Acholeplasma species have been reported to lack a functional phosphoenolpyruvate:sugar phosphotransferase system (PTS). We show here that Acholeplasma laidlawii possesses activities of enzyme I, HPr, HPr(ser) kinase, and HPr(ser-P) phosphatase but lacks detectable activities of enzymes II of the PTS. HPr from this organism was purified, and the regulatory properties of the kinase and phosphatas...

Polyalanine (polyAla) tract expansions have been associated with an increasing number of human diseases. Here, we have undertaken a functional study of the effects of polyAla expansions in the context of the transcription factor FOXL2, involved in cranio-facial and ovarian development. Using two cellular models, we show that FOXL2 polyAla expansions lead to protein mislocalization and aggregati...

Conventional wisdom holds that the ovary and testis are terminally differentiated organs in adult mammals. However, Uhlenhaut et al. (2009) now report that deletion of a single gene, Foxl2, is sufficient to induce transdifferentiation of ovary into testis in adult mice, suggesting that testicular development is actively repressed throughout the life of females.

l2 learners’ individual differences are crucial factors that deserve attention in l2 education. focusing on 2 main areas of individual differences (i.e., field (in)dependence and multiple intelligences), this study explored their relationships with l2 reading performance. participants were 64 tefl undergraduates and postgraduates. to assess the participats’ degree of field (in)dependence and mu...

l2 research has shown that instruction in l2 pragmatics is necessary. the current study evaluated the impact of explicit instruction on efl learner's awareness and production of three speech acts of request, apology, and complaint. it also probed whether learners’ language proficiency plays any role in incorporating pragmatic instruction into the l2 classroom. iranian undergraduate student...

Under normal circumstances, acquiring a first language, compared to acquiring a second or third language, seems to come naturally and successfully. This natural process of first language acquisition (henceforth L1A) appears to be illogical. This is because what first language learners (henceforth L1ers) attain (i.e. a grammar of adult native speakers of a given language) goes beyond the positiv...

Fluency in a second language (L2) involves a quintessentially cognitive processing system that operates quickly and effectively. The perceived importance of researching fluency through a psycholinguistic lens has motivated the related L2 research to resort to current cognitive speaking-specific models. This study, drawing on Levelt’s (1999a) psycholinguistic model, probed the deficiency sources...

This article had two aims: to provide a thorough review of the existing literature examining overall degree of foreign accent in a second language (L2), and to present a new foreign accent experiment. The literature review suggested that a wide variety of variables in#uence degree of foreign accent. These variables include age of L2 learning, length of residence in an L2-speaking country, gende...