Major identity element of glutamine tRNAs from Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli in the reaction with B. subtilis glutamyl-tRNA synthetase.

Early investigations revealed that Bacillus subtilis glutamyl-tRNA synthetase [GluRS (bs)] is responsible for aminoacylating both glutamate tRNA [tRNA(Glu) (bs)] and glutamine tRNA [tRNA(Gln) (bs)] with glutamate. The same Bacillus enzyme can also efficiently attach glutamate to one isoacceptor glutamine tRNA [tRNA(Gln) (ec)] of Escherichia coli in vitro but not to tRNA2(Gln) (ec) and tRNA(Glu) (ec). To characterize identity elements of these glutamine tRNAs in the interaction with GluRS (bs), tRNA2(Gln) (ec), tRNA1(Gln) (ec), three other mutant glutamine tRNAs [tRNA2(Gln) (AU) (C34 --> U34), tRNA2(Gln) (12M) (C34 --> U34, 31A-U39 --> 31U-A39), and tRNA2(Gln) (M21) (64C --> G50 --> 64G-C50, 63U-A51 --> 63A-U51)] originated from tRNA2(Gln) (ec), tRNA(Gln) (bs), and a mutant tRNAM(Gln) (bs) whose U at the 34th position (U34), was replaced to C (C34), were produced in E.

Maize mitochondrial seryl-tRNA synthetase recognizes Escherichia coli tRNA(Ser) in vivo and in vitro.

In our studies to analyze the structure/function relationships among cytoplasmic and organellar seryl-tRNA synthetases (SerRS), we have characterized a Zea mays cDNA (SerZMm) encoding a protein with significant similarity to prokaryotic SerRS enzymes. To demonstrate the functional identity of SerZMm, the gene sequence encoding the putative mature protein was cloned. This construct complemented in vivo a temperature-sensitive Escherichia coli serS mutant strain.

Retracing the evolution of amino acid specificity in glutaminyl-tRNA synthetase.

Molecular phylogenetic studies of glutaminyl-tRNA synthetase suggest that it has relatively recently evolved from the closely related enzyme glutamyl-tRNA synthetase. We have now attempted to retrace one of the key steps in this process by selecting glutaminyl-tRNA synthetase mutants displaying enhanced glutamic acid recognition. Mutagenesis of two residues proximal to the active site, Phe-90 and Tyr-240, was found to improve glutamic acid recognition 3-5-fold in vitro and resulted in the misacylation of tRNA(Gln) with glutamic acid.

The terminal adenosine of tRNA(Gln) mediates tRNA-dependent amino acid recognition by glutaminyl-tRNA synthetase.

Sequence-specific interactions between Escherichia coli glutaminyl-tRNA synthetase and tRNA(Gln) have been shown to determine the apparent affinity of the enzyme for its cognate amino acid glutamine during aminoacylation. Specifically, structural and biochemical studies suggested that residues Asp66, Tyr211, and Phe233 in glutaminyl-tRNA synthetase could potentially facilitate cognate amino recognition through their specific interactions with both A76 of tRNA(Gln)++ and glutamine. These residues were randomly mutated and the resulting glutaminyl-tRNA synthetase variants were screened in vivo for changes in their ability to recognize noncognate tRNAs and retention of tRNA-glutaminylation activity.

Hospital specificity, region specificity, and fluconazole resistance of Candida albicans bloodstream isolates.

In a survey of bloodstream infection (BSI) isolates across the continental United States, 162 Candida albicans isolates were fingerprinted with the species-specific probe Ca3 and the patterns were analyzed for relatedness with a computer-assisted system. The results demonstrate that particular BSI strains are more highly concentrated in particular geographic locales and that established BSI strains are endemic in some, but not all, hospitals in the study and undergo microevolution in hospital settings. The results, however, indicate no close genetic relationship among fluconazole-resistant BSI isolates in the collection, either from the same geographic locale or the same hospital.

T cell syncytia induced by HIV release. T cell chemoattractants: demonstration with a newly developed single cell chemotaxis chamber.

A chemotaxis chamber has been developed to analyze both the velocity and the directionality of individual T cells in gradients of high molecular mass molecules over long periods of time. Employing this chamber, it is demonstrated that syncytia induced by HIV in SUP-T1 cell cultures release two T cell chemoattractants with approximate molecular masses of 30 and 120 kDa. Neither uninfected single cells nor polyethylene glycol-induced syncytia release detectable chemoattractant, suggesting that these chemoattractants are linked to HIV infection.

The invasive and destructive behavior of HIV-induced T cell syncytia on collagen and endothelium.

HIV-induced syncytia of the CD4+ SUP-T1 T cell line mimic the subcellular organization of single cells and are able to crawl like single cells through extension of giant pseudopods. Because syncytia have been demonstrated in lymphoid tissue of HIV-positive individuals, their behavior has been investigated on more natural substrata, including dehydrated collagen, hydrated collagen, endothelial monolayers, and endothelial monolayers grown on collagen cushions. On hydrated collagen gels, both individual SUPT1 cells and syncytia form unusually long cylindrical projections that possess pseudopodial ends and are highly dynamic.

Glutaminyl-tRNA synthetase.

Among the twenty aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases glutaminyl-tRNA synthetase occupies a special position: it is one of only two enzymes of this family which is not found in all organisms, being mainly absent from gram positive eubacteria, archaebacteria and organelles. The E. coli GlnRS is relatively small with 553 amino acids and a molecular mass of 64.

Phosphorylation of the Dictyostelium myosin II heavy chain is necessary for maintaining cellular polarity and suppressing turning during chemotaxis.

Conversion of the three mapped threonine phosphorylation sites in the myosin II heavy chain tail to alanines results in a mutant (3XALA) in Dictyostelium discoideum, which displays constitutive myosin overassembly in the cytoskeleton and increased cortical tension. To assess the importance of myosin phosphorylation in cellular translocation and chemotaxis, 3XALA mutant cells have been analyzed by 2D and 3D computer-assisted methods in buffer, in a spatial gradient of cAMP, and after the rapid addition of cAMP. 3XALA cells crawling in buffer exhibit distinct abnormalities in cellular shape, the maintenance of polarity and the complexity of the pseudopod perimeter.

Archaeal-type lysyl-tRNA synthetase in the Lyme disease spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi.

Lysyl-tRNAs are essential for protein biosynthesis by ribosomal mRNA translation in all organisms. They are synthesized by lysyl-tRNA synthetases (EC 6.1.

Glutamyl-tRNA sythetase.

Glutamyl-tRNA synthetase (GluRS) belongs to the class I aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases and shows several similarities with glutaminyl-tRNA synthetase concerning structure and catalytic properties. Phylogenetic studies suggested that both diverged from an ancestral glutamyl-tRNA synthetase responsible for the gluta-mylation of tRNA(Glu) and tRNA(Gln), and whose Glu-tRNA(Gln) product is transformed into Gln-tRNA(Gln) by a specific amidotransferase. This pathway is present in gram-positive and some gram-negative eubacteria, in some archae and in organelles, and was never found jointly with a glutaminyl-tRNA synthetase.

A euryarchaeal lysyl-tRNA synthetase: resemblance to class I synthetases.

The sequencing of euryarchaeal genomes has suggested that the essential protein lysyl-transfer RNA (tRNA) synthetase (LysRS) is absent from such organisms. However, a single 62-kilodalton protein with canonical LysRS activity was purified from Methanococcus maripaludis, and the gene that encodes this protein was cloned. The predicted amino acid sequence of M.

Misexpression of the white-phase-specific gene WH11 in the opaque phase of Candida albicans affects switching and virulence.

Candida albicans WO-1 switches between a white- and an opaque-colony-forming phenotype. The gene WH11 is expressed differentially in the white phase. The WH11 open reading frame was inserted downstream of the promoter of the opaque-phase-specific gene OP4 in the transforming vector pCWOP16, and resulting transformants were demonstrated to misexpress WH11 in the opaque phase.

Glu-tRNAGln amidotransferase: a novel heterotrimeric enzyme required for correct decoding of glutamine codons during translation.

The three genes, gatC, gatA, and gatB, which constitute the transcriptional unit of the Bacillus subtilis glutamyl-tRNAGln amidotransferase have been cloned. Expression of this transcriptional unit results in the production of a heterotrimeric protein that has been purified to homogeneity. The enzyme furnishes a means for formation of correctly charged Gln-tRNAGln through the transamidation of misacylated Glu-tRNAGln, functionally replacing the lack of glutaminyl-tRNA synthetase activity in Gram-positive eubacteria, cyanobacteria, Archaea, and organelles.

Chemotaxis to cAMP and slug migration in Dictyostelium both depend on migA, a BTB protein.

Chemotaxis in natural aggregation territories and in a chamber with an imposed gradient of cyclic AMP (cAMP) was found to be defective in a mutant strain of Dictyostelium discoideum that forms slugs unable to migrate. This strain was selected from a population of cells mutagenized by random insertion of plasmids facilitated by introduction of restriction enzyme (a method termed restriction enzyme-mediated integration). We picked this strain because it formed small misshapen fruiting bodies.

A nuclear genetic lesion affecting Saccharomyces cerevisiae mitochondrial translation is complemented by a homologous Bacillus gene.

A novel Bacillus gene was isolated and characterized. It encodes a homolog of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Pet112p, a protein that has no characterized relative and is dispensable for cell viability but required for mitochondrial translation. Expression of the Bacillus protein in yeast, modified to ensure mitochondrial targeting, partially complemented the phenotype of the pet112-1 mutation, demonstrating a high degree of evolutionary conservation for this as yet unidentified component of translation.

Parity among the randomly amplified polymorphic DNA method, multilocus enzyme electrophoresis, and Southern blot hybridization with the moderately repetitive DNA probe Ca3 for fingerprinting Candida albicans.

Randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis, multilocus enzyme electrophoresis (MLEE), and Southern blot hybridization with moderately repetitive DNA probes have emerged as effective fingerprinting methods for the infectious fungus Candida albicans. The three methods have been compared for their capacities to identify identical or highly related isolates, to cluster weakly related isolates, to discriminate between unrelated isolates, and to assess microevolution within a strain. By computing similarity coefficients between 29 isolates from three cities within the continental United States, strong concordance of the results is demonstrated for RAPD analysis, MLEE, and Southern blot hybridization with the moderately repetitive probe Ca3, and weaker concordance of the results is demonstrated for these three fingerprinting methods and Southern blot hybridization with the moderately repetitive probe CARE2.

The WH11 gene of Candida albicans is regulated in two distinct developmental programs through the same transcription activation sequences.

Candida albicans strain WO-1 undergoes two developmental programs, the bud-hypha transition and high-frequency phenotypic switching in the form of the white-opaque transition. The WH11 gene is expressed in the white budding phase but is inactive in the white hyphal phase and in the opaque budding phase. WH11 expression, therefore, is regulated in the two developmental programs.

HIV-induced T cell syncytia are self-perpetuating and the primary cause of T cell death in culture.

Prior studies suggested that induced fusion in T cell cultures infected with syncytium-inducing HIV was not the primary cause of T cell death. However, these studies failed to assess the contribution of fusion in terms of syncytium volume, rather than syncytium frequency. This question has been reassessed by monitoring the frequency, volume, rate of growth, longevity, p24 production, viral budding, and self-propagating ability of syncytia in HIV-infected SUP-T1 cell cultures and individually isolated syncytia seeded in uninfected SUP-T1 cell cultures.

A novel repeat sequence (CKRS-1) containing a tandemly repeated sub-element (kre) accounts for differences between Candida krusei strains fingerprinted with the probe CkF1,2.

CkF1,2 has been reported as an effective DNA fingerprinting probe of Candida krusei. It is composed of two genomic EcoRI-restriction fragments, F1 and F2, which are approximately 5.4 and 5.

Aminoacyl-tRNA synthesis: divergent routes to a common goal.

Aminoacyl-tRNAs are key components in protein synthesis. They are formed directly by correct acylation of tRNA (by aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases) or indirectly by tRNA-dependent transformation of misacylated tRNAs. The accuracy of aminoacyl-tRNA synthesis is enhanced by a number of further protein-RNA or protein-protein interactions, some of which are restricted to Archaea, and might reflect adaptation mechanisms to diverse conditions.

Defining the active site of yeast seryl-tRNA synthetase. Mutations in motif 2 loop residues affect tRNA-dependent amino acid recognition.

The active site of class II aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases contains the motif 2 loop, which is involved in binding of ATP, amino acid, and the acceptor end of tRNA. In order to characterize the active site of Saccharomyces cerevisiae seryl-tRNA synthetase (SerRS), we performed in vitro mutagenesis of the portion of the SES1 gene encoding the motif 2 loop. Substitutions of amino acids conserved in the motif 2 loop of seryl-tRNA synthetases from other sources led to loss of complementation of a yeast SES1 null allele strain by the mutant yeast SES1 genes.

Aminoacyl-tRNA synthesis in Archaea.

The mechanism of aminoacyl-tRNA synthesis differs substantially between Archaea, Bacteria and Eukarya. Sequencing of archaeal genomes has suggested that the asparaginyl-, cysteinyl-, glutaminyl- and lysyl-tRNA synthetases are absent from a number of organisms in this kingdom. The absence of the asparaginyl- and glutaminyl-tRNA synthetases is in agreement with the observation that Asn-tRNA and Gln-tRNA are synthesized by tRNA-dependent transamidation of Asp-tRNA and Glu-tRNA respectively in the archaeon Haloferax volcanii.