Effects of neurotropic drugs on Drosophila melanogaster.

Drosophila melanogaster is sensitive to a variety of psychotropic and neurotropic drugs that alter neurotransmitter metabolism in humans. For many drugs the activity is a function of the stage of development of the organism. An example is the convulsant allylglycine (2-amino 4-pentenoic acid). Larvae were unaffected by a dose of allylglycine that was lethal for adults. Larvae that had been exposed to the drug continuously through three instars were able to pupate. In the pupae, which were no longer exposed to the drug, the pharate adults appeared to mature normally but subsequently died, usually before emerging from the puparium case. Allylglycine is known to inhibit mammalian glutamate decarboxylase. This enzyme is present in homogenates of Drosophila. Larvae possess a much smaller amount of glutamate decarboxylase than do adults. Allylglycine has a minimal effect on glutamate decarboxylase in vivo or in vitro. Several drug-resistant strains have been isolated.     

The Nop60B gene of Drosophila encodes an essential nucleolar protein that functions in yeast

The Cbf5 protein of Saccharomyces cerevisiae was originally identified as a low-affinity centromeric DNA-binding protein, and cbf5 mutants have a defect in rRNA synthesis. A closely related protein from mammals, NAP57, is a nucleolar protein that coimmunoprecipitates with the nucleolar phosphoprotein Nopp140. To study the function of this protein family in a higher eukaryote that is amenable to genetic approaches, the gene encoding a Drosophilamelanogaster homolog, Nop60B, was identified. The predicted Drosophila protein shares a high degree of sequence identity over a 380-residue region with both the mammalian and yeast proteins, and shares several conserved motifs with the prokaryotic tRNA pseudouridine 55 synthases. Nop60B RNA is found at high levels in nurse cells and in the oocyte, and is present throughout development. Nop60B protein is localized primarily to the nucleolus of interphase cells, and is absent from the chromosomes during mitosis. Nop60B mutants were generated and shown to be homozygous lethal. The Drosophila gene can rescue the lethal phenotype of yeast cbf5 mutations, showing that the function of this protein has been conserved from yeast to Drosophila.     

Stability of the carrier state in bacteriophage M13-infected cells.

Bacteriophage M13-infected carrier cells were shown to be unstable to prolonged growth under all conditions. Carrier Hfr cells were transferred in dilute culture (10(3) to 10(4)/ml), where reinfection was impossible and the physiology of the cell was minimally altered. After an initial period of about 10 generations, during which all cells in the culture remained infected, there was exponential decay in the proportion of infected cells in the culture. Uninfected cells that appeared were M13 sensitive. Hfr and F' males were also transferred serially at high cell densities (10(7) to 10(9)/ml), where high levels of phage should permit reinfection. The proportion of phage-producing cells in the cultures remained constant for 7 to 15 generations and then dropped exponentially on further growth. Non-phage-producing cells appearing in the culture were refractory to infection by M13; in some cases cells scored as non-phage producers for 20 generations were observed to produce phage on further growth in liquid culture. F'trp+ males infected with M13 lost trp+ function almost immediately; this was not regained in these experiments. Infected cells grown in dilute culture or on plates remained infected longer, produced more PFU per cell for a longer period, and retained trp+ function in F'trp+ males for over 90 generations. Non-phage-producing cells that appeared were sometimes phage resistant, sometimes phage sensitive. The existence of a phage-related material accumulating at high cell densities and affecting expression of free episomes, episomal expression in Hfr males, and phage synthesis itself is suggested.     

Phenotypic Assortment in Tetrahymena Thermophila: Assortment Kinetics of Antibiotic-Resistance Markers, Tsa, Death, and the Highly Amplified Rdna Locus

Phenotypic assortment in Tetrahymena thermophila results from random distribution of alleles during amitotic division of the macronucleus. The rate of assortment is dependent on input ratio and the number of assorting units. The assortment of the antibiotic resistance markers Chx, Mpr and gal was determined and is consistent for each with the model of 45 assorting chromosomes. The gene tsA (previously ts-1) shows normal assortment, in contrast to previous reports. A mutation in the highly amplified ribosomal locus (rdnA2) assorts as if present at only 45 copies. Death of clones occurred at a rate consistent with assortment for a single gene.     

Dynamics of Ku and bacterial non-homologous end-joining characterized using single DNA molecule analysis

We use single-molecule techniques to characterize the dynamics of prokaryotic DNA repair by non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ), a system comprised only of the dimeric Ku and Ligase D (LigD). The Ku homodimer alone forms a ∼2 s synapsis between blunt DNA ends that is increased to ∼18 s upon addition of LigD, in a manner dependent on the C-terminal arms of Ku. The synapsis lifetime increases drastically for 4 nt complementary DNA overhangs, independently of the C-terminal arms of Ku. These observations are in contrast to human Ku, which is unable to bridge either of the two DNA substrates. We also demonstrate that bacterial Ku binds the DNA ends in a cooperative manner for synapsis initiation and remains stably bound at DNA junctions for several hours after ligation is completed, indicating that a system for removal of the proteins is active in vivo. Together these experiments shed light on the dynamics of bacterial NHEJ in DNA end recognition and processing. We speculate on the evolutionary similarities between bacterial and eukaryotic NHEJ and discuss how an increased understanding of bacterial NHEJ can open the door for future antibiotic therapies targeting this mechanism.     

Low plasma levels of 2-hydrdxyestrone are consistent with its rapid metabolic clearance

Published plasma levels of the catechol estrogen 2-hydroxyestrone (2-OHE₁) are comparable to those of estrone and estradiol. In light of the very high (40,000 L/d) metabolic clearance rate of 2-OHEi, these concentrations imply unreasonable production rates. We therefore re-examined plasma 2-OHE₁ levels using a modified radiotnnmmoassay procedure. Plasma samples are extracted with ethyl acetate and passed over a short column of LH-20 Sephadex before equilibration with an antiserum directed against a 2-hydroxyestrone-17-(O-carboxymethyl)oxime-bovine serum albumin conjugate. Plasma 2-OHE₁ concentrations are indistinguishable from blank (< 15 pg/ml) in men and non-pregnant women, but rise to ~ 200 pg/ml during pregnancy. These values for 2-OHE₁ levels are consistent with the rapid metabolic clearance of this catechol estrogen.