Phylogeographic analysis of mitochondrial DNA haplogroup F2 in China reveals T12338C in the initiation codon of the NDS gene not to be pathogenic

In this report, we studied on a homoplasmic T12338C change in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), which substituted methionine in the translational initiation codon of the NADH dehydrogenase subunit 5 gene (ND5) with threonine. This nucleotide change was originall

Distinctive contributions of the ribosomal P-site elements m(2)G966, m(5)C967 and the C-terminal tail of the S9 protein in the fidelity of initiation of translation in Escherichia coli

The accuracy of pairing of the anticodon of the initiator tRNA (tRNA(fMet)) and the initiation codon of an mRNA, in the ribosomal P-site, is crucial for determining the translational reading frame. However, a direct role of any ribosomal element(s) in scrutinizing this pairing is unknown. The P-site elements, m(2)G966 (methylated by RsmD), m(5)C967 (methylated by RsmB) and the C-terminal tail of the protein S9 lie in the vicinity of tRNA(fMet). We investigated the role of these elements in initiation from various codons, namely, AUG, GUG, UUG, CUG, AUA, AUU, AUC and ACG with tRNA(CAU)(fmet) (tRNA(fMet) with CAU anticodon); CAC and CAU with tRNA(GUG)(fme); UAG with tRNA(GAU)(fMet) using in vivo and computational methods. Although RsmB deficiency did not impact initiation from most codons, RsmD deficiency increased initiation from AUA, CAC and CAU (2- to 3.6-fold). Deletion of the S9 C-terminal tail resulted in poorer initiation from UUG, GUG and CUG, but in increased initiation from CAC, CAU and UAC codons (up to 4-fold). Also, the S9 tail suppressed initiation with tRNA(CAU)(fMet)lacking the 3GC base pairs in the anticodon stem. These observations suggest distinctive roles of 966/967 methylations and the S9 tail in initiation.

Methionine-independent initiation of translation in the capsid protein of an insect RNA virus

Protein synthesis is believed to be initiated with the amino acid methionine because the AUG translation initiation codon of mRNAs is recognized by the anticodon of initiator methionine transfer RNA. A group of positive-stranded RNA viruses of insects, however, lacks an AUG translation initiation codon for their capsid protein gene, which is located at the downstream part of the genome. The capsid protein of one of these viruses, Plautia stali intestine virus, is synthesized by internal ribosome entry site-mediated translation. Here we report that methionine is not the initiating amino acid in the translation of the capsid protein in this virus. Its translation is initiated with glutamine encoded by a CAA codon that is the first codon of the capsid-coding region. The nucleotide sequence immediately upstream of the capsid-coding region interacts with a loop segment in the stem–loop structure located 15–43 nt upstream of the 5′ end of the capsid-coding region. The pseudoknot structure formed by this base pair interaction is essential for translation of the capsid protein. This mechanism for translation initiation differs from the conventional one in that the initiation step controlled by the initiator methionine transfer RNA is not necessary.

Molecular mechanisms of translation initiation in eukaryotes

Translation initiation is a complex process in which initiator tRNA, 40S, and 60S ribosomal subunits are assembled by eukaryotic initiation factors (eIFs) into an 80S ribosome at the initiation codon of mRNA. The cap-binding complex eIF4F and the factors eIF4A and eIF4B are required for binding of 43S complexes (comprising a 40S subunit, eIF2/GTP/Met-tRNAi and eIF3) to the 5′ end of capped mRNA but are not sufficient to promote ribosomal scanning to the initiation codon. eIF1A enhances the ability of eIF1 to dissociate aberrantly assembled complexes from mRNA, and these factors synergistically mediate 48S complex assembly at the initiation codon. Joining of 48S complexes to 60S subunits to form 80S ribosomes requires eIF5B, which has an essential ribosome-dependent GTPase activity and hydrolysis of eIF2-bound GTP induced by eIF5. Initiation on a few mRNAs is cap-independent and occurs instead by internal ribosomal entry. Encephalomyocarditis virus (EMCV) and hepatitis C virus epitomize distinct mechanisms of internal ribosomal entry site (IRES)-mediated initiation. The eIF4A and eIF4G subunits of eIF4F bind immediately upstream of the EMCV initiation codon and promote binding of 43S complexes. EMCV initiation does not involve scanning and does not require eIF1, eIF1A, and the eIF4E subunit of eIF4F. Initiation on some EMCV-like IRESs requires additional noncanonical initiation factors, which alter IRES conformation and promote binding of eIF4A/4G. Initiation on the hepatitis C virus IRES is even simpler: 43S complexes containing only eIF2 and eIF3 bind directly to the initiation codon as a result of specific interaction of the IRES and the 40S subunit.

Alternative translation initiation site usage results in two functionally distinct forms of the GATA-1 transcription factor.

GATA-1 is a zinc-finger transcription factor that plays a critical role in the normal development of hematopoietic cell lineages. In human and murine erythroid cells a previously undescribed 40-kDa protein is detected with GATA-1-specific antibodies. We show that the 40-kDa GATA-1 (GATA-1s) is produced by the use of an internal AUG initiation codon in the GATA-1 transcript. The GATA-1 proteins share identical binding activity and form heterodimers in erythroleukemic cells but differ in their transactivation potential and in their expression in developing mouse embryos.

Identification of a cryptic Prokaryotic promoter within the cDNA encoding the 5′ End of Dengue Virus RNA Genome

Infectious cDNA clones of RNA viruses are important research tools, but flavivirus cDNA clones have proven difficult to assemble and propagate in bacteria. This has been attributed to genetic instability and/or host cell toxicity, however the mechanism leading to these difficulties has not been fully elucidated. Here we identify and characterize an efficient cryptic bacterial promoter in the cDNA encoding the dengue virus (DENV) 5′ UTR. Following cryptic transcription in E. coli, protein expression initiated at a conserved in-frame AUG that is downstream from the authentic DENV initiation codon, yielding a DENV polyprotein fragment that was truncated at the N-terminus. A more complete understanding of constitutive viral protein expression in E. coli might help explain the cloning and propagation difficulties generally observed with flavivirus cDNA.

Mutation analysis of the CDKN2A promoter in Australian melanoma families

Approximately 50% of all melanoma families worldwide show linkage to 9p21-22, but only about half of these have been shown to contain germ line CDKN2A mutations. It has been hypothesized that a proportion of these families carry mutations in the noncoding regions of CDKN2A. Several Canadian families have been reported to carry a mutation in the 5' UTR, at position -34 relative to the start site, which gives rise to a novel AUG translation initiation codon that markedly decreases translation from the wild-type AUG (Liu et al., 1999). Haplotype sharing in these Canadian families suggested that this mutation is of British origin. We sequenced 1,327 base pairs (bp) of CDKN2A, making up 1,116 bp of the 5' UTR and promoter, all of exon 1, and 61 bp of intron 1, in at least one melanoma case from 110 Australian families with three or more affected members known not to carry mutations within the p16 coding region. In addition, 431 bp upstream of the start codon was sequenced in an additional 253 affected probands from two-case melanoma families for which the CDKN2A mutation status was unknown. Several known polymorphisms at positions -33, -191, -493, and -735 were detected, in addition to four novel variants at positions 120, -252, -347, and -981 relative to the start codon. One of the probands from a two-case family was found to have the previously reported Q50R mutation. No family member was found to carry the mutation at position -34 or any other disease-associated mutation. For further investigation of noncoding CDKN2A mutations that may affect transcription, allele-specific expression analysis was carried out in 31 of the families with at least three affected members who showed either complete or "indeterminate" 9p haplotype sharing without CDKN2A exonic mutations. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and automated sequencing showed expression of both CDKN2A alleles in all family members tested. The lack of CDKN2A promoter mutations and the absence of transcriptional silencing in the germ line of this cohort of families suggest that mutations in the promoter and 5' UTR play a very limited role in melanoma predisposition.

Association of a vitamin D receptor polymorphism with sporadic breast cancer development

Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among Australian women and its incidence is annually increasing. Genetic factors are involved in the complex etiology of breast cancer. The seco-steroid hormone, 1.25 dihydroxy vitamin D3 can influence breast cancer cell growth in vitro. A number of studies have reported correlations between vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene polymorphisms and several diseases including prostate cancer and osteoporosis. In breast cancer, low vitamin D levels in serum are correlated with disease progression and bone metastases, a situation also noted in prostate cancer and suggesting the involvement of the VDR. In our study, 2 restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLP) in the 3' region (detected by Apa1 and Taq1) and an initiation codon variant in the 5' end of the VDR gene (detected by Fok1) were tested for association with breast cancer risk in 135 females with sporadic breast cancer and 110 cancer-free female controls. Allele frequencies of the 3' Apa1 polymorphism showed a significant association (p = 0.016; OR = 1.56, 95% CI = 1.09-2.24) while the Taq1 RFLP showed a similar trend (p = 0.053; OR = 1.45, 95% CI = 1.00-2.00). Allele frequencies of the Fok1 polymorphism were not significantly different (p = 0.97; OR = 0.99, 95% CI = 0.69-1.43) in the study population. Our results suggest that specific alleles of the VDR gene located near the 3' region may identify an increased risk for breast cancer and justify further investigation of the role of VDR in breast cancer.

Identification and characterization of a new plasmid carrying genes for degradation of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetate from Pseudomonas cepacia CSV90

Pseudomonas cepacia CSV90 is able to utilize 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetate (2,4-D) and 2-methyl-4-chlorophenoxyacetate as sole sources of carbon and energy. Mutants of the strain CSV90 which had lost this ability appeared spontaneously on a nonselective medium. The wild-type strain harbored a 90-kb plasmid, pMAB1, whereas 2,4-D-negative mutants either lost the plasmid or had a 70-kb plasmid, pMAB2. The plasmid pMAB2 was found to have undergone a deletion Of a 20-kb fragment of pMAB1. The plasmid-free mutants regained the ability to degrade 2,4-D after introduction of purified pMAB1 by electroporation. Cloning in Escherichia coli of a 10-kb BamHI fragment from pMAB1, the region absent in pMAB2, resulted in the expression of the gene tfdC encoding 3,5-dichlorocatechol 1,2-dioxygenase. After subcloning, the tfdC gene was located in a 1.6-kb HindIII fragment. The nucleotide sequence of the tfdC gene and the restriction map of its contiguous region are identical to those of the well-characterized 2,4-D-degradative plasmid pJP4 of Alcaligenes eutrophus, whereas the overall restriction maps of the two plasmids are different. The N-terminal 44-amino-acid sequence of the enzyme purified from the strain CSV90 confirmed the reading frame in the DNA sequence for tfdC and indicated that the initiation codon GUG is read as methionine instead of valine.

Characterization and developmental regulation of a gene expressed specifically in the skeletogenic lineage of the sea urchin embryo

The sea urchin embryonic skeleton, or spicule, is deposited by mesenchymal progeny of four precursor cells, the micromeres, which are determined to the skeletogenic pathway by a process known as cytoplasmic localization. A gene encoding one of the major products of the skeletogenic mesenchyme, a prominent 50 kD protein of the spicule matrix, has been characterized in detail. cDNA clones were first isolated by antibody screening of a phage expression library, followed by isolation of homologous genomic clones. The gene, known as SM50, is single copy in the sea urchin genome, is divided into two exons of 213 and 1682 bp, and is expressed only in skeletogenic cells. Transcripts are first detectable at the 120 cell stage, shortly after the segregation of the skeletogenic precursors from the rest of the embryo. The SM50 open reading frame begins within the first exon, is 450 amino acids in length, and contains a loosely repeated 13 amino acid motif rich in acidic residues which accounts for 45% of the protein and which is possibly involved in interaction with the mineral phase of the spicule.

The important cis-acting regions of the SM50 gene necessary for proper regulation of expression were identified by gene transfer experiments. A 562 bp promoter fragment, containing 438 bp of 5' promoter sequence and 124 bp of the SM50 first exon (including the SM50 initiation codon), was both necessary and sufficient to direct high levels of expression of the bacterial chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) reporter gene specifically in the skeletogenic cells. Removal of promoter sequences between positions -2200 and -438, and of transcribed regions downstream of +124 (including the SM50 intron), had no effect on the spatial or transcriptional activity of the transgenes.

Regulatory proteins that interact with the SM50 promoter were identified by the gel retardation assay, using bulk embryo mesenchyme blastula stage nuclear proteins. Five protein binding sites were identified and mapped to various degrees of resolution. Two sites are homologous, may be enhancer elements, and at least one is required for expression. Two additional sites are also present in the promoter of the aboral ectoderm specific cytoskeletal actin gene CyIIIa; one of these is a CCAA T element, the other a putative repressor element. The fifth site overlaps the binding site of the putative repressor and may function as a positive regulator by interfering with binding of the repressor. All of the proteins are detectable in nuclear extracts prepared from 64 cell stage embryos, a stage just before expression of SM50 is initiated, as well as from blastula and gastrula stage; the putative enhancer binding protein may be maternal as well.

Characterization of an early gene encoding for dUTPase in Rana grylio virus

dUTPase (DUT) is a ubiquitous and important enzyme responsible for regulating levels of dUTP. Here, an iridovirus DUT was identified and characterized from Rana grylio virus (RGV) which is a pathogen agent in pig frog. The DUT encodes a protein of 164aa with a predicted molecular mass of 17.4 kDa, and its transcriptional initiation site was determined by 5'RACE to start from the nucleotide A at 15 nt upstream of the initiation codon ATG. Sequence comparisons and multiple alignments suggested that RGV DUT was quite similar to other identified DUTs that function as homotrimers. Phylogenetic analysis implied that DUT horizontal transfers might have occurred between the vertebrate hosts and iridoviruses. Furthermore, its temporal expression pattern during RGV infection course was characterized by RT-PCR and Western blot analysis. It begins to transcribe and translate as early as 4 h postinfection (p.i.), and remains detectable at 48 h p.i. DUT-EGFP fusion protein was observed in the cytoplasm of pEGFP-N3-Dut transfected EPC cells. Immunofluorescence also confirmed DUT cytoplasm localization in RGV-infected cells. Using drug inhibition analysis by a de novo protein synthesis inhibitor (cycloheximide) and a viral DNA replication inhibitor (cytosine arabinofuranoside), RGV DUT was classified as an early (E) viral gene during the in vitro infection. Moreover, RGV DUT overexpression was shown that there was no effect on RGV replication by viral replication kinetics assay. (c) 2006 Published by Elsevier B.V.

来自易变山羊草抗禾谷孢囊线虫基因的克隆与序列分析

禾谷孢囊线虫（Heterodera avenae）是严重危害禾谷类作物的病原线虫之一,它广泛分布于澳大利亚、欧洲、北美、印度和中国等世界主要小麦产区,使作物严重减产,造成巨大的经济损失。目前最有效的防治措施之一是将外源抗性基因导入栽培小麦(Triticum aestivum L.)，培育抗禾谷孢囊线虫的新品种。但迄今为止抗禾谷孢囊线虫基因克隆研究的相关报道却很少。 本实验根据此前从抗禾谷孢囊线虫材料E-10扩增得到的与来自节节麦（Aegilops tauschii）的抗禾谷孢囊线虫基因Cre3高度同源的序列Rccn4,设计出三条嵌套引物,采用SON-PCR(single oligonucleotide nested PCR)方法,从E-10基因组DNA中得到一个长为1264 bp的扩增产物(命名为Rccn-L),测序比对结果显示,这一序列将Rccn4的3’端延伸了1209 bp,与抗禾谷孢囊线虫Cre3基因核苷酸同源性为86﹪，核苷酸编码区长1026 bp，含一个不完整的开放阅读框,一个终止密码子，没有起始密码子和内含子结构,编码一个342个氨基酸残基的蛋白质。该蛋白质等电点为5.19，分子量为38112.6Da。从序列的第113位开始到第332位是NBS-LRR类抗病性基因LRR区,呈现XXLXXLXXL重复。LRR编码区内亮氨酸残基的含量达17﹪，与抗禾谷孢囊线虫Cre3基因LRR编码区的核苷酸和氨基酸同源性分别为89﹪和78﹪。本实验首次将SON-PCR成功地运用于植物基因克隆，为植物基因克隆提供了又一有效方法。 此外,还根据Cre3基因及其他的NBS-LRR类植物抗性基因的NBS和LRR区保守序列设计了两对特异性引物，从禾谷孢囊线虫抗性材料易变山羊草基因组DNA中扩增到两个相应的目标条带。测序分析结果表明，它们的长度分别为532bp和1175bp，构成了一个有32bp的共同序列的NBS-LRR编码区。其序列总长为1675bp（命名为RCCN），含有一个不完整的开放阅读框，没有起始密码子、终止密码子和内含子结构。其中编码序列为1673bp，可编码一个557个氨基酸的蛋白质，等电点（pI）为5.39，分子量为63537.5Da。与Cre3的核苷酸和氨基酸同源性分别为87.8﹪和77﹪。RCCN氨基酸序列中含有已知抗病基因NBS区域的几个保守模体：kinase2区的ILDD、kinase3的（ⅰ）ESKILVTTRSK，（ⅱ）KGSPLAARTVGG，（ⅲ）RRCFAYCS及EGF。RCCN NBS区与Cre3 NBS区的核苷酸和氨基酸的同源性分别为96.4﹪和94﹪。从氨基酸序列的274位到548位为LRR保守区，呈现不规则的aXXLXXLXXL（其中a代表I，V，L，F或M）重复，其中亮氨酸的含量为15.6﹪。该区域与Cre3的LRR区的核苷酸和氨基酸同源性分别为80.8﹪和74﹪。推测该序列可能为一个抗禾谷孢囊线虫的新基因。 本文对抗禾谷孢囊线虫基因的克隆研究，为进一步克隆基因全序列，探索其结构与功能，和研究该基因表达与调控提供了关键信息。同时也为通过基因工程途径将抗性基因向优良小麦品种高效、定向转移，最终培育出小麦抗禾谷孢囊线虫新品种奠定了基础。 Cereal cyst nematode (CCN) is a damaging pathogen of broad acre cereal crops in Australia, Europe, North America, India and China. It affects wheat, barley, oat and triticale and causes yield loss of up to 80%. At present, Transferring resistance genes against CCN into wheat cultivars and breeding varieties are considered one of the most effective methods for controlling the CCN. However, there are very limited reports concerning the cloning studies of resistance genes against the cereal cyst nematode. According to the sequence of Rccn4 which had high similarity to the nucleotide binding site (NBS) coding region of cereal cyst nematode resistance gene, Cre3， We designed three 3’ nested primers. Using single oligonucleotide nested PCR (SON-PCR) we successfully amplified one band, Rccn-L, of 1264bp from E-10 which is the wheat-Ae.variabilis translocation line containing the cereal cyst nematode resistance gene of Ae.variabilis. We found that this band of interesting is the 3’ flanking sequence of 1209bp in size of Rccn4. The coding region was 1026bp, which contained an incomplete open reading frame and a terminator codon, without initiation codon and intron, encoding a peptide of 342 amino acid residues, and shared 86﹪nucleotide sequence identity with Cre3. This peptide had a conserved LRR domain, containing the imperfect repeats,XXLXXLXXL, which contains 17﹪ leucine residues and shares, respectively, 89﹪ nucleotide sequence and 78﹪ amino acid sequence identity with the LRR sequence of Cre3 locus. This research firstly used SON-PCR in the research of plant genome successfully, which indicated that SON-PCR is another method of cloning plant gene. At the same time, According to the conversed motif of NBS and LRR region of cereal cyst nematode resistance gene Cre3 from wild wheat (Triticum tauschlii L.) and the known NBS-LRR group resistance genes, we designed two pairs of specific primers for NBS and LRR region respectively. One band of approximately 530bp was amplified using the specific primers for conversed NBS region and one band of approximately 1200bp was amplified with the specific primers for conversed LRR region. After sequencing, we found that these two sequences included 32bp common nucleotide sequence and have 1675 bp in total, which was registered as RCCN in the Genbank. RCCN contained a NBS-LRR domain and an incomplete open reading frame without initiation codon, terminator codon and inxon. Its exon encodes a peptide of 557 amino acid residues. The molecular weight of the protein from the amino acid was 63.537 KDa. The amino acid sequence of RCCN contained conserved motif: ILDD, ESKILVTTRSK, KGSPLAARTVGG, RRCFAYCS, EGF，LRR. RCCN shares 87.8﹪ nucleotide sequence and 77﹪ amino acid sequence identity with cereal cyst nematode gene Cre3. It might be a novel cereal cyst nematode resistance gene. These research results of cloning the resistance genes against cereal cyst nematode bring a great promise for transferring resistance genes into wheat cultivars and breeding new wheat varieties against cereal cyst nematode by gene engineering. And these results also lay the hard foundation for the expressing researches of these genes.

Rapid identification of precursor cDNAs encoding five structural classes of antimicrobial peptides from pickerel frog (Rana palustris) skin secretion by single step “shotgun” cloning.

The skin secretion of the North American pickerel frog (Rana palustris) has long been known to have pronounced noxious/toxic properties and to be highly effective in defence against predators and against other sympatric amphibians. As it consists largely of a complex mixture of peptides, it has been subjected to systematic peptidomic study but there has been little focus on molecular cloning of peptide-encoding cDNAs and by deduction, the biosynthetic precursors that they encode. Here, we demonstrate that the cDNAs encoding the five major structural families of antimicrobial peptides can be elucidated by a single step “shotgun” cloning approach using a cDNA library constructed from the source material of the peptidomic studies—the defensive skin secretion itself. Using a degenerate primer pool designed to a highly conserved nucleic acid sequence 5' to the initiation codon of known antimicrobial peptide precursor transcripts, we amplified cDNA sequences representing five major classes of antimicrobial peptides, such as esculentins, brevinins, ranatuerins, palustrins and temporins. Bioinformatic comparisons of precursor open-reading frames and nucleic acid sequences revealed high degrees of structural similarities between analogous peptides of R. palustris and the Chinese bamboo odorous frog, Rana versabilis. This approach thus constitutes a robust technique that can be used either alone or ideally, in parallel with peptidomic analysis of skin secretion, to rapidly extract primary structural information on amphibian skin secretion peptides and their biosynthetic precursors.