Rapid switching to multiple antigenic and adhesive phenotypes in malaria.

Adhesion of parasitized erythrocytes to post-capillary venular endothelium or uninfected red cells is strongly implicated in the pathogenesis of severe Plasmodium falciparum malaria. Neoantigens at the infected red-cell surface adhere to a variety of host receptors, demonstrate serological diversity in field isolates and may also be a target of the host-protective immune response. Here we use sequential cloning of P. falciparum by micromanipulation to investigate the ability of a parasite to switch antigenic and cytoadherence phenotypes. Our data show that antigens at the parasitized cell surface undergo clonal variation in vitro in the absence of immune pressure at the rate of 2% per generation with concomitant modulations of the adhesive phenotype. A clone has the potential to switch at high frequency to a variety of antigenic and adhesive phenotypes, including a new type of cytoadherence behaviour, 'auto-agglutination' of infected erythrocytes. This rapid appearance of antigenic and functional heterogeneity has important implications for pathogenesis and acquired immunity.     

S-phase feedback control in budding yeast independent of tyrosine phosphorylation of p34cdc28.

In somatic cells, entry into mitosis depends on the completion of DNA synthesis. This dependency is established by S-phase feedback controls that arrest cell division when damaged or unreplicated DNA is present. In the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, mutations that interfere with the phosphorylation of tyrosine 15 (Y15) of p34cdc2, the protein kinase subunit of maturation promoting factor, accelerate the entry into mitosis and abolish the ability of unreplicated DNA to arrest cells in G2. Because the tyrosine phosphorylation of p34cdc2 is conserved in S. pombe, Xenopus, chicken and human cells, the regulation of p34cdc2-Y15 phosphorylation could be a universal mechanism mediating the S-phase feedback control and regulating the initiation of mitosis. We have investigated these phenomena in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We report here that the CDC28 gene product (the S. cerevisiae homologue of cdc2) is phosphorylated on the equivalent tyrosine (Y19) during S phase but that mutations that prevent tyrosine phosphorylation do not lead to premature mitosis and do not abolish feedback controls. We have therefore demonstrated a mechanism that does not involve tyrosine phosphorylation of p34 by which cells arrest their division in response to the presence of unreplicated or damaged DNA. We speculate that this mechanism may not involve the inactivation of p34 catalytic activity.     

甲烷氧化偶联制C2烃La2O3基催化剂的研究

本文的实验结果表明,具有开放型本征构型的La_2O_3对甲烷氧化偶联反应有相当好的活性和选择性,在750℃、原料气空速6.O×10~4ml.g~(-1).h~(-1),CH_4:O_2:N_2=3.7:l.0:9.0(V/V)的反应条件下,氧接近全部转化,甲烷转化率达25.4％,C_2烃选择性为43.6％,添加碱土金属(Ca、Sr、Ba)氧化物或碳酸盐能显著地改善催化剂的性能,在上述反应条件下,60mol％Ba-La_2O_3催化剂的C_2烃选择性达到58％。     

Effects of corpora cardiaca extract,furosemide and ion substitution on sodium and chloride flux in perfused Malpighian tubules ofLocusta

Treatment with the co-transport inhibitor, furosemide decreased³⁶Cl^– flux across perfused Malpighian tubules ofLocusta. However, exclusion of³⁶Cl^– from the bathing medium had not effect on²²Na⁺ flux whereas substitution of bathing medium Na⁺ by K⁺ increased³⁶Cl^– flux. Diuretic extract of corpora cardiaca increased²²Na⁺ (by 106%) and³⁶Cl^– (by 335%) fluxes differentially.     

Extraordinary levels of cadmium and zinc in a marine sponge,Tedania charcoti Topsent: inorganic chemical defense agents

The Antarctic marine spongeTedania charcoti has been shown to contain extraordinarily high natural concentrations of cadmium and zinc, which have in turn been correlated to the ability of the crude ethanol extract to modulate protein phosphorylation in chicken forebrain and to inhibit the growth of several test bacteria.     

Oxygen consumption and the evolution of order: negentropy criteria applied to the evolution of ants

Optimization of energy use by evolving organisms, predicted by theoretical extensions of the neo-Darwinian theory, i. contrasted with that of irreversible thermodynamics, which predicts an increase in orderliness and thus an increase in energy consumption per unit of biomass. We compared this index with estimates of social complexity among ant genera and species. Our results show that simple optimization models cannot explain experimental data, and that social complexity correlates differently with negentropy at different levels of analysis. Comparing the genera among Formicidae, workers (not colonies) from genera with highly social species are less negentropic than those of socially primitive ones. At the sub-generic level, social complexity correlated positively with negentropy among species, for major workers inAcromyrmex and for minor workers inAtta. The results illustrate the complexity of thermodynamic criteria in the study of evolution but also hint at their usefulness. In this case, they show that two different evolutionary routes to the complex Attini ant societies may exist.     

The temporal requirement for endothelin receptor-B signalling during neural crest development

Endothelin receptor B (EDNRB) is a G-protein-coupled receptor with seven transmembrane domains which is required for the development of melanocytes and enteric neurons. Mice that are homozygous for a null mutation in the Ednrb gene are almost completely white and die as juveniles from megacolon. To determine when EDNRB signalling is required during embryogenesis, we have exploited the tetracycline-inducible system to generate strains of mice in which the endogenous Ednrb locus is under the control of the tetracycline-dependant transactivators tTa or rtTA. By using this system to express Ednrb at different stages of embryogenesis, we have determined that EDNRB is required during a restricted period of neural crest development between embryonic days 10 and 12.5. Moreover, our results imply that EDNRB is required for the migration of both melanoblasts and enteric neuroblasts.     

A telomerase component is defective in the human disease dyskeratosis congenita

The X-linked form of the human disease dyskeratosis congenita (DKC) is caused by mutations in the gene encoding dyskerin. Sufferers have defects in highly regenerative tissues such as skin and bone marrow, chromosome instability and a predisposition to develop certain types of malignancy. Dyskerin is a putative pseudouridine synthase, and it has been suggested that DKC may be caused by a defect in ribosomal RNA processing. Here we show that dyskerin is associated not only with H/ACA small nucleolar RNAs, but also with human telomerase RNA, which contains an H/ACA RNA motif. Telomerase adds simple sequence repeats to chromosome ends using an internal region of its RNA as a template, and is required for the indefinite proliferation of primary human cells. We find that primary fibroblasts and lymphoblasts from DKC-affected males are not detectably deficient in conventional H/ACA small nucleolar RNA accumulation or function; however, DKC cells have a lower level of telomerase RNA, produce lower levels of telomerase activity and have shorter telomeres than matched normal cells. The pathology of DKC is consistent with compromised telomerase function leading to a defect in telomere maintenance, which may limit the proliferative capacity of human somatic cells in epithelia and blood.     

Periodicity in marine phosphorus burial rate

There have been arguments both for and against a periodicity of 26-33 million years (Myr) in terrestrial and extraterrestrial records. The best way to identify such periodicity is the analysis of geomarine evolutionary records. We have analysed the marine sedimentary phosphorus burial rate (PBR), as fluctuations in this rate are strong indicators of the coupling of climate, continental weathering and ocean primary productivity. We find a statistically significant harmonic component of 33 +/- 3 Myr against the estimated robust background noise spectrum, supporting the idea that geomarine processes are cyclic.