The D-genome and the control of wheat gluten synthesis

Zusammenfassung Die Entfernung des D-Genoms aus der Handelsweizensorte «Canthatch» führte bei der Stärkegelelektrophorese zum Verlust von 4 Komponenten des Klebermusters. Aus «Tetracanthatch» und verschiedenen Genotypen vonA. squarrosa nachgezüchtete Hexaploide zeigten bei der Stärkegelelektrophorese eine ähnliche Zusammensetzung wie die Mischung der aus den entsprechenden Elterntypen extrahierten Proteine.     

A species comparison of 2,4-dinitrotoluene metabolism in vitro

Summary Postmitochondrial supernatants prepared from livers of mice, rats, rabbits, dogs, and monkeys metabolized 2,4-dinitrotoluene. The pattern of metabolites was characterized in both sexes of the species examined. In addition, the pattern of metabolites was altered by varying incubation conditions and pretreating male rats with phenobarbital or SKF 525-A.This research was supported by the US Army Medical Research and Development Command, Fort Detrick, Frederick, Maryland 21701, under Contract No. DAMD-17-74-C-4073. The authors thank Ms Mary Sawyer for competent technical assistance.     

TNF ligands: is TALL-1 a trimer or a virus-like cluster?

Native TALL-1 (B-cell activation factor, BAFF; also known as BlyS) was initially described as a homotrimer, but Liu and colleagues claim that it is a 60-subunit complex on the basis of their results from X-ray crystallography and size-exclusion chromatography. They consider TALL-1 60-mers to be the biologically active form, and the arrangement of the 60-mers resembles that of the capsid of satellite tobacco necrosis virus. Here we show that active TALL-1 is trimeric under normal physiological conditions and that formation of higher-order oligomers is an artefact of tagging the amino terminus of the protein with a histidine tag.     

A 'checkerboard' electronic crystal state in lightly hole-doped Ca2-xNaxCuO2Cl2

The phase diagram of hole-doped copper oxides shows four different electronic phases existing at zero temperature. Familiar among these are the Mott insulator, high-transition-temperature superconductor and metallic phases. A fourth phase, of unknown identity, occurs at light doping along the zero-temperature bound of the 'pseudogap' regime. This regime is rich in peculiar electronic phenomena, prompting numerous proposals that it contains some form of hidden electronic order. Here we present low-temperature electronic structure imaging studies of a lightly hole-doped copper oxide: Ca2-xNaxCuO2Cl2. Tunnelling spectroscopy (at energies |E| > 100 meV) reveals electron extraction probabilities greatly exceeding those for injection, as anticipated for a doped Mott insulator. However, for |E| < 100 meV, the spectrum exhibits a V-shaped energy gap centred on E = 0. States within this gap undergo intense spatial modulations, with the spatial correlations of a four CuO2-unit-cell square 'checkerboard', independent of energy. Intricate atomic-scale electronic structure variations also exist within the checkerboard. These data are consistent with an unanticipated crystalline electronic state, possibly the hidden electronic order, existing in the zero-temperature pseudogap regime of Ca2-xNaxCuO2Cl2.     

AMP-kinase regulates food intake by responding to hormonal and nutrient signals in the hypothalamus

Obesity is an epidemic in Western society, and causes rapidly accelerating rates of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The evolutionarily conserved serine/threonine kinase, AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), functions as a 'fuel gauge' to monitor cellular energy status. We investigated the potential role of AMPK in the hypothalamus in the regulation of food intake. Here we report that AMPK activity is inhibited in arcuate and paraventricular hypothalamus (PVH) by the anorexigenic hormone leptin, and in multiple hypothalamic regions by insulin, high glucose and refeeding. A melanocortin receptor agonist, a potent anorexigen, decreases AMPK activity in PVH, whereas agouti-related protein, an orexigen, increases AMPK activity. Melanocortin receptor signalling is required for leptin and refeeding effects on AMPK in PVH. Dominant negative AMPK expression in the hypothalamus is sufficient to reduce food intake and body weight, whereas constitutively active AMPK increases both. Alterations of hypothalamic AMPK activity augment changes in arcuate neuropeptide expression induced by fasting and feeding. Furthermore, inhibition of hypothalamic AMPK is necessary for leptin's effects on food intake and body weight, as constitutively active AMPK blocks these effects. Thus, hypothalamic AMPK plays a critical role in hormonal and nutrient-derived anorexigenic and orexigenic signals and in energy balance.     

Relative paleointensity of the geomagnetic field during the past 0.8 Ma from Nihewan Basin,Hebei Province,China

We conducted a detailed rock magnetic study on upper 80 m of Jing抏rwa core from the Nihewan basin. The results indicate that the sediments from Jing抏rwa core are suitable for relative paleointensity study, and anhyster-etic remanent magnetization (ARM) can be used as the nor-malization parameter of the natural remanent magnetization (NRM). Our relative paleointensity data of upper 80 m of Jing抏rwa core provide a continuous record of the intensity variation during the last 0.8 Ma, which correlates well with the results from marine sediments cores in the Pacific Ocean. This means that the sediments records are reliable for rela-tive paleointensity of Earth抯 magnetic field, and suggests that these sediments have recorded the real changes of geo-magnetic field, which would provide a new method for re-gional stratigraphic correlation.     

NPHS2, encoding the glomerular protein podocin, is mutated in autosomal recessive steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome

Familial idiopathic nephrotic syndromes represent a heterogeneous group of kidney disorders, and include autosomal recessive steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome, which is characterized by early childhood onset of proteinuria, rapid progression to end-stage renal disease and focal segmental glomerulosclerosis. A causative gene for this disease, NPHS2, was mapped to 1q25-31 and we report here its identification by positional cloning. NPHS2 is almost exclusively expressed in the podocytes of fetal and mature kidney glomeruli, and encodes a new integral membrane protein, podocin, belonging to the stomatin protein family. We found ten different NPHS2 mutations, comprising nonsense, frameshift and missense mutations, to segregate with the disease, demonstrating a crucial role for podocin in the function of the glomerular filtration barrier.