Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #WondersOfNature
Most recents (3)
1/. #WondersOfNature
Ystdy, I came across this ball of walnut caterpillars
They cluster like this to increase body temperature & as a defence against predators (although a bird could scoff the lot!?)
They turn into beautiful, tan & cinnamon brown moths
Today, they were gone.
Ystdy, I came across this ball of walnut caterpillars
They cluster like this to increase body temperature & as a defence against predators (although a bird could scoff the lot!?)
They turn into beautiful, tan & cinnamon brown moths
Today, they were gone.
2/. #WondersOfNature (PART II)
A few months ago, I came across this oak apple or oak gall
The gall wasp lays its eggs in leaf of a particular type of oak tree
The gall protects the larvae until it metamorphoses into adulthood & the gall tissue nourishes the growing gall wasp.
A few months ago, I came across this oak apple or oak gall
The gall wasp lays its eggs in leaf of a particular type of oak tree
The gall protects the larvae until it metamorphoses into adulthood & the gall tissue nourishes the growing gall wasp.
3/. Like the ring-necked parakeets
you see in London’s skies, another non-native species lives in our waterways: the red swamp crayfish or mudbug
Whilst Jimi Hendrix was responsible for releasing a pair of parakeets in 1968, the crayfish were introduced in the 70s by the govt.
you see in London’s skies, another non-native species lives in our waterways: the red swamp crayfish or mudbug
Whilst Jimi Hendrix was responsible for releasing a pair of parakeets in 1968, the crayfish were introduced in the 70s by the govt.
Today we consolidated info on fatty acid oxidation with an intro to FA synthesis. The former happens when energy reserves are needed, producing NADH & Ac-coA. The latter when carbs are in excess, moves citrate to cytosol to produce Ac-coA & Mal-coA at expense of ATP and NADPH
Glucagon among the hormones to drive FA oxidation, insulin among those to drive FA synthesis. Chemical intermediates of the acyl groups are identical but esterified to coA in catabolism, esterified to FA synthetase in anabolism
Processes do not co-occur because 1. hormones, 2. cell compartmentalization, 3. Mal-coA blocks FA oxidation but required for FA synthesis #wondersofnature
The body has a glucose-based economy because that is the main fuel that circulates & what the brain prefers. This is not an argument to eat refined sugar, which is clearly bad, it’s just a fact. DNA & RNA are built from forms of ribose. How do cells convert glucose to ribose? /1
They use NADP+ & the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP). This also produces NADPH and the power to build cellular materials and signaling molecules with the captured electrons #redox #wondersofnature #biochem #NADtwitter /2
No synthetic organic chemist of any skill level can convert glucose to ribose-5-phosphate with the efficiency of the humblest bacterium #enzymes #coenzymes #metabolism #NAD
