Self-splicing of group II introns in vitro: lariat formation and 3' splice site selection in mutant RNAs

Deletion or substitution of the branch A residue in group II intron bl1 significantly reduces splicing activity; yet, residual exon ligation is correct, and lariats have their branch points at the normal distance from the 3' end of the intron. Mutations in the sequence facing the branch point also allow residual lariat formation; however, free 3' exons are generated with false 5' termini, all of which are within a UCACA consensus sequence located upstream or downstream of the normal 3' splice site. These results indicate that both the conserved 3' splice site APy and the spatial arrangements in stem 6 are crucial for correct 3' splice site selection.     

A Toxoplasma type 2C serine-threonine phosphatase is involved in parasite growth in the mammalian host cell

Toxoplasma gondii is a human protozoan parasite that belongs to the phylum of Apicomplexa and causes toxoplasmosis. As the other members of this phylum, T. gondii obligatory multiplies within a host cell by a peculiar type of mitosis that leads to daughter cell assembly within a mother cell. Although parasite growth and virulence have been linked for years, few molecules controlling mitosis have been yet identified and they include a couple of kinases but not the counteracting phosphatases. Here, we report that in contrast to other animal cells, type 2C is by far the major type of serine threonine phosphatase activity both in extracellular and in intracellular dividing parasites. Using wild type and transgenic parasites, we characterized the 37 kDa TgPP2C molecule as an abundant cytoplasmic and nuclear enzyme with activity being under tight regulation. In addition, we showed that the increase in TgPP2C activity significantly affected parasite growth by impairing cytokinesis while nuclear division still occurred. This study supports for the first time that type 2C protein phosphatase is an important regulator of cell growth in T. gondii.     

Second-harmonic generation from organic molecules incorporated in sol-gel matrices

Orientation of optically nonlinear organic molecules inside sol-gel matrices upon application of an external D.C. electrical field is demonstrated for the first time. The quadratic nonlinear response of silicon oxide or transition metal oxide based gels containing organic molecules has been determined from Electric Field Induced Second Harmonic (EFISH) measurements. Large concentrations of Optically Nonlinear Organic Molecules (ONOM) have been either incorporated inside the macromolecular network or chemically bonded to the oxide backbone of the gels. These results demonstrate the feasibility of permanently poled doped sol-gel matrices. Moreover, EFISH measurements performed on organic molecules appear to be a useful tool for monitoring the changes occurring during sol-gel transformations.     

Quelques données ultrastructurales sur un myoépithélium: le pharynx d'un Bryozoaire

Résumé L'épithélium pharyngien d'Alcyonidium polyoum possède des cellules pourvues d'une très grande vacuole. L'incompressibilité du liquide vacuolaire permet un élargissement brusque de l'organe lors de la contraction du manchon musculaire strié qui enserre cette vacuole. Les fibres musculaires sont insérées sur le plasmalemme apical par des filaments unitifs. Le point d'attache est relié à la lame amorphe du cell-coat qui entoure les microvillosités par des fibrilles, réalisant probablement une liaison mécamique plus efficace. Le reticulum sarcoplasmique porte des ribosomes. Le cytoplasme apical renferme des vésicules de diverses catégories.

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Some ultrastructural data about a myoepithelium: The pharynx of a bryozoan

Summary Pharyngeal cells of Alcyonidium polyoum (Bryozoa) are provided with very large vacuoles. Each vacuole is enveloped by a thin layer of striated muscle, whose contraction enlarges the organ. Filaments join the muscular elements to the apical plasmalemma. This point of muscular insertion is connected by fibrils with the amorphic lamina of cell-coat which surrounds the microvilli. Ribosomes are often found on dyads. Various vesicles are located in the apical cytoplasm.

     

A physiological analogy of the niche for projecting the potential distribution of plants

Aim  To develop a physiologically based model of the plant niche for use in species distribution modelling. Location  Europe. Methods  We link the Thornley transport resistance (TTR) model with functions which describe how the TTR’s model parameters are influenced by abiotic environmental factors. The TTR model considers how carbon and nutrient uptake, and the allocation of these assimilates, influence growth. We use indirect statistical methods to estimate the model parameters from a high resolution data set on tree distribution for 22 European tree species. Results  We infer, from distribution data and abiotic forcing data, the physiological niche dimensions of 22 European tree species. We found that the model fits were reasonable (AUC: 0.79–0.964). The projected distributions were characterized by a false positive rate of 0.19 and a false negative rate 0.12. The fitted models are used to generate projections of the environmental factors that limit the range boundaries of the study species. Main conclusions  We show that physiological models can be used to derive physiological niche dimensions from species distribution data. Future work should focus on including prior information on physiological rates into the parameter estimation process. Application of the TTR model to species distribution modelling suggests new avenues for establishing explicit links between distribution and physiology, and for generating hypotheses about how ecophysiological processes influence the distribution of plants.     

The Amusic Brain: Lost in Music,but Not in Space

Congenital amusia is a neurogenetic disorder of music processing that is currently ascribed to a deficit in pitch processing. A recent study challenges this view and claims the disorder might arise as a consequence of a general spatial-processing deficit. Here, we assessed spatial processing abilities in two independent samples of individuals with congenital amusia by using line bisection tasks (Experiment 1) and a mental rotation task (Experiment 2). Both amusics and controls showed the classical spatial effects on bisection performance and on mental rotation performance, and amusics and controls did not differ from each other. These results indicate that the neurocognitive impairment of congenital amusia does not affect the processing of space.     

Basement membrane protein and matrix metalloproteinase deregulation in engineered human oral mucosa following infection with Candida albicans.

A variety of morphological changes in the basement membrane (BM) are known to occur in inflammatory diseases. Modifications of the BM can be associated with significant changes in protein content. Candida albicans (C. albicans) is normally a commensal organism and is a member of the natural flora of a large number of healthy individuals. However, under certain conditions, C. albicans can invade host tissues, causing inflammation and tissue damage. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of C. albicans on the expression and production of structural (laminin-5 and type IV collagen) and inflammatory [matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and their inhibitors] proteins by human oral epithelial cells. Using engineered normal human oral mucosa infected with 10(5) C. albicans/cm2 for different periods of time, we were able to demonstrate that this yeast promotes significant laminin-5 and type IV collagen gene activation and protein secretion. These effects were accompanied by MMP-2 and MMP-9 gene activation. Interestingly, only the levels of active MMP-9 rose. The increase in MMP levels was paralleled by a decrease in the secretion of type 2 matrix metalloproteinase tissue inhibitors (TIMP-2). Our results demonstrated that C. albicans has a significant effect on tissue structure through BM protein and MMP modulation. This might help C. albicans overcome the mechanical and biological defenses of the tissue and allow it to disseminate, causing severe infections. If C. albicans uses MMPs (mainly MMP-9) to disseminate, inhibition of this protease could be of interest in treating a variety of inflammatory disorders, including oral candidiasis.