Chemotactic control of the two flagellar systems of Vibrio parahaemolyticus.

Vibrio parahaemolyticus synthesizes two distinct flagellar organelles, the polar flagellum (Fla), which propels the bacterium in a liquid environment (swimming), and the lateral flagella (Laf), which are responsible for movement over surfaces (swarming). Chemotactic control of each of these flagellar systems was evaluated separately by analyzing the behavioral responses of strains defective in either motility system, i.e., Fla+ Laf- (swimming only) or Fla- Laf+ (swarming only) mutants. Capillary assays, modified by using viscous solutions to measure swarming motility, were used to quantitate chemotaxis by the Fla+ Laf- or Fla- Laf+ mutants. The behavior of the mutants was very similar with respect to the attractant compounds and the concentrations which elicited responses. The effect of chemotaxis gene defects on the operation of the two flagellar systems was also examined. A locus previously shown to encode functions required for chemotactic control of the polar flagellum was cloned and mutated by transposon Tn5 insertion in Escherichia coli, and the defects in this locus, che-4 and che-5, were then transferred to the Fla+ Laf- or Fla- Laf+ strains of V. parahaemolyticus. Introduction of the che mutations into these strains prevented chemotaxis into capillary tubes and greatly diminished movement of bacteria over the surface of agar media or through semisolid media. We conclude that the two flagellar organelles, which consist of independent motor-propeller structures, are directed by a common chemosensory control system.     

Ionic basis of a mechanotransduction current in adult rat dorsal root ganglion neurons

Activity-dependent synaptic plasticity is known to be important in learning and memory, persistent pain and drug addiction. Glutamate NMDA receptor activation stimulates several protein kinases, which then trigger biochemical cascades that lead to modifications in synaptic efficacy. Genetic and pharmacological techniques have been used to show a role for Ca²⁺/calmodulin-dependent kinase II (CaMKII) in synaptic plasticity and memory formation. However, it is not known if increasing CaMKII activity in forebrain areas affects behavioral responses to tissue injury. Using genetic and pharmacological techniques, we were able to temporally and spatially restrict the over expression of CaMKII in forebrain areas. Here we show that genetic overexpression of CaMKII in the mouse forebrain selectively inhibits tissue injury-induced behavioral sensitization, including allodynia and hyperalgesia, while behavioral responses to acute noxious stimuli remain intact. CaMKII overexpression also inhibited synaptic depression induced by a prolonged repetitive stimulation in the ACC, suggesting an important role for CaMKII in the regulation of cingulate neurons. Our results suggest that neuronal CaMKII activity in the forebrain plays a role in persistent pain.     

The multiple identities of Vibrio parahaemolyticus

Vibrio parahaemolyticus is a ubiquitous marine bacterium and human pathogen. The organism possesses multiple cell types appropriate for life under different circumstances. The swimmer cell, with a single polar flagellum, is adapted to life in liquid environments. The polar flagellum is powered by the sodium motive force and can propel the bacterium at fast speeds. The swarmer cell, propelled by many proton-powered lateral flagella, can move through highly viscous environments, colonize surfaces, and form multicellular communities which sometimes display highly periodic architecture. Signals that induce differentiation to the surface-adapted cell type are both physical and chemical in nature. Surface-induced gene expression may aid survival, whether attached to inanimate surfaces or in a host organism. Genetic rearrangements create additional phenotypic versatility, which is manifested as variable opaque and translucent colony morphotypes. Discovery that a LuxR homolog controls the opaque cell type implicates intercellular signaling as an additional survival strategy. The alternating identities of V. parahaemolyticus may play important roles in attachment and detachment, how bacterial populations adapt to growth on surfaces, form structured communities, and develop biofilms.     

400000 nematode ESTs on the Net

The parasitic nematode expressed sequence tag (EST) project, a collaboration between University of Edinburgh and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in the UK and the Genome Sequencing Center, St Louis, MO, USA, is currently generating sequence information from >30 different species of nematode. Over 400000 nematode ESTs are now available and at least another 130000 are planned. Here, an update is provided on the status of the project and describes the database tools being developed to disseminate these data.     

The population genetics of the origin and divergence of the Drosophila simulans complex species

The origins and divergence of Drosophila simulans and close relatives D. mauritiana and D. sechellia were examined using the patterns of DNA sequence variation found within and between species at 14 different genes. D. sechellia consistently revealed low levels of polymorphism, and genes from D. sechellia have accumulated mutations at a rate that is approximately 50% higher than the same genes from D. simulans. At synonymous sites, D. sechellia has experienced a significant excess of unpreferred codon substitutions. Together these observations suggest that D. sechellia has had a reduced effective population size for some time, and that it is accumulating slightly deleterious mutations as a result. D. simulans and D. mauritiana are both highly polymorphic and the two species share many polymorphisms, probably since the time of common ancestry. A simple isolation speciation model, with zero gene flow following incipient species separation, was fitted to both the simulans/mauritiana divergence and the simulans/sechellia divergence. In both cases the model fit the data quite well, and the analyses revealed little evidence of gene flow between the species. The exception is one gene copy at one locus in D. sechellia, which closely resembled other D. simulans sequences. The overall picture is of two allopatric speciation events that occurred quite near one another in time.     

Increased Activity of Calcium Leak Channels Caused by Proteolysis Near Sarcolemmal Ruptures

Dystrophin, a 427 kD membrane-associated structural protein in muscle cells, is thought to confer strength to the myofiber sarcolemma and protect the membrane from rupture during the stresses of contraction. Dystrophin is absent in muscle cells from Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) patients and mdx mice, a DMD model. Dystrophic muscle membranes undergo more frequent transient, nonlethal tears than normal cell membranes, especially during exercise. In addition, the mean open probability of a background (``leak') calcium channel is higher in dystrophic muscle cells, which leads to higher intracellular free calcium levels. Because elevated calcium levels may contribute to the eventual necrosis of muscle cells in DMD, we examined the possibility that the history of sarcolemmal rupture at a specific location on the membrane affects the open probability of nearby calcium leak channels. Membrane ruptures left by the excision of cell-attached patch-clamp electrodes were used to mimic natural tears. Patches made within 5 microns of excision sites contained channels with a fourfold greater mean open probability than channels in patches 50 μm away from ruptures. The increased leak channel activity near ruptures was seen continuously through the duration of the recordings and was not seen if the rupture was made in the presence of the protease inhibitor leupeptin. Calcium background channels proteolytically activated near ruptures, perhaps in a calcium-dependent manner, may thus be the lasting consequence of the weaker dystrophic sarcolemma, leading to chronically raised intracellular free calcium, increased calcium-dependent proteolysis and, eventually, necrosis. Received: 29 November 1999/Revised: 13 April 2000