Separate sites of action for cry1 and phot1 blue-light receptors in the Arabidopsis hypocotyl.

Rapid cell expansion pushes the Arabidopsis hypocotyl (juvenile stem) through the soil until blue light, acting first through phototropin 1 (phot1) and then through cryptochrome 1 (cry1), suppresses elongation to produce a length characteristic of established, photosynthetically capable seedlings. To determine where these two different blue-light receptors act to suppress hypocotyl elongation, we measured relative elemental growth rate, specifically along the hypocotyl midline at 5-min intervals before and during blue light, using a machine-learning-based image analysis pipeline designed specifically for this kinematic analysis of growth. In darkness, hypocotyl material expanded most rapidly (approximately 4% h) in a broad zone approximately 1 mm below the apical terminus of the hypocotyl (cotyledonary node).

A protease and a lipoprotein jointly modulate the conserved ExoR-ExoS-ChvI signaling pathway critical in Sinorhizobium meliloti for symbiosis with legume hosts.

Sinorhizobium meliloti is a model alpha-proteobacterium for investigating microbe-host interactions, in particular nitrogen-fixing rhizobium-legume symbioses. Successful infection requires complex coordination between compatible host and endosymbiont, including bacterial production of succinoglycan, also known as exopolysaccharide-I (EPS-I). In S.

A Digital Image-Based Phenotyping Platform for Analyzing Root Shape Attributes in Carrot.

Root shape in carrot ( subsp. ), which ranges from long and tapered to short and blunt, has been used for at least several centuries to classify carrot cultivars. The subjectivity involved in determining market class hinders the establishment of metric-based standards and is ill-suited to dissecting the genetic basis of such quantitative phenotypes.

Molecular diagnosis of meningitis and meningoencephalitis with an automated real-time multiplex polymerase chain reaction in a tertiary reference complex in Medellín, Colombia.

Meningoencephalitis is a syndrome of multiple etiologies associated with important morbidity and mortality. It may be caused by various infectious agents (viruses, bacteria, parasites and fungi). Establishing the etiology of meningoencephalitis is crucial for early and specific treatment.

Crosstalk between the tricarboxylic acid cycle and peptidoglycan synthesis in Caulobacter crescentus through the homeostatic control of α-ketoglutarate.

To achieve robust replication, bacteria must integrate cellular metabolism and cell wall growth. While these two processes have been well characterized, the nature and extent of cross-regulation between them is not well understood. Here, using classical genetics, CRISPRi, metabolomics, transcriptomics and chemical complementation approaches, we show that a loss of the master regulator Hfq in Caulobacter crescentus alters central metabolism and results in cell shape defects in a nutrient-dependent manner.

The taurine transporter substrate guanidinoethyl sulfonate mimics the action of taurine on long-term synaptic potentiation.

Taurine is especially abundant in rodent brain where it appears to be involved in osmoregulation and synaptic plasticity mechanisms. The demonstration of a physiological role for taurine has been hampered by the difficulty in modifying taurine levels in most tissues, including the brain. We used an experimental strategy to reduce taurine levels, involving treatment with guanidinoethyl sulfonate (GES), a structural analogue of taurine that, among other properties, acts as a competitive inhibitor of taurine transport.

Molecular diagnosis of extrapulmonary tuberculosis and sensitivity to rifampicin with an automated real-time method.

Introduction: Tuberculosis continues to be a global public health problem, the extrapulmonary form being estimated to occur in 10-20% of immunocompetent individuals, increasing in patients who are carriers of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV); its diagnosis is difficult with conventional methods due to the paucibacillary nature of samples. The Xpert® MTB/RIF test represents an important development in the molecular detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and has been used with a variety of non-respiratory clinical samples. 

Objective: To determine the effectiveness of Xpert® MTB/RIF in the detection of M.

Analysis of a taurine-dependent promoter in Sinorhizobium meliloti that offers tight modulation of gene expression.

Background: Genetic models have been developed in divergent branches of the class Alphaproteobacteria to help answer a wide spectrum of questions regarding bacterial physiology. For example, Sinorhizobium meliloti serves as a useful representative for investigating rhizobia-plant symbiosis and nitrogen fixation, Caulobacter crescentus for studying cell cycle regulation and organelle biogenesis, and Zymomonas mobilis for assessing the potentials of metabolic engineering and biofuel production. A tightly regulated promoter that enables titratable expression of a cloned gene in these different models is highly desirable, as it can facilitate observation of phenotypes that would otherwise be obfuscated by leaky expression.

Cooperation of taurine uptake and dopamine D1 receptor activation facilitates the induction of protein synthesis-dependent late LTP.

Co-activation of NMDA and dopamine receptors is required for the induction of the late phase of LTP (L-LTP) that is dependent on new protein synthesis. Other neuromodulatory substances may also contribute to this process. Here, we examined whether taurine is one of the neuromodulators contributing to L-LTP induction, since it is known that taurine uptake induces a long-lasting synaptic potentiation dependent on protein synthesis, and taurine uptake inhibition blocks L-LTP induced by tetanization.

Application of a low-cost web-based simulation to improve students' practical skills in medical education.

Background: Practical sessions in undergraduate medical education are often costly and have to face constraints in terms of available laboratory time and practice materials (e.g. blood samples from animals).

Glycine-induced long-term synaptic potentiation is mediated by the glycine transporter GLYT1.

The negative symptoms of schizophrenia are reverted by treatment with glycine or other agonists of the glycine-B site which facilitate NMDA receptor function. On the other hand, there are experimental observations showing that exogenous application of glycine (0.5-10mM) results in a long-lasting potentiation of glutamatergic synaptic transmission (LTP-GLY).

Role of taurine uptake on the induction of long-term synaptic potentiation.

Taurine application in the CA1 area of rat hippocampal slices induces a long-lasting potentiation of excitatory synaptic transmission that has some mechanistic similitude with the late phase of long-term potentiation (L-LTP). Previous indirect evidence such as temperature and sodium dependence indicated that taurine uptake is one of the primary steps leading to the taurine-induced synaptic potentiation. We show that taurine-induced potentiation is not related to the intracellular accumulation of taurine and is not impaired by 2-guanidinoethanesulphonic acid, a taurine transport inhibitor that is a substrate of taurine transporter.