91. Furthermore, protein localization studies in both depletion strains revealed that CP148 and CDK5RAP2 cooperate in corona organization. KW - centrosome KW - centriole KW - Dictyostelium KW - microtubules KW - mitosis Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/cells7040032 SN - 2073-4409 VL - 7 IS - 4 PB - MDPI CY - Basel ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Chen, Hsiang-Wen A1 - Persson, Staffan A1 - Grebe, Markus A1 - McFarlane, Heather E. T1 - Cellulose synthesis during cell plate assembly JF - Physiologia plantarum N2 - The plant cell wall surrounds and protects the cells. To divide, plant cells must synthesize a new cell wall to separate the two daughter cells. The cell plate is a transient polysaccharide-based compartment that grows between daughter cells and gives rise to the new cell wall. Cellulose constitutes a key component of the cell wall, and mutants with defects in cellulose synthesis commonly share phenotypes with cytokinesis-defective mutants. However, despite the importance of cellulose in the cell plate and the daughter cell wall, many open questions remain regarding the timing and regulation of cellulose synthesis during cell division. These questions represent a critical gap in our knowledge of cell plate assembly, cell division and growth. Here, we review what is known about cellulose synthesis at the cell plate and in the newly formed cross-wall and pose key questions about the molecular mechanisms that govern these processes. We further provide an outlook discussing outstanding questions and possible future directions for this field of research. Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/ppl.12703 SN - 0031-9317 SN - 1399-3054 VL - 164 IS - 1 SP - 17 EP - 26 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Perillon, Cecile A1 - van de Weyer, Klaus A1 - Päzolt, Jens A1 - Kasprzak, Peter A1 - Hilt, Sabine T1 - Changes in submerged macrophyte colonization in shallow areas of an oligo-mesotrophic lake and the potential role of groundwater JF - Limnologica : ecology and management of inland waters N2 - Groundwater influx can significantly contribute to nutrient budgets of lakes and its influence is strongest in shallow littoral areas. In oligo-or mesotrophic systems, additional nutrient supply by groundwater influx may affect benthic primary producers and their interactions. Potential changes can be expected in community composition, biomass, stoichiometry and interactions between submerged macrophytes and epiphyton. KW - Seepage KW - Eutrophication KW - Charophytes KW - Periphyton KW - Nutrients KW - Littoral Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.limno.2017.03.002 SN - 0075-9511 SN - 1873-5851 VL - 68 SP - 168 EP - 176 PB - Elsevier CY - Jena ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Götz, Klaus-Peter A1 - Naher, Jobadatun A1 - Fettke, Jörg A1 - Chmielewski, Frank M. T1 - Changes of proteins during dormancy and bud development of sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) JF - Scientia horticulturae : an international journal sponsored by the International Society for Horticultural Science N2 - Trees control the flowering processes in response to both environmental and endogenous (mechanisms at cellular/tissue level) conditions. Dormancy of flower buds is characterized by the reduction of growth and the enhancement of frost and desiccation resistance. The release of endodormancy and the beginning of ontogenetic development, as two important dates for developing reliable phenological models, escape from any visible signs. Thus, we identified - to our knowledge as first - relevant proteins in sweet cherry buds occurring during these phenological phases at high time resolution in three seasons (2012/13–2014/15) under natural conditions in Northeast Germany. The protein content of buds from the first week of October to leaf fall, from leaf fall to the end of endodormancy (t1), from t1 to the beginning of ontogenetic development (t1*), and from t1* until swollen bud, was comparable in each of the seasons. The increase of the protein content began after swollen bud and markedly differences occurred at side green, green tip, tight and open cluster. SDS gel electrophoresis followed by peptide mass fingerprinting accomplished by MALDI-TOF MS was applied for protein identification. ‘Volume intensity’ has been used to demonstrate the pattern and changes of proteins. None of the analysed proteins like for cell proliferation/differentiation (Phytosulfokines 3), carbon fixation (Rubisco), and defense against pathogenes (Major allergen Pru sv 1) indicates the date of endodormancy release or the beginning of the (invisible) ontogenetic development. The stages around green tip, tight, and open cluster resulted in markedly increase of the volume intensity of the protein for cell proliferation/differentiation and the carbon fixation, whereas the volume intensity of a protein for defense against pathogens markedly decreased. The pattern and changes of the volume intensity of neoxanthin synthase (NXS) in sweet cherry buds followed the increasing demand during endo- and ecodormancy to produce neoxanthin, which is a prominent member of the group of reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavengers. KW - Dormancy phases KW - Buds KW - Prunus avium L. KW - Peptide mass fingerprinting Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2018.05.016 SN - 0304-4238 SN - 1879-1018 VL - 239 SP - 41 EP - 49 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - THES A1 - Ma, Xuemin T1 - Characterization of NAC transcription factors involved in leaf senescence and fruit ripening in tomato Y1 - 2018 ER - TY - THES A1 - Bühning, Martin T1 - Charakterisierung des Zusammenspiels von FeS-Cluster-Assemblierung, Molybdänkofaktor-Biosynthese und tRNA-Thiolierung in Escherichia coli Y1 - 2018 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Friedrich, Thomas A1 - Faivre, Lea A1 - Bäurle, Isabel A1 - Schubert, Daniel T1 - Chromatin-based mechanisms of temperature memory in plants JF - Plant, cell & environment : cell physiology, whole-plant physiology, community physiology N2 - For successful growth and development, plants constantly have to gauge their environment. Plants are capable to monitor their current environmental conditions, and they are also able to integrate environmental conditions over time and store the information induced by the cues. In a developmental context, such an environmental memory is used to align developmental transitions with favourable environmental conditions. One temperature-related example of this is the transition to flowering after experiencing winter conditions, that is, vernalization. In the context of adaptation to stress, such an environmental memory is used to improve stress adaptation even when the stress cues are intermittent. A somatic stress memory has now been described for various stresses, including extreme temperatures, drought, and pathogen infection. At the molecular level, such a memory of the environment is often mediated by epigenetic and chromatin modifications. Histone modifications in particular play an important role. In this review, we will discuss and compare different types of temperature memory and the histone modifications, as well as the reader, writer, and eraser proteins involved. KW - chromatin KW - cold KW - epigenetics KW - heat KW - memory KW - nucleosome remodelling KW - polycomb KW - priming KW - trithorax Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/pce.13373 SN - 0140-7791 SN - 1365-3040 VL - 42 IS - 3 SP - 762 EP - 770 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kroeger, Janine A1 - Meidtner, Karina A1 - Stefan, Norbert A1 - Guevara, Marcela A1 - Kerrison, Nicola D. A1 - Ardanaz, Eva A1 - Aune, Dagfinn A1 - Boeing, Heiner A1 - Dorronsoro, Miren A1 - Dow, Courtney A1 - Fagherazzi, Guy A1 - Franks, Paul W. A1 - Freisling, Heinz A1 - Gunter, Marc J. A1 - Maria Huerta, Jose A1 - Kaaks, Rudolf A1 - Key, Timothy J. A1 - Khaw, Kay Tee A1 - Krogh, Vittorio A1 - Kuehn, Tilman A1 - Mancini, Francesca Romana A1 - Mattiello, Amalia A1 - Nilsson, Peter M. A1 - Olsen, Anja A1 - Overvad, Kim A1 - Palli, Domenico A1 - Ramon Quiros, J. A1 - Rolandsson, Olov A1 - Sacerdote, Carlotta A1 - Sala, Nuria A1 - Salamanca-Fernandez, Elena A1 - Sluijs, Ivonne A1 - Spijkerman, Annemieke M. W. A1 - Tjonneland, Anne A1 - Tsilidis, Konstantinos K. A1 - Tumino, Rosario A1 - van der Schouw, Yvonne T. A1 - Forouhi, Nita G. A1 - Sharp, Stephen J. A1 - Langenberg, Claudia A1 - Riboli, Elio A1 - Schulze, Matthias Bernd A1 - Wareham, Nicholas J. T1 - Circulating Fetuin-A and Risk of Type 2 Diabetes BT - a mendelian randomization analysis JF - Diabetes : a journal of the American Diabetes Association N2 - Fetuin-A, a hepatic-origin protein, is strongly positively associated with risk of type 2 diabetes in human observational studies, but it is unknown whether this association is causal. Weaimed to study the potential causal relation of circulating fetuin-A to risk of type 2 diabetes in a Mendelian randomization study with single nucleotide polymorphisms located in the fetuin-A-encoding AHSG gene. We used data from eight European countries of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)-InterAct case-cohort study including 10,020 incident cases. Plasma fetuin-A concentration was measured in a subset of 965 subcohort participants and 654 case subjects. A genetic score of the AHSG single nucleotide polymorphisms was strongly associated with fetuin-A (28% explained variation). Using the genetic score as instrumental variable of fetuin-A, we observed no significant association of a 50 mu g/mL higher fetuin-A concentration with diabetes risk (hazard ratio 1.02 [95% CI 0.97, 1.07]). Combining our results with those from the DIAbetes Genetics Replication And Meta-analysis (DIAGRAM) consortium (12,171 case subjects) also did not suggest a clear significant relation of fetuin-A with diabetes risk. In conclusion, although there is mechanistic evidence for an effect of fetuin-A on insulin sensitivity and secretion, this study does not support a strong, relevant relationship between circulating fetuin-A and diabetes risk in the general population. Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.2337/db17-1268 SN - 0012-1797 SN - 1939-327X VL - 67 IS - 6 SP - 1200 EP - 1205 PB - American Diabetes Association CY - Alexandria ER - TY - JOUR A1 - de Abreu e Lima, Francisco Anastacio A1 - Willmitzer, Lothar A1 - Nikoloski, Zoran T1 - Classification-driven framework to predict maize hybrid field performance from metabolic profiles of young parental roots JF - PLoS one N2 - Maize (Zea mays L.) is a staple food whose production relies on seed stocks that largely comprise hybrid varieties. Therefore, knowledge about the molecular determinants of hybrid performance (HP) in the field can be used to devise better performing hybrids to address the demands for sustainable increase in yield. Here, we propose and test a classification-driven framework that uses metabolic profiles from in vitro grown young roots of parental lines from the Dent x Flint maize heterotic pattern to predict field HP. We identify parental analytes that best predict the metabolic inheritance patterns in 328 hybrids. We then demonstrate that these analytes are also predictive of field HP (0.64 >= r >= 0.79) and discriminate hybrids of good performance (accuracy of 87.50%). Therefore, our approach provides a cost-effective solution for hybrid selection programs. Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0196038 SN - 1932-6203 VL - 13 IS - 4 PB - PLoS CY - San Fransisco ER - TY - THES A1 - Schwarzer, Christian T1 - Climate change, adaptive divergence and their effects on species interactions in European bog-plant communities Y1 - 2018 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Arias-Andres, Maria A1 - Rojas-Jimenez, Keilor A1 - Grossart, Hans-Peter T1 - Collateral effects of microplastic pollution on aquatic microorganisms BT - An ecological perspective JF - Trends in Analytical Chemistry N2 - Microplastics (MP) provide a unique and extensive surface for microbial colonization in aquatic ecosystems. The formation of microorganism-microplastic complexes, such as biofilms, maximizes the degradation of organic matter and horizontal gene transfer. In this context, MP affect the structure and function of microbial communities, which in turn render the physical and chemical fate of MP. This new paradigm generates challenges for microbiology, ecology, and ecotoxicology. Dispersal of MP is concomitant with that of their associated microorganisms and their mobile genetic elements, including antibiotic resistance genes, islands of pathogenicity, and diverse metabolic pathways. Functional changes in aquatic microbiomes can alter carbon metabolism and food webs, with unknown consequences on higher organisms or human microbiomes and hence health. Here, we examine a variety of effects of MP pollution from the microbial ecology perspective, whose repercussions on aquatic ecosystems begin to be unraveled. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. KW - Microplastics (MP) KW - Biofilms KW - HGT KW - Microbial ecology KW - Carbon cycling KW - Aquatic ecosystems KW - Health risk assessment Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trac.2018.11.041 SN - 0165-9936 SN - 1879-3142 VL - 112 SP - 234 EP - 240 PB - Elsevier CY - Oxford ER - TY - GEN A1 - Best, Robert B. A1 - Zheng, Wenwei A1 - Borgia, Alessandro A1 - Buholzer, Karin A1 - Borgia, Madeleine B. A1 - Hofmann, Hagen A1 - Soranno, Andrea A1 - Nettels, Daniel A1 - Gast, Klaus A1 - Grishaev, Alexander A1 - Schuler, Benjamin T1 - Comment on "Innovative scattering analysis shows that hydrophobic disordered proteins are expanded in water" T2 - Science N2 - Riback et al. (Reports, 13 October 2017, p. 238) used small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) experiments to infer a degree of compaction for unfolded proteins in water versus chemical denaturant that is highly consistent with the results from Forster resonance energy transfer (FRET) experiments. There is thus no "contradiction" between the two methods, nor evidence to support their claim that commonly used FRET fluorophores cause protein compaction. Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aar7101 SN - 0036-8075 SN - 1095-9203 VL - 361 IS - 6405 PB - American Assoc. for the Advancement of Science CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Teckentrup, Lisa A1 - Grimm, Volker A1 - Kramer-Schadt, Stephanie A1 - Jeltsch, Florian T1 - Community consequences of foraging under fear JF - Ecological modelling : international journal on ecological modelling and engineering and systems ecolog N2 - Non-consumptive effects of predators within ecosystems can alter the behavior of individual prey species, and have cascading effects on other trophic levels. In this context, an understanding of non-consumptive predator effects on the whole prey community is crucial for predicting community structure and composition, hence biodiversity patterns. We used an individual-based, spatially-explicit modelling approach to investigate the consequences of landscapes of fear on prey community metrics. The model spans multiple hierarchical levels from individual home range formation based on food availability and perceived predation risk to consequences on prey community structure and composition. This mechanistic approach allowed us to explore how important factors such as refuge availability and foraging strategy under fear affect prey community metrics. Fear of predators affected prey space use, such as home range formation. These adaptations had broader consequences for the community leading to changes in community structure and composition. The strength of community responses to perceived predation risk was driven by refuge availability in the landscape and the foraging strategy of prey animals. Low refuge availability in the landscape strongly decreased diversity and total biomass of prey communities. Additionally, body mass distributions in prey communities facing high predation risk were shifted towards small prey animals. With increasing refuge availability the consequences of non-consumptive predator effects were reduced, diversity and total biomass of the prey community increased. Prey foraging strategies affected community composition. Under medium refuge availability, risk-averse prey communities consisted of many small animals while risk-taking prey communities showed a more even body mass distribution. Our findings reveal that non-consumptive predator effects can have important implications for prey community diversity and should therefore be considered in the context of conservation and nature management. KW - Predator-prey interactions KW - Individual-based model KW - Landscape of fear KW - Home range KW - Biodiversity KW - Foraging Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2018.05.015 SN - 0304-3800 SN - 1872-7026 VL - 383 SP - 80 EP - 90 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - THES A1 - Abd Allah Salem, Mohamed T1 - Comparative and systemic metabolomic analysis of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana after perturbing the essential Target of Rapamycin (TOR) pathway Y1 - 2018 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Gräf, Ralph T1 - Comparative Biology of Centrosomal Structures in Eukaryotes T2 - Cells N2 - The centrosome is not only the largest and most sophisticated protein complex within a eukaryotic cell, in the light of evolution, it is also one of its most ancient organelles. This special issue of "Cells" features representatives of three main, structurally divergent centrosome types, i.e., centriole-containing centrosomes, yeast spindle pole bodies (SPBs), and amoebozoan nucleus-associated bodies (NABs). Here, I discuss their evolution and their key-functions in microtubule organization, mitosis, and cytokinesis. Furthermore, I provide a brief history of centrosome research and highlight recently emerged topics, such as the role of centrioles in ciliogenesis, the relationship of centrosomes and centriolar satellites, the integration of centrosomal structures into the nuclear envelope and the involvement of centrosomal components in non-centrosomal microtubule organization. KW - centrosome KW - centriole KW - cilium KW - basal body KW - spindle pole body KW - SPB KW - nucleus-associated body KW - NAB KW - microtubules Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/cells7110202 SN - 2073-4409 VL - 7 IS - 11 PB - MDPI CY - Basel ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Tabares, Ximena A1 - Mapani, Benjamin A1 - Blaum, Niels A1 - Herzschuh, Ulrike T1 - Composition and diversity of vegetation and pollen spectra along gradients of grazing intensity and precipitation in southern Africa JF - Review of palaeobotany and palynology : an international journal N2 - Understanding vegetation-modern pollen relationships is essential to provide confidence in fossil pollen reconstructions of long-term vegetation changes in savanna ecosystems. In this paper we compare the taxonomical composition and the diversity (Hill NO, N1, N2) of vegetation and modern pollen along precipitation and local grazing-intensity gradients in Namibian savannas. Modern pollen was extracted from surface soil samples collected from 5 x 5 m plots distributed along four 500 m gradients. Vegetation was surveyed in each plot. The results show a high correspondence between vegetation and pollen data in terms of composition. Precipitation and grazing explain a significant although low proportion of compositional change in the vegetation and pollen spectra. We identified pollen taxa as indicators of grazing pressure such as Limeum, Alternanthera, and particularly Tribulus. Correspondence between vegetation and pollen data in terms of taxa richness (NO) is limited, probably because of the influence of landscape heterogeneity and openness, as well as low pollen concentrations. In contrast, the effective numbers of common and dominant taxa (N1, N2) are consistent among the different datasets. We conclude that in spite of limitations, modern pollen assemblages can reflect changes in vegetation composition, richness and diversity patterns along precipitation and grazing gradients in savanna environments. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. KW - Modern pollen-vegetation relationships KW - Hill numbers KW - Indicator species KW - Savanna ecology KW - Namibia Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.revpalbo.2018.04.004 SN - 0034-6667 SN - 1879-0615 VL - 253 SP - 88 EP - 100 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Watanabe, Mutsumi A1 - Tohge, Takayuki A1 - Balazadeh, Salma A1 - Erban, Alexander A1 - Giavalisco, Patrick A1 - Kopka, Joachim A1 - Mueller-Roeber, Bernd A1 - Fernie, Alisdair R. A1 - Hoefgen, Rainer T1 - Comprehensive Metabolomics Studies of Plant Developmental Senescence JF - Plant Senescence: Methods and Protocols N2 - Leaf senescence is an essential developmental process that involves diverse metabolic changes associated with degradation of macromolecules allowing nutrient recycling and remobilization. In contrast to the significant progress in transcriptomic analysis of leaf senescence, metabolomics analyses have been relatively limited. A broad overview of metabolic changes during leaf senescence including the interactions between various metabolic pathways is required to gain a better understanding of the leaf senescence allowing to link transcriptomics with metabolomics and physiology. In this chapter, we describe how to obtain comprehensive metabolite profiles and how to dissect metabolic shifts during leaf senescence in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Unlike nucleic acid analysis for transcriptomics, a comprehensive metabolite profile can only be achieved by combining a suite of analytic tools. Here, information is provided for measurements of the contents of chlorophyll, soluble proteins, and starch by spectrophotometric methods, ions by ion chromatography, thiols and amino acids by HPLC, primary metabolites by GC/TOF-MS, and secondary metabolites and lipophilic metabolites by LC/ESI-MS. These metabolite profiles provide a rich catalogue of metabolic changes during leaf senescence, which is a helpful database and blueprint to be correlated to future studies such as transcriptome and proteome analyses, forward and reverse genetic studies, or stress-induced senescence studies. KW - Senescence KW - Metabolomics KW - Arabidopsis KW - GC/MS KW - LC/MS KW - HPLC KW - IC Y1 - 2018 SN - 978-1-4939-7672-0 SN - 978-1-4939-7670-6 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-7672-0_28 SN - 1064-3745 SN - 1940-6029 VL - 1744 SP - 339 EP - 358 PB - Humana Press CY - Totowa ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Park, Misoon A1 - Krause, Cornelia A1 - Karnahl, Matthias A1 - Reichardt, Ilka A1 - El Kasmi, Farid A1 - Mayer, Ulrike A1 - Stierhof, York-Dieter A1 - Hiller, Ulrike A1 - Strompen, Georg A1 - Bayer, Martin A1 - Kientz, Marika A1 - Sato, Masa H. A1 - Nishimura, Marc T. A1 - Dangl, Jeffery L. A1 - Sanderfoot, Anton A. A1 - Jürgens, Gerd T1 - Concerted Action of Evolutionarily Ancient and Novel SNARE Complexes in Flowering-Plant Cytokinesis JF - Developmental cell N2 - Membrane vesicles delivered to the cell-division plane fuse with one another to form the partitioning membrane during plant cytokinesis, starting in the cell center. In Arabidopsis, this requires SNARE complexes involving the cytokinesis-specific Qa-SNARE KNOLLE. However, cytokinesis still occurs in knolle mutant embryos, suggesting contributions from KNOLLE-independent SNARE complexes. Here we show that Qa-SNARE SYP132, having counterparts in lower plants, functionally overlaps with the flowering plant-specific KNOLLE. SYP132 mutation causes cytokinesis defects, knolle syp132 double mutants consist of only one or a few multi-nucleate cells, and SYP132 has the same SNARE partners as KNOLLE. SYP132 and KNOLLE also have non-overlapping functions in secretion and in cellularization of the embryo-nourishing endosperm resulting from double fertilization unique to flowering plants. Evolutionarily ancient non-specialized SNARE complexes originating in algae were thus amended by the appearance of cytokinesis-specific SNARE complexes, meeting the high demand for membrane-fusion capacity during endosperm cellularization in angiosperms. Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.devcel.2017.12.027 SN - 1534-5807 SN - 1878-1551 VL - 44 IS - 4 SP - 500 EP - + PB - Cell Press CY - Cambridge ER - TY - THES A1 - Weiß, Stefanie T1 - Contribution of bacterially synthesized folate vitamers to folate status and impact on crohn's Disease Y1 - 2018 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Lu, Yong-Ping A1 - Reichetzeder, Christoph A1 - Prehn, Cornelia A1 - Yin, Liang-Hong A1 - Yun, Chen A1 - Zeng, Shufei A1 - Chu, Chang A1 - Adamski, Jerzy A1 - Hocher, Berthold T1 - Cord blood Lysophosphatidylcholine 16:1 is positively associated with birth weight JF - Cellular physiology and biochemistry : international journal of experimental cellular physiology, biochemistry and pharmacology N2 - Background/Aims: Impaired birth outcomes, like low birth weight, have consistently been associated with increased disease susceptibility to hypertension in later life. Alterations in the maternal or fetal metabolism might impact on fetal growth and influence birth outcomes. Discerning associations between the maternal and fetal metabolome and surrogate parameters of fetal growth could give new insight into the complex relationship between intrauterine conditions, birth outcomes, and later life disease susceptibility. Methods: Using flow injection tandem mass spectrometry, targeted metabolomics was performed in serum samples obtained from 226 mother/child pairs at delivery. Associations between neonatal birth weight and concentrations of 163 maternal and fetal metabolites were analyzed. Results: After FDR adjustment using the Benjamini-Hochberg procedure lysophosphatidylcholines (LPC) 14:0, 16:1, and 18:1 were strongly positively correlated with birth weight. In a stepwise linear regression model corrected for established confounding factors of birth weight, LPC 16: 1 showed the strongest independent association with birth weight (CI: 93.63 - 168.94; P = 6.94x10(-11)). The association with birth weight was stronger than classical confounding factors such as offspring sex (CI: - 258.81- -61.32; P = 0.002) and maternal smoking during pregnancy (CI: -298.74 - -29.51; P = 0.017). Conclusions: After correction for multiple testing and adjustment for potential confounders, LPC 16:1 showed a very strong and independent association with birth weight. The underlying molecular mechanisms linking fetal LPCs with birth weight need to be addressed in future studies. (c) 2018 The Author(s) Published by S. Karger AG, Basel KW - Metabolomics KW - Lysophosphatidylcholine KW - Birth Weight KW - DOHaD KW - Hypertension KW - Type 2 Diabetes Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1159/000487118 SN - 1015-8987 SN - 1421-9778 VL - 45 IS - 2 SP - 614 EP - 624 PB - Karger CY - Basel ER - TY - GEN A1 - Wiegmann, Alex A1 - Rutschmann, Ronja A1 - Willemsen, Pascale T1 - Correction to: Empirically Investigating the Concept of Lying (vol 34, pg 591, 2017) T2 - Journal of Indian Council of Philosophical Research Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s40961-017-0123-9 SN - 0970-7794 SN - 2363-9962 VL - 35 IS - 1 SP - 223 EP - 223 PB - Springer CY - New Dehli ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Shi, Jun A1 - Joshi, Jasmin Radha A1 - Tielboerger, Katja A1 - Verhoeven, Koen J. F. A1 - Macel, Mirka T1 - Costs and benefits of admixture between foreign genotypes and local populations in the field JF - Ecology and evolution N2 - Admixture is the hybridization between populations within one species. It can increase plant fitness and population viability by alleviating inbreeding depression and increasing genetic diversity. However, populations are often adapted to their local environments and admixture with distant populations could break down local adaptation by diluting the locally adapted genomes. Thus, admixed genotypes might be selected against and be outcompeted by locally adapted genotypes in the local environments. To investigate the costs and benefits of admixture, we compared the performance of admixed and within-population F1 and F2 generations of the European plant Lythrum salicaria in a reciprocal transplant experiment at three European field sites over a 2-year period. Despite strong differences between site and plant populations for most of the measured traits, including herbivory, we found limited evidence for local adaptation. The effects of admixture depended on experimental site and plant population, and were positive for some traits. Plant growth and fruit production of some populations increased in admixed offspring and this was strongest with larger parental distances. These effects were only detected in two of our three sites. Our results show that, in the absence of local adaptation, admixture may boost plant performance, and that this is particularly apparent in stressful environments. We suggest that admixture between foreign and local genotypes can potentially be considered in nature conservation to restore populations and/or increase population viability, especially in small inbred or maladapted populations. KW - heterosis KW - inbreeding depression KW - local adaptation KW - Lythrum salicaria KW - outbreeding depression Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.3946 SN - 2045-7758 VL - 8 IS - 7 SP - 3675 EP - 3684 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ayllon, Daniel A1 - Grimm, Volker A1 - Attinger, Sabine A1 - Hauhs, Michael A1 - Simmer, Clemens A1 - Vereecken, Harry A1 - Lischeid, Gunnar T1 - Cross-disciplinary links in environmental systems science BT - Current state and claimed needs identified in a meta-review of process models JF - The science of the total environment : an international journal for scientific research into the environment and its relationship with man N2 - Terrestrial environmental systems are characterised by numerous feedback links between their different compartments. However, scientific research is organized into disciplines that focus on processes within the respective compartments rather than on interdisciplinary links. Major feedback mechanisms between compartments might therefore have been systematically overlooked so far. Without identifying these gaps, initiatives on future comprehensive environmental monitoring schemes and experimental platforms might fail. We performed a comprehensive overview of feedbacks between compartments currently represented in environmental sciences and explores to what degree missing links have already been acknowledged in the literature. We focused on process models as they can be regarded as repositories of scientific knowledge that compile findings of numerous single studies. In total, 118 simulation models from 23 model types were analysed. Missing processes linking different environmental compartments were identified based on a meta-review of 346 published reviews, model inter-comparison studies, and model descriptions. Eight disciplines of environmental sciences were considered and 396 linking processes were identified and ascribed to the physical, chemical or biological domain. There were significant differences between model types and scientific disciplines regarding implemented interdisciplinary links. The most wide-spread interdisciplinary links were between physical processes in meteorology, hydrology and soil science that drive or set the boundary conditions for other processes (e.g., ecological processes). In contrast, most chemical and biological processes were restricted to links within the same compartment. Integration of multiple environmental compartments and interdisciplinary knowledge was scarce in most model types. There was a strong bias of suggested future research foci and model extensions towards reinforcing existing interdisciplinary knowledge rather than to open up new interdisciplinary pathways. No clear pattern across disciplines exists with respect to suggested future research efforts. There is no evidence that environmental research would clearly converge towards more integrated approaches or towards an overarching environmental systems theory. (c) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. KW - Review KW - Interdisciplinary links KW - Integrated environmental modelling KW - Research needs Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.12.007 SN - 0048-9697 SN - 1879-1026 VL - 622 SP - 954 EP - 973 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zhivkova, Veselina A1 - Kiecker, Felix A1 - Langer, Peter A1 - Eberle, Jürgen T1 - Crucial role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) for the proapoptotic effects of indirubin derivative DKP-073 in melanoma cells JF - Molecular carcinogenesis N2 - Melanoma represents a prime example demonstrating the success of targeted therapy in cancer. Nevertheless, it remained a deadly disease until now, and the identification of new, independent strategies as well as the understanding of their molecular mechanisms may help to finally overcome the high mortality. Both indirubins and TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) represent promising candidates. Here, the indirubin derivative DKP-073 is shown to trigger apoptosis in melanoma cells, which is enhanced by the combination with TRAIL and is accompanied by complete loss of cell viability. Addressing the signaling cascade, characteristic molecular steps were identified as caspase-3 activation, downregulation of XIAP, upregulation of p53 and TRAIL receptor 2, loss of mitochondrial membrane potential, and STAT-3 dephosphorylation. The decisive step, however, turned out to be the early production of ROS already at 1 h. This was proven by antioxidant pretreatment, which completely abolished apoptosis induction and loss of cell viability as well as abrogated all signaling effects listed above. Thus, ROS appeared as upstream of all proapoptotic signaling. The data indicate a dominant role of ROS in apoptosis regulation, and the new pathway may expose a possible Achilles heel of melanoma. KW - apoptosis KW - kinase pathway KW - melanoma KW - stat 3 Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/mc.22924 SN - 0899-1987 SN - 1098-2744 VL - 58 IS - 2 SP - 258 EP - 269 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Beermann, Jan A1 - Westbury, Michael V. A1 - Hofreiter, Michael A1 - Hilgers, Leon A1 - Deister, Fabian A1 - Neumann, Hermann A1 - Raupach, Michael J. T1 - Cryptic species in a well-known habitat BT - applying taxonomics to the amphipod genus Epimeria (Crustacea, Peracarida) JF - Scientific reports N2 - Taxonomy plays a central role in biological sciences. It provides a communication system for scientists as it aims to enable correct identification of the studied organisms. As a consequence, species descriptions should seek to include as much available information as possible at species level to follow an integrative concept of 'taxonomics'. Here, we describe the cryptic species Epimeria frankei sp. nov. from the North Sea, and also redescribe its sister species, Epimeria cornigera. The morphological information obtained is substantiated by DNA barcodes and complete nuclear 18S rRNA gene sequences. In addition, we provide, for the first time, full mitochondrial genome data as part of a metazoan species description for a holotype, as well as the neotype. This study represents the first successful implementation of the recently proposed concept of taxonomics, using data from high-throughput technologies for integrative taxonomic studies, allowing the highest level of confidence for both biodiversity and ecological research. Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-25225-x SN - 2045-2322 VL - 8 PB - Nature Publ. Group CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Whitcomb, Sarah J. A1 - Nguyen, Huu Cuong A1 - Brückner, Franziska A1 - Hesse, Holger A1 - Hoefgen, Rainer T1 - CYSTATHIONINE GAMMA-SYNTHASE activity in rice is developmentally regulated and strongly correlated with sulfate JF - Plant science : an international journal of experimental plant biology N2 - An important goal of rice cultivar development is improvement of protein quality, especially with respect to essential amino acids such as methionine. With the goal of increasing seed methionine content, we generated Oryza sativa ssp. japonica cv. Taipei 309 transgenic lines expressing a feedback-desensitized CYSTATHIONINE GAMMA-SYNTHASE from Arabidopsis thaliana (AtD-CGS) under the control of the maize ubiquitin promoter. Despite persistently elevated cystathionine gamma-synthase (CGS) activity in the AtD-CGS transgenic lines relative to untransformed Taipei, sulfate was the only sulfur-containing compound found to be elevated throughout vegetative development. Accumulation of methionine and other sulfur-containing metabolites was limited to the leaves of young plants. Sulfate concentration was found to strongly and positively correlate with CGS activity across vegetative development, irrespective of whether the activity was provided by the endogenous rice CGS or by a combination of endogenous and AtD-CGS. Conversely, the concentrations of glutathione, valine, and leucine were clearly negatively correlated with CGS activity in the same tissues. We also observed a strong decrease in CGS activity in both untransformed Taipei and the AtD-CGS transgenic lines as the plants approached heading stage. The mechanism for this downregulation is currently unknown and of potential importance for efforts to increase methionine content in rice. KW - Aromatic amino acids KW - AtD-CGS KW - Branched chain amino acids KW - CYSTATHIONINE GAMMA-SYNTHASE KW - Glutathione KW - Oryza sativa ssp japonica cv. taipei 309 KW - Sulfate Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plantsci.2018.02.016 SN - 0168-9452 VL - 270 SP - 234 EP - 244 PB - Elsevier CY - Clare ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Prahl, Boris F. A1 - Boettle, Markus A1 - Costa, Luís Fílípe Carvalho da A1 - Kropp, Jürgen A1 - Rybski, Diego T1 - Damage and protection cost curves for coastal floods within the 600 largest European cities JF - Scientific Data N2 - The economic assessment of the impacts of storm surges and sea-level rise in coastal cities requires high-level information on the damage and protection costs associated with varying flood heights. We provide a systematically and consistently calculated dataset of macroscale damage and protection cost curves for the 600 largest European coastal cities opening the perspective for a wide range of applications. Offering the first comprehensive dataset to include the costs of dike protection, we provide the underpinning information to run comparative assessments of costs and benefits of coastal adaptation. Aggregate cost curves for coastal flooding at the city-level are commonly regarded as by-products of impact assessments and are generally not published as a standalone dataset. Hence, our work also aims at initiating a more critical discussion on the availability and derivation of cost curves. Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2018.34 SN - 2052-4463 VL - 5 PB - Nature Publ. Group CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mantzouki, Evanthia A1 - Campbell, James A1 - van Loon, Emiel A1 - Visser, Petra A1 - Konstantinou, Iosif A1 - Antoniou, Maria A1 - Giuliani, Gregory A1 - Machado-Vieira, Danielle A1 - de Oliveira, Alinne Gurjao A1 - Maronic, Dubravka Spoljaric A1 - Stevic, Filip A1 - Pfeiffer, Tanja Zuna A1 - Vucelic, Itana Bokan A1 - Zutinic, Petar A1 - Udovic, Marija Gligora A1 - Plenkovic-Moraj, Andelka A1 - Tsiarta, Nikoletta A1 - Blaha, Ludek A1 - Geris, Rodan A1 - Frankova, Marketa A1 - Christoffersen, Kirsten Seestern A1 - Warming, Trine Perlt A1 - Feldmann, Tonu A1 - Laas, Alo A1 - Panksep, Kristel A1 - Tuvikene, Lea A1 - Kangro, Kersti A1 - Haggqvist, Kerstin A1 - Salmi, Pauliina A1 - Arvola, Lauri A1 - Fastner, Jutta A1 - Straile, Dietmar A1 - Rothhaupt, Karl-Otto A1 - Fonvielle, Jeremy Andre A1 - Grossart, Hans-Peter A1 - Avagianos, Christos A1 - Kaloudis, Triantafyllos A1 - Triantis, Theodoros A1 - Zervou, Sevasti-Kiriaki A1 - Hiskia, Anastasia A1 - Gkelis, Spyros A1 - Panou, Manthos A1 - McCarthy, Valerie A1 - Perello, Victor C. A1 - Obertegger, Ulrike A1 - Boscaini, Adriano A1 - Flaim, Giovanna A1 - Salmaso, Nico A1 - Cerasino, Leonardo A1 - Koreiviene, Judita A1 - Karosiene, Jurate A1 - Kasperoviciene, Jurate A1 - Savadova, Ksenija A1 - Vitonyte, Irma A1 - Haande, Sigrid A1 - Skjelbred, Birger A1 - Grabowska, Magdalena A1 - Karpowicz, Maciej A1 - Chmura, Damian A1 - Nawrocka, Lidia A1 - Kobos, Justyna A1 - Mazur-Marzec, Hanna A1 - Alcaraz-Parraga, Pablo A1 - Wilk-Wozniak, Elzbieta A1 - Krzton, Wojciech A1 - Walusiak, Edward A1 - Gagala, Ilona A1 - Mankiewicz-Boczek, Joana A1 - Toporowska, Magdalena A1 - Pawlik-Skowronska, Barbara A1 - Niedzwiecki, Michal A1 - Peczula, Wojciech A1 - Napiorkowska-Krzebietke, Agnieszka A1 - Dunalska, Julita A1 - Sienska, Justyna A1 - Szymanski, Daniel A1 - Kruk, Marek A1 - Budzynska, Agnieszka A1 - Goldyn, Ryszard A1 - Kozak, Anna A1 - Rosinska, Joanna A1 - Szelag-Wasielewska, Elzbieta A1 - Domek, Piotr A1 - Jakubowska-Krepska, Natalia A1 - Kwasizur, Kinga A1 - Messyasz, Beata A1 - Pelechata, Aleksandra A1 - Pelechaty, Mariusz A1 - Kokocinski, Mikolaj A1 - Madrecka, Beata A1 - Kostrzewska-Szlakowska, Iwona A1 - Frak, Magdalena A1 - Bankowska-Sobczak, Agnieszka A1 - Wasilewicz, Michal A1 - Ochocka, Agnieszka A1 - Pasztaleniec, Agnieszka A1 - Jasser, Iwona A1 - Antao-Geraldes, Ana M. A1 - Leira, Manel A1 - Hernandez, Armand A1 - Vasconcelos, Vitor A1 - Morais, Joao A1 - Vale, Micaela A1 - Raposeiro, Pedro M. A1 - Goncalves, Vitor A1 - Aleksovski, Boris A1 - Krstic, Svetislav A1 - Nemova, Hana A1 - Drastichova, Iveta A1 - Chomova, Lucia A1 - Remec-Rekar, Spela A1 - Elersek, Tina A1 - Delgado-Martin, Jordi A1 - Garcia, David A1 - Luis Cereijo, Jose A1 - Goma, Joan A1 - Carmen Trapote, Mari A1 - Vegas-Vilarrubia, Teresa A1 - Obrador, Biel A1 - Garcia-Murcia, Ana A1 - Real, Monserrat A1 - Romans, Elvira A1 - Noguero-Ribes, Jordi A1 - Parreno Duque, David A1 - Fernandez-Moran, Elisabeth A1 - Ubeda, Barbara A1 - Angel Galvez, Jose A1 - Marce, Rafael A1 - Catalan, Nuria A1 - Perez-Martinez, Carmen A1 - Ramos-Rodriguez, Eloisa A1 - Cillero-Castro, Carmen A1 - Moreno-Ostos, Enrique A1 - Maria Blanco, Jose A1 - Rodriguez, Valeriano A1 - Juan Montes-Perez, Jorge A1 - Palomino, Roberto L. A1 - Rodriguez-Perez, Estela A1 - Carballeira, Rafael A1 - Camacho, Antonio A1 - Picazo, Antonio A1 - Rochera, Carlos A1 - Santamans, Anna C. A1 - Ferriol, Carmen A1 - Romo, Susana A1 - Soria, Juan Miguel A1 - Hansson, Lars-Anders A1 - Urrutia-Cordero, Pablo A1 - Ozen, Arda A1 - Bravo, Andrea G. A1 - Buck, Moritz A1 - Colom-Montero, William A1 - Mustonen, Kristiina A1 - Pierson, Don A1 - Yang, Yang A1 - Verspagen, Jolanda M. H. A1 - Domis, Lisette N. de Senerpont A1 - Seelen, Laura A1 - Teurlincx, Sven A1 - Verstijnen, Yvon A1 - Lurling, Miquel A1 - Maliaka, Valentini A1 - Faassen, Elisabeth J. A1 - Latour, Delphine A1 - Carey, Cayelan C. A1 - Paerl, Hans W. A1 - Torokne, Andrea A1 - Karan, Tunay A1 - Demir, Nilsun A1 - Beklioglu, Meryem A1 - Filiz, Nur A1 - Levi, Eti E. A1 - Iskin, Ugur A1 - Bezirci, Gizem A1 - Tavsanoglu, Ulku Nihan A1 - Celik, Kemal A1 - Ozhan, Koray A1 - Karakaya, Nusret A1 - Kocer, Mehmet Ali Turan A1 - Yilmaz, Mete A1 - Maraslioglu, Faruk A1 - Fakioglu, Ozden A1 - Soylu, Elif Neyran A1 - Yagci, Meral Apaydin A1 - Cinar, Sakir A1 - Capkin, Kadir A1 - Yagci, Abdulkadir A1 - Cesur, Mehmet A1 - Bilgin, Fuat A1 - Bulut, Cafer A1 - Uysal, Rahmi A1 - Koker, Latife A1 - Akcaalan, Reyhan A1 - Albay, Meric A1 - Alp, Mehmet Tahir A1 - Ozkan, Korhan A1 - Sevindik, Tugba Ongun A1 - Tunca, Hatice A1 - Onem, Burcin A1 - Richardson, Jessica A1 - Edwards, Christine A1 - Bergkemper, Victoria A1 - Beirne, Eilish A1 - Cromie, Hannah A1 - Ibelings, Bastiaan W. T1 - Data Descriptor: A European Multi Lake Survey dataset of environmental variables, phytoplankton pigments and cyanotoxins JF - Scientific Data N2 - Under ongoing climate change and increasing anthropogenic activity, which continuously challenge ecosystem resilience, an in-depth understanding of ecological processes is urgently needed. Lakes, as providers of numerous ecosystem services, face multiple stressors that threaten their functioning. Harmful cyanobacterial blooms are a persistent problem resulting from nutrient pollution and climate-change induced stressors, like poor transparency, increased water temperature and enhanced stratification. Consistency in data collection and analysis methods is necessary to achieve fully comparable datasets and for statistical validity, avoiding issues linked to disparate data sources. The European Multi Lake Survey (EMLS) in summer 2015 was an initiative among scientists from 27 countries to collect and analyse lake physical, chemical and biological variables in a fully standardized manner. This database includes in-situ lake variables along with nutrient, pigment and cyanotoxin data of 369 lakes in Europe, which were centrally analysed in dedicated laboratories. Publishing the EMLS methods and dataset might inspire similar initiatives to study across large geographic areas that will contribute to better understanding lake responses in a changing environment. KW - Climate-change ecology KW - Limnology KW - Water resources Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2018.226 SN - 2052-4463 VL - 5 PB - Nature Publ. Group CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schwahn, Kevin A1 - Nikoloski, Zoran T1 - Data reduction approaches for dissecting transcriptional effects on metabolism JF - Frontiers in plant science N2 - The availability of high-throughput data from transcriptomics and metabolomics technologies provides the opportunity to characterize the transcriptional effects on metabolism. Here we propose and evaluate two computational approaches rooted in data reduction techniques to identify and categorize transcriptional effects on metabolism by combining data on gene expression and metabolite levels. The approaches determine the partial correlation between two metabolite data profiles upon control of given principal components extracted from transcriptomics data profiles. Therefore, they allow us to investigate both data types with all features simultaneously without doing preselection of genes. The proposed approaches allow us to categorize the relation between pairs of metabolites as being under transcriptional or post-transcriptional regulation. The resulting classification is compared to existing literature and accumulated evidence about regulatory mechanism of reactions and pathways in the cases of Escherichia coil, Saccharomycies cerevisiae, and Arabidopsis thaliana. KW - E. coil KW - S. cerevisiae KW - A. thaliana KW - partial correlation KW - principal component analysis KW - metabolomics KW - data reduction KW - regulation Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2018.00538 SN - 1664-462X VL - 9 PB - Frontiers Research Foundation CY - Lausanne ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wutke, Saskia A1 - Sandoval-Castellanos, Edson A1 - Benecke, Norbert A1 - Döhle, Hans-Jürgen A1 - Friederich, Susanne A1 - Gonzalez, Javier A1 - Hofreiter, Michael A1 - Lougas, Lembi A1 - Magnell, Ola A1 - Malaspinas, Anna-Sapfo A1 - Morales-Muniz, Arturo A1 - Orlando, Ludovic A1 - Reissmann, Monika A1 - Trinks, Alexandra A1 - Ludwig, Arne T1 - Decline of genetic diversity in ancient domestic stallions in Europe JF - Science Advances N2 - Present-day domestic horses are immensely diverse in their maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA, yet they show very little variation on their paternally inherited Y chromosome. Although it has recently been shown that Y chromosomal diversity in domestic horses was higher at least until the Iron Age, when and why this diversity disappeared remain controversial questions. We genotyped 16 recently discovered Y chromosomal single-nucleotide polymorphisms in 96 ancient Eurasian stallions spanning the early domestication stages (Copper and Bronze Age) to the Middle Ages. Using this Y chromosomal time series, which covers nearly the entire history of horse domestication, we reveal how Y chromosomal diversity changed over time. Our results also show that the lack of multiple stallion lineages in the extant domestic population is caused by neither a founder effect nor random demographic effects but instead is the result of artificial selection-initially during the Iron Age by nomadic people from the Eurasian steppes and later during the Roman period. Moreover, the modern domestic haplotype probably derived from another, already advantageous, haplotype, most likely after the beginning of the domestication. In line with recent findings indicating that the Przewalski and domestic horse lineages remained connected by gene flow after they diverged about 45,000 years ago, we present evidence for Y chromosomal introgression of Przewalski horses into the gene pool of European domestic horses at least until medieval times. Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aap9691 SN - 2375-2548 VL - 4 IS - 4 PB - American Assoc. for the Advancement of Science CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Spijkerman, Elly A1 - Behrend, Hella A1 - Fach, Bettina A1 - Gaedke, Ursula T1 - Decreased phosphorus incorporation explains the negative effect of high iron concentrations in the green microalga Chlamydomonas acidophila JF - The science of the total environment : an international journal for scientific research into the environment and its relationship with man N2 - The green microalga Chlamydomonas acidophila is an important primary producer in very acidic lakes (pH 2.0-3.5), characterized by high concentrations of ferric iron (up to 1 g total Fe L-1) and low rates of primary production. It was previously suggested that these high iron concentrations result in high iron accumulation and inhibit photosynthesis in C. acidophila. To test this, the alga was grown in sterilized lake water and in medium with varying total iron concentrations under limiting and sufficient inorganic phosphorus (Pi) supply, because Pi is an important growth limiting nutrient in acidic waters. Photosynthesis and growth of C. acidophila as measured over 5 days were largely unaffected by high total iron concentrations and only decreased if free ionic Fe3+ concentrations exceeded 100 mg Fe3+ L-1. Although C. acidophila was relatively rich in iron (up to 5 mmol Fe: mol C), we found no evidence of iron toxicity. In contrast, a concentration of 260 mg total Fe L-1 (i.e. 15 mg free ionic Fe3+ L-1), which is common in many acidic lakes, reduced Pi-incorporation by 50% and will result in Pi-limited photosynthesis. The resulting Pi-limitation present at high iron and Pi concentrations was illustrated by elevated maximum Pi-uptake rates. No direct toxic effects of high iron were found, but unfavourable chemical Pi-speciation reduced growth of the acidophile alga. KW - Chlamydomonas KW - Ecotoxicology KW - Extreme environment KW - Iron toxicity KW - Phosphate limitation KW - Phytoplankton Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.01.188 SN - 0048-9697 SN - 1879-1026 VL - 626 SP - 1342 EP - 1349 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - THES A1 - Schöne, Anne-Christin T1 - Degradation of Aliphatic Polyesters at the Air-Water Interface - Capabilities of the Langmuir Monolayer Technique Y1 - 2018 ER - TY - THES A1 - Schwanhold, Nadine T1 - Die Funktion und Spezifität der Molybdän-Cofaktor-bindenden Chaperone für die Formiat-Dehydrogenasen aus Escherichia coli und Rhodobacter capsulatus Y1 - 2018 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Laux, Eva-Maria A1 - Ermilova, Elena A1 - Pannwitz, Daniel A1 - Gibbons, Jessica A1 - Hölzel, Ralph A1 - Bier, Frank Fabian T1 - Dielectric Spectroscopy of Biomolecules up to 110 GHz JF - Frequenz N2 - Radio-frequency fields in the GHz range are increasingly applied in biotechnology and medicine. In order to fully exploit both their potential and their risks detailed information about the dielectric properties of biological material is needed. For this purpose a measuring system is presented that allows the acquisition of complex dielectric spectra over 4 frequency decade up to 110 GHz. Routines for calibration and for data evaluation according to physicochemical interaction models have been developed. The frequency dependent permittivity and dielectric loss of some proteins and nucleic acids, the main classes of biomolecules, and of their sub-units have been determined. Dielectric spectra are presented for the amino acid alanine, the proteins lysozyme and haemoglobin, the nucleotides AMP and ATP, and for the plasmid pET-21, which has been produced by bacterial culture. Characterisation of a variety of biomolecules is envisaged, as is the application to studies on protein structure and function. KW - dielectric KW - spectroscopy KW - permittivity KW - protein KW - DNA KW - amino acid KW - plasmid Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1515/freq-2018-0010 SN - 0016-1136 SN - 2191-6349 VL - 72 IS - 3-4 SP - 135 EP - 140 PB - De Gruyter CY - Berlin ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Laux, Eva-Maria A1 - Bier, Frank Fabian A1 - Hölzel, Ralph T1 - Dielectrophoretic Stretching of DNA JF - DNA Nanotechnology N2 - The spatial control of DNA and of self-assembled DNA constructs is a prerequisite for the preparation of DNA-based nanostructures and microstructures and a useful tool for studies on single DNA molecules. Here we describe a protocol for the accumulation of dissolved lambda-DNA molecules between planar microelectrodes by the action of inhomogeneous radiofrequency electric fields. The resulting AC electrokinetic forces stretch the DNA molecules and align them parallel to the electric field. The electrode preparation from off-the-shelf electronic components is explained, and a detailed description of the electronic setup is given. The experimental procedure is controlled in real-time by fluorescence microscopy. KW - Alignment KW - Dielectrophoresis KW - DNA KW - Electrokinetics KW - Interdigitated electrodes KW - Stretching Y1 - 2018 SN - 978-1-4939-8582-1 SN - 978-1-4939-8581-4 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-8582-1_14 SN - 1064-3745 SN - 1940-6029 SP - 199 EP - 208 PB - Humana Press Inc. CY - New York ET - 2 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Weyrich, Alexandra A1 - Jeschek, Marie A1 - Schrapers, Katharina T. A1 - Lenz, Dorina A1 - Chung, Tzu Hung A1 - Ruebensam, Kathrin A1 - Yasar, Sermin A1 - Schneemann, Markus A1 - Ortmann, Sylvia A1 - Jewgenow, Katarina A1 - Fickel, Jörns T1 - Diet changes alter paternally inherited epigenetic pattern in male Wild guinea pigs JF - Environmental Epigenetics N2 - Epigenetic modifications, of which DNA methylation is the most stable, are a mechanism conveying environmental information to subsequent generations via parental germ lines. The paternal contribution to adaptive processes in the offspring might be crucial, but has been widely neglected in comparison to the maternal one. To address the paternal impact on the offspring’s adaptability to changes in diet composition, we investigated if low protein diet (LPD) in F0 males caused epigenetic alterations in their subsequently sired sons. We therefore fed F0 male Wild guinea pigs with a diet lowered in protein content (LPD) and investigated DNA methylation in sons sired before and after their father’s LPD treatment in both, liver and testis tissues. Our results point to a ‘heritable epigenetic response’ of the sons to the fathers’ dietary change. Because we detected methylation changes also in the testis tissue, they are likely to be transmitted to the F2 generation. Gene-network analyses of differentially methylated genes in liver identified main metabolic pathways indicating a metabolic reprogramming (‘metabolic shift’). Epigenetic mechanisms, allowing an immediate and inherited adaptation may thus be important for the survival of species in the context of a persistently changing environment, such as climate change. KW - DNA methylation KW - exposure KW - wild mammal species KW - inheritance KW - plasticity KW - adaptation Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1093/eep/dvy011 SN - 2058-5888 VL - 4 IS - 2 PB - Oxford Univ. Press CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Laeger, Thomas A1 - Castano-Martinez, Teresa A1 - Werno, Martin W. A1 - Japtok, Lukasz A1 - Baumeier, Christian A1 - Jonas, Wenke A1 - Kleuser, Burkhard A1 - Schürmann, Annette T1 - Dietary carbohydrates impair the protective effect of protein restriction against diabetes in NZO mice used as a model of type 2 diabetes JF - Diabetologia : journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) N2 - Aims/hypothesis Low-protein diets are well known to improve glucose tolerance and increase energy expenditure. Increases in circulating fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) have been implicated as a potential underlying mechanism. Methods We aimed to test whether low-protein diets in the context of a high-carbohydrate or high-fat regimen would also protect against type 2 diabetes in New Zealand Obese (NZO) mice used as a model of polygenetic obesity and type 2 diabetes. Mice were placed on high-fat diets that provided protein at control (16 kJ%; CON) or low (4 kJ%; low-protein/high-carbohydrate [LP/HC] or low-protein/high-fat [LP/HF]) levels. Results Protein restriction prevented the onset of hyperglycaemia and beta cell loss despite increased food intake and fat mass. The effect was seen only under conditions of a lower carbohydrate/fat ratio (LP/HF). When the carbohydrate/fat ratio was high (LP/HC), mice developed type 2 diabetes despite the robustly elevated hepatic FGF21 secretion and increased energy expenditure. Conclusion/interpretation Prevention of type 2 diabetes through protein restriction, without lowering food intake and body fat mass, is compromised by high dietary carbohydrates. Increased FGF21 levels and elevated energy expenditure do not protect against hyperglycaemia and type 2 diabetes per se. KW - Energy expenditure KW - FGF21 KW - Hyperglycaemia KW - Insulin resistance KW - NZO KW - Obesity KW - Protein restriction Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00125-018-4595-1 SN - 0012-186X SN - 1432-0428 VL - 61 IS - 6 SP - 1459 EP - 1469 PB - Springer CY - New York ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Paraskevopoulou, Sofia A1 - Tiedemann, Ralph A1 - Weithoff, Guntram T1 - Differential response to heat stress among evolutionary lineages of an aquatic invertebrate species complex JF - Biology letters N2 - Under global warming scenarios, rising temperatures can constitute heat stress to which species may respond differentially. Within a described species, knowledge on cryptic diversity is of further relevance, as different lineages/cryptic species may respond differentially to environmental change. The Brachionus calyciflorus species complex (Rotifera), which was recently described using integrative taxonomy, is an essential component of aquatic ecosystems. Here, we tested the hypothesis that these (formerly cryptic) species differ in their heat tolerance. We assigned 47 clones with nuclear ITS1 (nuITS1) and mitochondrial COI (mtCOI) markers to evolutionary lineages, now named B. calyciflorus sensu stricto (s.s.) and B. fernandoi. We selected 15 representative clones and assessed their heat tolerance as a bi-dimensional phenotypic trait affected by both the intensity and duration of heat stress. We found two distinct groups, with B. calyciflorus s.s. clones having higher heat tolerance than the novel species B. fernandoi. This apparent temperature specialization among former cryptic species underscores the necessity of a sound species delimitation and assignment, when organismal responses to environmental changes are investigated. KW - Brachionus calyciflorus KW - critical thermal maximum KW - cryptic species KW - ecological speciation KW - rotifers KW - heat tolerance Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2018.0498 SN - 1744-9561 SN - 1744-957X VL - 14 IS - 11 PB - Royal Society CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Heger, Tina A1 - Nikles, Gabriele A1 - Jacobs, Brooke S. T1 - Differentiation in native as well as introduced ranges BT - germination reflects mean and variance in cover of surrounding vegetation JF - AoB PLANTS N2 - Germination, a crucial phase in the life cycle of a plant, can be significantly influenced by competition and facilitation. The aim of this study was to test whether differences in cover of surrounding vegetation can lead to population differentiation in germination behaviour of an annual grassland species, and if so, whether such a differentiation can be found in the native as well as in the introduced range. We used maternal progeny of Erodium cicutarium previously propagated under uniform conditions that had been collected in multiple populations in the native and two introduced ranges, in populations representing extremes in terms of mean and variability of the cover of surrounding vegetation. In the first experiment, we tested the effect of germination temperature and mean cover at the source site on germination, and found interlinked effects of these factors. In seeds from one of the introduced ranges (California), we found indication for a 2-fold dormancy, hindering germination at high temperatures even if physical dormancy was broken and water was available. This behaviour was less strong in high cover populations, indicating cross-generational facilitating effects of dense vegetation. In the second experiment, we tested whether spatial variation in cover of surrounding vegetation has an effect on the proportion of dormant seeds. Contrary to our expectations, we found that across source regions, high variance in cover was associated with higher proportions of seeds germinating directly after storage. In all three regions, germination seemed to match the local environment in terms of climate and vegetation cover. We suggest that this is due to a combined effect of introduction of preadapted genotypes and local evolutionary processes. KW - Bet-hedging KW - competition KW - eco-evolutionary experience KW - facilitation KW - genetic adaptation KW - physical and physiological dormancy KW - preadaptation Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1093/aobpla/ply009 SN - 2041-2851 VL - 10 IS - 1 PB - Oxford Univ. Press CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Olmer, Ruth A1 - Engels, Lena A1 - Usman, Abdulai A1 - Menke, Sandra A1 - Malik, Muhammad Nasir Hayat A1 - Pessler, Frank A1 - Goehring, Gudrun A1 - Bornhorst, Dorothee A1 - Bolten, Svenja A1 - Abdelilah-Seyfried, Salim A1 - Scheper, Thomas A1 - Kempf, Henning A1 - Zweigerdt, Robert A1 - Martin, Ulrich T1 - Differentiation of Human Pluripotent Stem Cells into Functional Endothelial Cells in Scalable Suspension Culture JF - Stem Cell Reports N2 - Endothelial cells (ECs) are involved in a variety of cellular responses. As multifunctional components of vascular structures, endothelial (progenitor) cells have been utilized in cellular therapies and are required as an important cellular component of engineered tissue constructs and in vitro disease models. Although primary ECs from different sources are readily isolated and expanded, cell quantity and quality in terms of functionality and karyotype stability is limited. ECs derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) represent an alternative and potentially superior cell source, but traditional culture approaches and 2D differentiation protocols hardly allow for production of large cell numbers. Aiming at the production of ECs, we have developed a robust approach for efficient endothelial differentiation of hiPSCs in scalable suspension culture. The established protocol results in relevant numbers of ECs for regenerative approaches and industrial applications that show in vitro proliferation capacity and a high degree of chromosomal stability. KW - virus infection KW - progenitor cells KW - in vitro KW - telomere dysfunction KW - cord blood KW - cardiomyogenic differentiation KW - angiogenesis KW - efficient KW - aberrations KW - expression Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stemcr.2018.03.017 SN - 2213-6711 VL - 10 IS - 5 PB - Springer CY - New York ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Küçükgöze, Gökhan A1 - Leimkühler, Silke T1 - Direct comparison of the four aldehyde oxidase enzymes present in mouse gives insight into their substrate specificities JF - PLOS ONE N2 - Mammalian aldehyde oxidases (AOXs) are molybdo-flavoenzymes which are present in many tissues in various mammalian species, including humans and rodents. Different species contain a different number of AOX isoforms. In particular, the reasons why mammals other than humans express a multiplicity of tissue-specific AOX enzymes is unknown. In mouse, the isoforms mAOX1, mAOX3, mAOX4 and mAOX2 are present. We previously established a codon-optimized heterologous expression systems for the mAOX1-4 isoforms in Escherichia coli that gives yield to sufficient amounts of active protein for kinetic characterizations and sets the basis in this study for site-directed mutagenesis and structure-function studies. A direct and simultaneous comparison of the enzymatic properties and characteristics of the four enzymes on a larger number of substrates has never been performed. Here, thirty different structurally related aromatic, aliphatic and N-heterocyclic compounds were used as substrates, and the kinetic parameters of all four mAOX enzymes were directly compared. The results show that especially mAOX4 displays a higher substrate selectivity, while no major differences between mAOX1, mAOX2 and mAOX3 were identified. Generally, mAOX1 was the enzyme with the highest catalytic turnover for most substrates. To understand the factors that contribute to the substrate specificity of mAOX4, site-directed mutagenesis was applied to substitute amino acids in the substrate-binding funnel by the ones present in mAOX1, mAOX3, and mAOX2. An increase in activity was obtained by the amino acid exchange M1088V in the active site identified to be specific for mAOX4, to the amino acid identified in mAOX3. Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0191819 SN - 1932-6203 VL - 13 IS - 1 PB - Public Library of Science CY - San Fransisco ER -