Total RNA from biofilms was isolated using the RiboPure yeast kit (Ambion, Inc.), according to the manufacturer’s instructions. RNA concentrations and purity were determined by measuring the absorbance at 260 nm and 280 nm (ND-1000 spectrophotometer, NanoDrop Technologies). Equal amounts of RNA (3 μg in 20 μl reactions) were reverse transcribed with oligo(dT) primers using Superscript Selleckchem CH5183284 reverse transcriptase II (Invitrogen). Primers were based on the published sequence of the EFB1 gene of C. albicans. Primer sequences used were as follows: Forward:

5′- CAT TGA TGG TAC TAC TGC CAC -3′; Reverse: 5′- TTT ACC GGC TGG CAA GTC TT -3′. The forward primer spanned the sole exon-exon boundary of EFB1, thus excluding amplification of genomic C. Selleck Ivacaftor albicans DNA. The uniqueness of the primers for C. albicans EFB1 was determined Rabusertib supplier using the BLAST database http://​www.​tigr.​org. To generate standard curves for quantitative analyses a pEFB plasmid was prepared as follows. A 136-bp C. albicans EFB exon fragment, containing the target sequence, was amplified with the above mentioned primers. PCR was performed in a DNA thermal cycler with 1 cycle of 5 min at 95°C; 40 cycles of 1 min at 95°C, 30 s at 62°C, 30 s at 72°C; and a final extension at 72°C for 5 min. This fragment was ligated into the pCR 2.1 plasmid vector (3.931 kb) and transformed into One Shot cells (Top10F’) using a TA

cloning kit (Invitrogen). Plasmids were digested with xhoI to generate a linear template and purified with the PureYield™ Plasmid Miniprep System (Promega). Plasmid concentrations were determined spectrophotometrically and copy numbers calculated based on linear plasmid mass. Serial plasmid dilutions (500 pg, 50 pg, 5 pg, 500 fg, 50 fg, 5 fg, 1 fg of DNA/μl) were then used to generate standard curves for detection and quantification of EFB1 mRNA by the iCycler iQ RT-PCR assay. Real-time PCR was performed with an iCycler iQ

real-time PCR detection system (Bio-Rad). All PCR reaction mixtures contained the following: 10 μl 2 × iQ™ SYBR® Green Supermix (BioRad, Hercules, CA), 1 μl of first-strand cDNA reaction mixture or linear plasmid DNA, 0.1 μM of primers much and H2O to bring the final volume to 20 μl. The program for amplification had an incubation step at 50°C for 2 min, and 95°C incubation for 5 min, followed by 40 cycles of 95°C for 10 s and 62°C for 30 s. Reactions to estimate transcript copy number were run in duplicate from two biologic RNA replicates. Data were analyzed using the iCycle iQ system software (BioRad). Testing of planktonic cells Candida cells were grown overnight in YPD broth as described above. Cultures were adjusted to a cellular density equivalent to 1.0 × 106 cells/ml and subjected to caspofungin (CAS, Merck Research Laboratories, Rahway, N.J.) or fluconazole (FLU, Pfizer Inc.

faecalis or other Gram-positive bacteria [59–61]. It is noteworthy that the genes encoding any of the established enterococcal virulence factors

were not among the CC2-enriched genes. Surface structures that promote adhesion of pathogenic bacteria to human tissue are also promising targets for creation of effective vaccines. However, functional studies of the individual CC2-enriched genes are required in order to distinguish their implications in enterococcal virulence. Methods Bacterial strain and growth conditions Bacterial LY333531 molecular weight strains used in this study are listed in Table 1. E. faecalis strains were grown overnight (ON) in brain heart infusion broth (BHI; Oxoid) at 37° without shaking. All the strains have previously been sequence typed by the MLST scheme proposed by Ruiz-Garbajosa et al. [26]. Comparative genomic hybridization Microarrays The microarray used in this

QNZ chemical structure work has been described previously [27]. The microarray design has been deposited in the ArrayExpress database with the accession number A-MEXP-1069 and A-MEXP-1765. DNA isolation Genomic DNA was isolated by using the FP120 FastPrep bead-beater (BIO101/Savent) and the QiaPrep MiniPrep kit (Qiagen) as previously described [27]. Fluorescent labeling and hybridization Fifteen hospital-associated E. faecalis strains were selected for CGH based on their representation of MLST find more sequence types (STs) belonging to major CCs and potential HiRECCs, with a special focus on CC2, and their variety of geographical origins within Europe. Genomic DNA was labeled and purified with the BioPrime Array CGH Genomic labeling System (Invitrogen) and Cyanine Smart Pack dUTP (PerkinElmer Life Sciences), according to the manufacturer’s protocol. Purified samples were then dried, prior to resuspension in 140 μl hybridization solution (5 × SSC, 0.1% (w/v) SDS, 1.0% (w/v) bovine serum albumin, 50% (v/v) formamide and 0.01% (w/v) single-stranded salmon sperm DNA) and hybridized for 16 h at 42°C to the E. faecalis oligonucleotide array in a Tecan HS 400 pro hybridization station (Tecan). Arrays were washed twice at 42°C with 2 × SSC +

0.2% SDS, and twice at 23°C with 2 × SSC, followed by washes at 23°C with 1) 0.2 × SSC and 2) H2O. Two replicate hybridizations (dye-swap) were performed Inositol monophosphatase 1 for each test strain. Hybridized arrays were scanned at wavelengths of 532 nm (Cy3) and 635 nm (Cy5) with a Tecan scanner LS (Tecan). Fluorescent intensities and spot morphologies were analyzed using GenePix Pro 6.0 (Molecular Devices), and spots were excluded based on slide or morphology abnormalities. All water used for the various steps of the hybridization and for preparation of solutions was filtered (0.2 μM) MilliQ dH20. Data analysis Standard methods in the LIMMA package [62] in R http://​www.​r-project.​org/​, available from the Bioconductor http://​www.​bioconductor.​org were employed for preprocessing and normalization.

Cells remain in state 2 for a limited time window (until reaching the “”age”" A), and then move on to State 3 – the mature stationary phase, where the production of the quorum signal ceases altogether but the bacteria start to emit another signaling compound – the volatile “”odor”" signal that is produced into the gas phase and readily

absorbed into the agar across the whole dish (so that its concentration at any place reflects the total sum of production by all state 3 cells). Both state 1 and state 2 cells respond to a limiting concentration Vactosertib in vivo of the odor signal (Olim1) by entering State 4, or a refractory growing state, where the bacteria either keep dividing (if previously in state 1) or restore division (from state 2), but no longer produce any signaling compounds. They also do not respond to the quorum signal any more, while retaining sensitivity to the odor. Finally, upon reaching either the maximum colony LDK378 ic50 thickness (N) or a second odor threshold (Olim2), state 4 cells cease growing and enter mature stationary phase (state 3), finishing thus colony development. Computer simulations based on these BX-795 assumptions yielded often colony profiles reminiscent of the observed behavior

of F colonies (for an example see Figure 6b, c colonies 1 and 2). We cannot yet provide any rigorous estimate of the robustness of the F-like outcomes, as we have not systematically examined

the space of model parameters; the reader is invited to do so using the provided program (Additional file 1). We obtained, however, “”realistic”" looking outcomes, though sometimes with distorted ratios of central, interstitial and peripheral colony zones, with a variety of parameters. We thus hope that the model might adequately describe a general aspect of the colony morphogenesis rather than an fortuitous outcome of 5-Fluoracil mw a specific combination of parameters. Moreover, we were able to generate a “”rimless”" (R) phenotype solely by modifying the quorum and odor sensitivity limits while all the other parameters have been kept constant (Figure 6b, c colony 3). Simulation of specific features of rimmed colonies While experimenting with varying layout of the initial inoculum (using parameters that generated rimmed colonies), we have observed three worthwhile additional phenomena (Figure 7a, b): (i) multiple inocula sharing the same dish developed into colonies of perfect shape but smaller size (compare Figure 1b)   (ii) under some circumstances, colonies initiated close to each other “”developed”" a common rim (compare Figure 1b and Figure 2a)   (iii) a simulation of dropping or dotting an extended inoculum yielded “”rimmed colonies”" from inocula smaller than the interstitial ring of a single cell-initiated colony but maculae for larger inocula.

Methods A controlled sublimation method was used for graphene growth on a 6H-SiC (0001) surface [16]. First, the SiC substrate was cleaned using a standard procedure for substrate cleaning [21]. Second, the optically polished Si-face surface was placed face-to-face with a polished graphite disk (FTG) and arranged such that uniform #Silmitasertib purchase randurls[1|1|,|CHEM1|]# Newton rings were observed in fluorescent light [21]. The optically finished substrate surfaces resulted in a higher rate of SiC decomposition compared to chemical–mechanical processed (CMP) surfaces and created multiple graphene layers. The epitaxial growth process was controlled by annealing

in a sequence of temperature ramp and dwell stages in

Ar background gas at a pressure slightly higher than 1 atm using a commercial furnace. The substrates were first dehydrated and cleaned in the furnace at 725°C for approximately 16 h. The temperature was ramped to 1,200°C for 30 min and then ramped at 100°C/min for graphene growth at a temperature (dwell time) of 1,850°C (45 min; samples 1 and 2) or 1,950°C (30 min; samples 3 and 4). The temperatures were measured and controlled using molybdenum-sheathed type ‘C’ thermocouples. When the samples were taken out of the furnace, they were imaged by tapping-mode HKI-272 nmr atomic force microscopy (AFM). They were then shipped from NIST to National Taiwan University, where they were patterning into Hall bars by standard photolithography using reactive ion etch in O2 plasma (see Figure 1 with size ratio L/W = 4). The pleats on the surface show that multilayer graphene was grown over most of the 6H-SiC (0001) surface [22]. Optically polished substrates produce much thicker graphene for the same processing conditions compared to that grown on CMP surfaces. The roughness of the optically polished surface provides much more off-axis surface area, relative to the (0001) atomic plane, and this accounts for the faster growth rate. The TEM images are taken from samples grown under the same conditions. Comparing the

AFM images with TEM imaging performed on other Carteolol HCl samples, we would estimate that the 1,850°C samples have four to five layers of graphene and the 1,950°C samples have five to six layers. All four-terminal electrical measurements were carried out using dc constant-current sources and multimeters. Figure 1 Optical microscopy image of Hall bar shows L = 100 and W = 25 μm. The green lines indicate the edges of the Hall bar. Results and discussion Figure 2 shows the magnetoresistivity measurements ρ xx (B) at various temperatures. Negative magnetoresistivity centered at B = 0 can be ascribed to suppression of weak localization by a magnetic field applied perpendicular to the graphene plane.

Int J Oncol 2007,31(4):741–751.PubMed this website 47. Shi WD, Meng ZQ, Chen Z, Lin JH, Zhou ZH, Liu LM: Identification of liver metastasis-related genes in a novel human pancreatic carcinoma cell model by microarray analysis. Cancer Lett 2009,283(1):84–91.PubMedCrossRef 48. Fu Y, Zheng S, An N, Athanasopoulos T, Popplewell L, Liang A, Li K, Hu C,

Zhu Y: Beta-catenin as a potential key target for tumor suppression. Int J Cancer 2011,129(7):1541–1551.PubMedCrossRef 49. Orlichenko LS, Radisky DC: Matrix metalloproteinases stimulate epithelial-mesenchymal transition during tumor development. Clin Exp Metastasis 2008,25(6):593–600.PubMedCrossRef 50. Huang C, Xie K: Crosstalk of Sp1 and Stat3 signalling in pancreatic cancer pathogenesis. Cytokine Growth Factor Rev 2012,23(1–2):25–35.PubMedCrossRef 51. Decarlo K, Emley A, Dadzie OE, Mahalingam M: Laser capture microdissection: methods and applications. Methods Mol Biol 2011, 755:1–15.PubMedCrossRef Competing interests The authors declare that they have no competing interests. Authors’ contributions AVDB designed

and performed the study, analysed AR-13324 purchase the data and wrote the manuscript. HV participated in drafting the manuscript. RVE has been involved in analysing the data. OG contributed to data collection and data analysis and revised the manuscript. BT conceived and designed the study, interpreted the data and wrote the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.”
“Background Gliomas are neuroectodermal tumors contributing to 30–45% of all human intracranial tumors that commonly arise in the white matter of cerebral hemisphere [1]. Due to its highly invasive ability, angiogenesis and the presence of necrosis surrounding brain [2, 3], malignant gliomas are often incurable by OSI-906 datasheet surgery alone. The molecular pathogenesis of malignant gliomas is still unclear, thus a major research effort has been directed at identifying novel specific glioma-associated genes which might play significant roles in glioma carcinogenesis. The LATS1 gene, a

mammalian homolog of fly LATS originally isolated in Drosophila as a cell proliferation inhibitor [4, 5], is a speculative serine/threonine kinase that localizes to the mitotic Atazanavir apparatus. In mammalian cells, LATS1 is phosphorylated in a cell-cycle-dependent manner and complexes with CDC2 in early mitosis. The N-terminal region of the LATS1 protein binds CDC2 to form a complex showing decreased H1 histone kinase activity, indicating a role as a negative regulator of CDC2/cyclin A [6]. Lats1- knockout mice spontaneously developed large soft tissue sarcomas and ovarian stromal cell tumors and a high sensitivity to carcinogenic treatments, suggesting that Lats1 is a tumor suppressor at least in mice [7]. The human LATS1 gene has been mapped to chromosome 6q24-25 where loss of heterozygosity has been observed in ovarian [8], cervical [9], and breast cancers [10].

J Mater Chem 2012, 22:19482–19487.CrossRef 17. Sing KSW: Reporting physisorption data for gas/solid systems. Pure Appl Chem 1982, 54:2201–2218.CrossRef 18. Lin Y, Liang Chung HC, Chen M, Sung H: Physically crosslinked alginate/N,O-carboxymethyl Selleckchem Daporinad chitosan hydrogels with calcium for oral delivery of protein drugs. Biomaterials 2005, 26:2105–2113.CrossRef 19. Xia C, Xiao C: Preparation and characterization of dual responsive sodium alginate-g-poly(vinyl alcohol) hydrogel. J Appl Polym Sci check details 2012, 123:2244–2249.CrossRef

20. Xie L, Jiang M, Dong X, Bai X, Tong J, Zhou J: Controlled mechanical and swelling properties of poly(vinyl alcohol)/sodium alginate blend hydrogel prepared by freeze-thaw followed by Ca 2+ crosslinking. J Appl Polym Sci 2012, 124:823–831.CrossRef Competing interests The authors declare that

they have no competing interests. Authors’ contributions Selleckchem ACP-196 HU conceived and guided the experiment, and XS carried out the total experiment. Both authors participated in the analysis of data. XS drafted the manuscript. HU guided the revision of the manuscript. Both authors read and approved the final manuscript.”
“Background Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have attracted an enormous amount of attention from many researchers, who have found numerous device applications [1–3] taking advantage of their unique properties. Integrating CNTs into devices inevitably requires control of their location and/or density [4, 5]. Controlling the

synthetic location has been achieved mainly by depositing the metal catalysts in a controlled and patterned way for the following chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process. Typically, patterning catalytic metals has been achieved using the lift-off technique, which consists of a conventional photolithography process and thin film 5 FU deposition [6]. Alternative patterning methods such as soft lithography [7] or depositing catalytic thin films through shadow masks [8] have also been introduced. In these methods, however, either the catalytic film deposition requires a high-vacuum system [6, 8] or the number of process repetitions is limited by the low durability of the stamp [7]. Although electroplating or electroless plating techniques [9–11] can be used to grow CNTs site-selectively and to control the density of the CNTs, these wet process approaches are not suitable for fully processed, movable silicon microelectromechanical system (MEMS) structures. In this study, we used the spark discharge method to generate catalytic aerosol nanoparticles for CNT synthesis and patterned the particle-deposited area using a shadow mask and the thermophoresis effect [12, 13]. With the patterned nanoparticles, site-specific growth of CNTs was demonstrated.

The yak has great potential as an “energy-saving” animal as many researchers around the world aim to find “low carbon” livestock. The identification of inhibitors of methanogenesis is currently being explored. However, the successful use selleck compound of these agents is dependant upon having a better understanding of the hydrogenotrophic microbial community in the rumen, which must be promoted in the absence of the methanogenic archaea for production benefits to occur. As a potential “low carbon” animal, yaks are adapted to a cold and high altitude environment and are reported to produce less methane than cattle per unit body weight [9]. Thus, the yak, which is well

adapted to its environment, may harbor a rumen methanogen

population that produces less methane than cattle. Therefore, it is necessary to study the hydrogenotrophic microbial community by comparing the rumen methanogen diversity of yaks and cattle. The phylogenetic Selleck JNJ-26481585 analysis of bacterial diversity in yak has been studied previously [11, 12], whereas the methanogen diversity in yak has yet to be investigated. This study aims to generate new knowledge pertaining to the rumen methanogens of the yak and will contribute to the identification of the microbiology that constitutes a low-methane emitting ruminant animal. To our knowledge, this is the first investigation on the diversity of rumen methanogens from the yak. Results Sequence similarity analysis In the yak 16S rRNA gene clone library, a total of 227 clones were examined and 18 clones were identified as chimeras and excluded from further analyses. The remaining 209

clones revealed 134 P505-15 unique sequences (Table 1). Of these, 109 sequences belonged to the Thermoplasmatales-affiliated Lineage C (TALC), with only 85.5% to 89.2% identity to Methanomassiliicoccus luminyensis. The remaining 25 sequences were related to archaeal taxa from the orders Methanobacteriales, Methanomicrobiales and Methanosarcinales. Calpain Of these 25 sequences, 20 belonged within the order Methanobacteriales and were broken down as follows: 12 sequences were 97.0% to 98.3% related to Methanobrevibacter millerae, four sequences had 96.7% to 98.9% identity to Methanobrevibacter ruminantium, and four sequences were 96.2% to 97.5% related to Methanobrevibacter smithii. Only one sequence was related to methanogens from the order Methanomicrobiales, with 99.8% identity to Methanomicrobium mobile, whereas four sequences belonged to the order Methanosarcinales with only 91.7% to 92.9% identity to Methanimicrococcus blatticola. Table 1 Similarity values of rumen methanogens from yak and cattle from Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China Yak Cattle 16S Sequence Clonesa OTU# Nearest Taxon % Seq ID 16S Sequence Clonesa OTU# Nearest Taxon % Seq ID QTPYAK1 5 74 Mms. luminyensis 88.2 QTPC1 2 82 Mbb. millerae 98.6 QTPYAK2 1 74 Mms. luminyensis 88.1 QTPC2 1 82 Mbb.

The pile-up phenomenon of dislocations is the hallmark mechanism of the normal Hall–Petch relationship. Due to the resistance effect of the grain boundary to the propagation of dislocation, more force needs be applied to move the dislocations across a grain boundary and hence the increase of yield strength and cutting forces. If the grain size continues to decrease, it falls into the inverse Hall–Petch region, as shown in Figure 17c. In this case, the amount

of dislocation www.selleckchem.com/products/mx69.html movement substantially decreases. This indicates that as the grain size drops below the grain boundary strengthening limit, a smaller grain size would suppress the formation of dislocation pile-ups and instead promotes more grain boundary diffusion and sliding, which resolves the applied stress and in turn reduces the material’s yield strength. The grain boundary movement for case C7 can be observed from Figure 17d. The shape of many grains becomes irregular, and the grain boundaries beneath the machined surface slide in response to the exerted cutting forces. Conclusions This paper represents an extensive study of using MD simulation

approach to investigate machining of polycrystalline structures at nano-scale. It focuses on two important aspects. One is how machining parameters affect the performance of polycrystalline machining. The other is the influence of grain size Selleckchem ARS-1620 of polycrystalline copper structures. For this purpose, we generate 13 simulation cases which cover six levels of grain size, namely, 5.32, 6.70, 8.44, 13.40, 14.75, and 16.88 nm; three levels of machining

speed; three levels of depth of cut; and three levels of tool rake angle. The results are analyzed based on cutting forces, stress distribution, chip formation, and dislocation development. The major findings are summarized below: 1. Both the tangential and thrust forces increase with the increase of depth of cut for nano-scale polycrystalline machining. The relative others increases are 100% and 127% for the tangential and thrust forces, PD173074 respectively, as the depth of cut increases from 10 to 20 Å. Meanwhile, the maximum equivalent stress value also increases with the depth of cut, but the magnitude of change is much less significant compared with cutting forces.   2. Tool rake angle has a significant effect on machining performances in nano-scale polycrystalline machining. As the tool rake angle changes from -30° to +30°, the tangential and thrust forces decrease by 47% and 1,660%, respectively. The thrust force is much more sensitive to the change of rake angle. The use of nonnegative rake angles reduces the stress concentration in the formed chips.   3. The increase of machining speed generally requires higher cutting forces. In the study, the tangential force increases from 339.85 to 412.16 eV/Å and the thrust force increases from 257.03 to 353.

Mutant strains lacking

ripA entered host cells and escaped the phagosome, but were defective for intracellular growth [21]. The deletion mutants Lonafarnib had no apparent affect on F. tularensis growth with respect to doubling time or final density when propagated in Chamberlains chemically defined media or complex nutrient rich BHI. Thus, expression of ripA appeared to be required for adaptation and growth in the cytoplasmic environment of a host cell. The expression of a number of Francisella virulence factors required for phagosomal escape and intracellular replication are induced in the intracellular environment by a process involving the positive transcriptional regulators MglA and SspA [16, 22–24]. Data on whether MglA regulates ripA expression is contradictory. Microarray analysis of MglA regulated loci indicated that ripA expression was unaffected by MglA, [23], whereas results from a proteomics study suggested that RipA was repressed by MglA [25]. Given the ripA deletion mutant phenotype with respect to intracellular growth, that MglA and SspA regulate numerous genes required for intracellular growth and that there is a discrepancy between the microarray and proteomic results with respect to MglA affects on ripA expression, we applied multiple approaches to investigate environmental requirements for, and influences on,

F. tularensis ripA expression. Results Characterization of the ripA locus and transcriptional unit Prior to Enzalutamide clinical trial analyzing ripA expression patterns and regulation we sought to determine the context and extent of the ripA locus and transcript, respectively. The genome annotation suggests that the gene following ripA, FTL_1915, would be transcribed in the opposite orientation (Fig 1a). Preceding ripA are two genes,

FTL_1912 and FTL_1913 that PD184352 (CI-1040) are predicted to be transcribed in the same orientation, and thus could constitute a three gene operon. We tested this possibility by RT-PCR and Northern blot analysis. Figure 1 The ripA genomic region and transcript analysis. (a) Graphical representation of the F. tularensis LVS ripA genomic region. Primers utilized for RT-PCR are marked with arrows while the region complementary to the RNA probe used in the Northern analysis is demarcated by a solid line. (b) RT-PCR analysis of the expression of genes FTL_1912 (F12-R12), FTL_1913 (F13-R13), and ripA (Everolimus F14-R14) are shown in the upper image. Analysis for transcripts bridging FTL_1912 to FTL_1913 (F12-R13) and FTL_1913 to ripA (F13-R14) shown in lower image and compared to the intrageneic ripA amplicon (F14-R14). PCR of cDNA demarcated by a (+) and reverse transcriptase negative reactions to assess DNA contamination marked as (-). (c) Northern analysis to evaluate the transcript size of ripA containing RNA. Roche digoxigenin labeled RNA ladder is present in the left most lane followed by total RNA from F. tularensis LVS (wt) and F. tularensis LVS ripA:: Tn5.

The excited state dynamics, therefore, is governed by population relaxation. Similarly, in the simulations

of Renger and May, the frequency-dependent coupling of SHP099 mw the electronic states in the systems to the surroundings is needed. In order to describe this, the phonon-side band in a fluorescence spectrum is fitted. Using this analytical description for the spectral density, the time-resolved spectra can be fitted. As was shown before, the exciton EPZ5676 relaxation occurs mainly between adjacent levels. The number of states lower in energy determine the relaxation rate of an exciton level. However, important additional factors are also the energy difference between the two levels and the overlap between the excitation probability densities on a single pigment j (i.e., |C α(j)|2|C β(j)|2). The authors noted that the spectra of Chlorobium tepidum fitted remarkably better than those of Prosthecochloris aestuarii, in particular an experimental decay time of 1.7 ps was not reproduced. This could be partially overcome

by adjusting the site energies of especially BChl a 1 and BChl a 4. The energetic order, of these pigments which are the main contributors to the second lowest exciton states (E2), seems of importance for the dynamics in the system. This was further tested by introducing inhomogeneous broadening in the system by a Monte Carlo simulation this website of the spectra and the dynamics. In addition to the decay time constants, distributions of time constants centered around the originally simulated values were found. At the exciton level E2, this distribution showed a clear distinction between two time domains; one of several

hundreds of femtoseconds and another of several picoseconds, the latter is in the same order as the experimentally observed time scale. The spectra resulting from the Monte Carlo simulations are very similar to the dressed stick spectra calculated earlier (Vulto et al. 1998a). Vulto et al. showed that the method of Renger et al. does not reproduce the T − S and LD spectra at all, and concluded that their description of the electronic structure of the FMO complex was not completely correct. However, the ingenious way of describing the spectral broadening of the transitions by Renger et al. could be used to improve future simulations. The decay time for energy transfer from the lowest exciton next state to the ground state varies widely between different techniques and research groups. Table 14 gives a clear indication that there are two timescales concerned with the lowest exciton lifetime; one of about 100 ps and a longer one of several ns. A more elaborate description of this lifetime for Chlorobium tepidum is found in the electronic supplementary material. The discussion therein indicates that the lifetime of the lowest exciton state is influenced by the preparation method of the samples and in particular by the addition of oxidizing or reducing agents.