Development and characterization of polyclonal antibodies against a conserved sequence in the catalytic domain of protein kinases.

Using a synthetic oligopeptide (CGGGTPEYLAPEGGK) crosslinked to keyhole limpet hemocyanin we have raised polyclonal rabbit antibodies against a 9 residue homologous region found in the catalytic domain of most protein kinases. These antibodies reacted during Western immunoblotting with cAMP dependent protein kinase catalytic subunit, phosphorylase kinase gamma subunit and calcium calmodulin dependent protein kinase II which have homologous sequences of GTPEYLAPE, GTPSYLAPE and GTPGYLSPE, respectively. Five other protein kinases did not react with anti-GTPEYLAPE antibodies during Western immunoblotting. Affinity-purified antibodies were able to detect as little as 50 ng of cAMP dependent protein kinase and 200 ng of Ca2+/calmodulin dependent protein kinase II. Immunoblotting of A431 cell plasma membrane vesicles indicated the presence of an approximately 55 kDa protein that contains the conserved sequence and is likely to be a protein kinase. Antibodies directed against conserved sequences present in protein kinases, or possibly other enzymes, may be useful in identifying previously uncharacterized enzymes at the protein level.     

The Notch ligand Jagged-1 is able to induce maturation of monocyte-derived human dendritic cells

Notch receptors play a key role in several cellular processes including differentiation, proliferation, and apoptosis. This study investigated whether the activation of Notch signaling would affect the maturation of dendritic cells (DCs). Direct stimulation of Notch signaling in DCs with a peptide ligand induced DC maturation, similar to LPS: DCs up-regulated maturation markers, produced IL-12, lost endocytosis capacity, and became able to activate allogeneic T cells. Furthermore, coculture of DCs with cells expressing Notch ligand Jagged-1 induced up-regulation of maturation markers, IL-12 production, T cell proliferative responses, and IFN-gamma production. Our data suggest that activation of Notch by Jagged-1 plays an important role in maturation of human DCs. Additionally, they reveal a novel role for Notch signaling in cell maturation events distal to the cell fate decision fork. These data may have important medical implications, since they provide new reagents to induce DC activity, which may be beneficial as adjuvants in situations where an immune response needs to be elicited, such as tumor immunotherapy.     

Biocidal activity of three wood essential oils against Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae), Xenopsylla cheopis (Siphonaptera: Pulicidae), and Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae)

The biocidal activity of three steam distilled wood essential oils-incense cedar, Calocedrus decurrens (Torr.) Florin; Port-Orford-cedar, Chamaecyparis lawsoniana (A. Murr.) Parl.; and western juniper, Juniperus occidentalis (Hook)--were evaluated against adult Aedes aegypti (L.) (Diptera: Culicidae) and Xenopsylla cheopis (Rothchild) (Siphonaptera: Pulicidae) and nymphal Ixodes scapularis Say (Acari: Ixodidae). In vitro laboratory bioassays were conducted to establish baseline dose-mortality data through 24 h. Incense cedar heartwood was the most toxic to all three vector species followed in order of activity by western juniper and Port-Orford-cedar based on LC50 and LC90 values. Ae. aegypti were substantially more susceptible to the oils than either I. scapularis or X. cheopis.     

Chiral, fully extended helical peptides

The synthesis of the N-protected (blocked) homo-peptide esters from the chiral C(α)-ethyl, C(α)-n-pentylglycine was performed in solution to the hexapeptide level. The conformational propensity exhibited by these oligomers in chloroform solution and in the crystal state was assessed by use of FTIR absorption, NMR, and X-ray diffraction. The results indicated that fully extended helical structures (2.0(5)-helices) are overwhelmingly adopted irrespective of the peptide main-chain length. This oligomeric series is of great interest as it is characterized by the longest C ( i )(α) ,…, C ( i+1 )(α) (per residue) separation achievable in the class of chiral, rigid, helical peptide spacers based on α-amino acids.     

Gut microbiota composition is associated with environmental landscape in honey bees

There is growing recognition that the gut microbial community regulates a wide variety of important functions in its animal hosts, including host health. However, the complex interactions between gut microbes and environment are still unclear. Honey bees are ecologically and economically important pollinators that host a core gut microbial community that is thought to be constant across populations. Here, we examined whether the composition of the gut microbial community of honey bees is affected by the environmental landscape the bees are exposed to. We placed honey bee colonies reared under identical conditions in two main landscape types for 6 weeks: either oilseed rape farmland or agricultural farmland distant to fields of flowering oilseed rape. The gut bacterial communities of adult bees from the colonies were then characterized and compared based on amplicon sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. While previous studies have delineated a characteristic core set of bacteria inhabiting the honey bee gut, our results suggest that the broad environment that bees are exposed to has some influence on the relative abundance of some members of that microbial community. This includes known dominant taxa thought to have functions in nutrition and health. Our results provide evidence for an influence of landscape exposure on honey bee microbial community and highlight the potential effect of exposure to different environmental parameters, such as forage type and neonicotinoid pesticides, on key honey bee gut bacteria. This work emphasizes the complexity of the relationship between the host, its gut bacteria, and the environment and identifies target microbial taxa for functional analyses.     

Seed dormancy release and germination characteristics of <i>Corispermum lehmannianum</i> Bunge,an endemic species in the Gurbantunggut desert of China

Seed dormancy release and germination of Corispermum lehmannianum Bunge were tested using various treatments: temperature, cold stratification, gibberelins (GA3), dry storage and sand burial. Results showed that temperature and light did not affect the germination of fresh seeds, cold stratification and GA3 could improve seed germination, whereas dry storage and sand burial did not. The germination percentage was highest at 35/20 °C after the cold stratification and GA3 treatments. Corispermum lehmannianum seeds were classified as non-deep, Type-2, physiological dormancy (PD), whose seed dormancy could be released by cold stratification and GA3.     

Long‐term preservation of a collection of Rhizoctonia solani using cryogenic storage

Rhizoctonia solani is an important plant pathogen for a number of crops and maintaining an extensive collection of reference isolates is important in understanding relationships of this pathogen with multiple hosts. Current long‐term storage methods typically call for frequent transfer increasing the risk of changes in morphological, physiological or virulence characteristics. Cryopreservation using storage in liquid nitrogen (LN) was evaluated to examine the potential for storage of a R. solani culture collection containing 106 isolates (primarily from sugar beet). Cultures were stored on autoclaved barley grains in the vapour phase of LN. After 60 days, 5 years and 10 years in storage, all isolates were tested for viability by calculating the percentage of barley grains from which R. solani mycelia grew. Five years after initial storage, all isolates except one had no change in viability. After 10 years in storage, 67 of 106 isolates had no significant decrease in viability, 39 of 106 isolates had a significant decrease in viability but only 9 isolates had less than 10% growth, with 4 having no growth. A subset of isolates stored for 10 years were tested for pathogenicity on a susceptible (FC901) and resistant (FC703) sugar beet germplasm. All isolates tested maintained approximately the same level of virulence that they had prior to storage on both germplasms. This indicates that cryogenic methods are suitable for the preservation or storage of R. solani culture collections, although efficacy may vary with individual isolates.     

Root cultures of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Hypericum perforatum</Emphasis> subsp. <Emphasis Type="Italic">angustifolium</Emphasis> elicited with chitosan and production of xanthone-rich extracts with antifungal activity

Hypericum perforatum is a well-known medicinal plant which contains a wide variety of metabolites, including xanthones, which have a wide range of biological properties, including antifungal activity. In the present study, we evaluated the capability of roots regenerated from calli of H. perforatum subsp. angustifolium to produce xanthones. Root biomass was positively correlated with the indole-3-butyric acid concentration, whereas a concentration of 1 mg l⁻¹ was the most suitable for the development of roots. High auxin concentrations also inhibited xanthone accumulation. Xanthones were produced in large amounts, with a very stable trend throughout the culture period. When the roots were treated with chitosan, the xanthone content dramatically increased, peaking after 7 days. Chitosan also induced a release of these metabolites into the culture. The maximum accumulation (14.26 ± 0.62 mg g⁻¹ dry weight [DW]) and release (2.64 ± 0.13 mg g⁻¹ DW) of xanthones were recorded 7 days after treatment. The most represented xanthones were isolated, purified, and spectroscopically characterized. Antifungal activity of the total root extracts was tested against a broad panel of human fungal pathogen strains (30 Candida species, 12 Cryptococcus neoformans, and 16 dermatophytes); this activity significantly increased when using chitosan. Extracts obtained after 7 days of chitosan treatment showed high antifungal activity (mean minimum inhibitory concentration of 83.4, 39.1, and 114 μg ml⁻¹ against Candida spp., C. neoformans, and dermatophytes, respectively). Our results suggest that root cultures can be considered as a potential tool for large-scale production of extracts with stable quantities of xanthones.