Plant glucosinolate biosynthesis and breakdown pathways shape the rhizosphere bacterial/archaeal community.

Rhizosphere microbial community assembly results from microbe-microbe-plant interactions mediated by small molecules of plant and microbial origin. Studies with Arabidopsis thaliana have indicated a critical role of glucosinolates in shaping the root and/or rhizosphere microbial community, likely through breakdown products produced by plant or microbial myrosinases inside or outside of the root. Plant nitrile-specifier proteins (NSPs) promote the formation of nitriles at the expense of isothiocyanates upon glucosinolate hydrolysis with unknown consequences for microbial colonisation of roots and rhizosphere.

Turning the 'mustard oil bomb' into a 'cyanide bomb': aromatic glucosinolate metabolism in a specialist insect herbivore.

Plants have evolved a variety of mechanisms for dealing with insect herbivory among which chemical defense through secondary metabolites plays a prominent role. Physiological, behavioural and sensorical adaptations to these chemicals provide herbivores with selective advantages allowing them to diversify within the newly occupied ecological niche. In turn, this may influence the evolution of plant metabolism giving rise to e.

Lead poisoning of bald (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) and golden (Aquila chrysaetos) eagles in the U.S. inland Pacific northwest region--an 18-year retrospective study: 1991-2008.

To determine risk factors and seasonal trends of lead poisoning in bald (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) and golden (Aquila chrysaetos) eagles, blood lead levels were evaluated in eagles admitted from the inland Pacific Northwest region of the United States to the Raptor Rehabilitation Program, College of Veterinary Medicine at Washington State University from 1991 to 2008. Admissions were from Washington (32 bald eagles, 27 golden eagles), northern Idaho (21 bald eagles, 25 golden eagles), northeastern Oregon (5 bald eagles, 6 golden eagles), Montana (2 bald eagles), Alaska (1 bald eagle), and unrecorded (6 bald eagles, 5 golden eagles). In these birds, 48% (22/46) of bald and 62% (31/50) of golden eagles tested had blood lead levels considered toxic by current standards.

Biochemical and structural studies of the large Ycf4-photosystem I assembly complex of the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.

Ycf4 is a thylakoid protein essential for the accumulation of photosystem I (PSI) in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Here, a tandem affinity purification tagged Ycf4 was used to purify a stable Ycf4-containing complex of >1500 kD. This complex also contained the opsin-related COP2 and the PSI subunits PsaA, PsaB, PsaC, PsaD, PsaE, and PsaF, as identified by mass spectrometry (liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry) and immunoblotting.

Successful rehabilitation of a severely injured peregrine falcon.

An 11-year-old male peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus), known to have been a successful breeder in the wild with 31 offspring in 9 breeding seasons, was presented for evaluation of wing and leg injuries and for the purpose of rehabilitation. Four 13-day-old young were present in the nest at the time of injury. Aside from superficial trauma to the left leg and wing, a dorso-cranially luxated left coxofemoraljoint and a severely fragmented (7-8 fragments) left ulna were seen radiographically.