![]() On the way I have been admiring the unique fauna of this area. We anchored in one of the bays to take shelter from one of the many heavy storms this region is famous for. During the past few days we passed through the stunning fjords and water ways of Tierra del Fuego to end up where we are now. The days are shortening and darkening rapidly. The tourist season is long behind us now. From Punta Arenas, many tourists take off towards the Antarctic during the southern summer. This is the most southerly city of Chili. Six days ago, we departed from Punta Arenas. It has taken quite a bit of effort to get here. It’s still dark outside and we set out two lines last night in order to catch Chilean Sea Bass at depths ranging between 10 meters. At this moment I find myself about 100 kilometres south of Cape Horn. Let me take you back to May 2015, when I started my journey in Punta Arenas, which would take me on a fishing trip to one of the most unique habitats on earth. I have been lucky to have traveled on one of these fishing vessels south of Cape Horn, where I had an encounter with these illustrious marine mammals. I believe some of these fishermen frequently encounter these orcas, but are oblivious with regards to the rarity of this type, or even lack the ability to distinguish between the five different types of orcas which inhabit these southern fishing grounds. There are reports from long-line fishermen, who do interact with this subspecies every now and then. Additionally, the often rough weather creates very difficult conditions for observation. It is my opinion, that the major cause for this is the wild, vast waters of the Southern Ocean, inhabited by these animals, but infrequently visited by researchers. After this, only sparingly has it been observed by science. Illustration of a Type D male and female (© Uko Gorter)įound in the Southern hemisphere, the Type D has first been described in a mass stranding event in New Zealand in 1955. Then there’s the almost ridiculously small eye patch, which is a great way to identify this type of orca. The dorsal fins are more pointed and less prominent. They lack a snout and the heads are more blunt. Type D’s, on the other hand, differ substantially in terms of morphology. Then there are the Types B (divided in a large and small form) and C, which subtly differ in the shape of the dorsal fin and more obviously in the positions and shapes of the eye patches, saddle patches and colour. The Type A is the quintessential orca people are familiar with. In terms of morphology, Type D orcas are very different from other types in the Southern hemisphere. ![]() Analyses of its mitochondrial DNA have given reasons to declare this type as its very own species. There are currently discussions going on within the scientific community, surrounding this type. The most remarkable of these has to be the Type D. Five such ecotypes have currently been described in the Southern Ocean. These ecotypes differ in morphology, diet, behaviour and genetics. Worldwide, orcas are being divided into subspecies, also called ecotypes. I therefore consider myself lucky that I have met these animals. Not many people have seen this unique type of orca with their own eyes. One animal which does indeed deserve this title is a virtually unknown ecotype of the orca: Type D. RIKEN Genomic Sciences Center, Yokohama, Japan.It’s not often for large animal species to remain a mystery nowadays. Analyses of 1H-15N heteronuclear single quantum correlation spectra revealed that a wide range of residues in the C-terminal region, as well as the residues in the vicinity of a hydrophobic patch in the N-terminal domain, were dramatically affected upon complex formation with ribosomal protein S19. On the other hand, the C-terminal region of RimM (residues 81 to 162) is partly folded in solution. Residues 1 to 80 of the RimM protein fold into a single structural domain adopting a six-stranded beta-barrel fold. In the present study, we have produced Thermus thermophilus RimM in both the full-length form (162 residues) and its N-terminal fragment, spanning residues 1 to 85, as soluble proteins in Escherichia coli and have performed structural analyses by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Multiple sequence alignments predicted that RimM possesses two domains in its N- and C-terminal regions. It binds to ribosomal protein S19, located in the head domain of the 30S subunit. ![]() The RimM protein has been implicated in the maturation of the 30S ribosomal subunit.
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