Genetic markers for western corn rootworm resistance to Bt toxin.

Western corn rootworm (WCR) is a major maize (Zea mays L.) pest leading to annual economic losses of more than 1 billion dollars in the United States. Transgenic maize expressing insecticidal toxins derived from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) are widely used for the management of WCR.

An accurate, clinically feasible multi-gene expression assay for predicting metastasis in uveal melanoma.

Uveal (ocular) melanoma is an aggressive cancer that often forms undetectable micrometastases before diagnosis of the primary tumor. These micrometastases later multiply to generate metastatic tumors that are resistant to therapy and are uniformly fatal. We have previously identified a gene expression profile derived from the primary tumor that is extremely accurate for identifying patients at high risk of metastatic disease.

Replication origin mutations affecting binding of pSC101 plasmid-encoded Rep initiator protein.

To investigate the role of binding sites for Rep initiation protein in the replication of pSC101, a series of plasmids was constructed which carried different combinations of mutations in three binding sites within the minimal origin of replication. Mutation of all three sites reduced the affinity of purified Rep protein for the origin by 100-fold, as measured by a competition binding assay. Mutations in individual binding sites prevented binding of Rep protein to the mutant site but not to adjacent wild-type sites.

Demonstration by iodine-131-hippurate renography of a marked sensitivity of some transplanted kidneys to volume contraction.

Incidental observations made in a canine renal transplant model in which both native and transplanted kidneys were present revealed that abnormal I-131-iodohippurate renograms were derived from some of the transplanted kidneys in the presence of mild dehydration. In these cases, the renogram normalized with fluid administration. In contrast, the renograms derived from the native kidneys were unaffected by the mild dehydration of the animals.

The appended curve technique for deconvolutional analysis--method and validation.

Deconvolutional analysis (DCA) is useful in correction of organ time activity curves (response function) for variations in blood activity (input function). Despite enthusiastic reports of applications of DCA in renal and cardiac scintigraphy, routine use has awaited an easily implemented algorithm which is insensitive to statistical noise. The matrix method suffers from the propagation of errors in early data points through the entire curve.