Segments of bacteriophage lambda (orf 221) and phi 80 are homologous to genes coding for mammalian protein phosphatases

The amino acid sequences of mammalian protein phosphatase 1 and 2A were compared pairwise with every sequence in the National Biomedical Research Foundation protein sequence database using an exhaustive searching programme [Coulson et al., Comp. J. 30 (1987) 420-424]. The N-terminal half of the protein encoded by an open reading frame, orf 221, in bacteriophage lambda (nt 43,224-43,886 in the map of Daniels et al. [in Hendrix et al. (Eds.), Lambda II. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY, 1983, pp. 519-676] shows 35% identity to either protein phosphatase 1 or 2A in this region. If conservative replacements are included the overall homology rises to 49%. A gene in phi 80 also shows 35% identity with the mammalian protein phosphatases. The results indicate that orf 221 of phage lambda and the homologous phi 80 gene may encode protein phosphatases. The possible roles of protein phosphorylation in the propagation of bacteriophage are discussed.     

Mitochondrially encoded resistance to paromomycin in Saccharomyces cerevisiae: Reinvestigation of a controversy

We have reinvestigated the nature of mitochondrially inherited resistance to paromomycin in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Resistance to this antibiotic can arise by a nucleotide alteration in the gene coding for 15 S ribosomal RNA at a recognition site for the restriction endonuclease ThaI (CGCG), as has been observed by Li (M. Li, K. Lyon, N. Martin and A. Tzagoloff (1981). “Abstracts, Cold Spring Harbor Meeting on Mitochondrial Genes,” p. 56. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, N. Y.). We have confirmed this finding and document here also a new type of paromomycin resistance that is unrelated to this ThaI restriction site. Certain petite mutants derived from different locations of the mtDNA of S. cerevisiae KL14-4A can elicit resistance to paromomycin when crossed with a wild-type sensitive strain. These petite mutants lack detectable sequence homology with the 15 S ribosomal RNA gene and they have no extensive sequence homology with each other. We have constructed paromomycin-resistant diploids by crossing such KL14-4A petite mutants with a sensitive wild-type strain. The diploids that receive the paromomycin-resistant allele from a petite mutant retaining the 15 S ribosomal RNA gene no longer contained the ThaI site. However, diploids that become resistant after a cross with petite mutants retaining fragments from other mtDNA regions than the 15 S ribosomal RNA, still contain the ThaI site. This shows that paromomycin resistance can occur in the presence of the ThaI site. After sporulation, suitable paromomycin-resistant haploids were crossed with each other and sensitive recombinant diploids were found, indicating the existence of more than one form of paromomycin resistance. Possible explanations for this novel type of paromomycin resistance and the unorthodox way in which it arises, are presented.     

Antibodies to calf thymus RNA polymerase II from egg yolks of immunized hens

Polyclonal antibodies to calf thymus RNA polymerase II were raised in laying hens. Up to 75 mg of immunoglobulin/egg yolk were extracted by the polyethylene glycol procedure of Roeder (Roeder, R.G. (1976) in RNA Polymerase (Losick, R., and Chamberlin, M., eds) pp. 285-330, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY). The concentration of specific antibody in egg yolks (IgY) was comparable to that of serum as measured by enzyme-linked immunoassay. Purified antibody was shown to be directed against enzyme by removal of enzyme activity in immune complexes precipitated by rabbit anti-chicken IgY. The antibodies recognized several of the subunits of the enzyme as determined by their reactivity with polypeptides transferred to nitrocellulose paper after gradient sodium dodecyl sulfate-gel electrophoresis. Production of antibodies in laying hens may facilitate the study of other highly conserved antigens that are poorly immunogenic in mammalian hosts.     

Parvovirus replication in normal and transformed human cells correlates with the nuclear translocation of the early protein NS1.

The parvovirus H-1 infection of the normal human diploid fibroblast strain MRC-5 produces a cytopathic effect, but no increase in infectious virus has been observed. Previously, we reported that large amounts of empty capsids are assembled in the nucleus of H-1 infected MRC-5 cells (S. Singer and S. Rhode, in D. Ward and P. Tattersall, ed., Replication of Mammalian Parvoviruses, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., 1978). The level of viral replicative-form DNA synthesis as shown by metabolic labeling is markedly reduced in these cells. Synthesis of the early protein NS1 is normal or slightly decreased, and the usual amount of the 92,000-molecular-weight (92K) posttranslationally modified NS1 was seen. The second deficient parameter that we have observed in the abortive infection is the nuclear translocation of NS1. In contrast, the simian virus 40-transformed MRC-5 cell line MRC-5 V1 and the simian virus 40-transformed human kidney cell line NB undergo a productive infection by H-1 accompanied by more efficient translocation of NS1 to the nucleus. The results indicate that there is an association between defective translocation of the NS1 rep protein to the nucleus and defective amplification of parvovirus replicative-form DNA. The nuclear translocation of specific proteins seems to be a function that is altered by development or neoplastic transformation.     

Translational regulation of gene expression

A report on the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory meeting 'Translational Control', Cold Spring Harbor, USA, 7-12 September 2004.     

Comparative genomics comes of age

A report on the 2002 annual Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory meeting on Genome Sequencing and Biology, Cold Spring Harbor, NY, USA, 7-11 May 2002.     

Immunological applications of genomics

A report of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory meeting 'Gene Expression and Signaling in the Immune System', Cold Spring Harbor, New York, USA, 26-30 April 2006.     

Broadening horizons: holistic viewpoints from the Biology of Genomes

A report on the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory 27th annual meeting on the Biology of Genomes, held in Cold Spring Harbor, New York, USA, 6-10 May 2014.     

Comparative biology and genomics join forces to decipher the diversity of life

A report on the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory meeting on the Evolution of Developmental Diversity, Cold Spring Harbor, NY, USA, 17-21 April 2002.     

Regulatory RNAs and the demise of 'junk' DNA

A report of the meeting 'Regulatory RNAs', the 71st Cold Spring Harbor Symposium on Quantitative Biology, Cold Spring Harbor, USA, 31 May-5 July 2006.     

Ways to get from plant genomes to phenomes: via yeast

A report on the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory meeting 'Plant Genomes: From Sequence to Phenome', Cold Spring Harbor, USA, 9-12 December 2004.     

New insights into tumor suppressors

A report of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory meeting 'Mechanisms and Models of Cancer', Cold Spring Harbor, USA, 13-17 August 2008.     

Sequencing the regulatory genome

A report on the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory meeting 'Systems Biology: Global Regulation of Gene Expression', Cold Spring Harbor, USA, 27-30 March 2008.     

Opening sequence: computational genomics in the era of high-throughput sequencing

A report on the 11th Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory/Wellcome Trust conference on Genome Informatics, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories, New York, USA, November 2-5, 2011.     

Personal genomes and precision medicine

A report of the fifth annual Personal Genomes and Medical Genomics meeting, held at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, New York, USA, November 14-17, 2012.     

Dispatches from the functional phase of genome biology

ABSTRACT: A report on the 25th annual meeting on The Biology of Genomes, Cold Spring Harbor, USA, 8-12 May 2012.     

Why genomics is more than genomes

A report on the 2004 meeting on Molecular Genetics of Bacteria and Bacteriophages, Cold Spring Harbor, USA, 25-29 August 2004.     

Relationship Between Sporulation-Specific 20S Ribonucleic Acid and Ribosomal Ribonucleic Acid Processing in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The nature and properties of the 20S ribonucleic acid which accumulates only during the sporulation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae were examined. The 20S ribonucleic acid (RNA) has a base composition considerably different from ribosomal RNA species and is virtually unmethylated. The 20S RNA did, however, exhibit approximately 70% homology with 18S RNA by RNA-deoxyribonucleic acid filter hybridization competitions. The 20S RNA showed a hybridization saturation plateau level 30 to 40% higher than 18S, consistent with measurements of the size difference in polyacrylamide gels. Pulse-chase experiments in the presence and absence of cycloheximide indicate that the 20S RNA has a presumptive relationship to the 20S ribosomal RNA precursor normally observed only in short pulse-labeling in vegetative cells.