RNA polymerase subunit biosynthesis in Bacillus subtilis

Summary The relative rates of RNA polymerase biosynthesis in Bacillus subtilis has been examined under steady-state growth conditions. The synthesis of RNA polymerase subunits (, , , ) has been followed by subunit fractionation of immunoprecipitated [³H]-labelled samples on SDS-polyacrylamide gels. The stoichiometries of ::: subunits have been determined from cultures pulse-labelled during steady-state growth. The results suggest that an unassembled pool of the -subunit exists from which the holoenzyme is formed.Upon shift-up from acetate to glycerol containing medium, a rapid rise in the differential rate of core enzyme synthesis was observed, while the rate of synthesis of the -subunit was not stimulated. During shift-down, a concomitant reduction in the rate of synthesis of all subunits occurred for the first 20 min after the shift; thereafter, a rate of synthesis characteristic of the new growth rate was established.As cultures enter sporulation, an immediate reduction in the rate of -subunit synthesis was demonstrated.     

Characteristics of antibodies to guinea pig (Na++K+)-adenosine triphosphatase and their use in cell-free synthesis studies

Summary Antibodies have been produced, in three rabbits, to Na/K-ATPase purified from guinea pig renal outer medulla. Each rabbit produced antibodies to both the (catalytic) and the (glycoprotein) subunits of Na/K-ATPase. The titers of the anti- and anti- antibodies varied with time and between rabbits. None of the antisera inhibited Na/K-ATPase activity under various preincubation conditions. A method is presented for separating small amounts of anti- subunit from anti- subunit antibodies. There was not cross-reactivity of antibodies to one subunit with the other subunit. The subunit of the Na/K-ATPase was cleaved into a 41,000-dalton peptide (that contains the ATP phosphorylating site) and a 58,000-dalton hydrophobic peptide as described by Castro and Farley (Castro, J., Farley, R.A., 1979,J. Biol. Chem. 254:2221–2228). Anti- antibodies from all of the rabbits reacted with both proteolytic fragments. The anti-guinea pig Na/K-ATPase antisera (pooled) cross-reacted with the subunit of Na/K-ATPase from human, cow, dog, rabbit, rat mouse, turtle, and toad; and with the subunit from human, rat, and mouse. The loci of cross-reactivity were investigated using partially purified canine kidney Na/K-ATPase cleaved with trypsin as described above. The antisera from rabbits 1 and 2 cross-reacted with the 41,000-dalton peptide from the dog but very little with the 58,000-dalton peptide. No cross-reactivity was observed with antiserum from rabbit 3 to either fragment. Guinea pig kidney RNA was translated in a rabbit reticulocyte lysate system followed by immunoprecipitation with the antisera. The molecular weight of the cell-free synthesized chain was 96,000 daltons. Its identity was established with purified anti- antibodies and by immunocompetition with purified Na/K-ATPase and Ca-ATPase. Translation of the subunit was not detected in this system.     

Interaction of poly(ADP-ribose)polymerase with DNA polymerase α

Homogeneously purified poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) specifically stimulated the activity of immunoaffinity-purified calf or human DNA polymerase by about 6 to 60-fold. Apparently, poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation of DNA polymerase was not necessary for the stimulation. The effects of PARP on DNA polymerase were biphasic: at very low concentrations of DNA, it rather inhibited its activity, whereas, at higher DNA concentrations, PARP greatly stimulated it. The autopoly(ADP-ribosyl)ation of PARP suppressed both its stimulatory and inhibitory effects. By immunoprecipitation with an anti-DNA polymerase antibody, it was clearly shown that PARP may be physically associated with DNA polymerase . Stimulation of DNA polymerase may be attributed to the physical association between the two, rather than to the DNA-binding capacity of PARP, since the PARP fragment containing only the DNA binding domain showed little stimulatory activity. The existence of PARP-DNA polymerase complexes were also detected in crude extracts of calf thymus.     

Subunit composition of the zinc proteins alpha- and beta-lipovitellin from chicken

Chicken - and -lipovitellin are derived from parent vitellogenin proteins and contain four subunits (125, 80, 40, and 30 kDa) and two subunits (125 and 30 kDa), respectively. Metal analyses demonstrate both are zinc proteins containing 2.1 ± 0.2 mol of zinc/275 kDa per -lipovitellin and 1.4 ± 0.2 mol of zinc/155 kDa per -lipovitellin, respectively. The subunits of -lipovitellin, Lv 1 (MW 125 kDa) and Lv 2 (MW 30 kDa), are separated by gel exclusion chromatography in the presence of zwittergent 3–16. Zinc elutes with Lv 1, suggesting that this subunit binds zinc in the absence of Lv 2. The subunits of - and -lipovitellin were separated by SDS-PAGE, digested with trypsin, and mapped by reverse-phase HPLC. The peptide maps of the 125-kDa subunits from - and -lipovitellin are essentially identical. Similar results are obtained for the 30-kDa subunits of both lipovitellins. The sequences of five and four peptides of the 125-kDa subunit of - and -Lv, respectively, and two peptides of the 30-kDa subunit of - and -lipovitellin were determined and match those predicted from the gene for vitellogenin II, Vtg II. Comparison of the amino acid composition of the 125- and 30-kDa subunits of - and -lipovitellin support the conclusion that they originate from the same gene. The sequences of peptides from the 80- and 40-kDa subunits of -lipovitellin have not been found in the NCBI nonredundant data bank. The 27-amino acid N-terminal sequence of the 40-kDa protein is 56% similar to the last third of the Lv 1-coding region of the Vtg II gene, suggesting it may come from an analogous region of the Vtg I gene. We propose a scheme for the precursor—product relationship of Vtg I.     

Feedback regulation of RNA polymerase subunit synthesis after the conditional overproduction of RNA polymerase in Escherichia coli

Summary The and subunit of RNA polymerase are thought to be controlled by a translational feedback mechanism regulated by the concentration of RNA polymerase holoenzyme. To study this regulation in vivo, an inducible RNA polymerase overproduction system was developed. This system utilizes plasmids from two incompatibility groups that carry RNA polymerase subunit genes under lac promoter/operator control. When the structural genes encoding the components of core RNA polymerase (, and ) or holoenzyme (, , and ⁷⁰) are present on the plasmids, induction of the lac promoter results in a two fold increase in the concentration of functional RNA polymerase. The induction of RNA polymerase overproduction is characterized by an initial large burst of synthesis followed by a gradual decrease as the concentration of RNA polymerase increases. Overproduction of RNA polymerase in a strain carrying an electrophoretic mobility mutation in the rpoB gene results in the specific repression of synthesis off the chromosome. These results indicate that RNA polymerase feedback regulation controls synthesis in vivo.     

α-and β-Glycosidases in maize roots

Four glycosidases were analyzed in 10 mm apical segments prepared from growing roots (15 mm) of Zea mays L. The pH optima were found to be 5.8 for -glucosidase, 4.4 for -galactosidase, 6.4 for -glucosidase and 6.0 for -galactosidase. The -glucosidase showed 4-fold higher activity than the -galactosidase. The distribution of the -glucosidase activity was signifcantly different from that of the -galactosidase, -glucosidase and -galactosidase.Abbreviations -Glu -glucosidase - -Gal -galactosidase - -Glu -glucosidase - -Gal -galactosidase     

ααααanti-3.7 type II: a new α-globin gene rearrangement suggesting that the α-globin gene duplication could be caused by intrachromosomal recombination

Summary We report here a new human -globin gene rearrangement carrying the two normal, 2 and 1, and two hybrid, 1/2, globin genes in the order 5-2-1/2-1/2-1-3. Both the hybrid genes, subtyped with ApaI and RsaI restriction enzymes, were found to be of the uncommon anti 3.7 type II. The hybrid genes were expressed at the biosynthetic level and their interaction with the -thalassaemia IVS 1 nt 1 GA mutation caused thalassaemia intermedia. We also report a case of an -globin gene rearrangement in the twin of one of the -globin gene carriers; the duplicated gene was of the anti 4.2 type and was associated with the absence of RsaI polymorphism. The singular finding of an -anti 3.7 cluster with two identical rare hybrid genes suggests that the reciprocal unequal recombination causing the -globin gene rearrangements could be of the intra-chromosomal rather than the interchromosomal type.     

Structural diversity of O-polysaccharides and serological classification of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pseudomonas syringae</Emphasis> pv. <Emphasis Type="Italic">garcae</Emphasis> and other strains of genomospecies 4

Novel O-serotypes were revealed among Pseudomonas syringae pv. garcae strains by using a set of mouse monoclonal antibodies specific to the lipopolysaccharide O-polysaccharide. Structural studies showed that the O-polysaccharide of P. syringae pv. garcae NCPPB 2708 is a hitherto unknown linear L-rhamnan lacking strict regularity and having two oligosaccharide repeating units I and II, which differ in the position of substitution in one of the rhamnose residues and have the following structures: I:3)--L Rha (12)-- L Rha (12)--L-Rha-(13)--L Rha (1;II: 2)--L-Rha-(13) -L-Rha-(12)--L-Rha-(13)--L Rha (1.The branched O-polysaccharides of P. syringae pv. garcae ICMP 8047 and NCPPB 588^T have the same L-rhamnan backbone with repeating units I and II and a lateral chain of 14)- or 13)-linked residues of 3-acetamido-3,6-dideoxy-D-galactose (D-Fuc3NAc). Several monoclonal antibody epitopes associated with the L-rhamnan backbone or the lateral -D-Fuc3NAc residues were characterized.Translated from Mikrobiologiya, Vol. 73, No. 6, 2004, pp. 777–789.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2004 by Ovod, Zdorovenko, Shashkov, Kocharova, Knirel.     

α-Thalassemia in Saudi Arabia: deletion pattern

Summary -Thalassemia exists at a high prevalence in several regions of Saudi Arabia. The restriction endonucleases Bam HI and BglII were used to investigate the molecular basis of deletion type of -thalassemia in 226 subjects from the eastern and 61 subjects from the northwestern regions of the country. The arrangements-/ and-/- were common. BglII digestion revealed the existence of rightward deletion in a majority of the cases. Leftward deletions, both homozygous and heterozygous, were also identified. Triple -gene arrangements -/ and -/- were observed at a low frequency in both regions.     

Variability in the 11S globulin fraction of seed storage proteins ofHelianthus (Asteraceae)

The seed storage globulins from sixHelianthus and four hybrids were studied using mono and bidimensional gel SDS electrophoresis (+ 2 mercaptoethanol). The polypeptide composition of each subunit was determined. Different pairs are specifically expressed according to the species studied. Three typical patterns were discriminated. All the studied species exhibit five subunits: two of them are expressed in all the species (₁₁ and ₂₂). The subunit corresponding to the ₁₁ pair is present inH. petiolaris and in the three populations ofH. annuus studied. The _2b2 pair is common toH. annuus andH. argophyllus. H. petiolaris presents two specific _2a2 and ₄₄ pairs andH. annuus a specific ₃₃ pair. InH. argophyllus _{11 33} or ₄₄ are never observed but are replaced by ₁₃ and ₃₁ pairs. Some globulins, poorly represented, are of forms but present chains of higher molecular weights (in the range 54–56 kDa). Expressing variations in the banding patterns between these species by the use of a similarity index reveals complete identity between the three populations ofH. annuus. Identity between the twoH. petiolaris studied is also observed.H. annuus andH. argophyllus appear to be closer to each other thanH. petiolaris concerning the seed storage globulins.