Primary structure and chemical modification of some amino acid residues of bifunctional alginate lyase from a marine bacterium Pseudoalteromonas sp. strain no. 272

The entire amino acid sequence of bifunctional alginate lyase from Pseudoalteromonas sp. strain No. 272 were determined by two approaches, Edman degradation of the peptides obtained from protease digestion of the enzyme protein and analysis of PCR products of the structural gene. The former resulted in incomplete amino acid sequence in the entire sequence, due to lacking of the proper peptides from the protease digestion. To compensate for this lack of sequences we applied the method of PCR of the structural gene that was initially elucidated from the primers designed from N- and C-terminal amino acid sequences of the enzyme. The results of the amino acid sequences from these two approaches showed good agreement. The enzyme consisted of 233 amino acid residues with a molecular mass of 25,549.5, including the sole W and cystine residue. The sequence homology search among the other alginate lyases from different origins indicated that they were very weakly homologous, with the exception of the sequence homology (80.3%) of Pseudoalteromonas elyakovii alginate lyase. The consensus sequence, YFKhG + Y-Q (Wong, T. Y., Preston, L. A., and Schiller, N. L. 2000. Annu. Rev. Microbiol. 54: 289–340) in the C-terminal regions was conserved. The kinetic analyses of chemical modification of some amino acid residues of the enzyme showed that W, K, and Y appeared to be important in the enzyme function.     

Epidemiology of parainfluenza virus types 1, 2 and 3 infections based on virus isolation between 2002 and 2011 in Yamagata,Japan

To clarify the epidemiology of viral acute respiratory infections (ARIs), 305 human parainfluenza virus types 1 (HPIV1), 154 HPIV2 and 574 HPIV3 strains were isolated from 16,962 nasopharyngeal swabs obtained between 2002 and 2011 at pediatric clinics in Yamagata, Japan. The total isolation frequency for HPIV1–3 was 6.1%. Unlike HPIV1 infections, HPIV3 showed clear seasonality with yearly outbreaks in the spring–summer season. HPIV2 tended to appear biannually in autumn–winter. Although no reliable techniques for the laboratory diagnosis of these infections have been established, the present results suggest that HPIV1–3 are an important causative agent of ARIs in children.     

Possible Host Adaptation as an Evolution Factor of Cowpea aphid‐borne mosaic virus Deduced by Coat Protein Gene Analysis

Cowpea aphid‐borne mosaic virus (CABMV) causes major diseases in cowpea and passion flower plants in Brazil and also in other countries. CABMV has also been isolated from leguminous species including, Cassia hoffmannseggii, Canavalia rosea, Crotalaria juncea and Arachis hypogaea in Brazil. The virus seems to be adapted to two distinct families, the Passifloraceae and Fabaceae. Aiming to identify CABMV and elucidate a possible host adaptation of this virus species, isolates from cowpea, passion flower and C. hoffmannseggii collected in the states of Pernambuco and Rio Grande do Norte were analysed by sequencing the complete coat protein genes. A phylogenetic tree was constructed based on the obtained sequences and those available in public databases. Major Brazilian isolates from passion flower, independently of the geographical distances among them, were grouped in three different clusters. The possible host adaptation was also observed in fabaceous‐infecting CABMV Brazilian isolates. These host adaptations possibly occurred independently within Brazil, so all these clusters belong to a bigger Brazilian cluster. Nevertheless, African passion flower or cowpea‐infecting isolates formed totally different clusters. These results showed that host adaptation could be one factor for CABMV evolution, although geographical isolation is a stronger factor.     

Characterization of two mannose-binding protein cDNAs from rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta): structure and evolutionary implications

Mannose-binding proteins (MBPs), members of the collectin family,have been implicated as lectin opsonins for various virusesand bacteria. Two distinct but related MBPs, MBP-A and MBP-C,with -55% identity at the amino acid level, have been previouslycharacterized from rodents. In humans, however, only one formof MBP has been characterized. In this paper we report studieselucidating the evolution of primate MBPs. ELISA and Westernblot analyses indicated that rhesus and cynomolgus monkeys havetwo forms of MBP in their sera, while chimpanzees have onlyone form, similar to humans. Two distinct MBP cDNA clones wereisolated and characterized from a rhesus monkey liver cDNA library.Rhesus MBP-A is closely related to the mouse and rat MBP-A,showing 77% and 75% identity at the amino acid level, respectively.Rhesus MBP-A also has three cysteines at the N-terminus, similarto mouse and rat MBP-A and human MBP. Rhesus MBP-C shares 90%identity with the human MBP at the amino acid level and hasthree cysteines at the N-terminus, in contrast to two cysteineresidues found in rodent MBP-C. A stretch of nine amino acidsclose to the N-terminus, absent in both mouse and rat MBP-A,but present in rodent MBP-C, chicken and human MBPs, is alsofound in the rhesus MBP-A. The phylogenetic analysis of rhesusand other mammalian MBPs, coupled with the serological datasuggest that at least two distinct MBP genes existed prior tomammalian radiation and the hominoid ancestor apparently lostone of these genes or failed to express it. collectin rhesus monkey mannose-binding protein MBP cDNA mannan-binding protein     

Fission yeast Rhp51 is required for the maintenance of telomere structure in the absence of the Ku heterodimer

The Schizosaccharomyces pombe Ku70–Ku80 heterodimer is required for telomere length regulation. Lack of pku70⁺ results in telomere shortening and striking rearrangements of telomere-associated sequences. We found that the rearrangements of telomere-associated sequences in pku80⁺ mutants are Rhp51 dependent, but not Rad50 dependent. Rhp51 bound to telomere ends when the Ku heterodimer was not present at telomere ends. We also found that the single-stranded G-rich tails increased in S phase in wild-type strains, while deletion of pku70⁺ increased the single-stranded overhang in both G₂ and S phase. Based on these observations, we propose that Rhp51 binds to the G-rich overhang and promotes homologous pairing between two different telomere ends in the absence of Ku heterodimer. Moreover, pku80 rhp51 double mutants showed a significantly reduced telomere hybridization signal. Our results suggest that, although Ku heterodimer sequesters Rhp51 from telomere ends to inhibit homologous recombination activity, Rhp51 plays important roles for the maintenance of telomere ends in the absence of the Ku heterodimer.     

Connexin32 is expressed in vascular endothelial cells and participates in gap-junction intercellular communication

Endothelial cells (ECs) play many roles in vascular biology, including control of blood pressure, blood clotting, atherosclerosis, angiogenesis, and inflammation. Gap junctions (GJs) are channel-like assemblies of connexin (Cx) family proteins that connect neighboring cells and modulate and synchronize their intracellular environments by the transfer of intracellular mediators. It has been reported that vascular ECs express Cx37, Cx40, and Cx43, but not Cx32. Here, we showed that Cx32 mRNA and protein are expressed in various cultured human ECs. We confirmed Cx32 expression in blood vessel ECs using wild-type and Cx32 knock-out mice. We observed that dye transfer between cultured ECs through gap junctions is suppressed by an anti-Cx32 monoclonal antibody. These findings suggest that vascular ECs express Cx32, which participates in endothelial gap-junction intercellular communication.     

In vitro dissection revealed that the kinase domain of wheat RNA ligase is physically isolatable from the flanking domains as a non-overlapping domain enzyme

Wheat RNA ligase contains 5′-hydroxyl kinase, 2′,3′-cyclic phosphate 3′-phosphodiesterase, and 5′-phosphate 2′-phosphate-3′-hydroxyl RNA ligase activities in a 110-kDa polypeptide. Taking advantage of a wheat cell-free protein production system, we prepared various fragments containing a part of the enzyme. The method allowed us to check the activities of the fragments rapidly, eliminating the time-consuming cloning and sequencing steps for the expression of the fragment proteins. The results showed that each of the three activities can be assigned to a non-overlapping domain that does not require the presence of the other part(s) of the enzyme for its activity. This contrasts to the case of yeast tRNA ligase, in which the central kinase domain has been suggested to require to be tethered to one of the flanking domains for its activity.     

A small acidic protein 1 (SMAP1) mediates responses of the Arabidopsis root to the synthetic auxin 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid

2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), a chemical analogue of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), is widely used as a growth regulator and exogenous source of auxin. Because 2,4-D evokes physiological and molecular responses similar to those evoked by IAA, it is believed that they share a common response pathway. Here, we show that a mutant, antiauxin resistant1 (aar1), identified in a screen for resistance to the anti-auxin p-chlorophenoxy-isobutyric acid (PCIB), is resistant to 2,4-D, yet nevertheless responds like the wild-type to IAA and 1-napthaleneacetic acid in root elongation and lateral root induction assays. That the aar1 mutation alters 2,4-D responsiveness specifically was confirmed by analysis of GUS expression in the DR5:GUS and HS:AXR3NT-GUS backgrounds, as well as by real-time PCR quantification of IAA11 expression. The two characterized aar1 alleles both harbor multi-gene deletions; however, 2,4-D responsiveness was restored by transformation with one of the genes missing in both alleles, and the 2,4-D-resistant phenotype was reproduced by decreasing the expression of the same gene in the wild-type using an RNAi construct. The gene encodes a small, acidic protein (SMAP1) with unknown function and present in plants, animals and invertebrates but not in fungi or prokaryotes. Taken together, these results suggest that SMAP1 is a regulatory component that mediates responses to 2,4-D, and that responses to 2,4-D and IAA are partially distinct.     

Production of bioactive compounds based on phylogeny in the genus Penicillium preserved at NBRC

Penicillium strains (n=394) preserved at NBRC (the NITE Biological Resource Center) were compared as to groupings (11 species-clusters) based on phylogeny and the production of bioactive compounds. The strains in two clusters, of which P. chrysogenum and P. citrinum are representative, showed higher rates of positive strains with multi-biological activities.