http://precedings.nature.com/ The most recent documents on Nature Precedings. Nature Publishing Group en Nature Precedings http://precedings.nature.com/images/header_logo.gif http://precedings.nature.com http://precedings.nature.com/documents/3955/version/1 The drones of dwarf honeybees assemble at the drone congregation areas close to small trees with dense leafage at the heights between 2 to 4 meters. http://precedings.nature.com/documents/3955/version/1 Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:21:06 UTC Drone congregation areas of red dwarf honeybee, Apis florea hdl:10101/npre.2009.3955.1 2009-11-06 Narayanappa Nagaraja Nature Precedings 2009-11-06T14:21:06Z Manuscript Evolutionary Biology http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ http://precedings.nature.com/documents/3953/version/1 Overexpression of gluconeogenic phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PCK) under glycolytic conditions enables Escherichia coli to maintain a greater intracellular ATP concentration and, consequently, to up-regulate genes for amino acid and nucleotide biosynthesis. To investigate the effect of a high intracellular ATP concentration on heterologous protein synthesis, we studied the expression of a foreign gene product, enhanced green fluorescence protein (eGFP), under control of the T7 promoter in E. coli BL21(DE3) strain overexpressing PCK. This strain was able to maintain twice as much intracellular ATP and to express two times more foreign protein than the control strain. These results indicate that a high energy-charged cell can be beneficial as a protein-synthesizing cell factory. The potential uses of such a cell factory are discussed. http://precedings.nature.com/documents/3953/version/1 Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:05:38 UTC High energy-charged cell factory for heterologous protein synthesis hdl:10101/npre.2009.3953.1 2009-11-06 Pil Kim Nature Precedings 2009-11-06T11:05:38Z Manuscript Biotechnology http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ http://precedings.nature.com/documents/3946/version/1 Objective: The aim of this study was to determine whether genetic variation at the cannabinoid receptor-1 (CNR1) locus could have an effect on adiposity, fat distribution and obesity-related metabolic disorders in Polish postmenopausal women.Design and Subjects: The A3813G, G1422A and A4895G single nucleotide polymorphisms of CNR1 were genotyped in 348 randomly selected postmenopausal women aged 50-60 years recruited from the Wroclaw city population. Measurements: CNR1 genotypes, anthropometric measures (BMI, WC, body fat distribution by DEXA) and metabolic parameters (glucose, lipid profile, insulin FIRI) were determined.Results: The 3813G allele was not significantly associated with higher body mass, BMI, WC, total fat, or fat percentage, but was associated with higher android fat deposit (2971.78 ± 1655.08 ± 2472.64 ± 1300.53, p = 0.007) and percentage of android fat (37.59 ± 8.45 vs. 35.66 ± 7.63, p = 0.062). The 1422A allele was associated with higher total fat (31587.72 ± 9161.28 g vs. 26078.26 ± 7552.14 g, p = 0.019), fat percentage (40.51 ± 5.66% vs. 37.51 ± 4.99%, p = 0.052), and percentage of android fat (40.86 ± 9.73% vs. 36.09 ± 7.70%, p = 0.047). No associations were observed for the A4895G variant.Conclusions: There is an association of variants of CNR1 with obesity-related phenotypes in Polish postmenopausal women. As CB1 is a drug target for obesity, pharmacogenetic receptor gene analysis of obesity treatment by endocannabinoid blockade may be of interest to identify the best responders. http://precedings.nature.com/documents/3946/version/1 Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:47:40 UTC Are endocannabinoid type 1 receptor gene (CNR1) polymorphisms associated with obesity and metabolic syndrome in postmenopausal Polish women? hdl:10101/npre.2009.3946.1 2009-11-06 Katarzyna Dunajska Nature Precedings 2009-11-06T10:47:40Z Manuscript Genetics & Genomics http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/npre.2009.3939.1 The KIX-domain of Gal11/MED15 was shown to interact with short transactivation domain of Pdr1 and Oaf1 (12 and 9 amino acids respectively) annotated to 9aaTAD family. Reported NMR data revealed a surprising sequence similarity of KIX domain and basic-leucine zipper (bZIP). http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/npre.2009.3939.1 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:19:51 UTC 9aaTADs mimic DNA to interact with a pseudo-DNA Binding Domain KIX of Med15 (Molecular Chameleons) doi:10.1038/npre.2009.3939.1 2009-11-05 martin piskacek Nature Precedings 2009-11-05T10:19:51Z Manuscript Genetics & Genomics http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ http://precedings.nature.com/documents/3938/version/1 Two of the most significant formats for biomedical ontologies are the Open Biomedical Ontologies Format (OBOF) and the Web Ontology Language (OWL). To make it possible to translate ontologies between these two representation formats, the National Center for Biomedical Ontology (NCBO) has developed a mapping between the OBOF and OWL formats as well as inter-conversion software. The goal was to allow the sharing of tools, ontologies, and associated data between the OBOF and Semantic Web communities.OBOF does not have a formal grammar, so the NCBO had to capture its intended semantics to map it to OWL.This official NCBO mapping was used to make all OBO Foundry ontologies available in OWL. Availability: This mapping functionality can be embedded into OBO-Edit and Protégé-OWL ontology editors. This software is available at: http://bioontology.org/wiki/index.php/OboInOwl:Main_Page http://precedings.nature.com/documents/3938/version/1 Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:35:19 UTC The NCBO OBOF to OWL Mapping hdl:10101/npre.2009.3938.1 2009-11-04 Dilvan A. Moreira Nature Precedings 2009-11-04T16:35:19Z Manuscript Bioinformatics http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ http://precedings.nature.com/documents/3941/version/1 Language, regarded as a hierarchical cognitive code activated by functional operational modes of the brain by most neuropsychologists, is characterized by increased cognitive load in successively higher levels of processing. Language comprehension is posited to be executed through symbolic-iconic information being encoded neurally as modulated phenomena, and can be studied in vivo by functional brain imaging. Using a lexical decision-making task in conjunction with syntactic error correction that effectively isolated the regulatory neural substrate of processing structural-functional information, and minimizing the possible confounds of gender and proficiency, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was performed on bilingual volunteers to ascertain the attentional modulation of second language lexical and sentence processing. Our results indicate that while a right posterior cingulate gyrus-precuneus-lingual gyrus-cerebellar loop processes lexical information, the left inferior and middle frontal cortices are critically involved in the implementation of a structural-functional decision-making procedural loop in mediating second language comprehension. http://precedings.nature.com/documents/3941/version/1 Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:56:52 UTC Cortical activity modulation of language processing by dynamic optimization of task complexity and functional restrictions hdl:10101/npre.2009.3941.1 2009-11-04 Shantanu Ghosh Nature Precedings 2009-11-04T13:56:52Z Manuscript Neuroscience http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/npre.2009.3937.1 C4 photosynthesis is an important example of convergent evolution in plants, having arisen in eudicots, monocots and diatoms. Comparisons between such diverse groups are confounded by phylogenetic and ecological differences, so that only broad generalisations can be made about the role of C4 photosynthesis indetermining ecophysiological traits. However, 60% of C4 species occur in the grasses (Poaceae) and molecular phylogenetic techniques confirm that there are between 8 and 17 independent origins of C4 photosynthesis in the Poaceae. In a screening experiment, we compared leaf physiology and growth traits across several majorindependent C3 & C4 groups within the Poaceae, asking 1) which traits differ consistently between photosynthetictypes and 2) which traits differ consistently between clades within each photosynthetic type. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/npre.2009.3937.1 Wed, 04 Nov 2009 10:45:59 UTC Ecophysiological traits of grasses: resolving the effects of photosynthetic pathway and phylogeny doi:10.1038/npre.2009.3937.1 2009-11-04 Samuel H. Taylor Nature Precedings 2009-11-04T10:45:59Z Poster Ecology http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ http://precedings.nature.com/documents/3931/version/1 Synthetic "microDNAs (MIDs)"is a new class of ~ 20-25 nucleotide-long DNAs capable of repressing the activity of the target gene at the level of transcription by mechanisms that have not been clarified yet. However they are designed to target non-coding regions of the cancer causing genes, thus interfering with transcription. The inhibition might be possible through the direct binding of MIDs to cis-regulatory sites and/or to some Transcription Factors (TF) that normally activate transcription. Synthetic MIDs in some ways are similar to the newly discovered microRNAs a mechanism by which cell regulates its genetic activities at post-transcriptional level. Synthetic MIDs can provide a powerful tool to prevent massive production of mRNA by undesired gene activities. Therefore drugs are not required to interact with overwhelming number of mRNA and microRNA copies that may present unwanted side effects. In vitro studies suggest that the inhibition of the target gene starts after the first round of DNA replication, usually 24 hours after treatment depending on cell doubling time. Cell growth suppression maximizes at day 6 or 7 and the inhibition effect is sustained for weeks. We have shown that blocking of both bcl-2 and k-ras transcription by their specific microDNA Inhibitors induced apoptosis in HL60 leukemia cells and B-cell lymphomas. http://precedings.nature.com/documents/3931/version/1 Wed, 04 Nov 2009 10:28:46 UTC MicroDNAs and Transcriptional Regulation hdl:10101/npre.2009.3931.1 2009-11-04 Nature Precedings 2009-11-04T10:28:46Z Manuscript Cancer Genetics & Genomics Molecular Cell Biology http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ http://precedings.nature.com/documents/3930/version/1 The PSA doubling time is usually calculated from measured PSA values with an inadequate formula that tacitly assumes the absence of that process, which it is supposed to reveal. We present a modified calculational procedure which is optimized to unveil a weak second exponential process in the presence of a strong first one, using early screening data. The notion of Break Even Time (BET) indicates the stages of the processes. http://precedings.nature.com/documents/3930/version/1 Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:41:52 UTC PSA Dynamics traditionally evaluated with an inadequate formula hdl:10101/npre.2009.3930.1 2009-11-03 Hans-Jürg Gerber Nature Precedings 2009-11-03T15:41:52Z Manuscript Cancer http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ http://precedings.nature.com/documents/3925/version/1 Sheko is African taurine cattle, valued for its milk yield, adaptation to humid tsetse infested environment and trypanotolerance. We used 30 microsatellite markers in analyzing 30 DNA samples. We found high genetic diversity and no genetic bottlenecks in endangered Sheko cattle. Sheko cattle have not undergone recent genetic bottlenecks, in spite of drastic reduction in its overall demographic population size. The results were supported by three statistical methods: (i) detection of heterozygosity excess (ii) a mode-shift indicator of allele distribution pattern (iii) the ratio of the number of alleles to the range of allele size, M-ratio test. This breed reflects historical and cultural identity of local communities and represents a unique component of the global domestic animal biodiversity that deserve priority for conservation. http://precedings.nature.com/documents/3925/version/1 Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:15:15 UTC No evidence for a recent genetic bottleneck in the endangered Sheko cattle breed (African Bos taurus) revealed by microsatellite analysis hdl:10101/npre.2009.3925.1 2009-11-03 Markos Tibbo Nature Precedings 2009-11-03T15:15:15Z Manuscript Genetics & Genomics http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/