Search results

1

Genomics and the evolution of aminoacyl-tRNA synthesis.

100%

Ruan B., Ahel I., Ambrogelly A., Becker H. D., Bunjun S., Feng L., Tumbula-Hansen D., Ibba M., Korencic D., Kobayashi H., Jacquin-Becker C., Mejlhede N., Min B., Raczniak G., Rinehart J., Stathopoulos C., Li T., Söll D.

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2001

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vol. 48

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issue 2

313-321

EN

Translation is the process by which ribosomes direct protein synthesis using the genetic information contained in messenger RNA (mRNA). Transfer RNAs (tRNAs) are charged with an amino acid and brought to the ribosome, where they are paired with the corresponding trinucleotide codon in mRNA. The amino acid is attached to the nascent polypeptide and the ribosome moves on to the next codon. Thus, the sequential pairing of codons in mRNA with tRNA anticodons determines the order of amino acids in a protein. It is therefore imperative for accurate translation that tRNAs are only coupled to amino acids corresponding to the RNA anticodon. This is mostly, but not exclusively, achieved by the direct attachment of the appropriate amino acid to the 3'-end of the corresponding tRNA by the aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases. To ensure the accurate translation of genetic information, the aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases must display an extremely high level of substrate specificity. Despite this highly conserved function, recent studies arising from the analysis of whole genomes have shown a significant degree of evolutionary diversity in aminoacyl-tRNA synthesis. For example, non-canonical routes have been identified for the synthesis of Asn-tRNA, Cys-tRNA, Gln-tRNA and Lys-tRNA. Characterization of non-canonical aminoacyl-tRNA synthesis has revealed an unexpected level of evolutionary divergence and has also provided new insights into the possible precursors of contemporary aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases.

2

Match duration and number of rallies in men´s and women´s 2000-2010 FIVB world tour beach volleyball

100%

Palao J. M., Valades D., Ortega E.

Journal of Human Kinetics

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2012

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vol. 34

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issue 1

99-104

EN

After the 2000 Olympic Games, the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) modified the scoring system used in beach volleyball from side-out to a rally point system. The goal was to facilitate the comprehension of the game and to stabilize match duration. The purpose of this study was to assess the duration and number of rallies in men´s and women´s beach volleyball matches (2000-2010 FIVB World Tour). Data from 14,432 men´s matches and 14,175 women´s matches of the 2000-2010 World Tour were collected. The variables studied were: match duration, total rallies per set and match, number of sets, team that won the set and match, type of match (equality in score), and gender. The average match duration in beach volleyball is stable, ranging from 30 to 64 minutes, regardless of the number of sets, the stage of the tournament (qualifying round or main draw), or gender. The average number of rallies per match were 78-80 for two-set matches and 94-96 for three-set matches. Matches from the main draw are more balanced than matches from the qualifying round. More balanced matches (smaller point difference between teams) have longer durations. It is not clear why there is no relationship between the number of rallies and match duration. Future studies are needed to clarify this aspect. The results can serve as a reference to guide beach volleyball training (with regard to duration and number of rallies) and to help understand the effect of the rule change.

3

The fidelity of the translation of the genetic code.

100%

Sankaranarayanan R., Moras D.

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2001

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vol. 48

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issue 2

323-335

EN

Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases play a central role in maintaining accuracy during the translation of the genetic code. To achieve this challenging task they have to discriminate against amino acids that are very closely related not only in structure but also in chemical nature. A 'double-sieve' editing model was proposed in the late seventies to explain how two closely related amino acids may be discriminated. However, a clear understanding of this mechanism required structural information on synthetases that are faced with such a problem of amino acid discrimination. The first structural basis for the editing model came recently from the crystal structure of isoleucyl-tRNA synthetase, a class I synthetase, which has to discriminate against valine. The structure showed the presence of two catalytic sites in the same enzyme, one for activation, a coarse sieve which binds both isoleucine and valine, and another for editing, a fine sieve which binds only valine and rejects isoleucine. Another structure of the enzyme in complex with tRNA showed that the tRNA is responsible for the translocation of the misactivated amino-acid substrate from the catalytic site to the editing site. These studies were mainly focused on class I synthetases and the situation was not clear about how class II enzymes discriminate against similar amino acids. The recent structural and enzymatic studies on threonyl-tRNA synthetase, a class II enzyme, reveal how this challenging task is achieved by using a unique zinc ion in the active site as well as by employing a separate domain for specific editing activity. These studies led us to propose a model which emphasizes the mirror symmetrical approach of the two classes of enzymes and highlights that tRNA is the key player in the evolution of these class of enzymes.

4

QUANTUM MICROGENESIS: EVOLUTION, SYNCHRONICITY, AND TENSELESSNESS

86%

Germine M.

Acta Neuropsychologica

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2018

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vol. 16(3)

275-289

EN

Quantum nonlocality is described in the context of a subjective duration that has a period of unconscious simultaneity of potentials that are reduced to an actual observably-identical mixed state of consciousness that deposits time and duration at the end of the mental state. Quantum microgenesis involves the observer as the agent of experience, which is a single continuum from depth to surface in the genesis of the mental state, repeating prior states of the individual. Microgenesis is generalized as prior becomings going back to the inception of the Universe. Synchronicity is the fundamental principle of Mind, Self, and consciousness. Mind is always One, which cannot be multiplied. Synchronicity is beyond any process of inanimate quantum nonlocality. It is outside of the physics, as Mind is based on the actualization of the mixed state of the human mind rather than the single quantum eigenstate given by the physics. Consciousness is thus a process of an irreducible and indivisible Mind in ourselves and the acausal realm of synchronicity. The mental-physical process evolves from the unconscious subjective time in the period of simultaneity, proceeding to the actuality of the mixed state of consciousness through synchronicity in its operative role as manifestation of Mind. Periods of unconscious duration and simultaneity exist as potential and only become actual at the synchronous moment of conscious observation at the end of the cyclical mental state.

5

The key role of the redox status in regulation of metabolism in photosynthesizing organisms

86%

Kornas A., Kuźniak E., Ślesak I., Miszalski Z.

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2010

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vol. 57

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issue 2

143-151

EN

The redox status of the cell is described by the ratio of reduced to non-reduced compounds. Redox reactions which determine the redox state are an essential feature of all living beings on Earth. However, the first life forms evolved under strongly anoxic conditions of the young Earth, and the redox status probably was based on iron and sulphur compounds. Nowadays, redox reactions in cells have developed in strict connection to molecular oxygen and its derivatives i.e. reactive oxygen species (ROS). Oxygen has started to accumulate on the Earth due to oxygenic photosynthesis. All aspects of aerobic life involve ROS, reactive nitrogen species (RNS), antioxidants and redox regulation. Many different redox-active compounds are involved in the complex of redox processes, including pyridine nucleotides, thioredoxins, glutaredoxins and other thiol/disulphide-containing proteins. Redox regulation is integrated with the redox-reactions in photosynthesis and respiration to achieve an overall energy balance and to maintain a reduced state necessary for the biosynthetic pathways that are reductive in nature. It underlies the physiological and developmental flexibility in plant response to environmental signals.

6

nod Genes and Nod signals and the evolution of the rhizobium legume symbiosis.

86%

Debellé F., Moulin L., Mangin B., Dénarié J., Boivin C.

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2001

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vol. 48

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issue 2

359-365

EN

The establishment of the nitrogen-fixing symbiosis between rhizobia and legumes requires an exchange of signals between the two partners. In response to flavonoids excreted by the host plant, rhizobia synthesize Nod factors (NFs) which elicit, at very low concentrations and in a specific manner, various symbiotic responses on the roots of the legume hosts. NFs from several rhizobial species have been characterized. They all are lipo-chitooligosaccharides, consisting of a backbone of generally four or five glucosamine residues N-acylated at the non-reducing end, and carrying various O-substituents. The N-acyl chain and the other substituents are important determinants of the rhizobial host specificity. A number of nodulation genes which specify the synthesis of NFs have been identified. All rhizobia, in spite of their diversity, possess conserved nodABC genes responsible for the synthesis of the N-acylated oligosaccharide core of NFs, which suggests that these genes are of a monophyletic origin. Other genes, the host specific nod genes, specify the substitutions of NFs. The central role of NFs and nod genes in the Rhizobium-legume symbiosis suggests that these factors could be used as molecular markers to study the evolution of this symbiosis. We have studied a number of NFs which are N-acylated by α,β-unsaturated fatty acids. We found that the ability to synthesize such NFs does not correlate with taxonomic position of the rhizobia. However, all rhizobia that produce NFs such nodulate plants belonging to related tribes of legumes, the Trifolieae, Vicieae, and Galegeae, all of them being members of the so-called galegoid group. This suggests that the ability to recognize the NFs with α,β-unsaturated fatty acids is limited to this group of legumes, and thus might have appeared only once in the course of legume evolution, in the galegoid phylum.

7

Tissue- and stage-specific expression of a fatty acid binding protein-like gene from amphioxus Branchiostoma belcheri

86%

Wang Y., Zhang Y., Zhang S., Tian J., Jiang S.

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2008

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vol. 55

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issue 1

27-34

EN

A cDNA clone encoding an amphioxus fatty acid binding protein-like (AmphiFABPL) protein was isolated from a gut cDNA library of Branchiostoma belcheri. It contained a 423 bp open reading frame corresponding to a deduced protein of 140 amino acids with a predicted molecular mass of approximately 15.9 kDa. Phylogenetic analysis showed that AmphiFABPL fell outside the vertebrate clade of fatty acid binding proteins (FABPs), being positioned at the base of the chordate lineage, and was almost equally homologous to various vertebrate FABPs, suggesting that it may be the archetype of vertebrate FABPs. Both northern blotting and in situ hybridization analyses demonstrated that AmphiFABPL was expressed in the hepatic caecum and hind-gut, and although at a much lower level, it was also present in the endostyle, ovary and testis. In addition, whole-mount in situ hybridization revealed that AmphiFABPL was initially expressed in the posterior two thirds of the primitive gut, including the mid-gut where the hepatic caecum will form later, in 2-day larvae. The expression pattern is closely similar to that of the L-FABP and I-FABP genes in vertebrates, supporting the hypothesis that the hepatic caecum in the amphioxus is homologous to the vertebrate liver.

8

Eocene penguins of Seymour Island, Antarctica: The earliest record, taxonomic problems and some evolutionary considerations

86%

Jadwiszczak P., Jadwiszczak P.

Polish Polar Research

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2006

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vol. 27

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issue 4

9

Penguin past: The current state of knowledge

86%

Jadwiszczak P., Jadwiszczak P.

Polish Polar Research

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2009

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vol. 30

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issue 1

10

Ewolucyjna utrata kończyn u jaszczurek

72%

Skórzewski G.

Kosmos

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2017

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vol. 66

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issue 3

435-440

PL

Redukcja kończyn u łuskonośnych, zaszła w obrębie 52 linii ewolucyjnych przynajmniej 62 razy, z czego w przypadku jaszczurek, redukcje w obrębie obu kończyn jednocześnie zaszły 20 razy. Wśród jaszczurek o zredukowanej liczbie kończyn (lub też paliczków), występują dwa główne typy morfologiczno-ekologiczne, które można określić mianami "krótkoogonowych kopaczy" i "długoogonowych lądowców". Jedną z teorii tłumaczących zanikanie, lub też redukcje składowych części kończyny, jest usprawnienie metod ucieczki przed drapieżnikiem - teoria ta jest dobrze opisana na przykładzie scynków z rodzaju Chalcides. Alternatywna hipoteza wyjaśnia redukcje kończyn adaptacją do drapieżnictwa. Przykładami jaszczurek, które obrały tą strategię są australijskie Pygopodidae, których przedstawiciele spełniają ekologiczną funkcję węży.

EN

Reduction of limbs has occurred within 52 evolutionary lines of Squamata at least 62 times, of which in the case of lizards, the manus and pes has been reduced together at least 20 times. Among lizards with the reduced number of limbs (or phalanges), there are two morpho-ecological types, which can be named "short tail diggers" and "long tail surface dwellers". One of the theories explaining the occurrence of loss of the whole limbs or reduction of their parts points to improvement of the ways of escape from the predators. This theory is well supported by an example of genus Chalcides belonging to the skinks family. The cause of limb reduction in the Australian Pygopodidae is different, as they play an ecological function of snakes and their limb reduction is an adaptation to hunt.

11

The ancestry and cumulative evolution of immune reactions

58%

Dzik J. M.

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2010

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vol. 57

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issue 4

443-466

EN

The last two decades of study enriched greatly our knowledge of how the immune system originated and the sophisticated immune mechanisms of today's vertebrates and invertebrates developed. Even unicellular organisms possess mechanisms for pathogen destruction and self recognition. The ability to distinguish self from non-self is a prerequisite for recognition of sexual compatibility and ensuring survival. Molecules involved in these processes resemble those found in the phagocytic cells of higher organisms. Recognition of bacteria by scavenger receptors induces phagocytosis or endocytosis. The phagocytic mechanisms characterizing the amoeboid protozoans developed further during the evolution towards innate immunity. The scavenger receptor cysteine-rich domain SRCR is encoded in the genomes from the most primitive sponges to mammals. The immune system of sponges comprises signal transduction molecules which occur in higher metazoans as well. Sponges already possess recognition systems for pathogenic bacteria and fungi, based on membrane receptors (a lipopolysaccharide-interacting protein, a cell surface receptor recognizing β(1 → 3)-d-glucans of fungi). Perforin-like molecules and lysozymes are involved, among others, in defense in sponges. Reactive oxygen and nitrogen species function in the immunity of early metazoan. Genes encoding the family of reactive oxygen-generating NADPH oxidases (Noxes) are found in a variety of protists and plants. The NO synthases of cnidarians, mollusks, and chordates are conserved with respect to the mammalian NOS. The antimicrobial peptides of protozoans, amoebapores, are structural and functional analogs of the natural killer cell peptide, NK-lysin, of vertebrates. An ancestral S-type lectin has been found in sponges. Opsonizing properties of lectins and the ability to agglutinate cells justify their classification as primitive recognition molecules. Invertebrate cytokines are not homologous to those of vertebrate, and their functional convergence was presumably enabled by the general similarity of the lectin-like recognition domain three-dimensional structure. Sponges contain molecules with SCR/CCP domains that show high homology to the mammalian regulators of complement activation (RCA family). A multi-component complement system comprising at least the central molecule of the complement system, C3, Factor B, and MASP developed in the cnidarians and evolved into the multilevel cascade engaged in innate and acquired immunity of vertebrates. The adaptive immune system of mammals is also deeply rooted in the metazoan evolution. Some its precursors have been traced as deep as in sponges, namely, two classes of receptors that comprise Ig-like domains, the receptor tyrosine kinases (RTK), and the non-enzymic sponge adhesion molecules (SAM). The antibody-based immune system defined by the presence of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), T-cell receptor (TCR), B-cell receptor (BCR) or recombination activating genes (RAGs) is known beginning from jawed fishes. However, genes closely resembling RAG1 and RAG2 have been uncovered in the genome of a see urchin. The ancestry of MHC gene remains unknown. Similarly, no homologue of the protein binding domain (PBD) in MHC molecules has been found in invertebrates. The pathway by which endogenous peptides are degraded for presentation with class I MHC molecules utilizes mechanisms similar to those involved in the normal turnover of intracellular proteins, apparently recruited to work also for the immune system. Several cDNAs coding for lysosomal enzymes, e.g., cathepsin, have been isolated from sponges. All chromosomal duplication events in the MHC region occurred after the origin of the agnathans but before the gnathostomes split from them. The V-domains of the subtype found in the receptors of T and B-cells are known from both agnathans and cephalochordates, although they do not rearrange. The rearrangement mechanism of the lymphocyte V-domains suggests its origin from a common ancestral domain existing before the divergence of the extant gnathostome classes. Activation-induced deaminase (AID) - homologous proteins have been found only in the gnathostomes. It appears thus that the adaptive immunity of vertebrates is a result of stepwise accumulation of small changes in molecules, cells and organs over almost half a billion years.

Refine search results

Genomics and the evolution of aminoacyl-tRNA synthesis.

Match duration and number of rallies in men´s and women´s 2000-2010 FIVB world tour beach volleyball

The fidelity of the translation of the genetic code.

QUANTUM MICROGENESIS: EVOLUTION, SYNCHRONICITY, AND TENSELESSNESS

The key role of the redox status in regulation of metabolism in photosynthesizing organisms

nod Genes and Nod signals and the evolution of the rhizobium legume symbiosis.

Tissue- and stage-specific expression of a fatty acid binding protein-like gene from amphioxus Branchiostoma belcheri

Eocene penguins of Seymour Island, Antarctica: The earliest record, taxonomic problems and some evolutionary considerations

Penguin past: The current state of knowledge

Ewolucyjna utrata kończyn u jaszczurek

The ancestry and cumulative evolution of immune reactions