Lichen-forming fungi, in symbiotic associations with algae, frequently have
nuclear small subunit ribosomal DNA (SSU rDNA) longer than the 1,800
nucleotides typical for eukaryotes. The lichen-forming ascomycetous fungus
Lecanora dispersa contains insertions at eight distinct positions of its
SSU rDNA; the lichen-forming fungi Calicium tricolor and Porpidia
crustulata each contain one insertion. Insertions are not limited to fungi
that form lichens; the lichen ally Mycocalicium albonigrum also contains
two insertions. Of the 11 insertion positions now reported for
lichen-forming fungi and this ally, 6 positions are known only from
lichen-forming fungi. Including the 4 newly reported in this study,
insertions are now known from at least 17 positions among all reported SSU
rDNA sequences. Insertions, most of which are Group I introns, are reported
in fungal and protistan lineages and occur at corresponding positions in
genomes as phylogenetically distant as the nuclei of fungi, green algae,
and red algae. Many of these positions are exposed in the mature rRNA
tertiary structure and may be subject to independent insertion of introns.
Insertion of introns, accompanied by their sporadic loss, accounts for the
scattered distribution of insertions observed within the SSU rDNA of these
diverse organisms.
相似文献
The brush border, isolated from chicken intestine epithelial cells, contains the 95,000 relative molecular mass (M(r)) polypeptide, villin. This report describes the purification and characterization of villin as a Ca(++)-dependent, actin bundling/depolymerizing protein. Then 100,000 g supernatant from a Ca(++) extract of isolated brush borders is composed of three polypeptides of 95,000 (villin), 68,000 (fimbrin), and 42,000 M(r) (actin). Villin, following purification from this extract by differential ammonium sulfate precipitation and ion-exchange chromatography, was mixed with skeletal muscle F-actin. Electron microscopy of negatively stained preparations of these villin-actin mixtures showed that filament bundles were present. This viscosity, sedimentability, and ultrastructural morphology of filament bundles are dependent on the villin:actin molar ratio, the pH, and the free Ca(++) concentration in solution. At low free Ca(++) (less than 10(-6) M), the amount of protein in bundles, when measured by sedimentation, increased as the villin: actin molar ratio increased and reached a plateau at approximately a 4:10 ratio. This behavior correlates with the conversion of single actin filaments into filament bundles as detected in the electron microscope. At high free Ca(++) (more than 10(-6) M), there was a decrease in the apparent viscosity in the villin-actin mixtures to a level measured for the buffer. Furthermore, these Ca(++) effects were correlated with the loss of protein sedimented, the disappearance of filament bundles, and the appearance of short fragments of filaments. Bundle formation is also pH-sensitive, being favored at mildly acidic pH. A decrease in the pH from 7.6 to 6.6 results in an increase in sedimentable protein and also a transformation of loosly associated actin filaments into compact actin bundles. These results are consistent with the suggestions that villin is a bundling protein in the microvillus and is responsible for the Ca(++)-sensitive disassembly of the microvillar cytoskeleton. Thus villin may function in the cytoplasm as a major cytoskeletal element regulating microvillar shape. 相似文献
25 aromatic carboxylic acids which are analogs of benzoic acid were tested in the rat diaphragm preparation for effects on chloride conductance (G(Cl)). Of the 25, 19 were shown to reduce membrane G(Cl) with little effect on other membrane parameters, although their apparent K(i) varied widely. This inhibition was reversible if exposure times were not prolonged. The most effective analog studied was anthracene-9-COOH (9-AC; K(i) = 1.1 x 10(-5) M). Active analogs produced concentration-dependent inhibition of a type consistent with interaction at a single site or group of sites having similar binding affinities, although a correlation could also be shown between lipophilicity and K(i). Structure-activity analysis indicated that hydrophobic ring substitution usually increased inhibitory activity while para polar substitutions reduced effectiveness.
These compounds do not appear to inhibit G(Cl) by altering membrane surface charge and the inhibition produced is not voltage dependent. Qualitative characteristics of the I-V relationship for Cl(-) current are not altered. Conductance to all anions is not uniformly altered by these acids as would be expected from steric occlusion of a common channel. Concentrations of 9-AC reducing G(Cl) by more than 90 percent resulted in slight augmentation of G(I). The complete conductance sequence obtained at high levels of 9-AC was the reverse of that obtained under control conditions. Permeability sequences underwent progressive changes with increasing 9-AC concentration and ultimately inverted at high levels of the analog. Aromatic carboxylic acids appear to inhibit G(Cl) by binding to a specific intramembrane site and altering the selectivity sequence of the membrane anion channel.
Transporters associated with antigen processing molecules (TAP1 and TAP2) mediate the transfer of cytosolic peptides into
the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum for association with newly synthesized class I molecules of the major histocompatibility
complex. Previous molecular and functional analyses of rat and human TAP2 homologues indicated major differences in gene diversification patterns and selectivity of peptides transported. Therefore,
in this study, we analyzed the alleles of the gorilla TAP2 locus to determine whether the pattern of diversification resembled that in either of those two species. Sequence analysis
of the TAP2 cDNAs from gorilla Epstein-Barr virus-transformed B-cell lines revealed four alleles with a genetic distance of less than
1%. The nucleotide substitutions distinguishing the alleles are confined to the 3′ half of the coding region and occur individually
or within two small clusters of variability. Diversification of the locus appears to have resulted from point substitutions
and recombinational events. Evolutionary-rate estimates for the TAP2 gene in gorilla and human closely approximate those observed for other hominoid genes. The amino acid polymorphisms within
the gorilla molecules are distinct from those in the human homologues. The absence of ancestral polymorphisms suggests that
gorilla and human TAP2 genes have not evolved in a trans-species fashion but rather have diversified since the divergence of the lineages.
Received: 3 January 1996 / Revised: 28 March 1996 相似文献
We employed a genetic approach to study protein glycosylation in the
procyclic form of the parasite Trypanosoma brucei. Two different mutant
parasites, ConA 1-1 and ConA 4-1, were isolated from mutagenized cultures
by selecting cells which resisted killing or agglutination by concanavalin
A. Both mutant cells show reduced concanavalin A binding. However, the
mutants have different phenotypes, as indicated by the fact that ConA 1-1
binds to wheat germ agglutinin but ConA 4-1 and wild type do not. A blot
probed with concanavalin A revealed that many proteins in both mutants lost
the ability to bind this lectin, and the blots resembled one of wild type
membrane proteins treated with PNGase F. This finding suggested that the
mutants had altered asparagine- linked glycosylation. This conclusion was
confirmed by studies on a flagellar protein (Fla1) and procyclic acidic
repetitive protein (PARP). Structural analysis indicated that the N- glycan
of wild type PARP is exclusively Man5GlcNAc2 whereas that in both mutants
is predominantly a hybrid type with a terminal N- acetyllactosamine. The
occupancy of the PARP glycosylation site in ConA 4-1 was much lower than
that in ConA 1-1. These mutants will be useful for studying trypanosome
glycosylation mechanisms and function.
相似文献
Evolutionary theory suggests that the selection pressure on parasites to maximize their transmission determines their optimal
host exploitation strategies and thus their virulence. Establishing the adaptive basis to parasite life history traits has
important consequences for predicting parasite responses to public health interventions. In this study we examine the extent
to which malaria parasites conform to the predicted adaptive trade-off between transmission and virulence, as defined by mortality.
The majority of natural infections, however, result in sub-lethal virulent effects (e.g. anaemia) and are often composed of
many strains. Both sub-lethal effects and pathogen population structure have been theoretically shown to have important consequences
for virulence evolution. Thus, we additionally examine the relationship between anaemia and transmission in single and mixed
clone infections. 相似文献
Certain human DNA sequences are much less methylated at CpG sites in sperm than in various adult somatic tissues. The DNA of term placenta displays intermediate levels of methylation at these sequences (Sp-0.3 sequences). We report here that pluripotent embryonal carcinoma (EC) cells derived from testicular germ cell tumors are hypermethylated at the three previously cloned Sp-0.3 sequences and seven newly isolated sequences that exhibit sperm-specific hypomethylation. In contrast to their hypermethylation in EC cells, the Sp-0.3 sequences are hypomethylated in a line of yolk sac carcinoma cells, which like placenta, represent an extraembryonic lineage. These DNA sequences, therefore, appear to be subject to coordinate changes in their methylation during differentiation, probably early in embryogenesis, despite their diversity in copy number (1 to 10(4] and primary structure. Two of these Sp-0.3 sequences are highly homologous to DNA sequences in human chromosomal regions that might be recombination hotspots, namely, a cryptic satellite DNA sequence at a fragile site and the downstream region of the beta-globin gene cluster. 相似文献
Selenium is involved in prevention of cancer, heart and muscle diseases, is implicated in immune function, fertility and in delaying the aging process. Selenium deficiency is harmful to brain, heart and skeletal muscles. Selenoprotein W, a member of the selenoprotein family was expressed in developing nervous system, skeletal muscles and heart in mice. Selenoprotein W was highly expressed in proliferating myoblasts and less or not in differentiated myotubes. Selenoprotein W exhibited an immediate response to oxidative stress in proliferating myoblasts, after exposure to hydrogen peroxide, similar to gluteraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase. We suggest that Selenoprotein W is involved in muscle growth and differentiation by protecting the developing myoblasts from oxidative stress. 相似文献