/sci/ - Science & Math

>>7466975
Plant Phys faggot here. I work in a plant tissue culture lab, but my own research focus is endophyte/plant interactions.

>>7354902

We just need less static controls. The correct way to control pathogens is to cultivate another microbe which competes with and actively suppresses the pathogen. Since both evolve, they counter each other. Antibiotic adaptation is only a problem as we use sterile, static and purely chemical (abiotic) methods of control. Plants understand this which is why the cultivate a large and beneficial microbiome. We had a good microbiome to before McDonalds nuked it from orbit.

>>7350889

Maybe you guys can field this one as it's been bugging me for a while. What is the difference between the measured average pH of a solution and the real pH 'experienced' by a given molecule in that solution? Since pH is stochastic can't the later differ radically from the former for any given molecule? Also, can the charge topography of macromolecules like proteins manipulate this variance to create localized spikes or dips in H+ concentration in order to facilitate redox rxns?

Time for a quality bio thread for once.

What is the role of quantum mechanics in intrinsically disordered proteins if any? IDPs are proteins whose 3d structure sits on a precarious balance, energetically, between many other possible structures. In terms of conformation landscape, it's essentially balanced on a point surrounded by an energy valley composed of potentially lower energy structures which it might adopt. Very slight interactions and transient bonds can therefore easily cause conformational change in multitudinous directions. Biological systems use these proteins as signal integrators, a function made possible by there heterogeneity of interactions and shape alterations. As signal integrators they are essentially the most important effectors, morphologically speaking, in organisms. In other words, they control complex development.

Could QM effects normally filtered out at the size range of proteins (100s of kD) affect the outcome of folding in IDP due to their inherently unstable atomic structure? My gut instinct when it comes to quantum biology is always a no because living systems are warm, wet and messy. Pretty much the worst set up for a quantum computer imaginable, however, there may be microenvironments created by membrane and protein shielding within cells that chemically mirror the low interference states associated with the very low temperatures required for such quantum mechanical effects to become pronounced.

I know you guys know physics better than me so I'm only dropping primary lit on IDPs as a resource.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3584547/?report=reader#!po=19.2308

pic unrelated, just there to piss off the occasional browser from /pol/