New replication mutant pnh602 and its relationship to plasmid pAS3, another deletion derivative of plasmid R6K

A stable deletion derivative pNH602 was obtained when the recently described higher-copy-number point mutant pNH601 of plasmid R6K was introduced to a minicells-producing strain of Escherichia coli. The size of plasmid pNH602 is 18.8 Mg/mol as determined by electron microscopy. The 7.2 Mg/mol fragment of R6K genome missing in pNH602 carries the Smr-determinant and the region finO and, according to the results of restriction analysis, it includes one EcoRI site. With its radioisotopically determined 33 copies of pNH602 per E. coli K-12 chromosome (npc), representing a 23% increase of the point mutant pNH601 and 150% enhancement of R6K npc, plasmid pNH602 differs from another closely related R6K deletion derivative pAS3 of the same size which exhibits only 20 npc. Both pNH602 and pAS3 plasmids are conjugative.     

中国幽灵蛛属一新种（蜘蛛目：幽灵蛛科）

本文记述了中国幽灵蛛科Pholcidae幽灵蛛属Pholcus蜘蛛一新种;太白幽灵蛛,新种Pholcus taibaiensis sp. nov,采自陕西省太白山自然保护区。模式标本分别保存在西安师范学院生物系和河北教育学院生物系。     

Elevated CO2 decreases seed germination in Arabidopsis thaliana

The impact of elevated [CO₂] on seed germination was studied in different genotypes of Arabidopsis thaliana from natural populations. Two generations of seeds were studied: the maternal generation was produced in the greenhouse (present-day conditions), the offspring generation was produced in two chambers where the CO₂ concentration was either the present atmospheric concentration (about 350 ppm) or elevated (700 ppm). The seeds were tested for proportion of germinated seeds and mean germination time in both chambers to study the impact of elevated [CO₂] during seed production and germination. Elevated [CO₂] during maturation of seeds on the mother-plants decreased the proportion of germinated seeds, while elevated [CO₂] during germination had no effect on the proportion of germinated seeds. However, when seeds were both produced and germinated under elevated [CO₂] (situation expected by the end of next century), germination was slow and low. Moreover, the effect of the [CO₂] treatment differs among genotypes of Arabidopsis: there is a strong treatment × genotype interaction. This means that there is ample genetic variance for a selective response modiying the effects of high levels of [CO₂] in natural populations of Arabidopsis thaliana. The outcome at the community level will depend on what seeds are available, when they germinate and the resulting competition following germination.     

Cloning and sequence analysis of desmosomal glycoproteins 2 and 3 (desmocollins): cadherin-like desmosomal adhesion molecules with heterogeneous cytoplasmic domains

Desmosomal glycoproteins 2 and 3 (dg2 and 3) or desmocollins have been implicated in desmosome adhesion. We have obtained a 5.0-kb-long clone for dg3 from a bovine nasal epidermal lambda gt11 cDNA library. Sequence analysis of this clone reveals an open reading frame of 2,517 bases encoding a polypeptide of 839 amino acids. The sequence consists of a signal peptide of 28 amino acids, a precursor sequence of 104 amino acids, and a mature protein of 707 amino acids. The latter has the characteristics of a transmembrane glycoprotein with an extracellular domain of 550 amino acids and a cytoplasmic domain of 122 amino acids. The sequence of a partial clone from the same library shows that dg2 has an alternative COOH terminus that is extended by 54 amino acids. Genomic DNA sequence data show that this arises by splicing out of a 46-bp exon that encodes the COOH-terminal 11 amino acids of dg3 and contains an in-frame stop codon. The extracellular domain of dg3 shows 39.4% protein sequence identity with bovine N-cadherin and 28.4% identity with the other major desmosomal glycoprotein, dg1, or desmoglein. The cytoplasmic domain of dg3 and the partial cytoplasmic domain of dg2 show 23 and 24% identity with bovine N-cadherin, respectively. The results support our previous model for the transmembrane organization of dg2 and 3 (Parrish, E.P., J.E. Marston, D.L. Mattey, H.R. Measures, R. Venning, and D.R. Garrod. 1990. J. Cell Sci. 96:239-248; Holton, J.L., T.P. Kenny, P.K. Legan, J.E. Collins, J.N. Keen, R. Sharma, and D.R. Garrod. 1990. J. Cell Sci. 97:239-246). They suggest that these glycoproteins are specialized for calcium-dependent adhesion in their extracellular domains and, cytoplasmically, for the molecular interactions involved in desmosome plaque formation. Moreover this represents the first example of alternative splicing within the cadherin family of cell adhesion molecules.     

UV-induced photoproducts of 5-methylcytosine in a DNA sequence context.

In order to detect possible m5C photoproducts, highly purified rat liver DNA-cytosine methyltransferase was used to specifically generate m5C with a radioactive methyl group. When these DNAs were subjected to a large dose (10 kJ/m2) of 254 nm or 302 nm ultraviolet light (UVB) to enhance the yield, two labeled photoproducts were detected and isolated by reverse phase HPLC after formic acid hydrolysis. Further studies using acetone as a triplet state sensitizer and UVB irradiation suggested that photoproduct II was activated via a triplet state while the more polar photoproduct I was not. Photoreversion of the purified photoproducts with 10 kJ/m2 254 nm light demonstrated the following reactions: Photoproduct I regenerated m5C, while photoproduct II is split and regenerated m5C and photoproduct I. These results suggest that photoproduct I is monomeric while photoproduct II dimeric, and from the latter's elution position possibly a cyclobutyl type dimer arising from a reaction with an adjacent cytosine. Using d[TTG] and d[Cm5CG] as models of typical sequences, irradiation with 10 kJ/m2 254 nm or 302 nm, respectively, gave rise to a small component having altered mobility in sequencing gels. The altered mobility trinucleotides were resistant to degradation by PI and micrococcal nucleases as expected from photodimerization of the pyrimidine bases. Furthermore, oligonucleotide substrates containing m5C were synthesized and shown to be susceptible to T4 endonuclease v action at locations consistent with d[Cm5C] photodimer formation when irradiated in the UVB range.     

Small-scale horizontal distribution of coastal copepods

The horizontal spatial distribution of four species of coastal copepods was investigated by pumping two continuous series of samples and subjecting the data collected to statistical analysis. Sampling was conducted 1.5 km offshore of Moolack Beach, Oregon, at a depth of 7 m. Two small boats, each equipped with a pump of 280 1 min^?1 capacity, were anchored 40 m apart and collected a series of 50 consecutive, paired Zooplankton samples. Current speed and direction were measured at the beginning of each sampling interval. The amplitude and frequency of the fluctuations in copepod densities indicate large changes in density over linear distances of 30 m to a few hundreds of meters. Maxima of abundance occurred simultaneously for most categories of copepods counted. Time series analysis showed that there was a lag of 12 min (equivalent to 159 m) between the occurrence of abundance maxima at the seaward and shoreward boats. This suggests that the variations in zooplankton density occurred in a pattern which is oblique to the direction of the current.