Bacterial genomes typically consist of a single chromosome and, optionally, one or more plasmids. But whole-genome sequencing reveals about ten per-cent of them to be multipartite, with additional replicons which by size and indispensability are considered secondary chromosomes. This raises the questions of how their replication and partition is managed without compromising genome stability and of

RATIONALE: Tandem mass (MS/MS) spectra generated by collision-induced dissociation (CID) typically lack redundant peptide sequence information in the form of e.g. b- and y-ion series due to frequent use of sequence-specific endopeptidases cleaving C- or N-terminal to Arg or Lys residues.METHODS: Here we introduce arginyl-tRNA protein transferase (ATE, EC 2.3.2.8) for proteomics. ATE recognizes aci

Gram-positive bacterium Streptococcus mutans is the primary causative agent of human dental caries. To better understand this pathogen at the atomic structure level and to establish potential drug and vaccine targets, we have carried out structural genomics research since 2005. To achieve the goal, we have developed various in-house automation systems including novel high-throughput crystallizatio

Microtubules are composed of polymerized alpha/beta-tubulin heterodimers. Biogenesis of assembly-competent tubulin dimers is a complex multistep process that requires sequential actions of distinct molecular chaperones and cofactors. Tubulin folding cofactor A (TFCA), which captures beta-tubulin during the folding pathway, has been identified in many organisms. Here, we report the crystal structur

As an oral bacterial pathogen, Streptococcus mutans has been known as the aetiologic agent of human dental caries. Among a total of 1960 identified proteins within the genome of this organism, there are about 500 without any known functions. One of these proteins, SMU.440, has very few homologs in the current protein databases and it does not fall into any protein functional families. Phylogenetic

As a substrate of extracellular signal-related kinase (ERK), the p90 ribosome S6 kinase 1 (RSK1) is at the terminus of the Ras/ERK pathway. Residues 411-735 of human RSK1, covering the C-terminal serine/threonine kinase catalytic domain and the functionally important tail, were cloned into an Escherichia coli expression vector. The protein was expressed, purified and crystallized. The crystals dif

A large-scale, high-efficiency and low-cost platform based on a Beckman Coulter Biomek FX and custom-made automation systems for structural genomics has been set up at Peking University, Beijing, People's Republic of China. This platform has the capacity to process up to 2000 genes per year for structural and functional analyses. Bacillus subtilis, a model organism for Gram-positive bacteria, and

In computer vision, many problems can be formulated as finding a low rank approximation of a given matrix. Ideally, if all elements of the measurement matrix are available, this is easily solved in the L2-norm using factorization. However, in practice this is rarely the case. Lately, this problem has been addressed using different approaches, one is to replace the rank term by the convex nuclear no

Despite being popular among amateur and professional lepidopterologists and posing great opportunities for evolutionary research, the phylogenetic relationships of tiger moths (Erebidae: Arctiinae) are not well resolved. Here we provide the first phylogenetic hypothesis for the subtribe Arctiina with the basic aim of clarifying the phylogenetic position of the Wood Tiger Moth Parasemia plantaginis

We report primer pairs for 30 new gene regions in the nuclear genomes of Lepidoptera that can be amplified using a standard PCR protocol. The new primers were tested across diverse Lepidoptera, including nonditrysians and a wide selection of ditrysians. These new gene regions give a total of 11,043 bp of DNA sequence data and they show similar variability to traditionally used nuclear gene regions

Tape-lifting has since its introduction in the early 2000′s become a well-established sampling method in forensic DNA analysis. Sampling is quick and straightforward while the following DNA extraction is more challenging due to the “stickiness”, rigidity and size of the tape. We have developed, validated and implemented a simple and efficient direct lysis DNA extraction protocol for adhesive tapes

Objectives We recently constructed a general population job exposure matrix (JEM), The Shoulder JEM, based on expert ratings. The overall aim of this study was to convert expert-rated job exposures for upper arm elevation and repetitive shoulder movements to measurement scales. Methods The Shoulder JEM covers all Danish occupational titles, divided into 172 job groups. For 36 of these job groups,

Monocytes and macrophages are part of the body's first line of defence, eliminating pathogens by phagocytosis or by releasing a broad array of inflammatory mediators, such as cytokines, chemokines, and proteases. In humans, 3 subsets of monocytes are described in blood with seemingly different functions, the classical (CD14 + + CD16 -) monocytes, the intermediate (CD14 + + CD16 +) monocytes, and t

Background It has been suggested that target temperature management (TTM) increases the probability of infectious complications after cardiac arrest. We aimed to compare the incidence of pneumonia, severe sepsis and septic shock after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) in patients with two target temperatures and to describe changes in biomarkers and possible mortality associated with these inf