Status of introduced fishes in certain spring systems in southern Nevada

We record eight species of exotic fishes as established, reproducing populations in certain springs in Clark, Lincoln, and Nye counties. Nevada. These include an unidentified species of Hypostomus, Cyprinus carpio, Poecilia mexicana, Poecilia reticulata, a Xiphophorus hybrid, and Cichlasoma nigrofasciatum. Tilapia mariae, established in a spring near the Overton Arm of Lake Mead, and Tilapia zilli, established in a golf course pond in Pahrump Valley, are recorded for the first time from Nevada waters. Though populations of transplanted Gambusia affinis persist, other populations of Poecilia latipinna are apparently no longer extant. Cichlasoma severum, Notemigonus crysoleucas, Poecilia latipinna, and Carassius auratus were apparently eradicated from Rogers Spring in 1963.     

Identification of common variants influencing risk of the tauopathy progressive supranuclear palsy

Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) is a movement disorder with prominent tau neuropathology. Brain diseases with abnormal tau deposits are called tauopathies, the most common of which is Alzheimer's disease. Environmental causes of tauopathies include repetitive head trauma associated with some sports. To identify common genetic variation contributing to risk for tauopathies, we carried out a genome-wide association study of 1,114 individuals with PSP (cases) and 3,247 controls (stage 1) followed by a second stage in which we genotyped 1,051 cases and 3,560 controls for the stage 1 SNPs that yielded P ≤ 10(-3). We found significant previously unidentified signals (P < 5 × 10(-8)) associated with PSP risk at STX6, EIF2AK3 and MOBP. We confirmed two independent variants in MAPT affecting risk for PSP, one of which influences MAPT brain expression. The genes implicated encode proteins for vesicle-membrane fusion at the Golgi-endosomal interface, for the endoplasmic reticulum unfolded protein response and for a myelin structural component.     

Facile functional analysis of insect odorant receptors expressed in the fruit fly: validation with receptors from taxonomically distant and closely related species

With the advent of genomic sequences and next-generation sequencing technologies (RNA-Seq), multiple repertoires of olfactory proteins in various insect species are being unraveled. However, functional analyses are lagging behind due in part to the lack of simple and reliable methods for heterologous expression of odorant receptors (ORs). While the Xenopus oocyte recording system fulfills some of this lacuna, this system is devoid of other olfactory proteins, thus testing only the “naked” ORs. Recently, a moth OR was expressed in the majority of neurons in the antennae of the fruit fly using Orco-GAL4 to drive expression of the moth OR. Electroantennogram (EAG) was used to de-orphanize the moth OR, but generic application of this approach was brought to question. Here, we describe that this system works with ORs not only from taxonomically distant insect species (moth), but also closely related species (mosquito), even when the fruit fly has highly sensitive innate ORs for the odorant being tested. We demonstrate that Orco-GAL4 flies expressing the silkworm pheromone receptor, BmorOR1, showed significantly higher responses to the sex pheromone bombykol than the control lines used to drive expression. Additionally, we show that flies expressing an OR from the Southern house mosquito, CquiOR2, gave significantly stronger responses to the cognate odorants indole and 2-methylphenol than the “background noise” recorder from control lines. In summary, we validate the use of Orco-GAL4 driven UAS-OR lines along with EAG analysis as a simple alternative for de-orphanization and functional studies of insect ORs in an intact olfactory system.     

重组PAI—2基因在NIH3T3细胞中的活性表达

构建了人ＰＡＩ—２ｃＤＮＡ睥达质粒，以ＮＩＨ３Ｔ３为转染宿主细胞，ＮｏｒｔｈｅｒｎＢｌｏｔ，ＷｅｓｔｅｒｎＢｌｏｔ和ＰＡＩ活性扩散试验结果表明人ＰＡＩ—２ｃＤＮＡ可以在ＮＩＨ３Ｔ３细胞中正确表达出ＰＡＩ—２蛋白，且具有抑制ＰＡ的活性，同时未能检测到ＮＩＨ３Ｔ３细胞表达ＰＡＩ—２蛋白质．为探讨ＰＡ—ＰＡＩ—２系统的调控机制打下基础．     

SEC65 gene product is a subunit of the yeast signal recognition particle required for its integrity.

Protein targeting to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) in mammalian cells is catalysed by the signal recognition particle (SRP), which consists of six protein subunits and an RNA subunit. Saccharomyces cerevisiae SRP is a 16S particle, of which only two subunits have been identified: a protein subunit, SRP54p, which is homologous to the mammalian SRP54 subunit, and an RNA subunit, scR1 (ref. 3). The sec65-1 mutant yeast cells are temperature-sensitive for growth and defective in the translocation of several secreted and membrane-bound proteins. The DNA sequence of the SEC65 gene suggests that its product is related to mammalian SRP19 subunit and may have a similar function. Here we show that SEC65p is a subunit of the S. cerevisiae SRP and that it is required for the stable association of another subunit, SRP54p, with SRP. Overexpression of SRP54p suppresses both growth and protein translocation defects in sec65-1 mutant cells.     

The earliest Acheulean from Konso-Gardula.

Konso-Gardula is a palaeoanthropological area discovered by the 1991 Palaeoanthropological Inventory of Ethiopia in the southern Main Ethiopian Rift. The Konso-Gardula sediments span the period about 1.3-1.9 million years ago. They contain rich Acheulean archaeological occurrences. Vertebrate fossils include early Homo.     

Supraphysiological dosages of vitamins and their implications in man

Summary Some recent evidence on the benefits and hazards of elevated dosages of vitamins is summarized. Special emphasis is given on the safety of vitamins A, D, K₁ and B₆. Furthermore, the possibly beneficial effects of vitamins for athletic performance as well as the preventive potential of antioxidative vitamins and of carotenoids against cancer are discussed.     

The impact of microRNAs on protein output

MicroRNAs are endogenous approximately 23-nucleotide RNAs that can pair to sites in the messenger RNAs of protein-coding genes to downregulate the expression from these messages. MicroRNAs are known to influence the evolution and stability of many mRNAs, but their global impact on protein output had not been examined. Here we use quantitative mass spectrometry to measure the response of thousands of proteins after introducing microRNAs into cultured cells and after deleting mir-223 in mouse neutrophils. The identities of the responsive proteins indicate that targeting is primarily through seed-matched sites located within favourable predicted contexts in 3' untranslated regions. Hundreds of genes were directly repressed, albeit each to a modest degree, by individual microRNAs. Although some targets were repressed without detectable changes in mRNA levels, those translationally repressed by more than a third also displayed detectable mRNA destabilization, and, for the more highly repressed targets, mRNA destabilization usually comprised the major component of repression. The impact of microRNAs on the proteome indicated that for most interactions microRNAs act as rheostats to make fine-scale adjustments to protein output.