Synthesis of a tetrasaccharide unit of the capsular polysaccharide of Streptococcus pneumoniae type 9V

In the synthesis of 8-methoxycarbonyloctyl O-(alpha-D-galactopyranosyl)-(1----3)-O-(2-acetamido-2-deoxy-beta-D- mannopyranosyl)-(1----4)-O-(beta-D-glucopyranosyl)-(1----4)-alpha-D- glucopyranoside, which represents a component of the capsular polysaccharide of Streptococcus pneumoniae type 9V, the key step was the coupling of alpha-D-Galp-(1----3)-beta-D-ManpNAc-(1----4)-D-Glc as glycosyl donor with 8-ethoxy-carbonyloctyl 6-O-acetyl-2,3-di-O-benzyl-alpha-D-glucopyranoside as glycosyl acceptor by use of the imidate method. Only the beta-imidate of the trisaccharide could be employed in this glycosidation reaction to give stereoselectively the tetrasaccharide in high yield. The alpha-imidate of the trisaccharide led to hydrolysis of the imidate group.     

tRNA topography during translocation: steady-state and kinetic fluorescence energy-transfer studies

The distances between the anticodon loops of fluorescent tRNAPhe bound to the E site and to either the A or the P site of poly(U)-programmed Escherichia coli ribosomes were measured by fluorescence energy transfer. Donor and acceptor molecules were wybutine and proflavin, respectively, both located 3' to the anticodon of tRNAPhe. The anticodon loops were found to be separated by 42 +/- 10 A (A to E site) and 34 +/- 8 A (P to E site). The latter distance is much larger than the one measured between the anticodon loops of A and P site bound tRNAs [24 +/- 4 A; Paulsen, H., Robertson, J. M., & Wintermeyer, W. (1983) J. Mol. Biol. 167, 411-426], rendering unlikely simultaneous codon-anticodon interaction in the P and E sites. In kinetic stopped-flow measurements, the energy transfer between the anticodon loops of the tRNA molecules was followed during translocation. The transfer efficiency decreases in three steps with apparent rate constants on the order of 1, 0.1, and 0.01 s-1. The fast step is ascribed to the simultaneous displacement of the deacylated tRNAPhe out of the P site and of the N-AcPhe-tRNAPhe from the A site to the P site. The distance between the anticodon loops does not change appreciably during this reaction. A significant separation of the two tRNAs occurs during the intermediate and the slow steps. The latter most likely represents a rearrangement of the posttranslocation complex containing both tRNA molecules.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Mode of high temperature injury to wheat during grain development

High temperature stress adversely affects wheat growth in many important production regions, but the mode of injury is unclear. Wheat ( Triticum aestivum L. cv. Newton) was grown under controlled conditions to determine the relative magnitude and sequences of responses of source and sink processes to high temperature stress during grain development. Regimes of 25°C day/15°C night, 30°C day/20°C night, and 35°C day/25°C night from 5 days after anthesis to maturity differentially affected source and sink processes. High temperatures accelerated the normal decline in viable leaf blade area and photosynthetic activities per unit leaf area. Electron transport, as measured by Hill reaction activity, declined earlier and faster than other photosynthetic processes at the optimum temperature of 25/15 °C and at elevated temperatures. Changes in RUBP carboxylase activities were similar in direction but smaller in magnitude than changes in photosynthesic rate. Increased protease activity during senscence was markedly accentuated by high temperature stress. Specific protease activity increased 4-fold at 25/15 °C and 28-fold at 35/25 °C from 0 to 21 days after initiation of temperature treatments. Grain-filling rate decreased from the lowest to the highest temperature, but the change was smaller than the decrease in grain-filling duration at the same temperatures. We concluded that a major effect of high temperature is acceleration of senescence, including cessation of vegetative and reproductive growth, deterioration of photosynthetic activities, and degradation of proteinaceous constituents.     

Proton-dependent multidrug efflux systems.

Multidrug efflux systems display the ability to transport a variety of structurally unrelated drugs from a cell and consequently are capable of conferring resistance to a diverse range of chemotherapeutic agents. This review examines multidrug efflux systems which use the proton motive force to drive drug transport. These proteins are likely to operate as multidrug/proton antiporters and have been identified in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Such proton-dependent multidrug efflux proteins belong to three distinct families or superfamilies of transport proteins: the major facilitator superfamily (MFS), the small multidrug resistance (SMR) family, and the resistance/ nodulation/cell division (RND) family. The MFS consists of symporters, antiporters, and uniporters with either 12 or 14 transmembrane-spanning segments (TMS), and we show that within the MFS, three separate families include various multidrug/proton antiport proteins. The SMR family consists of proteins with four TMS, and the multidrug efflux proteins within this family are the smallest known secondary transporters. The RND family consists of 12-TMS transport proteins and includes a number of multidrug efflux proteins with particularly broad substrate specificity. In gram-negative bacteria, some multidrug efflux systems require two auxiliary constituents, which might enable drug transport to occur across both membranes of the cell envelope. These auxiliary constituents belong to the membrane fusion protein and the outer membrane factor families, respectively. This review examines in detail each of the characterized proton-linked multidrug efflux systems. The molecular basis of the broad substrate specificity of these transporters is discussed. The surprisingly wide distribution of multidrug efflux systems and their multiplicity in single organisms, with Escherichia coli, for instance, possessing at least nine proton-dependent multidrug efflux systems with overlapping specificities, is examined. We also discuss whether the normal physiological role of the multidrug efflux systems is to protect the cell from toxic compounds or whether they fulfil primary functions unrelated to drug resistance and only efflux multiple drugs fortuitously or opportunistically.     

The transient receptor potential protein (Trp), a putative store-operated Ca2+ channel essential for phosphoinositide-mediated photoreception, forms a signaling complex with NorpA, InaC and InaD.

The transient receptor potential protein (Trp) is a putative capacitative Ca2+ entry channel present in fly photoreceptors, which use the inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (InsP3) signaling pathway for phototransduction. By immunoprecipitation studies, we find that Trp is associated into a multiprotein complex with the norpA-encoded phospholipase C, an eye-specific protein kinase C (InaC) and with the InaD protein (InaD). InaD is a putative substrate of InaC and contains two PDZ repeats, putative protein-protein interaction domains. These proteins are present in the photoreceptor membrane at about equimolar ratios. The Trp homolog analyzed here is isolated together with NorpA, InaC and InaD from blowfly (Calliphora) photoreceptors. Compared to Drosophila Trp, the Calliphora Trp homolog displays 77% amino acid identity. The highest sequence conservation is found in the region that contains the putative transmembrane domains S1-S6 (91% amino acid identity). As investigated by immunogold labeling with specific antibodies directed against Trp and InaD, the Trp signaling complex is located in the microvillar membranes of the photoreceptor cells. The spatial distribution of the signaling complex argues against a direct conformational coupling of Trp to an InsP3 receptor supposed to be present in the membrane of internal photoreceptor Ca2+ stores. It is suggested that the organization of signal transducing proteins into a multiprotein complex provides the structural basis for an efficient and fast activation and regulation of Ca2+ entry through the Trp channel.     

Preliminary observations on the effects of selenate on the development of the embryonic skate, Raja eglanteria

Morphogenesis of the clearnose skate, Raja eglanteria, was not significantly inhibited as a result of 7 days of exposure to 1-2 mM selenate in the sea water during Days 59-69 of embryonic development (hatching would normally have occurred at 82 +/- 4 days of incubation). Although corneal transparency appeared normal in the eye, preliminary measurements of the thickness of Bowman's layer of the cornea suggested that it was significantly thinner in the corneas of embryos exposed to 1-2 mM selenate. Selenate is an ion reported to inhibit sulfation of glycosaminoglycans in connective tissue.     

Effects of clinorotation and microgravity on sweet clover columella cells treated with cytochalasin D

The cytoskeleton of columella cells is believed to be involved in maintaining the developmental polarity of cells observed as a reproducible positioning of cellular organelles. It is also implicated in the transduction of gravitropic signals. Roots of sweet clover ( Melilotus alba L.) seedlings were treated with a microfilament disrupter, cytochalasin D, on a slowly rotating horizontal clinostat (2 rpm). Electron micrographs of treated columella cells revealed several ultrastructural effects including repositioning of the nucleus and the amyloplasts and the formation of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) whorls. However, experiments performed during fast clinorotation (55 rpm) showed an accumulation (but no whorling) of a disorganized ER network at the proximal and distal pole and a random distribution of the amyloplasts. Therefore, formation of whorls depends upon the speed of clinorotation, and the overall impact of cytochalasin D suggests the necessity of microfilaments in organelle positioning. Interestingly, a similar drug treatment performed in microgravity aboard the US Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-54, January 1993) caused a displacement of ER membranes and amyloplasts away from the distal plasma membrane. In the present study, we discuss the role of microfilaments in maintaining columella cell polarity and the utility of clinostats to simulate microgravity.     

Cortical microtubules in sweet clover columella cells developed in microgravity

Electron micrographs of columella cells from sweet clover seedlings grown and fixed in microgravity revealed longitudinal and cross sectioned cortical microtubules. This is the first report demonstrating the presence and stability of this network in plants in microgravity.     

Plasmodium falciparum: carbohydrates as receptor sites of invasion

Monosaccharides, disaccharides, and trisaccharides were tested as inhibitors of the in vitro growth of Plasmodium falciparum (strain FCB). While certain monosaccharides (N-acetyl-D-glucosamine, D-mannose, and 3-O-methyl-D-glucose) proved to exhibit a toxic or reversibly retarding effect on the intraerythrocytic development of the parasite, the corresponding alpha- or beta-methylglycosides did not. Several methylglycosides, synthetic di- and tri-saccharides, and artificial blood group antigens were further tested for inhibitory effects on invasion of host red blood cells in vitro. The synthetic disaccharides beta DGlcNAc(1----4) alpha DManOMe and beta DGlcNAc(1----4) DGlcNAc (chitobiose) were good inhibitors of invasion at 10 mM concentration, whereas beta DGal(1----4)beta DGlcNAcOMe was negligibly inhibitory. The inhibition rate of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine, beta-glycosidically linked to bovine serum albumin (BSA) by an alipathic spacer, -(CH2)8CO-, was not enhanced, compared to the corresponding hapten, beta DGlcNAcO(CH2)8COOCH3. The inhibition rates of blood group A- and B-trisaccharide haptens, which were inhibitors of invasion, were also not significantly enhanced when coupled to BSA by way of the corresponding amide spacer, -(CH2)2NHCO(CH2)7CO-. A remarkable enhancement of the inhibition rate was, however, observed when beta DGal(1----3) alpha DGalNAcO(CH2)2NHCO(CH2)7COOCH3 (T-hapten) was coupled to BSA. A clear-cut decrease in the inhibition rates of different beta-glycosides of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine, beta DGlcNAcOR, was observed, depending on the nature of the aglycon R(p-nitrophenyl greater than -(CH2)8COOCH3 greater than -(CH2)2NHCO(CH2)2COOCH3 greater than -CH3). Also, p-nitrophenyl-alpha-D-glucopyranoside was a much better inhibitor of invasion than the corresponding methyl glycoside, alpha DGlcOMe, which was not inhibitory. The properties of the aglycon spacer, used for the covalent attachment of the carbohydrate to the carrier protein, may thus be crucial for the outcome of the inhibition rate.