502 results match your criteria: "Institute of Biology II[Affiliation]"

Root stem cell niche functioning requires the formation and maintenance of the specific "auxin-rich domain" governed by directional auxin transport and local auxin production. Auxin maximum co-localizes with the WOX5 expression domain in the quiescent center that separates mitotically active proximal and distal root meristems. Here we unravel the interconnected processes happening under WOX5 overexpression by combining experiments and mathematical modeling.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The transport of auxin controls the rate, direction and localization of plant growth and development. The course of auxin transport is defined by the polar subcellular localization of the PIN proteins, a family of auxin efflux transporters. However, little is known about the composition and regulation of the PIN protein complex.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

An Oscillating MinD Protein Determines the Cellular Positioning of the Motility Machinery in Archaea.

Curr Biol

December 2020

Molecular Biology of Archaea, Institute of Biology II, Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, Schänzlestrasse 1, 79104 Freiburg, Germany. Electronic address:

MinD proteins are well studied in rod-shaped bacteria such as E. coli, where they display self-organized pole-to-pole oscillations that are important for correct positioning of the Z-ring at mid-cell for cell division. Archaea also encode proteins belonging to the MinD family, but their functions are unknown.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Abnormal changes of neuronal Tau protein, such as phosphorylation and aggregation, are considered hallmarks of cognitive deficits in Alzheimer's disease. Abnormal phosphorylation is thought to precede aggregation and therefore to promote aggregation, but the nature and extent of phosphorylation remain ill-defined. Tau contains ∼85 potential phosphorylation sites, which can be phosphorylated by various kinases because the unfolded structure of Tau makes them accessible.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Phytochrome B and PCH1 protein dynamics store night temperature information.

Plant J

January 2021

Fundación Instituto Leloir, Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires-CONICET, Av. Patricias Argentinas 435, Buenos Aires, C1405BWE, Argentina.

Plants experience temperature fluctuations during the course of the daily cycle, and although stem growth responds rapidly to these changes we largely ignore whether there is a short-term memory of previous conditions. Here we show that nighttime temperatures affect the growth of the hypocotyl of Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings not only during the night but also during the subsequent photoperiod. Active phytochrome B (phyB) represses nighttime growth and warm temperatures reduce active phyB via thermal reversion.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Pex14p Phosphorylation Modulates Import of Citrate Synthase 2 Into Peroxisomes in .

Front Cell Dev Biol

September 2020

Faculty of Biology, Biochemistry and Functional Proteomics, Institute of Biology II, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.

The peroxisomal biogenesis factor Pex14p is an essential component of the peroxisomal matrix protein import machinery. Together with Pex13p and Pex17p, it is part of the membrane-associated peroxisomal docking complex in yeast, facilitating the binding of cargo-loaded receptor proteins for translocation of cargo proteins into the peroxisome. Furthermore, Pex14p is part of peroxisomal import pores.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Salt Stress Response of Sulfolobus acidocaldarius Involves Complex Trehalose Metabolism Utilizing a Novel Trehalose-6-Phosphate Synthase (TPS)/Trehalose-6-Phosphate Phosphatase (TPP) Pathway.

Appl Environ Microbiol

November 2020

Molecular Enzyme Technology and Biochemistry, Environmental Microbiology and Biotechnology, Centre for Water and Environmental Research, Department of Chemistry, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany

The crenarchaeon has been described to synthesize trehalose via the maltooligosyltrehalose synthase (TreY) and maltooligosyltrehalose trehalohydrolase (TreZ) pathway, and the trehalose glycosyltransferring synthase (TreT) pathway has been predicted. Deletion mutant analysis of strains with single and double deletions of Δ and Δ in revealed that in addition to these two pathways, a third, novel trehalose biosynthesis pathway is operative : the trehalose-6-phosphate (T6P) synthase/T6P phosphatase (TPS/TPP) pathway. In contrast to known TPS proteins, which belong to the GT20 family, the TPS belongs to the GT4 family, establishing a new function within this group of enzymes.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

In the crenarchaeon , the archaellum, a type-IV pilus like motility structure, is synthesized in response to nutrient starvation. Synthesis of components of the archaellum is controlled by the archaellum regulatory network (arn). Protein phosphorylation plays an important role in this regulatory network since the deletion of several genes encoding protein kinases and the phosphatase PP2A affected cell motility.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

During early postnatal development, mitral cells show either irregular bursting or non-bursting firing patterns Bursting mitral cells preferentially fire during theta bursts in the neonatal olfactory bulb, being locked to the theta phase Bursting mitral cells preferentially fire during theta bursts in the neonatal lateral entorhinal cortex and are temporally related to both respiration rhythm- and theta phase Bursting mitral cells act as a cellular substrate of the olfactory drive that promotes the oscillatory entrainment of entorhinal networks ABSTRACT: Shortly after birth, the olfactory system provides not only the main source of environmental inputs to blind, deaf, non-whisking and motorically-limited rodents, but also the drive boosting the functional entrainment of limbic circuits. However, the cellular substrate of this early communication remains largely unknown. Here, we combine in vivo and in vitro patch-clamp and extracellular recordings to reveal the contribution of mitral cell (MC) firing to early patterns of network activity in both the neonatal olfactory bulb (OB) and the lateral entorhinal cortex (LEC), the gatekeeper of limbic circuits.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Phytochromes are red/far-red light receptors in plants involved in the regulation of growth and development. Phytochromes can sense the light environment and contribute to measuring day length; thereby, they allow plants to respond and adapt to changes in the ambient environment. Two well-characterized signalling pathways act downstream of phytochromes and link light perception to the regulation of gene expression.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Increased life expectancy in modern society comes at the cost of age-associated disabilities and diseases. Aged brains not only show reduced excitability and plasticity, but also a decline in inhibition. Age-associated defects in inhibitory circuits likely contribute to cognitive decline and age-related disorders.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Optogenetic Control of Nucleocytoplasmic Protein Transport.

Methods Mol Biol

March 2021

Signalling Research Centres BIOSS and CIBSS, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.

The transport of proteins between the nucleus and the cytosol is a vital process regulating cellular activity. The ability to spatiotemporally control the nucleocytoplasmic transport of a protein of interest allows for elucidating its function taking into account the dynamic and heterogeneous nature of biological processes contrary to conventional knockin, knockout, and chemically induced overexpression strategies. We recently developed two optogenetic tools, called LINuS and LEXY, for reversibly controlling with blue light the nuclear import and export of proteins of interest, respectively.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Ear asymmetry is an adaptive characteristic present in the order of owls (Strigiformes). It developed independently up to seven times in this taxon and is accompanied by morphological adaptations in bones or soft tissues around or at the ear openings. Within all strigiform species, the Boreal or Tengmalm's owl (Aegolius funereus) possesses a particularly complex bilateral ear asymmetry that results from modifications of the neurocranium and some cartilaginous elements.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Interest in host-symbiont interactions is continuously increasing, not only due to the growing recognition of the importance of microbiomes. Starting with the detection and description of novel symbionts, attention moves to the molecular consequences and innovations of symbioses. However, molecular analysis requires genomic data which is difficult to obtain from obligate intracellular and uncultivated bacteria.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

From Single Cell to Plants: Mesophyll Protoplasts as a Versatile System for Investigating Plant Cell Reprogramming.

Int J Mol Sci

June 2020

Plant Cytogenetics and Molecular Biology Group, Institute of Biology, Biotechnology and Environmental Protection, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Silesia in Katowice, 40-032 Katowice, Poland.

Plants are sessile organisms that have a remarkable developmental plasticity, which ensures their optimal adaptation to environmental stresses. Plant cell totipotency is an extreme example of such plasticity, whereby somatic cells have the potential to form plants via direct shoot organogenesis or somatic embryogenesis in response to various exogenous and/or endogenous signals. Protoplasts provide one of the most suitable systems for investigating molecular mechanisms of totipotency, because they are effectively single cell populations.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The thermophilic archaeon can use different carbon sources for growth, including the pentoses D-xylose and L-arabinose. In this study, we identified the activator XylR () responsible for the transcriptional regulation of the pentose transporter and pentose metabolizing genes in . A deletion mutant showed growth retardation on D-xylose/L-arabinose containing media and the lack of transcription of the respective ABC transporter.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Computation of FRAP recovery times for linker histone - chromatin binding on the basis of Brownian dynamics simulations.

Biochim Biophys Acta Gen Subj

October 2020

Molecular and Cellular Modeling Group, Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (HITS), 69118 Heidelberg, Germany; Center for Molecular Biology (ZMBH), DKFZ-ZMBH Alliance, Heidelberg University, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany; Interdisciplinary Center for Scientific Computing (IWR), 69120 Heidelberg, Germany. Electronic address:

Background Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) studies can provide kinetic information about proteins in cells. Single point mutations can significantly affect the binding kinetics of proteins and result in variations in the recovery half time (t) measured in FRAP experiments. FRAP measurements of linker histone (LH) proteins in the cell nucleus have previously been reported by Brown et al.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Live-cell imaging has revolutionized our understanding of dynamic cellular processes in bacteria and eukaryotes. Although similar techniques have been applied to the study of halophilic archaea [1-5], our ability to explore the cell biology of thermophilic archaea has been limited by the technical challenges of imaging at high temperatures. Sulfolobus are the most intensively studied members of TACK archaea and have well-established molecular genetics [6-9].

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is associated with high mortality and will become the second most common cause of cancer-associated mortality by 2030. The poor prognosis arises from a lack of sensitive biomarkers, limited therapeutic options, and the astonishingly high recurrence rate after surgery of 60-80%. The factors driving this recurrence, however, remain enigmatic.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The unique pH and temperature responsiveness of PNIPAM-based microgels make them a promising target for novel biomedical applications such as cellular drug delivery systems. However, we lack a comprehensive understanding of how the physicochemical properties of microgels relate to their interaction with cells. Here, we show that HEK293T cells take up PNIPAM-based microgels on a second-to-minute time scale.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

C-terminal eYFP fusion impairs MinE function.

Open Biol

May 2020

Faculty of Biology, Institute of Biology II, University of Freiburg, Schänzlestr. 1, 79104 Freiburg, Germany.

The Min system plays an important role in the proper placement of the septum ring at mid-cell during cell division. MinE forms a pole-to-pole spatial oscillator with the membrane-bound ATPase MinD, resulting in MinD concentration being the lowest at mid-cell. MinC, the direct inhibitor of the septum initiator protein FtsZ, forms a complex with MinD at the membrane, mirroring its polar gradients.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

PHYTOCHROME INTERACTING FACTORs in the moss Physcomitrella patens regulate light-controlled gene expression.

Physiol Plant

July 2020

Institute of Biology II, Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, Schänzlestrasse 1, Freiburg, 79104, Germany.

Phytochromes are red and far-red light receptors in plants that control growth and development in response to changes in the environment. Light-activated phytochromes enter the nucleus and act on a set of downstream signalling components to regulate gene expression. PHYTOCHROME INTERACTING FACTORs (PIFs) belong to the basic helix-loop-helix family of transcription factors and directly bind to light-activated phytochromes.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The PI3K/Akt pathway promotes skeletal muscle growth and myogenic differentiation. Although its importance in skeletal muscle biology is well documented, many of its substrates remain to be identified. We here studied PI3K/Akt signaling in contracting skeletal muscle cells by quantitative phosphoproteomics.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) correlates with high mortality and is about to become one of the major reasons for cancer-related mortality in the next decades. One reason for that high mortality is the limited availability of effective chemotherapy as well as the intrinsic or acquired resistance against it. Here, we report the impact of nab-paclitaxel on the cellular metabolome of PDAC cell lines.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

B lymphocytes are important players of the adaptive immune system. However, not just activation of B cells but also regulation of B cell signaling is important to prevent hyperactivity and dysregulation of the immune response. Different mechanisms and proteins contribute to this balance.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF