The transmission of microbes from mother to offspring is an ancient, advantageous, and widespread feature of metazoan life history. Despite this, little is known about the quantitative strategies taken to maintain symbioses across generations. The quantity of maternal microbes that is provided to each offspring through vertical transmission could theoretically be stochastic (no trend), consistent (an optimal range is allocated), or provisioned (a trade-off with fecundity).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe structures of solids can locally differ from the macroscopic picture obtained by structural averaging techniques. This difference significantly influences the performance of any functional material. Measurements of these local structures are challenging.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF: A fundamental question in Alzheimer's disease (AD) is whether amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides and their deposition in the brain signify a direct pathological role or they are mere outcome of the disease pathophysiological events affecting neuronal function. It is therefore important to decipher their physiological role in the brain. So far, the overwhelming focus has been on the potential toxicity of Aβ, often studied outside the crucial AD characteristics, i.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArabidopsis thaliana L. (Heynh.) plants were grown in low light (150 micromol photons m(-2) s(-1) and 20 degrees C) either in short days (7.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe genes for the bacteriocins enterocin A and B were isolated from Enterococcus faecium ATB 197a. Using the pET37b(+) vector, the enterocin genes were fused to an Escherichia coli specific export signal sequence, a cellulose-binding domain (CBD(cenA)) and a S-tag under the control of a T7lac promotor. The constructs were subsequently cloned into E.
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