Photochemical transformation of chlorobenzenes and white phosphorus into arylphosphines and phosphonium salts.

Chlorobenzenes are important starting materials for the preparation of commercially valuable triarylphosphines and tetraarylphosphonium salts, but their use for the direct arylation of elemental phosphorus has been elusive. Here we describe a simple photochemical route toward such products. UV-LED irradiation (365 nm) of chlorobenzenes, white phosphorus (P) and the organic superphotoreductant tetrakis(dimethylamino)ethylene (TDAE) affords the desired arylphosphorus compounds in a single reaction step.

A comprehensive phylogeography of the Hyles euphorbiae complex (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) indicates a 'glacial refuge belt'.

We test the morphology based hypothesis that the Western Palaearctic spurge hawkmoths represent two species, the Eurasian H. euphorbiae and Afro-Macaronesian H. tithymali.

Sensory-Derived Glutamate Regulates Presynaptic Inhibitory Terminals in Mouse Spinal Cord.

Circuit function in the CNS relies on the balanced interplay of excitatory and inhibitory synaptic signaling. How neuronal activity influences synaptic differentiation to maintain such balance remains unclear. In the mouse spinal cord, a population of GABAergic interneurons, GABApre, forms synapses with the terminals of proprioceptive sensory neurons and controls information transfer at sensory-motor connections through presynaptic inhibition.

Otic placode cell specification and proliferation are regulated by Notch signaling in avian development.

Background: The entire inner ear including the cochlear-vestibular ganglion arises from a simple epithelium, the otic placode. Precursors for the placode originate from a pool of progenitors located in ectoderm next to the future hindbrain, the pre-otic field, where they are intermingled with future epibranchial and epidermal cells. While the importance of secreted proteins, such as FGFs and Wnts, in imparting otic identity has been well studied, how precursors for these different fates segregate locally is less well understood.

Mitochondrial lineage sorting in action--historical biogeography of the Hyles euphorbiae complex (Sphingidae, Lepidoptera) in Italy.

Background: Mitochondrial genes are among the most commonly used markers in studies of species' phylogeography and to draw conclusions about taxonomy. The Hyles euphorbiae complex (HEC) comprises six distinct mitochondrial lineages in the Mediterranean region, of which one exhibits a cryptic disjunct distribution. The predominant mitochondrial lineage in most of Europe, euphorbiae, is also present on Malta; however, it is nowadays strangely absent from Southern Italy and Sicily, where it is replaced by 'italica'.

Pax2 coordinates epithelial morphogenesis and cell fate in the inner ear.

Crucial components of the vertebrate eye, ear and nose develop from discrete patches of surface epithelium, called placodes, which fold into spheroids and undergo complex morphogenesis. Little is known about how the changes in cell and tissue shapes are coordinated with the acquisition of cell fates. Here we explore whether these processes are regulated by common transcriptional mechanisms in the developing ear.

Context-specific requirements of functional domains of the Spectraplakin Short stop in vivo.

Spectraplakins are large multifunctional cytoskeletal interacting molecules implicated in various processes, including gastrulation, wound healing, skin blistering and neuronal degeneration. It has been speculated that the various functional domains and regions found in Spectraplakins are used in context-specific manners, a model which would provide a crucial explanation for the multifunctional nature of Spectraplakins. Here we tested this possibility by studying domain requirements of the Drosophila Spectraplakin Short stop (Shot) in three different cellular contexts in vivo: (1) neuronal growth, which requires dynamic actin-microtubule interaction; (2) formation and maintenance of tendon cells, which depends on highly stabilised arrays of actin filaments and microtubules, and (3) compartmentalisation in neurons, which is likely to involve cortical F-actin networks.

Specific and effective gene knock-down in early chick embryos using morpholinos but not pRFPRNAi vectors.

In the chick embryo, two methods are now used for studying the developmental role of genes by loss-of-function approaches: vector-based shRNA and morpholino oligonucleotides. Both have the advantage that loss-of-function can be conducted in a spatially and temporally controlled way by focal electroporation. Here, we compare these two methods.

Prominent actin fiber arrays in Drosophila tendon cells represent architectural elements different from stress fibers.

Tendon cells are specialized cells of the insect epidermis that connect basally attached muscle tips to the cuticle on their apical surface via prominent arrays of microtubules. Tendon cells of Drosophila have become a useful genetic model system to address questions with relevance to cell and developmental biology. Here, we use light, confocal, and electron microscopy to present a refined model of the subcellular organization of tendon cells.

Six3 activation of Pax6 expression is essential for mammalian lens induction and specification.

The homeobox gene Six3 regulates forebrain development. Here we show that Six3 is also crucial for lens formation. Conditional deletion of mouse Six3 in the presumptive lens ectoderm (PLE) disrupted lens formation.