Washington State University

About: Washington State University is a education organization based out in Pullman, Washington, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Gene. The organization has 26947 authors who have published 57736 publications receiving 2341509 citations. The organization is also known as: WSU & Wazzu.

Structure, expression, and antisense inhibition of the systemin precursor gene

Abstract: A gene that encodes systemin, a mobile 18-amino acid polypeptide inducer of proteinase inhibitor synthesis in tomato and potato leaves, has been isolated from tomato, Lycopersicon esculentum. Induction of proteinase inhibitors in plants is a response to insect or pathogen attacks. The gene has 10 introns and 11 exons, ten of which are organized as five homologous pairs with an unrelated sequence in the eleventh, encoding systemin. Systemin is proteolytically processed from a 200-amino acid precursor protein, prosystemin. Prosystemin messenger RNA was found in all organs of the plant except the roots and was systemically wound-inducible in leaves. Tomato plants transformed with an antisense prosystemin complementary DNA exhibited greatly suppressed systemic wound induction of proteinase Inhibitor I and II synthesis in leaves.

Implications of global climate change for snowmelt hydrology in the twenty-first century.

Abstract: For most of the global land area poleward of about 40° latitude, snow plays an important role in the water cycle. The (seasonal) timing of runoff in these areas is especially sensitive to projected losses of snowpack associated with warming trends, whereas projected (annual) runoff volume changes are primarily associated with precipitation changes, and to a lesser extent, with changes in evapotranspiration (ET). Regional studies in the USA (and especially the western USA) suggest that hydrologic adjustments to a warming climate have been ongoing since the mid-twentieth century. We extend the insights extracted from the western USA to the global scale using a physically based hydrologic model to assess the effects of systematic changes in precipitation and temperature on snow-affected portions of the global land area as projected by a suite of global climate models. While annual (and in some cases seasonal) changes in precipitation are a key driver of projected changes in annual runoff, we find, as in the western USA, that projected warming produces strong decreases in winter snow accumulation and spring snowmelt over much of the affected area regardless of precipitation change. Decreased snowpack produces decreases in warm-season runoff in many mid- to high-latitude areas where precipitation changes are either moderately positive or negative in the future projections. Exceptions, however, occur in some high-latitude areas, particular in Eurasia, where changes in projected precipitation are large enough to result in increased, rather than decreased, snow accumulation. Overall, projected changes in snowpack and the timing of snowmelt-derived runoff are largest near the boundaries of the areas that currently experience substantial snowfall, and at least qualitatively, they mirror the character of observed changes in the western USA. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Regulation of Expression of Proteinase Inhibitor Genes by Methyl Jasmonate and Jasmonic Acid

Abstract: Gel electrophoretic analysis of the proteinase inhibitor proteins induced in tomato leaves by airborne methyl jasmonate (EE Farmer, CA Ryan [1990] Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 87: 7713-7716) revealed the new appearance of inhibitors I and II and two other, higher molecular mass proteins (63.5 and 87 kilodaltons). Northern analysis of methyl jasmonate-induced inhibitors I and II mRNAs in tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) leaves, and of alfalfa trypsin inhibitor (a Bowman-Birk family inhibitor) mRNA in alfalfa (Medicago sativa) leaves, indicated that nascent inhibitor mRNAs were regulated in a manner similar to wounding, that is, at the transcriptional level. In tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum), transformed with a fused gene composed of the 5′ and 3′ regions of a wound-inducible potato inhibitor II and a chloramphenicol acetyl transferase (CAT) gene coding region, CAT activity was induced in leaves by methyl jasmonate, consistent with a transcriptional regulation of the inhibitor II gene. In tomato leaves, inhibitor I and II mRNAs and proteins accumulated in leaves distal to those exposed to methyl jasmonate or jasmonic acid to similar levels as in exposed leaves. We suggest that in response to wound signals generated by insect or pathogen attacks, linolenic acid is released into the cytoplasm from plant cell membrane lipids and is rapidly converted in cells to jasmonic acid (or perhaps a closely related derivative such as methyl jasmonate), which serves as a signal to regulate the expression of proteinase inhibitor genes.

Tests of General Relativity with GW170817

Abstract: The recent discovery by Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo of a gravitational wave signal from a binary neutron star inspiral has enabled tests of general relativity (GR) with this new type of source. This source, for the first time, permits tests of strong-field dynamics of compact binaries in the presence of matter. In this Letter, we place constraints on the dipole radiation and possible deviations from GR in the post-Newtonian coefficients that govern the inspiral regime. Bounds on modified dispersion of gravitational waves are obtained; in combination with information from the observed electromagnetic counterpart we can also constrain effects due to large extra dimensions. Finally, the polarization content of the gravitational wave signal is studied. The results of all tests performed here show good agreement with GR.

Beyond Process: TQM Content and Firm Performance

Abstract: Authors of the literature on total quality management (TQM) have been much more concerned with process than content. This article considers TQM in relation to firm orientation and identifies market advantage, product design efficiency, process efficiency, and product reliability as the key feature of its content. Performance expectations for TQM. In the form of Increased revenues, reduced costs, and their time lags, are addressed in the context of environmental uncertainty.