Chromosomal assignment of 46 brain cDNAs.

Expressed sequence tags (ESTs) have been obtained from several hundred brain cDNAs as an initial effort to characterize expressed brain genes. These ESTs will become tools for human genome mapping and they will also provide candidate causative genes for inherited disorders affecting the central nervous system. We have developed a procedure for the rapid chromosomal assignment of these ESTs: cDNA sequences are first analyzed by a computer program to determine regions likely not to be interrupted by introns in the genomic DNA. A pair of oligonucleotide primers is then designed to amplify this region by the polymerase chain reaction using DNA template from human-rodent somatic cell hybrid chromosomal panels. The chromosomal assignment of the cDNA is determined by studying the segregation of the amplified products in these panels. In this paper we describe the mapping of 46 brain ESTs, as well as observations on the amplification of rodent sequences.     

Associations between marker genotypes, halothane reaction, creatine kinase activity and meat quality characters in a sample of German Landrace pigs

Routine blood typing of German Landrace pedigree populations and an earlier study revealed very low frequencies of the favourable alleles at the marker loci Phi, Pgd and H. The hypothesis was that in this population the whole linkage group of favourable alleles at the halothane and neighbouring marker loci may have been lost as a consequence of intense selection for leanness and type. The present study of 1050 German Landrace pigs at the Relliehausen experimental station, where some effort has been made to maintain a higher frequency of the favourable alleles PhiA (0.48), H- (0.43) and PgdA (0.70) gave quite different results. The frequency of halothane-positive pigs found by using a severe test was only 30%. Only 5.4%, 8.8%, 13.4% and 13.9% of animals with PhiA/A, H-/-, PgdA/A and PhiA/B genotypes respecitively were halothane-positive. Forty to sixty per cent of pigs with these marker genotypes could therefore be expected to be homozygous halothane-negative (N/N) animals. Creatine kinase activity and three selected meat quality characters showed highly significant differences between the A/A and the B/B genotypes for the marker loci Phi and Pgd, with the heterozygotes being intermediate. These differences are greater than those observed between halothane-negative and halothane-positive phenotypes. The only other consistently superior marker genotype in this population was the H blood group genotype H-/-. In contrast to findings from Sweden and Switzerland, the postalbumin locus Po2 and the suppressor locus S for the A-O blood groups did not exhibit useful marker qualities.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Effect of neurotensin on pancreatic function in man

The effect of neurotensin on submaximally-stimulated hepatobiliary and pancreatic secretion was studied in 6 healthy subjects. An intravenous infusion of neurotensin 1.4 ± 0.3 pmol/kg/min, designed to reproduce plasma neurotensin immunoreactivity levels within the physiological range, produced a significant increase in pancreatic bicarbonate output. Plasma concentrations of pancreatic polypeptide rose by 83 ± 16 pmol/l and were associated with a small reduction in trypsin, but no significant change in bilirubin outputs.     

Effect of Metalaxyl on the incidence and severity of Pearl millet downy mildew disease in Northern Nigeria

Pearl millet downy mildew (DM) incidence, severity and yield losses of two pearl millet varieties (local and improved) due to the disease were determined in the field. Significant differences in the disease incidence and severity were recorded in the plots sown with metalaxyl-treated seeds and those sown with non-treated seeds, indicating the efficacy of the fungicide on the fungus. Yield losses due to non-treatment of seeds with metalaxyl was 40.88 and 45.39% in a local variety and 43.00 and 18.60% in an improved variety in the 2000 and 2001 cropping seasons respectively. Significant differences between plots sown with metalaxyl-treated and those sown with non-treated seeds were obtained for other yield components such as 1000-grains weight, panicle length and weight.     

Effect of temperature on the saccharide composition obtained after alpha-amylolysis of starch

The hydrolysis of starch to low-molecular-weight products (normally characterised by their dextrose equivalent (DE), which is directly related to the number-average molecular mass) was studied at different temperatures. Amylopectin potato starch, lacking amylose, was selected because of its low tendency towards retrogradation at lower temperatures. Bacillus licheniformis alpha-amylase was added to 10% [w/w] gelatinised starch solutions. The hydrolysis experiments were done at 50, 70, and 90 degrees C. Samples were taken at defined DE values and these were analysed with respect to their saccharide composition. At the same DE the oligosaccharide composition depended on the hydrolysis temperature. This implies that at the same net number of bonds hydrolysed by the enzyme, the saccharide composition was different. The hydrolysis temperature also influenced the initial overall molecular-weight distribution. Higher temperatures led to a more homogenous molecular weight distribution. Similar effects were observed for alpha-amylases from other microbial sources such as Bacillus amyloliquefaciens and Bacillus stearothermophilus. Varying the pH (5.1, 6.2, and 7.6) at 70 degrees C did not significantly influence the saccharide composition obtained during B. licheniformis alpha-amylase hydrolysis. The underlying mechanisms for B. licheniformis alpha-amylase were studied using pure linear oligosaccharides, ranging from maltotriose to maltoheptaose as substrates. Activation energies for the hydrolysis of individual oligosaccharides were calculated from Arrhenius plots at 60, 70, 80, and 90 degrees C. Oligosaccharides with a degree of polymerisation exceeding that of the substrate could be detected. The contribution of these oligosaccharides increased as the degree of polymerisation of the substrate decreased and the temperature of hydrolysis increased. The product specificity decreased with increasing temperature of hydrolysis, which led to a more equal distribution between the possible products formed. Calculations with the subsite map as determined for the closely related alpha-amylase from B. amyloliquefaciens reconfirmed this finding of a decreased substrate specificity with increased temperature of hydrolysis. Copyright 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

POCUS: mining genomic sequence annotation to predict disease genes

Here we present POCUS (prioritization of candidate genes using statistics), a novel computational approach to prioritize candidate disease genes that is based on over-representation of functional annotation between loci for the same disease. We show that POCUS can provide high (up to 81-fold) enrichment of real disease genes in the candidate-gene shortlists it produces compared with the original large sets of positional candidates. In contrast to existing methods, POCUS can also suggest counterintuitive candidates.