Molecular identification of vertebrate and hemoparasite DNA within mosquito blood meals from eastern North Dakota.

To understand local transmission of vector-borne diseases, it is important to identify potential vectors, characterize their host feeding patterns, and determine if vector-borne pathogens are circulating within the region. This study simultaneously investigated these aspects of disease transmission by collecting engorged mosquitoes within two rural study sites in the central Red River Valley of North Dakota. Mosquitoes were identified, midguts were excised, and the blood was expelled from the midguts.

Theoretical potential of passerine filariasis to enhance the enzootic transmission of West Nile virus.

Vertebrate reservoirs of arboviruses are often infected with microfilariae (MF). Laboratory studies have shown that MF can enhance the infectivity of arboviruses to mosquitoes. Soon after being ingested, MF penetrate the mosquito midgut.

Absence of Wolbachia endobacteria in Chandlerella quiscali, an avian filarial parasite.

Chandlerella quiscali is a filarial nematode parasite of the common grackle (Quiscalus quiscula), a widespread bird species found throughout most of North America. Worms collected from wild-caught birds were morphologically identified as C. quiscali and tested for the presence of Wolbachia, an alphaproteobacterial endosymbiont required for reproduction and maturation by many filarial species.

The human Nm23/nucleoside diphosphate kinases.

Biochemical experiments over the past 40 years have shown that nucleoside diphosphate (NDP) kinase activity, which catalyzes phosphoryl transfer from a nucleoside triphosphate to a nucleoside diphosphate, is ubiquitously found in organisms from bacteria to human. Over the past 10 years, eight human genes of the nm23/NDP kinase family have been discovered that can be separated into two groups based on analysis of their sequences. In addition to catalysis, which may not be exhibited by all isoforms, evidence for regulatory roles has come recently from the discovery of the genes nm23 and awd, which encode NDP kinases and are involved in tumor metastasis and Drosophila development, respectively.

NME6: a new member of the nm23/nucleoside diphosphate kinase gene family located on human chromosome 3p21.3.

The NME (nm23/nucleoside diphosphate kinase) gene family in human is involved in the phosphorylation of nucleoside diphosphates and a variety of regulatory phenomena associated with development, oncogenic transformation, and metastasis. Here we report the cDNA sequence for a sixth member of this family, NME6. The cDNA sequence predicts a 186-residue protein that includes the characteristic active site motif of a nucleoside diphosphate (NDP) kinase, as well as the other residues previously identified as crucial for nucleotide binding and catalysis.

Genetic evidence for the expression of ATP- and GTP-specific succinyl-CoA synthetases in multicellular eucaryotes.

Highly ATP- and GTP-specific isoforms of succinyl-CoA synthetase in pigeon incorporate the same alpha-subunit, but different beta-subunits (Johnson, J. D., Muhonen, W.

Characterization and cloning of a nucleoside-diphosphate kinase targeted to matrix of mitochondria in pigeon.

Nucleoside-diphosphate kinase (NDP kinase) from the matrix space of mitochondria in pigeon liver was purified to homogeneity. Degenerate oligonucleotide primers to the N-terminal sequence of the purified protein and the region containing the active site histidine were used in reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction to obtain a major portion of the coding sequence for the mature protein. The sequences of the C and N termini of the mature protein, and eight residues in the signal peptide, were obtained by rapid amplification of cDNA end procedures.