The gravitationally unstable gas disk of a starburst galaxy 12 billion years ago.

Galaxies in the early Universe that are bright at submillimetre wavelengths (submillimetre-bright galaxies) are forming stars at a rate roughly 1,000 times higher than the Milky Way. A large fraction of the new stars form in the central kiloparsec of the galaxy1-3, a region that is comparable in size to the massive, quiescent galaxies found at the peak of cosmic star-formation history4 and the cores of present-day giant elliptical galaxies. The physical and kinematic properties inside these compact starburst cores are poorly understood because probing them at relevant spatial scales requires extremely high angular resolution. Here we report observations with a linear resolution of 550 parsecs of gas and dust in an unlensed, submillimetre-bright galaxy at a redshift of z = 4.3, when the Universe was less than two billion years old. We resolve the spatial and kinematic structure of the molecular gas inside the heavily dust-obscured core and show that the underlying gas disk is clumpy and rotationally supported (that is, its rotation velocity is larger than the velocity dispersion). Our analysis of the molecular gas mass per unit area suggests that the starburst disk is gravitationally unstable, which implies that the self-gravity of the gas is stronger than the differential rotation of the disk and the internal pressure due to stellar-radiation feedback. As a result of the gravitational instability in the disk, the molecular gas would be consumed by star formation on a timescale of 100 million years, which is comparable to gas depletion times in merging starburst galaxies5.

Involvement of cytochrome P-450 enzyme activity in the selectivity and safening action of pyrazosulfuron-ethyl.

To investigate the selectivity and safening action of the sulfonylurea herbicide pyrazosulfuron-ethyl (PSE), pyrazosulfuron-ethyl O-demethylase (PSEOD) activity involving oxidative metabolism by cytochrome P-450 was studied in rice (Oryza sativa L cv Nipponbare) and Cyperus serotinus Rottb. Cytochrome P-450-dependent activity was demonstrated by the use of the inducers 1,8-naphthalic anhydride and ethanol, the herbicides PSE, bensulfuron-methyl, dimepiperate and dymron, or the inhibitor piperonyl butoxide (PBO). Growth inhibition in C serotinus seedlings was more severe than that in rice seedlings. O-Dealkylation activities of PSE were induced differently in rice and in C serotinus, with distinctly higher activity in rice seedlings. The induced PSEOD activities were slightly inhibited by PBO in rice seedlings, whereas they were strongly inhibited in C serotinus seedlings. Dimepiperate and dymron were effective safeners of rice against PSE treatment. Treatments with herbicide alone resulted in less induction of PSEOD activity compared with combined treatments of the herbicide and safener. PSEOD activity in rice seedlings induced with herbicide alone was strongly inhibited by PBO, whereas it was weakly inhibited in rice seedlings induced with combinations of PSE and two safeners. These results suggest that O-demethylation by cytochrome P-450 enzymes may be involved in the metabolism of PSE and may contribute to its selectivity and safening action. Furthermore, these results suggest the existence of a multiple form of cytochrome P-450 in plants.

A high-resolution image of atomic hydrogen in the M81 group of galaxies.

It has long been recognized that interactions between galaxies are important in determining their evolution. The distribution of gas--out of which new stars are formed--is strongly affected; in particular, gas may be concentrated near the nucleus, leading to a burst of star formation. Here we present a map of atomic hydrogen (H I) in the nearest interacting group of galaxies (that dominated by M81), obtained by combining 12 separate fields observed with the Very Large Array. The H I that surrounds M81, M82 and NGC3077 (the most prominent galaxies in the group) is dominated by filamentary structures, clearly demonstrating the violent disruption of this system by tidal interactions. These observations should have detected all H I complexes more massive than 10(6) solar masses, meaning that our map contains all structures that might evolve into new dwarf galaxies.