Scaffold Protein Ahk1, Which Associates with Hkr1, Sho1, Ste11, and Pbs2, Inhibits Cross Talk Signaling from the Hkr1 Osmosensor to the Kss1 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase

In the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, osmostress activates the Hog1 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), which regulates diverse osmoadaptive responses. Hkr1 is a large, highly glycosylated, single-path transmembrane protein that is a putative osmosensor in one of the Hog1 upstream pathways termed the HKR1 subbranch. The extracellular region of Hkr1 contains both a positive and a negative regulatory domain. However, the function of the cytoplasmic domain of Hkr1 (Hkr1-cyto) is unknown. Here, using a mass spectrometric method, we identified a protein, termed Ahk1 (Associated with Hkr1), that binds to Hkr1-cyto. Deletion of the AHK1 gene (in the absence of other Hog1 upstream branches) only partially inhibited osmostress-induced Hog1 activation. In contrast, Hog1 could not be activated by constitutively active mutants of the Hog1 pathway signaling molecules Opy2 or Ste50 in ahk1Δ cells, whereas robust Hog1 activation occurred in AHK1⁺ cells. In addition to Hkr1-cyto binding, Ahk1 also bound to other signaling molecules in the HKR1 subbranch, including Sho1, Ste11, and Pbs2. Although osmotic stimulation of Hkr1 does not activate the Kss1 MAPK, deletion of AHK1 allowed Hkr1 to activate Kss1 by cross talk. Thus, Ahk1 is a scaffold protein in the HKR1 subbranch and prevents incorrect signal flow from Hkr1 to Kss1.     

Cloning and sequencing of a ligninase gene from a lignindegrading basidiomycete,Phanerochaete chrysosporium

Summary A ligninase gene has been cloned from a Phanerochaete chrysosporium genomic DNA library. Nucleotide sequencing of the gene has revealed that the ligninase structural gene contains 1116 bp of the protein-encoding sequence, of which 84 bp encode the signal peptide. The protein-encoding sequence is interrupted by eight introns which conform to the universal G-T/A-G splicing rule observed for the 3 and 5 intron boundaries. The putative eukaryotic regulatory sequences, i.e. CAAT and TATA box-like sequences, are present in the 5 flanking region.     

Inhibition of epidermal growth factor-induced DNA synthesis by tyrosine kinase inhibitors

We prepared methyl 2,5-dihydroxycinnamate as a stable analogue of erbstatin, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor. This analogue was about 4 times more stable than erbstatin in calf serum. It inhibited epidermal growth factor receptor-associated tyrosine kinase in vitro with an IC₅₀ of 0.15 μg/ml. It also inhibited in situ autophosphorylation of epidermal growth factor receptor in A431 cells. Methyl 2,5-dihydroxycinnamate was shown to delay the S-phase induction by epidermal growth factor in quiescent normal rat kidney cells, without affecting the total amount ofDNA synthesis. The effect of erbstatin on S-phase induction was smaller, possibly because of its shorter life time.     

Measurement of Serine Acetyltransferase Activity in Crude Plant Extracts by a Coupled Assay System Using Cysteine Synthase

Serine acetyltransferase (SATase) (EC 2.3.1.30 [EC] ) catalyzes theformation of Oacetyl-L-serine (OAS) from L-serine in the presenceof acetyl-CoA. A novel assay method was developed for measuringthis enzyme activity in extracts from plant tissues. The assayconsists of a coupled system in which the OAS formed is convertedto cysteine by the addition of cysteine synthase (CSase) (EC4.2.99.8 [EC] ). Cysteine thus formed is determined colorimetricallyand serves as a measure for SATase activity. This method israpid, simple and sensitive, and can be readily adapted formeasurement of SATase activity in crude tissue extracts or homogenates. (Received January 14, 1987; Accepted April 27, 1987)     

Chryseobacterium miricola sp. nov., a novel species isolated from condensation water of space station Mir

Classification of strain W3-B1, which was isolated from condensation water in the Russian space laboratory Mir, was investigated by a polyphasic taxonomic approach. Cells of strain W3-B1 were nonmotile, asporogenous, gram-negative slender rods with rounded ends. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated that organism should be placed in the genus Chryseobacterium. This organism contains menaquinone MK-6 as the predominent isoprenoid quinone and 3-OH iso 17:0 (40%), iso 15:0 (33%) as the major fatty acids. Phylogenetically, the nearest relative of strain W3-B1 is Chryseobacterium meningosepticum with sequence similarity of 98.4%, but DNA-DNA hybridization resulted in similarity values of only 52.3%. The G+C mol% is 34.6 mol%. Based upon results obtained by morphological, biochemical, chemotaxonomic, and molecular methods, strain W3-B1 was clearly distinguishable from other Chryseobacterium species. For these reasons, a novel species of family Flavobacteriaceae is proposed; strain W3-B1(T) (= GTC 862(T) = JCM 11413(T) = DSM 14571(T)) is the type strain.     

Repression of sigK intervening (skin) element gene expression by the CI-like protein SknR and effect of SknR depletion on growth of Bacillus subtilis cells

The Bacillus subtilis phage DNA-like sigK intervening (skin) element (48 kb) is excised from the chromosome by DNA rearrangement, and a composite gene, sigK (spoIIIC and spoIVCB), is created on the chromosome during sporulation. In this study, we first focused on the role of sknR (skin repressor), which has homology with the gene encoding the Xre repressor of defective phage PBSX. The depletion of SknR caused overexpression of the region between yqaF and yqaN (the yqaF-yqaN operon) and a growth defect in B. subtilis. Point mutation analysis and an electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) suggested that SknR functions as a negative regulator of gene expression in the yqaF-yqaN operon of the skin element through direct interaction with operators of 2-fold symmetry located in the intergenic region between sknR and yqaF. Deletion analysis revealed that the lethal effect of depletion of SknR was related to overexpression of yqaH and yqaM, whose products were previously reported to associate with DnaA and DnaC, respectively. Furthermore, overexpression of either yqaH or yqaM caused cell filamentation and abnormal chromosome segregation, which suggested that overproduction of these proteins inhibits DNA replication. Moreover, overexpression of yqaM inhibited the initiation of replication. Taken together, these data demonstrate that the B. subtilis skin element carries lethal genes, which are induced by the depletion of sknR.     

Optimization of mRNA design for protein expression in the crustacean Daphnia magna

The water flea Daphnia is a new model organism for ecological, evolutionary, and toxicological genomics. Detailed functional analysis of genes newly discovered through genomic approaches often requires overexpression of the identified protein. In the present study, we report the microinjection of in vitro-synthesized RNAs into the eggs as a method for overexpressing ubiquitous proteins in Daphnia magna. We injected a 1.3-kb mRNA that coded for the red fluorescent protein (DsRed2) flanked by UTRs from the ubiquitously expressed elongation factor 1α-1 (EF1α-1) into D. magna embryos. DsRed2 fluorescence in the embryos was measured 24 h after microinjection. Unexpectedly, the reporter RNA containing the 522-bp full-length EF1α-1 3′ UTR failed to induce fluorescence. To assess reporter expression, the length of the 3′ UTR that potentially contained negative regulatory elements of protein expression, including AU-rich regions and Musashi binding elements, was serially reduced from the 3′ end. Assessing all injected RNA alternatives, mRNA containing the first 60 bp of the 3′ UTR gave rise to the highest fluorescence, 14 times the Daphnia auto-fluorescence. In contrast, mRNA lacking the entire 3′ UTR hardly induced any change in fluorescence intensity. This is the first evaluation of UTRs of mRNAs delivered into Daphnia embryos by microinjection for overexpressing proteins. The mRNA with truncated 3′ UTRs of Daphnia EF1α-1 will be useful not only for gain-of-function analyses but also for labeling proteins and organelles with fluorescent proteins in Daphnia.