Down-regulation of phytochrome mRNA abundance by red light and benzyladenine in etiolated cucumber cotyledons

Northern blot analysis revealed that a single 4.2 kb phytochrome mRNA species was detectable in cotyledons excised from five-day-old etiolated cucumber seedlings. Intact etiolated five-day-old cucumber seedlings were given a red light or benzyladenine treatment, and cotyledons were harvested at various times following treatment. The abundance of phytochrome mRNA in the cotyledons was quantitated using ³²P-labeled RNA probes and slot blot analysis. By 2 h after irradiation the phytochrome mRNA level was reduced to 40% of the initial abundance and reaccumulation began by 3 h after irradiation. Reaccumulation of phytochrome mRNA to the time-zero dark control level was achieved by 10 h after treatment. A decrease in phytochrome mRNA abundance was evident by 2 h after benzyladenine treatment, and a maximal reduction to 45% of the time-zero dark control was attained by 4 h after treatment. No recovery of the phytochrome mRNA level was evident by 8 h after benzyladenine treatment. The abundance of actin mRNA was unaffected by benzyladenine treatment.     

鲫鱼视网膜谷氨酸受体和GABA受体在爪蟾卵母细胞中的表达

我们以两栖类卵母细胞为功能表达系统,通过注射鲫鱼（Ｃａｒａｓｓｉｕｓｃａｒａｓｓｉｕｓ）视网膜ｍＲＮＡ,利用电压箝及药物灌流手段,系统地研究了鲫鱼视网膜内氨基酸受体的类型和特征,结果如下：（１）Ｇｌｕ受体：ＫＡ可以诱发明显的去极化电流,而且Ｄｉａｚｏｘｉｄｅ能增强ＫＡ诱导的反应,这提示鲫鱼视网膜内某些Ｃｌｕ受体是ＡＭＰＡ选择性亚型（ＡＭＰＡ－ｐｒｅｆｅｒｒｉｎｇｓｕｂｔｙｐｅ）。（２）ＣＡＢＡ受体：ＧＡＢＡ能诱发一个快速、光滑的内向电流,绝大部分对ＧＡＢＡ的反应可被ｂｉｃｕｃｕｌｌｉｎｅ所压抑,而ＧＡＢＡ＿Ｂ受体的激动剂ｂａｃｌｏｆｅｎ则无任何作用,这提示,鲫鱼视网膜内大部分是ＧＡＢＡ＿Ａ受体。     

Plant mRNA 3′-end formation

Our understanding of how the 3 ends of mRNAs are formed in plants is rudimentary compared to what we know about this process in other eukaryotes. The salient features of plant pre-mRNAs that signal cleavage and polyadenylation remain obscure, and the biochemical mechanism is as yet wholly uncharacterised. Nevertheless, despite the lack of universally conserved cis-acting motifs, a common underlying architecture is emerging from functional analyses of plant poly(A) signals, allowing meaningful comparison with components of poly(A) signals in other eukaryotes. A plant poly(A) signal consists of one or more near-upstream elements (NUE), each directing processing at a poly(A) site a short distance downstream of it, and an extensive far-upstream element (FUE) that enhances processing efficiency at all sites. By analogy with other systems, a model for a plant 3-end processing complex can be proposed. Plant poly(A) polymerases have been isolated and partially characterised. These, together with hints that some processing factors are conserved in different organisms, opens promising avenues toward initial characterisation of the trans-acting factors involved in 3-end formation of mRNAs in higher plants.