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For a comprehensive review of the most interesting recent articles published in the biological sciences, visit Faculty of 1000 Biology, an online literature awareness tool published by BioMed Central. Faculty of 1000 Biology systematically highlights exciting recent publications on the basis of recommendations of a faculty of well over 1,000 of the world's leading researchers. |
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Victor Norris
University of Rouen, France
PHYSIOLOGY
 New Finding
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This densely packed paper merits careful reading since it addresses or readdresses several fundamental questions about the bacterial cell cycle, including (1) how do origins and termini move during chromosome replication?, (2) are loci segregated symmetrically?, (3) do daughter chromosomes really remain together for long periods?, and (4) what is the relationship between the formation of the FtsZ and FtsK rings in division? E. coli was grown slowly so that the different cell-cycle events could be distinguished readily, and the position of different loci in the origin and terminus regions was studied using fluorescence. One of the paper's principal messages is that there is an asymmetric segregation of certain loci, that this pattern is heritable, and that this asymmetric segregation, which could originate in differences between the strands, is fundamental to chromosome segregation.
Evaluated 25 Oct 2005 |
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 Must Read
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F1000 Factor 6.0 |
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New York-Structural GenomiX Research Consortium (NYSGXRC): A Large Scale Center for the Protein Structure Initiative.
Bonanno JB, Almo SC, Bresnick A, Chance MR, Fiser A, Swaminathan S, Jiang J, Studier FW, Shapiro L, Lima CD, Gaasterland TM, Sali A, Bain K, Feil I, Gao X, Lorimer D, Ramos A, Sauder JM, Wasserman SR, Emtage S, D'Amico KL, Burley SK
J Struct Funct Genomics 2005 6(2-3):225-32 [abstract on PubMed] [request from library] 
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Selected by | P. Shing Ho
Evaluated 17 Oct 2005
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P. Shing Ho
Oregon State University, United States of America
STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY
 Tech Advance
 Controversial
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Large-scale structural genomics (from gene to protein to structure) comes on-line. This paper describes the general framework for a consortium (the New York-Structural GenomiX Research Consortium, or NYSGXRC) to serve as a center for high-throughput protein structure determination. The framework outlines work distribution among the six member institutions, and defines targets for numbers of structures determined each year, and their costs, based on results from the early pilot phases of the project. Whether one agrees with this "big science" approach or not, structural biology will inevitably be impacted by such a concerted undertaking. As an industry/academic research consortium that has at least partial public support, it is important for this group to spell out explicitly the mechanisms by which new structures and technologies will be disseminated to the structural biology community in general.
Evaluated 17 Oct 2005 |
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Lee Sweetlove
University of Oxford, United Kingdom
PLANT BIOLOGY
New Finding
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At last, a much needed database that collates plant organellar proteomic data and other experimental evidence of subcellular protein localization. The plant proteomics effort has tended to be divided according to subcellular compartment and thus there have emerged several independent, non-cross-referenced proteomic databases. The SUBA database brings all this information into a central repository and also includes GFP-tagging and bioinformatic information to allow a rapid assessment of the reliability of a given protein localization.
Evaluated 19 Oct 2005 |
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Max Gassmann
Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, Switzerland
PHYSIOLOGY
New Finding
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This is the first study to show that cellular adaptations of atrophic soleus muscle upon reloading occur in a coordinated fashion. By applying microarray analysis of soleus muscle isolated from rats that were exposed to hind limb suspension, the authors provide convincing evidence that reprogramming upon injury includes the coordinated transcription of a variety of gene clusters..
Evaluated 26 Oct 2005 |
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Carmen Sapienzae
Temple University School of Medicine, United States of America
GENOMICS & GENETICS
New Finding
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This study demonstrates directly that sex chromosome constitution is not the underlying cause of sex differences in recombination rates or cross-over position in mammals. The investigators find that XY female and XO female mice have recombination rates very similar to those of XX females. Moreover, the distribution of single, double and triple events and the distribution of cross-over positions on the chromosomes is similar to XX females and distinct from the distributions of these characters in XY males. The investigators propose that differences in male/female recombination are a result of differences in the way the synaptonemal complex is built in the two types of gametes. Males have fewer synaptic initiation sites that tend be telomeric while females have many more initiation sites and they may be interstitial. Although this explanation is satisfactory in a structural context, it would be interesting to know something of the authors' speculations on the basis for these synaptonemal complex initiation site differences.
Evaluated 20 Oct 2005 |
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