Three individual regulatory elements of the promoter positively activate the transcription of the murine gene encoding granulocyte colony-stimulating factor.

At least three regulatory elements GPE1, GPE2 and GPE3 (G-CSF promoter elements) controlling the gene (G-CSF) encoding granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) are indispensable for the constitutive expression of the G-CSF gene in human CHU-2 cells and for its lipopolysaccharide(LPS)-inducible expression in macrophages. The enhancer activities of each regulatory element were examined with or without the SV40 enhancer element placed downstream from the reporter gene. A GPE1 tetramer mediated the constitutive expression in CHU-2 cells, and the LPS-inducible expression in macrophage cell lines, while the GPE2 element was active in CHU-2 and LPS-treated macrophage cell lines only in combination with the SV40 enhancer. A GPE3 tetramer had efficient enhancer activity in CHU-2 cells but not in macrophage cell lines without the SV40 enhancer. In combination with the SV40 enhancer, GPE3 worked as an LPS-inducible enhancer element in macrophage BAM3 cells. Gel retardation assay indicated that the CHU-2 and the macrophage cells contained nuclear factors which specifically bound to each GPE sequence.     

D-amino acid oxidase in mouse liver

1. An appreciable amount of D-amino acid oxidase was found in the extract of mouse liver by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). 2. The content of the enzyme in the kidney and heart extracts was also measured by the assay.     

Productivity-diversity relationships for plants, bryophytes, lichens, and polypore fungi in six northern forest landscapes

We investigated the relationship between site productivity and diversity of vascular plants, bryophytes, lichens, and polypore fungi in forests based on species richness data in 0.25 ha forest plots (grain size), selected from six 150–200 ha study areas (focus), and spanning over a latitudinal distance of 1350 km (extent) in Norway. We 1) searched for prevailing productivity-diversity relationships (PDRs), 2) compared PDRs among taxonomic groups and species found in different micro-habitats, and 3) investigated the effect of increasing plot (grain) size on PDRs. Using vegetation types as a surrogate for site productivity, we found a general pattern of increasing species richness with site productivity. On average total species richness doubled with a ten-fold increase in productivity. Lichens PDRs stood out as less pronounced and more variable than for other species groups investigated. PDRs of species associated with downed logs tended to level off at high-productive sites, a pattern interpreted as an effect of disturbance. Increasing the grain size >10-fold did not change the proportional difference in species richness between sites with high and low productivity.     

In addition to the ARS core, the ARS box is necessary for autonomously replicating sequences

Summary Autonomously replicating sequences (ARSs) were cloned from nuclear and mitochondrial DNA of D. melanogaster using YIp5, which is composed of pBR322 and the yeast ura3 gene, as the cloning vector and YNN27, a Ura^- yeast strain as the recipient. The nucleotide sequences of six ARSs, two from nuclear bulk, two from the nuclear 1.688 satellite, and two from mitochondorial DNA, were determined. The relationship between the transformation frequency and the inclusion of the ARS core, 5 _T ^A TT-TAT _A ^G TTT _T ^A 3, of these fragments was analysed. All the ARSs contained an ARS core or a single base change of it. However, not all the fragments that contained a single base change of the ARS core were able to transform the recipient cells, suggesting that certain bases in the ARS core were not exchangeable. It is suggested by transformation experiments with subfragments that in addition to an ARS core, an ARS box which is located within 25 bp upstream of the ARS core and whose sequence is composed of 5TNT _G ^A AA 3, is necessary for autonomous replication.     

Cauliflower mosaic virus 35 S promoter directs S phase specific expression in plant cells

Summary An experimental system to study cell cycle specific gene expression in plant cells was developed using protoplasts from tobacco cells synchronized by aphidicolin treatment. Chimeric plasmids consisting either of the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) gene downstream of the cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) 35 S promoter or the nopaline synthase (nos) promoter were introduced into synchronized protoplasts of four cell cycle stages by electroporation. In the case of the CaMV 35 S promoter cyclic oscillation of CAT activity was observed which paralleled the cell cycle of the recipient cells. The peak of CAT activity was found in the S phase, while no such cyclic change was observed in the case of the nos promoter. This system clearly shows that it is feasible to search for a cell cycle specific promoter. The significance of these observations is discussed in relation to the study of plant cells.     

Requirement of the Escherichia coli dnaA gene function for ori-2-dependent mini-F plasmid replication.

The mini-F plasmids pSC138, pKP1013, and pKV513 were unable to transform Escherichia coli cells with a dnaA-defective mutation under nonpermissive conditions. The dnaA defect was suppressed for host chromosome replication either by the simultaneous presence of the rnh-199 (amber) mutation or by prophage P2 sig5 integrated at the attP2II locus on the chromosome, both providing new origins for replication independent of dnaA function. The dnaA mutations tested were dnaA17, dnaA5, and dnaA46. dnaA5 and dnaA46 are missense mutations. dnaA17 is an amber mutation whose activity is controlled by the temperature-sensitive amber suppressor supF6. Under permissive conditions in which active DnaA protein was available, the mini-F plasmids efficiently transformed the cells. However, the transformants lost the plasmid as the cells multiplied under conditions in which DnaA protein was inactivated or its synthesis was arrested. As controls, plasmids pSC101 and pBR322 were examined along with mini-F; pSC101 behaved in the same manner as mini-F, showing complete dependence on dnaA for stable maintenance, whereas pBR322 was indifferent to the dnaA defect. Thus, ori-2-dependent mini-F plasmid replication seems to require active dnaA gene function. This notion was strengthened by the results of deletion analysis which revealed that integrity of at least one of the two DnaA boxes present as a tandem repeat in ori-2 was required for the origin activity of mini-F replication.     

Immunoelectron microscopic localization of fibronectin in the smooth muscle layer of mouse small intestine

We studied the ultrastructural distribution of fibronectin in the smooth muscle layer of mouse small intestine with affinity-purified antibodies using the immunogold technique. Fibronectin was present over the pericellular area extending from the cell membrane to the extracellular matrix beyond the basal lamina. Distribution of the glycoprotein over the pericellular area was heterogeneous, i.e., it was localized more abundantly in the narrow space between smooth muscle cells, the gaps having a width of 60-80 nm where the two dense bands in adjacent cells matched each other. Such localization suggests that fibronectin contributes to cell adhesion. Within the basement membrane, gold label was localized both in lamina lucida and lamina densa, more densely in the latter than in the former. Fibronectin was also co-distributed with collagen fibers in the extracellular matrix. Within smooth muscle cells, gold particles were observed on rough endoplasmic reticulum and secretory vesicle-like structures. These results suggest that smooth muscle cells synthesize fibronectin and secrete it as a component of the basal lamina and extracellular matrix.     

Blockade of intestinal lipoprotein clearance in rabbits injected with Triton WR 1339-ethyl oleate

Although Triton WR 1339 has been used to block triglyceride or cholesterol removal from plasma, no data are available on the extent to which Triton WR 1339 administered to rabbits blocks clearance of newly absorbed dietary lipids. In the present study, we have measured the efficiency of this blockade during a 24-hr interval. After the Triton WR 1339 administration, plasma Sf greater than 400 and d less than 1.019 g/ml lipoprotein lipid concentrations increased greatly, but the concentration of d greater than 1.019 g/ml lipids decreased. In the rabbits fed 0.5% cholesterol for 1 week, the increase in d less than 1.019 g/ml and the decrease in 1.019 less than d less than 1.063 g/ml lipoprotein fractions 24 hr after the Triton WR 1339 injection were much greater than in the chow-fed Tritonized rabbits. After the Triton treatment, 50% of intravenously injected LDL-125I-labeled apoB disappeared in 24 hr, but little or no apoB appeared in other lipoprotein fractions and no VLDL apoB was converted to LDL. Labeled cholesterol and retinol were fed to rabbits and 24-hr increments in plasma cholesteryl- and retinyl-ester label and mass were measured. In chow-fed Tritonized rabbits about one-half of the absorbed oral doses of both labeled lipids was recovered in plasma, indicating that Triton WR 1339 does not completely inhibit the clearance of intestinal lipoproteins. When rabbits were injected with Triton and an ethyl oleate emulsion, the blockade of dietary lipid removal from plasma was substantially improved and chylomicron cholesterol uptake by extra-hepatic tissues was completely abolished.