Activity variation between and within two soybean trypsin inhibitor electrophoretic forms

The Kunitz soybean proteinase inhibitors (SBTI-A2) of 13 soybean pure-lines were examined for variation in antitryptic activity. Extraction of the inhibitor from individual seeds, electrophoresis on polyacrylamide gels, and excision of the inhibitor region from the gels were used to prepare inhibitor samples for assay. Protein content of eluate from the gel portions was determined by absorbance at 280 nm after applying corrections for background absorbance due to gel chemicals. Enzyme inhibition and protein content of the gel eluate were used to calculate the specific activity of the inhibitor obtained from each seed. The coefficient of variation for specific activity measurement was about 12%, and analysis of variance on data from 13 pure-lines showed significant variation in inhibitor activity from genetic and environmental sources. There appeared to be three levels of inhibition averaging 21.9, 29.2, and 39.5 specific activity units.This investigation was supported in part by funds from the Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station, National Soybean Processor's Association, and a grant (FR 07030) from the U.S. Public Health Service.     

Death-receptor O-glycosylation controls tumor-cell sensitivity to the proapoptotic ligand Apo2L/TRAIL

Apo2L/TRAIL stimulates cancer cell death through the proapoptotic receptors DR4 and DR5, but the determinants of tumor susceptibility to this ligand are not fully defined. mRNA expression of the peptidyl O-glycosyltransferase GALNT14 correlated with Apo2L/TRAIL sensitivity in pancreatic carcinoma, non-small-cell lung carcinoma and melanoma cell lines, and up to 30% of samples from various human malignancies showed GALNT14 overexpression. RNA interference of GALNT14 reduced cellular Apo2L/TRAIL sensitivity, whereas overexpression increased responsiveness. Biochemical analysis of DR5 identified several ectodomain O-(N-acetyl galactosamine-galactose-sialic acid) structures. Sequence comparison predicted conserved extracellular DR4 and DR5 O-glycosylation sites; progressive mutation of the DR5 sites attenuated apoptotic signaling. O-glycosylation promoted ligand-stimulated clustering of DR4 and DR5, which mediated recruitment and activation of the apoptosis-initiating protease caspase-8. These results uncover a new link between death-receptor O-glycosylation and apoptotic signaling, providing potential predictive biomarkers for Apo2L/TRAIL-based cancer therapy.     

The crystal structures of EDA-A1 and EDA-A2: splice variants with distinct receptor specificity

EDA is a tumor necrosis factor family member involved in ectodermal development. Splice variants EDA-A1 and EDA-A2 differ only by the presence of Glu 308 and Val 309 in the expected receptor binding region of EDA-A1 but not EDA-A2. This two amino acid difference functions as a switch controlling receptor specificity. EDA-A1 binds only to EDAR, while EDA-A2 is specific for XEDAR. In order to understand the structural basis of this switch, we determined the X-ray crystal structures of the TNF domain of both EDA-A1 and EDA-A2 at 2.3 A and 2.2 A, respectively. While the backbone conformation around the splice difference is similar in both isoforms, the conformation of the following loop, the surface charge, and the shape of the expected receptor binding site differ significantly.     

BAFF/BLyS receptor 3 comprises a minimal TNF receptor-like module that encodes a highly focused ligand-binding site

BAFF/BLyS, a member of the tumor necrosis family (TNF) superfamily of ligands, is a crucial survival factor for B cells. BAFF binds three receptors, TACI, BCMA, and BR3, with signaling through BR3 being essential for promoting B cell function. Typical TNF receptor (TNFR) family members bind their cognate ligands through interactions with two cysteine-rich domains (CRDs). However, the extracellular domain (ECD) of BR3 consists of only a partial CRD, with cysteine spacing distinct from other modules described previously. Herein, we report the solution structure of the BR3 ECD. A core region of only 19 residues adopts a stable structure in solution. The BR3 fold is analogous to the first half of a canonical TNFR CRD but is stabilized by an additional noncanonical disulfide bond. BAFF-binding determinants were identified by shotgun alanine-scanning mutagenesis of the BR3 ECD expressed on phage. Several of the key BAFF-binding residues are presented from a beta-turn that we have shown previously to be sufficient for ligand binding when transferred to a structured beta-hairpin scaffold [Kayagaki, N., Yan, M., Seshasayee, D., Wang, H., Lee, W., French, D. M., Grewal, I. S., Cochran, A. G., Gordon, N. C., Yin, J., Starovasnik, M. A, and Dixit, V. M. (2002) Immunity 10, 515-524]. Outside of the turn, mutagenesis identifies additional hydrophobic contacts that enhance the BAFF-BR3 interaction. The crystal structure of the minimal hairpin peptide, bhpBR3, in complex with BAFF reveals intimate packing of the six-residue BR3 turn into a cavity on the ligand surface. Thus, BR3 binds BAFF through a highly focused interaction site, unprecedented in the TNFR family.     

Plant regeneration from leaf explants of Glycine clandestina Wendl

Fully fertile plants with the expected chromosome number 2n=40 were regenerated from excised leaf sections of Glycine clandestina. Shoots formed directly on the explants through organogenesis. Utilizing the same media and procedures fully fertile plants were also regenerated from cotyledon and hypocotyl tissue of the same G. clandestina accession. We were not successful in regenerating plants from root tissue of G. clandestina.Abbreviations 6-BA 6-Benzyladenine - FAA Formalin - NAA Naphthalenacetic acid - IAA Indoleacetic acid - Na₂EDTA Disodium salt Ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid - Fe-NaEDTA Ferric-Sodium salt Ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid     

The genomic relationship between Glycine max (L.) Merr. and G. soja Sieb. and Zucc. as revealed by pachytene chromosome analysis

Summary This study was conducted with the objective of determining the genomic relationship between cultivated soybean (Glycine max) and wild soybean (G. soja) of the subgenus Soja, genus Glycine. Observations on cross-ability rate, hybrid viability, meiotic chromosome pairing, and pollen fertility in F ₁ hybrids of G. max × G. soja and reciprocals elucidated that both species hybridized readily and set mature putative hybrid pods, generated vigorous F₁ plants, had a majority of sporocytes that showed 18II + 1IV chromosome association at diakinesis and metaphase I, and had a pollen fertility that ranged from 49.2% to 53.3%. A quadrivalent was often associated with the nucleolus, suggesting that one of the chromosomes involved in the interchange is a satellited chromosome. Thus, G. max and G. soja genetic stocks used in this study have been differentiated by a reciprocal translocation. Pachytene analysis of F₁ hybrids helped construct chromosome maps based on chromosome length and euchromatin and heterochromatin distribution. Chromosomes were numbered in descending order of 1–20. Pachytene chromosomes in soybean showed heterochromatin distribution on either side of the centromeres. Pachytene analysis revealed small structural differences for chromosomes 6 and 11 which were not detected at diakinesis and metaphase I. This study suggests that G. max and G. soja carry similar genomes and validates the previously assigned genome symbol GG.Research supported in part by the Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station and U.S. Department of Agriculture Competitive Research Grant (85-CRCR-1-1616)     

Dorsett-morse soybean collection trip to East Asia: 50 year retrospective

This paper is devoted to the analysis of the 4,451 soybean (Glycine max,) accessions collected by P. H. Dorsett and W. J. Morse during their plant exploration trip to east Asia 1929–1931. Until about 1950 the collection was used primarily for the development of vegetable type soybean cultivars. During this period many of the accessions were lost. Today only 945 of the original 4,451 accessions are available in the United States soybean germplasm collection. From the 1950s to the 1980s, as soybean production increased in the United States, so did plant pathogen problems. The Dorsett-Morse soybean accessions have been extremely valuable to plant pathologists and breeders as sources of resistance to certain pathogens. Individual genotypes in the collection have been used for genetic studies on morphological, physiological and biochemical traits. Due to the development and distribution of higher-yielding soybean cultivars, farmers in east Asia are no longer growing lower-yielding landraces. Although these landraces are now extinct in east Asia, many were collected by Dorsett and Morse and are preserved in the United States soybean collection. Over the years, the Dorsett-Morse collection has increased in value and will be as useful to soybean scientists in the future as it has been in its first 50 yr of existence.     

Evolutionary rates for tuf genes in endosymbionts of aphids

The gene encoding elongation factor Tu (tuf) in aphid endosymbionts (genus Buchnera) evolves at rates of 1.3 x 10(-10) to 2.5 x 10(-10) nonsynonymous substitutions and 3.9 x 10(-9) to 8.0 x 10(-9) synonymous substitutions per position per year. These rates, which are at present among the most reliable substitution rates for protein-coding genes of bacteria, have been obtained by calibrating the nodes in the phylogenetic tree produced from the Buchnera EF-Tu sequences using divergence times for the corresponding ancestral aphid hosts. We also present data suggesting that the rates of nonsynonymous substitutions are significantly higher in the endosymbiont lineages than in the closely related free-living bacteria Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium. Synonymous substitution rates for Buchnera approximate estimated mutation rates for E. coli and S. typhimurium, as expected if synonymous changes act as neutral mutations in Buchnera. We relate the observed differences in substitution frequencies to the absence of selective codon preferences in Buchnera and to the influence of Muller's ratchet on small asexual populations.