Alkaloids of the leaves of Voacanga grandifolia

Besides vobtusine and vobtusine-lactone, deoxyvobtusine was isolated from the leaves of Voacanga grandifolia (Miq. Rolfe. Spectral and chemical evi     

Mesothelioma Tumor Cells Modulate Dendritic Cell Lipid Content,Phenotype and Function

Dendritic cells (DCs) play an important role in the generation of anti-cancer immune responses, however there is evidence that DCs in cancer patients are dysfunctional. Lipid accumulation driven by tumor-derived factors has recently been shown to contribute to DC dysfunction in several human cancers, but has not yet been examined in mesothelioma. This study investigated if mesothelioma tumor cells and/or their secreted factors promote increases in DC lipid content and modulate DC function. Human monocyte-derived DCs (MoDCs) were exposed to human mesothelioma tumor cells and tumor-derived factors in the presence or absence of lipoproteins. The data showed that immature MoDCs exposed to mesothelioma cells or factors contained increased lipid levels relative to control DCs. Lipid accumulation was associated with reduced antigen processing ability (measured using a DQ OVA assay), upregulation of the co-stimulatory molecule, CD86, and production of the tolerogenic cytokine, IL-10. Increases in DC lipid content were further enhanced by co-exposure to mesothelioma-derived factors and triglyceride-rich lipoproteins, but not low-density lipoproteins. In vivo studies using a murine mesothelioma model showed that the lipid content of tumor-infiltrating CD4⁺CD8α^- DCs, CD4^-CD8α^- DCs DCs and plasmacytoid DCs increased with tumor progression. Moreover, increasing tumor burden was associated with reduced proliferation of tumor-antigen-specific CD8⁺ T cells in tumor-draining lymph nodes. This study shows that mesothelioma promotes DC lipid acquisition, which is associated with altered activation status and reduced capacity to process and present antigens, which may impair the ability of DCs to generate effective anti mesothelioma T cell responses.     

Genetic transformation of a halophilic archaebacterium with a gas vesicle gene cluster restores its ability to float.

The halophilic archaebacterium, Halobacterium halobium, and many other aquatic bacteria synthesize gas-filled vesicles for flotation. We recently identified a cluster of 13 genes (gvpMLKJIHGFEDACN) on a 200-kb H. halobium plasmid, pNRC100, involved in gas vesicle synthesis. We have cloned and reconstructed the gvp gene cluster on an H. halobium-E. coli shuttle plasmid. Transformation of H. halobium Vac- mutants lacking the entire gas vesicle gene region with the gvp gene cluster results in restoration of their ability to float. These results open the way toward further genetic analysis of gas vesicle gene functions and directed flotation of other microorganisms with potential biotechnological applications.     

Determinants of fruit and seed set in Pavonia dasypetala (Malvaceae)

Summary Measurements of foliage quality, physiological, and phenological condition of sample trees were used as independent variables in multiple correlation analyses to determine their effect on female and male spruce budworm larval dry weights. Female budworm from trees high in foliar concentrations of beta-pinene, myrcene and total nitrogen weighed less than those from trees lacking these characteristics. Male budworm from trees high in foliar concentrations of alpha-pinene, myrcene, terpinolene, citronellyl acetate, and bornyl acetate weighted less than those from trees lacking these characteristics. Additionally, relatively vigorous and productive trees tended to be less susceptible (as evidenced by reduced larval weight) to budworm of either sex.     

Recombination between bacteriophage lambda and plasmid pBR322 in Escherichia coli

Recombinant lambda phages were isolated that resulted from recombination between the lambda genome and plasmid pBR322 in Escherichia coli, even though these deoxyribonucleic acids (DNAs) did not share extensive regions of homology. The characterization of these recombinant DNAs by heteroduplex analysis and restriction endonucleases is described. All but one of the recombinants appeared to have resulted from reciprocal recombination between a site on lambda DNA and a site on the plasmid. In general, there were two classes of recombinants. One class appeared to have resulted from recombination at the phage attachment site that probably resulted from lambda integration into secondary attachment sites on the plasmid. Seven different secondary attachment sites on pBR322 were found. The other class resulted from plasmid integration at other sites that were widely scattered on the lambda genome. For this second class of recombinants, more than one site on the plasmid could recombine with lambda DNA. Thus, the recombination did not appear to be site specific with respect to lambda or the plasmid. Possible mechanisms for generating these recombinants are discussed.     

ALT-FISH quantifies alternative lengthening of telomeres activity by imaging of single-stranded repeats

Alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT) occurs in ∼10% of cancer entities. However, little is known about the heterogeneity of ALT activity since robust ALT detection assays with high-throughput in situ readouts are lacking. Here, we introduce ALT-FISH, a method to quantitate ALT activity in single cells from the accumulation of single-stranded telomeric DNA and RNA. It involves a one-step fluorescent in situ hybridization approach followed by fluorescence microscopy imaging. Our method reliably identified ALT in cancer cell lines from different tumor entities and was validated in three established models of ALT induction and suppression. Furthermore, we successfully applied ALT-FISH to spatially resolve ALT activity in primary tissue sections from leiomyosarcoma and neuroblastoma tumors. Thus, our assay provides insights into the heterogeneity of ALT tumors and is suited for high-throughput applications, which will facilitate screening for ALT-specific drugs.     

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.