The Impact of Stochastic Perturbations upon the Hydrodynamic Relationship between the Activity of Human Cardiac Ventricles and Low-Frequency Blood Flow Oscillations in the Microcirculatory Bed

Biophysics - Abstract—The experimentally revealed high phase coherence between low-frequency oscillations in the cutaneous blood perfusion signal at the contralateral skin sites indicates the...     

Inverse PCR-based site-directed mutagenesis of nucleotide sequences coding for carbohydrate-binding fragments of legume lectins

A new method of site-directed mutagenesis was developed to allow manipulation with extended plasmid-cloned gene fragments irrespective of their position and the presence of restriction sites. The method was used to obtain chimeric constructs encoding a Pisum sativum lectin with the native carbohydrate-binding region replaced by its counterpart from other legumes. The method can be used in plasmid construction to clone a coding gene fragment under the control of a promoter in a certain reading frame.     

Bacteria closely related to <Emphasis Type="Italic">Phyllobacterium trifolii</Emphasis> according to their 16S rRNA gene are discovered in the nodules of Hungarian sainfoin

The population genetic diversity and phylogeny of the bacteria entering the symbiosis with sainfoin that grows on the Chesnokovskaya Mountain, Ufaregion, Republic of Bashkortostan, have been studied. RAPD analysis of DNA polymorphism of the microbial strains grown from the nodules of 20 plants using several random primers detected a high degree of genetic homogeneity in their population as compared with the populations of rhizobia of other leguminous plants growing at the same site. Sequencing of 16S rRNA genes of the three most different samples have demonstrated that these genes were identical and display 99.9% homology with the sequence of Phyllobacterium trifolii 16S rRNA gene.     

Trypsin-induced masking of tetrodotoxin receptor of the sodium channels in mollusc neurones

At the early stage of trypsin treatment of mollusc neurones tetrodotoxin cannot block the Na⁺ current. In the course of further exposure of neurones to trypsin, tetrodotoxin-sensitivity is restored completely, so its temporal loss results from shielding rather than destruction of the tetrodotoxin-binding site. Pronase and papain do not affect the tetrodotoxin action on the Na⁺ current.     

Amplification and cloning of dahlia mosaic virus and carnation etched ring virus promoters

Amplification and cloning of dahlia mosaic virus promoter were carried out for the first time. Sequence analysis showed homology between this promoter and the promoters of other caulimoviruses. In addition, amplification and cloning of the carnation etched ring virus promoter was performed. Original Russian Text ￠ B.R. Kuluev, A.V. Chemeris, 2007, published in Genetika, 2007, Vol. 43, No. 12, pp. 1682–1684.     

Effect of constitutive expression of ARGOS-LIKE gene on sizes of cells and organs of transgenic tobacco plants

Transgenic tobacco plants that overexpress the ARGOS-LIKE (ARL) gene of Arabidopsis thaliana have been developed. The transgenic plants possessed increased sizes of leaves and stem, whereas the magnitude of flowers was modified to a lesser degree. The increase in the organ sizes was a result of stimulation of cell expansion; the cell quantity in the organ was even decreased. Ectopic expression of the ARL gene was promoted in order to increase in the level of mRNA of tobacco expansin NtEXPA5. It has been shown that the ARL gene of A. thaliana can be used to obtain transgenic plants with increased sizes of the leaves and stem.     

Morphological analysis of transgenic tobacco plants expressing the PnEXPA3 gene of black poplar (Populus nigra)

Transgenic tobacco plants overexpressing the PnEXPA3 gene of black poplar (Populus nigra), which encodes α-expansin, were obtained. The transgenic plants were characterized by increased size of epidermic and mesophyll cells of leaves. However, the size of leaves remained normal. Overexpression of the PnEXPA3 gene provided stimulatory effect only on the stem length. Other morphological traits of the transgenic plants remained unchanged.