Piecing together the transport pathway of aliphatic glucosinolates

Glucosinolates are sulfur-rich secondary metabolites characteristic of the Brassicales order. Transport of glucosinolates was suggested more than 30 years ago through a number of studies which indicated that glucosinolates are produced in maternal tissue and subsequently transported to the seed. These observations laid the foundation for numerous studies on glucosinolate transport which have provided a wealth of information on biochemical properties of glucosinolate transport, source–sink relationships between organs and on the transport routes of glucosinolates. However, most of the conclusions and hypotheses proposed in these studies have not been discussed in context of each other to provide a complete overview of the current state of knowledge on glucosinolate transport. In this review, we are thus piecing together the glucosinolate pathway by presenting and critically analyzing all data on glucosinolate research. Furthermore, the data on glucosinolate transport is considered in the light of the newest findings on glucosinolate synthesis and distribution. The aim is to provide a comprehensive and updated set of hypotheses which may prove useful in directing future research on glucosinolate transport.     

A Deletion Map of cyc1 Mutants and Its Correspondence to Mutationally Altered Iso-1-Cytochromes c of Yeast

Mutants arising spontaneously from sporulated cultures of certain strains of yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, contained deletions of the CYC1 gene which controls the primary structure of iso-1-cytochrome c. At least 60 different kinds of deletions were uncovered among the 104 deletions examined and these ranged in length from those encompassing only two adjacent point mutants to those encompassing at least the entire CYC1 gene. X-ray-induced recombination rates of crosses involving these deletions and cyc1 point mutants resulted in the assignment of 211 point mutants to 47 mutational sites and made it possible to unambiguously order 40 of these 47 sites. Except for one mutant, cyc1-15, there was a strict colinear relationship between the deletion map and the positions of 13 sites that were previously determined by amino acid alterations in iso-1-cytochromes c from intragenic revertants.     

Rescue of misrouted GnRHR mutants reveals its constitutive activity

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR) play central roles in almost all physiological functions, and mutations in GPCR are responsible for over 30 hereditary diseases associated with loss or gain of receptor function. Gain of function mutants are frequently described as having constitutive activity (CA), that is, they activate effectors in the absence of agonist occupancy. Although many GPCR have mutants with CA, the GnRH receptor (GnRHR) was not, until 2010, associated with any CA mutants. The explanation for the failure to observe CA appears to be that the quality control system of the cell recognizes CA mutants of GnRHR as misfolded and retains them in the endoplasmic reticulum. In the present study, we identified several human (h)GnRHR mutants with substitutions in transmembrane helix 6 (F(272)K, F(272)Q, Y(284)F, C(279)A, and C(279)S) that demonstrate varying levels of CA after being rescued by pharmacoperones from different chemical classes and/or deletion of residue K(191), a modification that increases trafficking to the plasma membrane. The movement of the mutants from the endoplasmic reticulum (unrescued) to the plasma membrane (after rescue) is supported by confocal microscopy. Judging from the receptor-stimulated inositol phosphate production, mutants F(272)K and F(272)Q, after rescue, display the largest level of CA, an amount that is comparable with agonist-stimulated activation. Because mutations in other GPCR are, like the hGnRHR, scrutinized by the quality control system, this general approach may reveal CA in receptor mutants from other systems. A computer model of the hGnRHR and these mutants was used to evaluate the conformation associated with CA.     

Genetic Analyses of the Internal Transcribed Spacer Sequences Suggest Introgression and Duplication in the Medicinal Mushroom Agaricus subrufescens

The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the nuclear ribosomal RNA gene cluster is widely used in fungal taxonomy and phylogeographic studies. The medicinal and edible mushroom Agaricus subrufescens has a worldwide distribution with a high level of polymorphism in the ITS region. A previous analysis suggested notable ITS sequence heterogeneity within the wild French isolate CA487. The objective of this study was to investigate the pattern and potential mechanism of ITS sequence heterogeneity within this strain. Using PCR, cloning, and sequencing, we identified three types of ITS sequences, A, B, and C with a balanced distribution, which differed from each other at 13 polymorphic positions. The phylogenetic comparisons with samples from different continents revealed that the type C sequence was similar to those found in Oceanian and Asian specimens of A. subrufescens while types A and B sequences were close to those found in the Americas or in Europe. We further investigated the inheritance of these three ITS sequence types by analyzing their distribution among single-spore isolates from CA487. In this analysis, three co-dominant markers were used firstly to distinguish the homokaryotic offspring from the heterokaryotic offspring. The homokaryotic offspring were then analyzed for their ITS types. Our genetic analyses revealed that types A and B were two alleles segregating at one locus ITSI, while type C was not allelic with types A and B but was located at another unlinked locus ITSII. Furthermore, type C was present in only one of the two constitutive haploid nuclei (n) of the heterokaryotic (n+n) parent CA487. These data suggest that there was a relatively recent introduction of the type C sequence and a duplication of the ITS locus in this strain. Whether other genes were also transferred and duplicated and their impacts on genome structure and stability remain to be investigated.     

RAGE mediates amyloid-beta peptide transport across the blood-brain barrier and accumulation in brain

Amyloid-beta peptide (Abeta) interacts with the vasculature to influence Abeta levels in the brain and cerebral blood flow, providing a means of amplifying the Abeta-induced cellular stress underlying neuronal dysfunction and dementia. Systemic Abeta infusion and studies in genetically manipulated mice show that Abeta interaction with receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE)-bearing cells in the vessel wall results in transport of Abeta across the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and expression of proinflammatory cytokines and endothelin-1 (ET-1), the latter mediating Abeta-induced vasoconstriction. Inhibition of RAGE-ligand interaction suppresses accumulation of Abeta in brain parenchyma in a mouse transgenic model. These findings suggest that vascular RAGE is a target for inhibiting pathogenic consequences of Abeta-vascular interactions, including development of cerebral amyloidosis.     

Clinal variation in the morph ratio of Black Sparrowhawks Accipiter melanoleucus in South Africa and its correlation with environmental variables

The morph ratio distribution in polymorphic species often varies clinally, with a gradual change in morph ratios across the distributional range of the species. In polymorphic bird populations, clinal variation is rarely quantified. We describe a cline in the morph ratios of Black Sparrowhawks across South Africa, which is principally driven by a higher ratio of dark morph birds in the newly colonized southwest of the country. Across the 1400 km of our cline, the probability of a bird being a dark morph declined from over 80% close to the Cape Peninsula to under 20% in the northeast. Higher frequencies of dark morphs were associated with a higher proportion of rainfall falling during the winter breeding months. Further investigation revealed relationships between the proportion of dark morphs and altitude, amount of rainfall during the breeding months, and an interaction between this variable and temperature. These results provide some support for the suggestion that the higher frequency of dark morphs in the southwest is an adaptive response, rather than the result of a founder effect or genetic drift. These findings also suggest that, in theory, polymorphic species may be better adapted to cope with the challenges of climate change or may be able to expand their ranges more quickly into novel climatic areas, since selection pressure can act on a pre‐existing trait that may be beneficial in new conditions.     

Carbon,nitrogen and phosphorus net mineralization in organic horizons of temperate forests: stoichiometry and relations to organic matter quality

The rates of mineralization processes influence C sequestration and soil fertility, but despite their importance for ecosystem functioning, C, N and P net mineralization rates are seldom investigated together. Hence, we studied the relationships between net mineralization rates and organic matter stoichiometry in an 8-week incubation experiment with Oi, Oe and Oa horizon material of six beech, one spruce and one pine site. We determined C, N and P net mineralization rates, organic C quality and C:N:P stoichiometry. Net N mineralization only occurred below molar organic matter C:N ratios of 40 (Oi) or 28 (Oa) and N:P ratios of 42 (Oi) or 60 (Oa), and increased with decreasing C:N and N:P ratios. Net P mineralization only occurred below C:P ratios of 1400 (Oi) and N:P ratios of 40 (Oi), and increased with decreasing C:P and N:P ratios. Net N and P mineralization were strongly positively correlated with each other (r = 0.64, p < 0.001), whereas correlations of both net N and net P mineralization with C mineralization were weak. The average C:N:P stoichiometry of net mineralization was 620:4:1 (beech, Oi), 15,350:5:1 (coniferous, Oi), 1520:8:1 (Oe) and 2160:36:1 (Oa). On average, ratios of C:N net mineralization were higher, and ratios of N:P net mineralization lower than organic matter C:N and N:P ratios. This difference contributed to the decrease of C:N ratios and increase of N:P ratios from the Oi to the Oa horizons. In conclusion, the study shows that C, N and P net mineralization rates were closely correlated with the organic matter stoichiometry and that these correlations were modified by the degree of decomposition of the organic matter.     

Capillary isoelectric focusing of proteins and microorganisms in dynamically modified fused silica with UV detection

We suggest a method for the reproducible and efficient capillary isoelectric focusing of proteins and microorganisms in the pH gradient 3-10. The method involves the segmental injection of the simple ampholytes, the solution of the selected electrolytes, and the sample mixture of bioanalytes and carrier ampholytes to the fused silica capillaries dynamically modified by poly(ethylene glycol), PEG 4000, which is added to the catholyte, the anolyte and injected solutions. In order to receive the reproducible results, the capillaries were rinsed by the mixture of acetone/ethanol between analyses. For the tracing of the pH gradients the low-molecular-mass pI markers were used. The simple proteins and the mixed cultures of microorganisms, Saccharomyces cerevisiae CCM 8191, Escherichia coli CCM 3954, Candida albicans CCM 8180, Candida parapsilosis, Candida krusei, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus agalactiae CCM 6187, Enterococcus faecalis CCM 4224, Staphylococcus epidermidis CCM 4418 and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, were focused and separated by the method suggested. The minimum detectable number of microbial cells was 5x10(2) to 1x10(3) with on-column UV detection at 280 nm.