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At least 343 records · Page 19
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2022

Evolution of zygomycete secretomes and the origins of terrestrial fungal ecologies

Fungi survive in diverse ecological niches by secreting proteins and other molecules into the environment to acquire food and interact with various biotic and abiotic stressors. Fungal secretome content is, therefore, believed to be tightly linked to fungal ecologies. We sampled 132 genomes from the early-diverging terrestrial fungal lineage zygomycetes (Mucoromycota and Zoopagomycota) and characterized their secretome composition. Our analyses revealed that phylogeny played an important role in shaping the secretome composition of zygomycete fungi with trophic mode contributing a smaller amount. Reconstruction of the evolution of secreted digestive enzymes revealed lineage-specific expansions, indicating that Mucoromycota and Zoopagomycota followed different trajectories early in their evolutionary history. We identified the presence of multiple pathogenicity-related proteins in the lineages known as saprotrophs, suggesting that either the ecologies of these fungi are incompletely known, and/or that these pathogenicity-related proteins have important functions associated with saprotrophic ecologies, both of which invite further investigation.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Environmental fate of radiocesium in biota inhabiting a contaminated ecosystem on the U.S. Department of Energy's Savannah River Site

Although biomagnification of radiocesium ( 137 Cs) has been reported in food webs, most previous research has been limited to select trophic linkages. Few studies have included a comprehensive survey of fauna associated with aquatic, semi-aquatic, and terrestrial habitats within a single study framework. The objectives of this study were to advance our understanding of the dynamics of 137 Cs accumulation within food webs by quantifying 137 Cs activity across a wide range of biota found within a contaminated canal, as well as test the hypothesis that life-stage and body size influence 137 Cs bioaccumulation in select herpetofauna. With extensive sampling across multiple taxa collected from a contaminated canal system and associated floodplain on the Savannah River Site, we assessed 137 Cs activity and stable nitrogen isotopes for both aquatic organisms that were restricted to the contaminated effluent canal, and semi-aquatic organisms able to move freely between the contaminated canal and the adjacent uncontaminated terrestrial habitat. We found 137 Cs activity to be highly variable among species, with evidence for and against biomagnification in semi-aquatic and aquatic organisms, respectively. Furthermore, 137 Cs activity decreased with life stage and body size in bullfrogs (Lithobates catesbeianus), despite post-metamorphic bullfrogs having a more carnivorous diet compared to tadpoles, while cottonmouths (Agkistrodon piscivorus) retained similar 137 Cs activity regardless of their age and size. While evidence of biomagnification has been observed in some contaminated systems, results of our study suggest the extent to which 137 Cs biomagnifies within food webs is context-dependent and likely influenced by a suite of biotic and abiotic factors. Further, our data indicate sampling of a broad suite of species and environmental attributes are needed to elucidate the fate and dynamics of anthropogenic pollutants within contaminated ecosystems.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Uranium(VI) attenuation in a carbonate-bearing oxic alluvial aquifer

Uranium minerals are commonly found in soils and sediment across the United States at an average concentration of 2–4 mg/kg. Uranium occurs in the environment primarily in two forms, the oxidized, mostly soluble uranium(VI) form, or the reduced, sparingly soluble reduced uranium(IV) form. Here we describe subsurface geochemical conditions that result in low uranium concentrations in an alluvial aquifer with naturally occurring uranium in soils and sediments in the presence of complexing ligands under oxidizing conditions. Groundwater was saturated with respect to calcite and contained calcium (78–90 mg/L) with elevated levels of carbonate alkalinity (291–416 mg/L as HCO 3 -). X-ray adsorption near edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy identified that sediment-associated uranium was oxidized as a uranium(VI) form (85%). Calcite was the predominant mineral by mass in the ultrafine fraction in uranium-bearing sediments (>16 mg/kg). Furthermore, groundwater geochemical modeling indicated calcite and/or a calcium-uranyl-carbonate mineral such as liebigite in equilibrium with groundwater. The δ 13 C (0.57‰ ± 0.15‰) was indicative of abiotic carbonate deposition. Thus, solid-phase uranium(VI) associated with carbonate is likely maintaining uranium(VI) groundwater levels below the maximum contaminant level (MCL; 30 µg/L), presenting a deposition mechanism for uranium attenuation rather than solely a means of mobilization.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Sugar transporters in grasses: Function and modulation in source and storage tissues

Carbohydrate partitioning, the process of transporting carbohydrates from photosynthetic (source) tissues, such as leaves, to non-photosynthetic (sink) tissues, such as stems, roots, and reproductive structures, is vital not only for the growth and development of plants but also for withstanding biotic and abiotic stress. In many plants, sucrose is the primary form of carbohydrate loaded into the phloem for long-distance transport and unloaded into the sink tissues for utilization or storage. Here, we highlight recent findings about 1) phloem loading in grasses, 2) the principal families of sugar transporters involved in sucrose transport, and 3) novel mechanisms by which the activities of sugar transporters are modulated. We discuss exciting discoveries from eudicot species that provide valuable insights regarding the regulation of these sugar transporters, which may be translatable to monocot species. As we better understand the intricate pathways that control the activities of various sugar transporters, we can utilize this knowledge for developing improved crop varieties.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Loss of biological control of enamel mineralization in amelogenin-phosphorylation-deficient mice

Amelogenin, the most abundant enamel matrix protein, plays several critical roles in enamel formation. Importantly, we previously found that the singular phosphorylation site at Ser16 in amelogenin plays an essential role in amelogenesis. Studies of genetically knock-in (KI) modified mice in which Ser16 in amelogenin is substituted with Ala that prevents amelogenin phosphorylation, and in vitro mineralization experiments, have shown that phosphorylated amelogenin transiently stabilizes amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP), the initial mineral phase in forming enamel. Furthermore, KI mice exhibit dramatic differences in the enamel structure compared with wild type (WT) mice, including thinner enamel lacking enamel rods and ectopic surface calcifications. Here, we now demonstrate that amelogenin phosphorylation also affects the organization and composition of mature enamel mineral. In this work, we compared WT, KI, and heterozygous (HET) enamel and found that in the WT elongated crystals are co-oriented within each rod, however, their c-axes are not aligned with the rods' axes. In contrast, in rod-less KI enamel, crystalline c-axes are less co-oriented, with misorientation progressively increasing toward the enamel surface, which contains spherulites, with a morphology consistent with abiotic formation. Furthermore, we found significant differences in enamel hardness and carbonate content between the genotypes. ACP was also observed in the interrod of WT and HET enamel, and throughout aprismatic KI enamel. In conclusion, amelogenin phosphorylation plays crucial roles in controlling structural, crystallographic, mechanical, and compositional characteristics of dental enamel. Thus, loss of amelogenin phosphorylation leads to a reduction in the biological control over the enamel mineralization process.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Stromules, functional extensions of plastids within the plant cell

We report stromules are thin tubular extensions of the plastid compartment surrounded by the envelope membrane. A myriad of functions have been proposed for them, and they likely have multiple roles. Recent work has illuminated aspects of their formation, especially the important of microtubules in their movement and microfilaments in anchoring. A variety of biotic and abiotic stresses result in induction of stromule formation, and in recent years, stromule formation has been strongly implicated as part of the innate immune response. Both stromules and chloroplasts relocate to surround the nucleus when pathogens are sensed, possibly to supply signaling molecules such as reactive oxygen species. In addition to the nucleus, stromules have been observed in close proximity to other compartments such as mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum, and the plasma membrane, potentially facilitating exchange of substrates and products to carry out important biosynthetic pathways. Much remains to be learned about the identity of proteins and other molecules released from chloroplasts and stromules and how they function in plant development and defense.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

Fortifying the frontier: cell wall modifications during plant immunity

The plant cell wall (CW) was long thought to be a rigid barrier encasing the plant cell and protecting it against biotic and abiotic stressors. Different CW polysaccharides interact with each other, and modifications of either the components or organization of these polysaccharides result in impaired growth or immunity. Emerging evidence suggests that the CW is dynamically modified and reorganized based on internal and external cues. Thus, the CW is both the first barrier that pathogens encounter and the critical final step in defense signaling that leads to fortification of the CW. Here, in this work, we review recent findings on how CW components are remodeled to fortify the CW upon pathogen attack and propose a novel concept: layered CW remodeling as an immune strategy. Within this framework, we categorize three interconnected layers of CW remodeling upon pathogen attack: (i) rapid and reversible CW depositions that provide immediate but transient protection; (ii) flexible modifications with plausible signaling functions that integrate defense and surveillance; and (iii) irreversible fortifications that encase pathogen, delimiting infected cells from uninfected cells. This layered framework provides a cohesive view of how different CW modifications are integrated into, and contribute to, plant defense. We also discuss the challenges in studying CW modifications during biotic stresses and highlight important questions that remain unanswered.

Bhandari, Deepak D. [Michigan State Univ., East La↗
DOE OSTI2020

Review: The Next Steps in Crop Improvement: Adoption of Emerging Strategies to Identify Bottlenecks in Sugar Flux

We report sugar allocation in plants is the fundamental process that transports sugar from source to sink tissues and has a dramatic impact on crop yields. Controlling sugar allocation is required to increase crop yields, as well as biomass for biofuel production. Successful examples have demonstrated that genetic engineering of sugar partitioning offers a promising strategy to achieve this goal. However, improvement has thus far been limited by gaps in understanding of the underlying mechanisms controlling the allocation of sugars. The dynamics of sugar partitioning are minimally predictable under different conditions, between species, or in response to abiotic stresses. Here, we discuss four methodologies that have not been sufficiently exploited for the identification of bottlenecks in sugar flux. Furthermore, we suggest how these strategies can be used and combined to provide the insight needed to maximize crop yields or biomass, especially under conditions of environmental stress.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2023

PLAT domain protein 1 (PLAT1/PLAFP) binds to the Arabidopsis thaliana plasma membrane and inserts a lipid

Robust agricultural yields depend on the plant's ability to fix carbon amid variable environmental conditions. Over seasonal and diurnal cycles, the plant must constantly adjust its metabolism according to available resources or external stressors. The metabolic changes that a plant undergoes in response to stress are well understood, but the long-distance signaling mechanisms that facilitate communication throughout the plant are less studied. The phloem is considered the predominant conduit for the bidirectional transport of these signals in the form of metabolites, nucleic acids, proteins, and lipids. Lipid trafficking through the phloem in particular attracted our attention due to its reliance on soluble lipid-binding proteins (LBP) that generate and solubilize otherwise membrane-associated lipids. The Phloem Lipid-Associated Family Protein (PLAFP) from Arabidopsis thaliana is generated in response to abiotic stress as is its lipid-ligand phosphatidic acid (PA). PLAFP is proposed to transport PA through the phloem in response to drought stress. To understand the interactions between PLAFP and PA, nearly 100 independent systems comprised of the protein and one PA, or a plasma membrane containing varying amounts of PA, were simulated using atomistic classical molecular dynamics methods. In these simulations, PLAFP is found to bind to plant plasma membrane models independent of the PA concentration. When bound to the membrane, PLAFP adopts a binding pose where W41 and R82 penetrate the membrane surface and anchor PLAFP. This triggers a separation of the two loop regions containing W41 and R82. Subsequent simulations indicate that PA insert into the β -sandwich of PLAFP, driven by interactions with multiple amino acids besides the W41 and R82 identified during the insertion process. Finally, fine-tuning the protein-membrane and protein-PA interface by mutating a selection of these amino acids may facilitate engineering plant signaling processes by modulating the binding response.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

How “hot” are hotspots: Statistically localizing the high-activity areas on soil and rhizosphere images

The topic of microbial hotspots in soil requires not only visualizing their spatial distribution and biochemical analyses, but also statistical approaches to identify these hotspots and separate them from the surrounding activities (background). We hypothesized that each hotspot type (e.g. enzyme activities in the rhizosphere, root exudation, localization of herbicide accumulation) is a result of local process driven by biotic and/or abiotic factors, and the process rates in the hotspots are much faster than those in the soil background. We further hypothesized that the background and hotspot activities in soil belong to different statistical distributions. Consequently, hotspot determination should be based on statistical separation of activities significantly higher than the background. We analyzed for the statistical distributions of grey values on three groups of published images: 1) 14 C images of carbon input by roots into the rhizosphere, 2) 14 C glyphosate accumulation in the plant, and 3) zymogram of leucine aminopeptidase activity in rooted soil. The two Gaussian distributions were fit (the first representing the background, the second the hotspots) to the distribution of grey values in the images, the parameters (means and standard deviations, SD) of the fitted distributions were calculated, and the background was removed. Thus, we identified hotspots as areas outside of the Mean+2SD image intensity (corresponding to the upper ~ 2.5% of activity, being over 97.5% of background values) and finally, visualized images of solely hotspot locations. Finally, these results were compared with previously used decisions on hotspot intensity thresholding (i.e. Top-25% and 17 standard thresholding approaches in ImageJ) and discussed the advantages of the Mean+2SD as well as Mean+3SD approaches. These advantages include: i) simple unification of the thresholding approach for several imaging methods with various principles of activity distribution, ii) identification of hotspots with various activity levels, iii) analysis of “time-specific” hotspots in temporal sequences of images. Compared with 17 standard thresholding methods, we concluded that objectively elucidating and separating the hotspots should be based on statistical distribution analysis, e.g. using the Mean+2SD or Mean+3SD approaches. Furthermore, this simple Mean+2SD approach delivered suitable results for three groups of images and so, helps to understand the processes responsible for the highest activities and elucidate hotspots.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Challenges and Opportunities in Decarbonizing the U.S. Energy System

The United States has pledged to develop a 100% carbon-free electric power system by 2035 and a net-zero-emissions economy by 2050. While important advancements have been made in the scale, performance, and economics of clean energy technologies, meeting the nation's ambitious goals will not only require their deployment at scale, but also additional innovation and effective integration of different solutions. Technological developments across the broad suite of low-carbon energy solutions are advancing rapidly, with ongoing innovations in renewable electricity generation, industrial processes, and energy-saving technologies and services, including LED lighting, induction heating, electric vehicles, energy storage solutions, and mobility as a service, plus smart devices, controls, and more efficient and smart buildings. Combining renewable electricity with biotic and abiotic pathways to produce chemicals, fuels, and materials promises to deliver new solutions. Grid-interactive buildings and communities, integrating transportation infrastructure and vehicles, are likely to be significant components of any zero-carbon energy strategy. Low-carbon industrial manufacturing will also make strong contributions to a net-zero economy. While the technical prospects appear promising, variations in the state of infrastructure, jurisdictional and social equity, pollution, economic and socio-cultural constraints, energy resource availability, and supply chain dynamics found in different locations present a range of challenges and demand customized solutions. This paper provides a critical review and offers new insights into the technical, infrastructure, analytic, political, and economic challenges faced in translating the nation's ambitious net-zero-emissions goals into feasible and reliable implementation action plans.

circular economy↗
DOE OSTI2021

Is satellite Sun-Induced Chlorophyll Fluorescence more indicative than vegetation indices under drought condition?

Droughts represent one of the most severe abiotic stress factors that could result in great crop yield loss. Numerous vegetation indices have been proposed for monitoring the vegetation condition under stress and assessing drought impacts on yield loss. However, the understanding and comparison between traditional vegetation indices (VIs) and the newly emerging satellite Sun-Induced Chlorophyll Fluorescence (SIF) for monitoring vegetation condition is still limited especially under drought stress and at multiple spatial scales. In this study, the potential of satellite observation SIF for monitoring corn response to drought was investigated based on the 2012 drought in the US Corn Belt. The standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI) was used here to quantify drought. We found that all SPEI were above –1, except for July (–1.27), August (–1.39) and September (–1.14) in 2012, indicating the severity of this drought. We examined the relationship between satellite measurements of SIF, SIF yield , VIs (e.g., NDVI and EVI) and SPEI. Results indicated that SIF yield was sensitive to drought and SIF captured the stress more accurately both at the regional and state scales for the US Corn Belt. Quantitatively, SIF yield had a high correlation with SPEI (r = 0.987, p < 0.05) over the entire Corn Belt, and it indicated losses in response to drought approximately one month earlier than SIF/NDVI/EVI. Furthermore, our results demonstrated that SIF could be trusted as an effective indicator to study the relationship between GPP (R 2 ≥ 0.8664, p < 0.01) under drought conditions across the Corn Belt. Finally, this study highlighted the advantage of using satellite SIF observations to monitor the drought stress on crop growth especially GPP at regional scale.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

Bark beetle impacts on forest evapotranspiration and its partitioning

Insect outbreaks affect forest structure and function and represent a major category of forest disturbance globally. However, the resulting impacts on evapotranspiration (ET), and especially hydrological partitioning between the abiotic (evaporation) and biotic (transpiration) components of total ET, are not well constrained. As a result, we combined remote sensing, eddy covariance, and hydrological modeling approaches to determine the effects of bark beetle outbreak on ET and its partitioning at multiple scales throughout the Southern Rocky Mountain Ecoregion (SRME), USA. At the eddy covariance measurement scale, 85 % of the forest was affected by beetles, and water year ET as a fraction of precipitation (P) decreased by 30 % relative to a control site, with 31 % greater reductions in growing season transpiration relative to total ET. At the ecoregion scale, satellite remote sensing masked to areas of >80 % tree mortality showed corresponding ET/P reductions of 9–15 % that occurred 6–8 years post-disturbance, and indicated that the majority of the total reduction occurred during the growing season; the Variable Infiltration Capacity hydrological model showed an associated 9–18 % increase in the ecoregion runoff ratio. Long-term (16–18 year) ET and vegetation mortality datasets extend the length of previously published analyses and allowed for clear characterization of the forest recovery period. During that time, transpiration recovery outpaced total ET recovery, which was lagged in part due to persistently reduced winter sublimation, and there was associated evidence of increasing late summer vegetation moisture stress. Overall, comparison of three independent methods and two partitioning approaches demonstrated a net negative impact of bark beetles on ET, and a relatively greater negative impact on transpiration, following bark beetle outbreak in the SRME.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Rewetting of soil: Revisiting the origin of soil CO 2 emissions

Rewetting dry soils is associated with a burst of microbial activity and mineralization, which manifests itself as a pulse in soil CO 2 emissions, long-known as the Birch effect. In arid and semi-arid systems, soil CO 2 losses upon rewetting at the end of extended dry periods can contribute a significant fraction to the overall carbon (C) budget. Microbial biomass is one of the sources of mineralized C, as was demonstrated over 30 years ago (Kieft et al., 1987). The present paper offers a perspective on how the field has progressed since the 1987 paper was published in Soil Biology & Biochemistry, what it means in terms of current concerns about global climate change, and the needs and potential emphases of future research. Many studies since 1987 have addressed the origin of this CO 2 pulse, finding multiple possible C sources involving both biotic and abiotic processes. We propose that the magnitude of the rewetting event (Δψ) determines the relative contribution from the array of substrates that contribute to the soil CO 2 pulse upon rewetting. The magnitude of the CO 2 pulse is likely related to soil physical characteristics and to the size of the available C pool, which is partly controlled by plants. Further, the relative contributions of the mechanisms generating soil CO 2 pulses upon rewetting are likely to be modified by climate change. To understand and predict the magnitude of soil CO 2 pulses upon rewetting, we advocate continued cross-disciplinary research involving soil microbial ecology, soil physics, soil chemistry, as well as increased integration and recognition of the importance of plant-soil interactions in controlling the soil C pools contributing to soil CO 2 pulses.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Soil pH influences the structure of virus communities at local and global scales

The influence of biotic and abiotic factors on viral communities across environmental gradients in soil is relatively unknown. While soil pH strongly influences microbial community structure, it is unclear whether there is a similar influence on soil viruses. In this study, prokaryotic and viral communities were characterized in soils from a long-term pH-manipulated soil gradient (pH 4.5 and 7.5), and viral populations also compared to those of other soils ranging in pH (4.0–7.5). Viral communities were significantly influenced by pH at the local scale with 99% of viral operational taxonomic units restricted to pH 4.5 or 7.5 soil only. Analysis of viromes from six other European and North American soil systems demonstrated that a selection of viral clusters from acidic and neutral pH soils were more associated with those from the local gradient pH 4.5 or 7.5 soils, respectively. While direct pH effects on virion integrity and indirect selection via host composition were not distinguished, the results reveal that soil pH is a factor in structuring viral communities at local and global scales.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Methane flux from transplanted soil monoliths depends on moisture, but not origin

Soils both produce and consume methane (CH 4 ), a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. In coastal forests, upland soils are shifting from being CH 4 sinks to sources as sea levels rise, increasingly flooding soils with little prior inundation history. Ecosystem CH 4 budgets are highly uncertain due in part to the difficulty in separating fluxes measured at the soil surface into individual production and consumption processes which are likely to have different responses to future environmental conditions. Here, we measured growing season CH 4 fluxes from soil monoliths transplanted four years prior along an inundation and salinity gradient to determine how changes in abiotic conditions control CH 4 flux rates. To parse net fluxes measured at the soil surface into their component gross rates, we paired field measurements with a stable isotope pool dilution incubation of surface soils. Throughout the growing season, net soil surface CH 4 flux was positively correlated with soil moisture (p < 0.01), with lowland-located soils tending towards CH 4 sources (mean 0.349 ± 1.11 mg CH 4 -C m -2 hr -1 , error is standard deviation) and upland-located soils tending towards CH 4 sinks (-0.003 ± 0.003 mg CH 4 -C m -2 hr -1 ). Transplanted soils’ fluxes were statistically identical to their native neighbors once microtopography-driven differences in soil moisture were controlled for. The pool dilution experiment revealed that production and consumption rates were similar in upland and lowland surface soils (2.82 ± 3.29 µmol CH 4 g -1 dry soil d -1 production, 3.47 ± 2.03 µmol CH 4 g -1 dry soil d -1 consumption), indicating the majority of production likely occurs at depth in lowland soils. Both gross and net fluxes from transplanted soils showed no effect of soil origin after four years, suggesting low resistance of CH 4 cycling to global change drivers. Our results indicate the strength of the coastal forest CH 4 sink is likely to decrease in proportion to sea-level rise.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

AquaMEND: Reconciling multiple impacts of salinization on soil carbon biogeochemistry

Soil salinization, exacerbated by climate change, poses a global threat to coastal ecosystem function and soil quality. Salinity influences carbon cycling through direct effects on microbial activity and indirect alterations to soil physicochemical properties including cation exchange, pH, and soil organic carbon availability. Current models inadequately represent these complexities, relying on linear reduction functions that overlook specific physicochemical changes induced by salinity. To address this gap, we propose an integrated model framework, AquaMEND, that combines microbial-explicit carbon decomposition and geochemical models. This model allows cation exchange and surface complexation processes to capture solute chemistry and nutrient availability in soils upon saltwater intrusion. Using response functions that capture salinity impacts on both salt-sensitive and salt-resistant microbial processes, AquaMEND simulates how the abiotic and biotic mechanisms work individually and collectively to regulate organic and inorganic pools and fluxes. Here, the parallel structure of aqueous and non-aqueous phases, together with microbial functions, result in a versatile model for solving dynamic coupling of organics, minerals and microbes under various environmental settings.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Synthesis and Function of Complex Sphingolipid Glycosylation

Glycosylinositol phosphorylceramides (GIPCs) constitute an important class of plasma-membrane lipids in plants. The complex glycan headgroups of GIPCs vary between plant species and tissues. Recent studies show that the structure of the glycan headgroup is important for plant development, abiotic stress tolerance, and interactions with pathogenic and symbiotic microorganisms.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗