The fission yeast bromodomain protein Bdf2 is required for the growth of cells with circular chromosomes.

Circular chromosomes have frequently been observed in tumors of mesenchymal origin. In the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, deletion of pot1+ results in rapid telomere loss, and the resulting survivors have circular chromosomes. Fission yeast has 2 bromodomain and extra-terminal (BET) proteins, Bdf1 and Bdf2; both are required for maintaining acetylated histones.

UV protection and singlet oxygen quenching activity of aloesaponarin I.

The UV protection and singlet oxygen quenching of aloesaponarin I have been studied by means of laser spectroscopy. The excited-state intramolecular proton transfer that provides the UV protection takes place along only one of the molecule's two intramolecular hydrogen bonds, and this can be understood by considering the nodal pattern of the wave function. The functional groups participating in the excited-state intramolecular proton transfer also play important roles in the singlet oxygen quenching.