Structural role of the T94I rhodopsin mutation in congenital stationary night blindness

Congenital stationary night blindness (CSNB) is an inherited and non‐progressive retinal dysfunction. Here, we present the crystal structure of CSNB‐causing T94I^2.61 rhodopsin in the active conformation at 2.3 Å resolution. The introduced hydrophobic side chain prolongs the lifetime of the G protein activating metarhodopsin‐II state by establishing a direct van der Waals contact with K296^7.43, the site of retinal attachment. This is in stark contrast to the light‐activated state of the CSNB‐causing G90D^2.57 mutation, where the charged mutation forms a salt bridge with K296^7.43. To find the common denominator between these two functional modifications, we combined our structural data with a kinetic biochemical analysis and molecular dynamics simulations. Our results indicate that both the charged G90D^2.57 and the hydrophobic T94I^2.61 mutation alter the dark state by weakening the interaction between the Schiff base (SB) and its counterion E113^3.28. We propose that this interference with the tight regulation of the dim light photoreceptor rhodopsin increases background noise in the visual system and causes the loss of night vision characteristic for CSNB patients.     

Root responses and nitrogen acquisition by<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Artemisia tridentata</Emphasis> and<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Agropyron desertorum</Emphasis> following small summer rainfall events

Resources in the Great Basin of western North America often occur in pulses, and plant species must rapidly respond to temporary increases in water and nutrients during the growing season. A field study was conducted to evaluate below ground responses of Artemisia tridentata and Agropyron desertorum, common Great Basin shrub and grass species, respectively, to simulated 5-mm (typical summer rain) and 15-mm (large summer rain) summer rainfall events. The simulated rainfall was labeled with K(15)NO(3) so that timing of plant nitrogen uptake could be monitored. In addition, soil NH(4)(+) and NO(3)(-) concentrations and physiological uptake capacities for NO(3)(-) and NH(4)(+) were determined before and after the rainfall events. Root growth in the top 15 cm of soil was monitored using a minirhizotron system. Surprisingly, there was no difference in the amount of labeled N acquired in response to the two rainfall amounts by either species during the 7-day sample period. However, there were differences between species in the timing of labeled N uptake. The N label was detected in above ground tissue of Agropyron within 1 h of the simulated rainfall events, but not until 24 h after the rainfall in Artemisia. For both Agropyron and Artemisia, root uptake capacity was similarly affected by the 5-mm and 15-mm rainfall. There was, however, a greater increase in uptake capacity for NH(4)(+) than for NO(3)(-), and the 15-mm event resulted in a longer response. No root growth occurred in either species in response to either rainfall event during this 8-day period. The results of this study indicate that these species are capable of utilizing nitrogen pulses following even small summer rainfall events during the most stressful period of the summer and further emphasize the importance of small precipitation events in arid systems.     

Phylogenetic studies of the genus <Emphasis Type="Italic">Cebus</Emphasis>(Cebidae-Primates) using chromosome painting and G-banding

Background  

Chromosomal painting, using whole chromosome probes from humans and Saguinus oedipus, was used to establish karyotypic divergence among species of the genus Cebus, including C. olivaceus, C. albifrons, C. apella robustus and C. apella paraguayanus. Cytogenetic studies suggested that the species of this genus have conservative karyotypes, with diploid numbers ranging from 2n = 52 to 2n = 54.     

Water conservation in<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Artemisia tridentata</Emphasis> through redistribution of precipitation

Water conservation is important for plants that maintain physiologically active foliage during prolonged periods of drought. A variety of mechanisms for water conservation exist including stomatal regulation, foliage loss, above- and below-ground allocation patterns, size of xylem vessels and leaf pubescence. Using the results of a field and simulation study with Artemisia tridentata in the Great Basin, USA, we propose an additional mechanism of water conservation that can be used by plants in arid and semi-arid environments following pulses of water availability. Precipitation redistributed more uniformly in the soil column by roots (hydraulic redistribution of water downward) slows the rate at which this water can subsequently be taken up by plants, thus prolonging water availability during periods of drought. By spreading out water more uniformly in the soil column at lower water potentials following precipitation events, water use is reduced due to lower soil conductivity. The greater remaining soil water and more uniform distribution result in higher plant predawn water potentials and transpiration rates later in the drought period. Simulation results indicate that plants can benefit during drought periods from water storage following both summer rain events (small summer pulses) and overwinter recharge (large spring pulse). This mechanism of water conservation may aid in sustaining active foliage, maintaining root-soil hydraulic connectivity, and increasing survival probability of plants which remain physiologically active during periods of drought.     

Renal Carcinogenesis After Uninephrectomy

Nephrectomized rats have widely been used to study chronic renal failure. Interestingly, renal cell carcinoma occurred in the remnant kidney after uninephrectomy (UNX). In this study, we probed insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1 signaling pathway in UNX-induced renal cancer. Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomized into two groups: UNX rats (n = 22) and sham-operated rats (n = 12). Rats were killed at 3, 7, and 10 months. After 7 months after nephrectomy, the UNX rats developed renal cell carcinoma with increased expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen, and 68.2% (15/22) of the animals exhibited invasive carcinoma. Western blot demonstrated significant down-regulation of IGF binding protein 3 contrasting with the up-regulation of protein kinase Cζ and Akt/protein kinase B in the renal cancer tissues. These findings indicate a unique rat model of UNX-induced renal cancer associated with enhanced IGF-1 signaling pathway.     

Rapid synthesis of auxin via a new tryptophan-dependent pathway is required for shade avoidance in plants

Plants grown at high densities perceive a decrease in the red to far-red (R:FR) ratio of incoming light, resulting from absorption of red light by canopy leaves and reflection of far-red light from neighboring plants. These changes in light quality trigger a series of responses known collectively as the shade avoidance syndrome. During shade avoidance, stems elongate at the expense of leaf and storage organ expansion, branching is inhibited, and flowering is accelerated. We identified several loci in Arabidopsis, mutations in which lead to plants defective in multiple shade avoidance responses. Here we describe TAA1, an aminotransferase, and show that TAA1 catalyzes the formation of indole-3-pyruvic acid (IPA) from L-tryptophan (L-Trp), the first step in a previously proposed, but uncharacterized, auxin biosynthetic pathway. This pathway is rapidly deployed to synthesize auxin at the high levels required to initiate the multiple changes in body plan associated with shade avoidance.