Involvement of Escherichia coli DNA polymerase II in response to oxidative damage and adaptive mutation.

DNA polymerase II (Pol II) is regulated as part of the SOS response to DNA damage in Escherichia coli. We examined the participation of Pol II in the response to oxidative damage, adaptive mutation, and recombination. Cells lacking Pol II activity (polB delta 1 mutants) exhibited 5- to 10-fold-greater sensitivity to mode 1 killing by H2O2 compared with isogenic polB+ cells. Survival decreased by about 15-fold when polB mutants containing defective superoxide dismutase genes, sodA and sodB, were compared with polB+ sodA sodB mutants. Resistance to peroxide killing was restored following P1 transduction of polB cells to polB+ or by conjugation of polB cells with an F' plasmid carrying a copy of polB+. The rate at which Lac+ mutations arose in Lac- cells subjected to selection for lactose utilization, a phenomenon known as adaptive mutation, was increased threefold in polB backgrounds and returned to wild-type rates when polB cells were transduced to polB+. Following multiple passages of polB cells or prolonged starvation, a progressive loss of sensitivity to killing by peroxide was observed, suggesting that second-site suppressor mutations may be occurring with relatively high frequencies. The presence of suppressor mutations may account for the apparent lack of a mutant phenotype in earlier studies. A well-established polB strain, a dinA Mu d(Apr lac) fusion (GW1010), exhibited wild-type (Pol II+) sensitivity to killing by peroxide, consistent with the accumulation of second-site suppressor mutations. A high titer anti-Pol II polyclonal antibody was used to screen for the presence of Pol II in other bacteria and in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Cross-reacting material was found in all gram-negative strains tested but was not detected in gram-positive strains or in S. cerevisiae. Induction of Pol II by nalidixic acid was observed in E. coli K-12, B, and C, in Shigella flexneri, and in Salmonella typhimurium.     

Short period leaf movements in Oxalis regnellii

Oxalis regnellii Mig. is a trifoliate plant, and the three leaflets usually show synchronized up and down movements with a circadian period of 26–27 h. The three leaflets can also perform desynchronized ultradian oscillations, and we report on such rhythms under different conditions. A study of the occurrence of ultradian leaf movement rhythms as a function of irradiance is presented. At an irradiance of approximately 1 μW cm⁻², the occurrence was maximal and ca 30%. The periods varied from 5 to 15 h. Four other cases of ultradian rhythms in different conditions are also presented. In one case spontaneous ultradian rhythms occurred, and in another, two of the leaflets showed ultradian rhythms when the third leaflet had received a light pulse. In two more cases, the three leaflets on a leaf were separated by physical cuts along the petiole between the pulvini; in both cases the period was approximately 5 h. Possible mechanisms to explain the ultradian rhythms in Oxalis regnelli are discussed.     

Linkage analysis and allelic imbalance in human breast cancer kindreds using microsatellite markers from the short arm of chromosome 3

Eight Icelandic breast cancer kindreds were subjected to linkage analyses with respect to 28 microsatellite loci dispersed along the short arm of chromosome 3. Breast tumors derived from these kindreds were concurrently scored for allelic imbalance with ten of the markers. Linkage to most markers could be excluded on the basis of negative LOD scores and haplotype analyses, although some moderately positive LOD scores resulted. A high frequency of imbalance in the familial tumors was seen with two of the markers in comparison with results obtained from sporadic material. The highest frequency (68%) of imbalance was detected with the marker D3S1217, which is located on 3p14.2-p14.1. Imbalance at the D3S1211 locus, which is more telomeric (3p24.2-p22), was not significantly elevated in the familial tumors. We suggest that the genetic defect responsible for breast cancer susceptibility in these families either promotes instability in the 3p14.2-p14.1 region or enhances the selective advantage of such changes.     

A highly repetitive, mariner-like element in the genome of Hyalophora cecropia.

A highly repetitive DNA element, homologous to the mariner transposon of Drosophila mauritiana was found in the intron of the gene for cecropin A, an antibacterial peptide from the Cecropia moth. The mariner-like elements (MLE) represent a homogeneous population with a copy number of about 1000/genome. Sequencing analysis showed it to be 1255 base pairs long, including 38-base pair terminal inverted repeats. The MLE contains a defective reading frame. Nevertheless, the putative product is clearly homologous to the predicted translation product encoded by mariner. In consonance is also the fact that the inverted repeats are highly conserved between the two elements and that the overall DNA homology is 48%. Since the mariner element is present in several Drosophila species closely related to Drosophila melanogaster and since MLE is present in the lepidopteran Cecropia, a route of horizontal transfer is indicated rather than vertical transmission from a common ancestor. This suggests the possible use of mariner for the construction of an interspecies vector.     

Clinical assessment of rheumatic diseases using viscoelastic parameters for synovial fluid

For the first time it is clearly exhibited that synovial fluid (SF) is thixotropic. Although no hysteresis loops were observed for SF, not even at high shear rates, thixotropy may be exhibited by measuring the rate of recovery after extensive shearing. The rebuilding of the structure in a small-amplitude oscillatory state following the high-shear-rate state reveals the thixotropic behaviour. Five different viscoelastic parameters for various synovial fluids (SF) were obtained using oscillatory rheometry. It was also shown that for SF in the low frequency range, corresponding to a knee joint almost at rest, the shear loss modulus G" is greater than the shear storage modulus G', since the system is allowed to dissipate energy at rest. However, with movement, G' increases and eventually becomes greater than G" at a characteristic frequency above which the system has insufficient time to dissipate energy and hence responds as an elastic body. This functional behaviour, characteristic for normal SF, broke down in the SF of rheumatoid arthritis. It was also absent in the SF of knee joints with meniscus lesions and ligament defects.     

Der Zellsaft der Characeen

Ohne Zusammenfassung