Phylogeny of Greya (Lepidoptera: Prodoxidae), based on nucleotide sequence variation in mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I and II: congruence with morphological data

The phylogeny of Greya Busck (Lepidoptera: Prodoxidae) was inferred from nucleotide sequence variation across a 765-bp region in the cytochrome oxidase I and II genes of the mitochondrial genome. Most parsimonious relationships of 25 haplotypes from 16 Greya species and two outgroup genera (Tetragma and Prodoxus) showed substantial congruence with the species relationships indicated by morphological variation. Differences between mitochondrial and morphological trees were found primarily in the positions of two species, G. variabilis and G. pectinifera, and in the branching order of the three major species groups in the genus. Conflicts between the data sets were examined by comparing levels of homoplasy in characters supporting alternative hypotheses. The phylogeny of Greya species suggests that host-plant association at the family level and larval feeding mode are conservative characters. Transition/transversion ratios estimated by reconstruction of nucleotide substitutions on the phylogeny had a range of 2.0-9.3, when different subsets of the phylogeny were used. The decline of this ratio with the increase in maximum sequence divergence among taxa indicates that transitions are masked by transversions along deeper internodes or long branches of the phylogeny. Among transitions, substitutions of A-->G and T-->C outnumbered their reciprocal substitutions by 2-6 times, presumably because of the approximately 4:1 (77%) A+T-bias in nucleotide base composition. Of all transversions, 73%-80% were A<-->T substitutions, 85% of which occurred at third positions of codons; these estimates did not decrease with an increase in maximum sequence divergence of taxa included in the analysis. The high frequency of A<-->T substitutions is either a reflection or an explanation of the 92% A+T bias at third codon positions.      

Secondary structure and side-chain 1H and 13C resonance assignments of calmodulin in solution by heteronuclear multidimensional NMR spectroscopy

Heteronuclear 2D and 3D NMR experiments were carried out on recombinant Drosophila calmodulin (CaM), a protein of 148 residues and with molecular mass of 16.7 kDa, that is uniformly labeled with 15N and 13C to a level of greater than 95%. Nearly complete 1H and 13C side-chain assignments for all amino acid residues are obtained by using the 3D HCCH-COSY and HCCH-TOCSY experiments that rely on large heteronuclear one-bond scalar couplings to transfer magnetization and establish through-bond connectivities. The secondary structure of this protein in solution has been elucidated by a qualitative interpretation of nuclear Overhauser effects, hydrogen exchange data, and 3JHNH alpha coupling constants. A clear correlation between the 13C alpha chemical shift and secondary structure is found. The secondary structure in the two globular domains of Drosophila CaM in solution is essentially identical with that of the X-ray crystal structure of mammalian CaM [Babu, Y., Bugg, C. E., & Cook, W.J. (1988) J. Mol. Biol. 204, 191-204], which consists of two pairs of a "helix-loop-helix" motif in each globular domain. The existence of a short antiparallel beta-sheet between the two loops in each domain has been confirmed. The eight alpha-helix segments identified from the NMR data are located at Glu-6 to Phe-19, Thr-29 to Ser-38, Glu-45 to Glu-54, Phe-65 to Lys-77, Glu-82 to Asp-93, Ala-102 to Asn-111, Asp-118 to Glu-127, and Tyr-138 to Thr-146. Although the crystal structure has a long "central helix" from Phe-65 to Phe-92 that connects the two globular domains, NMR data indicate that residues Asp-78 to Ser-81 of this central helix adopt a nonhelical conformation with considerable flexibility.     

Measurement of the exchange rates of rapidly exchanging amide protons: Application to the study of calmodulin and its complex with a myosin light chain kinase fragment

Summary A technique is described for measuring the approximate exchange rates of the more labile amide protons in a protein. The technique relies on a comparison of the intensities in¹H–¹⁵N correlation spectra recorded with and without presaturation of the water resonance. To distinguish resonance attenuation caused by hydrogen exchange from attenuation caused by cross relation, the experiment is repeated at several different pH values and the difference in attenuation of any particular amide resonance upon presaturation is used for calculating its exchange rate. The technique is demonstrated for calmodulin and for calmodulin complexed with its binding domain of skeletal muscle myosin light chain kinase. Upon complexation, increased amide exchange rates are observed for residues Lys⁷⁵ through Thr⁷⁹ located in the central helix of calmodulin, and for the C-terminal residues Ser¹⁴⁷ and Lys¹⁴⁸. In contrast, a decrease in amide exchange rate is observed at the C-terminal end of the F helix, from residues Thr¹¹⁰ through Glu¹¹⁴.Istituto Guido Donegani, Novara, Italy