Journal Articles
[Letter] The wisdom of baboon decisions—Response
Authors: Ariana Strandburg-Peshkin, Damien R. Farine, Iain D. Couzin, Margaret C. Crofoot
Categories: Journal Articles
[Technical Comment] Comment on “Extreme electric fields power catalysis in the active site of ketosteroid isomerase”
Fried et al. (Reports, 19 December 2014, p. 1510) demonstrated a strong correlation between reaction rate and the carbonyl stretching frequency of a product analog bound to ketosteroid isomerase oxyanion hole mutants and concluded that the active-site electric field provides 70% of catalysis. Alternative comparisons suggest a smaller contribution, relative to the corresponding solution reaction, and highlight the importance of atomic-level descriptions.
Authors: Aditya Natarajan, Filip Yabukarski, Vandana Lamba, Jason P. Schwans, Fanny Sunden, Daniel Herschlag
Categories: Journal Articles
[Technical Comment] Comment on “Extreme electric fields power catalysis in the active site of ketosteroid isomerase”
Fried et al. (Reports, 19 December 2014, p. 1510) demonstrate electric field–dependent acceleration of biological catalysis using ketosteroid isomerase as a prototypic example. These findings were not extended to aqueous solution because water by itself has field fluctuations that are too large and fast to provide a catalytic effect. Given physiological context, when water electrostatic interactions are considered, electric fields play a less important role in the catalysis.
Authors: Deliang Chen, Tor Savidge
Categories: Journal Articles
[Technical Response] Response to Comments on “Extreme electric fields power catalysis in the active site of ketosteroid isomerase”
Natarajan et al. and Chen and Savidge comment that comparing the electric field in ketosteroid isomerase’s (KSI’s) active site to zero overestimates the catalytic effect of KSI’s electric field because the reference reaction occurs in water, which itself exerts a sizable electrostatic field. To compensate, Natarajan et al. argue that additional catalytic weight arises from positioning of the general base, whereas Chen and Savidge propose a separate contribution from desolvation of the general base. We note that the former claim is not well supported by published results, and the latter claim is intriguing but lacks experimental basis. We also take the opportunity to clarify some of the more conceptually subtle aspects of electrostatic catalysis.
Authors: Stephen D. Fried, Steven G. Boxer
Categories: Journal Articles
[Technical Response] Response to Comment on “Global diversity and geography of soil fungi”
Schadt and Rosling (Technical Comment, 26 June 2015, p. 1438) argue that primer-template mismatches neglected the fungal class Archaeorhizomycetes in a global soil survey. Amplicon-based metabarcoding of nine barcode-primer pair combinations and polymerase chain reaction (PCR)–free shotgun metagenomics revealed that barcode and primer choice and PCR bias drive the diversity and composition of microorganisms in general, but the Archaeorhizomycetes were little affected in the global study. We urge that careful choice of DNA markers and primers is essential for ecological studies using high-throughput sequencing for identification.
Authors: Leho Tedersoo, Mohammad Bahram, Sergei Põlme, Sten Anslan, Taavi Riit, Urmas Kõljalg, R. Henrik Nilsson, Falk Hildebrand, Kessy Abarenkov
Categories: Journal Articles
[Association Affairs] Global competition propels innovation “snowball”
In Nairobi, GIST Tech-I finalists transformed their ideas into business plans for great social impact
Author: Michaela Jarvis
Categories: Journal Articles
[Association Affairs] EntryPoint! places students with disabilities on STEM tracks
Author: Becky Ham
Categories: Journal Articles
[This Week in Science] A third option leads to poor mates
Author: Sacha Vignieri
Categories: Journal Articles
[This Week in Science] Manipulation of a quantum squeeze
Author: Ian S. Osborne
Categories: Journal Articles
[This Week in Science] Magnetizing a topological insulator
Author: Jelena Stajic
Categories: Journal Articles
[This Week in Science] Engineering cell population behavior
Author: L. Bryan Ray
Categories: Journal Articles
[This Week in Science] Crystal nuclei beaten to the punch
Author: Phil Szuromi
Categories: Journal Articles
[This Week in Science] Cosmopolitan plant root symbionts
Author: Caroline Ash
Categories: Journal Articles
[This Week in Science] Gut microbes make T cells keep the peace
Author: Kristen L. Mueller
Categories: Journal Articles
[This Week in Science] How to melt the Antarctic Ice Sheet
Author: Kip Hodges
Categories: Journal Articles
[This Week in Science] Not just another Notch for treatment
Author: Yevgeniya Nusinovich
Categories: Journal Articles
[This Week in Science] Learning from the packing of particles
Author: Marc S. Lavine
Categories: Journal Articles
[This Week in Science] Empirically analyzing empirical evidence
Author: Gilbert Chin
Categories: Journal Articles
[This Week in Science] Adding to the super-resolution arsenal
Author: Stella M. Hurtley
Categories: Journal Articles