Institut des Sciences Biologiques

A series of chitosan/chitin samples with DA's varying between 5.2 and 89% was prepared from the reacetylation under soft conditions of a unique chitosan sample allowing the preservation of the chain distribution. The study of the variation of pH for the same concentration of amine groups, at different ionic strengths, on the scale of DA's allows us to extrapolate the variation of pKa at dissociation degrees (alpha) 0 and 1. A modeling of all the curves was obtained by means of only one equation. Then, for given concentration of chitosan and ionic strength, it is possible to predict the pH of the solution whatever the DA and alpha. The role of DA through the participation of hydrophobic interactions and hydrogen bondings on the electrostatic parameters is discussed. The results allow a better understanding of some physicochemical and biological properties of chitosan and chitin.

BACKGROUND: Coral bleaching events vary in severity, however, to date, the hierarchy of susceptibility to bleaching among coral taxa has been consistent over a broad geographic range and among bleaching episodes. Here we examine the extent of spatial and temporal variation in thermal tolerance among scleractinian coral taxa and between locations during the 2010 thermally induced, large-scale bleaching event in South East Asia. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Surveys to estimate the bleaching and mortality indices of coral genera were carried out at three locations with contrasting thermal and bleaching histories. Despite the magnitude of thermal stress being similar among locations in 2010, there was a remarkable contrast in the patterns of bleaching susceptibility. Comparisons of bleaching susceptibility within coral taxa and among locations revealed no significant differences between locations with similar thermal histories, but significant differences between locations with contrasting thermal histories (Friedman = 34.97; p<0.001). Bleaching was much less severe at locations that bleached during 1998, that had greater historical temperature variability and lower rates of warming. Remarkably, Acropora and Pocillopora, taxa that are typically highly susceptible, although among the most susceptible in Pulau Weh (Sumatra, Indonesia) where respectively, 94% and 87% of colonies died, were among the least susceptible in Singapore, where only 5% and 12% of colonies died. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The pattern of susceptibility among coral genera documented here is unprecedented. A parsimonious explanation for these results is that coral populations that bleached during the last major warming event in 1998 have adapted and/or acclimatised to thermal stress. These data also lend support to the hypothesis that corals in regions subject to more variable temperature regimes are more resistant to thermal stress than those in less variable environments.

Abstract This article outlines an approach, based on ecosystem services, for assessing the trade-offs inherent in managing humans embedded in ecological systems. Evaluating these trade-offs requires an understanding of the biophysical magnitudes of the changes in ecosystem services that result from human actions, and of the impact of these changes on human welfare. We summarize the state of the art of ecosystem services–based management and the information needs for applying it. Three case studies of Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) sites—coastal, urban, and agricultural—illustrate the usefulness, information needs, quantification possibilities, and methods for this approach. One example of the application of this approach, with rigorously established service changes and valuations taken from the literature, is used to illustrate the potential for full economic valuation of several agricultural landscape management options, including managing for water quality, biodiversity, and crop productivity.

A glycoprotein present in normal human tissue is characterized that is neither organ- nor tumor-specific (nonspecific crossreacting antigen) and that crossreacts (by the Ouchterlony double-diffusion technique) with the carcinoembryonic antigen. This immunological relationship indicates common determinants on the molecules of both antigens. We demonstrate that the nonspecific crossreacting antigen is not a fragment of the carcinoembryonic antigen molecule.

Single DNA strands will sometimes fold back on themselves and form duplex regions by base pairing. This behavior is diagnostic of repeated, complementary nucleotide sequences in the strand, which are inverted with respect to one another. Examples of such inverted repetitions (ABC … C′B′A′) have been found by electron microscopy in DNA from bacterial plasmids (Sharp et al. 1973), bacteriophage Mu (Hsu and Davidson 1974), eukaryotic chromatin (Thomas et al. 1974) and two animal viruses, adenovirus (Garon et al. 1972; Wolfson and Dressier 1972) and adeno-associated virus (Koczot et al. 1973; Gerry et al. 1973).

Precipitating

Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy is a rapid, noninvasive technique with considerable potential for application in the food and related industries. We show here that this technique can be used directly on the surface of food to produce biochemically interpretable "fingerprints." Spoilage in meat is the result of decomposition and the formation of metabolites caused by the growth and enzymatic activity of microorganisms. FT-IR was exploited to measure biochemical changes within the meat substrate, enhancing and accelerating the detection of microbial spoilage. Chicken breasts were purchased from a national retailer, comminuted for 10 s, and left to spoil at room temperature for 24 h. Every hour, FT-IR measurements were taken directly from the meat surface using attenuated total reflectance, and the total viable counts were obtained by classical plating methods. Quantitative interpretation of FT-IR spectra was possible using partial least-squares regression and allowed accurate estimates of bacterial loads to be calculated directly from the meat surface in 60 s. Genetic programming was used to derive rules showing that at levels of 10(7) bacteria.g(-1) the main biochemical indicator of spoilage was the onset of proteolysis. Thus, using FT-IR we were able to acquire a metabolic snapshot and quantify, noninvasively, the microbial loads of food samples accurately and rapidly in 60 s, directly from the sample surface. We believe this approach will aid in the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point process for the assessment of the microbiological safety of food at the production, processing, manufacturing, packaging, and storage levels.

There is an intuitive appeal to viewing natural struggles among species as arms races between enemies. Consider the sit-and-wait predator in his shiny patrol car who sits behind freeway overpasses waiting to subdue speeding motorists. As drivers became more wary, law enforcement employed radar guns to identify their quarry. This development was easily combated with radar detectors, until police discovered X, K, and Ka bands. Radar detectors were gradually modified to handle each new frequency, but then some jurisdictions passed laws banning the use of radar detectors and police began using “VG-2 detector hunters” to identify motorists with illegal detectors. Stealth and cloaking options are now available that jam the police detector hunter units. Enter police Lidar detectors, which use laser technology to clock and register speed so quickly that drivers have little time to react and reduce their speed. The latest driver defenses not only detect Lidar, but jam the frequency to provide a few more seconds to slow down and avoid capture. Predator-prey interactions differ from other types of victim-exploiter systems in that selection on predators frequently may be weaker than on prey Natural enemies seem to behave in much the same way; improved abilities in one species demand compensatory improvements by its enemies if they are to continue to be successful. However, the use of the arms race analogy to describe an evolutionary phenomenon invokes specific criteria. In an evolutionary race, the players are lineages, not individuals. Steps are taken in evolutionary time (i.e., across generations). Finally, any beneficial step forward in the race by one player must cost the other and vice versa, so that evolutionary changes by one player increase selection on its opponent, causing a concomitant change. At the center of any arms race are the arms themselves. The interaction that drives any coevolutionary system occurs at a phenotypic interface that comprises the characters that determine the outcome of any confrontation between individuals. These are the traits that both cause and experience the selection of an evolutionary arms race; consequently, they are the features that become elaborated after generations of interaction. Reciprocity is the defining feature of coevolutionary interactions in general, and of arms races in particular. Not only must adaptation by one player favor change in its opponent, but the opponent's adaptation must likewise generate selection on and evolutionary response in the first player. The result is a race in which both players run neck and neck, with well-matched abilities; each step forward by one player necessitates a reciprocal step by the opponent, lest the opponent fall behind. As the metaphor suggests, arms races are interactions in which the players are antagonists that get caught in an escalation of ever-increasing abilities. Although many coevolutionary interactions can be described as arms races, not all of them fit this model. Mutualistic relationships among species, frequency-dependent cycling of traits in enemies, and a range of other dynamic processes all fit the criteria for coevolution but not the pattern of counter-escalation envisioned in an arms race. The simplicity of the arms race, and the sometimes all too personal familiarity with what it is like to be caught in one, has led biologists to apply this perspective to a wide array of evolutionary interactions between natural enemies. However, the degree of reciprocity and details of selection vary among antagonistic interactions. Predator-prey interactions, especially, may be characterized by asymmetrical selection that precludes arms races (selection on prey is thought to be stronger than on predators). In this article, we use a covariance approach to understanding selection to dissect those components of an interaction that contribute to the strength of selection by one species on another. After evaluating the evidence that selective inequalities exist and are unique to predator-prey systems, we suggest that interactions involving dangerous prey differ from other predator-prey systems and are likely to result in revolutionary arms races. In support of this view, we describe results from investigations of the roughskin newt (Taricha granulosa), which possesses the neurotoxin tetrodotoxin (TTX), and its resistant predator, the red-sided garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis). Within-population variation in this system suggests the potential for evolution of resistance to TTX, and the matched exploitative and defensive abilities among populations fits the predicted pattern for arms races between predator and prey. Antagonistic interactions among natural enemies are to as This the many interactions one species from and predator-prey interactions. 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However, this the of phenotypic which is a of selection and The evolutionary change in a is predicted by the strength of selection and the the of variation in a that is by of and if the of and were to experience the same strength of speed more in the species with for the traits at the phenotypic selection is as with the then the of evolution may be if the of speed in the species the that variation are and and is little a to to be However, an of the of increase in is by the of to the that selection some to be for traits stronger selection and and if selection is stronger on prey than then prey defenses have variation than predator exploitative abilities. in selection to in that one in of phenotypic evolution for both predators and prey. at the of predators suggests that the is a of the strength of selection on predators have little to in a race with it is to the that from the of to the of from to The from races between to evolutionary races between populations must that if a predator races, it its The is more selection in a interaction is not only the of the race (i.e., but the abilities of the The of the interaction not on the of each species, but on its to that of its the players are then variation among predators have a on the predicted of a race the other if is in predator much of a to and the between the by predators be The predator and prey be selection than it is in in which abilities are The strength of selection on and change as the of each species this this has the coevolutionary and that the some that are and not the the the has more to if to the is then a of matched abilities is In are predators and prey to in an arms race. this dynamic is an of natural in that it traits can to selection the is for arms races, systems have for one feature are for use in and traits to one the is at at a but for of to This to adaptation suggests that selection is more with a in which the of a as it from its selection a that the can result in some of the (i.e., frequency-dependent cycling of the fit and the escalation of both species that is of an arms race and Although on the of the they an arms race a cycling if selective an arms race, they are unique to predator-prey The same of for the of and interactions, in the In interactions between predators and the is to experience weaker selection than the its in other types of victim-exploiter systems, the may have more to than the and reduce the of a to but of the the with some potential to if a from the is to to as its may be not their but they their they in This is a to the on a can sometimes result in that a can have and may on the other its at the of the which can and the in this in is little that coevolution occurs in this and other systems inequalities seem to the of coevolutionary interactions between predator and prey. of the among types of victim-exploiter systems is the of the degree to which each species the of the that defenses the may and the that is on the of that of are for both in an interaction. in the of the so player can avoid the of the as and which a for a an interaction their that are at the of interaction with a to players in victim-exploiter systems, which selection on their predators seem to be to avoid many of the of the interaction. that to detect a prey to a prey in a not with the prey. As a predators can avoid many of the selective that in a more interaction. specific defenses the prey from to be employed in the of the after capture. The of the interaction for the predator is to a and to and time are the Although the of a prey may be to an arms race, the of this for any predator is predator may the prey in which the of the first interaction is prey are the predator to a more and experience than if it the prey. The cost of any prey on as the its of its and a of other of the for the prey of the to much more than other to be Although are predators are and on a of prey As a result of their of predators have to to if one to capture. This to can selection by any prey species in the of is likely to be prey As a the covariance between predator and the of any one prey be (i.e., selection from any one prey is a predator can increase its by to prey. 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This pattern of selection in the of that is of is to result from coevolutionary interactions predators and prey are caught in arms races, then the of between predators and prey is this pattern of selection may the are and not to prey The of and the of and in many are all of that increase the to a of prey types than one specific the same is of some defenses of as the of There in which prey and predator and in which the of with prey are and defenses can be to the of the in which they as and by a as and to after defenses in of are to generate selection on predators for the in the defenses the after predator and prey have the defenses that that the predator a interaction to the the degree of between and is and result from the prey are by the the of is to be for predators with prey is a The of can vary the of many defenses are to have a for the of and the of to the of but cause little to In selection on predators is the of the between and prey is the of the is the other some prey have and other features that can a predator and and that can and that and handle prey experience a with and selection is which predators with dangerous are likely to the for In the same that are selection from their predators are selection from dangerous prey. that variation for traits is this to an evolutionary response by at types of response are can be by of the prey improved exploitative to an arms of specific prey types is among predators and drives the evolution of systems and in prey. predators to avoid prey that have after an experience with the prey. The of prey can a predator to avoid prey in the The that to may be but they not have (i.e., prey are not The of predators to with the results in a pattern of of prey. However, not an evolutionary response of predators to prey each must the the to may of and has in and and but to detect of specific prey by natural predators have results This of evolutionary response is not the of prey. to this pattern is the of by predators and a that can potential The and pattern that their is by a wide of snake species that are not only Although it may seem that species are in a the species are by their to a species, it is to predators to avoid a prey that likely them a interaction. The of and the of which is likely to be this interaction has and and for the evidence that potential predators of have in response to this selection with and from potential predators of the of of with with with the and pattern of with other and in the same with the same in as than not the same response and were as potential prey. This is not a feature of as by the that species are to not avoid snake the of snake by predators is an evolutionary response to dangerous prey. The of by predators a selective to with of prey can and is one result of the and of with dangerous but it the of to prey defenses for coevolutionary arms races. an arms is but matched of both defensive of the prey and exploitative of the predator are the criteria of selection are in the range of the the selective may and with it the degree of of exploitative and defensive traits the abilities of both species matched in of and Finally, some perspective is to not traits in These of evidence in support of an arms race of coevolution in the predator-prey interaction between the newt and its garter snake predator in species of garter are with one more of the but only has to that is the only predator that is resistant to the of the in but more has that resistance among populations of and of as a prey may not have for it on the range of the and are a of traits that in so of one prey result in of The phenotypic interface of the interaction between and the TTX, of the is one of the of the to in and The of of the results from of in the and this is to a wide range of potential predators of the TTX, but is many more than its to Although is in a of at in is the only with a resistant predator and The selective of a prey are and that sometimes the newt The garter snake is the to this but it is not after a of the first of is the of and and some that a newt and may be for to this of can a an that is to may and if caught in a for too to As with other the of for any other species, for that the predator has the prey. fits the of a dangerous prey that a and for predators response of garter the evolutionary potential and of a some of the of variation among and we a to resistance on the of on and are with a of TTX, and their speed is The in their is of their resistance to by at of their may at than of their speed. This is a and one of its first is to The is in that it in and is of the of in prey and from of to and have that is not in the system of this we have to the of a in response to prey The of resistance in is a that is the only species of garter snake that is resistant to at an (i.e., to it on with a of resistance that of any other of the However, the in the and its to be a resistance to than is in other in that may be some to resistance the variation for selection to on and potential for evolutionary change. resistance has from to on of in resistant populations to and of this variation is likely by one a few of and on resistance and to increase resistance to have results that resistance is a that has the potential to to The of of is with the for those at the phenotypic interface of coevolutionary interactions and and As for resistance to in with a this In populations resistant and so we have evidence of a between speed and resistance at both the phenotypic and and and that have the resistance to to have the speed. The of this may in the of Although the is resistance likely results from the of are by a and have for have in many and than and the of resistance in garter the evolution of the between and resistance from the of the of the its may be an in the evolution of resistance the coevolutionary predicted by some and arms race between predator and dangerous The evolutionary response of predators to dangerous prey is of only one of an arms race, and we are only to the to reciprocal coevolution is between garter and we have some that suggest an arms race in of of and are matched on a and of populations a pattern of variation in resistance and resistance not only among species of garter but among populations of the in speed after an of a of TTX, we have the of among populations of and populations of that exist the range of are not resistant to and populations are not with the selective of we not them to have is is that among the populations that are with and are to on resistance an range and resistance was in populations from that are as resistant as populations other However, populations from and the of that are to on are more resistant than the populations as their of resistance is than the At the other are from the of the garter that are more resistant than any other This is on of their of have other natural populations with of resistance and of tetrodotoxin resistance in the garter snake resistant and The range of the newt is as the in resistance of the garter snake to tetrodotoxin The resistance of each is as a of of The for the populations to the on the in on was as the of an speed after an of a of is on a in as the of to of in by the of from a populations of and are more resistant to than populations by the of populations and are with populations that The resistant populations and an range of resistance and are with newt populations to the pattern of resistance among populations is so then the the evolution of resistance must differ (i.e., is a of The is the selective Although it has that are their range and that the of is the species, suggest that both are The of in was in the using from the of and the both with populations using from and of in as to from the populations to and This result suggests that from have little TTX, which is from the that can on have a of the variation in among populations of their we have to in among and for some of the for which of snake resistance are that populations vary in the of in as as in the of and populations from garter are have the of have much of TTX, and one in of some populations have at in tetrodotoxin of from in and were for of using The of has of TTX, as as of and to the are the are in from The of variation in that of snake In the of a covariance of the in to in the strength of TTX, predators experience a a of on and and is to predators to In the cost of resistance in may be selection exploitative abilities in the the evolution of resistance an arms race is at this The criteria of reciprocity and have not and we have little variation and selection on in are all of However, the evolution of prey in response to predator is The unique feature of the garter system is that it dangerous prey can selection on the evolution of exploitative Although predators and prey are to in an arms both evidence and suggest that predator-prey interactions not arms race Predator-prey interactions differ from other types of victim-exploiter systems in that selection on predators may frequently be weaker than on prey. The of this is that prey more than predators to the covariance approach to selection as a it that of interactions and the of the the strength of selection by one species interactions with another. of in predator-prey systems suggests that the in selection is not by the but by the of the an predator to a prey. However, interactions to the of the are more At this prey as that can a In predators are to experience selection and to of dangerous the of they exploitative traits that interaction with the dangerous prey. The is by the interaction between and their resistant garter snake and of resistance and all that garter are in response to prey and that an arms race between predators and prey is This has by the and for of some of the and improved the of the

The carrier density of ZnO nanowires has been determined by means of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. A model taking into account the geometry of ZnO nanowires has been developed and the differences with the standard flat model, as curved Mott-Schottky plots, are discussed. The as-grown electrodeposited samples present a high donor density of 6.2×1019cm−3, dramatically reduced by two orders of magnitude after an annealing in air at 450°C during 1h. The results show that the surface of the ZnO nanowires is active; therefore this system appears as a useful structure to support a functionalized nanostructured devices.

Ontologies are widely used in biological and biomedical research. Their success lies in their combination of four main features present in almost all ontologies: provision of standard identifiers for classes and relations that represent the phenomena within a domain; provision of a vocabulary for a domain; provision of metadata that describes the intended meaning of the classes and relations in ontologies; and the provision of machine-readable axioms and definitions that enable computational access to some aspects of the meaning of classes and relations. While each of these features enables applications that facilitate data integration, data access and analysis, a great potential lies in the possibility of combining these four features to support integrative analysis and interpretation of multimodal data. Here, we provide a functional perspective on ontologies in biology and biomedicine, focusing on what ontologies can do and describing how they can be used in support of integrative research. We also outline perspectives for using ontologies in data-driven science, in particular their application in structured data mining and machine learning applications.

OBJECTIVE: Complex phenotypes captured on histological slides represent the biological processes at play in individual cancers, but the link to underlying molecular classification has not been clarified or systematised. In colorectal cancer (CRC), histological grading is a poor predictor of disease progression, and consensus molecular subtypes (CMSs) cannot be distinguished without gene expression profiling. We hypothesise that image analysis is a cost-effective tool to associate complex features of tissue organisation with molecular and outcome data and to resolve unclassifiable or heterogeneous cases. In this study, we present an image-based approach to predict CRC CMS from standard H&E sections using deep learning. DESIGN: Training and evaluation of a neural network were performed using a total of n=1206 tissue sections with comprehensive multi-omic data from three independent datasets (training on FOCUS trial, n=278 patients; test on rectal cancer biopsies, GRAMPIAN cohort, n=144 patients; and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), n=430 patients). Ground truth CMS calls were ascertained by matching random forest and single sample predictions from CMS classifier. RESULTS: Image-based CMS (imCMS) accurately classified slides in unseen datasets from TCGA (n=431 slides, AUC)=0.84) and rectal cancer biopsies (n=265 slides, AUC=0.85). imCMS spatially resolved intratumoural heterogeneity and provided secondary calls correlating with bioinformatic prediction from molecular data. imCMS classified samples previously unclassifiable by RNA expression profiling, reproduced the expected correlations with genomic and epigenetic alterations and showed similar prognostic associations as transcriptomic CMS. CONCLUSION: This study shows that a prediction of RNA expression classifiers can be made from H&E images, opening the door to simple, cheap and reliable biological stratification within routine workflows.

Inflammatory lung diseases are highly complex in respect of pathogenesis and relationships between inflammation, clinical disease and response to treatment. Sophisticated large-scale analytical methods to quantify gene expression (transcriptomics), proteins (proteomics), lipids (lipidomics) and metabolites (metabolomics) in the lungs, blood and urine are now available to identify biomarkers that define disease in terms of combined clinical, physiological and patho-biological abnormalities. The aspiration is that these approaches will improve diagnosis, i.e. define pathological phenotypes, and facilitate the monitoring of disease and therapy, and also, unravel underlying molecular pathways. Biomarker studies can either select predefined biomarker(s) measured by specific methods or apply an "unbiased" approach involving detection platforms that are indiscriminate in focus. This article reviews the technologies presently available to study biomarkers of lung disease within the 'omics field. The contributions of the individual 'omics analytical platforms to the field of respiratory diseases are summarised, with the goal of providing background on their respective abilities to contribute to systems medicine-based studies of lung disease.

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification followed by oligonucleotide probing was used to investigate the presence of ras genes mutations in human thyroid adenomas and carcinomas. The results confirm the frequent occurrence of mutations in all three ras genes in both adenomas and carcinomas, in agreement with the hypothesis that the ras mutations may constitute early steps in thyroid tumorigenesis. No evident correlation between the frequency of ras mutations, the identity of the mutated ras gene, the position affected in the ras gene or the type of mutation and the pathological features is apparent. However, definitive conclusion on this point is precluded because of the small number of tumors examined at the present time.

Little is known of the fate of viruses involved in long-term obligatory associations with eukaryotes. For example, many species of parasitoid wasps have symbiotic viruses to manipulate host defenses and to allow development of parasitoid larvae. The complete nucleotide sequence of the DNA enclosed in the virus particles injected by a parasitoid wasp revealed a complex organization, resembling a eukaryote genomic region more than a viral genome. Although endocellular symbiont genomes have undergone a dramatic loss of genes, the evolution of symbiotic viruses appears to be characterized by extensive duplication of virulence genes coding for truncated versions of cellular proteins.

We propose an innovative, integrated, cost-effective health system to combat major non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including cardiovascular, chronic respiratory, metabolic, rheumatologic and neurologic disorders and cancers, which together are the predominant health problem of the 21st century. This proposed holistic strategy involves comprehensive patient-centered integrated care and multi-scale, multi-modal and multi-level systems approaches to tackle NCDs as a common group of diseases. Rather than studying each disease individually, it will take into account their intertwined gene-environment, socio-economic interactions and co-morbidities that lead to individual-specific complex phenotypes. It will implement a road map for predictive, preventive, personalized and participatory (P4) medicine based on a robust and extensive knowledge management infrastructure that contains individual patient information. It will be supported by strategic partnerships involving all stakeholders, including general practitioners associated with patient-centered care. This systems medicine strategy, which will take a holistic approach to disease, is designed to allow the results to be used globally, taking into account the needs and specificities of local economies and health systems.

Four different types of solar cells prepared in different laboratories have been characterized by impedance spectroscopy (IS): thin-film CdS/CdTe devices, an extremely thin absorber (eta) solar cell made with microporous TiO2/In(OH)xSy/PbS/PEDOT, an eta-solar cell of nanowire ZnO/CdSe/CuSCN, and a solid-state dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) with Spiro-OMeTAD as the transparent hole conductor. A negative capacitance behavior has been observed in all of them at high forward bias, independent of material type (organic and inorganic), configuration, and geometry of the cells studied. The experiments suggest a universality of the underlying phenomenon giving rise to this effect in a broad range of solar cell devices. An equivalent circuit model is suggested to explain the impedance and capacitance spectra, with an inductive recombination pathway that is activated at forward bias. The deleterious effect of negative capacitance on the device performance is discussed, by comparison of the results obtained for a conventional monocrystalline Si solar cell showing the positive chemical capacitance expected in the ideal IS model of a solar cell.

A herpes simplex virus DNA fragment that is produced by digestion with BamHI endonuclease and carries the thymidine kinase (TK; ATP:thymidine 5'-phosphotransferase, EC 2.7.1.21) gene has been cloned in Escherichia coli. A recombinat plasmid, pFG5, has been analyzed extensively and a detailed restriction map is presented. pFG5 DNA efficiently transforms TK- mouse L cells. The TK coding sequence in the cloned fragment has been localized and a smaller recombinant plasmid, pAG0, also carrying an active TK gene, has been constructed to serve as a more convenient vector for transfer, into TK- cells, of genes previously cloned in E. coli.

Large nanocubes of perovskite hydroxide CoSn(OH) 6 can be electrochemically etched to form hierarchical nanoporous CoO x with high catalytic activity for oxygen evolution reaction.

Migration is a widespread and ancient phenomenon commonly involving a seasonal response to predictable changes in the environment. Such changes include the four seasons at the higher latitudes and wet—dry seasons in the tropics. In general, migrations are movements to breeding grounds followed by a postbreeding return to areas for nonreproductive activities. We focus on these seasonal migrations and summarize processes by which diverse organisms prepare and adjust to different phases of the migration life history stage, such as preparation, onset (actual traveling), and termination. This framework enables investigations of physiological and behavioral mechanisms involved in each phase, as well as studies of how environmental signals control this diverse and successful process across the taxa.

Soil biodiversity has received considerable attention recently because of greater recognition that soil species and their interactions can influence a number of ecosystem processes (e.g., decomposition, net primary production, and trace gas production; Setälä and Huhta 1991, Freckman et al. 1997, Naeem and Li 1997, Groffman and Bohlen 1999). Recent scientific research on soil biodiversity is increasing our baseline knowledge of the species richness (Lawton et al. 1996) and global distribution (Brussaard et al. 1997, Wall and Virginia in press) of soil organisms and of their economic value to ecosystems (Pimentel et al. 1997, Vitousek et al. 1997). This research has also identified gaps in our knowledge, such as the nature and extent of the linkages among belowground systems (i.e., soils, freshwater sediments, and marine sediments; Freckman et al. 1997, Wagener et al. 1998). These increasingly interdisciplinary studies are focused on the species that are critical for the maintenance of ecosystem processes. The information from such studies will contribute to future management of soils and ecosystems under scenarios of increasing human-derived physical, chemical, and biotic disturbances (e.g., plowing, pollution, elevated CO2, and invasive species; Vitousek et al. 1997, Jones et al. 1998). The elucidation of soil biotic interactions, in particular mutualistic interactions, which we highlight in this article, offers additional evidence for the importance of soil biodiversity at the species and functional levels in the maintenance of ecosystem processes.