Search results for "Structural Biology"
showing 10 items of 827 documents
A consistent path for phase determination based on transmission electron microscopy techniques and supporting simulations.
2018
This work addresses aspects for the analysis of industrial relevant materials via transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The complex phase chemistry and structural diversity of these materials require several characterization techniques to be employed simultaneously; unfortunately, different characterization techniques often lack connection to yield a complete and consistent picture. This paper describes a continuous path, starting with the acquisition of 3D diffraction data - alongside classical high-resolution imaging techniques - and linking the structural characterization of hard metal industrial samples with energy-loss fine-structure simulations, quantitative electron energy-loss (EE…
Mechanical characterisation of pentagonal gold nanowires in three different test configurations: A comparative study.
2019
Abstract Mechanical characterisation of individual nanostructures is a challenging task and can greatly benefit from the utilisation of several alternative approaches to increase the reliability of results. In the present work, we have measured and compared the elastic modulus of five-fold twinned gold nanowires (NWs) with atomic force microscopy (AFM) indentation in three different test configurations: three-point bending with fixed ends, three-point bending with free ends and cantilevered-beam bending. The free-ends condition was realized by introducing a novel approach where the NW is placed diagonally inside an inverted pyramid chemically etched in a silicon wafer. In addition, all thre…
Biochemical characterization of the skeletal matrix of the massive coral, Porites australiensis - The saccharide moieties and their localization.
2018
11 pages; International audience; To construct calcium carbonate skeletons of sophisticated architecture, scleractinian corals secrete an extracellular skeletal organic matrix (SOM) from aboral ectodermal cells. The SOM, which is composed of proteins, saccharides, and lipids, performs functions critical for skeleton formation. Even though polysaccharides constitute the major component of the SOM, its contribution to coral skeleton formation is poorly understood. To this end, we analyzed the SOM of the massive colonial coral, Porites australiensis, the skeleton of which has drawn great research interest because it records environmental conditions throughout the life of the colony. The coral …
Activation of the plant plasma membrane H+ -ATPase. Is there a direct interaction between lysophosphatidylcholine and the C-terminal part of the enzy…
1996
The antagonistic effects of the fungal toxin beticolin-1 and of L-alpha-lysophosphatidylcholine (lysoPC) were investigated on the plasma membrane H+-ATPase of the plant Arabidopsis thaliana (isoform 2) expressed in yeast, using both wild-type enzyme (AHA2) and C-terminal truncated enzyme (aha2delta92). Phosphohydrolytic activities of both enzymes were inhibited by beticolin-1, with very similar 50% inhibitory concentrations, indicating that the toxin action does not involve the C-terminal located autoinhibitory domain of the proton pump. Egg lysoPC, a compound that activates the H+-ATPase by a mechanism involving the C-terminal part of the protein, was found to be able to reverse the inhibi…
Identification and molecular characterization of the high-affinity copper transporters family in Solanum lycopersicum
2021
Copper (Cu) plays a key role as cofactor in the plant proteins participating in essential cellular processes, such as electron transport and free radical scavenging. Despite high-affinity Cu transporters (COPTs) being key participants in Cu homeostasis maintenance, very little is known about COPTs in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) even though it is the most consumed fruit worldwide and this crop is susceptible to suboptimal Cu conditions. In this study, a six-member family of COPT (SlCOPT1-6) was identified and characterized. SlCOPTs have a conserved architecture consisting of three transmembrane domains and β-strains. However, the presence of essential methionine residues, a methionine-enri…
Constitutive expression of clathrin hub hinders elicitor-induced clathrin-mediated endocytosis and defense gene expression in plant cells.
2012
International audience; Endocytosis has been recently implicated in the signaling network associated with the recognition of microbes by plants. In a previous study, we showed that the elicitor cryptogein was able to induce clathrin-mediated endocytosis (CME) in tobacco suspension cells. Herein, we investigate further the induced CME by means of a GFP-tagged clathrin light chain and a CME inhibitor, the hub domain of clathrin heavy chain. Hub constitutive expression does affect neither cell growth nor constitutive endocytosis but abolishes cryptogein-induced CME. Such an inhibition has no impact on early events in the cryptogein signaling pathway but reduces the expression of defense-associ…
AtCCS is a functional homolog of the yeast copper chaperone Ccs1/Lys7
2005
AbstractIn plant chloroplasts two superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities occur, FeSOD and Cu/ZnSOD, with reciprocal regulation in response to copper availability. This system presents a unique model to study the regulation of metal-cofactor delivery to an organelle. The Arabidopsis thaliana gene AtCCS encodes a functional homolog to yeast Ccs1p/Lys7p, a copper chaperone for SOD. The AtCCS protein was localized to chloroplasts where it may supply copper to the stromal Cu/ZnSOD. AtCCS mRNA expression levels are upregulated in response to Cu-feeding and senescence. We propose that AtCCS expression is regulated to allow the most optimal use of Cu for photosynthesis.
The genome sequence of the grape phylloxera provides insights into the evolution, adaptation, and invasion routes of an iconic pest
2020
Background: Although native to North America, the invasion of the aphid-like grape phylloxera Daktulosphaira vitifoliae across the globe altered the course of grape cultivation. For the past 150 years, viticulture relied on grafting-resistant North American Vitis species as rootstocks, thereby limiting genetic stocks tolerant to other stressors such as pathogens and climate change. Limited understanding of the insect genetics resulted in successive outbreaks across the globe when rootstocks failed. Here we report the 294-Mb genome of D. vitifoliae as a basic tool to understand host plant manipulation, nutritional endosymbiosis, and enhance global viticulture. Results: Using a combination of…
Tobacco cells contain a protein, immunologically related to the neutrophil small G protein Rac2 and involved in elicitor-induced oxidative burst.
1997
Abstract Suspension-cultured cells of Nicotiana tabacum generated active oxygen species (AOS) when they were treated with the proteinaceous elicitor, cryptogein. This response was blocked by diphenylene iodonium, an inhibitor of the neutrophil NADPH oxidase. When microsomal extracts of tobacco cells were probed with an antibody directed against the human small G protein Rac2, two immunoreactive proteins were detected at 18.5 and 20.5 kDa. The same experiment performed with cytosolic extracts of tobacco cells led to the observation of a strong immunoreactive protein at 21.5 kDa only in the cryptogein-treated cells. The appearance of this cytosolic protein was related to the production of AOS…
Deep divergence and evidence for translocations between Iranian and European populations of the alfalfa weevil (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) based on m…
2016
AbstractThe alfalfa weevil (Hypera postica(Gyllenhal): Coleoptera: Curculionidae) is an invasive pest of alfalfa (Medicago sativaLinnaeus; Fabaceae) in the Holarctic region. Across the wide geographic distribution of the species different local adaptions have been observed. Further, several distinct mitochondrial lineages have been discovered, which have been treated as western and Egyptian/eastern strains. However, our knowledge of the biogeography ofH. posticais largely limited to North American and Japanese populations. We sampled the species from four locations in Iran and two countries in Europe (Poland and Czech Republic) and sequenced the mitochondrial COI gene to detect patterns of …