The complex polar lipids of the hot spring cyanobacterial mat in the 50 to 55 degrees C region of Octopus Spring, Yellowstone National Park, and of thermophilic bacteria cultivated from this or similar habitats, were compared in an attempt to understand the microbial sources of the major lipid biomarkers in this community. Intact complex lipids were analyzed directly by fast atom bombardment ma...

Microbial mats are a visible and abundant life form inhabiting the extreme environments in Yellowstone National Park (YNP), WY, USA. Little is known of their role in food webs that exist in the Park's geothermal habitats. Eukaryotic green algae associated with a phototrophic green/purple Zygogonium microbial mat community that inhabits low-temperature regions of acidic (pH approximately 3.0) th...

Gibberella zeae, a self-fertile, haploid filamentous ascomycete, causes serious epidemics of wheat (Triticum aestivum) head blight worldwide and contaminates grain with trichothecene mycotoxins. Anecdotal evidence dating back to the late 19th century indicates that G. zeae ascospores (sexual spores) are a more important inoculum source than are macroconidia (asexual spores), although the fungus...

Mating type in haploid cells of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is determined by a pair of alleles MATa and MAT alpha. Under various conditions haploid mating types can be interconverted. It has been proposed that transpositions of silent cassettes of mating-type information from HML OR HMR to MAT are the source of mating type conversions. A mutation described in this work, designated AON1, ...

The mating-type bias (mat-bias) of gene conversion was previously described as a phenomenon in which the number of prototrophic recombinants in an ura4A heteroallelic two-factor cross relates to the mating types of the parents. We show now that the mat-bias is restricted neither to ura4A nor to recombination hotspots, but occurs at other genomic loci, too. It is specific for gene conversion and...

BACKGROUND Stromatolites are laminated carbonate build-ups formed by the metabolic activity of microbial mats and represent one of the oldest known ecosystems on Earth. In this study, we examined a living stromatolite located within the Exuma Sound, The Bahamas and profiled the metagenome and metabolic potential underlying these complex microbial communities. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Th...

BACKGROUND Production of inflammatory cytokines by mesenteric adipose tissue (MAT) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Animal models of colitis have demonstrated inflammatory changes within MAT, but it is unclear if these changes occur in isolation or as part of a systemic adipose tissue response. It is also unknown what cell types are responsible for cy...

BACKGROUND The oxidation of the methionine adenosyltransferase (MAT) by the combined impact of peroxides contaminating parenteral nutrition (PN) and oxidized redox potential of glutathione is suspected to explain its inhibition observed in animals. A modification of MAT activity is suspected to be at origin of the PN-associated liver disease as observed in newborns. We hypothesized that the cor...

Two recent studies [McMahon et al., 1995: Am J Hum Genet 56:1277-1286; Gershon et al., 1996: Am J Med Genet (Neuropsychiatr Genet) 67:202-207] reported an excess of maternal transmission in bipolar affective disorder in multiply affected families. In a sample of 130 families ascertained through a bipolar proband without regard to psychiatric family history we analysed the frequency of maternal ...

Authors: S. Wessel and M. Troyer http://ArXiv.org/cond-mat/0505298 Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 127205 (2005); Authors: D. Heidarian and K. Damle http://ArXiv.org/cond-mat/0505257 Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 127206 (2005); Authors: R. G. Melko, A. Paramekanti, A. A. Burkov, A. Vishwanath, D. N. Sheng, and L. Balents http://ArXiv.org/cond-mat/0505258 Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 127207 (2005). Authors: R. G. Melko, A....