The crystal structure of a sodium galactose transporter reveals mechanistic insights into Na+/sugar symport     

Faham S  Watanabe A  Besserer GM  Cascio D  Specht A  Hirayama BA  Wright EM  Abramson J 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》2008,321(5890):810-814

Membrane transporters that use energy stored in sodium gradients to drive nutrients into cells constitute a major class of proteins. We report the crystal structure of a member of the solute sodium symporters (SSS), the Vibrio parahaemolyticus sodium/galactose symporter (vSGLT). The approximately 3.0 angstrom structure contains 14 transmembrane (TM) helices in an inward-facing conformation with a core structure of inverted repeats of 5 TM helices (TM2 to TM6 and TM7 to TM11). Galactose is bound in the center of the core, occluded from the outside solutions by hydrophobic residues. Surprisingly, the architecture of the core is similar to that of the leucine transporter (LeuT) from a different gene family. Modeling the outward-facing conformation based on the LeuT structure, in conjunction with biophysical data, provides insight into structural rearrangements for active transport.  相似文献   

Teleportation of nonclassical wave packets of light     

Lee N  Benichi H  Takeno Y  Takeda S  Webb J  Huntington E  Furusawa A 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》2011,332(6027):330-333

We report on the experimental quantum teleportation of strongly nonclassical wave packets of light. To perform this full quantum operation while preserving and retrieving the fragile nonclassicality of the input state, we have developed a broadband, zero-dispersion teleportation apparatus that works in conjunction with time-resolved state preparation equipment. Our approach brings within experimental reach a whole new set of hybrid protocols involving discrete- and continuous-variable techniques in quantum information processing for optical sciences.  相似文献   

Molecular mapping for seedling cold tolerance QTLs in rice     

ZhanQingcai SaidoKoji KatoAkira 《农业科学与技术》2003,4(1):8-15

The quantitative trait loci(QTLs)for cold tolerance relative characters were identified with microsatellite markers.Ten QTLs located on chromosome1,3,4,5,6,8,9,11(two)and 12were detected for seedling height at different low temperature.Only 2 of these were detected at the same locus at four environments.1 was significant at three environments.6 were significant at two environments and 1 was significant at one environment.Seven QTLs located on chromosome 1(two),2(two),5,6,8were found for ow temperature chlorosis resistance and five QTLs located on chromosome 3,4,7,8,11resistant to chilling injury.The amount of variation explained by indivdual QTL ranged from 4.85%to 49.34%,There was no linkage relationship among the three characters.which indicates seediling cold tolerance is a complex character and is controlled by different QTLs.  相似文献   

Repeated and sudden reversals of the dipole field generated by a spherical dynamo action     

Li J  Sato T  Kageyama A 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》2002,295(5561):1887-1890

Using long-duration, three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulation, we found that the magnetic dipole field generated by a dynamo action in a rotating spherical shell repeatedly reverses its polarity at irregular intervals (that is, punctuated reversal). Although the total convection energy and magnetic energy alternate between a high-energy state and a low-energy state, the dipole polarity can reverse only at high-energy states where the north-south symmetry of the convection pattern is broken and the columnar vortex structure becomes vulnerable. Another attractive finding is that the quadrupole mode grows, exceeding the dipole mode before the reversal; this may help to explain how Earth's magnetic field reverses.  相似文献   

Orangutan cultures and the evolution of material culture     

van Schaik CP  Ancrenaz M  Borgen G  Galdikas B  Knott CD  Singleton I  Suzuki A  Utami SS  Merrill M 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》2003,299(5603):102-105

Geographic variation in some aspects of chimpanzee behavior has been interpreted as evidence for culture. Here we document similar geographic variation in orangutan behaviors. Moreover, as expected under a cultural interpretation, we find a correlation between geographic distance and cultural difference, a correlation between the abundance of opportunities for social learning and the size of the local cultural repertoire, and no effect of habitat on the content of culture. Hence, great-ape cultures exist, and may have done so for at least 14 million years.  相似文献   

Oxygen isotopic compositions of asteroidal materials returned from Itokawa by the Hayabusa mission     

Yurimoto H  Abe K  Abe M  Ebihara M  Fujimura A  Hashiguchi M  Hashizume K  Ireland TR  Itoh S  Katayama J  Kato C  Kawaguchi J  Kawasaki N  Kitajima F  Kobayashi S  Meike T  Mukai T  Nagao K  Nakamura T  Naraoka H  Noguchi T  Okazaki R  Park C  Sakamoto N  Seto Y  Takei M  Tsuchiyama A  Uesugi M  Wakaki S  Yada T  Yamamoto K  Yoshikawa M  Zolensky ME 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》2011,333(6046):1116-1119

Meteorite studies suggest that each solar system object has a unique oxygen isotopic composition. Chondrites, the most primitive of meteorites, have been believed to be derived from asteroids, but oxygen isotopic compositions of asteroids themselves have not been established. We measured, using secondary ion mass spectrometry, oxygen isotopic compositions of rock particles from asteroid 25143 Itokawa returned by the Hayabusa spacecraft. Compositions of the particles are depleted in (16)O relative to terrestrial materials and indicate that Itokawa, an S-type asteroid, is one of the sources of the LL or L group of equilibrated ordinary chondrites. This is a direct oxygen-isotope link between chondrites and their parent asteroid.  相似文献   

DNA methylation analysis on satellite I region in blastocysts obtained from somatic cell cloned cattle     

Ken‐ichi YAMANAKA  Masahiro KANEDA  Yasushi INABA  Koji SAITO  Kaiyu KUBOTA  Miki SAKATANI  Satoshi SUGIMURA  Kei IMAI  Shinya WATANABE  Masashi TAKAHASHI 《Animal Science Journal》2011,82(4):523-530

Many observations have been made on cloned embryos and on adult clones by somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), but it is still unclear whether the progeny of cloned animals is presenting normal epigenetic status. Here, in order to accumulate the information for evaluating the normality of cloned cattle, we analyzed the DNA methylation status on satellite I region in blastocysts obtained from cloned cattle. Embryos were produced by artificial insemination (AI) to non‐cloned or cloned dams using semen from non‐cloned or cloned sires. After 7 days of AI, embryos at blastocyst stage were collected by uterine flushing. The DNA methylation levels in embryos obtained by using semen and/or oocytes from cloned cattle were similar to those in in vivo embryos from non‐cloned cattle. In contrast, the DNA methylation levels in SCNT embryos were significantly higher (P < 0.01) than those in in vivo embryos from non‐cloned and cloned cattle, approximately similar to those in somatic cells used as donor cells. Thus, this study provides useful information that epigenetic status may be normal in the progeny of cloned cattle, suggesting the normality of germline cells in cloned cattle.  相似文献   

HPLC fluorometric determination of natural phytoplankton phycocyanin and its usefulness as cyanobacterial biomass in highly eutrophic shallow lake     

Akira Otsuki  Takehiko Omi  Shinya Hashimoto  Morihiro Aizaki  Noriko Takamura 《Water, air, and soil pollution》1994,76(3-4):383-396

A method for HPLC determination of phycocyanin in phytoplankton samples using gelchromatography with a fluorescence detector was developed to examine the use of phycocyanin as an index of the appearance and progress of cyanobacterial blooms in highly eutrophic lake. At least two types of phycocyanin with different molecular weights, each spectroscopically different from phycoerythrin and allophycocyanin, were found in natural phytoplankton samples. Changes in phycocyanin concentrations were clearly coupled to changes in chlorophyll-a concentrations during June to October while cyanobacterial blooms were occurring. The chlorophyll-a to phycocyanin relationship was linear at chlorophyll-a concentrations of less than 250 μg L^?1. The relationship between cyanobacterial carbon and phycocyanin concentration was also linear, suggesting that phycocyanin content may be a useful index of cyanobacterial biomass in highly eutrophic lakes where large cyanobacterial blooms occur.  相似文献   

Spore-breaking capabilities of collembolans and their feeding habitat within sporocarps   总被引：2，自引：0，他引：2  

Taizo Nakamori  Akira Suzuki   《Pedobiologia》2005,49(3):261-267

To examine the relationship between the spore-breaking capability of collembolans and their localization within fungal sporocarps we investigated the proportion of broken spores in the feces of four collembolan species of the genus Hypogastrura using the spores of Hypsizygus marmoreus and analyzed the spatial distribution of the collembolan species within sporocarps as an index of their feeding habits. The collembolan species with a higher capability to break spores were observed more frequently from the spore-bearing surfaces of sporocarps. The collembolan species with a lower capability to break spores were found more frequently from the non-spore-bearing interiors of the sporocarps. These results suggest that the relative value of spores in the diet varied with the capability of collembolans to break spores.  相似文献   

Acidity neutralization mechanism in a forested watershed in Central Japan     

Kazuo Sato  Akira Takahashi 《Water, air, and soil pollution》1996,88(3-4):313-329

The contributions of cation exchange and mineral weathering to the neutralization of acidity in the Jingahata watershed in central Japan were estimated through a laboratory weathering experiment and runoff chemistry measurements. The laboratory experiment was conducted in a stirred-flow reactor for a whole soil sample collected from the C horizon in the watershed. The concentration ratios of base cations (Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, K⁺ and Na⁺) to Si (BC/Si) released during the steady-state stage of the laboratory experiment were in good agreement with the ratios of the net flux of base cations to the flux of Si in the streamwater (BC _{N ET}/Si _L).This result suggests that the acidity in the watershed is neutralized primarily by mineral weathering without causing a net loss of base cations from exchange sites. The alkalinity/acidity balance estimated for the watershed shows that the total weathering rate of base cations is approximately 3.26 keq ha^?1 yr^?1. Weathering of plagioclase (An₄₁) contributes 83% of the total weathering rate. The dominant acidity source is CO₂ released within the soil horizons, accounting for roughly 85% of the total acidity flux (3.20 keq ha^?1 yr^?1). This high internal production of acidity suppresses the relative importance of atmospheric acidity inputs (0.3 keq ha^?1 yr^?1).  相似文献