Isolation and Expression of the Lysis Genes of Actinomyces naeslundii Phage Av-1

Like most gram-positive oral bacteria, Actinomyces naeslundii is resistant to salivary lysozyme and to most other lytic enzymes. We are interested in studying the lysins of phages of this important oral bacterium as potential diagnostic and therapeutic agents. To identify the Actinomyces phage genes encoding these species-specific enzymes in Escherichia coli, we constructed a new cloning vector, pAD330, that can be used to enrich for and isolate phage holin genes, which are located adjacent to the lysin genes in most phage genomes. Cloned holin insert sequences were used to design sequencing primers to identify nearby lysin genes by using whole phage DNA as the template. From partial digestions of A. naeslundii phage Av-1 genomic DNA we were able to clone, in independent experiments, inserts that complemented the defective λ holin in pAD330, as evidenced by extensive lysis after thermal induction. The DNA sequence of the inserts in these plasmids revealed that both contained the complete lysis region of Av-1, which is comprised of two holin-like genes, designated holA and holB, and an endolysin gene, designated lysA. We were able to subclone and express these genes and determine some of the functional properties of their gene products.     

Karyotypic changes associated with spontaneous acquisition and loss of tumorigenicity in a human transformed bronchial epithelial cell line: Evidence for In vivo selection of transformed clones

Summary In this study, we describe the karyotypic changes associated with the spontaneous acquisition of tumorigenicity in an immortalized tumor bronchial cell line. Neoplastic transformation of the NL20 human bronchial epithelial cell line occurred after 3 yr in culture, and was associated with loss of chromosome 18 together with acquisition of multiple copies of 9q21.2→34. The nontumorigenic NL20 cell line had been established by transfection of human bronchial epithelial cells with the SV40 T antigen, and had retained a relatively stable karyotype after the first 32 passages in vitro. However, when cells from p184 were inoculated into nude mice, a transplantable tumor was obtained that was derived from a minor clone present in this otherwise stable line. Subsequent passaging of the NL20 cells in vitro did not yield further tumors, and the minor clone from which the tumorigenic NL20T cell line derived was no longer evident in NL20 cells by Passage 205. Furthermore, the original tumorigenic NL20T cells lost the neoplastic phenotype after 25 passages in vitro and reverted to the nontumorigenic karyotype observed at p189. In contrast to the loss of the tumorigenic phenotype and karyotype, which occurred with in vitro passaging of the original tumor, when the NL20T cells were passaged in other nude mice, they continued to give rise to tumors with sevenfold amplifications of 9q sequences and loss of chromosome 18, and cells from the secondary tumors (NL20T-A cells) have maintained a stable karyotype and remain tumorigenic even after 64 passages in vitro. A mixture of 10% tumorigenic NL20T-A and 90% nontumorigenic NL20 cells formed tumors in athymic nude mice when cultured in vitro on fibronectin, but not on plastic; cytogenetic analysis demonstrated that the tumors and cell cultures were composed of tumorigenic NL20T-A cells, whereas cytogenetic analysis of cells cultured on plastic were identical to the nontumorigenic NL20 cells. These data support the hypothesis that neoplastic transformation in our original cell line arose from in vivo selection of a small mutant clone, which had arisen in culture and was subsequently selected in vivo but was lost with in vitro culture.     

In situ localization of PCR-amplified DNA and cDNA

Combining the high sensitivity of PCR with the cell localizing ability ofin situ hybridization allows for the reproducible detection of low copy targets in intact cells. This article describes several key variables that include fixation, protease digestion, the hot start maneuver, stringency, and, for RNA analysis, DNase digestion that are important to successfulin situ PCR. Also stressed is the importance of performing and interpreting controls with each experiment. Important controls include omission of key components, use of samples known either to contain or lack the target of interest and, most importantly, the in-built controls invariably present in the heterogeneous component of any given tissue type.     

Transitions from Wakefulness to Sleep at Different Times of Day: Old vs. Young Subjects

In order to assess age effects upon the daytime level of alertness, both subjective and objective measures of alertness were obtained in 19 healthy elderly males (mean age 65 years) and 19 healthy young males (mean age 21 years). Subjects were recorded during a Multiple Sleep Latency Test (MSLT), administered at 5 different times of day (9 a.m., 12 a.m., 3 p.m., 6 p.m., 9 p.m.). Before each test, subjects filled out an alertness questionnaire. During the entire 20 minutes of each test electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings were made and transformed into 40 averaged spectra, one for each 30 s epoch. For the delta, theta, alpha, sigma and beta bands of the EEG 6 consecutive values were averaged to obtain 1 value per 3 minutes. On the basis of the visually guided detection of the first spindle, sleep onset was determined. The elderly subjects obtained a higher overall level of subjective alertness than the young subjects. No age effect was observed for sleep latency, which followed a U-shaped diurnal trend. Overall, the mean relative EEG energy values followed a diurnal trend that was the reverse of that for sleep latency. The mean relative delta EEG energy gradually increased, and the mean relative alpha EEG energy gradually decreased across the MSLT. For the young subjects the respective ranges of variation of these EEG bands were very similar, while for the elderly subjects the range of variation of the alpha values was less than half of that for the delta band. Apparently, alpha EEG activity during the wake-sleep transition does not simply covary with delta EEG activity. Moreover, age appears to have a significant effect upon the dynamics of alpha EEG activity during the wake-sleep transition.     

pH dependence of the enantioselective excited-state quenching of Λ,Δ-Tb(III) and Λ,Δ-Eu(III)tris(pyridine-2,6-dicarboxylate) chelates by ferricytochrome c from horse heart and ferricytochrome c-550 from Paracoccus versutus

 The pH dependence of the dynamic quenching of the luminescence from Tb(III) and Eu(III) tris(pyridine-2,6-dicarboxylate≡DPA) chelates by the title proteins is studied. For Tb(DPA)₃ ^3– also the quenching by the Lys 14→Glu and Lys99→Glu mutants of cytochrome c-550 (cytc-550) is investigated. The rate constants for quenching of the electronically excited Λ and Δ enantiomers of the luminophore by equine cytochrome c show a sharp decrease upon increasing the pH from 7 to 10, which can be described phenomenologically by deprotonation of a single acidic group with pK _a of 9.2±0.1 for Eu and 9.4±0.1 for Tb. These values are similar to that found for the alkaline transition of the protein. The alkaline conformer(s) of the protein at pH>10 is found to be a very inefficient quencher of the lanthanide luminescence. For Tb, but not for Eu, a significant lowering of the degree of enantioselectivity (E _q) in the quenching is found along with a reduction of the quenching rates. For cytc-550, the decrease of the quenching rate constants with increasing pH is described by pK _a=9.8±0.1 and for the two mutants the same value is obtained. For the cytc-550 proteins the change of the quenching rates does not correlate with the alkaline transition, for which a pK _a of 11.2 has been reported by other workers. For all proteins, the reduction of the quenching rates at high pH is ascribed to a reduction of the binding affinity of the excited lanthanide complex to the surface area of the protein near the exposed heme edge, caused by deprotonation of (presumably) several lysine residues. Received: 3 April 1998 / Accepted: 15 June 1998     

Evidence against DNA polymerase β as a candidate gene for Werner syndrome

Werner syndrome (WS) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder of humans characterized by the premature onset and accelerated rate of development of several major age-related disorders. An aberration in DNA replication or repair is suggested by the evidence of genome instability. Since the structural gene for DNA polymerase maps within the region of the WS mutation on the short arm of chromosome 8 and is involved in both DNA repair and DNA replication, we evaluated its candidacy as the WS gene. Several independent lines of evidence did not support that hypothesis: (1) activity gels showed normal enzyme activity and electrophoretic mobility; (2) nucleotide sequence analysis of the entire coding region failed to reveal mutations (although indicated mistakes in the published sequence); (3) single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) and heteroduplex analyses failed to reveal evidence of mutations in the promoter region; (4) a newly discerned polymorphism failed to reveal evidence of homozygosity by descent in a consanguineous patient; and 5) fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis placed the DNA polymerase gene centromeric to D8S135 at 8p11.2 and thus beyond the region of peak LOD scores for WS.     

Juvenile three-spined sticklebacks avoid parasitized conspecifics

Synopsis Juvenile three-spined sticklebacks,Gasterosteus aculeatus, were given a series of four choice tests to determine whether they avoided schools of conspecifics in which individuals were parasitized with the ectoparasiteArgulus canadensis. Results from these tests indicate that juvenile sticklebacks can avoid schools of parasitized conspecifics. Furthermore, parasites alone did not elicit an avoidance response, suggesting that it is both the presence of the parasite and its effect on stickleback behavior that causes avoidance of parasitized individuals.     

EMG median power frequency in an exhausting exercise

EMG median power frequency of the calf muscles was investigated during an exhausting treadmill exercise. This exercise was an uphill run, the average endurance time was 1.5 min. Median power frequency of the calf muscles declined by more than 10% during this exercise. In addition EMG median power frequency of isometric contractions of the same muscles was measured before and in one minute intervals for 10 min after this run. Immediately after the run isometric median power frequency had declined by less than 5% for the soleus muscle, more than 10% for the gastrocnemius medialis and gastrocnemius lateralis muscles. In the 10 min following exercise the isometric median power frequency increased to pre-execise levels. Maybe the median power frequency shift to lower frequencies during dynamic exercise can be interpreted as a sign of local muscle fatigue.     

The Bacillus subtilis addAB genes are fully functional in Escherichia coli

An Escherichia coli recBCD deletion mutant was transformed with plasmids containing the Bacillus subtilis add genes. The transformants had relatively high ATP-dependent exonuclease- and ATP-dependent helicase activities, and their viability, the ability to repair u.v.-damaged DNA and the recombination in conjugation were nearly completely restored. The B. subtilis Add enzyme did not show Chi-activity in phage lambda recombination. The individual B. subtilis Add proteins were not able to form an enzymatically active complex with the E. coli RecB,C,D proteins, and they could not complement the recB,C,D deficiency. Evidence is presented that only two subunits are involved in the B. subtilis ATP-dependent exonuclease. This is in contrast to E. coli in which the RecBCD enzyme consists of three subunits.     

Quantification of methane oxidation in the rhizosphere of emergent aquatic macrophytes: defining upper limits

Rates of rhizospheric methane oxidation were evaluated by aerobic incubations of subcores collected in flooded anoxic soils populated by emergent macrophytes, by greenhouse whole plant incubations, and by CH₄ stable isotopic analysis. Subcore incubations defined upper limits for rhizospheric methane oxidation on an areal basis which were equal to or greater than emission rates. These rates are considered upper limits because O₂ did not limit CH₄ uptake as is likely to occur in situ. The ratio of maximum potential methane oxidation (MO) to methane emission (ME) ranged from 0.7 to 1.9 in Louisiana rice (Oryza sativa), from 1.0 to 4.0 in a N. Florida Sagittaria lancifolia marsh, and from 5.6 to 51 in Everglades Typha domingensis and Cladium jamaicense areas. Methane oxidation/methane emission ratios determined in whole plant incubations of Sagittaria lancifolia under oxic and anoxic conditions ranged from 0.5 to 1.6. Methane oxidation activity associated with emergent aquatic macrophytes was found primarily in fine root material. A weak correlation was observed between live root biomass and CH₄ uptake in Typha. Rhizomes showed small or zero rates of methane uptake and no uptake was associated with plant stems. Methane stable isotope data from a S. lancifolia marsh were as follows: CH₄ emitted from plants: −61.6 ± 0.3%; CH₄ within stems: −42.0 ± 0.2%; CH₄ within sedimentary bubbles: −51.7 ± 0.3%). The ¹³C enrichment observed relative to emitted CH₄ could be due to preferential mobilization of CH₄ containing the lighter isotope and/or the action of methanotrophic bacteria.