Drainage enhances modern soil carbon contribution but reduces old soil carbon contribution to ecosystem respiration in tundra ecosystems.

Warming temperatures are likely to accelerate permafrost thaw in the Arctic, potentially leading to the release of old carbon previously stored in deep frozen soil layers. Deeper thaw depths in combination with geomorphological changes due to the loss of ice structures in permafrost, may modify soil water distribution, creating wetter or drier soil conditions. Previous studies revealed higher ecosystem respiration rates under drier conditions, and this study investigated the cause of the increased ecosystem respiration rates using radiocarbon signatures of respired CO from two drying manipulation experiments: one in moist and the other in wet tundra.

Inhibition of Huntingtin Exon-1 Aggregation by the Molecular Tweezer CLR01.

Huntington's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder associated with the expansion of the polyglutamine tract in the exon-1 domain of the huntingtin protein (htt). Above a threshold of 37 glutamine residues, htt starts to aggregate in a nucleation-dependent manner. A 17-residue N-terminal fragment of htt (N17) has been suggested to play a crucial role in modulating the aggregation propensity and toxicity of htt.

Identification of an RNA Polymerase III Regulator Linked to Disease-Associated Protein Aggregation.

Protein aggregation is associated with age-related neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer's and polyglutamine diseases. As a causal relationship between protein aggregation and neurodegeneration remains elusive, understanding the cellular mechanisms regulating protein aggregation will help develop future treatments. To identify such mechanisms, we conducted a forward genetic screen in a C.

Discovery of 505-million-year old chitin in the basal demosponge Vauxia gracilenta.

Sponges are probably the earliest branching animals, and their fossil record dates back to the Precambrian. Identifying their skeletal structure and composition is thus a crucial step in improving our understanding of the early evolution of metazoans. Here, we present the discovery of 505-million-year-old chitin, found in exceptionally well preserved Vauxia gracilenta sponges from the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale.