Testing the accuracy of methods for reconstructing ancestral states of continuous characters.

Many methods are available for estimating ancestral values of continuous characteristics, but little is known about how well these methods perform. Here we compare six methods: linear parsimony, squared-change parsimony, one-parameter maximum likelihood (Brownian motion), two-parameter maximum likelihood (Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process), and independent comparisons with and without branch-length information. We apply these methods to data from 20 morphospecies of Pleistocene planktic Foraminifera in order to estimate ancestral size and shape variables, and compare these estimates with measurements on fossils close to the phylogenetic position of 13 ancestors. No method produced accurate estimates for any variable: estimates were consistently less good as predictors of the observed values than were the averages of the observed values. The two-parameter maximum-likelihood model consistently produces the most accurate size estimates overall. Estimation of ancestral sizes is confounded by an evolutionary trend towards increasing size. Shape showed no trend but was still estimated very poorly: we consider possible reasons. We discuss the implications of our results for the use of estimates of ancestral characteristics.     

Sequence analysis of a 101-kilobase plasmid required for agar degradation by a Microscilla isolate.

An agar-degrading marine bacterium identified as a Microscilla species was isolated from coastal California marine sediment. This organism harbored a single 101-kb circular DNA plasmid designated pSD15. The complete nucleotide sequence of pSD15 was obtained, and sequence analysis indicated a number of genes putatively encoding a variety of enzymes involved in polysaccharide utilization. The most striking feature was the occurrence of five putative agarase genes. Loss of the plasmid, which occurred at a surprisingly high frequency, was associated with loss of agarase activity, supporting the sequence analysis results.     

Equine Pythiosis: Report in Crossed Bred (Criole Venezuelan) Horses

Pythium insidiosum is a pathogenic oomycete known since 1890 that causes pythiosis in mammals. In this report, seven P. insidiosum isolates were recovered from Venezuelan horses and were characterized. The strains were recovered from biopsied tissues and kunkers collected from granulomatous masses located on the hind limb and from a nodular lesion in the left upper eyelid, which decrease the ability of the horses to be used for working purposes. The methods used to identify P. insidiosum isolates were based on the production of sporangia and zoospores, histopathology and PCR assay. To further characterize these strains, portions of the 18S rRNA genes of the seven isolates were sequenced. The sequences showed high homology to previously described P. insidiosum DNA sequences available in GenBank. Similar studies based on the morphological, histological and molecular data identified the etiological agent in samples of granulomatous lesions in these equines as P. insidiosum. In America, the infection has been diagnosed more frequently in equines of Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica and the United States of America.     

Identification of clusterin sequences mediating renal tubular cell interactions.

Expression of the glycoprotein clusterin is markedly increased following tissue injury. One function of clusterin is to promote cell interactions which are perturbed in these pathologic settings. Clusterin causes cell aggregation and adhesion in vitro yet the molecular mechanism for this effect is not known. In order to identify the active site(s) of clusterin, 34 peptides, each 15 amino acid residues in length, were synthesized from hydrophilic regions of human clusterin. When studied individually, none of the peptides caused aggregation of LLC-PK1 cells, a porcine renal epithelial cell line. However, two out of the 34 peptides inhibited clusterin-induced cell aggregation in a dose-dependent manner. Scrambled versions of these two 'active' peptides did not inhibit cell aggregation. Seven peptides promoted cell adhesion. In conclusion, these findings provide evidence for novel amino acid sequences mediating clusterin-induced renal cell interactions.     

HAM: A new epitope-tag for in vivo protein labeling

The ability to metabolically label proteins with ³⁵S-methionine is critical for the analysis of protein synthesis and turnover. Despite the importance of this approach, however, efficient labeling of proteins in vivo is often limited by a low number of available methionine residues, or by deleterious side-effects associated with protein overexpression. To overcome these limitations, we have created a methionine-rich variant of the widely used HA tag, called HAM, for use with ectopically expressed proteins. Here we describe the development of a series of vectors, and corresponding antisera, for the expression and detection of HAM-tagged proteins in mammalian cells. We show that the HAM tag dramatically improves the sensitivity of ³⁵S-methionine labeling, and permits the analysis of Myc oncoprotein turnover even when HAM-tagged Myc is expressed at levels comparable to that of the endogenous protein. Because of the improved sensitivity provided by the HAM tag, the vectors and antisera described here should be useful for the analysis of protein synthesis and destruction at physiological levels of protein expression.