Genetic control of the mitochondrial form of superoxide dismutase in hexaploid wheat

Extracts of mature grains of a large number of aneuploid derivatives of Triticum aestivum cv. Chinese Spring and of the members of five wheat-alien chromosome addition series were subjected to isoelectric focusing in polyacrylamide gels in order to study the genetic control of superoxide dismutase (SOD). Evidence was obtained that homologous structural genes for the mitochondrial form of SOD are located in the long arms of the homoeologous group 2 chromosomes of Chinese Spring and in chromosome 2R of Secale cereale cv. Imperial. The SOD gene loci located in chromosomes 2A, 2B, 2D, and 2R were designated Sod-A1, Sod-B1, Sod-D1, and Sod-R1, respectively. Chromosome-arm pairing data indicate that 2DL is not homoeologous to either 2AS or 2BL. The results of this study suggest, however, that 2BL is partially homoeologous to both 2AL and 2DL.Technical article No. 21074 of the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station. This work was supported by USDA Grant 83-CRCR-1-1322 to GEH.     

One- and two-dimensional NMR spectral analysis of the consequences of single amino acid replacements in proteins

The traditional approach of using homologous sequences to elucidate the role of specific amino acid residues in protein structure and function becomes more meaningful as the number of differences is minimized, with the limit being alteration of a single residue. For small proteins in solution, NMR spectroscopy offers a means of obtaining detailed information about each residue and its response to a given change in the protein sequence. Extraction of this information has been aided by recent progress in spectrometer technology (higher magnetic fields, more sensitive signal detection, more sophisticated computers) and experimental strategies (new NMR pulse sequences including multiple-quantum and two-dimensional NMR methods). The set of avian ovomucoid third domains, which consists of the third domain proper plus a short leader (connecting peptide) and has a maximum of 56 amino acid residues, offers an attractive system for developing experimental methods for investigating sequence-structure and structure-function relationships in proteins. Our NMR results provide examples of sequence effects on pKa' values, average conformation, and internal motion of amino acid side chains.     

Mutant forms of staphylococcal nuclease with altered patterns of guanidine hydrochloride and urea denaturation

Eleven mutant forms of staphylococcal nuclease with one or more defined amino acid substitutions have been analyzed by solvent denaturation by using intrinsic fluorescence to follow the denaturation reaction. On the basis of patterns observed in the value of m--the rate of change of log Kapp (the apparent equilibrium constant between the native and denatured states) with denaturant concentration--these proteins can be grouped into two classes. For class I mutants, the value of m with guanidine hydrochloride is less than the wild-type value and is either constant or increases slightly with increasing denaturant; the value of m with urea is also less than wild type but shows a marked increase with increasing denaturant concentration, often approaching but never exceeding the wild-type value. For class II mutants, m is constant and is greater than wild type in both denaturants, with the increase being consistently larger in guanidine hydrochloride than in urea. When double or triple mutants are constructed from members of the same mutant class, the change in m is usually the sum of the changes produced by each mutation in isolation. One plausible explanation for these altered patterns of denaturation is that chain-chain or chain-solvent interactions in the denatured state have been modified--interactions which appear to involve hydrophobic groups.     

Kinetic characterization of early intermediates in the folding of E. coli tryptophan-synthase beta 2 subunit

This report describes the use of fluorescence energy transfer between an intrinsic energy donor (tryptophan 177) and two chemically added acceptors to study intermediates in the folding of the beta 2 subunit of E. coli tryptophan-synthase. Two early folding steps are thus identified and characterized. One is very rapid (its rate constant at 12 degrees C is 0.02 sec-1) and corresponds to the folding of the N-terminal domain into a structure whose overall features approximate well those of the native domain. The second step is somewhat slower (its rate constant at 12 degrees C is 0.008 sec-1) and involves a conformational rearrangement of the N-terminal domain brought about by the interactions between the N- and C-terminal domains within a monomeric beta chain. This brings to five the number of intermediates which have been identified and ordered on the folding pathway of the dimeric beta 2 subunit.     

Characteristics of structural proteins of infectious flacherie virus from the silkworm, Bombyx mori

Structural proteins and the characteristics of infectious flacherie virus (IFV) purified from the silkworm, Bombyx mori, are described. The purified IFV had four major structural proteins, which were detected only in high concentration gels of sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and a few minor ones. Molecular weights of the major proteins were 35,200 (VP 1), 33,000 (VP 2), 31,200 (VP 3), and 11,600 (VP 4), and numbers per virion were 62, 57, 54, and 31, respectively. Amino acid compositions of VP 1, VP 2, and VP 3 were similar to each other but that of VP 4 was somewhat different. By isoelectric focusing and two-dimensional electrophoresis, high resolution of the structural proteins was obtained with silver staining. The isoelectric points of the four major proteins were determined as 7.7(VP 1), 6.7(VP 2), 4.8(VP 3), and 5.5(VP 4). This work is the first report on insect picornaviruses that presents some discriminative properties of each viral protein that was compared to those of mammalian picornaviruses.     

Cloning and sequencing the genes encoding uptake-hydrogenase subunits of Rhodocyclus gelatinosus

Summary Rhodocyclus gelatinosus grew photosynthetically in the light and consumed H₂ at a rate of about 665 nmol/min per mg protein. The uptake-hydrogenase (H₂ase) was found to be membrane bound and insensitive to inhibition by CO. The structural genes of R. gelatinosus uptake-H₂ase were isolated from a 40 kb cosmid gene library of R. gelatinosus DNA by hybridization with the structural genes of uptake-H₂ase of Bradyrhizobium japonicum and Rhodobacter capsulatus. The R. gelatinosus genes were localized on two overlapping DNA restriction fragments subcloned into pUC18. Two open reading frames (ORF1 and ORF2) were observed. ORF1 contained 1080 nucleotides and encoded a 39.4 kDa protein. ORF2 had 1854 nucleotides and encoded a 68.5 kDa protein. Amino acid sequence analysis suggested that ORF1 and ORF2 corresponded to the small (HupS) and large (HupL) subunits, respectively, of R. gelatinosus uptake-H₂ase. ORF1 was approximately 80% homologous with the small, and ORF2 was maximally 68% homologous with the large subunit of typical membrane-bound uptake-H₂ases.     

Morphological and structural adaptation of nodules of cowpea to functioning under sub- and supra-ambient oxygen pressure

Nodules of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp. cv. Vita 3:Bradyrhizobium CB 756) from 28-d-old plants cultured for 23 d with their root systems maintained in O₂ levels from 1 to 80% (v/v, in N₂) in the external gas phase showed a range of structural changes which have been interpreted in relation to an over- or under-supply of O₂. A response to the partial pressure of O₂ in the gas phase (pO₂) was noted with respect to nodule size, lenticel development, the relative distributions of cortical and infected central tissue, the differentiation of cortex, especially the inner cortex, the frequency and size of infected and uninfected interstitial cells, the volume of extracellular spaces both in cortex and infected tissue, and in the frequency of bacteroids. As a consequence of these changes the surface area of inner cortex relative to the nitrogenase-containing units of fixing tissue (infected cells or bacteroids) was increased by as much as 20-fold. Effectiveness of bacteroid functioning increased from 0.10 ± 0.02 · 10^-9 μmol acetylene reduced per bacteroid in air-grown nodules to 0.9 ± 0.16 · 10^-9 (same units) per bacteroid in those cultured in 1% O₂. This work was supported by a grant from the Australian Research Council (to C.A.A.) and an Australian International Development Assistance Bureau postgraduate fellowship (to F.D.D.). The authors wish to thank Dr. W.F.C. Blumer for his considerable help with morphometric analysis, Dr. J. Kuo for guidance in the use of histological techniques, and to Dr. J.S. Pate for the suggestion that lenticel development might be quantified by surface staining of nodules.     

建平县农业生态系统结构总体设计的研究

农业生态系统结构的总体设计是农业生产发展的客观要求,同时,也是保证农村经济不断增长和农村生态系统良性循环的一个非常重要问题。农业生态系统边界范围较大,具有多层次、多因素、多目标、多途径等复杂性,要想深刻剖析农业生态系统结构和功能的关系,必须用系统工程的观点和方法对农业生态系统的结构进行控制和管理。本文通过对建平县农业     

Analysis of Cre1 binding sites in the Trichoderma reesei cbh1 upstream region

Abstract A 1.5-kb XbaI-SacII fragment containing the upstream region of the Trichoderma reesei cellobiohydrolase I gene ( cbh1 ) has been sequenced. The 1.5-kb fragment contains eight 6-bp sites having an identical or similar sequence to the consensus sequence for binding a catabolite repressor, Aspergillus nidulans CreA. Results of binding assays with the maltose-binding protein: :Cre1(10–131) fusion protein (Cre1 is a catabolite repressor of T. reesei ) and the cbhI upstream region revealed that a 504-bp XbaI-NspV fragment (nucleotide position − 1496 to − 993) bearing three 6-bp sites, Al, A2, and A3, and a 356-bp NspV-MunI fragment (nucleotide position −994 to −639) bearing three 6-bp sites, B1, B2, and B3, were shifted in the electrophoretic mobility shift assay. DNase I footprinting experiments showed that the 6-bp sites A2, B1, B2, and B3 were protected from DNase I digestion.