Analysis of rice (Oryza sativa L.) genome using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and rare-cutting restriction endonucleases

TheOryza sativa (rice) genome is small (600 to 900 megabase pairs) when compared to that of other monocotyledonous plants. Rice was the first of the major cereals to be successfully transformed and regenerated. An RFLP map with approximately 300 markers is readily available, and the DNA content per map unit is only two to three times that ofArabidopsis thaliana. Rice is also the main staple food for the majority of peoples in the world. We developed techniques for the preparation of intact genomic DNA from Indica and Japonica subspecies of rice, used statistical methods to determine which restriction endonucleases are rare-cutting, and used pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFE) to separate large fragments of rice DNA. Southern hybridization to blotted rice PFE gels was used to show that the digests were complete. The long-term goal of our work is to generate an integrated genetic/physical map for the rice genome, as well as helping to establish rice as a model for map-based gene cloning and genome analysis.     

A rapid miniprep for the isolation of total DNA fromAgrobacterium tumefaciens

A procedure which avoids the use of phenol-chloroform and RNAase for the isolation of total DNA fromA. tumefaciens is described. Specific precipitation of protein by 2.5 M ammonium acetate is employed and much of the RNA is removed by an isopropanol precipition step. The procedure yields easily restrictable, good quality DNA and is probably applicable to other Gramnegative bacteria.     

Light- and electron-microscopic immunocytochemistry of peptidergic neurons innervating thoracico-abdominal neurohaemal areas in the blowfly

Summary Ventral thoracic neurosecretory cells (VTNCs) of the blowflies, Calliphora erythrocephala and C. vomitoria, innervating thoracic neuropil and the dorsal neural sheath of the thoracico-abdominal ganglion have been shown to be immunoreactive to a variety of mammalian peptide antisera. In the neural sheath the VTNC terminals form an extensive neurohaemal network that is especially dense over the abdominal ganglia. The same areas are invaded by separate, ut overlapping serotonin-immunoreactive (5-HT-IR) projections derived from neuronal cell bodies in the suboesophageal ganglion. Immunocytochemical studies with different antisera, applied to adjacent sections at the lightmicroscopic level, combined with extensive cross-absorption tests, suggest that the perikarya of the VTNCs contain co-localized peptides related to gastrin/cholecystokinin (CCK), bovine pancreatic polypeptide (PP), Met- and Leuenkephalin and Met-enk-Arg⁶-Phe⁷ (Met-enk-RF). Electron-microscopic immunogold-labeling shows that some of the terminals in the dorsal sheath react with several of the individual peptide antisera, whilst others with similar cytology are non-immunoreactive. In the same region, separate terminals with different cytological characteristics contain 5-HT-IR. Both 5-HT-IR and peptidergic terminals are localized outside the cellular perineurium beneath the acellular permeable sheath adjacent to the haemocoel. Hence, we propose that various bioactive substances may be released from thoracic neurosecretory neurons into the circulating haemolymph to act on peripheral targets. The same neurons may also interact by synaptic or modulatory action in the CNS in different neuropil regions of the thoracic ganglion.     

Distribution of FMRFamide-like immunoreactivity in the nervous system of the slug Limax maximus

Summary The distribution of FMRFamide-like immunoreactive neurons in the nervous system of the slug Limax maximus was studied using immunohistochemical methods. Approximately one thousand FMRFamide-like immunoreactive cell bodies were found in the central nervous system. Ranging between 15 m and 200 m in diameter, they were found in all 11 ganglia of the central nervous system. FMRFamide-like immunoreactive cell bodies were also found at peripheral locations on buccal nerve roots. FMRFamide-like immunoreactive nerve fibres were present in peripheral nerve roots and were distributed extensively throughout the neuropil and cell body regions of the central ganglia. They were also present in the connective tissue of the perineurium, forming an extensive network of varicose fibres. The large number, extensive distribution and great range in size of FMRFamide-like immunoreactive cell bodies and the wide distribution of immunoreactive fibres suggest that FMRFamide-like peptides might serve several different functions in the nervous system of the slug.     

Evolutionary conservation of the human homologue of the yeast cell cycle control gene cdc2 and assignment of Cd2 to chromosome 10

Summary The human homologue of the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe cell cycle control gene cdc2 has been assigned to chromosome 10. DNA hybridization reveals that this gene is highly conserved in vertebrates. The human CDC2 gene probe detects a simple two-allele polymorphism in Taq1-digested DNA.     

Squid glycoproteins with structural similarities to Thy-1 and Ly-6 antigens

In an attempt to identify invertebrate homologs of Thy-1 antigen, the optic and central nervous tissue of squid was solubilized in deoxycholate and fractionated by lentil lectin affinity chromatography and gel filtration to yield small abundant glycoproteins. Material with biochemical similarities to Thy-1 was found and shown to consist of two glycoproteins that were ultimately purified using monoclonal antibody affinity columns. Both glycoproteins were sequenced to yield sequences of 84 residues for Sgp-1 and 92 residues for Sgp-2. The sequences were analyzed for similarities to Thy-1 and other Ig-related sequences, and Sgp-1 showed some similarities that were > 3 standard deviation units away from mean random scores when tested with the ALIGN program. However, the sequence patterns were not typical of Ig-related domains and the relationship of Sgp-1 to the Ig superfamily remains problematical. Sgp-2 showed no relationship to the Ig superfamily, but similarities to Ly-6 antigen sequences were noted that are in accord with an evolutionary relationship. The similarities included ten Cys residues in each sequence of which eight were matched in the best alignment given by the ALIGN program. Chemical evidence was obtained for glycophospholipid tails at the COOH-termini of Sgp-1 and Sgp-2 as is the case for Thy-1 and Ly-6 antigens.Abbreviations used in this paper GPL glycophospholipid - mAb monoclonal antibody - SDS-PAGE sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis     

Effects in rats of iron on lead deprivation

In two fully crossed, two-factor experiments, F1 generation male rats were fed a basal diet supplemented with lead (lead acetate) at 0 or 2 micrograms/g and iron (ferric sulfate) at 50 or 250 micrograms/g (Experiment 1). Supplements in Experiment 2 were lead at 0 or 1 micrograms/g and iron at 50, 250, or 1000 micrograms/g. After 28 or 50 d in Experiment 1, and 35 d in Experiment 2, a relationship between lead and iron was found. Body weight was lower in low-lead than lead-supplemented 28-d-old rats regardless of dietary iron, whereas hematocrit and hemoglobin were lower in low-lead than lead-supplemented rats fed 50 micrograms iron/g diet. A similar finding was obtained with hematocrit and hemoglobin in 35-d-old rats. Dietary lead did not affect rats fed 250 or 1000 micrograms iron/g diet. Also, feeding low dietary lead did not affect 50-d-old rats regardless of dietary iron. Liver and bone concentrations of lead were markedly affected by dietary lead and iron. The concentration of lead in liver and bone was lower in low-lead than lead-supplemented rats. Compared to rats fed 50 micrograms iron/g diet, rats fed 250 micrograms iron/g diet exhibited a decreased lead concentration in liver and bone. This decrease was accentuated by lead supplementation. The findings suggest that lead acted pharmacologically to affect iron metabolism in rats.     

Measurement of light within thin plant tissues with fiber optic microprobes

Vogelmann, T. C., Knapp, A. K., McClean, T. M. and Smith, W. K. 1988. Measurement of light within thin plant tissues with fiber optic microprobes. - Physiol. Plant. 72: 623–630.
The measurement of light with fiber optic microprobes has been extended to thin (200–300 μm) plant tissue samples. To test the method, light measurements were made in thin aqueous films and paradermal sections from 10-day-old etiolated Cucurbita pepo L. cv. Fordhook cotyledons. The measurements obtained were highly reproducible. Paradermal sections of spongy mesophyll that were irradiated with collimated light scattered light more effectively than the palisade layer of intact cotyledons. These results demonstrate that different plant tissues have different light scattering characteristics. The successful extension of the fiber optic microprobe technique to thin systems makes it possible to examine the optical properties of different cell layers within leaves and other plant organs.