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European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Grenoble, France
Source: press release by EMBL, based on
Julia Santiago, Florine Dupeux, Adam Round, Regina Antoni, Sang-Youl Park, Marc Jamin, Sean R. Cutler, Pedro Luis Rodriguez & José Antonio Márquez. The abscisic acid receptor PYR1 in complex with abscisic acid. Nature advance online Publication, November 8th, 2009
Scientist at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Grenoble, France, and at the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIS) in Valencia, Spain, discovered that the key to plants' responses to drought lies in the structure of a protein called PYR1 and how it interacts with the plant hormone abscisic acid (ABA). Their study could open up new basic approaches to increasing crops' resistance to water shortage.
[The Image alongside, which shows the structure of the protein PYR1, belongs to Mr. Márquez (EMBL)].
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Paul-Scherrer-Institut (PSI)
A new type of X-Ray diffraction microscope with high resolution was developed by a research team of the Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI) and the ETH Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland. It combines the high penetration power of x-rays with a high spatial resolution and therefore allows a clue on embedded semiconductor devices or cellular networks for the first time.
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Hahn-Meitner-Institut
Regular arrangements of sodium atoms make sodium cobalt oxide a perfect material for laptop batteries, an efficient cooling material and a superconductor. The concentration of sodium atoms in the material can vary and the material's behaviour depends sensitively on this number. As reported in the latest issue of the magazine Nature, scientists from the Hahn Meitner Institute (Berlin), the CEA research centre in Saclay (Paris), and the University of Liverpool have shown that the sodium atoms always arrange in regular patterns, and these patterns determine the properties of the material. The image shows the pattern created when four fifths of the available places are occupied by sodium atoms. The concentration of sodium atoms can easily be varied using chemical methods, and it is possible to change the material from a metal to an insulator, and then to superconductor, just by putting it into an electrochemical cell and changing the applied voltage.
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