Specific localization of scallop gill epithelial calmodulin in cilia

Calmodulin has been isolated and characterized from the gill of the bay scallop aequipecten irradians. Quantitative electrophoretic analysis of epithelial cell fractions show most of the calmodulin to be localized in the cilia, specifically in the detergent- solubilized membrane-matrix fraction. Calmodulin represents 2.2 +/- 0.3 percent of the membrane-matrix protein or 0.41 +/- 0.5 percent of the total ciliary protein. Its concentration is at least 10(-4) M if distributed uniformly within the matrix. Extraction in the presence of calcium suggests that the calmodulin is not bound to the axoneme proper. The ciliary protein is identified as a calmodulin on the basis of its calcium- dependent binding to a fluphenazine-sepharose affinity column and its comigration with bovine brain calmodulin on alkaline-urea and SDS polyacrylamide gels in both the presence and absence of calcium. Scallop ciliary calmodulin activates bovine brain phosphodiesterase to the same extent as bovine brain and chicken gizzard calmodulins. Containing trimethyllysine and lacking cysteine and tryptophan, the amino acid composition of gill calmodulin is typical of known calmodulins, except that it is relatively high in serine and low in methionine. Its composition is less acidic than other calmodulins, in agreement with an observed isoelectric point approximately 0.2 units higher than that of bovine brain. Comparative tryptic peptide mapping of scallop gill ciliary and bovine brain calmodulins indicates coincidence of over 75 percent of the major peptides, but at least two major peptides in each show no near-equivalency. Preliminary results using ATP-reactivated gill cell models show no effect of calcium at micromolar levels on ciliary beat or directionality of the lateral cilia, the cilia which constitute the vast majority of those isolated. However, ciliary arrest will occur at calcium levels more than 150 muM. Because calmodulin usually functions in the micromolar range, its role in this system is unclear. Scallop gill ciliary calmodulin may be involved in the direct regulation of dyneintubule sliding, or it may serve some coupled calcium transport function. At the concentration in which it is found, it must also at least act as a calcium buffer.     

Relation entre réaction géotropique et évolution du statenchyme dans la racine d'Asperge

Relationship between the Geotropic Response and the Evolution of the Statenchyma in Roots of Asparagus officinalis. The evolution of the statenchyma in roots of Asparagus of ficinalis seedlings, grown in obscurity, was followed during the first 17 days. After 7 days of etiolation, a decrease of both the average diameter of the amyloplasts and the average number of these organelles was observed in the central root cap cells. If the seedlings were illuminated (with white light) from the 7th day, the average number of statoliths increased rapidly in the statocytes. The volume of these organelles undergoes the same variation in etiolated and in illuminated plants. The initial rate of curvature (V_i) of the roots (stimulated in a horizontal position) and the volume of amyloplasts (V_ac) in their caps were analysed as a function of the time of germination in obscurity (from the 8th to the 17th day). It was found that V_i increased as a linear function of the logarithm of V_ac, which confirms that the weight of the amyloplasts of the statocytes may play a role in the geotropic stimulation of the roots.     

Expression of Three Gastrula Cell Surface Glycoproteins during Embryonic and Larval Development in the Amphibian Pleurodeles waltlii

We have previously reported the identification of cell surface glycoproteins in Pleurodeles waltlii gastrulae. In an attempt to study the expression of three of these cell surface glycoproteins (proteins referred to 1, 11 and 14), we have produced monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies by immunizing mice with the spots of the three selected glycoproteins excised from 2D-gels. Expression of the three glycoproteins was detected on the surfaces of all cells during embryonic development. Before hatching, proteins 1, 11 and 14 become expressed in a limited number of tissues.     

A novel motif in geminivirus replication proteins interacts with the plant retinoblastoma-related protein

The geminivirus replication factor AL1 interacts with the plant retinoblastoma-related protein (pRBR) to modulate host gene expression. The AL1 protein of tomato golden mosaic virus (TGMV) binds to pRBR through an 80-amino-acid region that contains two highly predicted α-helices designated 3 and 4. Earlier studies suggested that the helix 4 motif, whose amino acid sequence is strongly conserved across geminivirus replication proteins, plays a role in pRBR binding. We generated a series of alanine substitutions across helix 4 of TGMV AL1 and examined their impact on pRBR binding using yeast two-hybrid assays. These experiments showed that several helix 4 residues are essential for efficient pRBR binding, with a critical residue being a leucine at position 148 in the middle of the motif. Various amino acid substitutions at leucine-148 indicated that both structural and side chain components contribute to pRBR binding. The replication proteins of the geminiviruses tomato yellow leaf curl virus and cabbage leaf curl virus (CaLCuV) also bound to pRBR in yeast dihybrid assays. Mutation of the leucine residue in helix 4 of CaLCuV AL1 reduced binding. Together, these results suggest that helix 4 and the conserved leucine residue are part of a pRBR-binding interface in begomovirus replication proteins.     

Polymorphism: a weak influence on worker aggregation level in ants

Abstract.  1. Aggregation of individuals, a basic behaviour in social species, plays an essential role in many aspects of animal life (reproduction, defence, and alimentation). Understanding how this phenomenon is modulated is important to comprehend the social organisation of the group.
2. In social insects, aggregation is influenced by environmental (e.g. the light level) and social (e.g. polyethism in monomorphic ants) factors. Ants display a great variation of biological characteristics (e.g. queen number, polymorphism, division of labour, etc.) that are likely to influence the level of inter-attraction and so the aggregation.
3. The present research focused on one biological characteristic: the morphological castes (minors, majors), testing the hypothesis that minors will aggregate more than majors due to their greater need to fight against the loss of heat and to increase their self-protection.
4. Aggregation experiments were conducted on two highly polymorphic species, Atta sexdens rubropilosa and Solenopsis interrupta , using the two extreme morphological castes (majors and minors).
5. All castes exhibited a low level of aggregation: 40–50% of workers assembled for both species, the biggest cluster involving 20% of the total population. The lack of difference between morphological castes in the aggregation shows the weak influence of polymorphism on the interactions between ants.
6. It is concluded that the main factor modulating the aggregation behaviour is polyethism, i.e. the division of labour associated with the presence of an outside-the-nest experience: workers that only take care of the brood, without outside world experience (brood-tenders) assembling more than foraging workers (foragers).     

Asymmetrical costs of sexual conflict in the seaweed fly, Coelopa frigida

Abstract.  1. Sexual conflict can play an important role in the evolution of animal life-history characteristics, including lifespan. Seaweed flies show an increase in mortality rates when exposed to brown algae. The seaweed stimulates females to oviposit and males to mount females. Females typically respond to male mounts by performing a violent rejection response.
2. Here the contribution of sexual conflict to the increase in mortality seen in the presence of seaweed was determined. The survival of single and mixed sex pairs of flies was followed in the presence and absence of seaweed.
3. The two sexes showed differential survival rates, with females living longer in the absence of seaweed. The presence of seaweed reduced survival in both sexes. In the presence of seaweed, female survival was lower when paired with a male. Over 40% of the reduction in survival in females in the presence of seaweed appears to be attributable to sexual conflict.
4. The presence of a female did not significantly affect male survival. Thus the mortality cost of being in the presence of the opposite sex and seaweed appears highly asymmetric.
5. In the presence of seaweed, female survival was lower when females were paired with small males. Small males exhibit higher levels of harassment of females, thus it is argued that pre-copulatory sexual conflict is the probable cause of the increased mortality cost to females of being in the presence of both males and seaweed.     

Arabidopsis thaliana Chromosome 4 Replicates in Two Phases That Correlate with Chromatin State

DNA replication programs have been studied extensively in yeast and animal systems, where they have been shown to correlate with gene expression and certain epigenetic modifications. Despite the conservation of core DNA replication proteins, little is known about replication programs in plants. We used flow cytometry and tiling microarrays to profile DNA replication of Arabidopsis thaliana chromosome 4 (chr4) during early, mid, and late S phase. Replication profiles for early and mid S phase were similar and encompassed the majority of the euchromatin. Late S phase exhibited a distinctly different profile that includes the remaining euchromatin and essentially all of the heterochromatin. Termination zones were consistent between experiments, allowing us to define 163 putative replicons on chr4 that clustered into larger domains of predominately early or late replication. Early-replicating sequences, especially the initiation zones of early replicons, displayed a pattern of epigenetic modifications specifying an open chromatin conformation. Late replicons, and the termination zones of early replicons, showed an opposite pattern. Histone H3 acetylated on lysine 56 (H3K56ac) was enriched in early replicons, as well as the initiation zones of both early and late replicons. H3K56ac was also associated with expressed genes, but this effect was local whereas replication time correlated with H3K56ac over broad regions. The similarity of the replication profiles for early and mid S phase cells indicates that replication origin activation in euchromatin is stochastic. Replicon organization in Arabidopsis is strongly influenced by epigenetic modifications to histones and DNA. The domain organization of Arabidopsis is more similar to that in Drosophila than that in mammals, which may reflect genome size and complexity. The distinct patterns of association of H3K56ac with gene expression and early replication provide evidence that H3K56ac may be associated with initiation zones and replication origins.