Symbiotic Characteristics and Rhizobium Requirements of a Leucaena leucocephala × Leucaena diversifolia Hybrid and Its Parental Genotypes

In 56-day-old plants, Leucaena leucocephala and its hybrid with L. diversifolia showed 100% more total N than did L. diversifolia. Significant (P < 0.01) host-inoculation interaction in total N was 14.4% of the total phenotypic variation. The most effective and competitive Rhizobium sp. for the leucaenas was TAL 1145. Three-strain mixed inoculation was inferior to TAL 1145 alone.     

Fish oil supplementation reduces excretion of 2,3-dinor-6-oxo-PGF1α and the 11-dehydrothromboxane B2/2,3-dinor-6-oxo-PGF1α excretion ratio in adult men

Dietary supplementation with a fish oil concentrate (FOC) reduced the endogenous synthesis of prostacyclin (PGI₂), as measured by the excretion of its major urinary catabolite, 2,3-dinor-6-oxo-PGF_1α (PGI₂-M). Thirty-four healthy men (24–57 years old) were given controlled diets and supplements that provided 40% of the energy from fat and a minimum of 22 mg/d of α-tocopherol for two consecutive experimental periods of 10 weeks each. During the experimental periods, the men received capsules containing 15 g/d of a placebo oil (PO) (period 1) or 15 g/d of the FOC (period 2). In addition to the PO or FOC, capsules contained 1 mg of α-tocopherol per g of fat as an antioxidant. The average daily excretion of PGI₂-M during the last week of FOC supplementation (period 2) was 22% less (P = 0.0001) than at the end of the first period. These results are at variance with those reported in comparable human studies conducted by other investigators during the middle and late 1980s. A 20% reduction (P = 0.003) in the 11-dehydrothromboxane B₂ to 2,3-dinor-6-oxo-PGF_1α excretion ratio at the end of period 2 in this study demonstrates that a shift of the n-6 to n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid ratio from 12.5 to 2.3 brings about a substantial modulation of the eicosanoid system.     

Metabolism and distribution of cyclohexanecarboxylic Acid, a plant growth stimulant, in bush bean

A foliar spray of 10 mm cyclohexanecarboxylic acid (CHC), a component of the growth stimulant naphthenic acid, to primary leaves of 14-day-old plants of bush bean, Phaseolus vulgaris L., cv Top Crop, resulted in increased vegetative growth and pod production. One minute after the application of 0.5 mm CHC-7-(14)C (CHC(*)) to a primary leaf, CHC(*) was present within it. The chief conversion of the CHC(*) in the leaf during the interval 15 minutes to 4 hours after the acid had been applied appeared to be CHC(*) to its glucose conjugate (CHC(*)-G), and during 4 to 48 hours, CHC(*)-G to CHC(*)-aspartate and an unknown metabolite. Radioactivity was confined to the leaf for at least 1 hour, but by the 12th hour was detected throughout the plant. In the interval 1 to 4 weeks after CHC(*) application, the mean percentage distribution of radioactivity was: treated leaf, 65.3; roots, 18.8; stem, 7.7; trifoliate leaves, 5.9; flower buds-flowers-pods, 2.3. During this period CHC(*)-G was the most prominent metabolite in all organs; no free CHC(*) was detected. Light favored the movement of CHC(*) conjugates out of the leaf; glucose fed to dark-grown plants substituted for light to some extent but aspartate was relatively ineffective, suggesting the dependence of outward movement on ATP. The presence of the glucose and aspartate conjugates of the acid in all organs of CHC-treated plants and the absence of free CHC from them suggest that one or both conjugates, rather than the acid itself, are involved in growth stimulation.     

Physical mapping of the genome and sequence analysis at the inverted terminal repetition of adenovirus type 4 DNA

The genome of adenovirus type 4 (Ad4), the unique member of Ad group E, has been mapped with nine restriction endonucleases. Comparison of the occurrence of restriction endonuclease cleavage sites on Ad2, Ad7, Ad12 and Ad4 indicates that there is very little homology between these serotypes. Sequence analysis at the ITR of Ad4 showed that the "CAT" box which is present in all the ITRs of Ad's so far sequenced is absent in Ad4. The length of 116 bp for the ITR of Ad4 is also different from that of other Ad subgroups.     

Iron supplementation promotes in vitro shoot induction and multiplication of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Baptisia australis</Emphasis>

C₄ plants can efficiently accumulate CO₂ in leaves and thus reduce wasteful oxygen fixation by the RuBisCO enzyme. Three C₄ enzymes, namely carbonic anhydrase (CA), phosphoenol pyruvate (PEPC) and pyruvate orthophosphate dikinase (PPDK), were over expressed in Oryza sativa L. ssp. indica var. Khitish under the control of green tissue specific promoters PD_54o, PEPC and PPDK, respectively. Integration of these genes was confirmed by Southern hybridization. The relative expression of PEPC, CA and PPDK were, respectively, 6.75, 6.57 and 3.6-fold higher in transgenic plants compared to wild type plants (control). Photosynthetic efficiency of the transgenic plants increased significantly along with a 12?% increase in grain yield compared to wild type plants. Compared to control plants, transgenic plants also showed phenotypic changes such as increased leaf blade size, root biomass, and plant height and anatomical changes such as greater leaf vein number, bundle sheath cells, and bulliform cells. Our findings indicate that the combined over expression of these three enzymes is an efficient strategy for incorporating beneficial physiological and anatomical features that will enable subsequent yield enhancement in C₃ rice plants.     

Probing the role of the fully conserved Cys126 in triosephosphate isomerase by site-specific mutagenesis--distal effects on dimer stability

Cys126 is a completely conserved residue in triosephosphate isomerase that is proximal to the active site but has been ascribed no specific role in catalysis. A previous study of the C126S and C126A mutants of yeast TIM reported substantial catalytic activity for the mutant enzymes, leading to the suggestion that this residue is implicated in folding and stability [Gonzalez-Mondragon E et al. (2004) Biochemistry 43, 3255-3263]. We re-examined the role of Cys126 with the Plasmodium falciparum enzyme as a model. Five mutants, C126S, C126A, C126V, C126M, and C126T, were characterized. Crystal structures of the 3-phosphoglycolate-bound C126S mutant and the unliganded forms of the C126S and C126A mutants were determined at a resolution of 1.7-2.1 ?. Kinetic studies revealed an approximately five-fold drop in k(cat) for the C126S and C126A mutants, whereas an approximately 10-fold drop was observed for the other three mutants. At ambient temperature, the wild-type enzyme and all five mutants showed no concentration dependence of activity. At higher temperatures (> 40 °C), the mutants showed a significant concentration dependence, with a dramatic loss in activity below 15 μM. The mutants also had diminished thermal stability at low concentration, as monitored by far-UV CD. These results suggest that Cys126 contributes to the stability of the dimer interface through a network of interactions involving His95, Glu97, and Arg98, which form direct contacts across the dimer interface.     

Overexpression of Glyoxalase III gene in transgenic sugarcane confers enhanced performance under salinity stress

Journal of Plant Research - The glyoxalase pathway is a check point to monitor the elevation of methylglyoxal (MG) level in plants and is mediated by glyoxalase I (Gly I) and glyoxalase II (Gly II)...     

Altered Processing of Amyloid Precursor Protein in Cells Undergoing Apoptosis

Altered proteolysis of amyloid precursor protein is an important determinant of pathology development in Alzheimer''s disease. Here, we describe the detection of two novel fragments of amyloid precursor protein in H4 neuroglioma cells undergoing apoptosis. Immunoreactivity of these 25–35 kDa fragments to two different amyloid precursor protein antibodies suggests that they contain the amyloid-β region and an epitope near the C-terminus of amyloid precursor protein. Generation of these fragments is associated with cleavage of caspase-3 and caspase-7, suggesting activation of these caspases. Studies in neurons undergoing DNA damage-induced apoptosis also showed similar results. Inclusion of caspase inhibitors prevented the generation of these novel fragments, suggesting that they are generated by a caspase-dependent mechanism. Molecular weight prediction and immunoreactivity of the fragments generated suggested that such fragments could not be generated by cleavage at any previously identified caspase, secretase, or calpain site on amyloid precursor protein. Bioinformatic analysis of the amino acid sequence of amyloid precursor protein revealed that fragments fitting the observed size and immunoreactivity could be generated by either cleavage at a novel, hitherto unidentified, caspase site or at a previously identified matrix metalloproteinase site in the extracellular domain. Proteolytic cleavage at any of these sites leads to a decrease in the generation of α-secretase cleaved secreted APP, which has both anti-apoptotic and neuroprotective properties, and thus may contribute to neurodegeneration in Alzheimer''s disease.