http://precedings.nature.com/users/03c2b491a899423a9d58e07f197f62c2/ Documents posted by Guenther Witzany Nature Publishing Group en Nature Precedings http://precedings.nature.com/images/header_logo.gif http://precedings.nature.com http://precedings.nature.com/documents/1738/version/2 Communicative competences enable bacteria to develop, organise and coordinate rich social life with a great variety of behavioral patterns even in which they organise themselves like multicellular organisms. They have existed for almost four billion years and still survive, being part of the most dramatic changes in evolutionary history such as DNA invention, cellular life, invention of nearly all protein types, partial constitution of eukaryotic cells, vertical colonisation of all eukaryotes, high adaptability through horizontal gene transfer and co-operative multispecies colonisation of all ecological niches. Recent research demonstrates that these bacterial competences derive from the aptitude of viruses for natural genome editing. In contrast to a book which would be the appropriate space to outline in depth all communicative pathways inherent in bacterial life in this current article I want to give an overview for a broader readership over the great variety of bacterial bio-communication: In a first step I describe how they interpret and coordinate, what semiochemical vocabulary they share and which goals they try to reach. In a second stage I describe the main categories of sign-mediated interactions between bacterial and non-bacterial organisms, and between bacteria of the same or related species. In a third stage I will focus on the relationship between bacteria and their obligate settlers, i.e. viruses. We will see that bacteria are important hosts for multiviral colonisation and virally-determined order of nucleic acid sequences. http://precedings.nature.com/documents/1738/version/2 Wed, 14 May 2008 15:16:41 UTC Bio-Communication of Bacteria and its Evolutionary Interrelations to Natural Genome Editing Competences of Viruses hdl:10101/npre.2008.1738.2 2009-03-04 Guenther Witzany Nature Precedings 2008-05-14T15:16:41Z Manuscript Molecular Cell Biology Evolutionary Biology http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ http://precedings.nature.com/documents/1429/version/1 Plants communicate with a great variety of symbiotic partners, above and below ground. Constant monitoring of signals of biotic origin as well as abiotic environmental influences allows plants to generate appropriate response behavior. These communication processes are primarily sign-mediated interactions and not simply an exchange of information. They involve active coordination and active organization of a great variety of different behavioural patterns – mediated by signs. http://precedings.nature.com/documents/1429/version/1 Thu, 20 Dec 2007 11:49:11 UTC Bio-communication of Plants hdl:10101/npre.2007.1429.1 2008-12-04 Guenther Witzany Nature Precedings 2007-12-20T11:49:11Z Manuscript Developmental Biology Ecology Molecular Cell Biology Plant Biology http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ http://precedings.nature.com/documents/1883/version/1 The development and growth of fungal organisms depend on successful communication processes (a) within the organism and between organisms, (b) with the same or related species and (c) with non-related organisms. In order to generate an appropriate response behaviour, fungal organisms must also be able to (d) correctly interpret meaningful information from the abiotic environment. However, these communication and interpretation processes can also fail. In such cases the overall results can induce disease-causing and even lethal consequences for the organism. This review will not enrich the knowledge of specialists in fungal research, but will demonstrate to a broader readership the different levels of fungal communication and how versatile fungal communicative competences really are. Interestingly, certain rules of fungal communication are very similar to those of animals, while others resemble those of plants. The correspondence between all three eukaryotic kingdoms has two aspects: (1) the context determines the meaning of trans-, inter- and intra-organismic (inter- and intracellular) communication, while (2) differences in abiotic and biotic signal perception determine the content arrangement of response behaviour. http://precedings.nature.com/documents/1883/version/1 Wed, 14 May 2008 15:26:10 UTC Biocommunication of Fungal Organisms hdl:10101/npre.2008.1883.1 2008-05-14 Guenther Witzany Nature Precedings 2008-05-14T15:26:10Z Manuscript Developmental Biology Genetics & Genomics Microbiology http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/npre.2007.932.2 Whereas telomeres protect terminal ends of linear chromosomes, telomerases identify natural chromosome ends being different from broken DNA. Although telomeres play a crucial role in the linear chromosome organisation of eukaryotic cells, their molecular syntax descended from an ancient retroviral competence. This is an indicator for the early retroviral colonization of large double stranded DNA viruses, which are putative ancestors of the eukaryotic nucleus.This contribution will demonstrate an advantage of the biosemiotic approach towards our evolutionary understanding of telomeres: focus on the genetic/genomic structures as language-like text which follows combinatorial (syntactic), context-sensitive (pragmatic) and content-specific (semantic) semiotic rules. Genetic/genomic organisation from the biosemiotic perspective is not seen any longer as an object of randomly derived alterations (mutations) but as functional innovation coherent with the broad variety of natural genome editing competences of viruses. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/npre.2007.932.2 Mon, 12 Nov 2007 16:40:59 UTC Telomeres in Evolution and Development from Biosemiotic Perspective doi:10.1038/npre.2007.932.2 2007-11-12 Guenther Witzany Nature Precedings 2007-11-12T16:40:59Z Poster Genetics & Genomics Evolutionary Biology http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/