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Shiv Nadar University

(SoNS) School of Natural Sciences

The synthesis of the peptidoglycan cell wall is carefully regulated in time and space. In nature, this essential process occurs in cells that live in fluctuating environments. Here we show that the spatial distributions of specific cell wall proteins in Caulobacter crescentus are sensitive to small external osmotic upshifts. The penicillin-binding protein PBP2, which is commonly branded as an essential cell elongation-specific transpeptidase, switches its localization from a dispersed, patchy pattern to an accumulation at the FtsZ ring location in response to osmotic upshifts as low as 40 mosmol/kg. This osmolality-dependent relocation to the division apparatus is initiated within less than a minute, while restoration to the patchy localization pattern is dependent on cell growth and takes 1 to 2 generations. Cell wall morphogenetic protein RodA and penicillin-binding protein PBP1a also change their spatial distribution by accumulating at the division site in response to external osmotic upshifts. Consistent with its ecological distribution, C. crescentus displays a narrow range of osmotolerance, with an upper limit of 225 mosmol/kg in minimal medium. Collectively, our findings reveal an unsuspected level of environmental regulation of cell wall protein behavior that is likely linked to an ecological adaptation. © 2012, American Society for Microbiology.

World University root node

Life Sciences

Fulltext

Journal of Bacteriology

Osmolality-dependent relocation of penicillin-binding protein PBP2 to the division site in Caulobacter crescentus

Sixty five patients (20 children and 45 adults of both sexes) having hepatomegaly were subjected to serum copper, hepatic copper and hepatic cuproprotein analysis from October 1982 through September 1983. Higher levels of serum copper were encountered in 17/20 children suffering from Indian Childhood Cirrhosis (ICC), values ranging from 151 ug/dl to 350 ug/dl. Hypercupremia was also detected in reactive hepatitis 5/17, portal cirrhosis 2/9, chronic active liver disease (CALD) 3/4, malignancies in liver 3/5 and in the single case of secondary biliary cirrhosis, serum copper was normal in cases of steatosis of liver, Dubin-Johnson Syndrome and congenital hepatic fibrosis. Hepatic copper was detected only in cases of ICC (17/20). Hepatic cuproproteins were also detected in all these cases as intracytoplasmic dark drown granules. In other chronic liver diseases studied, both hepatic copper and cuproproteins were negative. It is proposed that deranged copper metabolism could have a role in the pathogenesis of ICC.

International Journal of Pharma and Bio Sciences

Serum copper and hepatic copper in chronic liver diseases with particular reference to indian childhood cirrhosis

North American Journal of Medical Sciences

Re: Social determinants and its influence on the prevalence of morbidity among adolescent girls

Many proteins refold in vitro through kinetic folding intermediates that are believed to be by-products of native-state centric evolution. These intermediates are postulated to play only minor roles, if any, in vivo because they lack any information related to translation-associated vectorial folding. We demonstrate that refolding intermediate of a test protein, generated in vitro, is able to find its cognate chaperone, from the whole complement of Escherichia coli soluble chaperones. Cognate chaperone-binding uniquely alters the conformation of non-native substrate. Importantly, precise chaperone targeting of substrates are maintained as long as physiological molar ratios of chaperones remain unaltered. Using a library of different chaperone substrates, we demonstrate that kinetically trapped refolding intermediates contain sufficient structural features for precise targeting to cognate chaperones. We posit that evolution favors sequences that, in addition to coding for a functional native state, encode folding intermediates with higher affinity for cognate chaperones than noncognate ones. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.

Structure

Information encoded in Non-native states drives substrate-chaperone pairing

Hormones exert pleiotropic effects on plant growth and development throughout the life cycle. Many of these effects are mediated at molecular level via altering gene expression. In this study, we investigated the exogenous effect of plant hormones, including auxin, cytokinin, abscisic acid, ethylene, salicylic acid and jasmonic acid, on the transcription of rice genes at whole genome level using microarray. Our analysis identified a total of 4171 genes involved in several biological processes, whose expression was altered significantly in the presence of different hormones. Further, 28% of these genes exhibited overlapping transcriptional responses in the presence of any two hormones, indicating crosstalk among plant hormones. In addition, we identified genes showing only a particular hormone-specific response, which can be used as hormone-specific markers. The results of this study will facilitate further studies in hormone biology in rice. © 2012 Landes Bioscience.

Plant Signaling and Behavior

Microarray analysis reveals overlapping and specific transcriptional responses to different plant hormones in rice

Mathematics

Linear Algebra and Its Applications

Norm inequalities related to the matrix geometric mean

In non-mandatory vaccination policies, individual choice can be a major driver of vaccine uptake. Choice thereby influences whether public health targets can be achieved. Individual vaccinating decisions can be influenced by perceptions of vaccine risks or infection risks. There is also the potential for non-vaccinators to strategically 'free-ride' on herd immunity provided by vaccinators. This strategic interaction between individuals generates a social dilemma - a conflict between self-interest and what is best for the group as a whole. Game theory and related mathematical approaches that couple mechanistic models of vaccinating decisions with mechanistic models of disease spread can capture this social dilemma and address relevant questions. The past decade has seen significant growth in the theoretical literature developing and analyzing such models. Here, we argue that using these models to address specific public health challenges will require more work that integrates information from empirical studies into the development and validation of such models, as well as more collaboration between mathematical modelers, psychologists, economists and public health experts. © 2012 Landes Bioscience.

Human Vaccines and Immunotherapeutics

Mathematical models of the interplay between individual vaccinating decisions and disease dynamics: A need for closer integration of models and data

In this paper, we report the device characteristics of ambipolar thin-film transistors (TFTs) based on a diketopyrrolopyrrole-benzothiadiazole copolymer. This polymer semiconductor exhibits the largest comparable electron and hole mobility values in a single organic semiconductor. The key to realizing such high mobility values, which are $0.5&cm}{2}/hbox{V}̇hbox{s, is molecular design, i.e., the use of suitable surface treatments of the source/drain contact electrodes and device architectures, particularly top-gate configurations. The subthreshold characteristics of the TFT devices are greatly improved by the use of dual-gate device geometry. We also report the first measurement of the velocity distribution of electron and hole velocities in an ambipolar organic semiconductor. © 2012 IEEE.

Physics

IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices

Characteristics of high-performance ambipolar organic field-effect transistors based on a diketopyrrolopyrrole-benzothiadiazole copolymer

We report hole and electron doping in La-doped YBa 2Cu 3O y (YBCO) thin films synthesized by the pulsed laser deposition technique and subsequent in situ postannealing in ambient oxygen and vaccum. The n-type samples show a metallic behavior below the Mott limit and a high carrier density of ∼2.8×1021 cm -3 at room temperature (T) at the optimally reduced condition. The in-plane resistivity(ρ ab) of the n-type samples exhibits a quadratic T dependence in the moderate-T range and shows an anomaly at a relatively higher T probably related to pseudogap formation analogous to underdoped Nd 2-xCe xCuO 4 (NCCO). Furthermore, ρ ab(T), T c, and T with minimum resistivity (T min) were investigated in both p and n sides. The present results reveal the n-p asymmetry (symmetry) within the metallic-state region in an underdoped cuprate and suggest the potential toward ambipolar superconductivity in a single YBCO system. © 2012 American Physical Society.

Physical Review B - Condensed Matter and Materials Physics

Metallic state in La-doped YBa 2Cu 3O y thin films with n-type charge carriers

Thin films of Ta incorporated TiO2 grown by pulsed laser deposition under specific growth conditions show room temperature ferromagnetism. Ta introduces carriers and concomitantly cationic defects, the combination of which leads to ferromagnetism. In this paper, we report on the dependence of the carrier and cationic defect density (compensation) on various parameters such as oxygen growth pressure, temperature and Ta concentration. Most likely, the Ti vacancies act as magnetic centers and the free electrons help with the exchange leading to ferromagnetism via Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya- Yosida mechanism. Copyright 2012 Author(s).