Discovery of the bot fly collection of Bracy Clark,with designation of lectotypes in Cuterebra

The story of the discovery and evaluation of an old bot fly collection as the long lost Bracy Clark collection is recounted. Clark's publications and the specimens are collated in detail. The bot material is listed, and lectotypes are designated for four species of North American Cuterebra.     

Designation of Pathotypes of Plant Pathogens

For evaluation and communication of data on populations of plant pathogens a sensible code to name pathotypes can be extremely helpful. Starting from a coding system proposed by Habgood in 1970, a system, called “coded triplets” is developed which has the same advantages but is easier to understand and to use. This is especially useful as, in the meantime, pathotypes did become increasingly complex due to the increased number of genes conferring race specific resistance in the host. An important advantage of the coded triplets is that codes change only at one digit if, for example, a new differentia) is added or if the pathotype changes from avirulence to virulence or vice versa on a single differential. In this way evoluationary patterns and changes in the pathogen population can be visualized easily. The system is used to describe complex data on haplotypes of the barley mildew pathogen, but it is suited equally well for designation of pathotypes of other pathogens. Some basic principles of coded triplets are similar to octal notation, described by Gilmour in 1973, which has, however, not become widely known. Reasons for this are discussed. – There is a fourth system belonging to the same group of mathematical, condensing codes. As there is reason to believe that the evolution of condensing codes is drawing to an end, the systems are compared extensively, and the benefits of a generally accepted designation are outlined.     

Systems of Designation of Pathotypes of Plant Pathogens

To name pathotypes of plant pathogens, a variety of systems of designation has evolved, which was evaluated to find out the systems best suited. Virulence and avirulence/virulence formulae of pathotypes are by far advantageous over the use of consecutive numbers or letters given in chronological order of pathotype discovery. As soon as pathotype information surpasses a certain level of complexity, mathematical codes are most advantageous and, in particular, octal notation and coded triplets (tripletcode). To ease communication and comparisons of results, a more universal adoption of the most appropriate codes is recommended.     

Designation of Streptomycete 16S and 23S rRNA-based target regions for oligonucleotide probes.

The 16S and 23S rRNA of various Streptomyces species were partially sequenced and screened for the presence of stretches that could define all members of the genus, groups of species, or individual species. Nucleotide 929 (Streptomyces ambofaciens nomenclature [J.L. Pernodet, M.T. Alegre, F. Boccard, and M. Guerineau, Gene 79:33-46, 1989]) is a nucleotide highly unique to Streptomyces species which, in combination with flanking regions, allowed the designation of a genus-specific probe. Regions 158 through 203 of the 16S rRNA and 1518 through 1645 of the 23S rRNA (helix 54 [Pernodet et al., Gene 79:33-46, 1989]) have a high potential to define species, whereas the degree of variation in regions 982 through 998 and 1102 through 1122 of the 16S rRNA is less pronounced but characteristic for at least certain species. Alone or in combination with each other, these regions may serve as target sites for synthetic oligonucleotide probes and primers to be used in the determination of pure cultures and in the characterization of community structures. The specificity of several probes is demonstrated by dot blot hybridization.     

Aphyly: A Systematic Designation for a Taxonomic Problem

A taxon is aphyletic when it is deemed to be non-monophyletic or unresolved, therefore aphyletic taxa are a taxonomic problem rather than an evolutionary anomaly. A problem arises in systematics when taxonomic names assigned to aphyletic taxa are treated as if they were natural groups. In the absence of a taxonomic and systematic revision, anomalous taxa should be labelled as aphyletic without recourse to phylogenetic inference (i.e., interpretation). Doing so avoids the validation of aphyletic names and the creation of dubious results in fields that rely on systematic and taxonomic data.     

The `Request for Proposal' Approach to Designation of a Trauma Center

Although much has been written about the need for trauma centers, little has been published concerning the method of designating one. The New Mexico Emergency Medical Service Bureau of the Health and Environment Department invited all hospitals in the region. A selection committee made up of two trauma surgeons and an emergency physician reviewed the RFP documents and visited each competing hospital. The selection committee''s report was presented to the New Mexico Medical Society in an open forum. The Emergency Medical Service Bureau reviewed both the report and the response of the medical society, which was supportive. Finally, a designation was made by the bureau and announced by the governor, and was well accepted by all of the participating parties.     

Designation of the anterior/posterior axis in pregastrula Xenopus laevis

A new fate map for mesodermal tissues in Xenopus laevis predicted that the prime meridian, which runs from the animal pole to the vegetal pole through the center of Spemann's organizer, is the embryo's anterior midline, not its dorsal midline (M. C. Lane and W. C. Smith, 1999, Development 126, 423-434). In this report, we demonstrate by lineage labeling that the column 1 blastomeres at st. 6, which populate the prime meridian, give rise to the anterior end of the embryo. In addition, we surgically isolate and culture tissue centered on this meridian from early gastrulae. This tissue forms a patterned head with morphologically distinct ventral and dorsal structures. In situ hybridization and immunostaining reveal that the cultured heads contain the anterior tissues of all three germ layers, correctly patterned. Regardless of how we dissect early gastrulae along meridians running from the animal to the vegetal pole, both the formation of head structures and the expression of anterior marker genes always segregate with the prime meridian passing through Spemann's organizer. The prime meridian also gives rise to dorsal, axial mesoderm, but not uniquely, as specification tests show that dorsal mesoderm arises in fragments of the embryo which exclude the prime meridian. These results support the hypothesis that the midline that bisects Spemann's organizer is the embryo's anterior midline.     

Autophosphorylation of the insulin receptor in vitro. Designation of phosphorylation sites and correlation with receptor kinase activation

Chemical degradation and antipeptide antibodies were used to study alterations in the structure and function of the human placental insulin receptor following autophosphorylation in vitro. Antibodies elicited to residues 1143-1162 (P2) of the human insulin proreceptor immunoprecipitated the native, phosphorylated receptor but not the unphosphorylated receptor. Since this antibody recognizes both forms of the receptor on immunoblots, it was concluded that the accessibility of the P2 domain to the antibody is increased by in vitro autophosphorylation. Chemical cleavage at either tryptophan or methionine residues followed by immunoprecipitation with antipeptide antibodies was used to map the in vitro autophosphorylation sites of the beta subunit of the insulin receptor. Two phosphorylated fragments were resolved. One, recognized by antibody elicited to amino acid residues 1328-1343 (P5), is derived from the carboxyl terminus of the beta subunit and includes tyrosine 1316. The other, recognized by antibody to P2, is located in a domain that includes tyrosine 1150. The rate of phosphorylation of this latter site correlates with the rate of activation of the insulin receptor kinase during in vitro autophosphorylation. The results support the following conclusions: autophosphorylation alters the conformation of the beta subunit of the insulin receptor; autophosphorylation in vitro leads to phosphorylation of tyrosine residues near the carboxyl terminus of the protein and in the P2 domain that includes tyrosine 1150; activation of the insulin receptor kinase correlates with autophosphorylation of the domain containing tyrosine 1150.     

Designation of Streptomycete 16S and 23S rRNA-based target regions for oligonucleotide probes

The 16S and 23S rRNA of various Streptomyces species were partially sequenced and screened for the presence of stretches that could define all members of the genus, groups of species, or individual species. Nucleotide 929 (Streptomyces ambofaciens nomenclature [J.L. Pernodet, M.T. Alegre, F. Boccard, and M. Guerineau, Gene 79:33-46, 1989]) is a nucleotide highly unique to Streptomyces species which, in combination with flanking regions, allowed the designation of a genus-specific probe. Regions 158 through 203 of the 16S rRNA and 1518 through 1645 of the 23S rRNA (helix 54 [Pernodet et al., Gene 79:33-46, 1989]) have a high potential to define species, whereas the degree of variation in regions 982 through 998 and 1102 through 1122 of the 16S rRNA is less pronounced but characteristic for at least certain species. Alone or in combination with each other, these regions may serve as target sites for synthetic oligonucleotide probes and primers to be used in the determination of pure cultures and in the characterization of community structures. The specificity of several probes is demonstrated by dot blot hybridization.     

Designation of a type species for Brachyptera Newport, 1851 (Plecoptera: Taeniopterygidae)

Nemoura trifasciata Pictet, 1832 is designated as type species of Brachyptera Newport, 1851 (Plecoptera: Taeniopterygidae).     

Designation by restriction fragment length polymorphism of major histocompatibility complex class IV haplotypes in meat-type chickens

Major histocompatiblity complex (MHC) class IV haplotypes were identified in a population of meat-type chickens by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis. Fourteen different haplotypes were designated on the basis of restriction patterns obtained from Southern blots of PvuII- or BglII-digested DNA, hybridized with the MHC class IV cDNA probe bg32.1. Digestion with each restriction enzyme yielded the same level of polymorphism among individuals. For each haplotype, 4–10 restriction fragments ranging from 0–8 to 8 kb were observed. Such a designation of meat-type chicken MHC class IV haplotypes enables a rapid recognition of previously defined haplotypes, is readily adjustable to additional, newly found restriction patterns and could prove useful in practical breeding programmes.