The Arabidopsis AtSTE24 is a CAAX protease with broad substrate specificity

Following prenylation, the proteins are subject to two prenyl-dependent modifications at their C-terminal end, which are required for their subcellular targeting. First, the three C-terminal residues of the CAAX box prenylation signaling motif are removed, which is followed by methylation of the free carboxyl group of the prenyl cysteine moiety. An Arabidopsis homologue of the yeast CAAX protease STE24 (AFC1) was cloned and expressed in rce1 Delta ste24 Delta mutant yeast to demonstrate functional complementation. The petunia calmodulin CaM53 is a prenylated protein terminating in a CTIL CAAX box. Coupled methylation proteolysis assays demonstrated the processing of CaM53 by AtSTE24. In addition, AtSTE24 promoted plasma membrane association of the GFP-Rac fusion protein, which terminates with a CLLM CAAX box. Interestingly, a plant homologue of the second and major CAAX protease in yeast and animal cells, RCE1, was not identified despite the availability of vast amounts of sequence data. Taken together, these data suggest that AtSTE24 may process several prenylated proteins in plant cells, unlike its yeast homologue, which processes only a-mating factor, and its mammalian homologue, for which prenyl-CAAX substrates have not been established. Transient expression of GFPAtSTE24 in leaf epidermal cells of Nicotiana benthamiana showed that AtSTE24 is exclusively localized in the endoplasmic reticulum, suggesting that prenylated proteins in plants are first targeted to the endoplasmic reticulum following their prenylation.     

Characterization of Insertions of IS476 and Two Newly Identified Insertion Sequences, IS1478 and IS1479, in Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris

Thirty-two plasmid insertion mutants were independently isolated from two strains of Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris in Taiwan. Of the 32 mutants, 14 (44%), 8 (25%), and 4 (12%) mutants resulted from separate insertions of an IS3 family member, IS476, and two new insertion sequences (IS), IS1478 and IS1479. While IS1478 does not have significant sequence homology with any IS elements in the EMBL/GenBank/DDBJ database, IS1479 demonstrated 73% sequence homology with IS1051 in X. campestris pv. dieffenbachiae, 62% homology with IS52 in Pseudomonas syringae pv. glycinea, and 60% homology with IS5 in Escherichia coli. Based on the predicted transposase sequences as well as the terminal nucleotide sequences, IS1478 by itself constitutes a new subfamily of the widespread IS5 family, whereas IS1479, along with IS1051, IS52, and IS5, belongs to the IS5 subfamily of the IS5 family. All but one of the IS476 insertions had duplications of 4 bp at the target sites without sequence preference and were randomly distributed. An IS476 insertion carried a duplication of 952 bp at the target site. A model for generating these long direct repeats is proposed. Insertions of IS1478 and IS1479, on the other hand, were not random, and IS1478 and IS1479 each showed conservation of PyPuNTTA and PyTAPu sequences (Py is a pyrimidine, Pu is a purine, and N is any nucleotide) for duplications at the target sites. The results of Southern blot hybridization analysis indicated that multiple copies of IS476, IS1478, and IS1479 are present in the genomes of all seven X. campestris pv. campestris strains tested and several X. campestris pathovars.     

Protein prenylation in plants: old friends and new targets

Plant Molecular Biology -     

Identification and purification of NK cells with lysosomotropic vital stains: correlation of lysosome content with NK activity

The lysosome content of lymphocytes has been analyzed with lysosomotropic vital stains and the fluorescence-activated cell sorter (FACS). Large granular lymphocytes (LGL), which account for virtually all natural killing activity in peripheral blood, are quantitatively different from small lymphocytes (SL) in this respect. LGL obtained by Percoll gradient density centrifugation accumulate more of the lysosomotropic vital dyes than SL do, staining with either neutral red or mepacrine (quinacrine). Furthermore among the LGL-rich, low density lymphocyte population highly, granulated cells can be separated from less granulated ones by mepacrine staining and FACS. Thus, separated highly granulated LGL express very high natural killing, whereas the less granulated low density large lymphocytes do not kill.     

Accumulation of amylase by chick pancreas in organ culture : Effect of hydrocortisone

Accumulation of amylase by pancreas explants from chick embryos of 7 to 14 days of development was studied in organ culture. The explants produced amylase but there was no increase in their total DNA and little if any increase in their total protein. Most of the amylase in the cultures was released into the culture medium. The lower the developmental age at which the pancreas was taken, the greater was the relative increase of amylase activity in the culture. After several days of culture the accumulation of amylase slowed or stopped. Hydrocortisone markedly increased the amount of amylase produced by the explants. The hormone had little or no effect on the initial rate of accumulation of amylase by the explants. However, addition of hydrocortisone to the culture resulted in a continuing increase of amylase activity when accumulation of the enzyme had ceased in the controls without added hormone. The observations support the hypothesis, suggested earlier, that corticosteroid hormones are implicated in the later stages of differentiation of the embryonic chick pancreas.     

Stages of uptake and incorporation of micellar palmitic acid by hamster proximal intestinal mucosa

The stages of uptake and incorporation of micellar palmitic acid by hamster proximal intestinal mucosa were investigated by incubation of everted sacs at 4 degrees C and 37 degrees C for 2, 5, 10, and 15 min in a micellar solution (10 micro moles of [1-(14)C]palmitic acid, 10 micro moles of monoolein, and 100 micro moles of sodium taurodeoxycholate) and subsequent serial rinsing of the sacs in ice-cold solutions as follows: one 20-sec rinse in unlabeled micellar solution, five 1-min rinses in Krebs-Ringer buffer (0.15 m, pH 6.3), and ten 2-min rinses in 2.5% albumin solution. The fatty acid-solubilizing capacity of all the rinsing solutions was always in excess of the amounts of radioactive palmitic acid released during each rinse. Radioactivity was determined in the tissue homogenates, rinsing solutions, and serosal fluids. The results indicate that a significant proportion of radioactive palmitic acid taken up by the sacs during the short incubation was released into the rinsing solutions. Rinsing in Krebs-Ringer buffer resulted in release of 15.5 +/- 2.4% of the labeled fatty acid, and this fraction was independent of the temperature of incubation. In contrast, the amounts of palmitic acid released in albumin were significantly greater and were markedly dependent on the temperature of incubation; a total of 48.6 +/- 7.0% and 26.3 +/- 5.1% was released from sacs incubated at 4 degrees C and 37 degrees C, respectively. While the proportion of radioactive palmitic acid in the free fatty acid fraction of the tissue after the rinsing sequence remained reasonably constant regardless of the temperature and duration of incubation, the radioactivity of the esterified palmitic acid in the tissue was much greater in the sacs incubated at 37 degrees C and tended to increase linearly up to 10 min of incubation. A highly significant inverse relationship was found between the fraction of radioactive palmitic acid released by rinsing in albumin and the fraction of the label in the tissue esterified fatty acids. The results suggest that the initial uptake of micellar fatty acid by intestinal mucosa may involve reversible binding to superficial sites with at least two strengths of binding: a weak, temperature-independent binding which could be easily dissociated by rinsing in Krebs-Ringer buffer, and a stronger, temperature-dependent binding which could be dissociated by rinsing in albumin, but not in Krebs-Ringer buffer. Analogous binding of micellar palmitic acid occurred in a brush border preparation of proximal intestine which was devoid of any fatty acid esterifying activity. This suggested that the reversible binding of fatty acid by the intestinal mucosa may be a property of its superficial components, namely the glycocalyx or microvillous membranes, and that it may be independent of the esterifying capacity of the tissue.