Steroidogenic acute regulatory protein/aldosterone synthase mediates angiotensin II-induced cardiac fibrosis and hypertrophy

Molecular Biology Reports - Aldosterone produced in adrenal glands by angiotensin II (Ang II) is known to elicit myocardial fibrosis and hypertrophy. This study was designed to test the hypothesis...     

Insights into the evolution of mammalian telomerase: Platypus TERT shares similarities with genes of birds and other reptiles and localizes on sex chromosomes

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: The TERT gene encodes the catalytic subunit of the telomerase complex and is responsible for maintaining telomere length. Vertebrate telomerase has been studied in placental mammals, fish, and the chicken, but less attention has been paid to other vertebrates. The platypus occupies an important evolutionary position, providing unique insight into the evolution of mammalian genes. We report the cloning of a platypus TERT (pTERT) ortholog, and provide a comparison with genes of other vertebrates. RESULTS: The pTERT encodes a protein with the high homology to marsupial TERT and avian TERT. Like the TERT of sauropsids and marsupials, as well as that of sharks and echinoderms, pTERT contains extended variable linkers in the N-terminal region suggesting that they were present already in basal vertebrates and lost independently in placental mammals and ray-finned fish. Several alternatively spliced pTERT variants structurally similar to avian TERT variants were identified. Telomerase activity is expressed in all platypus tissues similarly to cold-blooded animals and murine rodents. pTERT was localized on pseudoautosomal regions of sex chromosomes X3/Y2, expanding the homology between human chromosome 5 and platypus sex chromosomes. The synteny analysis suggests that TERT co-localized with sex-linked genes in the last common mammalian ancestor. Interestingly, female platypuses express higher levels of telomerase in heart and liver tissues than do males. CONCLUSIONS: pTERT shares many features with TERT of the reptilian outgroup, suggesting that pTERT represents the ancestral mammalian TERT. Features specific to TERT of eutherian mammals have, therefore, evolved more recently after the divergence of monotremes.     

Electrophoretic characterization of rice varieties using single seed (salt soluble) proteins

Summary Variation of salt soluble protein fractions of seeds has been observed in a number of rice varieties as recorded in their electrophoregram tracings: both qualitative and quantitative differences were present. Analysis of variance has been found to be useful in estimating the quantitative differences. These tracings or patterns appear to be unique for each of the varieties investigated and seem to be genetical in nature as they remain constant under different environmental conditions, and therefore could be conveniently used for variety identification.     

Adaptation to grass-eating in gelada baboons

Gelada faecal samples were analyzed for nutritional content and for particle size, and compared with similar data forPapio baboons, cattle, and zebra. Particle size in gelada is similar to that for zebra, larger than that for cattle and smaller than that for baboons. Gelada and baboons are less efficient than ungulates at extracting protein from their diet. The data on energy extraction are less easy to interpret and appear to be confounded by dietary and seasonal factors. It is suggested that gelada may be too large to compete effectively with ruminants in low altitude grassland habitats under the climatic conditions that have prevailed in eastern Africa since the late Pleistocene.