A new amino acid with a maximum at 334 nm, supposed to be biogenetically related to the characteristic UV-absorbing compounds from the zoanthid Palythoa tuberculosa, has been isolated from Porphyra tenera Kjellman and its structure determined.

We evaluated the effects of seed-and pollen-mediated gene dispersal on genetic structure among Quercus salicina saplings. Parentage analysis using 10 microsatellite markers indicated that the 111 adult trees located within a 11.56 ha plot in the Tatera Forest Reserve, Japan, included only one parent of 44.2% and both parents of 40.7% of the 226 saplings located in a 1-ha core plot at its center. Coancestry (F ij ) estimates indicated that there was strong genetic structure among the saplings. The numbers of pairs of fulland half-siblings were high among neighboring saplings, suggesting that there was strong maternal half-sibling family structure among the saplings around their seed parents, probably generated by the spatially limited seed dispersal and the small extent of overlapping seed shadows owing to the low density of adults. The frequencies also suggest that the maternal half-sibling families are interspersed with fullsiblings, produced by correlated mating, probably because pollination frequency depends on the distance between parents. The frequencies of pairs of half-siblings decreased as the distance between saplings increased, but did not fall to zero even at distances up to the 90-95 m class, suggesting that paternal half-siblings originating from correlated paternity were widely distributed owing to extensive pollen flow. We separately examined the genetic structure for maternal and paternal alleles in the saplings. Unsurprisingly, very strong genetic structure was detected for maternal alleles. However, weak (but significant) genetic structure was also detected for paternal alleles. Therefore, pollen dispersal may affect the extent of genetic structure as well as seed dispersal.

The Ca/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase kinase β (CaMKKβ)/5'-AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) phosphorylation cascade affects various Ca-dependent metabolic pathways and cancer growth. Unlike recombinant CaMKKβ that exhibits higher basal activity (autonomous activity), activation of the CaMKKβ/AMPK signaling pathway requires increased intracellular Ca concentrations. Moreover, the Ca/CaM dependence of CaMKKβ appears to arise from multiple phosphorylation events, including autophosphorylation and activities furnished by other protein kinases. However, the effects of proximal downstream kinases on CaMKKβ activity have not yet been evaluated. Here, we demonstrate feedback phosphorylation of CaMKKβ at multiple residues by CaMKKβ-activated AMPK in addition to autophosphorylation , leading to reduced autonomous, but not Ca/CaM-activated, CaMKKβ activity. MS analysis and site-directed mutagenesis of AMPK phosphorylation sites in CaMKKβ indicated that Thr phosphorylation by activated AMPK converts CaMKKβ into a Ca/CaM-dependent enzyme as shown by completely Ca/CaM-dependent CaMKK activity of a phosphomimetic T144E CaMKKβ mutant. CaMKKβ mutant analysis indicated that the C-terminal domain (residues 471-587), including the autoinhibitory region, plays an important role in stabilizing an inactive conformation in a Thr phosphorylation-dependent manner. Furthermore, immunoblot analysis with anti-phospho-Thr antibody revealed phosphorylation of Thr in CaMKKβ in transfected COS-7 cells that was further enhanced by exogenous expression of AMPKα. These results indicate that AMPK-mediated feedback phosphorylation of CaMKKβ regulates the CaMKKβ/AMPK signaling cascade and may be physiologically important for intracellular maintenance of Ca-dependent AMPK activation by CaMKKβ.

Paternity analysis and analysis of molecular variance were used to determine patterns of pollen flow and genetic differentiation among pollen pools in Quercus salicina in an 11.56-ha plot in a temperate old-growth evergreen broad-leaved forest. The genotypes at seven microsatellite loci were determined for 111 adult trees and 276 seeds collected from under eight seed parents. The proportion of pollen flow from outside the plot (further than 100 m) was 52.2%, indicating that long-distance pollen flow occurred frequently in this species, as observed in other Quercus species. The pollen pools from inside and outside the plot differed genetically, and genetic structure was detected in the population of adult trees within the plot. Therefore, longdistance pollen flow from outside the plot may introduce new or low-frequent alleles, and increase genetic diversity in this population. However, the actual average distance of pollen flow within the plot was significantly shorter than the average potential distance, and negative exponential curves explained well the frequencies of matings as functions of the distance between parents, as found in other Quercus species. The genetic composition of pollen pools differed among the eight seed parents. The genetic differentiation of pollen pools between the seed parents showed significant positive correlation with the spatial distance between them, indicating that neighboring seed parents tend to accept similar pollen pools, probably because matings are frequently mediated by pollen transported over short distances

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