The trophozoite of Acanthamoeba transforms into a cyst, the resistant form under harmful environments such as starvation, cold and certain chemicals used in medical treatment. To investigate the ...factors mediating encystation, ESTs of encystation-induced A. castellanii were analysed and compared to those of trophozoites. Each EST was compared by the predicted proteins from the ESTs, to the cyst and the trophozoite by reciprocal BLAST analysis, KOG assignment, and gene annotation. In addition to the genes previously reported to encystation mediate such as cyst specific protein 21, protein kinase C, proteasome and heat shock protein, several genes like cullin 4, autophage protein 8 and ubiquitin-conjugating enzymes were identified to be related to encystation. Five kinds of proteinase genes were detected in cyst ESTs. The information of the genes expressed during encystation may open the way to further study on differentiation and resistance of cyst-forming pathogenic protozoa.
The phylogenetic position of the fission yeast
Schizosaccharomyces pombe in the fungal Tree of Life is still controversial. Three alternative phylogenetic positions have been proposed in the ...literature, namely (1) a position basal to the Hemiascomycetes and Euascomycetes, (2) a position as a sister group to the Euascomycetes with the Hemiascomycetes as a basal branch, or (3) a sister group to the Hemiascomycetes with Euascomycetes as a basal branch. Here we compared 91 clusters of orthologous proteins containing a single orthologue that are shared by 19 eukaryote genomes. The major part of these 91 orthologues supports a phylogenetic position of
S. pombe as a basal lineage among the Ascomycota, thus supporting the second proposition. Interestingly, part of the orthologous proteins supported a fourth, not yet described alternative, in which
S. pombe is basal to both Basidiomycota and Ascomycota. Both topologies of phylogenetic trees are well supported. We believe that both reflect correctly the phylogenetic history of the species concerned. This apparent paradox may point to a heterogeneous nuclear genome of the fungi. Importantly, this needs to be taken in consideration for a correct understanding of the fungal Tree of Life.
The central problem of the paper deals with the success of the secondary school pupils gifted in mathematics to master the mathematics domain at the secondary school level, where the two aspects of ...the problem have been discussed. In the first part of the research, the stress is put on the structure establishment of success in mathematics, while the second part deals with finding out the most appropriate model of the variable prediction, on the basis of the intellectual abilities and personality traits. A variable of the success in mathematics has been implemented through three groups of indicators: 1. Grades from the relevant subjects, 2. Participation and rewards at the competitions, 3. Teacher?s evaluation of the performance quality. The predictor variables have been implemented through the attainment at the cybernetics battery of the KOG 3 intelligence tests and the basic dimensions and specific personality traits of the Five-factor model. The obtained results suggest composite nature of the variable success in mathematics in the context of giftedness, where, on the basis of the latent structure of the variable, it would be appropriate to discuss the existence of its two levels marked as: "a success in mathematics of higher rank" and "a success in mathematics of lower rank". When it concerns the prediction of both levels of the variable success in mathematics, particular variable constellations of the intelligence and personality domain appeared to be appropriate for predicting the variance of both a success in mathematics of higher rank and a success in mathematics of lower rank.
Osnovni problem rada tice se uspesnosti matematicki darovitih ucenika u ovladavanju domenom matematike na srednjoskolskom nivou, pri cemu su razmatrana dva njegova aspekta. U prvom delu istrazivanja akcenat je stavljen na utvrdjivanje strukture matematicke uspesnosti, a u drugom delu na iznalazenje najpogodnijih modela predikcije ove varijable, na osnovu intelektualnih sposobnosti i osobina licnosti. Varijabla matematicke uspesnosti operacionalizovana je preko tri grupe indikatora: 1. ocene iz relevantnih nastavnih predmeta, 2. ucesce i nagrade na takmicenjima, 3. nastavnicke procene kvaliteta izvedbe. Prediktorske varijable su operacionalizovane preko postignuca na kibernetickoj bateriji testova inteligencije KOG 3, odnosno bazicnih dimenzija i specificnih crta licnosti iz Petofaktorskog modela. Dobijeni rezultati sugerisu kompozitnu prirodu varijable matematicka uspesnost, pri cemu je na osnovu latentne strukture ove varijable umesno govoriti o postojanju dva njena nivoa oznacena kao: "matematicka uspesnost viseg reda" i "matematicka uspesnost nizeg reda". Kad je rec o predikciji matematicke uspesnosti na oba utvrdjena nivoa, odredjene konstelacije prediktorskih varijabli pokazale su se podesnim za predvidjanje varijabiliteta kako matematicke uspesnosti viseg reda, tako i matematicke uspesnosti nizeg reda.
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