Major outer membrane protein in Salmonella typhimurium induced by maltose.

A maltose-induced major outer membrane protein (the 44K protein) is demonstrated in Salmonella typhimurium. This protein resembles the lambda receptor of Escherichia coli in its location, induction properties, apparent molecular weight, and association with the peptidoglycan layer of the cell wall. The 44K protein is missing in certain Salmonella Mal- mutants, which are also missing a protein analogous to the maltose-binding protein of E. coli. Thus, these mutants may be defective in the control of maltose genese in Salmonella. The proteins appear to be closely related, as indicated by cross-reaction of the Salmonella protein with the antiserum raised against the lambda receptor; however, they are not identical, since the peptide patterns obtained after limited proteolysis are completely different. Bacteriophage lambda does not use the 44K protein as a receptor.     

Isolation and characterization of a substitution mutation in the ompR gene of Salmonella typhimurium LT2.

The expression of the genes ompC and ompF encoding major outer membrane proteins is dependent on the ompR-envZ operon. Here we describe the isolation and characterization of an ompR mutation, a single-base-pair change, that results in an Arg-to-Cys substitution. When present in multiple copies, the mutant allele conferred a dominant OmpC- OmpF+ phenotype. Furthermore, the mutant allele exhibited allele-specific negative complementation with other ompR mutations. This ability, together with its dominant character, suggested that the OmpR protein is capable of multimerization.     

Antagonistic effects of mutant elongation factor Tu and ribosomal protein S12 on control of translational accuracy, suppression and cellular growth

Kirromycin-resistant mutant forms of elongation factor Tu, which are coded by tufA (Ar) or tufB (Bo) and are associated with an increased rate of translational error formation, have been analysed. In vivo, Ar was found to increase misreading as well as suppression of non-sense codons irrespective of Bo in a strain with wild type ribosomes. It is therefore not necessary to evoke both tufA (Ar) and tufB (Bo) mutations together in order to increase translational error as suggested earlier [1]. When combined with a hyperaccurate ribosomal rpsL (S12) mutation, Ar counteracts the restrictive effects on translational error formation caused by the altered protein S12, thus restoring the levels of missense error in vitro and non-sense error and suppression in vivo to near wild type values. As judged from in vitro experiments this results principally from a lowered selectivity of the Ar ternary complex at the initial discrimination step on the ribosome during translation. In vivo, this compensatory effect on the rpsL mutation on non-sense error formation and suppression is seen irrespective of the nature of tRNA or codon context. Furthermore, the tufA mutation enhances the cellular growth rate of the rpsL mutant, whereas it decreases growth of strains with normal ribosomes. Inactivation of one of the two genes coding for EF-Tu (tufB), while leaving the other gene (tufA) intact, can by itself, increase non-sense error formation and suppression.     

Dietary phytoestrogens and cancer: in vitro and in vivo studies

Thirty postmenopausal women (11 omnivores, 10 vegetarians and 9 apparently healthy women with surgically removed breast cancer) were investigated with regard to the association of their urinary excretion of estrogens, lignans and isoflavonoids (all diphenols) with plasma sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG). A statistically significant positive correlation between urinary total diphenol excretion and plasma SHBG was found which remained statistically significant after elimination of the confounding effect of body mass determined by body mass index (BMI). Furthermore we found a statistically significant negative correlation between plasma SHBG and urinary excretion of 16α-hydroxyestrone and estriol which also remained significant after eliminating the effect of BMI. Furthermore we observed that enterolactone (Enl) stimulates the synthesis of SHBG by HepG2 liver cancer cells in culture acting synergistically with estradiol and at physiological concentrations. Enl was rapidly conjugated by the liver cells, mainly to its monosulfate. Several lignans and the isoflavonoids daidzein and equol were found to compete with estradiol for binding to the rat uterine type II estrogen binding site (the s.c. bioflavonoid receptor). It is suggested that lignans and isoflavonoids may affect uptake and metabolism of sex hormones by participating in the regulation of plasma SHBG levels and in this way influence their biological activity and that they may inhibit cancer cell growth like some flavonoids by competing with estradiol for the type II estrogen binding sites.     

Exceptionally high copy numbers of a staphylococcal plasmid in Bacillus subtilis revealed by a sandwich hybridization technique

Abstract The copy number of a pUB110 derivative, pKTH10, containing the α-amylase gene from Bacillus amyloliquefaciens , was determined, using an assay based on a sandwich hybridization technique. In this method, a known gene on the plasmid is hybridized between two non-overlapping fragments of that same gene, cloned into separate vectors. One fragment is used as a radiolabelled probe and the other bound to a filter, forming a three-component, 'sandwich' hybrid when the relevant gene is present in the sample. Since the hybridization can only take place in the presence of the relevant gene, the amount of radioactivity binding to the filters will be proportional to the concentration of this gene in the sample. We utilized the α-amylase gene on the plasmid to form the sandwich hybrid. The copy number was of a totally different magnitude from what has previously been reported, and ranged from 2500 copies/viable cell in early logrithimic growth phase to about 500 in late stationary phase.     

Do treatment protocols improve end results? A study of survival of patients with multiple myeloma in Finland.

OBJECTIVE--To determine whether patients with multiple myeloma treated in three consecutive clinical trials of chemotherapy of the Finnish Leukaemia Group during 1979-85 had a more favourable prognosis than both patients treated in the trial area before the trials and those treated in the rest of Finland. DESIGN--Comparison of the time trend in survival of patients living in the trial area with that of patients living in the rest of Finland. SETTING--Trial area covered 17 of the 21 main hospital districts in Finland (serving more than two thirds of patients with multiple myeloma). PATIENTS--663 Men and 690 women in the trial area and 318 men and 307 women in the reference area aged under 71 in whom multiple myeloma was diagnosed during 1959-85. In the trial area the disease was diagnosed in 455 men and 493 women in 1959-78 and in 208 men and 197 women in 1979-85; in the reference area it was diagnosed in 234 men and 227 women in 1959-78 and in 84 men and 80 women in 1979-85. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES--Five year cumulative relative survival rates during 1959-85, annual relative survival rates in the first seven years of follow up during 1979-85, and fitted annual relative survival rates in the first five years of follow up during 1959-85. RESULTS--During the first two years of follow up the annual relative survival rates did not differ between the two areas, but in the next five years of follow up patients in the trial area did better than those in the reference area. For cases diagnosed in 1979-85 the difference in the five year cumulative relative survival rates between patients in the trial area and those in the reference area was 10%, those in the trial area doing better. Generalised proportional hazards regression analysis of the first five years of follow up showed that the patients in the trial area had a survival advantage over those in the reference area. The model with the best fit included year of follow up, time of diagnosis, the joint effect of year of follow up and time of diagnosis, and the joint effect of area and time of diagnosis. CONCLUSION--The patients in the trial area benefited from the clinical trials, which suggests that the use of a treatment protocol improves the end results of treatment. In other words, the results favour a systematic treatment schedule in preference to a schedule determined by the free choice of a clinician.     

Abscisic acid deficiency prevents development of freezing tolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh.

Summary Abscisic acid (ABA) has been implicated as a regulatory factor in plant cold acclimation. In the present work, the cold-acclimation properties of an ABA-deficient mutant (aba) of Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. were analyzed. The mutant had apparently lost its capability to cold acclimate: the freezing tolerance of the mutant was not increased by low temperature treatment but stayed at the level of the nonacclimated wild type. The mutational defect could be complemented by the addition of exogenous ABA to the growth medium, restoring freezing tolerance close to the wild-type level. This suggests that ABA might have a central regulatory function in the development of freezing tolerance in plants. Cold acclimation has been previously correlated to the induction of a specific set of proteins that have been suggested to have a role in freezing tolerance. However, these proteins were also induced in the aba mutant by low temperature treatment.