A direct regional scale estimate of transgene movement from genetically modified oilseed rape to its wild progenitors.

One of the major environmental concerns over genetically modified (GM) crops relates to transgene movement into wild relatives. The pattern of hybridization ultimately affects the scale and rapidity of ecological change and the feasibility of containment. A new procedure for quantifying hybrid formation over large areas is described.

PCR analysis of oilseed rape cultivars (Brassica napus L. ssp. oleifera) using 5' -anchored simple sequence repeat (SSR) primers.

Primers complementary to simple sequence repeats (SSRs) and with variable three-base 'anchors' at their 5' end, were used in PCR analyses to compare pooled DNA samples from various Brassica napus and B. rapa cultivars. Amplification products were resolved on polyacrylamide gels and detected by silver-nitrate staining.

The pcnB gene of Escherichia coli, which is required for ColE1 copy number maintenance, is dispensable.

The pcnB gene product of Escherchia coli is required for copy number maintenance of plasmids related to ColE1 and also for that of the IncFII plasmid R1. Because PcnB is similar to the tRNA-binding protein tRNA nucleotidyltransferase, we have suggested that the protein would be required only for processes in which an RNA is a prominent regulatory component. This appears to be so; strains deleted for pcnB, although defective in ColE1 and R1 plasmid maintenance, maintain the iteron-regulated plasmids F and P1 normally.

The strongly conserved carboxyl-terminus glycine-methionine motif of the Escherichia coli GroEL chaperonin is dispensable.

The universally distributed heat-shock proteins (HSPs) are divided into classes based on molecular weight and sequence conservation. The members of at least two of these classes, the HSP60s and the HSP70s, have chaperone activity. Most HSP60s and many HSP70s feature a striking motif at or near the carboxyl terminus which consists of a string of repeated glycine and methionine residues.