Improved mapping of the tyrS locus in Escherichia coli

Summary A tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase mutant of Escherichia coli was isolated and the tyrS gene assigned a map position between man and pdxH at 36.0 min on the chromosome. The tyrS mutant grew badly on broth as did previously described tyrS mutants. This sensitivity to broth was suppressed by tyrR mutations. F-prime factors were found to complement the tyrS mutation.     

Shear wave induced resonance elastography of soft heterogeneous media

In the context of ultrasound dynamic elastography imaging and characterization of venous thrombosis, we propose a method to induce mechanical resonance of confined soft heterogeneities embedded in homogenous media. Resonances are produced by the interaction of horizontally polarized shear (SH) waves with the mechanical heterogeneity. Due to such resonance phenomenon, which amplifies displacements up to 10 times compared to non-resonant condition, displacement images of the underlying structures are greatly contrasted allowing direct segmentation of the heterogeneity and a more precise measurement of displacements since the signal-to-noise ratio is enhanced. Coupled to an analytical model of wave scattering, the feasibility of shear wave induced resonance (SWIR) elastography to characterize the viscoelasticity of a mimicked venous thrombosis is demonstrated (with a maximum variability of 3% and 11% for elasticity and viscosity, respectively). More generally, the proposed method has the potential to characterize the viscoelastic properties of a variety of soft biological and industrial materials.     

Density dependence of Anaphes sordidatus (Hymenoptera: Mymaridae) parasitism on eggs of Listronotus oregonensis (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)

Listronotus oregonensis (LeConte) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) oviposits in carrot leaves and the larvae feed in carrot roots. Its eggs are parasitized by Anaphes sordidatus (Girault) (Hymenoptera: Mymaridae) throughout its oviposition period. This parasitoid is the major biotic mortality factor for L. oregonensis. Parasitism by A. sordidatus was studied for three years in sequentially sown plots of carrots, Daucus carota var. sativa. Over the scason, significantly fewer L. oregonensis eggs were oviposited in later sown carrots than in earlier sown carrots because oviposition started later in late sown plots of carrots. A positive temporal density-dependent relationship was observed each year between parasitism rates and host densities. This positive density dependence occurred in early and mid-summer for earlysown carrots where host density reached 1–2 host eggs per plant but disappeared in late summer when host density decreased while parasitism remained high. Latesown carrots had low host egg density (0.2 host egg per plant) and contributed little to the total number of eggs. In these late sown plots, parasitism increased rapidly to over 80% but no density dependence was observed. Spatially, few statistically significant regressions were found but all indicated a positive spatial density-dependence. Most non-significant regressions occurred because the range of egg density was too small between plots for a given date.     

The helical content of the YscP molecular ruler determines the length of the Yersinia injectisome

The length of the Yersinia injectisome needle is determined by the protein YscP, which could act as a molecular ruler. The analysis of the correlation between the size of YscP and the needle length in seven wild-type strains of Yersinia enterocolitica reinforced this hypothesis but hinted that the secondary structure of YscP might influence needle length. Hence, 11 variants of YscP₅₁₅ were generated by multiple Pro or Gly substitutions. The needle length changed in inverse function of the helical content, indicating that not only the number of residues but also their structure controls length. Taking the secondary motifs into account, Pro/Gly-variants were subjected to in silico modelling to simulate the extension of YscP upon needle growth. The calculated lengths when the helical content is preserved correlated strikingly with the measured needle length, with a constant difference of ∼29 nm, which corresponds approximately to the size of the basal body. These data support the ruler model and show that the functional ruler has a helical structure.     

The carotenoids of a black variety of the larva of the moth, Manduca sexta

The black mutant larva of Manduca sexta contains approximately the same quantity of carotenoids as the normal green type, but there is possibly a slight qualitative difference between them, the former storing more β-carotene and less violaxanthin.     

The P2X7 receptor antagonist JNJ-47965567 administered thrice weekly from disease onset does not alter progression of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in SOD1G93A mice

Purinergic Signalling - The ATP-gated P2X7 ion channel has emerging roles in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) progression. Pharmacological blockade of P2X7 with Brilliant Blue G can ameliorate...     

Intrinsic disorder in protein sense‐antisense recognition

In addition to the well‐established sense‐antisense complementarity abundantly present in the nucleic acid world and serving as a basic principle of the specific double‐helical structure of DNA, production of mRNA, and genetic code‐based biosynthesis of proteins, sense‐antisense complementarity is also present in proteins, where sense and antisense peptides were shown to interact with each other with increased probability. In nucleic acids, sense‐antisense complementarity is achieved via the Watson‐Crick complementarity of the base pairs or nucleotide pairing. In proteins, the complementarity between sense and antisense peptides depends on a specific hydropathic pattern, where codons for hydrophilic and hydrophobic amino acids in a sense peptide are complemented by the codons for hydrophobic and hydrophilic amino acids in its antisense counterpart. We are showing here that in addition to this pattern of the complementary hydrophobicity, sense and antisense peptides are characterized by the complementary order‐disorder patterns and show complementarity in sequence distribution of their disorder‐based interaction sites. We also discuss how this order‐disorder complementarity can be related to protein evolution.