University of Würzburg

About: University of Würzburg is a education organization based out in Wurzburg, Bayern, Germany. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Gene. The organization has 31437 authors who have published 62203 publications receiving 2337033 citations. The organization is also known as: Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg & Würzburg University.

The physiological ecology of vascular epiphytes: current knowledge, open questions

Abstract: The current knowledge of the physiological ecology of vascular epiphytes is reviewed here with an emphasis on the most recent literature. It is argued that by far the most relevant abiotic constraint for growth and vegetative function of vascular epiphytes is water shortage, while other factors such as nutrient availability or irradiation, are generally of inferior importance. However, it is shown that the present understanding of epiphyte biology is still highly biased, both taxonomically and ecologically, and it is concluded that any generalizations are still preliminary. Future studies should include a much wider range of taxa and growing sites within the canopy to reach a better understanding how abiotic factors are limiting epiphyte growth and survival which, in turn, should affect epiphyte community composition. Finally, a more integrative approach to epiphyte biology is encouraged: physiological investigations should be balanced by studies of other possible constraints, for example, substrate instability, dispersal limitation, competition or herbivory.

Mutations in a novel gene, VMD2, encoding a protein of unknown properties cause juvenile-onset vitelliform macular dystrophy (Best's disease).

Abstract: Vitelliform macular dystrophy (Best's disease) is an autosomal dominant, early-onset form of macular degeneration in which the primary defect is thought to occur at the level of the retinal pigment epithelium. Genetic linkage has mapped the disease locus to chromosome 11q12-q13.1 within a 980 kb interval flanked by markers at loci D11S4076 and uteroglobin. To identify the disease gene, we systematically characterized genes from within the critical region and analysed the coding regions for mutations in 12 patients from large multigeneration Best's disease families. Following this approach, we identified a novel gene of unknown function carrying heterozygous mutations in all 12 probands. Of these, 10 result in distinct missense mutations of amino acids that are highly conserved throughout evolution, spanning a phylogenetic distance from Caenorhabditis elegans to human, and include V9M, A10T, W24C, R25Q, R218Q, Y227N, Y227C, V235M, P297A and F305S. One deletion mutation, DeltaI295, was found in two families and segregates with the disease in both cases. Northern blot analysis reveals tissue-specific expression for this gene, exclusively in the retinal pigment epithelium. In conclusion, our data provide strong evidence that mutations in the gene that we have identified cause Best's disease.

4SALE--a tool for synchronous RNA sequence and secondary structure alignment and editing.

Abstract: In sequence analysis the multiple alignment builds the fundament of all proceeding analyses Errors in an alignment could strongly influence all succeeding analyses and therefore could lead to wrong predictions Hand-crafted and hand-improved alignments are necessary and meanwhile good common practice For RNA sequences often the primary sequence as well as a secondary structure consensus is well known, eg, the cloverleaf structure of the t-RNA Recently, some alignment editors are proposed that are able to include and model both kinds of information However, with the advent of a large amount of reliable RNA sequences together with their solved secondary structures (available from eg the ITS2 Database), we are faced with the problem to handle sequences and their associated secondary structures synchronously 4SALE fills this gap The application allows a fast sequence and synchronous secondary structure alignment for large data sets and for the first time synchronous manual editing of aligned sequences and their secondary structures This study describes an algorithm for the synchronous alignment of sequences and their associated secondary structures as well as the main features of 4SALE used for further analyses and editing 4SALE builds an optimal and unique starting point for every RNA sequence and structure analysis 4SALE, which provides an user-friendly and intuitive interface, is a comprehensive toolbox for RNA analysis based on sequence and secondary structure information The program connects sequence and structure databases like the ITS2 Database to phylogeny programs as for example the CBCAnalyzer 4SALE is written in JAVA and therefore platform independent The software is freely available and distributed from the website at http://4salebioappsbiozentrumuni-wuerzburgde