University of Copenhagen

About: University of Copenhagen is a education organization based out in Copenhagen, Denmark. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Medicine. The organization has 57645 authors who have published 149740 publications receiving 5903093 citations. The organization is also known as: Copenhagen University & Københavns Universitet.

Ecosystem response of pasture soil communities to fumigation-induced microbial diversity reductions: an examination of the biodiversity-ecosystem function relationship

Abstract: A technique based on progressive fumigation was used to reduce soil microbial biodiversity, and the effects of such reductions upon the stability of key soil processes were measured. Mineral soil samples from a grassland were fumigated with chloroform for up to 24 h and then incubated for 5 months to allow recolonisation by surviving organisms. The diversity of cultivable and non-cultivable bacteria, protozoa and nematodes was progressively reduced by increasing fumigation times, as was the number of trophic groups, phyla within trophic groups, and taxa within phyla. Total microbial biomass was similar within fumigated soils, but lower than for unfumigated soil. There was no direct relationship between biodiversity and function. Some broad-scale functional parameters increased as biodiversity decreased, e.g. thymidine incorporation, growth on added nutrients, and the decomposition rate of plant residues. Other more specific parameters decreased as biodiversity decreased, e.g. nitrification, denitrification and methane oxidation. Thus specific functional parameters may be a more sensitive indicator of environmental change than general parameters. Although fumigation reduced soil microbial biodiversity, there was evidence to suggest that it selected for organisms with particular physiological characteristics. The consequences of this for interpreting biodiversity – function relationships are discussed. The stability of the resulting communities to perturbation was further examined by imposing a transient (brief heating to 40°C) or a persistent (addition of CuSO4) stress. Decomposition of grass residues was determined on three occasions after such perturbations. The soils clearly demonstrated resilience to the transient stress; decomposition rates were initially depressed by the stress and recovered over time. Resilience was reduced in the soils with decreasing biodiversity. Soils were not resilient to the persistent stress, there was no recovery in decomposition rate over time, but the soils with the highest biodiversity were more resistant to the stress than soils with impaired biodiversity. The study of functional stability under applied perturbation is a powerful means of examining the effects of biodiversity.

Plant Defense against Insect Herbivores

Abstract: Plants have been interacting with insects for several hundred million years, leading to complex defense approaches against various insect feeding strategies. Some defenses are constitutive while others are induced, although the insecticidal defense compound or protein classes are often similar. Insect herbivory induce several internal signals from the wounded tissues, including calcium ion fluxes, phosphorylation cascades and systemic- and jasmonate signaling. These are perceived in undamaged tissues, which thereafter reinforce their defense by producing different, mostly low molecular weight, defense compounds. These bioactive specialized plant defense compounds may repel or intoxicate insects, while defense proteins often interfere with their digestion. Volatiles are released upon herbivory to repel herbivores, attract predators or for communication between leaves or plants, and to induce defense responses. Plants also apply morphological features like waxes, trichomes and latices to make the feeding more difficult for the insects. Extrafloral nectar, food bodies and nesting or refuge sites are produced to accommodate and feed the predators of the herbivores. Meanwhile, herbivorous insects have adapted to resist plant defenses, and in some cases even sequester the compounds and reuse them in their own defense. Both plant defense and insect adaptation involve metabolic costs, so most plant-insect interactions reach a stand-off, where both host and herbivore survive although their development is suboptimal.

Secure Multiparty Computation Goes Live

Abstract: In this note, we report on the first large-scale and practical application of secure multiparty computation, which took place in January 2008. We also report on the novel cryptographic protocols that were used.

Protein oxidation and peroxidation.

Abstract: Proteins are major targets for radicals and two-electron oxidants in biological systems due to their abundance and high rate constants for reaction. With highly reactive radicals damage occurs at multiple side-chain and backbone sites. Less reactive species show greater selectivity with regard to the residues targeted and their spatial location. Modification can result in increased side-chain hydrophilicity, side-chain and backbone fragmentation, aggregation via covalent cross-linking or hydrophobic interactions, protein unfolding and altered conformation, altered interactions with biological partners and modified turnover. In the presence of O2, high yields of peroxyl radicals and peroxides (protein peroxidation) are formed; the latter account for up to 70% of the initial oxidant flux. Protein peroxides can oxidize both proteins and other targets. One-electron reduction results in additional radicals and chain reactions with alcohols and carbonyls as major products; the latter are commonly used markers of protein damage. Direct oxidation of cysteine (and less commonly) methionine residues is a major reaction; this is typically faster than with H2O2, and results in altered protein activity and function. Unlike H2O2, which is rapidly removed by protective enzymes, protein peroxides are only slowly removed, and catabolism is a major fate. Although turnover of modified proteins by proteasomal and lysosomal enzymes, and other proteases (e.g. mitochondrial Lon), can be efficient, protein hydroperoxides inhibit these pathways and this may contribute to the accumulation of modified proteins in cells. Available evidence supports an association between protein oxidation and multiple human pathologies, but whether this link is causal remains to be established.