TGGE and HIEF: a comparison of two methods in the detection of carriers of the Z mutation of the alpha-1-antitrypsin gene

Alpha-1-antitrypsin (-1-AT) deficiency can lead to juvenile liver cirrhosis and lung emphysema in adulthood. The deficiency Z allele is caused by a base transition. Temperature gradient gel electrophoresis (TGGE) and hybrid isoelectric focusing (HIEF) were used to detect carriers of the Z mutation of the -1-AT gene. The resulting data were compared. To verify carriers at the sequence level, a manual nonradioactive sequencing strategy was established. Among our sample of carriers of the Z mutation, two were not detected by HIEF that could be identified by TGGE. DNA of all TGGE identified individuals harboring the Z mutation of the -1-AT gene were sequenced nonradioactively. All carriers harbored a G to A transition at position 11.940. This mutation is described to cause the altered protein.     

Size structure of the metazoan community in a Piedmont stream

We characterized the size structure of virtually the entire metazoan community in a fourth order, sandybottomed Piedmont stream during late summer. Our study, the first to sample across all habitat types and sizes of metazoans in an aquatic ecosystem, indicates that at the community level, stream size spectra may be bimodal for the benthos or trimodal when fish are included. Animals spanning 10 orders of magnitude in dry mass (from gastrotrichs to fish) were quantitatively collected from nine habitat types. The bimodal benthic size spectrum was characterized by a meiofaunal component (mostly oligochaetes and micro-crustacea) and a macrobenthic component (mostly the introduced asiatic clam, Corbicula fluminea). Insects contributed little to overall standing crop. Size-specific contribution to whole-community metabolism was assessed using allometric equations for respiration, and we found a distinctly bimodal distribution across the entire metazoan size range, with peaks in the meiofaunal and benthic macrofaunal size ranges. Our bimodal benthic size spectrum is similar to that observed for marine benthos but not to other freshwater benthic systems, possibly because the entire range of habitat types and/or animal sizes were not sampled in the latter. Numerous factors may influence size spectra in stream ecosystems, including local geomorphic (habitat) conditions, water level fluctuations, species introductions, and predation processes.     

Allosteric-type control of synaptobrevin cleavage by protect tetanus toxin light chain

The light chain of tetanus neurotoxin (TeNT L chain)has been shown to be endowed with zinc endopeptidaseactivity, selectively directed towards theGln⁷⁶–Phe⁷⁷ bond of synaptobrevin, avesicle-associated membrane protein criticallyinvolved in neuroexocytosis. In previous reports,truncations at the NH₂- and COOH-terminus ofsynaptobrevin have shown that the sequence 39–88 ofsynaptobrevin is the minimum substrate of TeNT,suggesting either the requirement of a well-definedthree-dimensional structure of synaptobrevin or a rolein the mechanism of substrate hydrolysis for residuesdistal from the cleavage site. In this study, theaddition of NH₂- and COOH-terminal peptides ofsynaptobrevin, S 27–55 (S₁) and S 82–93(S₂), to the synaptobrevin fragment S 56–81allowed the cleavage of this latter peptide by TeNT tooccur. This appears to result from an activationprocess mediated by the simultaneous binding ofS₁ and S₂ with complementary sites presenton TeNT as shown by surface plasmon resonanceexperiments. All these results favor anexosite-controlled hydrolysis of synaptobrevin by TeNTprobably involving a conformational change of thetoxin. This could account for the high degree ofsubstrate specificity of TeNT and, probably, botulinumneurotoxins.     

Maintenance of transposable element copy number in natural populations of Drosophila melanogaster and D. simulans

To investigate the main forces controlling the containment of transposable elements (TE) in natural populations, we analyzed the copia, mdg1, and 412 elements in various populations of Drosophila melanogaster and D. simulans. A lower proportion of insertion sites on the X chromosome in comparison with the autosomes suggests that selection against the detrimental effects of TE insertions is the major force containing TE copies in populations of Drosophila. This selection effect hypothesis is strengthened by the absence of the negative correlation between recombination rate and TE copy number along the chromosomes, which was expected under the alternative ectopic exchange model (selection against the deleterious rearrangements promoted by recombination between TE insertions). A cline in 412 copy number in relation to latitude was observed among the natural populations of D. simulans, with very high numbers existing in some local populations (around 60 copies in a sample from Canberra, Australia). An apparent absence of selection effects in this Canberra sample and a value of transposition rate equal to 1–2 × 10^-3 whatever the population and its copy number agree with the idea of recent but temporarily drastic TE movements in local populations. The high values of transposition rate in D. simulans clearly disfavor the hypothesis that the low amount of transposable elements in this species could result from a low transposition rate. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

X-inactivation patterns in lymphocytes and skin fibroblasts of three cases of X-autosome translocations with abnormal phenotypes

Summary X-inactivation patterns were studied by replication analyses both in lymphocytes and skin fibroblasts of two patients carrying balanced X-autosome translocations, t(X;10)-(pter;q11) and t(X;17)(q11;q11), and one patient with an unbalanced translocation t(X;22)(p21;q11). Preferential late replication of the normal X chromosome was found in lymphocytes of both patients carrying balanced translocations and in skin fibroblasts of the patient carrying the translocation t(X;17). However, skin fibroblasts of the patient with a translocation t(X;10) showed preferential late replication of the abnormal der(X) chromosome with no spreading of late replication to the autosomal segment. In the case of unbalanced translocation t(X;22) there was preferential late replication of the der(X) chromosome both in lymphocytes and skin fibroblasts. The abnormal phenotype of the patients is discussed in relation to the observed X-inactivation patterns and the variability of the patterns in different tissues.     

Cyst hatching in Anostraca accelerated by retinoic acid,amplified by Calcium Ionophore A23187, and inhibited by Calcium-channel blockers

Cyst hatching, under standardized conditions, of the Anostracan species Thamnocephalus platyurus and Streptocephalus dichotomus was significantly accelerated but not increased by applying the morphogen retinoic acid (RA). Cyst hatching was enhanced but not accelerated by artificially increasing the inflow of Ca²⁺ to the embryonic cells, using Calcium Ionophore A 23 187. Cyst hatching was accelerated and amplified, to a level in excess of the summed effects of each treatment, by a combined application of RA and ionophore. It was inhibited almost quantitatively by the Calcium-channel blockers Nifedipin and Verapamil. The significance of these findings is discussed.     

Actin organization and fibrin-clot retractile activity of cultured mouse fibroblasts

Summary It is known that human and animal fibroblasts are able to induce the retraction of a fibrin clot. In the present study the correlation between (i) fibrinclot retractile (FCR) activity, (ii) the number of actin stress-lines in mouse fibroblasts during growth in culture, and (iii) the sensitivity of actin stress-lines to a powerful actin-depolymerizing factor (ADF), present in plasma and serum of humans and laboratory animals was investigated. Fibroblasts at early passages (2–4) were tested for these parameters at various intervals after seeding (24, 96, and 168 h). The number of actin stress-lines was progressively higher, while the sensitivity to ADF action was progressively lower in cells cultured from 24 to 168 h; the FCR capacity was significantly decreased at 168 h. These data suggest that cells containing weakly polymerized and/or stabilized actin are more active than those containing highly polymerized and/or stabilized actin in triggering fibroblast contraction.