Stereochemical Behavior of an NADH Model Compound Carrying l-Prolinamide at 3,5-Positions

Interspecific recombinants have been produced between Streptococcus cremoris H-61 and S. lactis J-1 by polyethylene glycol-induced protoplast fusion. All of the fusants obtained showed mixed physiological properties of the two parents, and possessed plasmids derived from both parents at random. Physiological properties of primary colonies were stably maintained among the progenies after the single-colony isolation procedure. Similarly, in most of the fusants the plasmid profiles of the primary colonies were stably maintained, but one lost 2 out of the 7 plasmid bands. However, there was no indication that plasmids from either one of the parents were preferentially lost. These results showed that interspecific genetic transfer occurred on chromosomal and plasmid DNA on the protoplast fusion and that the fusants obtained were not heterokaryons, but true recombinants.     

Antibacterial Activity of l-5-Alkylthiomethylhydantoin-S-oxides

Cell-surface expression of the discoidin domain receptor (DDR) tyrosine kinase family in high molecular mass form was controlled sensitively by the glucose concentration through a post-translational N-glycosylation process. Cycloheximide time-course experiments revealed that the high-molecular-mass forms of DDR1 and DDR2 were significantly less stable than control receptor tyrosine kinases. Site-directed mutational analysis of the consensus N-glycosylation sites of the DDRs revealed that mutations of asparagine 213 of DDR2 and asparagine 211 of DDR1, a conserved N-glycosylation site among vertebrate DDRs, inhibited the generation of the high-molecular-mass isoform. Taken together, these results suggest a mechanism to control the activity of the DDR family by regulating its cell-surface expression. Due to low stability, the steady-state population of functional DDR proteins in the cell surface depends sensitively on its maturation process via post-translational N-glycosylation, which is controlled by the glucose supply and the presence of a conserved N-glycosylation site.     

ASYNCHRONOUS EVOLUTION OF PHYSIOLOGY AND MORPHOLOGY IN ANOLIS LIZARDS

Species‐rich adaptive radiations typically diversify along several distinct ecological axes, each characterized by morphological, physiological, and behavioral adaptations. We test here whether different types of adaptive traits share similar patterns of evolution within a radiation by investigating patterns of evolution of morphological traits associated with microhabitat specialization and of physiological traits associated with thermal biology in Anolis lizards. Previous studies of anoles suggest that close relatives share the same “structural niche” (i.e., use the same types of perches) and are similar in body size and shape, but live in different “climatic niches” (i.e., use habitats with different insolation and temperature profiles). Because morphology is closely tied to structural niche and field active body temperatures are tied to climatic niches in Anolis, we expected phylogenetic analyses to show that morphology is more evolutionarily conservative than thermal physiology. In support of this hypothesis, we find (1) that thermal biology exhibits more divergence among recently diverged Anolis taxa than does morphology; and (2) diversification of thermal biology among all species often follows diversification in morphology. These conclusions are remarkably consistent with predictions made by anole biologists in the 1960s and 1970s.     

An Inter-subunit Disulfide Bond Affects Affinity of Human Lung Extracellular Superoxide Dismutase to Heparin

Human extracellular superoxide dismutase (EC-SOD) was purified to homogeneity from lung tissue and the nature of the binding of heparin to EC-SOD was investigated. The enzyme was purified using three column chromatographic steps, and 127 μg of purified EC-SOD was obtained. A specific anti-human EC-SOD antibody was obtained by immunization with the purified enzyme. Western blot analysis of the heparin affinity chromatography product indicated that the presence of the inter-subunit disulfide bond affects the affinity of EC-SOD for heparin. The affinity of EC-SOD for heparin is a very important feature of the enzyme because it controls the distribution of the enzyme in tissues. The present study suggests that, not only the processing of the C-terminal region but inter-subunit disulfide bonds also play a role in determining the tissue distribution of EC-SOD. Moreover, the results obtained here also suggest that the redox state of the tissues might regulate the function of the EC-SOD.     

Genetic control of a transition from black to straw-white seed hull in rice domestication

The genetic mechanism involved in a transition from the black-colored seed hull of the ancestral wild rice (Oryza rufipogon and Oryza nivara) to the straw-white seed hull of cultivated rice (Oryza sativa) during grain ripening remains unknown. We report that the black hull of O. rufipogon was controlled by the Black hull4 (Bh4) gene, which was fine-mapped to an 8.8-kb region on rice chromosome 4 using a cross between O. rufipogon W1943 (black hull) and O. sativa indica cv Guangluai 4 (straw-white hull). Bh4 encodes an amino acid transporter. A 22-bp deletion within exon 3 of the bh4 variant disrupted the Bh4 function, leading to the straw-white hull in cultivated rice. Transgenic study indicated that Bh4 could restore the black pigment on hulls in cv Guangluai 4 and Kasalath. Bh4 sequence alignment of all taxa with the outgroup Oryza barthii showed that the wild rice maintained comparable levels of nucleotide diversity that were about 70 times higher than those in the cultivated rice. The results from the maximum likelihood Hudson-Kreitman-Aguade test suggested that the significant reduction in nucleotide diversity in rice cultivars could be caused by artificial selection. We propose that the straw-white hull was selected as an important visual phenotype of nonshattered grains during rice domestication.     

Neokomagataea gen. nov., with descriptions of Neokomagataea thailandica sp. nov. and Neokomagataea tanensis sp. nov., osmotolerant acetic acid bacteria of the α-Proteobacteria

Isolates AH11(T) and AH13(T) were isolated from flowers of lantana and candle bush respectively collected in Thailand. In phylogenetic trees based on 16S rRNA gene sequences, the two isolates formed an independent cluster, which was then connected to the type strain of Saccharibacter floricola. The calculated pair-wise 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities of isolate AH11(T) were 95.7-92.3% to the type strains of the type species of the 12 genera of acetic acid bacteria. The DNA base composition was from 51.2 to 56.8 mol % G+C, with a range of 5.6 mol %. When isolate AH11(T) was labeled, DNA-DNA similarities were 100, 12, 4, 5, and 4% respectively to isolates AH11(T) and AH13(T) and the type strains of Saccharibacter floricola, Gluconobacter oxydans, and Acetobacter aceti. The two isolates were non-motile and did not oxidize either acetate or lactate. No growth was found in the presence of 0.35% acetic acid w/v. The two isolates were not osmophilic but osmotolerant, produced 2,5-diketo-D-gluconate from D-glucose, and did not oxidize lactate, thus differing from strains of Saccharibacter floricola, which showed weak lactate oxidation. The two isolates contained unsaturated C(18:1)ω7c fatty acid as the major fatty acid, and were unique in the presence of a considerable amount of straight-chain C(18:1)2OH fatty acid. Q-10 was present as the major isoprenoid quinone. Neokomagataea gen. nov. was proposed with the two species, Neokomagataea thailandica sp. nov. for isolate AH11(T) (=BCC 25710(T)=NBRC 106555(T)), which has 56.8 mol % G+C, and Neokomagataea tanensis sp. nov. for isolate AH13(T) (=BCC 25711(T)=NBRC 106556(T)), which has 51.2 mol % G+C.     

BMP and Hh signaling affects primordial germ cell division in Drosophila

The germline is segregated from the remainder of the soma during early embryonic development in metazoan species. In Drosophila, female primordial germ cells (PGCs) continue to proliferate during larval development, and become germline stem cells at the early pupal stage. To elucidate the roles of growth factors in larval PGC division, we examined expression patterns of a bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) growth factor, Decapentaplegic (Dpp), and Hedgehog (Hh), along with factors downstream of each, in the ovary during larval development. Dpp signaling appeared in the ovarian soma from early larval development, and was prominent in the terminal filament cells at late larval stage, whereas Hh appeared in the ovarian soma and PGCs from the third instar larval stage. The number of PGCs decreased when components of these signal transduction pathways were abrogated by RNAi in the PGCs, indicating that both Dpp and Hh signals directly regulate PGC proliferation. Experiments on the up- and down-regulation of Dpp and Hh with a tissue-specific Gal4 driver indicated that Dpp and Hh act as extrinsic and autocrine growth factors. Furthermore, heat-pulse experiments with hs-Gal4 showed that Dpp is active in PGC proliferation throughout larval development, whereas Hh has effects only during late larval development. In addition to Dpp, the reduction of Glass bottom boat (Gbb), another BMP molecule, caused a decrease in the number of PGCs and initiation of larval PGCs differentiation into cystocytes, indicating that Gbb functions to promote PGC division and repress differentiation.