Expression patterns of aristaless in developing appendages of Gryllus bimaculatus (cricket)

We report the isolation and expression patterns of aristaless (al), a paired-type homeobox gene, of Gryllus bimaculatus (Gb), a hemimetabola model insect. Gryllus al (Gbal) is expressed in the most distal region of developing labrum, antenna, mandible, maxilla, labium, leg, cercus, and hindgut. Gbal is also expressed in the proximal region, corresponding to the presumptive coxopodite, of the developing antenna, mandible, maxilla, labium, and leg, but not in the developing labrum, cercus, and hindgut. During development of the leg, expression of Gbal changes dynamically with the progress in leg segmentation: Gbal is expressed in order in the presumptive pretarsus, coxa, femur, tibia and tarsus before appearance of morphological segmentation.     

Crystallization and preliminary X-ray crystallographic analysis of plant ferritin from Glycine max

The iron storage protein ferritin from soybean (Glycine max) was expressed in E. coli and crystallized using the hanging drop vapor diffusion method with sodium tartrate as the precipitant. The crystals belong to the tetragonal I4(1)22 space group, with unit cell parameters a=b=324.0, c=182.7 A. The diffraction data were collected up to a resolution of 3.0 A with a multi-wire area detector.     

Regulation of hyaluronan synthases in mouse uterine cervix

We examined the expression pattern of hyaluronan synthase (HAS) mRNAs in the uterine cervix of pregnant mice. The expression levels of HAS-1 and -2 mRNAs peaked at delivery, whereas that of HAS-3 mRNA peaked on the 15th day of pregnancy. The regulation of HAS mRNA expression was examined in pregnant mouse uterine cervical fibroblasts. The expression of HAS-1, -2, and -3 mRNAs was significantly augmented by interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta). Progesterone significantly interfered with expression of HAS-1 and -2 mRNAs, but significantly increased the expression of HAS-3 mRNA. Low-molecular-weight hyaluronan significantly enhanced only the expression of HAS-1 mRNA. These results indicate that HAS in the uterine cervix is regulated in a complex manner by IL-1beta, progesterone, and low-molecular-weight hyaluronan, of which changes in the cervical tissue and serum closely participate in uterine cervical ripening and/or inflammation.     

Thermodynamic analysis of the activation mechanism of the GCSF receptor induced by ligand binding

The granulocyte colony-stimulating factor receptor (GCSFR), containing the Ig-like domain (Ig) and cytokine receptor homologous region (CRH), was prepared as a preformed dimer (Ig-CRH-Fc)(2) after fusion to the mouse Fc region via an eight-residue linker (approximately 55 A). Monomer Ig-CRH was also prepared after the Fc region was removed from (Ig-CRH-Fc)(2). GCSF binding to Ig-CRH and (Ig-CRH-Fc)(2) was investigated using light scattering and isothermal titration calorimetry. The average molecular mass determined by light scattering showed that both Ig-CRH and (Ig-CRH-Fc)(2) formed a 2:2 dimer with GCSF. Moreover, isothermal titration calorimetry showed that the thermodynamic parameters upon binding of GCSF to Ig-CRH and (Ig-CRH-Fc)(2) were comparable, suggesting a similar binding stoichiometry and interface [including similar buried surface area (5700-6000 A(2))] despite the presence of the eight-residue linker. The buried surface area is much larger than that calculated from our previous report of the crystal structure of the GCSF-CRH complex [Aritomi, M., et al. (1999) Nature 401, 713-717], suggesting a substantial contribution of the Ig domain to GCSF binding. The data also indicate that the distance (55 A) between two CRH domains in the 2:2 complex is much shorter than in our previous model (approximately 90 A) predicted from the same crystal structure of the GCSF-CRH complex.     

Expression patterns of the homeotic genes Scr, Antp, Ubx, and abd-A during embryogenesis of the cricket Gryllus bimaculatus

We have studied embryogenesis of the two-spotted cricket Gryllus bimaculatus as an example of a hemimetabolous, intermediate germ insect, which is a phylogenetically basal insect and may retain primitive features. We observed expression patterns of the orthologs of the Drosophila homeotic genes, Sex combs reduced (Scr), Antennapedia (Antp), Ultrabithorax (Ubx) and abdominal-A (abd-A) during embryogenesis and compared the expression patterns of these genes with the more basal thysanuran insect, Thermobia domestica (the firebrat), and the derived higher dipteran insect, Drosophila melanogaster. Although Scr is expressed commonly in the presumptive posterior maxillary and labial segment in all three insects, the thoracic expression domains vary. Antp is expressed similarly in the three thoracic segments, the limbs, and the anterior abdominal region among these three insects. The early Antp expression in the firebrat and cricket obeys a segmental register in all three thoracic segments, while in Drosophila its initial expression appears in parasegments 4 and 6. Ubx is expressed in the metathoracic (T3) and abdominal segments similarly in the three insects, whereas the expression pattern in the T3 leg differs among them. abd-A is expressed in the posterior compartment of the first abdominal segment and the remaining abdominal segments in all three insects, although its posterior border varies among them.     

The cell cycle associated protein, HTm4, is expressed in differentiating cellsof the hematopoietic and central nervous system in mice

HTm4 is a member of a newly defined family of human and murine proteins, the MS4 (membrane-spanning four) protein group, which has a distinctive four-transmembrane structure. MS4 protein functions include roles as cell surface signaling receptors and intracellular adapter proteins. We have previously demonstrated that HTm4 regulates the function of the KAP phosphatase, a key regulator of cell cycle progression. In humans, the expression of HTm4 is largely restricted to cells of the hematopoietic lineage, possibly reflecting a causal role for this molecule in differentiation/proliferation of hematopoietic lineage cells. In this study, we show that, like the human homologue, murine HTm4 is also predominantly a hematopoietic protein with distinctive expression patterns in developing murine embryos and in adult animals. In addition, we observed that murine HTm4 is highly expressed in the developing and adult murine nervous system, suggesting a previously unrecognized role in central and peripheral nervous system development.JLK and XY contributed equally to this work     

Anaerobic nitrogen-fixing consortia consisting of clostridia isolated from gramineous plants

We report here the existence of anaerobic nitrogen-fixing consortia (ANFICOs) consisting of N(2)-fixing clostridia and diverse nondiazotrophic bacteria in nonleguminous plants; we found these ANFICOs while attempting to overcome a problem with culturing nitrogen-fixing microbes from various gramineous plants. A major feature of ANFICOs is that N(2) fixation by the anaerobic clostridia is supported by the elimination of oxygen by the accompanying bacteria in the culture. In a few ANFICOs, nondiazotrophic bacteria specifically induced nitrogen fixation of the clostridia in culture. ANFICOs are widespread in wild rice species and pioneer plants, which are able to grow in unfavorable locations. These results indicate that clostridia are naturally occurring endophytes in gramineous plants and that clostridial N(2) fixation arises in association with nondiazotrophic endophytes.