Mutations in the Caenorhabditis elegans unc-4 gene alter the synaptic input to ventral cord motor neurons.

Identification of the genes orchestrating neurogenesis would greatly enhance our understanding of this process. Genes have been identified that specify neuron type (for example cut and numb in Drosophila and mec-3 in Caenorhabditis elegans) and process guidance (for example, unc-5, unc-6 and unc-40 in C. elegans and the fas-1 gene of Drosophila). We sought genes defining synaptic specificity by identifying mutations that alter synaptic connectivity in the motor circuitry in the nematode C. elegans. We used electron microscopy of serial sections to reconstruct the ventral nerve-cords of uncoordinated (unc) mutants that have distinctive locomotory choreographies. Here we describe the phenotype of mutations in the unc-4 gene in which a locomotory defect is correlated with specific changes in synaptic input to a subset of the excitatory VA motor neurons, normally used in reverse locomotion. The circuitry alterations do not arise because of the inaccessibility of the appropriate synaptic partners, but are a consequence of changes in synaptic specificity. The VA motor neurons with altered synaptic inputs are all lineal sisters of VB motor neurons; the VA motor neurons without VB sisters have essentially the same synaptic inputs as in wild-type animals. The normal function of the wild-type allele of unc-4 may thus be to invoke the appropriate synaptic specificities to VA motor neurons produced in particular developmental contexts.     

Novel major archaebacterial group from marine plankton.

Marine bacteria often dominate the plankton biomass and are responsible for much of the cycling of organic matter, but bacterial diversity is poorly understood because conventional identification methods (requiring culturing) miss about 99% of the organisms. Recent advances permit characterization of microbial communities by analysis of 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequences directly from biomass without the need to culture the organisms; such studies from surface ocean samples have found only eubacteria, not archaebacteria (or Archaea), which are profoundly different. Here we report 16S rRNA sequences obtained from Pacific Ocean bacterioplankton samples collected from depths of 100 m and 500 m. Among these we found sequences only distantly related to those of any organisms previously characterized by 16S rRNA sequences, with similarities to the nearest such relatives (extreme thermophiles) approximately the same as those between animals and plants. We suggest that these sequences are from a previously undescribed archaebacterial group that may have diverged from the ancestors of characterized organisms very early in evolution.     

Otavipithecus namibiensis, first Miocene hominoid from southern Africa.

We report here the discovery of a Miocene hominoid from Berg Aukas, Namibia, the first known from the African continent south of equatorial East Africa. This represents a major range extension of Miocene Hominoidea in Africa to latitude 20 degrees S. The holotype, a right mandibular corpus preserving the crowns of the P4-M3, partial crown and root of the P3, partial root of the canine, alveoli for all four incisors, and partial alveolus for the left canine, was found during paleontological explorations of karst-fill breccias in the Otavi region of northern Namibia. The mandible has unique characteristics that differentiate it from other middle Miocene hominoids of Africa and Eurasia and represents the only fossil evidence documenting a pre-australopithecine stage of hominoid evolution in southern Africa. Faunal analyses indicate that the breccia block containing the specimen accumulated during the latter part of the middle Miocene, about 13 +/- 1 Myr. Fauna from other breccia blocks at Berg Aukas are of diverse ages, including the earlier part of the middle Miocene, the upper Miocene, Plio-Pleistocene and Holocene.     

Mice deficient for p53 are developmentally normal but susceptible to spontaneous tumours.

Mutations in the p53 tumour-suppressor gene are the most frequently observed genetic lesions in human cancers. To investigate the role of the p53 gene in mammalian development and tumorigenesis, a null mutation was introduced into the gene by homologous recombination in murine embryonic stem cells. Mice homozygous for the null allele appear normal but are prone to the spontaneous development of a variety of neoplasms by 6 months of age. These observations indicate that a normal p53 gene is dispensable for embryonic development, that its absence predisposes the animal to neoplastic disease, and that an oncogenic mutant form of p53 is not obligatory for the genesis of many types of tumours.     

A human recombinant haemoglobin designed for use as a blood substitute.

The need to develop a blood substitute is now urgent because of the increasing concern over blood-transmitted viral and bacterial pathogens. Cell-free haemoglobin solutions and human haemoglobin synthesized in Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae have been investigated as potential oxygen-carrying substitutes for red blood cells. But these haemoglobins cannot be used as a blood substitute because (1) the oxygen affinity in the absence of 2,3-bisphosphoglycerate is too high to allow unloading of enough oxygen in the tissues, and (2) they dissociate into alpha beta dimers that are cleared rapidly by renal filtration, which can result in long-term kidney damage. We have produced a human haemoglobin using an expression vector containing one gene encoding a mutant beta-globin with decreased oxygen affinity and one duplicated, tandemly fused alpha-globin gene. Fusion of the two alpha-globin subunits increases the half-life of this haemoglobin molecule in vivo by preventing its dissociation into alpha beta dimers and therefore also eliminates renal toxicity.     

Quadruplex structure of Oxytricha telomeric DNA oligonucleotides.

The telomeres of most eukaryotes contain a repeating G-rich sequence with the consensus d(T/A)1-4G1-8, of which 12-16 bases form a 3' single-strand overhang beyond the telomeric duplex. It has been proposed that these G-rich oligonucleotides associate to form four-stranded structures from one, two or four individual strands and that these structures may be relevant in vivo. The proposed structures contain Hoogsteen base-paired G-quartets, precedent for which has been in the literature for many years. Here we use 1H NMR spectroscopy to study the conformations of the DNA oligonucleotides d(G4T4G4) (Oxy-1.5) and d(G4T4G4T4G4T4G4) (Oxy-3.5) which contain the Oxytricha telomere repeat (T4G4). We find that these molecules fold to form a symmetrical bimolecular and an intramolecular quadruplex, respectively. Both structures have four G-quartets formed from nucleotides that are alternately syn and anti along each strand. This arrangement differs from earlier models in which the strands are alternately all syn or all anti. The T4 loops in Oxy-1.5 are on opposite ends of the quadruplex and loop diagonally across the G-quartet, resulting in adjacent strands being alternately parallel and antiparallel.     

Tumour necrosis factor alpha restores granulomas and induces parasite egg-laying in schistosome-infected SCID mice.

Schistosomiasis (bilharzia) is a parasitic disease caused by several species of schistosome worms (blood flukes). The key pathogenic event in this disease is the formation of granulomas around schistosome eggs trapped in portal venules of the liver. Granulomas are a distinctive form of chronic inflammation characterized by localized aggregation of activated macrophages around an inciting stimulus. Each granuloma evolves to form a fibrous scar; in schistosomiasis, the result is widespread hepatic fibrosis and portal hypertension. To identify the specific immune signal molecules necessary for granuloma formation, we studied schistosome infections in severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) mice, which have normal macrophages but lack functional B or T lymphocytes. Here we report that the immunoregulatory cytokine tumour necrosis factor alpha is necessary and sufficient to reconstitute granuloma formation in schistosome-infected SCID mice. Moreover, we find that the parasitic worms require tumour necrosis factor alpha for egg-laying and for excretion of eggs from the host. The implication of this latter result is that the parasite has adapted so successfully to its host that it uses a host-derived immunoregulatory protein as a signal for replication and transmission.     

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.     

Superantigen implicated in dependence of HIV-1 replication in T cells on TCR V beta expression.

In the pathogenesis of AIDS it is not yet understood whether the small fraction of CD4+ T cells (approximately 1%) infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are randomly targeted or not. Here we present evidence that human CD4 T-cell lines expressing selected T-cell antigen receptor V beta gene products can all be infected in vitro with HIV-1, but give markedly different titres of HIV-1 virion production. For example, V beta 12 T-cell lines from several unrelated donors reproducibly yielded up to 100-fold more gag gene product (p24gag antigen) than V beta 6.7a lines. This is consistent with a superantigen effect, because the V beta selectivity was observed with several divergent HIV-1 isolates, was dependent on antigen-presenting cells and on major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II but was not MHC class II-restricted. The in vivo significance of these findings is supported by the preferential stimulation of V beta 12+ T cells by freshly obtained irradiated antigen-presenting cells from some HIV-1-seropositive but not HIV-1-negative donors. Moreover, cells from patients positive for viral antigen (gp120) were enriched in the V beta 12 subpopulation. V beta 12+ T cells were not deleted in AIDS patients, however, raising the possibility that a variety of mechanisms contribute to T-cell depletion. Our results indicate that a superantigen targets a subpopulation of CD4+ cells for viral replication.