Interferon induces a 15-kilodalton protein exhibiting marked homology to ubiquitin

Immunochemical methods were used to examine the effect of viral infection on the dynamics of intracellular ubiquitin pools. Infection of either the human lung carcinoma line A-549 or the mouse fibroblast line L929 with encephalomyocarditis virus had little effect on either the distribution or fractional level of intracellular ubiquitin conjugates. In contrast, viral infection resulted in a significant decline in the steady state content of the mono-ubiquitin conjugate to histone 2A (uH2A). Prior treatment with interferons protected against this decrease of uH2A. Furthermore, interferons induced the de novo synthesis of a 15-kDa protein immunologically related to ubiquitin. The ubiquitin cross-reactive protein (UCRP) was not constitutively present in control cells but was significantly induced in various cells sensitive to the biological effects of interferons. Induction of UCRP with respect to both time and interferon concentration dependence closely paralleled the appearance of resistance to viral infection and could be blocked by low levels of actinomycin D. Subsequent studies demonstrated that UCRP was identical to an interferon-induced 15-kDa protein whose sequence has recently been reported (Blomstrom, D. C., Fahey, D., Kutny, R., Korant, B. D., and Knight, E. (1986) J. Biol. Chem. 261, 8811-8816). An authentic sample of the 15-kDa protein was found to co-migrate with UCRP and to cross-react with two different anti-ubiquitin antibodies. Using the authentic 15-kDa protein as a standard, UCRP accumulated to 6.2 +/- 0.5 pmol/10(6) cells and 34 +/- 2 pmol/10(6) cells in interferon-treated A-549 and L929 cultures, respectively. Comparison of the primary sequence of the 15-kDa protein to that of ubiquitin indicated that the former is composed of two domains, each of which bears striking homology to ubiquitin. These observations suggest that the 15-kDa protein may represent one example of a functionally distinct family of ubiquitin-like proteins.     

Zum gegenwärtigen Stand der Anwendungsmöglichkeiten der biometrischen Genetik in der Pflanzenzüchtung

Zusammenfassung In der vorliegenden Arbeit haben wir die verschiedenen Formen der genetischen Variabilität und ihre Bedeutung für die Selektion untersucht. Dabei sind einige Grundbegriffe der stastistischen Genetik, wie Populationsmittel, additive genetische Varianz und Dominanzvarianz besprochen und als Funktion der Allelfrequenzen dargestellt worden. Die Kovarianz zwischen Verwandten wurde für verschiedene Verwandtschaftsbeziehungen hergeleitet und auf ihren Zusammenhang zur genetischen Varianz und zur Kombinationseignung hingewiesen. Die rel. Größen der beiden wesentlichsten Formen der genetischen Varianz dienten als Kenngrößen für die Auswahl bestimmter Selektionsverfahren.Die Zusammenhänge zwischen Genwirkungsweise und Selektionsverfahren wurden diskutiert.Mit 6 AbbildungenHerrn Prof. Dr.R. Schick zum 60. Geburtstag gewidmet.     

The fate of organic matter during planetary accretion: Preliminary studies of the organic chemistry of experimentally shocked murchison meteorite

It is possible that Earth's biologic precursors were delivered by late-impacting asteroids or comets, and it is possible that these objects were a source of Earth's volatile inventory. To understand the behavior of organic matter in carbonaceous meteorites during hypervelocity impact (1–2 km s^–1), three samples of the Murchison (CM2) carbonaceous chondrite were shocked to 19, 20 and 36 GPa and analyzed by very sensitive thermal-desorption photoionization mass spectrometry (SALI). Thermal-desorption (25–800 °C) SALI mass spectra of unshocked Murchison reveal indigenous aliphatic, aromatic, sulfur and organosulfur compounds. Samples shocked to 20 GPa exhibit little or no loss of organic matter relative to the unshocked material. This is consistent with the earlier work of Tyburczyet al. (1986) which showed that incipient devolatilization of Murchison occurs at peak shock pressures near 20 GPa. The small amount of organic matter lost appears to have occurred by volatilization of elemental sulfur, amines and aliphatic compounds. In the sample shocked to 36 GPa, approximately 70% of the organic matter was volatilized as a result of impact. The residual organic matter desorbed at somewhat higher temperatures and displayed a different chemical signature. In particular, the shocked material has a lower alkene/alkane ratio than that of the starting material. The preliminary data suggest that it is unlikely that the indigenous organic matter in carbonaceous chondrite-like planetesimals could have survived impact on the Earth in the later stages of Earth's accretion. However, chemical reactions that produce organic compounds with greater thermal stabilities may occur during impact or subsequent to impact by condensation of the impact-produced vapor plume.     

A molecular phylogeny of Glaphyridae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea): evolution of pollination and association with ‘Poppy guild’ flowers

Among Scarabaeoidea, pollen feeding occurs in two major lineages, pleurostict Scarabaeidae and Glaphyridae. Here we infer for the first time the phylogeny of the scarabaeoid lineage Glaphyridae (Coleoptera) based on molecular data using partial gene sequences for 28S rRNA, cytochrome oxidase I (cox1) and 16S rRNA (rrnL) for 41 species. Based on the resulting tree topology, we inferred the timing of the origin of pollination and of their coevolution with different flower host taxa, with particular focus on the prominent red-coloured ‘poppy guild’ flowers. All genera of Glaphyridae that were sampled with multiple species were recovered as monophyletic. According to this analysis, the origin of Glaphyridae was around 140 Ma, while crown group divergence was dated to have occurred c. 112 Ma. Pollen feeding originated in Glaphyridae only once and much later than in other important pollinator groups, between 97 and 67 Ma. According to the reconstruction of ancestral feeding traits, Asteraceae (Cicharioidae) were the first hosts of Glaphyridae. Presumably, a further adaptive radiation was triggered by feeding on and pollination of red flowers (poppy guild) which arose at a later stage. It occurred for the first time between 30 and 40 Ma, whereby the clades that use red Ranunculaceae (Pygopleurus spp.) are older than clades using exclusively red Papaveraceae (Eulasia spp.) (25–30 Ma). The rather young age of red Ranunculaceae would imply that Pygopleurus species only subsequently used red Ranunculus species as flower hosts, and that a broad parallel host shift probably from red Papaver spp. to red Ranunculus asiaticus has occurred rather recently.     

Epigenetics in esophageal cancers

Esophageal cancers are a challenging upper gastrointestinal tract tumor entity for interdisciplinary oncology. For the two main histotypes, namely esophageal squamous cell carcinomas and Barrett’s adenocarcinomas, several genetic aberrations have been shown to contribute to carcinogenesis and progression as well as to represent potential novel targets for therapeutic intervention. This is paralleled by growing insight into epigenetic alterations of esophageal cancers. Studies involving the analyses of human tissue specimens predominantly describe altered patterns of miRNA expression, DNA methylation patterns, and histone marks levels. This review provides a critical update on this increasing knowledge of epigenetic alteration in esophageal cancers by specifically focusing on the translational aspects of epigenetic analyses from human tissue specimens.     

The effect of an on the job training program -- stairclimbing -- on the physical working capacity of employees (author's transl)

Following medical screening and physical fitness testing (W170) 52 voltuntary employees in a 31-story administration building were formed into matched pairs and randomly allocated into intervention (stairclimbing) and control (lift) groups. The intervention group was asked to climb at least 25 floors/workday or 125 floors/week. the control group was asked to use only the lift. The intervention time was 10 weeks. The physiological measurements were made before and after the intervention. The number of stairs climbed was recorded daily in a diary. The heart rate was recorded continuously over one workday before and during the interventions. The average quantity of training in the final intervention group (n = 19) was 29.9 floors/workday or 36,790 kpm/week and in the control group 4.6 and 5980 correspondingly. The average training frequency was 4.3 in intervention and 1.4 climbs/workday in the control group. The average number of continuous floors used during climbing was 7.0 in intervention and 3.4 in control group. The average number of minutes on heart rate level of 130-159 beats/min during one workday was 7.8 in intervention and 1.6 in control group. The W170 (W/kg) increased 17.8% and the predicted VO2max (ml/min/kg) 15.1% in intervention group. The difference between the intervention group and the control group was significant (p less than 0.01). It was concluded, that stairclimbing is a suitable on the job physical activity program for middle-aged, untrained men.