Blue Light Overrides Repression of Asexual Sporulation by Mating Type Genes in the Basidiomycete Coprinus cinereus

Monokaryotic mycelia of the homobasidiomycete Coprinus cinereus form asexual spores (oidia) constitutively in abundant numbers. Mycelia with mutations in both mating type loci (Amut Bmut homokaryons) also produce copious oidia but only when exposed to blue light. We used such an Amut Bmut homokaryon to define environmental and inherent factors that influence the light-induced oidiation process. We show that the Amut function causes repression of oidiation in the dark and that light overrides this effect. Similarly, compatible genes from different haplotypes of the A mating type locus repress sporulation in the dark and not in the light. Compatible products of the B mating type locus reduce the outcome of light on A-mediated repression but the mutated B function present in the Amut Bmut homokaryons is not effective. In dikaryons, the coordinated regulation of asexual sporulation by compatible A and B mating type genes results in moderate oidia production in light. Copyright 1998 Academic Press.     

Transient expression of type IV collagenolytic metalloproteinase by human mononuclear phagocytes

A type IV collagenolytic metalloproteinase secreted by human monocytes/macrophages has been isolated and characterized. Monocytes isolated from peripheral blood and cultured in vitro exhibited a high type IV collagenolytic activity during the first and second day, but such activity declined markedly over subsequent days. Type IV collagenolytic activity was also transiently elaborated by macrophages isolated from (a) bronchioalveolar lavage of patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis, (b) primary human colostrum, and (c) peritoneal lavage of a patient with peritonitis. In contrast, macrophages isolated from the bronchioalveolar lavage of normal individuals, or from noninflammatory peritoneal fluids, failed to exhibit type IV collagenolytic activity. A type IV collagenolytic neutral proteinase was purified from macrophages isolated from inflammatory peritoneal fluid. The proteinase has a mass of 67 kDa on gel electrophoresis and is not altered in its migration under reducing conditions. It produces a characteristic 1/4-3/4 cleavage of type IV collagen, and its activity is abolished by treatment with EDTA but not phenylmethanesulfonyl fluoride. The isoelectric pH of the proteinase is 5.2 as judged by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. The amino acid composition of the proteinase was notable for a high content of serine, glutamic acid, glycine, and alanine and no detectable hydroxyproline, cysteine, or methionine residues. The carbohydrate content of the proteinase was 11.2%, and galactose was the most abundant monosaccharide (8.7%) released following acid hydrolysis, followed by glucose (1.3%), mannose (1.2%), and trace amounts of fucose and galactosamine. Such a type IV collagenolytic protease may play an important role during the traversal of the vascular basement membrane by extravasating monocytes. The biochemical characteristics and biologic function of the macrophage proteinase may be similar or identical to the type IV collagenolytic proteinase identified in metastatic tumor cells.     

Neonatal autoimmune thrombocytopenia: role of high-dose intravenous immunoglobulin G therapy

High-dose intravenous immunoglobulin G (IVIgG) therapy results in a rapid reversal of thrombocytopenia in over 80% of children with acute immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP). Comparable results were observed in eleven infants with an analogous condition, neonatal autoimmune thrombocytopenia (NATP), who received IVIgG (2 g/kg body weight) administered alone (n = 6) or in combination with steroids (n = 5). The median platelet count pre-IVIgG therapy was 25 X 10(9)/l (range 5 to 74 X 10(9)/l). The overall response rate to IVIgG therapy, administered alone or in combination with steroids was 75% (12 of 16 treatment episodes). A good response to therapy was defined as an increase in the platelet count to greater than or equal to 50 X 10(9)/l and at least twice the pre-treatment value at 48 h after completion of the IVIgG infusion. The rapid and generally excellent response to IVIgG therapy in infants with NATP suggests that this treatment approach should be considered as first-line therapy for severely thrombocytopenic infants with this self-limiting but potentially serious disorder.     

Production and characterization of a monoclonal antibody able to discriminate galectin-1 from galectin-2 and galectin-3

Antisera raised against galectin-1 exhibit crossreactivities with other galectins or related molecules. In order to overcome this problem, a monoclonal antibody to human brain galectin-1 was obtained by selecting clones without reactivity toward galectin-3. This mAb specifically bound galectin-1 of various animal origins but neither galectin-2 nor galectin-3. Western-blotting analysis of soluble human brain extracts after 2D gel electrophoresis revealed only the two most acidic isoforms of galectin-1. The ability of this mAb to bind galectin-1/asialofetuin complexes indicates that its epitope is not localized in the carbohydrate recognition domain of galectin-1. This particularity induces with efficiency its monospecificity.      

An anchored restriction-mapping approach applied to the genetic analysis of the Anopheles gambiae malaria vector complex 1

We introduce here a simple approach for rapidly determining restriction maps for a number of regions of a genome; this involves "anchoring" a map with a rare restriction site (in this case the seldom-cutting EagI) followed by partial digestion of a frequent-cutting enzyme (e.g., Sau 3A). We applied this technology to five species of the Anopheles gambiae complex. In a single Southern blot we obtained about a 15-kb restriction map each for the mtDNA, rRNA gene, and a scnDNA region for each of five species. Phylogenetic analyses of these regions yield trees at odds with the more traditional chromosome inversion-based trees. The value of the approach for systematic purposes is the ease with which several large, independent regions of the genome can be quickly assayed for molecular variation.      

Bacterial Antagonists to Verticillium dahliae Kleb.

Bacteria were isolated from the rhizosphere of Verticillium dahliae hosts and from environments. A total of 1394 bacterial isolates were screened for their ability to inhibit in vitro the growth of the phytopathogenic fungi V. dahliae ; 15% (203 of the isolates) showed antifungal effects. Seventeen isolates were selected and determined for further investigations, seven different species were identified. Several of the bacterial species listed, e.g. Erwinia herbicola, Pseudomonas chlororaphis, Pseudomonas paucimobilis and Xanthomonas maltophilia have not been reported previously as bacterial antagonists of V. dahliae. Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas fluorescens and Xanthomonas maltophilia are strong antagonists. We proved that lytic enzymes and siderophores are involved in the inhibition of growth. Ultrastructural and morphological changes were induced in Verticillium dahliae by the antagonistic bacteria.     

Combinatorial biosynthesis yields novel hybrid argimycin P alkaloids with diverse scaffolds in Streptomyces argillaceus

Coelimycin P1 and argimycins P are two types of polyketide alkaloids produced by Streptomyces coelicolor and Streptomyces argillaceus, respectively. Their biosynthesis pathways share some early steps that render very similar aminated polyketide chains, diverging the pathways afterwards. By expressing the putative isomerase cpkE and/or the putative epoxidase/dehydrogenase cpkD from the coelimycin P1 gene cluster into S. argillaceus wild type and in argimycin mutant strains, five novel hybrid argimycins were generated. Chemical characterization of those compounds revealed that four of them show unprecedented scaffolds (quinolizidine and pyranopyridine) never found before in the argimycin family of compounds. One of these compounds (argimycin DM104) shows improved antibiotic activity. Noticeable, biosynthesis of these quinolizidine argimycins results from a hybrid pathway created by combining enzymes from two different pathways, which utilizes an aminated polyketide chain as precursor instead of lysine as it occurs for other quinolizidines.     

Site-specific variations in RNA folding thermodynamics visualized by 2-aminopurine fluorescence

The fluorescent base analogue 2-aminopurine (2-AP) is commonly used to study specific conformational and protein binding events involving nucleic acids. Here, combinations of steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy of 2-AP were employed to monitor conformational transitions within a model hairpin RNA from diverse structural perspectives. RNA substrates adopting stable, unambiguous secondary structures were labeled with 2-AP at an unpaired base, within the loop, or inside the base-paired stem. Steady-state fluorescence was monitored as the RNA hairpins made the transitions between folded and unfolded conformations using thermal denaturation, urea titration, and cation-mediated folding. Unstructured control RNA substrates permitted the effects of higher-order RNA structures on 2-AP fluorescence to be distinguished from stimulus-dependent changes in intrinsic 2-AP photophysics and/or interactions with adjacent residues. Thermodynamic parameters describing local conformational changes were thus resolved from multiple perspectives within the model RNA hairpin. These data provided energetic bases for construction of folding mechanisms, which varied among different folding-unfolding stimuli. Time-resolved fluorescence studies further revealed that 2-AP exhibits characteristic signatures of component fluorescence lifetimes and respective fractional contributions in different RNA structural contexts. Together, these studies demonstrate localized conformational events contributing to RNA folding and unfolding that could not be observed by approaches monitoring only global structural transitions.