Search results for "ARF"

Warmer temperatures reduce the influence of an important keystone predator

2017

Predator–prey interactions may be strongly influenced by temperature variations in marine ecosystems. Consequently, climate change may alter the importance of predators with repercussions for ecosystem functioning and structure. In North-eastern Pacific kelp forests, the starfish Pycnopodia helianthoides is known to be an important predator of the purple sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus. Here we investigated the influence of water temperature on this predator–prey interaction by: (i) assessing the spatial distribution and temporal dynamics of both species across a temperature gradient in the northern Channel Islands, California, and (ii) investigating how the feeding rate of P. heli…

Nanism (dwarfism) in fish: a comparison between red mullet Mullus barbatus from the southeastern and the central Mediterranean

2007

The gradient of environmental conditions from west to east in the Mediterranean results in very low primary productivity in the eastern area of this sea. This impoverishment is expressed also in higher trophic levels and has been accounted for by several faunistic phenomena. One of these is 'Levantine nanism' (dwarfism); this is characterized by smaller body size of specimens in the Levantine basin compared with conspecifics in the western Mediterranean. Nanism has been hypothesized for various taxonomic groups in the Mediterranean, but no quantitative study has yet been carried out to confirm it. In the present study male and female red mullet Mullus barbatus from trawl surveys carried out…

Unveiling the diet of the thermophilic starfish Ophidiaster ophidianus (Echinodermata: Asteroidea) combining visual observation and stable isotopes a…

2020

The starfish Ophidiaster ophidianus is an Atlanto-Mediterranean species protected under the EU’s Habitat Directive. Despite the wide distribution and the current range of expansion of this thermophilic species in the northern Mediterranean Sea, nothing is known about its diet. Using field observations and δ13C and δ15N Stable Isotopes Analysis (SIA), the feeding habits of O. ophidianus were explored in two Mediterranean rocky reef areas located in the southern Tyrrhenian (Ustica Island, Italy) and the eastern Adriatic Sea (Molunat, Croatia). According to field observations, O. ophidianus preys mainly on crustose coralline algae (CCA) and the keratose sponge Ircinia variabilis in both areas.…

Systematic analysis of specific and nonspecific auxin effects on endocytosis and trafficking.

2021

Abstract The phytohormone auxin and its directional transport through tissues are intensively studied. However, a mechanistic understanding of auxin-mediated feedback on endocytosis and polar distribution of PIN auxin transporters remains limited due to contradictory observations and interpretations. Here, we used state-of-the-art methods to reexamine the auxin effects on PIN endocytic trafficking. We used high auxin concentrations or longer treatments versus lower concentrations and shorter treatments of natural indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and synthetic naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) auxins to distinguish between specific and nonspecific effects. Longer treatments of both auxins interfere wi…

The WtmsDW Locus on Wheat Chromosome 2B Controls Major Natural Variation for Floret Sterility Responses to Heat Stress at Booting Stage

2021

Heat stress at booting stage causes significant losses to floret fertility (grain set) and hence yield in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.); however, there is a lack of well-characterized sources of tolerance to this type of stress. Here, we describe the genetic analysis of booting stage heat tolerance in a cross between the Australian cultivars Drysdale (intolerant) and Waagan (tolerant), leading to the definition of a major-effect tolerance locus on the short arm of chromosome 2B, Wheat thermosensitive male sterile Drysdale/Waagan (WtmsDW). WtmsDW offsets between 44 and 65% of the losses in grain set due to heat, suggesting that it offers significant value for marker-assisted tolerance breedin…

Identification and Characterization of a Single High-Affinity Fatty Acid Binding Site in Human Serum Albumin.

2017

A single high-affinity fatty acid binding site in the important human transport protein serum albumin (HSA) is identified and characterized using an NBD (7-nitrobenz-2-oxa-1,3-diazol-4-yl)-C12 fatty acid. This ligand exhibits a 1:1 binding stoichiometry in its HSA complex with high site-specificity. The complex dissociation constant is determined by titration experiments as well as radioactive equilibrium dialysis. Competition experiments with the known HSA-binding drugs warfarin and ibuprofen confirm the new binding site to be different from Sudlow-sites I and II. These binding studies are extended to other albumin binders and fatty acid derivatives. Furthermore an X-ray crystal structure …

2018

The cutis laxa syndromes are multisystem disorders that share loose redundant inelastic and wrinkled skin as a common hallmark clinical feature. The underlying molecular defects are heterogeneous and 13 different genes have been involved until now, all of them being implicated in elastic fiber assembly. We provide here molecular and clinical characterization of three unrelated patients with a very rare phenotype associating cutis laxa, facial dysmorphism, severe growth retardation, hyperostotic skeletal dysplasia and intellectual disability. This disorder called Lenz-Majewski syndrome (LMS) is associated with gain of function mutations in PTDSS1, encoding an enzyme involved in phospholipid …

p14ARFPrevents Proliferation of Aneuploid Cells by Inducing p53-Dependent Apoptosis

2015

Weakening the Spindle Assembly Checkpoint by reduced expression of its components induces chromosome instability and aneuploidy that are hallmarks of cancer cells. The tumor suppressor p14ARF is overexpressed in response to oncogenic stimuli to stabilize p53 halting cell progression. Previously, we found that lack or reduced expression of p14ARF is involved in the maintenance of aneuploid cells in primary human cells, suggesting that it could be part of a pathway controlling their proliferation. To investigate this aspect further, p14ARF was ectopically expressed in HCT116 cells after depletion of the Spindle Assembly Checkpoint MAD2 protein that was used as a trigger for aneuploidy. p14ARF…

De Novo and Inherited Pathogenic Variants in KDM3B Cause Intellectual Disability, Short Stature, and Facial Dysmorphism

2019

Contains fulltext : 202646.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) By using exome sequencing and a gene matching approach, we identified de novo and inherited pathogenic variants in KDM3B in 14 unrelated individuals and three affected parents with varying degrees of intellectual disability (ID) or developmental delay (DD) and short stature. The individuals share additional phenotypic features that include feeding difficulties in infancy, joint hypermobility, and characteristic facial features such as a wide mouth, a pointed chin, long ears, and a low columella. Notably, two individuals developed cancer, acute myeloid leukemia and Hodgkin lymphoma, in childhood. KDM3B encodes for a histone …

Dominant variants in the splicing factor PUF60 cause a recognizable syndrome with intellectual disability, heart defects and short stature

2016

Item does not contain fulltext Verheij syndrome, also called 8q24.3 microdeletion syndrome, is a rare condition characterized by ante- and postnatal growth retardation, microcephaly, vertebral anomalies, joint laxity/dislocation, developmental delay (DD), cardiac and renal defects and dysmorphic features. Recently, PUF60 (Poly-U Binding Splicing Factor 60 kDa), which encodes a component of the spliceosome, has been discussed as the best candidate gene for the Verheij syndrome phenotype, regarding the cardiac and short stature phenotype. To date, only one patient has been reported with a de novo variant in PUF60 that probably affects function (c.505C>T leading to p.(His169Tyr)) associated wi…