Conformational properties of cardiolipin-bound cytochrome c.

Interactions of cytochrome c (cyt c) with cardiolipin (CL) are important for both electron transfer and apoptotic functions of this protein. A sluggish peroxidase in its native state, when bound to CL, cyt c catalyzes CL peroxidation, which contributes to the protein apoptotic release. The heterogeneous CL-bound cyt c ensemble is difficult to characterize with traditional structural methods and ensemble-averaged probes.

Homoplastic microinversions and the avian tree of life.

Background: Microinversions are cytologically undetectable inversions of DNA sequences that accumulate slowly in genomes. Like many other rare genomic changes (RGCs), microinversions are thought to be virtually homoplasy-free evolutionary characters, suggesting that they may be very useful for difficult phylogenetic problems such as the avian tree of life. However, few detailed surveys of these genomic rearrangements have been conducted, making it difficult to assess this hypothesis or understand the impact of microinversions upon genome evolution.

Comparative molecular evolution and phylogenetic utility of 3'-UTRs and introns in Galliformes.

Many phylogenetic studies have used nuclear introns or coding exons, but few have included untranslated regions (UTRs). Here we compare the phylogenetic utility and patterns of molecular evolution for 3'-UTRs and introns from five unlinked loci in Galliformes (Aves). 3'-UTRs evolved at slower rates and exhibited greater spatial clustering of sites with similar evolutionary rates than associated introns, though they exhibited similar overall model complexities.