title: Structure of a eukaryotic nonribosomal peptide synthetase adenylation domain that activates a large hydroxamate amino acid in siderophore biosynthesis

authors: Lee, T. Verne

subjects: acetyl-coa synthetase

abstract: Nonribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs) are large, multidomain proteins that are involved in the biosynthesis of an array of secondary metabolites. We report the structure of the third adenylation domain from the siderophore-synthesizing NRPS, SidN, from the endophytic fungus Neotyphodium lolii. This is the first structure of a eukaryotic NRPS domain, and it reveals a large binding pocket required to accommodate the unusual amino acid substrate, N-delta-cis-anhydromevalonyl-N-delta-hydroxy-L-ornithine (cis-AMHO). The specific activation of cis-AMHO was confirmed biochemically, and an AMHO moiety was unambiguously identified as a component of the fungal siderophore using mass spectroscopy. The protein structure shows that the substrate binding pocket is defined by 17 amino acid residues, in contrast to both prokaryotic adenylation domains and to previous predictions based on modeling. Existing substrate prediction methods for NRPS adenylation domains fail for domains from eukaryotes due to the divergence of their signature sequences from those of prokaryotes. Thus, this new structure will provide a basis for improving prediction methods for eukaryotic NRPS enzymes that play important and diverse roles in the biology of fungi.

text: Structure of a eukaryotic nonribosomal peptide synthetase adenylation domain that activates a large hydroxamate amino acid in siderophore biosynthesis Nonribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs) are large, multidomain proteins that are involved in the biosynthesis of an array of secondary metabolites. We report the structure of the third adenylation domain from the siderophore-synthesizing NRPS, SidN, from the endophytic fungus Neotyphodium lolii. This is the first structure of a eukaryotic NRPS domain, and it reveals a large binding pocket required to accommodate the unusual amino acid substrate, N-delta-cis-anhydromevalonyl-N-delta-hydroxy-L-ornithine (cis-AMHO). The specific activation of cis-AMHO was confirmed biochemically, and an AMHO moiety was unambiguously identified as a component of the fungal siderophore using mass spectroscopy. The protein structure shows that the substrate binding pocket is defined by 17 amino acid residues, in contrast to both prokaryotic adenylation domains and to previous predictions based on modeling. Existing substrate prediction methods for NRPS adenylation domains fail for domains from eukaryotes due to the divergence of their signature sequences from those of prokaryotes. Thus, this new structure will provide a basis for improving prediction methods for eukaryotic NRPS enzymes that play important and diverse roles in the biology of fungi.

year: 2010

title: The modern state and economic leadership: Canada, New Zealand and Australia’s trade and investment relations with Japan 1985-1998

authors: Holroyd, Carin Lee

abstract: Governments around the world are preoccupied with the confusing, uncertain and often chaotic influences of an expanding free market economy, increased globalization, major attempts to deregulate national regulatory systems, and the closely related development of powerful multi-national corporations. In the 1970s, free market western industrial nations partially, but by no means systematically, squared off against the USSR and China-led communist block, numerous socialist states, and a multitude of developing nations. Near the end of the 20ᵗʰ century, with communism in full-scale retreat and socialism largely politically discredited, the free market stands in the ascendency. While significant academic and political voices continue to express concern about a head-long rush into open markets, deregulation and business-driven economies, the rush of political and commercial sentiment appears to have shifted decisively away from government-led economic development.

The primary purpose of this study is to examine the role of the state in the management of national economies in an area of state liberalism. In the post-war period, when many governments had faith in their ability to lead economic planning, departments and agencies attempted to manage and shape national and regional development. In the current age of neo-classical economics, where country after country has publicly indicated their greater confidence in the ability of the free market to determine the best economic opportunities, governments have surrendered some, if not all, of their responsibility for managing the shape, direction and character of the national economic and commercial system. By accepting this limited role, the argument will be advanced - western industrial governments have not provided leadership and direction in a time of dramatic economic change.

Testing the proposition proposed above requires an examination of the acceptance of neo-classical ideas of the state by a national government or national governments and an assessment of the impact of this approach to state affairs on economic policy and outcomes. This study considers how three western governments, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, reacted to the pressure to liberalize the state. Each government adopted, to a greater or lesser degree, the proposition that the role of government in the economy should be reduced. The study then examines how these three countries responded to a major shift in economic prospects and opportunities and how national choices affected economic activity. The specific case under investigation is that of changes in national trade with Japan in the period 1985 to the present. Japan was selected for two main reasons. First, it is the largest (in the case of Australia) or second largest (for Canada and New Zealand) trading partner of the three countries under investigation. Second, Japan has undergone major changes in its internal and economic trade relationships over the past fifteen years, creating risks and opportunities for countries relying on access to the Japanese market. The transitions in the Japanese economy provide an opportunity to gauge the responsiveness of national governments and their ability and willingness to translate international market intelligence and understanding into concrete national economic policy and action.

Canada, New Zealand and Australia embrace, to greater or lesser degrees, a neo-classical mindset which promotes limited governmental involvement in the economy. The actions and initiatives that these governments could undertake, therefore, were constrained by the bounds of an approach to political economy which dictates that economic decisions should be made by the marketplace and not by governments. While the investigation is rooted in a consideration of the intellectual debates surrounding state involvement in economic planning, it seeks to examine the practical, political and administrative issues associated with international trade, the mobilization of national government action, and the shifting ground that lies under the business-government relationship in the late 20ᵗʰ century global economy.

text: The modern state and economic leadership: Canada, New Zealand and Australia’s trade and investment relations with Japan 1985-1998 Governments around the world are preoccupied with the confusing, uncertain and often chaotic influences of an expanding free market economy, increased globalization, major attempts to deregulate national regulatory systems, and the closely related development of powerful multi-national corporations. In the 1970s, free market western industrial nations partially, but by no means systematically, squared off against the USSR and China-led communist block, numerous socialist states, and a multitude of developing nations. Near the end of the 20ᵗʰ century, with communism in full-scale retreat and socialism largely politically discredited, the free market stands in the ascendency. While significant academic and political voices continue to express concern about a head-long rush into open markets, deregulation and business-driven economies, the rush of political and commercial sentiment appears to have shifted decisively away from government-led economic development.

The primary purpose of this study is to examine the role of the state in the management of national economies in an area of state liberalism. In the post-war period, when many governments had faith in their ability to lead economic planning, departments and agencies attempted to manage and shape national and regional development. In the current age of neo-classical economics, where country after country has publicly indicated their greater confidence in the ability of the free market to determine the best economic opportunities, governments have surrendered some, if not all, of their responsibility for managing the shape, direction and character of the national economic and commercial system. By accepting this limited role, the argument will be advanced - western industrial governments have not provided leadership and direction in a time of dramatic economic change.

Testing the proposition proposed above requires an examination of the acceptance of neo-classical ideas of the state by a national government or national governments and an assessment of the impact of this approach to state affairs on economic policy and outcomes. This study considers how three western governments, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, reacted to the pressure to liberalize the state. Each government adopted, to a greater or lesser degree, the proposition that the role of government in the economy should be reduced. The study then examines how these three countries responded to a major shift in economic prospects and opportunities and how national choices affected economic activity. The specific case under investigation is that of changes in national trade with Japan in the period 1985 to the present. Japan was selected for two main reasons. First, it is the largest (in the case of Australia) or second largest (for Canada and New Zealand) trading partner of the three countries under investigation. Second, Japan has undergone major changes in its internal and economic trade relationships over the past fifteen years, creating risks and opportunities for countries relying on access to the Japanese market. The transitions in the Japanese economy provide an opportunity to gauge the responsiveness of national governments and their ability and willingness to translate international market intelligence and understanding into concrete national economic policy and action.

Canada, New Zealand and Australia embrace, to greater or lesser degrees, a neo-classical mindset which promotes limited governmental involvement in the economy. The actions and initiatives that these governments could undertake, therefore, were constrained by the bounds of an approach to political economy which dictates that economic decisions should be made by the marketplace and not by governments. While the investigation is rooted in a consideration of the intellectual debates surrounding state involvement in economic planning, it seeks to examine the practical, political and administrative issues associated with international trade, the mobilization of national government action, and the shifting ground that lies under the business-government relationship in the late 20ᵗʰ century global economy.

year: 1999

title: Ko au te whenua, te whenua ko au  – I am the land, the land is me: An autoethnographic investigation of a secondary school teacher’s experience seeking to enrich learning in outdoor  education for Māori students.

authors: Townsend, Jane Emma

subjects: place-responsive

abstract: This thesis is my story as an outdoor educator, as a researcher, and a co-participant reflecting on my own actions and experiences as well as those of my students. In this autoethnography I share my revelations and tensions in my role as an outdoor education teacher seeking to enrich the experiences of Māori students.  Māori culture and history have largely been ignored in the outdoor education classrooms and environments of Aotearoa New Zealand. After teaching the subject for ten years I didn’t perceive that I was perpetuating the same invisibility in my own outdoor education course. Over this time a number of questions that had fermented at the back of my mind came to the fore; ‘why are so few Māori students opting to take outdoor education as a senior secondary school subject?’ and ‘how can I make the subject of outdoor education more desirable and appealing to Māori?’ A place-responsive approach incorporates and values traditional ways of learning through the notion of place and the stories attached to them. The cultural context of learning about and through place has the potential to provide learning opportunities that are relevant and meaningful to all learners but particularly Māori. Place-responsive pedagogies allow outdoor educators to create an environment where language, knowledge, culture and values are normal, valid and legitimate – contexts where Māori students can be themselves. Through this research I have found that the implementation of a place responsive approach has had significant implications for Year twelve outdoor education at Mount Maunganui College. The improvement in Māori student achievement and numbers selecting the subject have  been affirming.

Ko au te whenua, te whenua ko au – I am the land, the land is me

text: Ko au te whenua, te whenua ko au  – I am the land, the land is me: An autoethnographic investigation of a secondary school teacher’s experience seeking to enrich learning in outdoor  education for Māori students. This thesis is my story as an outdoor educator, as a researcher, and a co-participant reflecting on my own actions and experiences as well as those of my students. In this autoethnography I share my revelations and tensions in my role as an outdoor education teacher seeking to enrich the experiences of Māori students.  Māori culture and history have largely been ignored in the outdoor education classrooms and environments of Aotearoa New Zealand. After teaching the subject for ten years I didn’t perceive that I was perpetuating the same invisibility in my own outdoor education course. Over this time a number of questions that had fermented at the back of my mind came to the fore; ‘why are so few Māori students opting to take outdoor education as a senior secondary school subject?’ and ‘how can I make the subject of outdoor education more desirable and appealing to Māori?’ A place-responsive approach incorporates and values traditional ways of learning through the notion of place and the stories attached to them. The cultural context of learning about and through place has the potential to provide learning opportunities that are relevant and meaningful to all learners but particularly Māori. Place-responsive pedagogies allow outdoor educators to create an environment where language, knowledge, culture and values are normal, valid and legitimate – contexts where Māori students can be themselves. Through this research I have found that the implementation of a place responsive approach has had significant implications for Year twelve outdoor education at Mount Maunganui College. The improvement in Māori student achievement and numbers selecting the subject have  been affirming.

Ko au te whenua, te whenua ko au – I am the land, the land is me

year: 2014