(Tab. XIII.1) TOC content, carbonate content, carbonate mineralogy, percentage of total carbonate, aragonite, low magnesium calcium, and high magnesium calcium, and grain-size contents from samples from the Golfe d'Arguin and from the Western Sahara

Modern carbonate sedimentation takes place on the northern Mauritanian shelf (20°N), where typical tropical components (e.g. hermatypic reefs, calcareous green algae) are absent. Such deposits are reminiscent of extratropical sediment in the geological record. The tropical open shelf of Mauritania is influenced by large siliciclastic dust input and upwelling, highly fertilizing the ocean, as well as strongly limiting the light penetration. In this context, temperature does not appear to be the steering factor of carbonate production. This thesis describes the depositional system of the Golfe d'Arguin off Mauritania and focuses on environmental conditions that control the depositional pattern, in particular carbonate production. The description of this modern analogue provides a tool for paleoenvironmental interpretation of ancient counterparts. The Golfe d'Arguin is a broad shallow shelf comprising extensive shoals (<10 m water depth; i.e. the Banc d'Arguin) on the inner shelf where waters warm up. The sediments collected in water depths between 4 and 600 m are characterized by mixed carbonate and siliciclastic (dust) deposits. They vary from clean coarse-grained, almost pure carbonate loose sediments to siliciclastic-dominated fine-grained sediments. The carbonate content and sediment grain size show a north-south decreasing pattern through the Golfe d'Arguin and are controlled by the hydraulic regime influenced by wind-driven surface currents, swell, and tidal currents. The carbonate grain association is heterozoan. Components include abundant molluscs, foraminifers, and worm tubes, as well as barnacles and echinoderms, elements that are also abundant in extratropical sediments. The spatial distribution of the sedimentary facies of the Golfe d'Arguin does not display a depth zonation but rather a mosaic (i.e. patchy distribution). The depth and climatic signatures of the different sedimentary facies are determined by taxonomic and ecological investigations of the carbonate-secreting biota (molluscs and foraminifers). While certain planktonic foraminifers and molluscs represent upwelling elements, other components (e.g. mollusc and benthic foraminifer taxa) demonstrate the tropical origin of the sediment. The nutrient-rich (and thus also low light-penetration) conditions are reflected in the fact that symbiotic and photosynthetic carbonate-producing organisms (e.g. hermatypic corals) are absent. The Mauritanian deposits represent an environment that is rare in the modern world but might have been more common in the geological past when global temperatures were higher. Taxonomic and ecological studies allow for distinguishing carbonate sediments formed under either tropical high-nutrient or extratropical conditions, thus improving paleoclimate reconstruction.

Observations on the expedition of General Buonaparte to the East.

... And the probability of its success considered. To which is added a brief sketch of the present state of Egypt; an historical account of Alexandria; the two harbours of that city accurately delineated, its former splendor and present state contrasted; with some remarks on its local importance should it become the mart of the East: together with a few particulars relating to the navigation of the Red Sea. By the editor of the History of Peter III. and Catharine II. of Russia.

Recollections of the Emperor Napoleon : during the first three years of his captivity on the island of St. Helena, including the time of his residence at her father's house, "The Briars" /

Mode of access: Internet.

The home and court life of the Emperor Napoleon and his family, with pictures of the most distinguished persons of the time,

Added title page: The autobiography and recollections of Laura, duchess of Abrantès (widow of General Junot) : with reminiscences of her life in Corsica, Paris, and in Spain and Portugal.

Homologues of the maize rust resistance gene Rp1-D are genetically associated with a major rust resistance QTL in sorghum

As part of a comparative mapping study between sugarcane and sorghum, a sugarcane cDNA clone with homology to the maize Rp1-D rust resistance gene was mapped in sorghum. The cDNA probe hybridised to multiple loci, including one on sorghum linkage group (LG) E in a region where a major rust resistance QTL had been previously mapped. Partial sorghum Rp1-D homologues were isolated from genomic DNA of rust-resistant and -susceptible progeny selected from a sorghum mapping population. Sequencing of the Rp1-D homologues revealed five discrete sequence classes: three from resistant progeny and two from susceptible progeny. PCR primers specific to each sequence class were used to amplify products from the progeny and confirmed that the five sequence classes mapped to the same locus on LG E. Cluster analysis of these sorghum sequences and available sugarcane, maize and sorghum Rp1-D homologue sequences showed that the maize Rp1-D sequence and the partial sugarcane Rp1-D homologue were clustered with one of the sorghum resistant progeny sequence classes, while previously published sorghum Rp1-D homologue sequences clustered with the susceptible progeny sequence classes. Full-length sequence information was obtained for one member of a resistant progeny sequence class ( Rp1-SO) and compared with the maize Rp1-D sequence and a previously identified sorghum Rp1 homologue ( Rph1-2). There was considerable similarity between the two sorghum sequences and less similarity between the sorghum and maize sequences. These results suggest a conservation of function and gene sequence homology at the Rp1 loci of maize and sorghum and provide a basis for convenient PCR-based screening tools for putative rust resistance alleles in sorghum.

Evidence for a stock discontinuity of snapper (Pagrus auratus) on the east coast of Australia

Allozyme electrophoresis was used to investigate the genetic stock structure of snapper, Pagrus auratus (Bloch and Schneider) on the east coast of Australia. Spatial variation in allele frequency was examined at nine polymorphic loci. The results support a single, relatively weak genetic disjunction among the P. auratus populations north of Sydney (latitude 33°52?) but south of Forster (latitude 31°58?) on the central coast of New South Wales. There was also evidence for genetic isolation by distance on the east coast. The influence of the East Australian Current (EAC) in transporting larvae to the south, coupled with the general northward migration pattern of adult snapper is believed to be responsible for maintaining a panmictic snapper population on much of the east coast of Australia.

Participation or further exclusion? : Contestations over forest conservation and control in the East Usambara Mountains, Tanzania

This Ph.D. thesis Participation or Further Exclusion? Contestations over Forest Conservation and Control in the East Usambara Mountains, Tanzania describes and analyses the shift in the prevailing discourse of forest and biodiversity conservation policies and strategies towards more participatory approaches in Tanzania, and the changes in the practises of resource control. I explore the scope for and limits to the different actors and groups who are considered to form the community, to participate in resource control, in a specific historical and socio-economic context. I analyse whether, how and to which extent the targets of such participatory conservation interventions have been able to affect the formal rules and practices of resource control, and explore their different responses and discursive and other strategies in relation to conservation efforts. I approach the problematic through exploring certain participatory conservation interventions and related negotiations between the local farmers, government officials and the external actors in the case of two protected forest reserves in the southern part of the East Usambaras, Tanzania. The study area belongs to the Eastern Arc Mountains that are valued globally and nationally for their high level of biodiversity and number of endemic and near endemic species. The theoretical approach draws from theorising on power, participation and conservation in anthropology of development and post-structuralist political ecology. The material was collected in three stages between 2003 and 2008 by using an ethnographic approach. I interviewed and observed the actors and their resource use and control practices at the local level, including the representatives of the villagers living close to the protected forests and the conservation agency, but also followed the selected processes and engaged with the non-local agencies involved in the conservation efforts in the East Usambaras. In addition, the more recent processes of change and the actors strategies in resource control were contextualised against the social and environmental history of the study area and the evolvement of institutions of natural resource control. My findings indicate that the discourse of participation that has emerged in global conservation policy debate within the past three decades, and is being institutionalised in the national policies in many countries, including Tanzania, has shaped the practices of forest conservation in the East Usambaras, although in a fragmented and uneven way. Instrumental interpretation of participation, in which it is to serve the goals of improving the control of the forest and making it more acceptable and efficient, has prevailed among the governmental actors and conservation organisations. Yet, there is variation between the different projects and actors promoting participatory conservation regarding the goals and means of participation, e.g. to which extent the local people are to be involved in decision-making. The actors representing communities also have their diverse agendas, understandings and experiences regarding the rationality, outcomes and benefits of being involved in forest control, making the practices of control fluid. The elements of the exclusive conservation thinking and practices co-exist with the more recent participatory processes, and continue to shape the understandings and strategies of the actors involved in resource control. The ideas and narratives of the different discourses are reproduced and selectively used by the parties involved. The idea of forest conservation is not resisted as such by most of the actors at local level, quite the opposite. However, the strict regulations and rules governing access to resources, such as valuable timber species, continue to be disputed by many. Furthermore, the history of control, such as past injustices related to conservation and unfulfilled promises, undermines the participation of certain social groups in resource control and benefit sharing. This also creates controversies in the practices of conservation, and fuels conflicts regarding the establishment of new protected areas. In spite of this, the fact that the representatives of the communities have been invited to the arenas where information is shared, and principles and conditions of forest control and benefit sharing are discussed and partly decided upon, has created expectations among the participants, and opened up opportunities for some of the local actors to enhance their own, and sometimes wider interests in relation to resource control and the related benefits. The local actors experiences of the previous government and other interventions strongly affect how they position themselves in relation to conservation interventions, and their responses and strategies. However, my findings also suggest, in a similar way to research conducted in some other protected areas, that the benefits of participation in conservation and resource control tend to accrue unevenly between different groups of local people, e.g. due to unequal access to information and differences in their initial resources and social position.

Identification of the fungal catabolic D-galacturonate pathway

Pectin is a natural polymer consisting mainly of D-galacturonic acid monomers. Microorganisms living on decaying plant material can use D-galacturonic acid for growth. Although bacterial pathways for D-galacturonate catabolism had been described previously, no eukaryotic pathway for D-galacturonate catabolism was known at the beginning of this work. The aim of this work was to identify such a pathway. In this thesis the pathway for D-galacturonate catabolism was identified in the filamentous fungus Trichoderma reesei. The pathway consisted of four enzymes: NADPH-dependent D-galacturonate reductase (GAR1), L-galactonate dehydratase (LGD1), L-threo-3-deoxy-hexulosonate aldolase (LGA1) and NADPH-dependent glyceraldehyde reductase (GLD1). In this pathway D-galacturonate was converted to pyruvate and glycerol via L-galactonate, L-threo-3-deoxy-hexulosonate and L-glyceraldehyde. The enzyme activities of GAR1, LGD1 and LGA1 were present in crude mycelial extract only when T. reesei was grown on D-galacturonate. The activity of GLD1 was equally present on all the tested carbon sources. The corresponding genes were identified either by purifying and sequencing the enzyme or by expressing genes with homology to other similar enzymes in a heterologous host and testing the activities. The new genes that were identified were expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and resulted in active enzymes. The GAR1, LGA1 and GLD1 were also produced in S. cerevisiae as active enzymes with a polyhistidine-tag, and purified and characterised. GAR1 and LGA1 catalysed reversible reactions, whereas only the forward reactions were observed for LGD1 and GLD1. When gar1, lgd1 or lga1 was deleted in T. reesei the deletion strain was unable to grow with D-galacturonate as the only carbon source, demonstrating that all the corresponding enzymes were essential for D-galacturonate catabolism and that no alternative D-galacturonate pathway exists in T. reesei. A challenge for biotechnology is to convert cheap raw materials to useful and more valuable products. Filamentous fungi are especially useful for the conversion of pectin, since they are efficient producers of pectinases. Identification of the fungal D-galacturonate pathway is of fundamental importance for the utilisation of pectin and its conversion to useful products.

Proceedings of the Workshop on the Okhotsk Sea and Adjacent Areas [Vladivostok, June 1995]

I REPORT OF THE PICES WORKSHOP ON THE OKHOTSK SEA AND ADJACENT AREAS (pdf, 0.1 Mb) 1. Outline of the workshop 2. Summary reports from sessions 3. Recommendations of the workshop 4. Acknowledgments II SCIENTIFIC PAPERS SUBMITTED FROM SESSIONS 1. Physical Oceanography Sessions (pdf, 4 Mb) A. Circulation and water mass structure of the Okhotsk Sea and Northwestern Pacific Valentina D. Budaeva & Vyacheslav G. Makarov Seasonal variability of the pycnocline in La Perouse Strait and Aniva Gulf Valentina D. Budaeva & Vyacheslav G. Makarov Modeling of the typical water circulations in the La Perouse Strait and Aniva Gulf region Nina A. Dashko, Sergey M. Varlamov, Young-Ho Han & Young-Seup Kim Anticyclogenesis over the Okhotsk Sea and its influence on weather Boris S. Dyakov, Alexander A. Nikitin & Vadim P. Pavlychev Research of water structure and dynamics in the Okhotsk Sea and adjacent Pacific Howard J. Freeland, Alexander S. Bychkov, C.S. Wong, Frank A. Whitney & Gennady I. Yurasov The Ohkotsk Sea component of Pacific Intermediate Water Emil E. Herbeck, Anatoly I. Alexanin, Igor A. Gontcharenko, Igor I. Gorin, Yury V. Naumkin & Yury G. Proshjants Some experience of the satellite environmental support of marine expeditions at the Far East Seas Alexander A. Karnaukhov The tidal influence on the Sakhalin shelf hydrology Yasuhiro Kawasaki On the formation process of the subsurface mixed water around the Central Kuril Islands Lloyd D. Keigwin Northwest Pacific paleohydrography Talgat R. Kilmatov Physical mechanisms for the North Pacific Intermediate Water formation Vladimir A. Luchin Water masses in the Okhotsk Sea Andrey V. Martynov, Elena N. Golubeva & Victor I. Kuzin Numerical experiments with finite element model of the Okhotsk Sea circulation Nikolay A. Maximenko, Anatoly I. Kharlamov & Raissa I. Gouskina Structure of Intermediate Water layer in the Northwest Pacific Nikolay A. Maximenko & Andrey Yu. Shcherbina Fine-structure of the North Pacific Intermediate Water layer Renat D. Medjitov & Boris I. Reznikov An experimental study of water transport through the Straits of Okhotsk Sea by electromagnetic method Valentina V. Moroz Oceanological zoning of the Kuril Islands area in the spring-summer period Yutaka Nagata Note on the salinity balance in the Okhotsk Sea Alexander D. Nelezin Variability of the Kuroshio Front in 1965-1991 Vladimir I. Ponomarev, Evgeny P. Varlaty & Mikhail Yu. Cheranyev An experimental study of currents in the near-Kuril region of the Pacific Ocean and in the Okhotsk Sea Stephen C. Riser, Gennady I. Yurasov & Mark J. Warner Hydrographic and tracer measurements of the water mass structure and transport in the Okhotsk Sea in early spring Konstantin A. Rogachev & Andrey V. Verkhunov Circulation and water mass structure in the southern Okhotsk Sea, as observed in summer, 1994 Lynne D. Talley North Pacific Intermediate Water formation and the role of the Okhotsk Sea Anatoly S. Vasiliev & Fedor F. Khrapchenkov Seasonal variability of integral water circulation in the Okhotsk Sea B. Sea ice and its relation to circulation and climate V.P. Gavrilo, G.A. Lebedev & A.P. Polyakov Acoustic methods in sea ice dynamics studies Nina M. Pestereva & Larisa A. Starodubtseva The role of the Far-East atmospheric circulation in the formation of the ice cover in the Okhotsk Sea Yoshihiko Sekine Anomalous Oyashio intrusion and its teleconnection with Subarctic North Pacific circulation, sea ice of the Okhotsk Sea and air temperature of the northern Asian continent C. Waves and tides Vladimir A. Luchin Characteristics of the tidal motions in the Kuril Straits George V. Shevtchenko On seasonal variability of tidal constants in the northwestern part of the Okhotsk Sea D. Physical oceanography of the Japan Sea/East Sea Mikhail A. Danchenkov, Kuh Kim, Igor A. Goncharenko & Young-Gyu Kim A “chimney” of cold salt waters near Vladivostok Christopher N.K. Mooers & Hee Sook Kang Preliminary results from a numerical circulation model of the Japan Sea Lev P. Yakunin Influence of ice production on the deep water formation in the Japan Sea 2. Fisheries and Biology Sessions (pdf, 2.8 Mb) A. Communities of the Okhotsk Sea and adjacent waters: composition, structure and dynamics Lubov A. Balkonskaya Exogenous succession of the southwestern Sakhalin algal communities Tatyana A. Belan, Yelena V. Oleynik, Alexander V. Tkalin & Tat’yana S. Lishavskaya Characteristics of pelagic and benthic communities on the North Sakhalin Island shelf Lev N. Bocharov & Vladimir K. Ozyorin Fishery and oceanographic database of Okhotsk Sea Victor V. Lapko Interannual dynamics of the epipelagic ichthyocen structure in the Okhotsk Sea Valentina I. Lapshina Quantitative seasonal and year-to-year changes of phytoplankton in the Okhotsk Sea and off Kuril area of the Pacific Lyudmila N. Luchsheva Biological productivity in anomalous mercury conditions (northern part of Okhotsk Sea) Inna A. Nemirovskaya Origin of hydrocarbons in the ecosystems of coastal region of the Okhotsk Sea Tatyana A. Shatilina Elements of the Pacific South Kuril area ecosystem Vyacheslav P. Shuntov & Yelena P. Dulepova Biota of the Okhotsk Sea: Structure of communities, the interannual dynamics and current status B. Abundance, distribution, dynamics of the common fishes of the Okhotsk Sea Yuri P. Diakov Influence of some abiotic factors on spatial population dynamics of the West Kamchatka flounders (Pleuronectidae) Gordon A. McFarlane, Richard J. Beamish & Larisa M. Zverkova An examination of age estimates of walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma) from the Sea of Okhotsk using the burnt otolith method and implications for stock assessment and management Larisa P. Nikolenko Migration of Greenland turbot (Reinhardtius hippoglossoides) in the Okhotsk Sea Galina M. Pushnikova Fisheries impact on the Sakhalin-Hokkaido herring population Vidar G. Wespestad Is pollock overfished? C. Salmon of the Okhotsk Sea: biology, abundance and stock identification Vladimir A. Belyaev, Alexander Yu. Zhigalin Epipelagic Far Eastern sardine of the Okhotsk Sea Yuri E. Bregman, Victor V. Pushnikov, Lyudmila G. Sedova & Vladimir Ph. Ivanov A preliminary report on stock status and productive capacity of horsehair crab Erimacrus isenbeckii (Brandt) in the South Kuril Strait Natalia T. Dolganova Mezoplankton distribution in the West Japan Sea Vladimir V. Efremov, Richard L. Wilmot, Christine M. Kondzela, Natalia V. Varnavskaya, Sharon L. Hawkins & Maria E. Malinina Application of pink and chum salmon genetic baseline to fishery management Vyacheslav N. Ivankov & Valentina V. Andreyeva Strategy for culture, breeding and numerous dynamics of Sakhalin salmon populations Alla M. Kovalevskaya, Natalia I. Savelyeva & Dmitry M. Polyakov Primary production in Sakhalin shelf waters Tatyana N. Krupnova Some reasons for resource reduction of Laminaria japonica (Primorye region) Lyudmila N. Luchsheva & Anatoliy I. Botsul Mercury in bottom sediments of the northeastern Okhotsk Sea Pavel A. Luk’yanov, Natalia I. Belogortseva, Alexander A. Bulgakov, Alexander A. Kurika & Olga D. Novikova Lectins and glycosidases from marine macro and micro-organisms of Japan and Okhotsk Seas Boris A. Malyarchuk, Olga A. Radchenko, Miroslava V. Derenko, Andrey G. Lapinski & Leonid L. Solovenchuk PCR-fingerprinting of mitochondrial genome of chum salmon, Oncorhynchus keta Alexander A. Mikheev Chaos and relaxation in dynamics of the pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) returns for two regions Yuri A. Mitrofanov & Larisa N. Lesnikova Fish-culture of Pacific Salmons increases the number of heredity defects Larisa P. Nikolenko Abundance of young halibut along the West Kamchatka shelf in 1982-1992 Sergey A. Nizyaev Living conditions of golden king crab Lithodes aequispina in the Okhotsk Sea and near the Kuril Islands Ludmila A. Pozdnyakova & Alla V. Silina Settlements of Japanese scallop in Reid Pallada Bay (Sea of Japan) Galina M. Pushnikova Features of the Southwest Okhotsk Sea herring Vladimir I. Radchenko & Igor I. Glebov Present state of the Okhotsk herring stock and fisheries outlook Alla V. Silina & Ida I. Ovsyannikova Distribution of the barnacle Balanus rostratus eurostratus near the coasts of Primorye (Sea of Japan) Galina I. Victorovskaya Dependence of urchin Strongylocentrotus intermedius reproduction on water temperature Anatoly F. Volkov, Alexander Y. Efimkin & Valery I. Chuchukalo Feeding habits of Pacific salmon in the Sea of Okhotsk and in the Pacific waters of Kuril Islands in summer 1993 Larisa M. Zverkova & Georgy A. Oktyabrsky Okhotsk Sea walleye pollock stock status Tatyana N. Zvyagintseva, Elena V. Sundukova, Natalia M. Shevchenko & Ludmila A. Elyakova Water soluble polysaccharides of some Far-Eastern seaweeds 3. Biodiversity Program (pdf, 0.2 Mb) A. Biodiversity of island ecosystems and seasides of the North Pacific Larissa A. Gayko Productivity of Japanese scallop Patinopecten yessoensis (IAY) culture in Posieta Bay (Sea of Japan) III APPENDICES 1. List of acronyms 2. List of participants (Document pdf contains 431 pages)

'In the Service of the Honourable East India Company': Politics and Identity in Dean Mahomet's Travels (1794)

The successful career of Dean Mahomet (1759-1851) as a migrant from India to Ireland (and later, England) has led to scholarly and popular interest in his work. His Travels through several parts of India in the Service of the Honourable East India Company (1794) published by subscription in Cork is reputedly the first English book by an Indian, and has been seen to counterbalance the many accounts of India by western travellers, and to assert, in autobiographical form, his identity as an Indian in 1790s Ireland. My paper analyses this text in relation to moral and economic criticisms of the East India Company in the eighteenth century, and in particular to legislation of 1793 which defined the role of the Company in Ireland���s trade with the east. These aspects of colonial politics involving Ireland and India as subject nations of Britain are shown to shape Mahomet’s discursive strategies and the complex identity produced in his text.

Total Synthesis of the Potent HIF-1 Inhibitory Antitumor Natural Product, (8R)-Mycothiazole, via Baldwin–Lee CsF/CuI sp3–sp2-Stille Cross-Coupling. Confirmation of the Crews Reassignment

A convenient asymmetric total synthesis of the potent HIF-1 inhibitory antitumor natural product, (−)- or (+)-(8R)-mycothiazole (1), is described. Not only does our synthesis confirm the 2006 structural reassignment made by Crews (Crews, P., et al. J. Nat. Prod</i>. 2006, 69, 145), it revises the [α]_D data previously reported for this molecule in MeOH from −13.7° to +42.3°. The newly developed route to (8R)-1 sets the C(8)–OH stereocenter via Sharpless AE/2,3-epoxy alcohol reductive ring opening and utilizes two Baldwin–Lee CsF/cat. CuI Stille cross-coupling reactions with vinylstannanes 8 and 3 to efficiently elaborate the C(1)–C(4) and C(14)–C(18) sectors.</sub>

Leadership of portuguese community schools in the East Coast of the United States and the public policies of education: a multiple case studies

The Portuguese community schools of the United States located in the areas of larger Portuguese population concentration are social organizations that come materializing throughout decades the designs of the educative policies of the Portuguese government in relation to the expansion and preservation of the language, the culture and the history of Portugal. These designs of the educative policies are enrolled in the Constitution of the Republic (1976), in the Basic Law of Educative System (1986) and, over all, in the successive legislative norms (Decree-laws and ordinances) of the successive governments. Portuguese community schools in the United States are structuralized in analogous way to schools of the Portuguese geographic space. For this qualitative study (multiple case), four directors of Portuguese schools of the East Coast of the United States were interviewed; two schools are in the state of Rhode Island and the other two are in the state of Massachusetts. Also, it was administered the questionnaire on practices of leadership “Leadership Practices Inventory” (LPI) of Kouzes and Posner (2002) to collect additional data about practices of leadership on the directors of the schools. The LPI evaluates practices of leadership classifying them in five domains: (a) Model the way; (b) Inspire a shared vision; (c) Challenge the process; (d) Enable others to act; and, (e) Encourage the heart. Results of this qualitative research indicate that the Portuguese Government has not had an educative policy stimulant, coherent and consistent of support, incentive, maintenance and diffusion of the Portuguese language and culture and the directors of the studied schools they have a proactive and serving leadership style in conducting the management of Portuguese community schools. The five practices of leadership are highly practiced by the directors of the studied schools above all the practices “Enable others to act” and “Encourage the heart”.

Effects of Spider Venom Toxin PWTX-I (6-Hydroxytrypargine) on the Central Nervous System of Rats

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Structure, genomic DNA typing, and kinetic characterization of the D allozyme of placental alkaline phosphatase (PLAP/ALPP)

The D allozyme of placental alkaline phosphatase (PLAP) displays enzymatic properties at variance with those of the common PLAP allozymes. We have deduced the amino acid sequence of the PLAP D allele by PCR cloning of its gene, ALPP Two coding substitutions were found in comparison With the cDNA of the common PLAP F allele, i.e., 692C>G and 1352A>G, which translate into a P209R and E429G substitution. A single nucleotide primer extension (SNuPE) assay was developed using PCR primers that enable the amplification of a 1.9 kb PLAP fragment. Extension primers were then used on this PCR fragment to detect the 692C>G and 1352A>G substitution. The SNuPE assay on these two nucleotide substitutions enabled us to distinguish the PLAP F and D alleles from the PLAP S/I alleles. Functional studies on the D allozyme were made possible by constructing and expressing a PLAP D cDNA, i.e., [Arg209, Gly429] PLAP, into wildtype Chinese hamster ovary cells. We determined the k(cat) and K-m, of the PLAP S, F. and D allozymes using the non,physiological substrate p-nitrophenylphosphate at an optimal pH (9.8) as well as two physiological substrates, i.e., pyridoxal-5'-phosphate and inorganic pyrophosphate at physiological pH (7.5). We found that the biochemical properties of the D allozyme of PLAP are significantly different from those of the common PLAP allozymes. These biochemical findings suggest that a suboptimal enzymatic function by the PLAP D allozyme may be the basis for the apparent negative selective pressure of the PLAP D allele. The development of the SNuPE assay will enable us to test the hypothesis that the PLAP D allele is subjected to intrauterine selection by examining genomic DNA from statistically informative population samples. Hum Mutat 19:258-267, 2002. (C) 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Surface sediment analyses, bivalve and gastropod taxa of marine sediments from the Banc d'Arguin, Mauritania

High-nutrient tropical carbonate systems are known to produce sediments that, in terms of skeletal composition, are reminiscent of their extra-tropical counterparts. Such carbonate systems and associated carbonate grain assemblages in the tropics are rare in the present-day world. Nonetheless, it is crucial to gain a better understanding of those ecosystems, including their drivers and players because such settings potentially represent models for ancient depositional systems as well as for predicted future environmental conditions. One of the modern occurrences of eutrophic tropical carbonate systems is the northern Mauritanian Shelf. The marine environment is characterized by an eastern boundary upwelling system that pushes cool and nutrient-rich intermediate waters onto a wide epicontinental platform (Golfe d'Arguin) where the waters warm up to tropical temperatures. The resulting facies is mixed carbonate-siliciclastic with a dominant foramol association grading into bimol and barnamol grain assemblages in the shallowest areas forming the Banc d'Arguin. Besides this cool water-related heterozoan association, the carbonate sediment is characterized by tropical molluskan species, while chlorozoan biota (e.g., corals and algal symbiont-bearing foraminifers) are entirely absent. We here present a first comprehensive facies analysis of this model example of eutrophic tropical carbonates. Furthermore, we reconstruct the loci of carbonate production and provide a conclusive depositional model of the Banc d'Arguin that received little attention to date due to its poorly accessible nature.