The effect of cytochalasin A on the composition of subcellular fractions of hyphae in the growth of Mucor mucedo L. I. Composition of the plasmalemma

The plasma membrane of young hyphae of Mucor mucedo L. growing in presence or absence of cytochalasine A was isolated by continuous density gradient centrifugation using Percoll at 10% or on discontinuous sucrose density gradient. Isolated membranes were characterized by enzymatic markers and cytochemical reactions, using electron microscopy. Lipid composition and protein content were determined. From the enzymatic point of view, the cytochalasine A induced a decrease (60%) in ATPase activity and with regard to the chemical composition of the membrane, a decrease in sterol content and in the sterol-phospholipid ratio as well as a decrease in protein content and an increase in the proportion of cysteine relative to other amino acids.     

Identification of putative regulatory upstream ORFs in the yeast genome using heuristics and evolutionary conservation

Background  

The translational efficiency of an mRNA can be modulated by upstream open reading frames (uORFs) present in certain genes. A uORF can attenuate translation of the main ORF by interfering with translational reinitiation at the main start codon. uORFs also occur by chance in the genome, in which case they do not have a regulatory role. Since the sequence determinants for functional uORFs are not understood, it is difficult to discriminate functional from spurious uORFs by sequence analysis.     

Predicting functional upstream open reading frames in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Background  

Some upstream open reading frames (uORFs) regulate gene expression (i.e., they are functional) and can play key roles in keeping organisms healthy. However, how uORFs are involved in gene regulation is not yet fully understood. In order to get a complete view of how uORFs are involved in gene regulation, it is expected that a large number of experimentally verified functional uORFs are needed. Unfortunately, wet-experiments to verify that uORFs are functional are expensive.