Bielefeld University

About: Bielefeld University is a education organization based out in Bielefeld, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Quantum chromodynamics. The organization has 10123 authors who have published 26576 publications receiving 728250 citations. The organization is also known as: University of Bielefeld & UNIVERSITAET BIELEFELD.

The 64 508 bp IncP-1β antibiotic multiresistance plasmid pB10 isolated from a waste-water treatment plant provides evidence for recombination between members of different branches of the IncP-1β group

Abstract: The complete 64 508 bp nucleotide sequence of the IncP-1β antibiotic-resistance plasmid pB10, which was isolated from a waste-water treatment plant in Germany and mediates resistance against the antimicrobial agents amoxicillin, streptomycin, sulfonamides and tetracycline and against mercury ions, was determined and analysed. A typical class 1 integron with completely conserved 5′ and 3′ segments is inserted between the tra and trb regions. The two mobile gene cassettes of this integron encode a β-lactamase of the oxacillin-hydrolysing type (Oxa-2) and a gene product of unknown function (OrfE-like), respectively. The pB10-specific gene load present between the replication module (trfA1) and the origin of vegetative replication (oriV) is composed of four class II (Tn3 family) transposable elements: (i) a Tn501-like mercury-resistance (mer) transposon downstream of the trfA1 gene, (ii) a truncated derivative of the widespread streptomycin-resistance transposon Tn5393c, (iii) the insertion sequence element IS1071 and (iv) a Tn1721-like transposon that contains the tetracycline-resistance genes tetA and tetR. A very similar Tn501-like mer transposon is present in the same target site of the IncP-1β degradative plasmid pJP4 and the IncP-1β resistance plasmid R906, suggesting that pB10, R906 and pJP4 are derivatives of a common ancestor. Interestingly, large parts of the predicted pB10 restriction map, except for the tetracycline-resistance determinant, are identical to that of R906. It thus appears that plasmid pB10 acquired as many as five resistance genes via three transposons and one integron, which it may rapidly spread among bacterial populations given its high promiscuity. Comparison of the pB10 backbone DNA sequences with those of other sequenced IncP-1β plasmids reveals a mosaic structure. While the conjugative transfer modules (trb and tra regions) and the replication module are very closely related to the corresponding segments of the IncP-1β resistance plasmid R751 and even more similar to the IncP-1β degradative plasmids pTSA and pADP-1, the stable inheritance operons klcAB–korC and kleAEF are most similar to those of the IncP-1β resistance plasmid pB4, and clearly less similar to the other IncP-1β plasmids. This suggests that IncP-1β plasmids can undergo recombination in the environment, which may enhance plasmid diversity and bacterial adaptability.

Left or right? Sources of political orientation: the roles of genetic factors, cultural transmission, assortative mating, and personality

Abstract: In this study, we used an extended twin family design to investigate the influences of genetic and cultural transmission as well as different sources of nonrandom mating on 2 core aspects of political orientation: acceptance of inequality and rejecting system change. In addition, we studied the sources of phenotypic links between Big Five personality traits and political beliefs using self- and other reports. Data of 1,992 individuals (224 monozygotic and 166 dizygotic twin pairs, 92 unmatched twins, 530 spouses of twins, 268 fathers, and 322 mothers) were analyzed. Genetically informative analyses showed that political attitudes are genetically but not environmentally transmitted from parents to offspring and that a substantial proportion of this genetic variance can be accounted for by genetic variance in personality traits. Beyond genetic effects and genotypic assortative mating, generation-specific environmental sources act to increase twins' and spouses' resemblance in political beliefs. The results suggest multiple sources of political orientations in a modern democracy.

Birth of a Photosynthetic Chassis: A MoClo Toolkit Enabling Synthetic Biology in the Microalga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

Abstract: Microalgae are regarded as promising organisms to develop innovative concepts based on their photosynthetic capacity that offers more sustainable production than heterotrophic hosts However, to realize their potential as green cell factories, a major challenge is to make microalgae easier to engineer A promising approach for rapid and predictable genetic manipulation is to use standardized synthetic biology tools and workflows To this end we have developed a Modular Cloning toolkit for the green microalga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii It is based on Golden Gate cloning with standard syntax, and comprises 119 openly distributed genetic parts, most of which have been functionally validated in several strains It contains promoters, UTRs, terminators, tags, reporters, antibiotic resistance genes, and introns cloned in various positions to allow maximum modularity The toolkit enables rapid building of engineered cells for both fundamental research and algal biotechnology This work will make Chlamydomonas the next chassis for sustainable synthetic biology

Goal Babbling Permits Direct Learning of Inverse Kinematics

Abstract: We present an approach to learn inverse kinematics of redundant systems without prior- or expert-knowledge. The method allows for an iterative bootstrapping and refinement of the inverse kinematics estimate. The essential novelty lies in a path-based sampling approach: we generate training data along paths, which result from execution of the currently learned estimate along a desired path towards a goal. The information structure thereby induced enables an efficient detection and resolution of inconsistent samples solely from directly observable data. We derive and illustrate the exploration and learning process with a low-dimensional kinematic example that provides direct insight into the bootstrapping process. We further show that the method scales for high dimensional problems, such as the Honda humanoid robot or hyperredundant planar arms with up to 50 degrees of freedom.

Layered magnetic structure of a metal cluster ion

Abstract: THE ability of molecular materials to perform many of the optical, electronic and magnetic functions traditionally associated with extended two- and three-dimensional inorganic solids1,2 has given rise to intensive research on molecular electronics3,4. In the course of investigating the properties of a class of anionic metal clusters based on the vanadium oxide systems5–8, which bear analogy with those of bulk solid materials6, we have encountered unusual magnetic behaviour in a finite molecular system. A cluster containing 15 paramagnetic vanadium atoms consists of three distinct layers in each of which the magnetization shows a distinct temperature dependence. Analogous behaviour in bulk systems can be found in magnetic multilayers9 and also in copper oxide superconductors, where copper layers with strong antiferromagnetic coupling are separated by layers of rare-earth ions in which the coupling is very weak10. The behaviour of this cluster suggests the possibility of applications for molecular-scale switching.