Key concepts and a world-wide look at plant recruitment networks.

Plant-plant interactions are major determinants of the dynamics of terrestrial ecosystems. There is a long tradition in the study of these interactions, their mechanisms and their consequences using experimental, observational and theoretical approaches. Empirical studies overwhelmingly focus at the level of species pairs or small sets of species.

Synthesis of the large pore aluminophosphate STA-1 and its application as a catalyst for the Beckmann rearrangement of cyclohexanone oxime.

The preparation of stable large pore aluminophosphate (AlPO) zeotypes offers materials for applications in adsorption and catalysis. Here we report the synthesis of the pure AlPO with the SAO topology type (AlPO STA-1) using ,'-diethylbicyclo[2.2.

Skeletal and Mechanistic Diversity in Ir-Catalyzed Cycloisomerizations of Allene-Tethered Pyrroles and Indoles.

Pyrroles and indoles bearing N-allenyl tethers participate in a variety of iridium-catalyzed cycloisomerization processes initiated by a C-H activation step, to deliver a diversity of synthetically relevant azaheterocyclic products. By appropriate selection of the ancillary ligand and the substitution pattern of the allene, the reactions can diverge from simple intramolecular hydrocarbonations to tandem processes involving intriguing mechanistic issues. Accordingly, a wide range of heterocyclic structures ranging from dihydro-indolizines and pyridoindoles to tetrahydroindolizines, as well as cyclopropane-fused tetrahydroindolizines can be obtained.

Hotspots of biogeochemical activity linked to aridity and plant traits across global drylands.

Perennial plants create productive and biodiverse hotspots, known as fertile islands, beneath their canopies. These hotspots largely determine the structure and functioning of drylands worldwide. Despite their ubiquity, the factors controlling fertile islands under conditions of contrasting grazing by livestock, the most prevalent land use in drylands, remain virtually unknown.

TIGIT can inhibit T cell activation via ligation-induced nanoclusters, independent of CD226 co-stimulation.

TIGIT is an inhibitory receptor expressed on lymphocytes and can inhibit T cells by preventing CD226 co-stimulation through interactions in cis or through competition of shared ligands. Whether TIGIT directly delivers cell-intrinsic inhibitory signals in T cells remains unclear. Here we show, by analysing lymphocytes from matched human tumour and peripheral blood samples, that TIGIT and CD226 co-expression is rare on tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes.

Salmonella antibacterial Rhs polymorphic toxin inhibits translation through ADP-ribosylation of EF-Tu P-loop.

Rearrangement hot spot (Rhs) proteins are members of the broad family of polymorphic toxins. Polymorphic toxins are modular proteins composed of an N-terminal region that specifies their mode of secretion into the medium or into the target cell, a central delivery module, and a C-terminal domain that has toxic activity. Here, we structurally and functionally characterize the C-terminal toxic domain of the antibacterial Rhsmain protein, TreTu, which is delivered by the type VI secretion system of Salmonella enterica Typhimurium.

RecruitNet: A global database of plant recruitment networks.

Plant recruitment interactions (i.e., what recruits under what) shape the composition, diversity, and structure of plant communities.

Grazing and ecosystem service delivery in global drylands.

Grazing represents the most extensive use of land worldwide. Yet its impacts on ecosystem services remain uncertain because pervasive interactions between grazing pressure, climate, soil properties, and biodiversity may occur but have never been addressed simultaneously. Using a standardized survey at 98 sites across six continents, we show that interactions between grazing pressure, climate, soil, and biodiversity are critical to explain the delivery of fundamental ecosystem services across drylands worldwide.

The Viral Class II Membrane Fusion Machinery: Divergent Evolution from an Ancestral Heterodimer.

A key step during the entry of enveloped viruses into cells is the merger of viral and cell lipid bilayers. This process is driven by a dedicated membrane fusion protein (MFP) present at the virion surface, which undergoes a membrane-fusogenic conformational change triggered by interactions with the target cell. Viral MFPs have been extensively studied structurally, and are divided into three classes depending on their three-dimensional fold.

Importance of Windows of Exposure to Maternal High-Fat Diet and Feto-Placental Effects: Discrimination Between Pre-conception and Gestational Periods in a Rabbit Model.

Lipid overnutrition in female rabbits, from prepuberty, leads to impaired metabolism (dyslipidemia and increased adiposity) and follicular atresia, and, when continued during gestation, affects offspring phenotype with intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) and leads to placental and lipid metabolism abnormalities. Growth retardation is already observed in embryo stage, indicating a possible implication of periconceptional exposure. The objective of this study was to discriminate the effects of preconception and gestational exposures on feto-placental development.

Mounting, structure and autocleavage of a type VI secretion-associated Rhs polymorphic toxin.

Bacteria have evolved toxins to outcompete other bacteria or to hijack host cell pathways. One broad family of bacterial polymorphic toxins gathers multidomain proteins with a modular organization, comprising a C-terminal toxin domain fused to a N-terminal domain that adapts to the delivery apparatus. Polymorphic toxins include bacteriocins, contact-dependent growth inhibition systems, and specialized Hcp, VgrG, PAAR or Rhs Type VI secretion (T6SS) components.

Hemiplegic Migraine Associated With Variations: A Clinical and Genetic Study.

Background And Objective: variants have been reported in a few cases of patients with hemiplegic migraine. To clarify the role of in familial hemiplegic migraine, we studied this gene in a large cohort of affected probands.

Methods: was analyzed in 860 probands with hemiplegic migraine, and variations were identified in 30 probands.

Protective neutralizing antibodies from human survivors of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever.

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) is a World Health Organization priority pathogen. CCHFV infections cause a highly lethal hemorrhagic fever for which specific treatments and vaccines are urgently needed. Here, we characterize the human immune response to natural CCHFV infection to identify potent neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (nAbs) targeting the viral glycoprotein.

Using model selection to choose a size-based condition index that is consistent with operational welfare indicators.

Quantitative and qualitative measures of fish health and welfare are essential for management of both wild capture and aquaculture species. These measures include morphometric body condition indices, energetic condition and aquaculture operational welfare indicators (OWIs). Measures vary in ease of measurement (and may require destructive sampling), and it is critical to know how well they correlate with fish health and welfare so appropriate management decisions can be based on them.

Shifts in soil and plant functional diversity along an altitudinal gradient in the French Alps.

Objectives: Altitude integrates changes in environmental conditions that determine shifts in vegetation, including temperature, precipitation, solar radiation and edaphogenetic processes. In turn, vegetation alters soil biophysical properties through litter input, root growth, microbial and macrofaunal interactions. The belowground traits of plant communities modify soil processes in different ways, but it is not known how root traits influence soil biota at the community level.

A population pharmacokinetic model taking into account protein binding for the sustained-release granule formulation of valproic acid in children with epilepsy.

Purpose: The objective of this work was to develop a population pharmacokinetic model for a prolonged-release granule formulation of valproic acid (VPA) in children with epilepsy and to determine the doses providing a VPA trough concentration (C) within the target range (50-100 mg/L).

Methods: Ninety-eight children (1-17.6 years, 325 plasma samples) were included in the study.

Stable Positioning of Unc13 Restricts Synaptic Vesicle Fusion to Defined Release Sites to Promote Synchronous Neurotransmission.

Neural information processing depends on precisely timed, Ca-activated synaptic vesicle exocytosis from release sites within active zones (AZs), but molecular details are unknown. Here, we identify that the (M)Unc13-family member Unc13A generates release sites and show the physiological relevance of their restrictive AZ targeting. Super-resolution and intravital imaging of Drosophila neuromuscular junctions revealed that (unlike the other release factors Unc18 and Syntaxin-1A) Unc13A was stably and precisely positioned at AZs.

Spectral analysis-based risk score enables early prediction of mortality and cerebral performance in patients undergoing therapeutic hypothermia for ventricular fibrillation and comatose status.

Background: Early prognosis in comatose survivors after cardiac arrest due to ventricular fibrillation (VF) is unreliable, especially in patients undergoing mild hypothermia. We aimed at developing a reliable risk-score to enable early prediction of cerebral performance and survival.

Methods: Sixty-one out of 239 consecutive patients undergoing mild hypothermia after cardiac arrest, with eventual return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC), and comatose status on admission fulfilled the inclusion criteria.

A new microporous zeolitic silicoborate (ITQ-52) with interconnected small and medium pores.

A new zeolite (named as ITQ-52) having large cavities and small and medium channels has been synthesized. This was achieved by using a new family of amino-phosphonium cations as organic structure directing agents (OSDA). These cations contain P-C and P-N bonds, and therefore they lie between previously reported P-containing OSDA, such as tetraalkylphosphonium and phosphazenes.

acr-23 Encodes a monepantel-sensitive channel in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Monepantel is a member of the recently identified class of anthelmintics known as the amino-acetonitrile derivatives (AADs). Monepantel controls all major gastro-intestinal nematodes in sheep including those that are resistant to the classical anthelmintics. Previous studies have shown that the Caenorhabditis elegans acr-23 and the Haemonchus contortus Hco-mptl-1 genes may be prominent targets of monepantel.

Isolation and structural elucidation of armeniaspirols A-C: potent antibiotics against gram-positive pathogens.

In an antibiotic lead discovery program, the known strain Streptomyces armeniacus DSM19369 has been found to produce three new natural products when cultivated on a malt-containing medium. The challenging structural elucidation of the isolated compounds was achieved by using three independent methods, that is, chemical degradation followed by NMR spectroscopy, a computer-assisted structure prediction algorithm, and X-ray crystallography. The compounds, named armeniaspirol A-C (2-4), exhibit a compact, hitherto unprecedented chlorinated spiro[4.