| 1. |
- Letcher, Susan G., et al.
(författare)
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Environmental gradients and the evolution of successional habitat specialization : a test case with 14 Neotropical forest sites
- 2015
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Ingår i: Journal of Ecology. - : Wiley. - 0022-0477 .- 1365-2745. ; 103:5
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- * Successional gradients are ubiquitous in nature, yet few studies have systematically examined the evolutionary origins of taxa that specialize at different successional stages. Here we quantify successional habitat specialization in Neotropical forest trees and evaluate its evolutionary lability along a precipitation gradient. Theoretically, successional habitat specialization should be more evolutionarily conserved in wet forests than in dry forests due to more extreme microenvironmental differentiation between early and late-successional stages in wet forest. * We applied a robust multinomial classification model to samples of primary and secondary forest trees from 14 Neotropical lowland forest sites spanning a precipitation gradient from 788 to 4000 mm annual rainfall, identifying species that are old-growth specialists and secondary forest specialists in each site. We constructed phylogenies for the classified taxa at each site and for the entire set of classified taxa and tested whether successional habitat specialization is phylogenetically conserved. We further investigated differences in the functional traits of species specializing in secondary vs. old-growth forest along the precipitation gradient, expecting different trait associations with secondary forest specialists in wet vs. dry forests since water availability is more limiting in dry forests and light availability more limiting in wet forests. * Successional habitat specialization is non-randomly distributed in the angiosperm phylogeny, with a tendency towards phylogenetic conservatism overall and a trend towards stronger conservatism in wet forests than in dry forests. However, the specialists come from all the major branches of the angiosperm phylogeny, and very few functional traits showed any consistent relationships with successional habitat specialization in either wet or dry forests. * Synthesis. The niche conservatism evident in the habitat specialization of Neotropical trees suggests a role for radiation into different successional habitats in the evolution of species-rich genera, though the diversity of functional traits that lead to success in different successional habitats complicates analyses at the community scale. Examining the distribution of particular lineages with respect to successional gradients may provide more insight into the role of successional habitat specialization in the evolution of species-rich taxa.
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| 2. |
- Privon, G., et al.
(författare)
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EXCITATION MECHANISMS FOR HCN(1-0) AND HCO+ (1-0) IN GALAXIES FROM THE GREAT OBSERVATORIES ALL-SKY LIRG SURVEY
- 2015
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal. - 1538-4357 .- 0004-637X. ; 814:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present new Institut de Radioastronomie Millimetrique (TRAM) 30 m spectroscopic observations of the similar to 88 GHz band, including emission from the CCH (N = 1 -> 0) multiplet, HCN (J = 1 -> 0), HCO (J = 1 -> 0), and HNC (J = 1 -> 0), for a sample of 58 local luminous and ultraluminous infrared galaxies from the Great Observatories All-sky LIRG Survey (GOALS). By combining our new TRAM data with literature data and Spitzer /IRS spectroscopy, we study the correspondence between these putative tracers of dense gas and the relative contribution of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and star formation to the mid-infrared luminosity of each system. We find the HCN (1-0) emission to be enhanced in AGN-dominated systems (L'(HCN(1 0))/ L'(HCO+(1-o))) = 1.84), compared to composite and starburst-dominated systems (L'HCN(1413/(1-0)) = 1.14, and 0.88, respectively). However, some composite and starburst systems have LH/ CN (1 0) /LH/ CO (1 0) ratios comparable to those of AGNs, indicating that enhanced HCN emission is not uniquely associated with energetically dominant AGNs. After removing AGN-dominated systems from the sample, we find a linear relationship (within the uncertainties) between logio(L'(HCN(1-0))) and log(10)(LIR), consistent with most previous findings. Lc N(1 0) /LIR, typically interpreted as the dense-gas depletion time, appears to have no systematic trend with LIR for our sample of luminous and ultraluminous infrared galaxies, and has significant scatter. The galaxyintegrated L'(HCN(1-0)) and L'(HCO+(1-0)) emission do not appear to have a simple interpretation in terms of the AGN dominance or the star formation rate, and are likely determined by multiple processes, including density and radiative effects.
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| 3. |
- Vizoso, Miguel, et al.
(författare)
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Epigenetic activation of a cryptic TBC1D16 transcript enhances melanoma progression by targeting EGFR
- 2015
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Ingår i: Nature Medicine. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1078-8956 .- 1546-170X. ; 21:7, s. 741-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Metastasis is responsible for most cancer-related deaths, and, among common tumor types, melanoma is one with great potential to metastasize. Here we study the contribution of epigenetic changes to the dissemination process by analyzing the changes that occur at the DNA methylation level between primary cancer cells and metastases. We found a hypomethylation event that reactivates a cryptic transcript of the Rab GTPase activating protein TBC1D16 (TBC1D16-47 kDa; referred to hereafter as TBC1D16-47KD) to be a characteristic feature of the metastatic cascade. This short isoform of TBC1D16 exacerbates melanoma growth and metastasis both in vitro and in vivo. By combining immunoprecipitation and mass spectrometry, we identified RAB5C as a new TBC1D16 target and showed that it regulates EGFR in melanoma cells. We also found that epigenetic reactivation of TBC1D16-47KD is associated with poor clinical outcome in melanoma, while conferring greater sensitivity to BRAF and MEK inhibitors.
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