Tree Migration-Rates: Narrowing the Gap between Inferred Post-Glacial Rates and Projected Rates

Faster-than-expected post-glacial migration rates of trees have puzzled ecologists for a long time. In Europe, post-glacial migration is assumed to have started from the three southern European peninsulas (southern refugia), where large areas remained free of permafrost and ice at the peak of the last glaciation. However, increasing palaeobotanical evidence for the presence of isolated tree populations in more northerly microrefugia has started to change this perception. Here we use the Northern Eurasian Plant Macrofossil Database and palaeoecological literature to show that post-glacial migration rates for trees may have been substantially lower (60–260 m yr^–1) than those estimated by assuming migration from southern refugia only (115–550 m yr^–1), and that early-successional trees migrated faster than mid- and late-successional trees. Post-glacial migration rates are in good agreement with those recently projected for the future with a population dynamical forest succession and dispersal model, mainly for early-successional trees and under optimal conditions. Although migration estimates presented here may be conservative because of our assumption of uniform dispersal, tree migration-rates clearly need reconsideration. We suggest that small outlier populations may be a key factor in understanding past migration rates and in predicting potential future range-shifts. The importance of outlier populations in the past may have an analogy in the future, as many tree species have been planted beyond their natural ranges, with a more beneficial microclimate than their regional surroundings. Therefore, climate-change-induced range-shifts in the future might well be influenced by such microrefugia.     

Investigation of protein refolding using a fractional factorial screen: a study of reagent effects and interactions

A recurring obstacle for structural genomics is the expression of insoluble, aggregated proteins. In these cases, the use of alternative salvage strategies, like in vitro refolding, is hindered by the lack of a universal refolding method. To overcome this obstacle, fractional factorial screens have been introduced as a systematic and rapid method to identify refolding conditions. However, methodical analyses of the effectiveness of refolding reagents on large sets of proteins remain limited. In this study, we address this void by designing a fractional factorial screen to rapidly explore the effect of 14 different reagents on the refolding of 33 structurally and functionally diverse proteins. The refolding data was analyzed using statistical methods to determine the effect of each refolding additive. The screen has been miniaturized for automation resulting in reduced protein requirements and increased throughput. Our results show that the choice of pH and reducing agent had the largest impact on protein refolding. Bis-mercaptoacetamide cyclohexane (BMC) and tris (2-carboxyethylphosphine) (TCEP) were superior reductants when compared to others in the screen. BMC was particularly effective in refolding disulfide-containing proteins, while TCEP was better for nondisulfide-containing proteins. From the screen, we successfully identified a positive synergistic interaction between nondetergent sulfobetaine 201 (NDSB 201) and BMC on Cdc25A refolding. The soluble protein resulting from this interaction crystallized and yielded a 2.2 Angstroms structure. Our method, which combines a fractional factorial screen with statistical analysis of the data, provides a powerful approach for the identification of optimal refolding reagents in a general refolding screen.     

Use of an intergenic region in Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae B728a for site-directed genomic marking of bacterial strains for field experiments

To construct differentially-marked derivatives of our model wild-type strain, Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae B728a (a causal agent of bacterial brown spot disease in snap bean plants), for field experiments, we selected a site in the gacS-cysM intergenic region for site-directed insertion of antibiotic resistance marker cassettes. In each of three field experiments, population sizes of the site-directed chromosomally marked B728a derivatives in association with snap bean plants were not significantly different from that of the wild-type strain. Inserts of up to 7 kb of DNA in the intergenic region did not measurably affect fitness of B728a in the field. The site is useful for site-directed genomic insertions of single copies of genes of interest.     

Diagnostic potential of PhotoSELEX-evolved ssDNA aptamers

High sensitivity and specificity of two modified ssDNA aptamers capable of photocross-linking recombinant human basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF((155))) were demonstrated. The aptamers were identified through a novel, covalent, in vitro selection methodology called photochemical systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (PhotoSELEX). The aptamers exhibited high sensitivity for bFGF((155)) comparable with commercially available ELISA monoclonal antibodies with an absolute sensitivity of at least 0.058 ppt bFGF((155)) under prevailing test conditions. The aptamers exquisitely distinguished bFGF((155)) from consanguine proteins, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and platelet derived growth factor (PDGF). A commercially viable diagnostic system incorporating PhotoSELEX-evolved aptamers capable of simultaneous quantification of a large number of analyte molecules is also described. Such a system benefits from covalent bonding of aptamer to target protein allowing vigorous washing with denaturants to improve signal to noise.     

Multiple signaling pathways and a selector protein sequentially regulate Drosophila wing development

Drosophila wing development is a useful model to study organogenesis, which requires the input of selector genes that specify the identity of various morphogenetic fields (Weatherbee, S. D. and Carroll, S. B. (1999) Cell 97, 283-286) and cell signaling molecules. In order to understand how the integration of multiple signaling pathways and selector proteins can be achieved during wing development, we studied the regulatory network that controls the expression of Serrate (Ser), a ligand for the Notch (N) signaling pathway, which is essential for the development of the Drosophila wing, as well as vertebrate limbs. Here, we show that a 794 bp cis-regulatory element located in the 3' region of the Ser gene can recapitulate the dynamic patterns of endogenous Ser expression during wing development. Using this enhancer element, we demonstrate that Apterous (Ap, a selector protein), and the Notch and Wingless (Wg) signaling pathways, can sequentially control wing development through direct regulation of Ser expression in early, mid and late third instar stages, respectively. In addition, we show that later Ser expression in the presumptive vein cells is controlled by the Egfr pathway. Thus, a cis-regulatory element is sequentially regulated by multiple signaling pathways and a selector protein during Drosophila wing development. Such a mechanism is possibly conserved in the appendage outgrowth of other arthropods and vertebrates.     

Identification and removal of O-linked and non-covalently linked sugars from recombinant protein produced using Pichia pastoris

The use of the methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris for large-scale recombinant production of proteins for therapeutic uses and/or biophysical characterisation has been gaining popularity. Here we describe the use of this organism for the production of a von Willebrand factor C domain from procollagen IIA for solution NMR studies. In this research, we specifically identified sites of O-linked glycosylation on the expressed protein, although the native protein is not glycosylated. We demonstrated that it was possible to remove the oligosaccharides by enzymatic digestion, however this approach proved to be prohibitively expensive for the scale of production required for high-resolution structural studies by NMR spectroscopy. After removal of the O-linked glycosylation sites by site-directed mutagenesis, we confirmed that the protein was no longer covalently glycosylated. However, analysis by 1H- and 13C-edited spectroscopy identified the presence of non-covalently associated glycans which were removed by lectin affinity chromatography. We have synthesised methods for the identification and removal of both covalently and non-covalently bound oligosaccharides from heterologous protein expressed in P. pastoris.     

Ubiquinone binding protein used for determination of coenzyme Q

The conventional method of assaying for the ubiquinone (CoQ) content of biological samples is to partition CoQ into an organic phase and separate it from contaminants by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). HPLC is an accurate method of quantifying CoQ content but is not ideal for routine clinical analyses. This paper describes the development of a rapid method for assaying the CoQ content of biological samples based on the binding of CoQ to a CoQ binding peptide. The 14-amino acid binding peptide was chemically synthesized, and conditions for immobilizing the peptide on microfuge tubes were established. CoQ could be selectively bound to the immobilized peptide, eluted, and determined spectrophotometrically. Limits of detection for the method were 0.25 to 5 nmol CoQ. To test biological samples, CoQ was isolated from cultures of Saccharomyces cerevisiae grown in oleic acid medium. The recovery of CoQ samples using the binding assay ranged from 99 to 102% of the values obtained with HPLC. The assay described here provides an inexpensive, rapid method for determining the CoQ content of large numbers of biological samples in a variety of laboratory settings.