The chickpea, also known as the garbanzo bean, is the world’s second-most widely grown legume crop after the soybean, making it a major component of the world’s diet. It is an important crop especially for small-farm operators in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. An international team of 49 scientists from 23 organizations in 10 countries have been able to sequence the genes of this notable food supply.

The chickpea plant is a type of legume, making it very different from other agricultural crops.

“[Chickpeas] can be grown on poor soils worldwide, without application of nitrogen fertilizer,” said Alison Berry, a professor of plant sciences at UC Davis. “This is because legumes are hosts for beneficial bacteria that live inside the roots, in symbiotic structures called root nodules. These bacteria directly provide the plants with nitrogen through the enzymatic process of nitrogen fixation.”

Fixing nitrogen refers to the plant’s ability to draw nitrogen out of the atmosphere and incorporate it into its cellular structure. The ability of this plant to fix nitrogen also makes this crop especially nutritious for humans.

“Crop legumes, like chickpeas, soybeans, peanuts, etc. are major dietary staples for millions of people globally, in large measure because the seeds are very high in protein as a result of the nitrogen fixation process,” Berry said.

The chickpea contains an estimated 28,269 genes. It was sequenced randomly and then put back together using the overlapping regions. The 28,000 genes contain nearly 750 million base pairs. These pairs were taken apart and put back together 100 at a time. Each group of 100 base pairs overlaps slightly with the next set, allowing them to be reassembled like a puzzle.

Since there are 7.5 million sets of 100, the reassembly was carried out by a computer algorithm, since doing it by hand would take hundreds of years.

“The assembly ‘problem’ is actually quite significant, because large genomes such as chickpeas contain many repeated sequence motifs, comprising about 50 percent of the genome, and these motifs complicate assembly,” said Douglas Cook, a UC Davis professor of plant pathology and a lead author on the research paper. “In the case of chickpeas, only about 75 percent of the genome could be assembled.”

With this discovery, scientists have been able to start separating the information and matching genes with traits in the species. This makes selective breeding easier for scientists, like Paul Gepts, at UC Davis. Gepts has been working with garbanzo beans in his lab where he is responsible for producing new varieties of lima beans, garbanzo beans and common beans.

“The sequencing of the genome will make the process of selective breeding more efficient,” Gepts said.

This means scientist now can better understand how to improve the species and promote the maximum crop yield.

“In the case of legumes, like chickpeas, we can apply genomic knowledge for the improvement of crop traits — drought tolerance, resistance to disease, increased yields in poor soils — that can be of benefit,” Berry said. “In addition, it may eventually be possible to understand how legumes manage to form nitrogen-fixing associations with bacteria. Maybe this trait, or some parts of it, can be transferred to other crops.”

In the future, this can lead to a great number of improvements for the species and understanding how to apply this strategy to other crops.

According to Berry, a sequenced genome is like a treasure chest of future discoveries. The precise information about every gene of an organism can open doors to understanding fundamental questions about life.

KELLY MITCHELL can be reached at science@theaggie.org.

In this technology-driven world, there are many sites dedicated to providing different types of information to help people in their daily lives. Lifehacker offers a variety of ways to “hack” your lifestyle, leading to better habits, better health and better living. They also offer multiple tech tips of their own.

What is Lifehacker?
Lifehacker is a weblog that features advice from how to do laundry, to cooking, to repairing technology and other goods, to staying fit in the office, and even teaches you how to make the best job application possible. In addition, the weblog offers information regarding useful applications for the iPhone and other smartphones.

How much does it cost?
The weblog gives free information to everyone with internet access. An account is not required to read through the articles, but is required for posting comments about the articles or providing supplementary information.

How does it work?
The weblog can be viewed in various ways that suit the reader from traditional, two panes and blog view. Top stories and latest stories are featured for viewing pleasure. In addition there are many categories for readers to explore, such as DIY (do it yourself), internet browsing and advice about job applications.

Readers can also subscribe to the Lifehacker twitter, to the Lifehacker Facebook profile, and Lifehacker RSS feeds daily for updates on stories and tips. In addition, readers can submit their own “lifehacks” and suggestions to the authors. The readers can also participate and connect with each other through the forums.

VICTORIA TRANG can be reached at science@theaggie.org.

In a recent multidisciplinary article published at the end of January in Nature Communications, lead author Peter Kaiser, professor of biochemistry at UC Irvine (UCI), along with co-leader Richard Lathrop and many others, announced the discovery of a potential new target for a cure for cancer.

Kaiser’s research focused on a specific protein, called p53, that has been heavily implicated in many different forms of cancer. P53’s primary role involves programmed cell death (apoptosis) and is thus crucial for preventing damaged cells from dividing. Mutations to the structure of p53 cause it to to be deactivated and thus lose its function, allowing for cancer cells to grow without regulation.

“There is a lot of machinery in a cell that needs to work together to create normal cell growth and division,” said Ryan Solis, a senior undergraduate researcher at UC Davis.

Unfortunately, there are a plethora of ways that this machinery can malfunction. Usually a cell has mechanisms to repair parts that break, but no system is perfect.

“If [DNA] is not repaired correctly after its strands break, it could lead to damaged or even missing genes,” Solis said.

Since DNA in a living organism is too difficult to work with, doctors need to be able to find other ways of potentially treating any genetically related disease.

“Current therapies generally target rapidly proliferating cells indiscriminate of whether they are tumor cells or rapidly dividing healthy cells,” Kaiser said in an email interview.

In order to provide a better course of treatment, Kaiser and his team set out to better understand the p53 protein in hopes of potentially discovering a way to reactivate it.

They succeeded. Utilizing complex computer models called “dynamic structural models” and some in-depth statistical analysis, the researchers were able to find a tiny spot in the protein’s structure that can be used to reactivate the mutated forms.

“These simulations basically predict how a protein moves and flexes over time, and often we see new pockets open in the [movement],” said Rommie Amaro, another one of the many co-leads on the article.

According to Kaiser this pocket exists in both the normal and mutant p53 variants, but is predicted to be in a more open shape in the mutants.

The more open shape makes it an easier target for potential drug therapies, and since p53 is already in an active form in normal cells, the drug would only really affect the cancerous cells.

After finding the pocket, Kaiser’s team went on the hunt for something that could fit in it. They looked at a database of 2,298 molecules and pulled out the 45 most promising ones. Of these 45 molecules, only a single one successfully reactivated p53: stictic acid.

So why isn’t cancer cured?

“Stictic acid is chemically not very accessible. Its synthesis is very difficult and chemical modifications are hard to make,” Kaiser said. “It will be easier for us to identify other compounds with similar activity but better chemical accessibility.”

This study represents a major breakthrough in the hunt for a cure, but a lot of work still has to be done before cancer is a disease of the past.

KYLE SCROGGINS can be reached at science@theaggie.org.

With Valentine’s Day just recently passed and spring upon us, you may be feeling closer than ever to your romantic partner. Most couples take this season to spend time together and do things they like or invest more energy in the common ground they have. But it turns out that activities and interests are not the only things that good couples share.

A UC Davis study has found that couples not only have their interests in sync, but over time their heartbeats and respiratory patterns can sync up as well.

“Physiological responses are tightly linked to emotion. For example, if someone is upset then [they] tend to breath faster and have an increased heart rate,” said Jonathan Helm, the main author of the study. “Since physiology shares a link with emotion and affect, we wanted to see if the connection between couples’ affective states also shows up as a link in physiological states.”

The researchers used 32 heterosexual couples in a series of exercises to find their data. Emilio Ferrer, a researcher in the UC Davis Department of Psychology who assisted in the study, stated that the first exercise of the experiment asked the couples to sit across from each other while blindfolded. Next, the blindfolds were removed and they were asked to make eye contact without touching or speaking to one another.

“We wanted to see if there was a connection at the baseline level,” Ferrer said.

The baseline level refers to the the initial readings of heart rate and respiration used for comparison with values relating to an external stimulus. Physical contact with one another could have disrupted the data, hence why the couples were not allowed to touch.

Ferrer said the exercises that followed included one in which the couples were told to mimic one anothers’ actions but still avoid physical contact, and another test in which they were told to discuss the positive aspects of their relationship. The researchers found that the couples’ breathing and heartbeats were synced with one another.

When the data was shuffled around to mismatch couples, there was no correlation between the randomly paired individuals, implying that they will only sync with their significant other. However, similar studies have found that the physiological bond can be found in people who are related or simply have known one another for a long period of time.

Phillip R. Shaver, a professor in the UC Davis Department of Psychology, discussed how people often unconsciously mimic each other for underlying reasons regarding the attachment theory.

According to Shaver, humans are social creatures and naturally seek acceptance on many levels. Even if a previous connection does not exist, individuals can sync with people other than romantic partners when a strong connection is desired.

More research into this area could lead to answers regarding phenomena such as “takotsubo cardiomyopathy,” also known as “broken heart syndrome.” While most people consider the ailment a myth, research has shown that couples who have been together for 20 to 50 years can suddenly be affected by improper muscular movement in the heart, and in some cases, die shortly after a loved one passes away.

A study in 2008 showed women who lost their partners were more than twice as likely to die and men were six times more likely. Helm discussed the syndrome and its relation to his work.

“It’s hard to make a strong statement about the two phenomena, but there is theory to support a connection. Attachment theory suggests that we use partners (mother, fathers, sisters, brothers, romantic others, etc.) to help regulate physiology,” Helm said. “A simpler way of saying this [is that] the presence of close others promotes physiological homeostasis. Hence, we naturally seek the company of those [close to us] because they make our world more pleasant, both emotionally and physiologically.”

NICOLE NOGA can be reached at science@theaggie.org.