Selective purification of the thiol peptides of myosin

1. A method for selective purification of thiol peptides is described. Thiol groups in a protein are treated with radioactive cystine by disulphide-thiol interchange. The labelled cystine peptides in a digest can then be fractionated for peptide ;maps'. Performic acid oxidation of paper strips containing the radioactive peptides followed by further ionophoresis yields the purified cysteic acid peptides. 2. The thiol peptides in a peptic digest of cystine-exchanged myosin were purified in this way, and their amino acid sequences were determined. 3. The conclusion that myosin contains at least 16, and probably between 20 and 22, unique thiol sequences indicates that the molecule consists of two chemically equivalent components.     

Purification and properties of methionyl-transfer-ribonucleic acid synthetase from Escherichia coli

1. Methionyl-t-RNA synthetase (where t-RNA denotes ;soluble' or transfer RNA) has been purified to apparent homogeneity from a ribonuclease I-free strain of Escherichia coli. Polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis of the final product revealed a single band. The purified enzyme catalyses the exchange of 450mumoles of pyrophosphate into ATP/mg. in 15min. at 37 degrees . 2. Methionyl-t-RNA synthetase is specific for the l-isomer of methionine, but appears to catalyse the methionylation of two distinct species of t-RNA, both of which are specific for methionine, but only one of which may be subsequently formylated. 3. The Michaelis constant for l-methionine is 2x10(-4)m in the ATP-PP(i) exchange assay and 2x10(-5)m for the acylation of t-RNA. 4. Gel filtration of both crude and highly purified preparations of methionyl-t-RNA synthetase on Sephadex G-200 indicates that the active species of enzyme has a molecular weight of about 190000. The amino acid composition of the enzyme is similar to those reported for the isoleucine and tyrosine enzymes from E. coli.     

Susceptibility to raf and raf/myc retroviruses is governed by different genetic loci.

The susceptibility to tumors induced by raf and raf/myc retroviruses was investigated in BALB/c, C57BL/6, (BALB/c x C57BL/6)F1 and (BALB/c x C57BL/6) backcross mice. Newborn mice were susceptible to neoplasms generated by both viruses, but resistance to raf-induced leukemia developed rapidly in all mice as they matured. Older C57BL/6 mice were also resistant to raf/myc lymphomas, whereas BALB/c mice remained susceptible to the virus at all ages, indicating that different genes control susceptibility to raf and raf/myc tumors. From these data and the susceptibility of C x B recombinant inbred strains, it appears that very few genes (perhaps even a single gene) may govern susceptibility to raf/myc lymphomas and that resistance is the dominant trait.     

Evaluation of the TECRA immunocapture ELISA for the detection of Salmonella typhimurium in foods

The TECRA immunocapture ELISA was compared with the standard Food and Drug Administration (FDA) method for the detection of Salmonella typhimurium. A variety of foods including dairy (butter, cheese, milk powder, yoghurt and Fromage frais), meat, vegetable and fish products were examined. There was close agreement between the results using the ELISA and the FDA procedure over 176 tests. The ELISA and FDA methods both detected a lower limit of 0.4 cfu Salmonella typhimurium g^-1 in the original food sample but the ELISA result was obtained in 24 h compared with 96 h for the FDA test.     

Quantification of citrate lyase by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for determining the population of Lactococcus lactis subsp. Lactis biovar diacetylactis in pure and mixed cultures

Citrate lyase production by Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis biovar diacetylactis DRC2 was quantified by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The citrate lyase reached a concentration equivalent to 41 ± 4 g/ml purified citrate lyase in pure culture. When the strain DRC2, grown in mixed culture with L. lactis subsp. cremoris AM2, represented around 70% (DC culture) or 30% (CD culture) of the total initial population, the level of citrate lyase decreased to 21 ± 7 g/ml and 4.5 ± 1.5 g/ml respectively. The maximum bacterial concentration of strain DRC2 in pure culture reached 2.6 × 10⁹ cfu/ml and decreased to 1.5 (± 0.2) × 10⁹ cfu/ml and 0.5 (± 0.3) × 10⁹ cfu/ml in DC and CD mixed cultures respectively. In mixed cultures, the proportion of the strain DRC2 was 8.5 ± 5.0% lower at the end of the fermentation than immediately after inoculation, thus showing that this strain was clearly inhibited. However, the maximum rate of citrate consumption was the same during pure DRC2 culture and CD mixed culture (2.5 ± 0.3 mmol/h) and slightly highre in DC culture (3.07 mmol/h). The maximum rate of acidification was 0.37 ± 0.04 pH unit/h regardless of the culture. A good correlation was obtained between the population of the strain DRC2 and the citrate lyase concentration determined by ELISA but no relationship was found between citrate consumption and citrate lyase synthesis. Therefore an ELISA test of this kind can be used to monitor the growth of L. lactis subsp. lactis biovar diacetylactis in mixed cultures.     

Sequence of a secondary phage lambda attachment site located between the pentitol operons of Klebsiella aerogenes.

We have determined the nucleotide sequence of a secondary phage lambda attachment site (att) located between the structural genes of the ribitol and D-arabitol catabolic operons of Klebsiella aerogenes. The core region of this secondary attachment site (sequence: GGTTTTTTCGATTAT) shows considerable homology with the 15-base-pair core region common to both the phage att and the primary bacterial att of Escherichia coli K12 (sequence: GCTTTTTTACTAA); however, there is no such clear homology between the sequences flanking the cores of the primary att and this secondary att. Integration of phage lambda into the K. aerogenes secondary att occurred by recombination between the core region of the phage att and an oligo(T.A) stretch located within the K. aerogenes secondary att.