Correction: A new blue-shifted luciferase from the Brazilian Amydetes fanestratus (Coleoptera: Lampyridae) firefly: molecular evolution and structural/functional properties.

Correction for 'A new blue-shifted luciferase from the Brazilian Amydetes fanestratus (Coleoptera: Lampyridae) firefly: molecular evolution and structural/functional properties' by Vadim R. Viviani et al., Photochem.

Synergy of chemotherapy and immunotherapy revealed by a genome-scale analysis of murine tuberculosis.

Objectives: Although TB immunotherapy improves the results of conventional drug treatment, the effects of combining chemotherapy and immunotherapy have never been systematically evaluated. We used a comprehensive lung transcriptome analysis to directly compare the activity of combined chemotherapy and immunotherapy with that of single treatments in a mouse model of TB.

Methods: Mycobacterium tuberculosis-infected mice in the chronic phase of the disease (day 30) received: (i) isoniazid and rifampicin (drugs) daily for 30 days; (ii) DNA immunotherapy (DNA), consisting of four 100 μg injections at 10 day intervals; (iii) both therapies (DNA + drugs); or (iv) saline.

A new blue-shifted luciferase from the Brazilian Amydetes fanestratus (Coleoptera: Lampyridae) firefly: molecular evolution and structural/functional properties.

Firefly luciferases usually produce bioluminescence in the yellow-green region, with colors in the green and yellow-orange extremes of the spectrum being less common. Several firefly luciferases have already been cloned and sequenced, and site-directed mutagenesis studies have already identified important regions and residues for bioluminescence colors. However the structural determinants and mechanisms of bioluminescence colors turned out to be elusive, mainly when comparing luciferases with a high degree of divergence.

Haplotypes of the bovine IgG2 heavy gamma chain in tick-resistant and tick-susceptible breeds of cattle.

Bovines present contrasting, heritable phenotypes of infestations with the cattle tick, Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus. Tick salivary glands produce IgG-binding proteins (IGBPs) as a mechanism for escaping from host antibodies that these ectoparasites ingest during blood meals. Allotypes that occur in the constant region of IgG may differ in their capacity to bind with tick IGBPs; this may be reflected by the distribution of distinct allotypes according to phenotypes of tick infestations.

Molecular insights on the evolution of the lateral and head lantern luciferases and bioluminescence colors in Mastinocerini railroad-worms (Coleoptera: Phengodidae).

Among bioluminescent beetles of Elateroidea superfamily, railroad-worms (Phengodidae) produce the widest range of colors, from green to red, using the same luciferin-luciferase system. Members of the Mastinocerini tribe display additional unique cephalic organs that emit red-shifted light, with Phrixothrix railroad-worms being the most dramatic cases with head lanterns emitting red light. Although the luciferases from the head lanterns of Phrixothrix hirtus and from the lateral lanterns of P.

The influence of the loop between residues 223-235 in beetle luciferase bioluminescence spectra: a solvent gate for the active site of pH-sensitive luciferases.

Beetle luciferases emit a wide range of bioluminescence colors, ranging from green to red. Firefly luciferases can shift the spectrum to red in response to pH and temperature changes, whereas click beetle and railroadworm luciferases do not. Despite many studies on firefly luciferases, the origin of pH-sensitivity is far from being understood.

Few substitutions affect the bioluminescence spectra of Phrixotrix (Coleoptera: Phengodidae) luciferases: a site-directed mutagenesis survey.

Phrixotrix (railroad worm) luciferases produce bioluminescence in the green and red regions of the spectrum, depending on the location of the lanterns, and are the only luciferases naturally producing red bioluminescence. Comparison of the luciferase sequences showed a set of substitutions that could be involved in bioluminescence colour determination: (a) unique substitutions in the red luciferase replacing otherwise invariant residues; (b) conserved basic residues in the green-yellow emitting luciferases; and (c) an additional R353 residue in red-emitting luciferase (Viviani et al., 1999).

Cloning and characterization of the cDNA for the Brazilian Cratomorphus distinctus larval firefly luciferase: similarities with European Lampyris noctiluca and Asiatic Pyrocoelia luciferases.

Studies on firefly (Lampyridae) luciferases have focused on nearctic species of Photinus and Photuris and Euroasiatic species of Lampyris, Luciola, Hotaria, and Pyrocoelia. Despite accounting for the greatest diversity of fireflies in the world, no molecular studies have been carried out on the highly diverse genera from the neotropical region. Here we report the luciferase cDNA cloning for the larva of the Brazilian firefly Cratomorphus distinctus.