Genetic regulation of the quinic acid utilization (QUT) gene cluster in Aspergillus nidulans

A large number of quinic acid non-utilizing qut mutants of Aspergillus nidulans deficient in the induction of all three quinic acid specific enzymes have been analysed. One class the qutD mutants, are all recessive and are non-inducible at pH 6.5 due to inferred deficiency in a quinate ion permease. Two regulatory genes have been identified. The QUTA gene encodes an activator protein since most qutA mutants are recessive and non-inducible although a few fully dominant mutants have been found. The QUTR gene encodes a repressor protein since recessive mutations are constitutive for all three enzyme activities. Rare dominant non-inducible mutants which revert readily to yield a high proportion of constitutive strains are inferred to be qutR mutants defective in binding the inducer. The gene cluster has been mapped in the right arm of chromosome VIII in the order: centromere - greater than 50 map units - ornB - 12 map units - qutC (dehydratase)-0.8 map units-qutD (permease), qutB (dehydrogenase), qutE (dehydroquinase), qutA (activator)-4.4 map units - qutR (repressor)-20 map units - galG. This organization differs from that of the qa gene cluster in Neurospora crassa, particularly in the displacement of qutC and qutR.     

Characterization of induced resistance in tomato plants

We have characterized, using several types of bioassays, the resistance induced in young tomato plants by feeding of the corn earworm, Helicoverpa zea. Beet armyworm larvae, Spodoptera exigua, and leafminers, Liriomyza trifolii, were used to assay the induced resistance. In whole-plant experiments, damage localized to a single leaflet of fourleaf tomato plants induced a systemic increase in resistance such that beet armyworm larvae confined to previously damaged (induced) plants grew at a rate about half that of larvae raised on control plants and consumed less leaf tissue from induced plants than from control plants. In experiments using excised leaves, beet armyworm larvae suffered increased mortality when reared on leaves from induced plants. The strength of this induced resistance varied spatially relative to the damaged position; moreover, the spatial distribution of induced resistance changed over a three-week period following damage. Other experiments demonstrated that the mechanisms of induced resistance in tomato foliage involves both a decrease in larval preference for and a decrease in the nutritional value of induced foliage. Induction also retarded the oviposition and/or early development of leafminers. Thus, induced resistance has relatively severe effects on the biology of subsequent herbivores. These data should allow us to begin to elucidate cause-effect relationships between induced resistance and induced chemistry in tomato plants.     

Nitric oxide production: a mechanism of Chlamydia trachomatis inhibition in interferon-γ-treated RAW264.7 cells

Abstract IFN-γ and/or LPS induced nitrite production and inhibition of Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) replication in the murine macrophage cell line, RAW264.7. Linear regression analysis demonstrated a strong correlation between nitrite production and inhibition of CT replication (correlation coefficients: −0.93, P < 0.001). l -NMMA specifically inhibited nitrite production and restored CT replication (55–71%). Inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) mRNA was analyzed by Northern and dot blot hybridization with an iNOS cDNA probe. A strong correlation between iNOS mRNA expression and inhibition of CT replication also was observed (correlation coefficient: −0.97, P < 0.05). Furthermore, anti-TNF-α antibody, which completely neutralized biological activity of the secreted TNF-α, neither inhibited nitrite production nor restored CT replication in the LPS- and/or IFN-γ-treated RAW264.7 cells. In mouse peritoneal macrophages treated with IFN-γ, both l -NMMA and anti-TNF-α antibody inhibited nitrite production and restored CT replication. However, l -NMMA and the antibody had no effect upon nitrite production and CT inhibition in LPS-treated peritoneal macrophages. These data indicate that NO production is one mechanism for inhibition of CT replication in IFN-γ-activated murine macrophages.     

The structure of aconitase

The crystal structure of the 80,000 Da Fe-S enzyme aconitase has been solved and refined at 2.1 A resolution. The protein contains four domains; the first three from the N-terminus are closely associated around the [3Fe-4S] cluster with all three cysteine ligands to the cluster being provided by the third domain. Association of the larger C-terminal domain with the first three domains creates an extensive cleft leading to the Fe-S cluster. Residues from all four domains contribute to the active site region, which is defined by the Fe-S cluster and a bound SO4(2-) ion. This region of the structure contains 4 Arg, 3 His, 3 Ser, 2 Asp, 1 Glu, 3 Asn, and 1 Gln residues, as well as several bound water molecules. Three of these side chains reside on a three-turn 3(10) helix in the first domain. The SO4(2-) ion is bound 9.3 A from the center of the [3Fe-4S] cluster by the side chains of 2 Arg and 1 Gln residues. Each of 3 His side chains in the putative active site is paired with Asp or Glu side chains.     

Detection of bovine parvovirus proteins homologous to the nonstructural NS-1 proteins of other autonomous parvoviruses.

Two nonstructural proteins of bovine parvovirus (BPV) with apparent molecular sizes of 75,000 and 83,000 daltons have been detected. The proteins were immunoprecipitated from lung cells infected with various isolates of BPV and from in vitro translations of infected cell mRNA. These proteins were expressed as nuclear phosphoproteins and were synthesized early in infection, before the peak of capsid protein synthesis. Early in infection, the 75-kilodalton-size species could be resolved into two bands of equal intensity, but later in infection, the lower-molecular-size form predominated. Antibodies directed against bacterial fusion proteins encoding amino acid sequences from a highly conserved region of the NS-1 polypeptides of two other parvoviruses, minute virus of mice and the human virus B19, gave specific nuclear fluorescence with BPV-infected cells, although the antibodies failed to immunoprecipitate any viral proteins. The noncapsid proteins appear to be homologous to the previously characterized NS-1 proteins of other autonomous parvoviruses.     

Complete nucleotide sequence and genome organization of bovine parvovirus.

We determined the complete nucleotide sequence of bovine parvovirus (BPV), an autonomous parvovirus. The sequence is 5,491 nucleotides long. The terminal regions contain nonidentical imperfect palindromic sequences of 150 and 121 nucleotides. In the plus strand, there are three large open reading frames (left ORF, mid ORF, and right ORF) with coding capacities of 729, 255, and 685 amino acids, respectively. As with all parvoviruses studied to date, the left ORF of BPV codes for the nonstructural protein NS-1 and the right ORF codes for the major parts of the three capsid proteins. The mid ORF probably encodes the major part of the nonstructural protein NP-1. There are promoterlike sequences at map units 4.5, 12.8, and 38.7 and polyadenylation signals at map units 61.6, 64.6, and 98.5. BPV has little DNA homology with the defective parvovirus AAV, with the human autonomous parvovirus B19, or with the other autonomous parvoviruses sequenced (canine parvovirus, feline panleukopenia virus, H-1, and minute virus of mice). Even though the overall DNA homology of BPV with other parvoviruses is low, several small regions of high homology are observed when the amino acid sequences encoded by the left and right ORFs are compared. From these comparisons, it can be shown that the evolutionary relationship among the parvoviruses is B19 in equilibrium with AAV in equilibrium with BPV in equilibrium with MVM. The highly conserved amino acid sequences observed among all parvoviruses may be useful in the identification and detection of parvoviruses and in the design of a general parvovirus vaccine.     

Phenyl-n-butylborinic acid is a potent transition state analog inhibitor of lipolytic enzymes

The cholesterol esterase and lipoprotein lipase catalyzed hydrolyses of the water-soluble substrate p-nitrophenyl butyrate are competitively inhibited by butaneboronic acid and phenylboronic acid. Phenyl-n-butylborinic acid has been synthesized and characterized as an ultrapotent transition state analog inhibitor: Ki = 2.9 +/- 0.6 nM and 1.7 +/- 0.3 microM for the cholesterol esterase and lipoprotein lipase reactions, respectively. These results are interpreted in terms of transition state structure and stabilization.     

Responses of central auditory neurons of female crickets (Gryllus campestris L.) to the calling song of the male

Summary This paper reports the results of studies on the neural control of the female's phonotactic response to the calling song of a male cricket, Gryllus campestris L. It deals with the processing of acoustic information contained in the temporal organization of the male's calling song by central auditory neurons. Suction electrodes were used to record the activity of auditory neurons within the intact or within splitted cervical connectives in response to the playback of a natural calling song, or to artificial chirps.Several non-habituating auditory units were repeatedly encountered as a group. These units showed clear, consistent but complex responses to the male's calling song. Individual neurons were identified that responded consistently to either the chirps as a unit (chirp coder) or to the individual pulses within a chirp (pulse coder).Auditory neurons variably responsive to the temporal features of the calling song were also observed, and the most interesting units of this group answered cyclically to the calling song with a period approximating that of the respiratory rate and perhaps that of the slow oscillator suggested by Kutsch (1969) as a timer of the chirp sequences in the male.The results demonstrate that all important temporal features of the calling song in Gryllus campestris L. are coded in the activity of a few central auditory neurons which carry this information to the head ganglia.This research was supported by an U.S.P.H.S. Special Fellowship (MH 1244) and by U.S.P.H.S. Research Grant N.S. 08732 given to J. F. Stout, and it was sponsored by a Nato-Research Grant No. 512, a grant from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and, the Stiftung Volkswagenwerk, given to F. Huber.