Mutations in the cilia gene ARL13B lead to the classical form of Joubert syndrome

Joubert syndrome (JS) and related disorders are a group of autosomal-recessive conditions sharing the "molar tooth sign" on axial brain MRI, together with cerebellar vermis hypoplasia, ataxia, and psychomotor delay. JS is suggested to be a disorder of cilia function and is part of a spectrum of disorders involving retinal, renal, digital, oral, hepatic, and cerebral organs. We identified mutations in ARL13B in two families with the classical form of JS. ARL13B belongs to the Ras GTPase family, and in other species is required for ciliogenesis, body axis formation, and renal function. The encoded Arl13b protein was expressed in developing murine cerebellum and localized to the cilia in primary neurons. Overexpression of human wild-type but not patient mutant ARL13B rescued the Arl13b scorpion zebrafish mutant. Thus, ARL13B has an evolutionarily conserved role mediating cilia function in multiple organs.     

Cryptic peptide derived from the rat neuropeptide FF precursor affects G-proteins linked to opioid receptors in the rat brain

Recently, we reported the discovery of a novel amino acid sequence derived from the NPFF precursor NAWGPWSKEQLSPQA, which blocked the expression of conditioned place preference induced by morphine and reversed the antinociceptive activity of morphine (5mg/kg, s.c.) in the tail-immersion test in rats. Here, we name it as NPNA (Neuropeptide NA from its flanking amino acid residues). The synthetic peptide influenced the expression of mRNA coding for Galpha(i1), (i2), and (i3) subunits. The results provide further evidence that yet another bioactive sequence might be present within the NPFF precursor.     

Use of 16S Ribosomal DNA for Delineation of Marine Bacterioplankton Species

All of the marine bacterioplankton-derived 16S ribosomal DNA sequences previously deposited in GenBank were reanalyzed to determine the number of bacterial species in the oceanic surface waters. These sequences have been entered into the database since 1990. The rate of new additions reached a peak in 1999 and subsequently leveled off, suggesting that much of the marine microbial species richness has been sampled. When the GenBank sequences were dereplicated by using 97% similarity as a cutoff, 1,117 unique ribotypes were found. Of the unique sequences, 609 came from uncultured environmental clones and 508 came from cultured bacteria. We conclude that the apparent bacterioplankton species richness is relatively low.     

Species sorting and stoichiometric plasticity control community C:P ratio of first‐order aquatic consumers

Ecological stoichiometry has proven to be invaluable for understanding consumer response to changes in resource quality. Although interactions between trophic levels occur at the community level, most studies focus on single consumer species. In contrast to individual species, communities may deal with trophic mismatch not only through elemental plasticity but also through changes in species composition. Here, we show that a community of first‐order consumers (e.g. zooplankton) is able to adjust its stoichiometry (C:P) in response to experimentally induced changes in resource quality, but only to a limited extent. Furthermore, using the Price equation framework we show the importance of both elemental plasticity and species sorting. These results illustrate the need for a community perspective in ecological stoichiometry, requiring consideration of species‐specific elemental composition, intraspecific elemental plasticity and species turnover.     

Circadian rhythm of acute phase proteins under the influence of bright/dim light during the daytime

We investigated the influence of two different light intensities, dim (100 lx) and bright (5000 lx), during the daytime on the circadian rhythms of selected acute phase proteins of C-reactive protein (CRP), alpha1-acid glycoprotein (AGP), alpha1-antichymotrypsin (ACT), transfferin (TF), alpha2-macroglobulin (alpha2-m), haptoglobin (HP), and ceruloplasmin (CP). Serum samples were collected from 7 healthy volunteers at 4 h intervals during two separate single 24 h spans during which they were exposed to the respective light intensity conditions. A circadian rhythm was detected only in ACT concentration in the bright light condition. The concentration of ACT, a positive acute phase protein (APP), increased (significantly significant differences in the ACT concentration were detected at 14:00 and 22:00 h) and AGP showed a tendency to be higher under the daytime bright compared to dim light conditions. There were no significant differences between the time point means under daytime dim and bright light conditions for alpha2-M, AGP, Tf, Cp, or Hp. The findings suggest that some, but not all, APP may be influenced by the environmental light intensity.     

Structure of the O-specific polysaccharide of Proteus penneri 103 containing ribitol and 2-aminoethanol phosphates

The O-specific polysaccharide of the lipopolysaccharide of Proteus penneri strain 103 was studied using 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy, including 2D COSY, TOCSY, NOESY, H-detected 1H,(13)C HMQC, 1H, 31P HMQC, and HMBC experiments. It was found that the polysaccharide is built up of oligosaccharide-ribitol phosphate repeating units and thus resembles ribitol teichoic acids of Gram-positive bacteria. The following structure of the polysaccharide was established:where Etn and Rib-ol are ethanolamine and ribitol, respectively. This structure is unique among the known structures of Proteus O-antigens and, therefore, we propose classification of the strain studied into a new Proteus serogroup, O73. The molecular basis for cross-reactivity between O-antiserum against P. penneri 103 and O-antigens of P. mirabilis O33 and D52 is discussed.     

Use of 16S ribosomal DNA for delineation of marine bacterioplankton species

All of the marine bacterioplankton-derived 16S ribosomal DNA sequences previously deposited in GenBank were reanalyzed to determine the number of bacterial species in the oceanic surface waters. These sequences have been entered into the database since 1990. The rate of new additions reached a peak in 1999 and subsequently leveled off, suggesting that much of the marine microbial species richness has been sampled. When the GenBank sequences were dereplicated by using 97% similarity as a cutoff, 1,117 unique ribotypes were found. Of the unique sequences, 609 came from uncultured environmental clones and 508 came from cultured bacteria. We conclude that the apparent bacterioplankton species richness is relatively low.     

Splenic eumelanin differs from hair eumelanin in C57BL/6 mice

The presence of melanin in spleens of black C57BL/6 mice has been known for long. Although its origin and biological functions are still obscure, the relation of splenic melanin to the hair follicle and skin pigmentation was suggested. Here, we demonstrated using for the first time electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy that black-spotted C57BL/6 spleens contain eumelanin. Its presence here is a "yes or no" phenomenon, as even in the groups which revealed the highest percentage of spots single organs completely devoid of the pigment were found. Percentage of the spotted spleens decreased, however, with the progress of telogen after spontaneously-induced hair growth. The paramagnetic properties of the spleen eumelanin differed from the hair shaft or anagen VI skin melanin. The splenic melanin revealed narrower signal, and its microwave power saturability betrayed more heterogenous population of paramagnetic centres than in the skin or hair shaft pigment. Interestingly, the pigment of dry hair shafts and of the wet tissue of depilated anagen VI skin revealed almost identical properties. The properties of splenic melanin better resembled the synthetic dopa melanin (water suspension, and to a lesser degree - powder sample) than the skin/hair melanin. All these findings may indicate a limited degradation of splenic melanin as compared to the skin/hair pigment. The splenic eumelanin may at least in part originate from the skin melanin phagocyted in catagen by the Langerhans cells or macrophages and transported to the organ.