Enrichment of putative plant growth promoting microorganisms in biodynamic compared with organic agriculture soils.

The potential of soils to maintain biological productivity, defined as soil health, is strongly influenced by human activity, such as agriculture. Therefore, soil management has always been a concern for sustainable agriculture and new methods that account for both soil health and crop yield must be found. Biofertilization using microbial inoculants emerges as a promising alternative to conventional interventions such as excessive mineral fertilization and herbicide use.

Structural and functional interactions between the EF hand domain and S2-S3 loop in the type-1 ryanodine receptor ion channel.

Previous cryo-electron micrographs suggested that the skeletal muscle Ca release channel, ryanodine receptor (RyR)1, is regulated by intricate interactions between the EF hand Ca binding domain and the cytosolic loop (S2-S3 loop). However, the precise molecular details of these interactions and functional consequences of the interactions remain elusive. Here, we used molecular dynamics simulations to explore the specific amino acid pairs involved in hydrogen bond interactions within the EF hand-S2-S3 loop interface.

Single-cell type analysis of wing premotor circuits in the ventral nerve cord of .

To perform most behaviors, animals must send commands from higher-order processing centers in the brain to premotor circuits that reside in ganglia distinct from the brain, such as the mammalian spinal cord or insect ventral nerve cord. How these circuits are functionally organized to generate the great diversity of animal behavior remains unclear. An important first step in unraveling the organization of premotor circuits is to identify their constituent cell types and create tools to monitor and manipulate these with high specificity to assess their function.

A searchable image resource of GAL4 driver expression patterns with single neuron resolution.

Precise, repeatable genetic access to specific neurons via GAL4/UAS and related methods is a key advantage of neuroscience. Neuronal targeting is typically documented using light microscopy of full GAL4 expression patterns, which generally lack the single-cell resolution required for reliable cell type identification. Here, we use stochastic GAL4 labeling with the MultiColor FlpOut approach to generate cellular resolution confocal images at large scale.

Lexical access speed and the development of phonological recoding during immediate serial recall.

A recent Registered Replication Report (RRR) of the development of verbal rehearsal during serial recall (Elliott et al., 2021) revealed that children verbalized at younger ages than previously thought (Flavell et al., 1966), but did not identify sources of individual differences.

Multiomics Profiling of Toxins in the Venom of the Amazonian Spider .

is an Amazonian spider described for the first time almost a century ago. However, little is known about their venom composition. Here, we present a multiomics characterization of venom by a combination of transcriptomics, proteomics, and peptidomics approaches.

Subjective memory impairment in glioma patients with curative radiotherapy.

Background: Radiotherapy in patients with primary brain tumors may affect hippocampal structure and cause dyscognitive side-effects.

Patients And Methods: Using structural MRI and comprehensive neurocognitive evaluation, we investigated associations between hippocampal structure and memory deficits in 15 patients with WHO grade 3 and grade 4 gliomas receiving standard radio(chemo)therapy.

Results: We did not find changes in hippocampal thickness or cognitive abilities three months after completing radiotherapy.

Mapping co-regulatory interactions among ligand-binding sites in ryanodine receptor 1.

Ryanodine receptor 1 (RyR1) is an intracellular calcium ion (Ca ) release channel required for skeletal muscle contraction. Although cryo-electron microscopy identified binding sites of three coactivators Ca , ATP, and caffeine (CFF), the mechanism of co-regulation and synergy of these activators is unknown. Here, we report allosteric connections among the three ligand-binding sites and pore region in (i) Ca bound-closed, (ii) ATP/CFF bound-closed, (iii) Ca /ATP/CFF bound-closed, and (iv) Ca /ATP/CFF bound-open RyR1 states.

Structural and functional interactions between the Ca-, ATP-, and caffeine-binding sites of skeletal muscle ryanodine receptor (RyR1).

Ryanodine receptor type 1 (RyR1) releases Ca ions from the sarcoplasmic reticulum of skeletal muscle cells to initiate muscle contraction. Multiple endogenous and exogenous effectors regulate RyR1, such as ATP, Ca, caffeine (Caf), and ryanodine. Cryo-EM identified binding sites for the three coactivators Ca, ATP, and Caf.

An unbiased template of the Drosophila brain and ventral nerve cord.

The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster is an important model organism for neuroscience with a wide array of genetic tools that enable the mapping of individual neurons and neural subtypes. Brain templates are essential for comparative biological studies because they enable analyzing many individuals in a common reference space. Several central brain templates exist for Drosophila, but every one is either biased, uses sub-optimal tissue preparation, is imaged at low resolution, or does not account for artifacts.

Vacuolar sucrose homeostasis is critical for plant development, seed properties, and night-time survival in Arabidopsis.

Most cellular sucrose is present in the cytosol and vacuoles of plant cells; however, little is known about the effect of this sucrose compartmentation on plant properties. Here, we examined the effects of altered intracellular sucrose compartmentation in Arabidopsis thaliana leaves by heterologously expressing the sugar beet (Beta vulgaris) vacuolar sucrose loader BvTST2.1 and by generating lines with reduced vacuolar invertase activity (amiR vi1-2).

C-F activation reactions at germylium ions: dehydrofluorination of fluoralkanes.

Reactions of the trityl cations with germanes afford the germylium ions [RGe][B(CF)] (1a: R = Et, 1b: R = Ph, 1c: R = nBu). These compounds react with germane or fluorogermane to give polynuclear species, which are sources of the mononuclear ions, The latter convert with phosphines to yield the [RGe-PR] (4a: R = Et, 4b: R = Ph) cations. Catalytic dehydrofluorination reactions were observed for the C-F bond activation of fluoroalkanes when using germanes as hydrogen source.

Single-channel properties of skeletal muscle ryanodine receptor pore ΔFF in two brothers with a lethal form of fetal akinesia.

Ryanodine receptor ion channels (RyR1s) release Ca ions from the sarcoplasmic reticulum to regulate skeletal muscle contraction. By whole-exome sequencing, we identified the heterozygous RYR1 variant c.14767_14772del resulting in the in-frame deletion p.

A central core disease mutation in the Ca-binding site of skeletal muscle ryanodine receptor impairs single-channel regulation.

Cryoelectron microscopy and mutational analyses have shown that type 1 ryanodine receptor (RyR1) amino acid residues RyR1-E3893, -E3967, and -T5001 are critical for Ca-mediated activation of skeletal muscle Ca release channel. De novo missense mutation RyR1-Q3970K in the secondary binding sphere of Ca was reported in association with central core disease (CCD) in a 2-yr-old boy. Here, we characterized recombinant RyR1-Q3970K mutant by cellular Ca release measurements, single-channel recordings, and computational methods.

Neurogenetic dissection of the lateral horn reveals major outputs, diverse behavioural functions, and interactions with the mushroom body.

Animals exhibit innate behaviours to a variety of sensory stimuli including olfactory cues. In , one higher olfactory centre, the lateral horn (LH), is implicated in innate behaviour. However, our structural and functional understanding of the LH is scant, in large part due to a lack of sparse neurogenetic tools for this region.

Mapping Neurotransmitter Identity in the Whole-Mount Brain Using Multiplex High-Throughput Fluorescence Hybridization.

Identifying the neurotransmitters used by specific neurons is a critical step in understanding the function of neural circuits. However, methods for the consistent and efficient detection of neurotransmitter markers remain limited. Fluorescence hybridization (FISH) enables direct labeling of type-specific mRNA in neurons.

Ca-mediated activation of the skeletal-muscle ryanodine receptor ion channel.

Cryo-electron micrograph studies recently have identified a Ca-binding site in the 2,200-kDa ryanodine receptor ion channel (RyR1) in skeletal muscle. To clarify the role of this site in regulating RyR1 activity, here we applied mutational, electrophysiological, and computational methods. Three amino acid residues that interact directly with Ca were replaced, and these RyR1 variants were expressed in HEK293 cells.

Optimization of fluorophores for chemical tagging and immunohistochemistry of Drosophila neurons.

The use of genetically encoded 'self-labeling tags' with chemical fluorophore ligands enables rapid labeling of specific cells in neural tissue. To improve the chemical tagging of neurons, we synthesized and evaluated new fluorophore ligands based on Cy, Janelia Fluor, Alexa Fluor, and ATTO dyes and tested these with recently improved Drosophila melanogaster transgenes. We found that tissue clearing and mounting in DPX substantially improves signal quality when combined with specific non-cyanine fluorophores.

Extrinsic and Intrinsic Help-Seeking Motivation in the Assessment of Cognitive Decline.

Diagnostic assessments for dementia include the evaluation of subjective memory impairment, dementia worries, or depressive symptoms. Data on the predictive value of these factors remain unclear, and varying help-seeking behavior may contribute to this finding. We investigate whether differentiating help-seeking motivation from other psychological factors associated with cognitive impairment would enhance the prediction of diagnostic outcomes in a memory clinic.

G4941K substitution in the pore-lining S6 helix of the skeletal muscle ryanodine receptor increases RyR1 sensitivity to cytosolic and luminal Ca.

The ryanodine receptor ion channel RyR1 is present in skeletal muscle and has a large cytoplasmic N-terminal domain and smaller C-terminal pore-forming domain comprising six transmembrane helices, a pore helix, and a selectivity filter. The RyR1 S6 pore-lining helix has two conserved glycines, Gly-4934 and Gly-4941, that facilitate RyR1 channel gating by providing S6 flexibility and minimizing amino acid clashes. Here, we report that substitution of Gly-4941 with Asp or Lys results in functional channels as indicated by caffeine-induced Ca release response in HEK293 cells, whereas a low response of the corresponding Gly-4934 variants suggested loss of function.

The structural basis of ryanodine receptor ion channel function.

Large-conductance Ca release channels known as ryanodine receptors (RyRs) mediate the release of Ca from an intracellular membrane compartment, the endo/sarcoplasmic reticulum. There are three mammalian RyR isoforms: RyR1 is present in skeletal muscle; RyR2 is in heart muscle; and RyR3 is expressed at low levels in many tissues including brain, smooth muscle, and slow-twitch skeletal muscle. RyRs form large protein complexes comprising four 560-kD RyR subunits, four ∼12-kD FK506-binding proteins, and various accessory proteins including calmodulin, protein kinases, and protein phosphatases.

Consecutive Transformations of Tetrafluoropropenes: Hydrogermylation and Catalytic C-F Activation Steps at a Lewis Acidic Aluminum Fluoride.

Functionalization reactions of the refrigerants HFO-1234yf (2,3,3,3-tetrafluoropropene) and HFO-1234ze (1,3,3,3-tetrafluoropropene) were developed. The selectivity and reactivity towards CF groups of C-F activation reactions can be controlled by employing either a germane or a silane as the hydrogen source. Unique transformations were designed to accomplish consecutive hydrogermylation and C-F activation steps.

Two EF-hand motifs in ryanodine receptor calcium release channels contribute to isoform-specific regulation by calmodulin.

The mammalian ryanodine receptor Ca release channel (RyR) has a single conserved high affinity calmodulin (CaM) binding domain. However, the skeletal muscle RyR1 is activated and cardiac muscle RyR2 is inhibited by CaM at submicromolar Ca. This suggests isoform-specific domains are involved in RyR regulation by CaM.

Ion-pulling simulations provide insights into the mechanisms of channel opening of the skeletal muscle ryanodine receptor.

The type 1 ryanodine receptor (RyR1) mediates Ca release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum to initiate skeletal muscle contraction and is associated with muscle diseases, malignant hyperthermia, and central core disease. To better understand RyR1 channel function, we investigated the molecular mechanisms of channel gating and ion permeation. An adequate model of channel gating requires accurate, high-resolution models of both open and closed states of the channel.