The complete amino acid sequence of the low molecular weight cytosolic acid phosphatase

This paper presents the complete amino acid sequence of the low molecular weight acid phosphatase from bovine liver. This isoenzyme of the acid phosphatase family is located in the cytosol, is not inhibited by L-(+)-tartrate and fluoride ions, but is inhibited by sulfhydryl reagents. The enzyme consists of 157 amino acid residues, has an acetylated NH2 terminus, and has arginine as the COOH-terminal residue. All 8 half-cystine residues are in the free thiol form. The molecular weight calculated from the sequence is 17,953. The sequence was determined by characterizing the peptides purified by reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography from tryptic, thermolytic, peptic, Staphylococcus aureus protease, and chymotryptic digests of the carboxymethylated protein. No sequence homologies were found with the two known acylphosphatase isoenzymes or the metalloproteins porcine uteroferrin and purple acid phosphatase from bovine spleen (both of which have acid phosphatase activity). Two half-cystines at or near the active site were identified through the reaction of the enzyme with [14C] iodoacetate in the presence or in the absence of a competitive inhibitor (i.e. inorganic phosphate). Ac-A E Q V T K S V L F V C L G N I C R S P I A E A V F R K L V T D Q N I S D N W V I D S G A V S D W N V G R S P N P R A V S C L R N H G I N T A H K A R Q V T K E D F V T F D Y I L C M D E S N L R D L N R K S N Q V K N C R A K I E L L G S Y D P Q K Q L I I E D P Y Y G N D A D F E T V Y Q Q C V R C C R A F L E K V R-OH.     

The complete amino acid sequence of coagulogen isolated from Southeast Asian horseshoe crab, Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda

The complete amino acid sequence of coagulogen purified from the hemocytes of the horseshoe crab Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda was determined by characterization of the NH2-terminal sequence and the peptides generated after digestion of the protein with lysyl endopeptidase, Staphylococcal aureus protease V8 and trypsin. Upon sequencing the peptides by the automated Edman method, the following sequence was obtained: A D T N A P L C L C D E P G I L G R N Q L V T P E V K E K I E K A V E A V A E E S G V S G R G F S L F S H H P V F R E C G K Y E C R T V R P E H T R C Y N F P P F V H F T S E C P V S T R D C E P V F G Y T V A G E F R V I V Q A P R A G F R Q C V W Q H K C R Y G S N N C G F S G R C T Q Q R S V V R L V T Y N L E K D G F L C E S F R T C C G C P C R N Y Carcinoscorpius coagulogen consists of a single polypeptide chain with a total of 175 amino acid residues and a calculated molecular weight of 19,675. The secondary structure calculated by the method of Chou and Fasman reveals the presence of an alpha-helix region in the peptide C segment (residue Nos. 19 to 46), which is released during the proteolytic conversion of coagulogen to coagulin gel. The beta-sheet structure and the 16 half-cystines found in the molecule appear to yield a compact protein stable to acid and heat. The amino acid sequences of coagulogen of four species of limulus have been compared and the interspecies evolutionary differences are discussed.     

REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
The Biological Productivity of Britain (Symposium of the Institute of Biology, no. 7). Edited by W. B. Y app and D. J. W atson .
The Insect Pests of Cotton in Tropical Africa. By E. O. P earson .
The Principles of Biological Control. By H arvey L. S weetman .
Methods of Analytical Histology andHisto-Chemistry. By E dward G urr .
Electronic Apparatus for Biological Research. By P. E. K. D onaldson .
An Introduction to the Behaviour of Invertebrates. By J. D. C arthy .
Reproductive Physiology. By A. V. N albandov .
The Control of Pests and Diseases in Agricultural and Horticultural Crops. By G. L. H ey and K. M arshall .     

Seventy years of the Department of Cytology and Histology, Faculty of Biology, Moscow State University

Histology, which is inseparable from cytology as a scientific discipline, has been taught at the University of Moscow for more than 130 years. In the second half of the XIX century, this discipline made a revolutionary impact on physiology and medicine in European science. The first Department (Chair) of Histology and Embryology was established at the Moscow Imperial University in 1869 at the Faculty of Medicine under Prof. A.I. Babukhin, the famous founder of Russian histology. Several outstanding scientists, such as I.F. Ognev, A.G. Gurvich, B.I. Lavrent'ev, and others, graduated from that Department.     

Sergei G. Kryzhanovsky (1891-1961)

This essay about the outstanding Russian embryologist and ichthyologist is not time to any date of his life. The cause for its appearance was an unexpected meeting with Elena N. Disler, whom I did not see almost 60 years. When I worked at the Biological Station "Glubokoe ozero" (Deep Lake), there were also biologists N.N. Disler and his wife E.F. Eremeeva with their children Lena and Vitya. At the same time, as usual, S.G. Kryzhanovsky worked at the station, who lived in Moscow in the same apartment with the Dislers. After the death of this lone scientists, his archive, mostly epistolary, was in the care of the Dislers. And Elena N. Disler (that girl Lena) proposed for me to have a look at this archive.     

The role of experimental entomology in working out fundamental problems of physiology and medicine (L.A. Orbeli and experimental entomology)

This paper is based on the author’s lecture presented at the conference Theoretical and Applied Entomology: Past, Present and Future, dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the Russian Entomological Society, which took place on April 2, 2009 in St. Petersburg. The lecture suggested a definition of the concept “experimental entomology” and listed the most popular research objects. A brief historical review of the origin and development of some trends in experimental entomology in the XX and XXI centuries in Russia was given. Special attention was paid to the contribution of Acad. L.A. Orbeli and his ideas concerning evolution of functions and functional evolution as well as to the importance of ideas of his collaborators and followers, G.V. Gershuni, L.G. Leibson and A.L. Polenov, in developing a number of present directions of experimental entomology. These classic and ultramodern directions include comparative genetics of behavior (M.E. Lobashev, A.K. Voskresenskaya, N.G. Lopatina, I.A. Nikitina, V.B. Savvateev, V.V. Ponomarenko, N.G. Kamyshev), genetics of higher nervous activity (N.G. Lopatina), neurogenetics (E.V. Savvateeva-Popova), biorhythmology (ecological concept of photoperiodism—A.S. Danilevsky, investigation of the physiological mechanisms of photoperiodic adaptations—V.P. Tyshchenko), immunology (S.I. Chernysh), neuroendocrinology and mechanisms of stress (I.Yu. Raushenbach, S.I. Chernysh, G.V. Ben’kovskaya), psychoneuroendocrinology (the hypothesis of “dynamic neuroendocrine integration”—A.N. Knyazev), etc. A special place in the lecture was assigned to sensory physiology of insects and, first of all, to the series of monographs by F.G. Gribakin, Yu.A. Elizarov, G.A. Mazokhin-Porshnyakov, R.D. Zhantiev, A.V. Popov, V.L. Svidersky, A.V. Skirkyavichus, L.I. Frantsevich awarded the USSR State Prize in 1987. The origin of a novel field, cognitive ethology (Zh.I. Reznikova) that emerged at the intersection of ethology, ecology, theory of evolution, and comparative psychology is noted in the final part of the lecture.     

REVIEWS

The Chemistry of Plant Processes . By C. P. W hittingham
Physics in Botany . By J. A. R ichardson
The Structure and Life of Bryophytes . By E. V. W atson
Third Congress of the European Association for Research on Plant Breeding
Textbook of Pollen Analysis . By K. F aegri and J. I versen
Patterns in the Balance of Nature and Related Problems in Quantitative Ecology . By C. B. W illiams
Grasses and Grasslands . Edited by C. B arnard
The Ecology of Rocky Shores . By J. R. L ewis
The Living Plant . By A lan B rook
The Biological Control of Insect Pests and Weeds . Edited by P aul D e B ach assisted by E vert I. S chlinger
British Ecological Society Jubilee Symposium . Edited by A. M acfadyen and P. J. N ewbould     

REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
Plant Cells . By F. A. L. C lowes and B. E. J uniper .
The History of British Vegetation . By W inifred P ennington . Modern Biology: General Editor J. E. W ebb .
Flora Europaea , Vol. II. Rosaceae to Umbelliferae . Ed. by T. G. T utin , V. H. H eywood , N. A. B urges , D. M. M oore , D. H. V alentine , S. M. W alters and D. A. W ebb .
Desert Wild Flowers . By E dmund J aeger .
British Mosses and Liverworts . By E. V. W atson .
Anatomy of the Monocotyledons , Vol. III. Commelinales—Zingiberales . By P. B. T omlinson . General Editor C. R. M etcalfe .
Biological Science—The Web of Life . Supervising Editor, D. M organ .
Plant Chimeras . By W. N eilson -J ones .
The Potatoes of Argentine, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, a Biosystematic Study . By J. G. H awkes and J. P. H jerting .
Towards an Understanding of the Mechanism of Heredity . By H. L. K. W hitehouse .
Viruses in Plant Hosts; Form, Distribution and Pathologic Effects . By K atherine E sau .
An Introduction to Industrial Mycology . By G eorge S mith .     

REVIEWS

The Morphology of Gymnosperms . By K. R. S porne
The Rice Blast Disease
An Account of the Herbaria of the Department of Botany in the University of Oxford . By H ermia N. C lokie
Chemical Microbiology . By A nthony H. R ose
Pflanzenschutzmittel-Rückstände . By H ans M aier -B ode
The State and Movement of Water in Living Organisms . Edited by G. E. F ogg
Teach Yourself Genetics . By R. J. B erry
Floral Biology . By M ary S. P ercival
Vascular Plants: Form and Function . By F. B. S alisbury and R. V. P arke
Nonvascular Plants: Form and Function . By W. T. D oyle
The Molds and Man . By C lyde M. C hristensen
Spore Liberation . By C. T. I ngold     

Book reviews

Book reviewed in this article:
B asic B iotechnology . A S tudent's G uide (1987). Edited by P. Prave, U. Faust, W. Sittig & D.A. Sukatsch.
B acteria AS P lant P athogens (1987). By Eve Billing.
B iotechnology. A C omprehensive T reatise I n 8 V olumes .
C urrent T opics I n M icrobiology A nd I mmunology 136: T he M olecular B iology O f B acterial V irus S ystems (1988). Edited by G. Hobom & R. Rott.
G enetic B iochemistry : F rom G ene T o P rotein (1988). By J. Etienne-Decant.
I ntracellular B acteria : C urrent T opics I n M icrobiology A nd I mmunology N o.
P roceedings O f T he 8TH I nternational B iotechnology S ymposium P aris 1988 (1989). Edited by G. Durand, L. Bobichon & J. Florent. Vol.
B iological W aste T reatment (1989). Edited by A. Mizrahi.
I n V itro T echniques I n R esearch (1989). Edited by J.W. Payne.
B loodstream I nfections : L aboratory D etection A nd C linical C onsiderations (1989). By C.L. Strand & J.A. Shulman.
M etal -M icrobe I nteraction (1989). Edited by Robert K. Poole & Geoffrey M. Gadd.
B iochemistry O f A ntimicrobial A ction (1989). By T.J. Franklin & G.A. Snow.
T heory A nd A pplication O f M icrobial A ssay (1989). By W. Hewitt & S. Vincent.     

Book Reviews

Dumont, H.J., Tundisi, J.G. & Roche, K. (eds) (1990) Intrazooplankton Predation—Developments in Hydrobiology 60 .
Bnrescu, P. (1990) Zoogeography of Fresh Waters .
Wallace, I.D., Wallace, B. & Philipson, G.N. (1990) A Key to the Case-Bearing Caddis Larvae of Britain and Ireland .
Humpesch, U.H. & Elliott, J.M. (eds) (1990) Methods of Biological Sampling in a Large Deep River—The Danube in Austria .     

Development of biochemistry in the Biology Department of Kharkhov State University. Formation of a new direction--physiology and biochemistry of aging

The article presents some data on teaching Biochemistry at the Nature Department of Kharkiv Imperial University Physico-Mathematical Faculty, as well as restoration of biochemical education and scientific researches as a result of the University reorganization in the Soviet period and foundation of the Biochemistry Chair at the Biological Faculty in the renovated Kharkiv State University. The analysis of scientific biochemical investigations conducted in the Kharkiv University till now is revealed. The special attention is paid to development of such a scientific trend as age physiology and biochemistry. The article deals with the comprehensive information on scientific and pedagogical activity of the outstanding scientists such as O. V. Nagorny and I. M. Bulankin as founders of the Kharkiv school of age physiology and biochemistry. The work has utilized some archive data.     

Book reviews

Book reviewed in this article:
C oncepts in V iral P athogenesis III (1989). Edited by A.L. Notkins & M.B.A. Old-stone.
A C olour A tlas of M eat I nspection (1990). By J. Infante Gil & J. Costa Durao.
P romiscuous P lasmids of G ram -N egative B acteria (1989). Edited by Christopher M. Thomas.
S hort P rotocols in M olecular B iology (1989). Edited by F.M. Ausubel et al.
G enetics of B acterial D iversity (1989). Edited by D.A. Hopwood & K.F. Chater.
Y east G enetics . A M anual of M ethods (1989). By J.F.T. Spencer, D.M. Spencer & I.J. Burce.
M etals and M icro -O rganisms (1989). By M.N. Hughes & R.K. Poole.
S eed -B orne D isease and S eed H ealth T esting of R ice (1989). By P. C. Agarwal, C.N. Mortensen & S.B. Mathur.     

催化吲哚生成靛蓝的细胞色素P450BM-3 定向进化研究

以催化吲哚产生的靛蓝在 630 nm 处具有特殊的吸收峰为高通量筛选指标,将来源于 Bacillus megaterium 的细胞色素 P450BM-3 单加氧酶的基因序列用易错聚合酶链式反应进行定向进化,通过多轮突变,在原有的能产靛蓝的高活力突变酶的基础上成功获得了三个高于亲本酶的突变酶,突变酶的酶活分别是亲本酶的 6.6 倍 (hml001) , 9.6 倍 (hml002) 和 5.3 倍 (hml003) ,并对突变酶的动力学参数进行了分析 . 突变酶 DNA 测序的结果表明, hml001 含有一个有义氨基酸置换 I39V , hml002 含有三个有义氨基酸置换 D168N , A225V , K440N , hml003 含有一个有义氨基酸置换 E435D ,这些突变位点有些远离底物结合部位,有些位于底物结合部位 .     

Book Notes

The Systems of Land Tenure in the Kikuyu Land Unit . H. E. L ambert
Hawaiian Antiquities (Moolelo Hawaii ). D avid M alo
Navaho Means People . L eonard M c C ombe , E von Z. V ogt , and C lyde K luckhohn
Paradox and Nirvana . R obert L awson S later
The North American Buffalo. A Critical Study of the Species in Its Wild State . F rank G ilbert R oe
The Wulfing Plates: Products of Prehistoric Americans . V irginia D rew W atson
The Medora Site. West Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana . G eorge I. Q uimby
The Crable Site, Fulton County, Illinois. A Late Prehistoric Site in the Central Illinois Valley . H ale G illiam S mith
Archaeology of the Columbia-Fraser Region . M arian W. S mith
Cattle Point: A Stratified Site in the Southern Northwest Coast Region . A rden R. K ing
Hyperbrachycephaly as Influenced by Cultural Conditioning . J. F ranklin E wing
Surgery of the Shoulder . A. F. D e P alma
The Mark of Oppression, A Psychological Study of the American Negro . A bram K ardiner and L ionel O vesey
Race Relations: The Interaction of Ethnic Groups . B rewton B erry
The Sociology of Georg Simmel . Translated, edited, and with an introduction by K urt H. W olff
Social Behavior and Personality: Contributions of W. I. Thomas to Theory and Social Research . Edited by E dmund H. V olkart
Handbook of Latin American Studies : 1948, No. 14. F rancisco A guilera , ed
Area Studies in American Universities . W endell C. B ennett     

Genetic characterization of the (534)DPPR motif of the yeast plasma membrane H(+)-ATPase

The highly conserved motif +(534)DPPR of Saccharomyces cerevisiae H(+)-ATPase, located in the putative ATP binding site, has been mutagenized and the resulting 23 mutant genes conditionally expressed in secretory vesicles. Fourteen mutant ATPases (D534A, D534V, D534L, D534N, D534G, D534T, P535A, P535V, P535L, P535G, P535T, P535E, P535K and R537T) failed to reach the secretory vesicles. Of these mutants, nine (D534N, D534T, P535A, P535V, P535L, P535G, P535T, P535E and P535K) were not detected in total cellular membranes, and five (D534A, D534V, D534G, D534L and R537T) were retained at the endoplasmic reticulum and exhibited a dominant lethal phenotype. The remaining mutants (D534E, R537A, R537V, R537L, R537N, R537G, R537E, R537K and R537H) reached the secretory vesicles at levels similar to that of the wild type. Of these, six (R537A, R537V, R537L, R537N, R537G, and R537E) showed severely decreased ATPase activity compared to the wild type enzyme, and three (D534E, R537K and R537H) rendered an enzyme with an altered K(m) for ATP.     

REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
A Dictionary of the Flowering Plants and Ferns . By the late J. C. W illis . Seventh edition, revised by H. K. A iry S haw .
The Principles of Pollination Ecology . By K. F aegri and L. van D er P ijl .
Studies in Biology, No. 5, Plant Taxonomy . By V. H. H eywood .
Deadly Harvest . By J ohn M. K ingsbury .
Plant Physiology . By H enrik G. L undegardh . Translated by F. M. I rvine , Translation edited by W. O. J ames .
The Biology of Lichens . By M ason E. H ale J r . In: Contemporary Biology Series, General editors E. J. W. B arrington and A. J. W illis .
Plant Biology Today . Second edition. Ed. by W. A. J ensen and L. G. K avaljian .
Organisation in Plants . Second edition. By B. M. B aron .
Fortschritte der Botanik , Band 28. Ed. by E. B ünning , H. E llenberg , K. E sser , H. M erxmuller and P. S itte .
Taxonomy of Flowering Plants . Second edition. By C. L. P orter .
The Study of Biology . By J. J. W. B aker and G. E. A llen .
Experiments in the Study of Biology . By J. J. W. B aker , G. E. A llen , E. G age and S. K. W ebster .
Grundriss der Phytopathologie iind des Pflanzenschutzes . By H ans -A lfred K irchner .
Bibliography of Seeds . Compiled and edited by L. V. B arton .
Pollen Grains of Western Himalaxan Plants . By P. K. K. N air .
Families of Flowering Plants in Ethiopia . By W. C. B urger .     

REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
Excursion Flora of the British Isles , 2nd edn. By A. R. C lapham , T. G. T utin and E. F. W arburg .
Critical Supplement to the Atlas of the British Flora . Ed. by F. H. P erring assisted by P. D. S ell .
Drawings of British Plants . Part XXIV. Labiatae . By S tella R oss -C raig .
Britain's Green Mantle , 2nd edn. By the late A. G. T ansley . Revised by M. C. F. P roctor .
The Flora of Berkshire . By H. J. M. B owen .
Flora of Turkey and the East Aegean Islands . By P. H. D avis , assisted by J. C ullen and M. J. E. C oode .
Plants and Man on the Seychelles Coast . By J. D. S auer .
Key to the Families of Flowering Plants of the World . Revised and enlarged by J. H utchinson .
The Diversity of Green Flants . By P. R. B ell and C. L. F. W oodcock .
IBP Handbook No . 5: Handbook to the Conservation Section of the International Biological Programme . By E. M. N icholson .
Plants, Man and Life , 2nd edn. By E dgar A nderson .
Production and Mineral Cycling in Terrestrial Vegetation . By L. E. R odin and N. I. B azilevich . Translation by Scripta Technica Ltd (Ed. by G. E. F ogg ).
'Torrey Canyon' Pollution and Marine Life . A Report by the Plymouth Laboratory of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. Ed. by J. E. S mith .
Geobotanische Untersuchungen auf der Feddersen Wier de . By U. K örber -G rohne .
Cell Walls and Membranes . By H. J. R ogers and H. R. P erkins .
Wachstums regulatoren bei Pflanzen . Ed. by E. L ibbert and B. S teyer .
The Ecology of Soil Bacteria ( An International Symposium ). Ed. by T. R. G. G ray and D. P arkinson .
Genetics of Fungi . By K arl E sser and R udolf K uenen . Translated by E rich S teiner .
Plant Pathologist's Pocketbook . Compiled by The Commonwealth Mycological Institute.     

A rational approach to Re-engineer cytochrome P450 2B1 regioselectivity based on the crystal structure of cytochrome P450 2C5

The regioselectivity for progesterone hydroxylation by cytochrome P450 2B1 was re-engineered based on the x-ray crystal structure of cytochrome P450 2C5. 2B1 is a high K(m) progesterone 16alpha-hydroxylase, whereas 2C5 is a low K(m) progesterone 21-hydroxylase. Initially, nine individual 2B1 active-site residues were changed to the corresponding 2C5 residues, and the mutants were purified from an Escherichia coli expression system and assayed for progesterone hydroxylation. At 150 microm progesterone, I114A, F297G, and V363L showed 5-15% of the 21-hydroxylase activity of 2C5, whereas F206V showed high activity for an unknown product and a 13-fold decrease in K(m). Therefore, a quadruple mutant, I114A/F206V/F297G/V363L (Q), was constructed that showed 60% of 2C5 progesterone 21-hydroxylase activity and 57% regioselectivity. Based on their 2C5-like testosterone hydroxylation profiles, S294D and I477F alone and in combination were added to the quadruple mutant. All three mutants showed enhanced regioselectivity (70%) for progesterone 21-hydroxylation, whereas only Q/I477F had a higher k(cat). Finally, the remaining three single mutants, V103I, V367L, and G478V, were added to Q/I477F and Q/S294D/I477F, yielding seven additional multiple mutants. Among these, Q/V103I/S294D/I477F showed the highest k(cat) (3-fold higher than that of 2C5) and 80% regioselectivity for progesterone 21-hydroxylation. Docking of progesterone into a three-dimensional model of this mutant indicated that 21-hydroxylation is favored. In conclusion, a systematic approach to convert P450 regioselectivity across subfamilies suggests that active-site residues are mainly responsible for regioselectivity differences between 2B1 and 2C5 and validates the reliability of 2B1 models based on the crystal structure of 2C5.     

Books

Book reviews in this article:
H andbook of M arine M ammals . V olume 3: T he S irenians and B aleen W hales . S. H. Ridgway and R. Harrison (eds.).
L es P hoques M oines -M onk S eal . Ronald and R. Duguy (eds.).
T he E lements of G raphing D ata . W. S. Cleveland.
G uia P ara el R econocimiento de C etaceos del M ar A rgentino . A. Lichter and A. Hooper.
M amiferos M arinos de C hile . W. Sielfeld K.
T he W hale W atcher's H andbook . E. Hoyt. Illustrations by P. Folkens.
W hales and D olphins of N ew Z ealand and A ustralia : A n I dentification G uide . A. N. Baker.