Variation in the ribosomal internal transcribed spacers and 5.8S rDNA among five species of Acropora (Cnidaria; Scleractinia): patterns of variation consistent with reticulate evolution

The ITS sequences of Acropora spp. are the shortest so far identified in any metazoan and are among the shortest seen in eukaryotes; ITS1 was 70-80 bases, and ITS2 was 100-112 bases. The ITS sequences were also highly variable, but base composition and secondary structure prediction indicate that divergent sequence variants are unlikely to be pseudogenes. The pattern of variation was unusual in several other respects: (1) two distinct ITS2 types were detected in both A. hyacinthus and A. cytherea, species known to hybridize in vitro with high success rates, and a putative intermediate ITS2 form was also detected in A. cytherea; (2) A. valida was found to contain highly (29%) diverged ITS1 variants; and (3) A. longicyathus contained two distinct 5.8S rDNA types. These data are consistent with a reticulate evolutionary history for the genus Acropora.      

Population structure and evolution of the Bacillus cereus group

Representative strains of the Bacillus cereus group of bacteria, including Bacillus anthracis (11 isolates), B. cereus (38 isolates), Bacillus mycoides (1 isolate), Bacillus thuringiensis (53 isolates from 17 serovars), and Bacillus weihenstephanensis (2 isolates) were assigned to 59 sequence types (STs) derived from the nucleotide sequences of seven alleles, glpF, gmk, ilvD, pta, pur, pycA, and tpi. Comparisons of the maximum likelihood (ML) tree of the concatenated sequences with individual gene trees showed more congruence than expected by chance, indicating a generally clonal structure to the population. The STs followed two major lines of descent. Clade 1 comprised B. anthracis strains, numerous B. cereus strains, and rare B. thuringiensis strains, while clade 2 included the majority of the B. thuringiensis strains together with some B. cereus strains. Other species were allocated to a third, heterogeneous clade. The ML trees and split decomposition analysis were used to assign STs to eight lineages within clades 1 and 2. These lineages were defined by bootstrap analysis and by a preponderance of fixed differences over shared polymorphisms among the STs. Lineages were named with reference to existing designations: Anthracis, Cereus I, Cereus II, Cereus III, Kurstaki, Sotto, Thuringiensis, and Tolworthi. Strains from some B. thuringiensis serovars were wholly or largely assigned to a single ST, for example, serovar aizawai isolates were assigned to ST-15, serovar kenyae isolates were assigned to ST-13, and serovar tolworthi isolates were assigned to ST-23, while other serovars, such as serovar canadensis, were genetically heterogeneous. We suggest a revision of the nomenclature in which the lineage and clone are recognized through name and ST designations in accordance with the clonal structure of the population.     

Regulation of polyglutamic acid synthesis by glutamate in Bacillus licheniformis and Bacillus subtilis

The synthesis of polyglutamic acid (PGA) was repressed by exogenous glutamate in strains of Bacillus licheniformis but not in strains of Bacillus subtilis, indicating a clear difference in the regulation of synthesis of capsular slime in these two species. Although extracellular gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase (GGT) activity was always present in PGA-producing cultures of B. licheniformis under various growth conditions, there was no correlation between the quantity of PGA and enzyme activity. Moreover, the synthesis of PGA in the absence of detectable GGT activity in B. subtilis S317 indicated that this enzyme was not involved in PGA biosynthesis in this bacterium. Glutamate repression of PGA biosynthesis may offer a simple means of preventing unwanted slime production in industrial fermentations using B. licheniformis.     

GABAB receptor expression and function in olfactory receptor neuron axon growth

Neurotransmitters have been implicated in regulating growth cone motility and guidance in the developing nervous system. Anatomical and electrophysiological studies show the presence of functional GABAB receptors on adult olfactory receptor neuron (ORN) nerve terminals. Using antisera against the GABAB R1a/b receptor isoforms we show that developing mouse olfactory receptor neurons express GABAB receptors from embryonic day 14 through to adulthood. GABAB receptors are present on axon growth cones from both dissociated ORNs and olfactory epithelial explants. Neurons in the olfactory bulb begin to express glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD), the synthetic enzyme for GABA, from E16 through to adulthood. When dissociated ORNs were cultured in the presence of the GABAB receptor agonists, baclofen or SKF97541, neurite outgrowth was significantly reduced. Concurrent treatment of the neurons with baclofen and the GABAB receptor antagonist CGP54626 prevented the inhibitory effects of baclofen on ORN neurite outgrowth. These results show that growing ORN axons express GABAB receptors and are sensitive to the effects of GABAB receptor activation. Thus, ORNs in vivo may detect GABA release from juxtaglomerular cells as they enter the glomerular layer and use this as a signal to limit their outgrowth and find synaptic targets in regeneration and development.     

Comparative tests of ectoparasite species richness in seabirds

Background  

The diversity of parasites attacking a host varies substantially among different host species. Understanding the factors that explain these patterns of parasite diversity is critical to identifying the ecological principles underlying biodiversity. Seabirds (Charadriiformes, Pelecaniformes and Procellariiformes) and their ectoparasitic lice (Insecta: Phthiraptera) are ideal model groups in which to study correlates of parasite species richness. We evaluated the relative importance of morphological (body size, body weight, wingspan, bill length), life-history (longevity, clutch size), ecological (population size, geographical range) and behavioural (diving versus non-diving) variables as predictors of louse diversity on 413 seabird hosts species. Diversity was measured at the level of louse suborder, genus, and species, and uneven sampling of hosts was controlled for using literature citations as a proxy for sampling effort.     

Leprechaunism: an inherited defect in a high-affinity insulin receptor.

We examined in vivo oral glucose tolerance tests and in vitro insulin binding, cellular response, and insulin-receptor structure of fibroblasts cultured from the skin of a patient with leprechaun syndrome and her parents. In response to oral glucose, the proband exhibited marked hyperinsulinism (maximum plasma insulin = 4,120 microU/ml), the father had mild hyperinsulinism (maximum plasma insulin = 240 microU/ml), and the mother was normal. [125I]insulin binding to monolayers of intact fibroblasts demonstrated complex kinetics that were interpreted using a two-receptor model. Normal high-affinity binding had an apparent KA of 1.6 X 10(10)/molar with 1,100 sites/cell. The proposed low-affinity state receptor had an apparent KA of 6.8 X 10(7)/molar with approximately 30,000 sites/cell. Insulin binding to the proband's cells had no high-affinity binding but had normal low-affinity binding. Cells from the mother had 60%, and cells from the father, 2%, of control insulin binding to the high-affinity receptor, but normal, low-affinity site binding. Two different, insulin-stimulable responses were evaluated under experimental conditions identical with those used for insulin binding. Insulin stimulation of 2-methylaminoisobutyric acid uptake occurred with half-maximal responses between 25 and 50 ng/ml insulin. This response was similar in cells from controls and the patient. By contrast, the uptake and phosphorylation of 2-deoxy-D-glucose was stimulated at half-maximal insulin concentrations between 1 and 10 ng/ml in control cells but was not significantly increased in the proband's cells until 1,000 ng/ml concentrations of insulin were attained. In affinity crosslinking experiments, [125I]insulin was covalently bound to insulin receptors of fibroblast membranes using disuccinimidylsuberate. [125I]insulin specifically bound to 125,000 dalton monomeric subunits and 250,000 dalton dimers. In control cells, the ratio of monomer to dimer was approximately one, but significantly fewer dimers were crosslinked in insulin receptors from the patient's cells. We conclude that in this family two different recessive mutations impair high-affinity insulin-receptor binding and that the proband with leprechaunism is a compound heterozygote for these mutations. The two mutations produced structural changes in the receptor that altered subunit interactions and loss of high-affinity binding and cellular responsivity.     

A [3H]lysine-containing synthetic peptide substrate for human protocollagen lysyl hydroxylase

A tridecapeptide containing tritium-labelled lysine and corresponding closely to residues 98 to 110 of the alpha chain of type I collagen was synthesized by the solid-phase method. Gly-Leu-Hyp-Gly-Nle-[4,5-3H]Lys-Gly-His-Arg-Gly-Phe-Ser-Gly was used as a substrate of human protocollagen lysyl hydroxylase (peptidyllysine, 2-oxoglutarate: oxygen 5-oxidoreductase, EC 1.14.11.4) obtained from dermal fibroblasts. L-[4,5-3H]Lysine was converted to N alpha-t-butyloxycarbonyl-N epsilon-o-chlorobenzyloxycarbonyl [3H]lysine which was incorporated during stepwise synthesis of the peptide. The chemical and radiochemical purities and specific activity of the completed peptide were characterized. A non-radiolabelled analogue of the peptide inhibited the hydroxylation of [3H]lysine-containing protocollagen by human lysyl hydroxylase, indicating that the synthetic peptide interacted with the enzyme. The peptide containing [3H]lysine was a substrate for lysyl hydroxylase and permitted direct measurement of enzyme activity in relatively crude cell extracts by a tritium-release assay. Extracts of cultured fibroblasts from a patient with an autosomal recessive pattern of inheritance for Ehlers-Danlos syndrome type VI had activities for tritium release from either the radiolabelled synthetic peptide or from [3H]lysine-containing protocollagen that were only 30% of those from control cells. These data indicate that a stable, well-defined synthetic peptide containing [3H]lysine is a useful substrate for studies of genetically variant lysyl hydroxylase from cultured human cells.