Effector controlling accumulation of N-acetylglucosaminidase during development of Dictyostelium discoideum

The accumulation of N-acetylglucosaminidase, an early developmentally regulated enzyme in Dictyostelium discoideum, is dependent upon the action of a heat-stable effector molecule secreted by the cells. Stimulation of enzyme accumulation is inhibited by cycloheximide and actinomycin, suggesting that it requires concomitant RNA and protein synthesis. The effector elutes from Sephadex columns as a molecule of 300 to 1000 daltons. It is stable to treatment with a variety of proteolytic enzymes and mild acid hydrolysis but can be inactivated by prolonged acid hydrolysis.     

Characterization and genetic mapping of modA. A mutation in the post-translational modification of the glycosidases of Dictyostelium discoideum.

We have isolated a mutant of Dictyostelium discoideum, M31, which produces a reduced number of alpha-mannosidase-1 molecules per cell during the developmental program of the organism. We find that several of the glycosidases, a group of lysosomal proteins produced by D. discoideum, are altered in strain M31 and that this strain produces a reduced level of at least three of these activities. These enzymes do not share a common protein subunit but are known to share a common antigenic determinant which is, in part, carbohydrate in nature. In the wild type parent of M31, alpha-mannosidase-1 is modified by the addition of mannose and glucosamine (probably as N-acetylglucosamine) in the molar ratio of 5:2. alpha-Mannosidase-1 was also found to contain phosphoserine/phosphothreonine residues. alpha-Mannosidase-1 and other glycosidases are electrophoretically less negative when isolated from strain M31 than when isolated from wild type cells. The mutation present in M31, modA, appears to affect posttranslational modification, modA is a recessive mutation which we map onto linkage group I.     

Isolation and characterization of a component of the surface sheath of Dictyostelium discoideum

Aggregates of Dictyostelium discoideum are surrounded by a surface sheath which functions to maintain polarity and integrity during development. We have isolated and partially characterized a component of the surface sheath. It is composed of 60% cellulose, 15% protein, 3% heteropolysaccharide (heteropolymer), 5% lipid, and 1% sulfate when isolated from migrating slugs. The sheath, isolated from aggregates prior to tip formation, has less protein, a different heteropolymer, and cellulose of a lower crystallinity than the sheath of migrating slugs. The increase in crystallinity of the cellulose during development may be important in determining the strength of the surface sheath.     

InsectDirectTM System: Rapid, High-level Protein Expression and Purification from Insect Cells

A fundamental challenge in high-throughput (HT) expression screening is to rapidly identify the appropriate expression system for many targets in parallel. Known or unknown open reading frames (ORFs) are typically amplified by PCR and then cloned into a variety of vectors, producing recombinants used to direct target protein expression in Escherichia coli, insect cells, mammalian cells, or yeast. To facilitate rapid expression and purification in Spodoptera insect cells (Sf9), we developed transient expression vectors that include an enterokinase cleavage site immediately upstream of a ligation-independent cloning site (Ek/LIC). We also developed a high-efficiency insect cell transfection reagent, and automation-compatible fusion protein purification system for insect cells to facilitate expression screening and protein production. Positive clones identified from the small-scale screening were subjected to a larger scale production. Using this InsectDirect^TM approach, we successfully expressed milligram quantities of different human proteins including heat shock proteins, phospholipases, and protein kinases.     

Loss of SMEK, a novel, conserved protein, suppresses MEK1 null cell polarity, chemotaxis, and gene expression defects

MEK/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling is imperative for proper chemotaxis. Dictyostelium mek1(-) (MEK1 null) and erk1(-) cells exhibit severe defects in cell polarization and directional movement, but the molecules responsible for the mek1(-) and erk1(-) chemotaxis defects are unknown. Here, we describe a novel, evolutionarily conserved gene and protein (smkA and SMEK, respectively), whose loss partially suppresses the mek1(-) chemotaxis phenotypes. SMEK also has MEK1-independent functions: SMEK, but not MEK1, is required for proper cytokinesis during vegetative growth, timely exit from the mound stage during development, and myosin II assembly. SMEK localizes to the cell cortex through an EVH1 domain at its N terminus during vegetative growth. At the onset of development, SMEK translocates to the nucleus via a nuclear localization signal (NLS) at its C terminus. The importance of SMEK's nuclear localization is demonstrated by our findings that a mutant lacking the EVH1 domain complements SMEK deficiency, whereas a mutant lacking the NLS does not. Microarray analysis reveals that some genes are precociously expressed in mek1(-) and erk1(-) cells. The misexpression of some of these genes is suppressed in the smkA deletion. These data suggest that loss of MEK1/ERK1 signaling compromises gene expression and chemotaxis in a SMEK-dependent manner.     

Adsorbent polystyrene as an aid in plant enzyme isolation

Porous polystyrene (Amberlite XAD-4) adsorbs hydrophobic and surface-active materials from plant extracts and homogenates. With conventional extraction techniques, these materials tend to bind to proteins by hydrophobic interactions. In some cases covalent modification of protein also occurs. Interfering compounds include phenolics, quinones, terpenes and organic isothiocyanates. Polystyrene complements insoluble polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVPP, Polyclar AT), and the combination of these two adsorbents produced superior enzyme extracts from the several plant tissues that were tested. Tested procedures are described, and suggestions are given for adapting the procedures to new plant systems with contaminating natural products varying in quantity and in chemical nature.     

Intracellular role of adenylyl cyclase in regulation of lateral pseudopod formation during Dictyostelium chemotaxis

Cyclic AMP (cAMP) functions as the extracellular chemoattractant in the aggregation phase of Dictyostelium development. There is some question, however, concerning what role, if any, it plays intracellularly in motility and chemotaxis. To test for such a role, the behavior of null mutants of acaA, the adenylyl cyclase gene that encodes the enzyme responsible for cAMP synthesis during aggregation, was analyzed in buffer and in response to experimentally generated spatial and temporal gradients of extracellular cAMP. acaA- cells were defective in suppressing lateral pseudopods in response to a spatial gradient of cAMP and to an increasing temporal gradient of cAMP. acaA- cells were incapable of chemotaxis in natural waves of cAMP generated by majority control cells in mixed cultures. These results indicate that intracellular cAMP and, hence, adenylyl cyclase play an intracellular role in the chemotactic response. The behavioral defects of acaA- cells were surprisingly similar to those of cells of null mutants of regA, which encodes the intracellular phosphodiesterase that hydrolyzes cAMP and, hence, functions opposite adenylyl cyclase A (ACA). This result is consistent with the hypothesis that ACA and RegA are components of a receptor-regulated intracellular circuit that controls protein kinase A activity. In this model, the suppression of lateral pseudopods in the front of a natural wave depends on a complete circuit. Hence, deletion of any component of the circuit (i.e., RegA or ACA) would result in the same chemotactic defect.     

Widespread and ancient distribution of a noncanonical genetic code in diplomonads

Recently, a group of diplomonads has been found to use a genetic code in which TAA and TAG encode glutamine rather than termination. To survey the distribution of this characteristic in diplomonads, we sought to identify TAA and TAG codons at positions where glutamine is expected in genes for alpha-tubulin, elongation factor-1 alpha, and the gamma subunit of eukaryotic translation initiation factor-2. These sequences show that the variant genetic code is utilized by almost all diplomonads, with the genus Giardia alone using the universal genetic code. Comparative phylogenetic analysis reveals that the switch to this genetic code took place very early in the evolution of diplomonads and was likely a single event. Termination signals and downstream untranslated regions were also cloned from three Hexamita genes. In all three of these genes, the predicted TGA termination codon was found at the expected position. Interestingly, the untranslated regions of these genes are high in AT. This is incongruent with the coding regions, which are comparatively GC-rich.      

Comparison of alginate and “Pesta” for formulation of Phanerochaete chrysosporium

Summary Alginate and wheat gluten (Pesta) matrices were compared for the encapsulation of the white rot fungus Phanerochaete chrysosporium. Pesta granules were not successful for formulating P. chrysosporium although control granules made with Alternaria alternata yielded viable fungal colonies; the gluten in wheat flour apparently inhibits growth of the white rot fungus. P. chrysosporium formulated in alginate with corncob grits or sawdust, and stored at room temperature, yielded over 50% viability of encapsulated mycelia after six months. Alginate encapsulation offers a promising technology for the delivery of white rot fungi to toxic waste sites.     

Characterization of the Salmonella typhimurium pagC/pagD chromosomal region.

The PhoP/PhoQ two-component system regulates Salmonella typhimurium genes that are essential to bacterial virulence and survival within macrophages. The best characterized of these PhoP-activated genes (pag) is pagC, which encodes a 188-amino-acid envelope protein (W. S. Pulkkinen and S. I. Miller, J. Bacteriol. 173:86-93, 1991). We here report the identification of four genes (pagD, envE, msgA, and envF) located 5' to pagC. Each gene is transcribed from its own promoter, two of which (msgA and pagD) were defined by primer extension analysis. Three of these genes (pagD, envE, and envF) are predicted to encode envelope proteins. The pagD gene is transcribed in a direction opposite from that of and adjacent to pagC and is positively regulated by PhoP/PhoQ. Transposon insertions within pagD and msgA attenuate bacterial virulence and survival within macrophages; however, deletion of pagD has no effect on virulence. The product of the envF gene is predicted to be a lipoprotein on the basis of the presence of a consensus lipid attachment site. The low G + C content of these genes and the homology of msgA to Shigella plasmid DNA suggest that this region may have been acquired by horizontal transmission.