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Tardigrade Specific Proteins
Tardigrade specific proteins are specific types of intrinsically disordered proteins that are seen in tardigrades. They are most notably used to help them survive desiccation which makes them very extremotolerant. Likely because of their flexibility, tardigrade specific proteins are strongly influenced by their environment, leading to strong changes during extreme abiotic environments. History The mechanism of protection by tardigrades was originally thought to be as a result of high levels of the sugar trehalose. Trehalose has been shown to help other organisms like yeast through desiccation by working with heat shock proteins and helping proteins that are sensitive to desiccation and keeping them in solution. However, when tested in tardigrades, low or even no levels of trehalose is found, making the this theory debated in tardigrades. Research into other species that survived prolonged periods without water led to the discovery of Late Embryogenesis Abundant proteins, wh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Intrinsically Disordered Proteins
In molecular biology, an intrinsically disordered protein (IDP) is a protein that lacks a fixed or ordered three-dimensional structure, typically in the absence of its macromolecular interaction partners, such as other proteins or RNA. IDPs range from fully unstructured to partially structured and include random coil, molten globule-like aggregates, or flexible linkers in large multi-domain proteins. They are sometimes considered as a separate class of proteins along with globular, fibrous and membrane proteins. IDPs are a very large and functionally important class of proteins and their discovery has disproved the idea that three-dimensional structures of proteins must be fixed to accomplish their biological functions. For example, IDPs have been identified to participate in weak multivalent interactions that are highly cooperative and dynamic, lending them importance in DNA regulation and in cell signaling. Many IDPs can also adopt a fixed three-dimensional structure after bi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tardigrades
Tardigrades (), known colloquially as water bears or moss piglets, are a phylum of eight-legged segmented micro-animals. They were first described by the German zoologist Johann August Ephraim Goeze in 1773, who called them Kleiner Wasserbär ("little water bear"). In 1777, the Italian biologist Lazzaro Spallanzani named them Tardigrada (), which means "slow steppers". They have been found in diverse regions of Earth's biospheremountaintops, the deep sea, tropical rainforests, and the Antarctic. Tardigrades are among the most resilient animals known, with individual species able to survive extreme conditions – such as exposure to extreme temperatures, extreme pressures (both high and low), air deprivation, radiation, dehydration, and starvation – that would quickly kill most other known forms of life. Tardigrades have survived exposure to outer space. There are about 1,300 known species in the phylum Tardigrada, a part of the superphylum Ecdysozoa consisting of animals th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Desiccation
Desiccation () is the state of extreme dryness, or the process of extreme drying. A desiccant is a hygroscopic (attracts and holds water) substance that induces or sustains such a state in its local vicinity in a moderately sealed container. Industry Desiccation is widely employed in the oil and gas industry. These materials are obtained in a hydrated state, but the water content leads to corrosion or is incompatible with downstream processing. Removal of water is achieved by cryogenic condensation, absorption into glycols, and absorption onto desiccants such as silica gel. Laboratory A desiccator is a heavy glass or plastic container, now somewhat antiquated, used in practical chemistry for drying or keeping small amounts of materials very dry. The material is placed on a shelf, and a drying agent or ''desiccant'', such as dry silica gel or anhydrous sodium hydroxide, is placed below the shelf. Often some sort of humidity indicator is included in the desiccator to show, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Extremophiles
An extremophile (from Latin ' meaning "extreme" and Greek ' () meaning "love") is an organism that is able to live (or in some cases thrive) in extreme environments, i.e. environments that make survival challenging such as due to extreme temperature, radiation, salinity, or pH level. These organisms are ecologically dominant in the evolutionary history of the planet. Some spores and cocooned bacteria samples have been dormant for more than 40 million years, extremophiles have continued to thrive in the most extreme conditions, making them one of the most abundant lifeforms. Characteristics In the 1980s and 1990s, biologists found that microbial life has great flexibility for surviving in extreme environments—niches that are acidic, extraordinarily hot or within irregular air pressure for example—that would be completely inhospitable to complex organisms. Some scientists even concluded that life may have begun on Earth in hydrothermal vents far under the ocean's surfa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trehalose
Trehalose (from Turkish '' tıgala'' – a sugar derived from insect cocoons + -ose) is a sugar consisting of two molecules of glucose. It is also known as mycose or tremalose. Some bacteria, fungi, plants and invertebrate animals synthesize it as a source of energy, and to survive freezing and lack of water. Extracting trehalose was once a difficult and costly process, but around 2000, the Hayashibara company ( Okayama, Japan) discovered an inexpensive extraction technology from starch. Trehalose has high water retention capabilities, and is used in food, cosmetics and as a drug. A procedure developed in 2017 using trehalose allows sperm storage at room temperatures. Structure Trehalose is a disaccharide formed by a bond between two α-glucose units. It is found in nature as a disaccharide and also as a monomer in some polymers. Two other isomers exist, α,β-trehalose, otherwise known as neotrehalose, and β,β-trehalose (also referred to as isotrehalose). Neotrehalose has ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Late Embryogenesis Abundant Proteins
Late embryogenesis abundant proteins (LEA proteins) are proteins in plants, and some bacteria and invertebrates that protect against protein aggregation due to desiccation or osmotic stresses associated with low temperature. LEA proteins were initially discovered accumulating late in embryogenesis of cotton seeds. Although abundant in seeds and pollens, LEA proteins have been found to protect against desiccation, cold, or high salinity in a variety of organisms, including the bacterium '' Deinococcus radiodurans'', nematode ''Caenorhabditis elegans'', '' Artemia'' (brine shrimp), and rotifers. LEA proteins function by mechanisms which are distinct from those displayed by heat shock molecular chaperones. Although the causes of LEA protein induction have not yet been determined, conformational changes in transcription factors or integral membrane proteins due to water loss have been suggested. LEA proteins are particularly protective of mitochondrial membranes against ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Live Science
Live Science is a science news website run by Future via Purch, which it purchased from Imaginova in 2009. Stories and editorial commentary are typically syndicated to major news outlets, such as Yahoo!, MSNBC, AOL, and Fox News.{{fact, date=March 2020 Live Science was originally launched in 2004, but was subsequently shut down and re-launched in 2007. Live Science covers scientific breakthroughs, research ventures and odd facts from around the world in an online newsmagazine format. Purch consumer brands (including Live Science) were acquired by Future in 2018.{{Cite web , url=https://www.futureplc.com/brand/live-science/ , title=Live Science , work=Future plc Future plc is an international multimedia company established in the United Kingdom in 1985. The company has over 220 brands that span magazines, newsletters, websites, and events in fields such as video games, technology, films, music, photogr ... , access-date=18 December 2018 References {{reflist External links ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fatty Acid-binding Protein
The fatty-acid-binding proteins (FABPs) are a family of transport proteins for fatty acids and other lipophilic substances such as eicosanoids and retinoids. These proteins are thought to facilitate the transfer of fatty acids between extra- and intracellular membranes. Some family members are also believed to transport lipophilic molecules from outer cell membrane to certain intracellular receptors such as PPAR. The FABPs are intracellular carriers that “solubilize” the endocannabinoid anandamide (AEA), transporting AEA to the breakdown by FAAH, and compounds that bind to FABPs block AEA breakdown, raising its level. The cannabinoids (THC and CBD) are also discovered to bind human FABPs (1, 3, 5, and 7) that function as intracellular carriers, as THC and CBD inhibit the cellular uptake and catabolism of AEA by targeting FABPs. Competition for FABPs may in part or wholly explain the increased circulating levels of endocannabinoids reported after consumption of cannabino ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reactive Oxygen Species
In chemistry, reactive oxygen species (ROS) are highly reactive chemicals formed from diatomic oxygen (). Examples of ROS include peroxides, superoxide, hydroxyl radical, singlet oxygen, and alpha-oxygen. The reduction of molecular oxygen () produces superoxide (), which is the precursor to most other reactive oxygen species: :O2 + e^- -> \ ^\bullet O2- Dismutation of superoxide produces hydrogen peroxide (): :2 H+ + \ ^\bullet O2^- + \ ^\bullet O2^- -> H2O2 + O2 Hydrogen peroxide in turn may be partially reduced, thus forming hydroxide ions and hydroxyl radicals (), or fully reduced to water: :H2O2 + e^- -> HO^- + \ ^\bullet OH :2 H+ + 2 e- + H2O2 -> 2 H2O In a biological context, ROS are byproducts of the normal metabolism of oxygen. ROS have roles in cell signaling and homeostasis. ROS are intrinsic to cellular functioning, and are present at low and stationary levels in normal cells. In plants, ROS are involved in metabolic processes related to photoprotection and toleran ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cristae
A crista (; plural cristae) is a fold in the inner membrane of a mitochondrion. The name is from the Latin for ''crest'' or ''plume'', and it gives the inner membrane its characteristic wrinkled shape, providing a large amount of surface area for chemical reactions to occur on. This aids aerobic cellular respiration, because the mitochondrion requires oxygen. Cristae are studded with proteins, including ATP synthase and a variety of cytochromes. Background With the discovery of the dual-membrane nature of mitochondria, the pioneers of mitochondrial ultrastructural research proposed different models for the organization of the mitochondrial inner membrane. Three models proposed were: *Baffle model – According to Palade (1953), the mitochondrial inner membrane is convoluted in a baffle-like manner with broad openings towards the intra-cristal space. This model entered most textbooks and was widely believed for a long time. *Septa model – Sjöstrand (1953) suggested that s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tardigrades
Tardigrades (), known colloquially as water bears or moss piglets, are a phylum of eight-legged segmented micro-animals. They were first described by the German zoologist Johann August Ephraim Goeze in 1773, who called them Kleiner Wasserbär ("little water bear"). In 1777, the Italian biologist Lazzaro Spallanzani named them Tardigrada (), which means "slow steppers". They have been found in diverse regions of Earth's biospheremountaintops, the deep sea, tropical rainforests, and the Antarctic. Tardigrades are among the most resilient animals known, with individual species able to survive extreme conditions – such as exposure to extreme temperatures, extreme pressures (both high and low), air deprivation, radiation, dehydration, and starvation – that would quickly kill most other known forms of life. Tardigrades have survived exposure to outer space. There are about 1,300 known species in the phylum Tardigrada, a part of the superphylum Ecdysozoa consisting of animals th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Xerophiles
A xerophile () is an extremophilic organism that can grow and reproduce in conditions with a low availability of water, also known as water activity. Water activity (aw) is measured as the humidity above a substance relative to the humidity above pure water (Aw = 1.0). Xerophiles are "xerotolerant", meaning tolerant of dry conditions. They can often survive in environments with water activity below 0.8; above which is typical for most life on Earth. Typically xerotolerance is used with respect to matric drying, where a substance has a low water concentration. These environments include arid desert soils. The term osmotolerance is typically applied to organisms that can grow in solutions with high solute concentrations (salts, sugars), such as halophiles. The common food preservation method of reducing water (food drying) activities may not prevent the growth of xerophilic organisms, often resulting in food spoilage. Some mold and yeast species are xerophilic. Mold growth on bre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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