A hybrid pathway for self-sustained luminescence.

The fungal bioluminescence pathway can be reconstituted in other organisms allowing luminescence imaging without exogenously supplied substrate. The pathway starts from hispidin biosynthesis-a step catalyzed by a large fungal polyketide synthase that requires a posttranslational modification for activity. Here, we report identification of alternative compact hispidin synthases encoded by a phylogenetically diverse group of plants.

An improved pathway for autonomous bioluminescence imaging in eukaryotes.

The discovery of the bioluminescence pathway in the fungus Neonothopanus nambi enabled engineering of eukaryotes with self-sustained luminescence. However, the brightness of luminescence in heterologous hosts was limited by performance of the native fungal enzymes. Here we report optimized versions of the pathway that enhance bioluminescence by one to two orders of magnitude in plant, fungal and mammalian hosts, and enable longitudinal video-rate imaging.

Systematic Comparison of Plant Promoters in spp. Expression Systems.

We report a systematic comparison of 19 plant promoters and 20 promoter-terminator combinations in two expression systems: agroinfiltration in leaves, and BY-2 plant cell packs. The set of promoters tested comprised those not present in previously published work, including several computationally predicted synthetic promoters validated here for the first time. The expression of EGFP driven by different promoters varied by more than two orders of magnitude and was largely consistent between two tested Nicotiana systems.

Use of a Specific Phage Cocktail for Soft Rot Control on Ware Potatoes: A Case Study.

Using bacteriophages (bacterial viruses) to control pathogenic bacteria is a promising approach in horticulture. However, the application of this strategy in real conditions requires compliance with particular technological and environmental restraints. The presented paper concerns the process of phage selection to create a cocktail that is efficient against the circulating causal agents of potato soft rot.

Origin and Evolution of Bacteriophages Infecting : Horizontal Transfer Assists Adaptation to New Niches.

Black leg and soft rot are devastating diseases causing up to 50% loss of potential potato yield. The search for, and characterization of, bacterial viruses (bacteriophages) suitable for the control of these diseases is currently a sought-after task for agricultural microbiology. Isolated lytic bacteriophages Q19, PP47 and PP81 possess a similar broad host range but differ in their genomic properties.

Morphologically Different Bacteriophages PP99 and PP101: Deacetylation of O-Polysaccharide by the Tail Spike Protein of Phage PP99 Accompanies the Infection.

Soft rot caused by numerous species of and is a serious threat to the world production of potatoes. The application of bacteriophages to combat bacterial infections in medicine, agriculture, and the food industry requires the selection of comprehensively studied lytic phages and the knowledge of their infection mechanism for more rational composition of therapeutic cocktails. We present the study of two bacteriophages, infective for the strain F152.

SUCCESSFUL REHABILITATION OF PATIENT DISABLED BY THE AUTISTIC SPECTRUM DISORDER AND THE MODIFIED EPIGENETIC STATUS (POLYMORPHISMS DRD2 2137 T/T, MTRR 66 A/G, MTHFR 677 C/T, MTHFR 1298 A/C) - CASE REPORT.

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are considered an epidemic - only in the last 5 years the incidence of pathology has increased from 1: 166 to 1:68 children. The main role in the pathogenesis of ASD currently belongs to the violation of the epigenetic status in the form of gene polymorphisms. An example is the polymorphic variants of the genes of the folate-methionine cycle enzymes, which regulate the epigenetic status through a methylation process.

Host Specificity of the Bacteriophage PP35 Is Directed by a Tail Spike Interaction With Bacterial -Antigen, Enabling the Infection of Alternative Non-pathogenic Bacterial Host.

is a recently emerged virulent bacterial potato pathogen that poses a major threat to world agriculture. Because of increasing antibiotic resistance and growing limitations in antibiotic use, alternative antibacterials such as bacteriophages are being developed. bacteriophages recently re-ranked as a separate family, such as phage PP35 described in this work, are the attractive candidates for this bacterial biocontrol.

Genomic characteristics of vB_PpaP_PP74, a T7-like Autographivirinae bacteriophage infecting a potato pathogen of the newly proposed species Pectobacterium parmentieri.

Bacteriophage vB_PpaP_PP74 (PP74) is a novel virulent phage that infects members of the species Pectobacterium parmentieri, a newly established species of soft-rot-causing bacteria in the family Pectobacteriaceae, derived from potato-specific Pectobacterium wasabiae. vB_PpaP_PP74 was identified as a member of the family Podoviridae by transmission electron microscopy. The phage has a 39,790-bp dsDNA genome containing 50 open reading frames (ORFs).

[Trans-translation: facts and hypothesis].

Trans-translation is a unique process which switches the synthesis of a polypeptide chain encoded by a nonstop messenger RNA to the mRNA-like domain of tmRNA. It is used in bacterial cells for rescuing the ribosomes arrested during translation of nonstop mRNA and directing this mRNA and the product polypeptide for degradation. tmRNA activity is essential for bacterial survival under adverse conditions, quality-control of translation and regulation of certain physiological pathways.

Structural aspects of trans-translation.

trans-Translation is a process which the bacterial cells apply to rescue the ribosomes that are arrested during the translation of damaged mRNA and to get rid of the mRNA and the product polypeptide. In the course of trans-translation, the mRNA-like domain of tmRNA replaces the nonstop messenger RNA bound to the ribosome. Although several structural elements of tmRNA and SmpB known to be essential for correct determination of resume codon, the molecular mechanism of trans-translation is not well understood.

Structural features of the tmRNA-ribosome interaction.

Trans-translation is a process which switches the synthesis of a polypeptide chain encoded by a nonstop messenger RNA to the mRNA-like domain of a transfer-messenger RNA (tmRNA). It is used in bacterial cells for rescuing the ribosomes arrested during translation of damaged mRNA and directing this mRNA and the product polypeptide for degradation. The molecular basis of this process is not well understood.

One SmpB molecule accompanies tmRNA during its passage through the ribosomes.

tmRNA and SmpB are the main participants of trans-translation, a process which rescues the ribosome blocked during translation of non-stop mRNA. While a one-to-one stoichiometry of tmRNA to the ribosome is generally accepted, the number of SmpB molecules in the complex is still under question. We have isolated tmRNA-ribosome complexes blocked at different steps of the tmRNA path through the ribosome and analyzed the stoichiometry of the complexes.

Stepping transfer messenger RNA through the ribosome.

tmRNA (transfer messenger RNA) is a unique molecule used by all bacteria to rescue stalled ribosomes and to mark unfinished peptides with a specific degradation signal. tmRNA is recruited by arrested ribosomes in which it facilitates the translational switch from cellular mRNA to the mRNA part of tmRNA. Small protein B (SmpB) is a key partner for the trans-translation activity of tmRNA both in vivo and in vitro.

Nuclear envelope associated protein that binds telomeric DNAs.

Rana temporaria oocytes at the 6th diplotene stage of maturation contain a special structure, the karyosphere capsule, with chromosomes covered and detached from the nuclear envelope (NE), though at the previous stage the telomeres were attached to the membrane, as characteristic of germ cells. The DNA-protein complexes from band shift assays with proteins extracted from oocyte NEs and telomeric DNA fragment (T(2)G(4))(130) were isolated and injected into a guinea pig. In the present paper the only protein of 70 kDa recognized by antibody (AB) in the NE is named the Membrane Telomere Binding Protein (MTBP).

Telomere-binding protein from the nuclear envelope of oocytes of the frog Rana temporaria.

The identification of telomere-binding protein on the nuclear envelope (NE) of the frog oocyte is reported here. Nuclei and the NE were isolated manually and extracted, and the extracts were used to search for DNA-protein specific interactions. Fragment of the Tetrahymena telomere sequence (T2G4)130 from the plasmid YAC4 was used as a labeled probe.

[Prognostication of complications in surgery of lung cancer].

Examinations of 286 men subjected to pneumonectomy demonstrated the possibility of predicting the immediate results of intervention on the basis of a comprehensive analysis of blood rheology, lipid peroxidation, cell (T lymphocyte, leukocyte, and reticulocyte counts) and gaseous composition of the blood (paO2, paCO2, and pHmet) and the characteristics of the structural and optic reaction of the blood serum to low-intensive laser exposure in vitro. This algorithm for predicting complications based on the minimal set of informative criteria proved to be correct in 75% of patients before surgery and 82.2% of patients on day 1 postoperation.

Nuclear actin filaments and their topological changes in frog oocytes.

Previous morphological and biochemical studies have suggested that actin and actin-containing filaments (microfilaments) exist in the eukaryotic nucleus and that they perform important nuclear functions. However, the concept is not widely accepted. In this study, we demonstrate actin and bundles of actin in the nuclei of oocytes of Rana temporaria by immunoblotting and immunogold labeling/electron microscopy.

[Nuclear envelope of frog diplotene oocytes has telomere-binding activity].

A telomere-binding activity was found in the nuclear envelope of frog oocytes Rana temporaria by methods of binding on nitrocellulose filters and retardation. At present it is hardly possible to detect the proteins responsible for this activity. However, the results of this study allowed us to identify a specific mechanism of DNA-protein interaction, which provides the binding of the telomere to the envelope in meiotic cells.

[Medico-genetic study of the population of Kostroma Province. VI. The parameters of isolation by distance in the populations of the Bui and Shar'ya Districts of Kostroma Province].

A model of isolation by distance proposed by Malécot and developed by Morton is applied to the data on marriage distances collected in two regions of Kostroma Province. There is good agreement between the estimates of local inbreeding when using the isonymy method and the model of isolation by distance. Interpopulation kinship approaches 0 at the distance 700 km.

[Effect of the temperature of oocyte maturation on the heat resistance of the body and cells in the progeny of the common frog].

A study was made of the effect of low (4-5 degrees C) and high (17-22 degrees C) temperatures of oocyte maturation on different stages of development: a unicellular stage, early tadpole stage 39 and late tadpole, near the end of metamorphosis stage 52. Different temperatures in the course of oocyte maturation do not lead to reactive shifts in heat resistance of the organism and muscle cells of the progeny on either developmental stage examined.

[Correlation between the heat resistance of the provisional and definitive muscle tissue during the metamorphosis crisis in frogs].

Using tadpoles of the lake frog Rana ridibunda Pall. during metamorphosis, a study was made of the heat resistance of the provisional muscle tissue of the tail and of that of two definitive muscles belonging to low-resistant (musculus iliofibularis) and high-resistant (musculus gastrocnemius) groups. It has been shown that during the late metamorphosis a statistically significant direct relation exists between the heat resistance of the provisional muscle tissue of the tail and definitive m.