DRH1, a p68-related RNA helicase gene, is required for chromosome breakage in Tetrahymena.

The p68 DEAD box helicases comprise a widely conserved protein family involved in a large range of biological processes including transcription, splicing and translation. The genome of the ciliate Tetrahymena thermophile encodes two p68-like helicases, Drh1p and Lia2p. We show that DRH1 is essential for growth and completion of development.

Nested genes CDA12 and CDA13 encode proteins associated with membrane trafficking in the ciliate Tetrahymena thermophila.

We describe a novel pair of nested genes, CDA12 and CDA13, from Tetrahymena thermophila. Both are implicated in membrane trafficking associated with cell division and conjugation. Green fluorescent protein localization reveals Cda12p decoration of diverse membrane-bound compartments, including mobile, subcortical tubulovesicular compartments; perinuclear vesicles; and candidates for recycling endosomes.

A proteomics approach to cloning fenestrin from the nuclear exchange junction of tetrahymena.

We set out to find the "fenestrin" gene, a gene whose protein is associated with numerous cellular apertures, including the nuclear exchange junction in mating Tetrahymena thermophila. First we developed protocols for imaging and isolating intact nuclear exchange junctions from conjugating cells. Proteins from these junctions were purified using SDS-PAGE, subjected to limited proteolysis, and precise molecular weights were determined by mass spectrometry.

Random amplified polymorphic DNA markers reveal genetic variation in the symbiotic fungus of leaf-cutting ants.

RAPD markers were used to examine the degree of genetic variation within the putatively asexual basidiomycete fungus (Lepiotaceae: provisionally named Leucoagaricus gongylophorus) associated with the leaf-cutting ant species Atta cephalotes. We analyzed fungal isolates from ant nests in two geographically distant sites, two isolates from Panama and five isolates from Trinidad. Ten decamer primers were used to amplify total DNA from these seven fungal isolates, and RAPD banding patterns were compared.