Breeding system, colony and population structure in the weaver ant Oecophylla smaragdina

Weaver ants ( Oecophylla smaragdina ) are dominant ants in open forests from India, Australia, China and Southeast Asia, whose leaf nests are held together with larval silk. The species, together with its sole congener O. longinoda , has been important in research on biological control, communication, territoriality and colony integration. Over most of the range, only one queen has been found per colony, but the occurrence of several queens per nest has been reported for the Australian Northern Territory. The number of males mating with each queen is little known. Here we report on the colony structure of O. smaragdina using published and new microsatellite markers. Worker genotype arrays reflect the occurrence of habitual polygyny (more than one queen per colony) in 18 colonies from Darwin, Northern Australia, with up to five queens inferred per colony. Monogyny (one queen per colony) with occasional polygyny was inferred for 14 colonies from Queensland, Australia, and 20 colonies from Java, Indonesia. Direct genotyping of the sperm carried by 77 Queensland queens and worker genotypic arrays of established colonies yielded similar results, indicating that less than half of the queens mate only once and some mate up to five times. Worker genotype arrays indicated that queens from Java and the Northern Territory also often mate with more than one male, but less often than those from Queensland. A strong isolation-by-distance effect was found for Queensland samples. The variation uncovered means that O. smaragdina is a more versatile study system than previously supposed.     

C-Terminal Mutants of Apolipoprotein L-I Efficiently Kill Both Trypanosoma brucei brucei and Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense

Apolipoprotein L-I (apoL1) is a human-specific serum protein that kills Trypanosoma brucei through ionic pore formation in endosomal membranes of the parasite. The T. brucei subspecies rhodesiense and gambiense resist this lytic activity and can infect humans, causing sleeping sickness. In the case of T. b. rhodesiense, resistance to lysis involves interaction of the Serum Resistance-Associated (SRA) protein with the C-terminal helix of apoL1. We undertook a mutational and deletional analysis of the C-terminal helix of apoL1 to investigate the linkage between interaction with SRA and lytic potential for different T. brucei subspecies. We confirm that the C-terminal helix is the SRA-interacting domain. Although in E. coli this domain was dispensable for ionic pore-forming activity, its interaction with SRA resulted in inhibition of this activity. Different mutations affecting the C-terminal helix reduced the interaction of apoL1 with SRA. However, mutants in the L370-L392 leucine zipper also lost in vitro trypanolytic activity. Truncating and/or mutating the C-terminal sequence of human apoL1 like that of apoL1-like sequences of Papio anubis resulted in both loss of interaction with SRA and acquired ability to efficiently kill human serum-resistant T. b. rhodesiense parasites, in vitro as well as in transgenic mice. These findings demonstrate that SRA interaction with the C-terminal helix of apoL1 inhibits its pore-forming activity and determines resistance of T. b. rhodesiense to human serum. In addition, they provide a possible explanation for the ability of Papio serum to kill T. b. rhodesiense, and offer a perspective to generate transgenic cattle resistant to both T. b. brucei and T. b. rhodesiense.     

Parallel expression profiling of barley–stem rust interactions

The dominant barley stem rust resistance gene Rpg1 confers resistance to many but not all pathotypes of the stem rust fungus Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici (Pgt). Transformation of Rpg1 into susceptible cultivar Golden Promise rendered the transgenic plants resistant to Pgt pathotype MCC but not to Pgt pathotype QCC. Our objective was to identify genes that are induced/repressed during the early stages of pathogen infection to elucidate the molecular mechanisms and role of Rpg1 in defense. A messenger ribonucleic acid expression analysis using the 22K Barley1 GeneChip was conducted in all pair-wise combinations of two isolines (cv. Golden Promise and Rpg1 transgenic line G02-448F-3R) and two Pgt pathotypes (MCC and QCC) across six time points. Analysis showed that a total of 34 probe sets exhibited expression pattern differences between Golden Promise (susceptible) and G02-448F-3R (resistant) infected with Pgt-MCC. A total of 14 probe sets exhibited expression pattern differences between Pgt-MCC (avirulent) and Pgt-QCC (virulent) inoculated onto G02-448F-3R. These differentially expressed genes were activated during the early infection process, before the hypersensitive response or fungal growth inhibition occurred. Our analysis provides a list of candidate signaling components, which can be analyzed for function in Rpg1-mediated disease resistance.     

Parasiticidal 2-alkoxy- and 2-aryloxyiminoalkyl trifluoromethanesulfonanilides

A series of novel 2-alkoxy- and 2-aryloxyiminoalkyl trifluoromethanesulfonanilide derivatives have shown significant in vitro parasiticidal activity against the ectoparasites Ctenocephalides felis and Rhipicephalus sanguineus. A number of these compounds also displayed significant in vitro endoparasite activity against the nematode Haemonchus contortus.     

Quantitative relationship between synonymous codon usage bias and GC composition across unicellular genomes

Background  

Codon usage bias has been widely reported to correlate with GC composition. However, the quantitative relationship between codon usage bias and GC composition across species has not been reported.     

Marker-assisted analysis of three grain yield QTL in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) using near isogenic lines

Three previously identified grain yield quantitative trait loci (QTL) on chromosomes 2S(2HS), 3C(3HC) and 5L(1HL), designated QTL-2S, QTL-3 and QTL-5L, respectively, were evaluated for their potential to increase yields of high-quality malting barley without disturbing their favorable malting quality profile. QTL mapping of yield related traits was performed and near-isogenic lines (NILs) were developed. QTL for plant height, head shattering, seed weight and number of rachis nodes/spike were detected in the QTL-3 region. NILs developed by introgressing QTL-3 from the high-yielding cv. Steptoe to the superior malting quality, moderate-yielding cv. Morex acquired reduced height, lodging and head shattering features of Steptoe without major changes in malting quality. The yield of NILs, measured by minimizing the losses due to lodging and head shattering, did not exceed that of Morex. Steptoe NILs, with the Morex QTL-2S region, flowered 10 days later than Steptoe but the grain yield was not changed. None of the 3 QTL studied altered the measured yield of the recipient genotype, per se, although QTL 2S and QTL-3 affected yield-related traits. We conclude that these yield QTL must interact with other genes for full expression. Alternatively, they affect the harvestable yield through reduced lodging, head shattering, and/or altered flowering time.     

Molecular evolution of nitrate reductase genes

To understand the evolutionary mechanisms and relationships of nitrate reductases (NRs), the nucleotide sequences encoding 19 nitrate reductase (NR) genes from 16 species of fungi, algae, and higher plants were analyzed. The NR genes examined show substantial sequence similarity, particularly within functional domains, and large variations in GC content at the third codon position and intron number. The intron positions were different between the fungi and plants, but conserved within these groups. The overall and nonsynonymous substitution rates among fungi, algae, and higher plants were estimated to be 4.33 × 10⁻¹⁰ and 3.29 × 10⁻¹⁰ substitutions per site per year. The three functional domains of NR genes evolved at about one-third of the rate of the N-terminal and the two hinge regions connecting the functional domains. Relative rate tests suggested that the nonsynonymous substitution rates were constant among different lineages, while the overall nucleotide substitution rates varied between some lineages. The phylogenetic trees based on NR genes correspond well with the phylogeny of the organisms determined from systematics and other molecular studies. Based on the nonsynonymous substitution rate, the divergence time of monocots and dicots was estimated to be about 340 Myr when the fungi–plant or algae–higher plant divergence times were used as reference points and 191 Myr when the rice–barley divergence time was used as a reference point. These two estimates are consistent with other estimates of divergence times based on these reference points. The lack of consistency between these two values appears to be due to the uncertainty of the reference times. Received: 10 April 1995 / Accepted: 10 September 1995     

Plasmid dimerization increases the production of hepatitis B core particles in E. coli

Due to their icosahedral structure with a high density of B- and T-cell epitopes, hepatitis B virus (HBV) core (HBc) particles are used as components of novel anti-HBV vaccines. Previous experiments demonstrated that C-terminally truncated HBV core (HBcΔ) proteins, which lack the polyarginine domain, were produced more efficiently in E. coli compared with full-length HBc. We have established a tryptophan operon promoter-directed high-level production system of 145 amino acid HBcΔ (HBc145); however, the level of HBc145 synthesis varied among individual subclones. Further investigation revealed that the subclones exhibiting higher HBc145 synthesis also demonstrated plasmid dimerization, leading to HBc145 yields that were 60 ～ 65% (mg/g) or 25 ～ 30% (mg/L) higher compared to clones containing a monomeric plasmid. These data were confirmed in at least three independent expression and purification events. Although plasmid dimerization is generally considered to inhibit plasmid stability in a growing cell population, it was found to have a positive effect on HBc145 synthesis and production in both Trp-deficient and Trp-rich media. This finding should be considered when planning large-scale production of HBc145.     

Laboratory and field testing of bednet traps for mosquito (Diptera: Culicidae) sampling in West Java,Indonesia

Surveillance of medically important mosquitoes is critical to determine the risk of mosquito‐borne disease transmission. The purpose of this research was to test self‐supporting, exposure‐free bednet traps to survey mosquitoes. In the laboratory we tested human‐baited and unbaited CDC light trap/cot bednet (CDCBN) combinations against three types of traps: the Mbita Trap (MIBITA), a Tent Trap (TENT), and a modified Townes style Malaise trap (TSM). In the laboratory, 16 runs comparing MBITA, TSM, and TENT to the CDCBN were conducted for a total of 48 runs of the experiment using 13,600 mosquitoes. The TENT trap collected significantly more mosquitoes than the CDCBN. The CDCBN collected significantly more than the MBITA and there was no difference between the TSM and the CDCBN. Two field trials were conducted in Cibuntu, Sukabumi, West Java, Indonesia. The first test compared human‐baited and unbaited CDCBN, TENT, and TSM traps during six nights over two consecutive weeks per month from January, 2007 to September, 2007 for a total of 54 trapnights. A total of 8,474 mosquitoes representing 33 species were collected using the six trapping methods. The TENT‐baited trap collected significantly more mosquitoes than both the CDCBN and the TSM. The second field trial was a comparison of the baited and unbaited TENT and CDCBN traps and Human Landing Collections (HLCs). The trial was carried out from January, 2008 to May, 2008 for a total of 30 trap nights. A total of 11,923 mosquitoes were collected representing 24 species. Human Landing Collections captured significantly more mosquitoes than either the TENT or the CDCBN. The baited and unbaited TENT collected significantly more mosquitoes than the CDCBN. The TENT trap was found to be an effective, light‐weight substitute for the CDC light‐trap, bednet combination in the field and should be considered for use in surveys of mosquito‐borne diseases such as malaria, arboviruses, and filariasis.