Early development and neurogenesis of Temnopleurus reevesii

Sea urchins are model non‐chordate deuterostomes, and studying the nervous system of their embryos can aid in the understanding of the universal mechanisms of neurogenesis. However, despite the long history of sea urchin embryology research, the molecular mechanisms of their neurogenesis have not been well investigated, in part because neurons appear relatively late during embryogenesis. In this study, we used the species Temnopleurus reevesii as a new sea urchin model and investigated the detail of its development and neurogenesis during early embryogenesis. We found that the embryos of T. reevesii were tolerant of high temperatures and could be cultured successfully at 15–30°C during early embryogenesis. At 30°C, the embryos developed rapidly enough that the neurons appeared at just after 24 h. This is faster than the development of other model urchins, such as Hemicentrotus pulcherrimus or Strongylocentrotus purpuratus. In addition, the body of the embryo was highly transparent, allowing the details of the neural network to be easily captured by ordinary epifluorescent and confocal microscopy without any additional treatments. Because of its rapid development and high transparency during embryogenesis, T. reevesii may be a suitable sea urchin model for studying neurogenesis. Moreover, the males and females are easily distinguishable, and the style of early cleavages is intriguingly unusual, suggesting that this sea urchin might be a good candidate for addressing not only neurology but also cell and developmental biology.     

Cloning and antigenic expression of two genes from Chlamydia psittaci avian strain

Abstract: Genes from Chlamydia psittaci P-1041 were cloned into the Bam HI site of pUC19 and were transformed to host Escherichia coli JM109. Two recombinant plasmids that expressed protein antigens of Chlamydia were isolated. The sizes of the DNA fragments were 1350 and 1710 bp, and encoded for polypeptides of M _r 25 and 42 kilodaltons (kDa), respectively. The 25-kDa protein had cross-reactivity with antisera to ten C. psittaci strains and two C. trachomatis strains, whereas the 42-kDa protein reacted only with homologous antiserum to the C. psittaci P-1041 strain. Furthermore, in Southern hybridization analysis these two fragments as probes hybridized with DNA of ten C. psittaci strains and four C. trachomatis strains. These results indicated that the two fragments shared a DNA sequence common to the chlamydial genus.     

Human hand impedance characteristics during maintained posture

Received: 23 June 1993 / Accepted in revised form: 15 September 1994     

The Epstein-Barr Virus BDLF4 Gene Is Required for Efficient Expression of Viral Late Lytic Genes

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a gammaherpesvirus, associated with infectious mononucleosis and various types of malignancy. We focused here on the BDLF4 gene of EBV and identified it as a lytic gene, expressed with early kinetics. Viral late gene expression of the BDLF4 knockout strain was severely restricted; this could be restored by an exogenous supply of BDLF4. These results indicate that BDLF4 is important for the EBV lytic replication cycle, especially in late gene expression.