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The crystal structure of the PP2A holoenzyme allows insights into assembly of the subunits, recruitment of substrate, and regulation of the enzyme by phosphorylation and methylation.
A study of the duplicated genes in Paramecium tetraurelia suggests that after whole-genome duplication events, many duplicated genes are not able to immediately functionally diverge, because dosage constraints act on them. These dosage constraints also prevent loss of many duplicated genes after whole genome duplications.
The phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA) regulates a variety of physiological processes in plants. A molecule involved in chlorophyll biosynthesis, the H-subunit of Mg-chelatase functions as an ABA receptor. This interaction controls seed germination and stomatal movement.
A transmembrane ubiquitin ligase of the endoplasmic reticulum enters the inner nuclear envelope and thereby targets specific nuclear proteins for proteasomal degradation. This indicates that different transmembrane ubiquitin ligases are spatially sorted within the continuous endoplasmic reticulum–nuclear envelope membrane system.
A series of crystallographic 'snapshots' of tRNA maturase reveals the molecular changes in the enzyme that holds it in place on the tRNA, accommodating incoming CTP and ATP nucleotides, and allowing repositioning of the active site after each of the first two CMP residues are added.
Fluorescently labelling trigger factor (TF) to monitor its real-time interaction with ribosome and polypeptide reveals that binding to the ribosome opens and activates TF. Rather than remaining bound to the ribosome, TF is carried away from it on the new polypeptide chain and remains associated with it for a time that depends on the propensity of the protein to aggregate.
The first description of the crystal structure of an intramembrane protease suggests a model where the substrate enters through a gated opening, unfolds, and becomes cleaved inside the membrane-embedded protease.
Shiga toxigenic Escherichia coli can cause gastrointestinal disease in humans, with potentially life-threatening consequences. This paper elucidates the mechanism of the bacteria-induced host cell death; a protein crucially involved in endoplasmic reticulum function is specifically targeted and inactivated by the toxin's protease subunit.
A set of genes that cause lethality when mutated in polyploid cells, but not when mutated in wild-type cells, are involved in cell cycle processes, such as homologous recombination and kinetochore attachment to the spindle. As many cancer cells exhibit polyploidy, targeting these genes may be an effective strategy to fight cancer.
A planetary transit search carried out in a rich stellar field towards the Galactic bulge discovered 16 candidates with orbital periods between 0.4 and 4.2 days, five of which orbit stars of masses with 0.44–0.75 times that of the Sun.
A detailed molecular analysis of related yeast species shows that progressively opposed genetic logics can evolve while resulting in a conserved phenotypic output:mating-type determination. This is the first clear demonstration of the 'genetic drift' principle at a molecular level.