| 1. |
- Mamontov, Eugen, 1955, et al.
(author)
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What stochastic mechanics are relevant to the study of living systems?
- 2005
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In: Proceedings of the Latvian Academy of Sciences. Section B: Natural, Exact and Applied Sciences. - Riga, Latvia : Latvian Academy of Sciences. - 1407-009X. ; 59:6, s. 255-262
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Biologists have identified many features of living systems which cannot be studied by application of fundamental statistical mechanics (FSM). The present work focuses on some of these features. By discussing all the basic approaches of FSM, the work formulates the extension of the kinetic-theory paradigm (based on the reduced one-particle distribution function) that possesses all the considered properties of the living systems. This extension appears to be a model within the generalized-kinetic theory developed by N. Bellomo and his co-authors. In connection with this model, the work also stresses some other features necessary for making the model relevant to living systems. An example is discussed, which is a generalized kinetic equation coupled with the probability-density equation which represents the varying component content of a living system. The work also suggests directions for future research.
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| 2. |
- Rineau, F., et al.
(author)
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Carbon availability triggers the decomposition of plant litter and assimilation of nitrogen by an ectomycorrhizal fungus
- 2013
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In: The ISME Journal. - : nternational Society for Microbial Ecology. - 1751-7362 .- 1751-7370. ; 7:10, s. 2010-2022
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The majority of nitrogen in forest soils is found in organic matter-protein complexes. Ectomycorrhizal fungi (EMF) are thought to have a key role in decomposing and mobilizing nitrogen from such complexes. However, little is known about the mechanisms governing these processes, how they are regulated by the carbon in the host plant and the availability of more easily available forms of nitrogen sources. Here we used spectroscopic analyses and transcriptome profiling to examine how the presence or absence of glucose and/or ammonium regulates decomposition of litter material and nitrogen mobilization by the ectomycorrhizal fungus Paxillus involutus. We found that the assimilation of nitrogen and the decomposition of the litter material are triggered by the addition of glucose. Glucose addition also resulted in upregulation of the expression of genes encoding enzymes involved in oxidative degradation of polysaccharides and polyphenols, peptidases, nitrogen transporters and enzymes in pathways of the nitrogen and carbon metabolism. In contrast, the addition of ammonium to organic matter had relatively minor effects on the expression of transcripts and the decomposition of litter material, occurring only when glucose was present. On the basis of spectroscopic analyses, three major types of chemical modifications of the litter material were observed, each correlated with the expression of specific sets of genes encoding extracellular enzymes. Our data suggest that the expression of the decomposition and nitrogen assimilation processes of EMF can be tightly regulated by the host carbon supply and that the availability of inorganic nitrogen as such has limited effects on saprotrophic activities.
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| 3. |
- Mamontov, Eugen, 1955, et al.
(author)
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Stochastic mechanics in the context of the properties of living systems
- 2006
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In: Mathl Comput. Modelling. - : Elsevier BV. - 0895-7177 .- 1872-9479. ; 44:7-8, s. 595-607
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Many features of living systems prevent the application of fundamental statistical mechanics (FSM) to study such systems. The present work focuses on some of these features. After discussing all the basic approaches of FSM, the work formulates an extension of the kinetic theory paradigm (based on the reduced one-particle distribution function) that exhibits all of the living-system properties considered. This extension appears to be a model within the generalized kinetic theory developed by N. Bellomo and his co-authors. In connection with this model, the work also stresses some other features necessary for making the model relevant to living systems. A mathematical formulation of homeorhesis is also derived. An example discussed in the work is a generalized kinetic equation coupled with a probability-density equation representing the varying component content of a living system. The work also suggests a few directions for future research. [All rights reserved Elsevier]
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| 4. |
- Anderbrant, Olle, et al.
(author)
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Release of sex pheromone and its precursors in the pine sawfly Diprion pini (Hym., Diprionidae)
- 2005
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In: Chemoecology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0937-7409 .- 1423-0445. ; 15:3, s. 147-151
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The first identification of a sex pheromone of a pine sawfly (Hymenoptera, Diprionidae) dates back almost thirty years. Since then, female-produced pheromones of over twenty diprionid species have been investigated by solvent extraction followed by separation and identification. However, no study has shown what the females actually release. Collection of airborne compounds using absorbtion on charcoal filter as well as solid phase microextraction (SPME) followed by analysis employing gas chromatography combined with mass spectrometry (GC-MS), revealed an unusual system in Diprion pini, in which the pheromone precursor alcohol, 3,7-dimethyl-2-tridecanol, is released together with acetic, propionic, butyric and isobutyric acids. The corresponding acetate, propionate and butyrate esters of 3,7-dimethyl-2-tridecanol were also found in the samples. All esters were electrophysiologically active, and the propionate and isobutyrate were attractive in trapping experiments. Based on these and earlier reported results, it seems that at least in part of its range, the pheromone response of D. pini is not very specific with regard to the functional group, as long as this is an ester.
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| 5. |
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| 6. |
- Hedenström, Erik, et al.
(author)
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Sex pheromone of the pine sawfly, Gilpinia pallida: Chemical identification, synthesis, and biological activity
- 2006
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In: Journal of Chemical Ecology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0098-0331 .- 1573-1561. ; 32:11, s. 2525-2541
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We present the identification of the sex pheromone in the pine sawfly, Gilpinia pallida, including analysis of the female pheromone content, male antennal response and attraction in the field, and synthesis of the most active pheromone component. Several 3,7-dimethyl-2-alkanols were identified from female whole-body extracts, including some compounds with a 2R configuration. This is the first observation of such compounds in a pine sawfly species. Antennae of male G. pallida responded strongly in electroantennograph (EAG) recordings to the (2S,3R,7R)-isomers of the propionates of 3,7-dimethyl-2-tridecanol, 3,7-dimethyl-2-tetradecanol, and 3,7-dimethyl-2-pentadecanol, as well as to the acetates of the tri- and pentadecanols (the acetate of the tetradecanol was not tested). The propionate of (2S,3R,7R)-3,7-dimethyl-2-tetradecanol caught more males in the field than the corresponding isomer of tri- or pentadecanol. We suggest that the (2S,3R,7R)-isomer of 3,7-dimethyl-2-tetradecanol is likely the main sex pheromone precursor in G. pallida, with a subsidiary role for the (2S,3R,7R)-isomer of the tridecanol. Preparation of highly pure (2R,3R,7R)- and (2S,3R,7R)-stereoisomers of 3,7-dimethyl-2-tetradecanol, including the biological active esters, was performed via chemoenzymatic methods and is described in detail.
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| 7. |
- Lebreton, Sebastien, et al.
(author)
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A Drosophila female pheromone elicits species-specific long-range attraction via an olfactory channel with dual specificity for sex and food
- 2017
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In: BMC Biology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1741-7007. ; 15:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Mate finding and recognition in animals evolves during niche adaptation and involves social signals and habitat cues. Drosophila melanogaster and related species are known to be attracted to fermenting fruit for feeding and egg-laying, which poses the question of whether species-specific fly odours contribute to long-range premating communication. Results: We have discovered an olfactory channel in D. melanogaster with a dual affinity to sex and food odorants. Female flies release a pheromone, (Z)-4-undecenal (Z4-11Al), that elicits flight attraction in both sexes. Its biosynthetic precursor is the cuticular hydrocarbon (Z,Z)-7,11-heptacosadiene (7,11-HD), which is known to afford reproductive isolation between the sibling species D. melanogaster and D. simulans during courtship. Twin olfactory receptors, Or69aB and Or69aA, are tuned to Z4-11Al and food odorants, respectively. They are co-expressed in the same olfactory sensory neurons, and feed into a neural circuit mediating species-specific, long-range communication; however, the close relative D. simulans, which shares food resources with D. melanogaster, does not respond to Z4-11Al. Conclusion: The Or69aA and Or69aB isoforms have adopted dual olfactory traits. The underlying gene yields a collaboration between natural and sexual selection, which has the potential to drive speciation.
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| 8. |
- Mamontov, Eugen, 1955, et al.
(author)
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The minimal, phase-transition model for the cell-number maintenance by the hyperplasia-extended homeorhesis
- 2006
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In: Acta Biotheoretica. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0001-5342 .- 1572-8358. ; 54:2, s. 61-101
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Oncogenic hyperplasia is the first and inevitable stage of formation of a (solid) tumor. This stage is also the core of many other proliferative diseases. The present work proposes the first minimal model that combines homeorhesis with oncogenic hyperplasia where the latter is regarded as a genotoxically activated homeorhetic dysfunction. This dysfunction is specified as the transitions of the fluid of cells from a fluid, homeorhetic state to a solid, hyperplastic-tumor state, and back. The key part of the model is a nonlinear reaction-diffusion equation (RDE) where the biochemical-reaction rate is generalized to the one in the well-known Schlögl physical theory of the non-equilibrium phase transitions. A rigorous analysis of the stability and qualitative aspects of the model, where possible, are presented in detail. This is related to the spatially homogeneous case, i.e. when the above RDE is reduced to a nonlinear ordinary differential equation. The mentioned genotoxic activation is treated as a prevention of the quiescent G0-stage of the cell cycle implemented with the threshold mechanism that employs the critical concentration of the cellular fluid and the nonquiescent-cell-duplication time. The continuous tumor morphogeny is described by a time-space-dependent cellular-fluid concentration. There are no sharp boundaries (i.e. no concentration jumps exist) between the domains of the homeorhesis- and tumor-cell populations. No presumption on the shape of a tumor is used. To estimate a tumor in specific quantities, the model provides the time-dependent tumor locus, volume, and boundary that also points out the tumor shape and size. The above features are indispensable in the quantitative development of antiproliferative drugs or therapies and strategies to prevent oncogenic hyperplasia in cancer and other proliferative diseases. The work proposes an analytical-numerical method for solving the aforementioned RDE. A few topics for future research are suggested.
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| 9. |
- Hansson, B. S., et al.
(author)
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Sex pheromone perception in male pine sawflies, Neodiprion sertifer (Hymenoptera; Diprionidae)
- 1991
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In: Journal of Comparative Physiology A: Neuroethology, Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology. - 0340-7594. ; 168:5, s. 533-538
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Electroantennographic and single sensillum recordings were performed on male pine sawfly, Neodiprion sertifer, antennae. Responses to the sex pheromone component (2S, 3S, 7S)- 3,7-dimethyl-2-pentadecenyl (diprionyl) acetate (SSS:OAc), to the behavioral inhibitor (2S, 3R, 7R)-diprionyl acetate (SRR:OAc), to the six other enantiomers of diprionyl acetate, and to the biosynthetic precursor diprionol were recorded. Responses to trans-perillenal, a monoterpene identified in female gland extracts and to (2S, 3S, 7S)-diprionyl propionate (SSS:OPr), a field attractant for N. sertifer and some related sawfly species were also recorded. EAG recordings demonstrated a high antennal sensitivity to SSS:OAc and to SSS:OPr. A somewhat lower response was elicited by SRR:OAc. Single sensillum recordings revealed 8–12 different cells firing in each sensillum, corresponding to the number of cells observed in earlier morphological investigations. Out of these cells all, except one, responded to SSS:OAc and to SSS:OPr. No differences in the response to the two components could be observed. The largest amplitude cell in each sensillum was specifically tuned to the behavioral antagonist, SRR:OAc. The pheromone perception system encountered in male pine sawflies thus differs clearly from that observed in moths.
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| 10. |
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