DAZL limits pluripotency, differentiation, and apoptosis in developing primordial germ cells.

The scarcity of primordial germ cells (PGCs) in the developing mammalian embryo hampers robust biochemical analysis of the processes that underlie early germ cell formation. Here, we demonstrate that DAZL, a germ cell-specific RNA binding protein, is a robust PGC marker during in vitro germ cell development. Using Dazl-GFP reporter ESCs, we demonstrate that DAZL plays a central role in a large mRNA/protein interactive network that blocks the translation of core pluripotency factors, including Sox2 and Sall4, as well as of Suz12, a polycomb family member required for differentiation of pluripotent cells.

Characterization of a Methanogenic Community within an Algal Fed Anaerobic Digester.

The microbial diversity and metabolic potential of a methanogenic consortium residing in a 3785-liter anaerobic digester, fed with wastewater algae, was analyzed using 454 pyrosequencing technology. DNA was extracted from anaerobic sludge material and used in metagenomic analysis through PCR amplification of the methyl-coenzyme M reductase α subunit (mcrA) gene using primer sets ML, MCR, and ME. The majority of annotated mcrA sequences were assigned taxonomically to the genera Methanosaeta in the order Methanosarcinales.

Sequence analysis of plasmid pIR52-1 from Lactobacillus helveticus R0052 and investigation of its origin of replication.

Lactobacillus helveticus R0052 is a bacterium used in commercial probiotic preparations. R0052 contains a small, cryptic plasmid comprised of eight open reading frames, four of which encode proteins of unknown function. Based on the sequence of the replication initiation protein RepA, pIR52-1 is a member of the recently described RepA_N family of Gram-positive theta-replicating plasmids.