Somatic maintenance resources in the honeybee worker fat body are distributed to withstand the most life-threatening challenges at each life stage.

In a global transcriptome analysis of three natural and three manipulated honeybee worker phenotypes at different ages, we have investigated the distribution of investment in somatic maintenance of the fat body. Gene expression is modulated so that the bees are able to resist the most life-threatening challenges at the actual life stage. Different modes of maintenance and repair are regulated, apparently to meet the environmental challenges most detrimental to survival and reproductive potential for the hive.

The ada operon of Mycobacterium tuberculosis encodes two DNA methyltransferases for inducible repair of DNA alkylation damage.

The ada operon of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which encodes a composite protein of AdaA and AlkA and a separate AdaB/Ogt protein, was characterized. M. tuberculosis treated with N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine induced transcription of the adaA-alkA and adaB genes, suggesting that M.

Age-and caste-dependent decrease in expression of genes maintaining DNA and RNA quality and mitochondrial integrity in the honeybee wing muscle.

I report here an investigation of the age- and caste-specific expression patterns of nine honeybee orthologs of genes involved in repair of oxidative and methylation damage of DNA, and possibly RNA, in wing muscle tissue of the honeybee Apis mellifera. mRNA expression levels were measured in a comparative study of queens and ageing workers. Two of these genes, both potentially involved in repair and prevention of oxidative damage, showed higher expression in queens than workers and a distinct downregulation during the ageing trajectory in workers.

The caste- and age-specific expression signature of honeybee heat shock genes shows an alternative splicing-dependent regulation of Hsp90.

I report the investigation of the age- and caste-specific expression patterns of eight genes involved in protein maintenance and repair in wing muscle tissue of the honeybee Apis mellifera. mRNA levels of seven heat shock genes and the protein repair gene pcmt (encoding L-isoaspartyl-O-methyltransferase) were measured in a comparative study of queens and ageing workers. Two hsp90 orthologs, transcribed from the same locus, showed different age- and caste-dependent expression patterns suggesting an alternative splicing-dependent regulatory mechanism.

Long-term maintenance of in vitro cultured honeybee (Apis mellifera) embryonic cells.

Background: In vitro cultivation of cells allows novel investigation of in vivo- mechanisms and is a helpful tool in developmental biology, biochemistry and functional genomics. Numerous cell lines of insect species, e.g.

The Bacillus subtilis counterpart of the mammalian 3-methyladenine DNA glycosylase has hypoxanthine and 1,N6-ethenoadenine as preferred substrates.

The AAG family of 3-methyladenine DNA glycosylases was initially thought to be limited to mammalian cells, but genome sequencing efforts have revealed the presence of homologous proteins in certain prokaryotic species as well. Here, we report the first molecular characterization of a functional prokaryotic AAG homologue, i.e.