The use of muscle morphology of Chrysopolomidae (Lepidoptera) genitalic appendages in developing a family system

The male genitalia of Chrysopolomidae were found to include by nine pairs of muscles: m1, m2(10), m3(2), m4, m5(7), m6(5), m7(6), m8(3), m20, and the unpaired muscle m21, fully corresponding to their ground plan in Zygaenoidea. The archaic muscles m20 were found in both Chrysopolomidae and Limacodidae, for the first time for the superfamily Zygaenoidea. Muscles m3(2) and m4 in all the studied chrysopolomids are attached to the base of a gnathos-like complex sclerite, which proves its origin from the transtilla. The genital apparatus of Chrysopolomidae and its muscles are completely symmetrical. The bases of intravalval muscles m5(7) have moved from the sacculus to the juxta; this feature is not found in any other related family of the limacoid complex. The gnathos of Chrysopolomidae is reduced and functionally replaced by the transtilla separated from the valvae; some parts of the true gnathos may be incorporated in the gnathos-like structure of the transilla. A characteristic feature is the presence of strong muscles m3(2), which are reduced in all the studied limacodids. These muscles are running from the modified transtilla deep inside the uncus and provide not the abduction of the valvae but the depression of the uncus and the lifting of the arms of the transtilla. Thus, Chrysopolomidae are morphologically separated from Limacodidae; it is suggested that the former group should be treated as a separate family closely related to Limacodidae. The tribe Achroceridini is transferred from Chrysopolominae into Ectropinae based on the similar structure of the male genitalia and the presence of two pairs of spurs on the hind tibia.     

Marital Structure,Genetic Fitness,and the <Emphasis Type="Italic">GJB2</Emphasis> Gene Mutations among Deaf People in Yakutia (Eastern Siberia,Russia)

Autosomal recessive deafness type 1A (DFNB1A) caused by mutations in the GJB2 gene (Cx26) is the main cause of nonsyndromic hearing impairment in many populations worldwide. It is considered that widespread prevalence of DFNB1A can be due to the long tradition of intermarriages between deaf people (assortative marriages) combined with their increased social adaptation and genetic fitness after widespread introduction of sign language. For the first time, the data on mating structure and reproduction of deaf people living in Yakutia (Eastern Siberia, Russia) are presented in comparison with contribution of the GJB2 gene mutations to the etiology of hearing impairment. The relative fertility of deaf people compared to their hearing siblings is 0.78 (mean number of children 1.76 ± 0.10 and 2.24 ± 0.09 to deaf and their hearing siblings, respectively, p = 0.0018). The rate of assortative marriages among deaf people is 77.1% (81 of 105 marriages). Biallelic mutations in the GJB2 gene were found in 42.2% (43 of 102) of examined deaf people, which corresponded to diagnosis DFNB1A for these patients. A comparison of deaf marital partners by GJB2 status revealed a proportion of noncomplementary marriages (24%) in which hearing loss in both partners was caused by the presence of biallelic GJB2 gene mutations resulting in the birth of only deaf children in such couples. Thus, the set of obtained data including a relatively high genetic fitness (expressed as relative fertility) of deaf people in Yakutia in combination with a high rate of assortative marriages among them and high incidence of DFNB1A indicates a possible weakening of selection against such trait as “deafness” and a possible increase in the frequency of GJB2 mutant alleles in subsequent generations.     

Properties of the Coat Protein of a New Tobacco Mosaic Virus Coat Protein ts-Mutant

Amino acid substitutions in a majority of tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) coat protein (CP) ts-mutants have previously been mapped to the same region of the CP molecule tertiary structure, located at a distance of about 70 Å from TMV virion axis. In the present work some properties of a new TMV CP ts-mutant ts21-66 (two substitutions I21 T and D66 G, both in the 70-Å region) were studied. Thermal inactivation characteristics, sedimentation properties, circular dichroism spectra, and modification by a lysine-specific reagent, trinitrobenzensulfonic acid, of ts21–66 CP were compared with those of wild-type (U1) TMV CP. It is concluded that the 70-Å region represents the most labile portion of the TMV CP molecule. Partial disordering of this region in the mutant CP at permissive temperatures leads to loss of the capacity to form two-layer aggregates of the cylindrical type, while further disordering induced by mild heating results also in the loss of the ability to form ordered helical aggregates.     

Photosynthetic activity and components of the electron transport chain in the aerobic bacteriochlorophyll <Emphasis Type="Italic">a</Emphasis>-containing bacterium <Emphasis Type="Italic">Roseinatronobacter thiooxidans</Emphasis>

Bioenergetics of the aerobic bacteriochlorophyll a-containing (BCl a) bacterium (ABC bacterium) Roseinatronobacter thiooxidans is a combination of photosynthesis, oxygen respiration, and oxidation of sulfur compounds under alkaliphilic conditions. The photosynthetic activity of Rna. thiooxidans cells was established by the photoinhibition of cell respiration and reversible photobleaching discoloration of the BCl a of reaction centers (RC), connected by the chain of electron transfer with cytochrome c ₅₅₁ oxidation. The species under study, like many purple bacteria and some of the known ABC bacteria, possesses a light-harvesting pigment-protein (LHI) complex with the average number of 30 molecules of antenna BCl a per one photosynthetic RC. Under microaerobic growth conditions, the cells contained bc ₁ complex and two terminal oxidases: cbb ₃-cytochrome oxidase and the alternative cytochrome oxidase of the a ₃ type. Besides, Rna. thiooxidans was shown to have several different soluble low- and high-potential cytochromes c, probably associated with the ability of utilizing sulfur compounds as additional electron donors.     

RNA-binding properties of the plant protein Nt-4/1

The tobacco α-helical protein Nt-4/1 with unknown function forms ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complexes in vitro. Results obtained by retardation of RNP complexes in agarose gel were confirmed by Western-Northern hybridization. Several deletion and point mutants of Nt-4/1 were constructed, and the RNA-binding site was mapped in a positively charged region of the C-terminal domain of the protein. The results of this study and those described earlier support our hypothesis of the participation of Nt-4/1 protein in spreading RNA-containing pathogens in the plant.     

Assessment of the integral membrane protein topology in living cells

The bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) phenomenon has been successfully applied for in vivo protein-protein interaction studies and protein tagging analysis. Here we report a novel BiFC-based technique for investigation of integral membrane protein topology in living plant cells. This technique relies on the formation of a fluorescent complex between a non-fluorescent fragment of the yellow fluorescent protein (YFP) targeted into a specific cellular compartment and a counterpart fragment attached to the integral membrane protein N- or C-terminus or inserted into the internal loop(s). We employed this technique for topological studies of beet yellows virus-encoded p6 membrane-embedded movement protein, a protein with known topology, and the potato mop-top virus-encoded integral membrane TGBp2 protein with predicted topology. The results confirm that p6 is a type III integral transmembrane protein. Using a novel method, the central hydrophilic region of TGBp2 was localized into the ER lumen, whereas the N- and C-termini localized to the cytosol. We conclude that the BiFC-based reporter system for membrane protein topology analysis is a relatively fast and efficient method that can be used for high-throughput analysis of proteins integrated into the endoplasmic reticulum in living plant cells.