The intron 7 donor splice site transition: a second Tay-Sachs disease mutation in French Canada

Mutations at the hexosaminidase A (HEXA) gene which cause Tay-Sachs disease (TSD) have elevated frequency in the Ashkenazi Jewish and French-Canadian populations. We report a novel TSD allele in the French-Canadian population associated with the infantile form of the disease. The mutation, a GA transition at the +1 position of intron 7, abolishes the donor splice site. Cultured human fibroblasts from a compound heterozygote for this transition (and for a deletion mutation) produce no detectable HEXA mRNA. The intron 7+1 mutation occurs in the base adjacent to the site of the adult-onset TSD mutation (G805A). In both mutations a restriction site for the endonuclease EcoRII is abolished. Unambiguous diagnosis, therefore, requires allele-specific oligonucleotide hybridization to distinguish between these two mutant alleles. The intron 7+1 mutation has been detected in three unrelated families. Obligate heterozygotes for the intron 7+1 mutation were born in the Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean region of Quebec. The most recent ancestors common to obligate carriers of this mutation were from the Charlevoix region of the province of Quebec. This mutation thus has a different geographic centre of diffusion and is probably less common than the exon 1 deletion TSD mutation in French Canadians. Neither mutation has been detected in France, the ancestral homeland of French Canada.     

Enhancement of shoot regeneration potential by liquid medium culture from mature cotyledons of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.)

We describe here a liquid culture system for the regeneration of shoots at high frequencies from mature cotyledon tissues of three genotypes of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) one of which had previously been found to be recalcitrant to regeneration when cotyledons were cultured on solid medium. Cotyledons were excised from 2-day-old seedlings and incubated in liquid Murashige and Skoog's modified medium supplemented with 5.4 M naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) and 4.4 M benzylaminopurine (BAP). After two weeks in culture, the whole upper surface of regenerating explants was covered with green shootlets. The percentages of regenerating explants of three genotypes varied between 60 and 70%, and the number of shoots per regenerating explant was highly increased. The shootlets were transferred to solid Murashige and Skoog's medium allowing shoot development, then to rooting medium. Rooted plantlets were successfully acclimatized and gave fertile plants. The role of liquid medium culture in the induction of sunflower regeneration is discussed.Abbreviations BAP 6-benzylaminopurine - NAA 1-naphthaleneacetic acid - IAA indole-3-acetic acid - IBA indole-3-butyric acid     

Genetic mapping of three human homologues of murine t-complex genes localizes TCP10 to 6q27, 15 cM distal to TCP1 and PLG

Human homologues of mouse t-complex genes have been cloned and localized physically to chromosome 6p or 6q. TCP1, TCP10, and PLG are human homologues of genes located in the proximal portion of the t-complex on mouse chromosome 17. We present here results of genetic mapping of these human t-complex homologues previously localized to 6q25-q27, 6q21-q27, and 6q26-q27, respectively, by physical techniques. TCP1 and PLG do not recombine with each other and are separated from TCP10 by about 15 cM, while the corresponding mouse genes are no more than 4 cM apart. Genetic mapping with markers well localized cytogenetically places TCP1 and PLG proximal to TCP10 and localizes the latter to the cytogenetic band 6q27. It is likely that the organization of human t-complex homologues on 6q is similar to that of t haplotypes rather than that of wildtype murine chromosome 17.     

Influence of maize root mucilage on soil aggregate stability

This study was undertaken to determine the effects of root exudates on soil aggregate stability. Root mucilage was collected from two-month old maize plants (Zea mays L.) Mucilage and glucose solutions were added at a rate of 2.45 g C kg⁻¹ dry soil to silty clay and silt loam soils. Amended soils, placed in serum flasks, were incubated for 42 d with a drying-wetting cycle after 21 d. Evolved CO₂ was measured periodically as well as the water-stable aggregates and soluble sugar and polysaccharide content of the soil. In mucilage-amended soils CO₂ evolution started with a lag phase of 2–3 days, which was not observed in glucose-amended soils. There was then a sharp increase in evolved CO₂ up to day 7. During the second incubation period there were only small differences in evolved C between treatments. Incorporation of mucilage in both soils resulted in a spectacular and immediate increase in soil aggregate stability. Thereafter, the percent of water-stable aggregates quickly decreased parallel to microbial degradation. On completion of the incubation, aggregate stability in the silty clay soil was still significantly higher in the presence of mucilage than in the control. This work supports the assumption that freshly released mucilage is able to stick very rapidly to soil particles and may protect the newly formed aggregates against water destruction. On the silty clay, microbial activity contributes to a stabilization of these established organo-mineral bounds.     

Mass-spectrometric determination of O2 and CO2 gas exchange in illuminated higher-plant cells

In order to estimate photosynthetic and respiratory rates in illuminated photoautotrophic cells of carnation (Dianthus caryophyllus L.), simultaneous measurements of CO₂ and O₂ gas exchange were performed using ¹⁸O₂, ¹³CO₂ and a mass-spectrometry technique. This method allowed the determination, and thus the comparison, of unidirectional fluxes of O₂ and CO₂. In optimum photosynthetic conditions (i.e. in the presence of high light and a saturating level of CO₂), the rate of CO₂ influx represented 75±5% of the rate of gross O₂ evolution. After a dark-to-light transition, the rate of CO₂ efflux was inhibited by 50% whereas the O₂-uptake rate was little affected. The effect of a recycling of respiratory CO₂ through photosynthesis on the exchange of CO₂ gas was investigated using a mathematical model. The confliction of the experimental data with the simulated gas-exchange rates strongly supported the view that CO₂ recycling was a minor event in these cells and could not be responsible for the observed inhibition of CO₂ efflux. On the basis of this assumption it was concluded that illumination of carnation cells resulted in a decrease of substrate decarboxylations, and that CO₂ efflux and O₂ uptake were not as tightly coupled in the light as in the dark. Furthermore, it could be calculated from the rate of gross photosynthesis that the chloroplastic electron-transport chain produced enough ATP in the light to account for the measured CO₂-uptake rate without involving cyclic transfer of electrons around PS I or mitochondrial supplementation.Abbreviations Chl chlorophyll - K_d permeability coefficient The authors thank Drs A. Vermeglio and P. Thibault, Dépt. de Biologie, CEN-Cadarache, St. Paul Lez Durance, France, for helpful discussions.     

Cestodes of birds from the Ivory Coast. Species of the genus Anonchotaenia Cohn, 1990

Five taxa included in the cestode genus Anonchotaenia (Cyclophyllidea, Paruterinidae) have been found in various birds from the Ivory Coast (West Africa). The hosts belong to the families Hirundinidae and Corvidae. A. (Paranonchotaenia) prionopos n. sp., parasitic in Prionops plumata, and A. (P.) malaconoti n. sp, parasitic in Malaconotus blanchoti, are placed in a new subgenus named Paranonchotaenia, which is erected for the Anonchotaenia species showing genital ducts passing between the longitudinal excretory stems. A. (P.) prionopos is characterised by a rather short cirrus-pouch, six to seven testes, and an integumental cavity at the distal extremity of the cirrus-pouch in gravid proglottides. A. (P.) malaconoti differs from the former species mainly by the larger cirrus-pouch and a slightly greater number of testes. The other three species are A. longiovata, parasitic in Hirundo semirufa; A. globata, parasitic in Psadiloprocne obscura (the latter two species are recorded from new hosts and new geographical areas); and Anonchotaenia sp., parasitic in Hirundo rustica. It is assumed that the subgenus A. (Anonchotaenia) is rather a parasite of the Passerida and that the subgenus A. (Paranonchotaenia) tends to be parasitic in the Corvida.This paper is a part of the author's thesis.This paper is a part of the author's thesis.     

Universal primers for amplification of three non-coding regions of chloroplast DNA

Six primers for the amplification of three non-coding regions of chloroplast DNA via the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) have been designed. In order to find out whether these primers were universal, we used them in an attempt to amplify DNA from various plant species. The primers worked for most species tested including algae, bryophytes, pteridophytes, gymnosperms and angiosperms. The fact that they amplify chloroplast DNA non-coding regions over a wide taxonomic range means that these primers may be used to study the population biology (in supplying markers) and evolution (inter- and probably intraspecific phylogenies) of plants.