Synthetic genes for glycoprotein design and the elucidation of hydroxyproline-O-glycosylation codes

Design of hydroxyproline (Hyp)-rich glycoproteins (HRGPs) offers an approach for the structural and functional analysis of these wall components, which are broadly implicated in plant growth and development. HRGPs consist of multiple small repetitive “glycomodules” extensively O-glycosylated through the Hyp residues. The patterns of Hyp-O-glycosylation are putatively coded by the primary sequence as described by the Hyp contiguity hypothesis, which predicts contiguous Hyp residues to be attachment sites of small arabinooligosaccharides (1–5 Ara residues/Hyp); while clustered, noncontiguous Hyp residues are sites of arabinogalactan polysaccharide attachment. As a test, we designed two simple HRGPs as fusion proteins with green fluorescent protein. The first was a repetitive Ser-Hyp motif that encoded only clustered noncontiguous Hyp residues, predicted polysaccharide addition sites. The resulting glycoprotein had arabinogalactan polysaccharide O-linked to all Hyp residues. The second construct, based on the consensus sequence of a gum arabic HRGP, contained both arabinogalactan and arabinooligosaccharide addition sites and, as predicted, gave a product that contained both saccharide types. These results identify an O-glycosylation code of plants.

Brain mechanisms of quantity are similar in 5-year-old children and adults

Both 5-year-old children and adults determine the quantity of a number by the use of a similar parietal lobe mechanism. Event related potentials indicate that input from Arabic digits and from dot patterns reach areas involved in determining quantity about 200 ms after input. However, voluntary key presses indicating the relation of the input to the quantity five take almost three times as long in children. The ability to trace the networks of brain areas involved in the learning of school subjects should aid in the design and testing of educational methods.

Protection and storage of chlorophyll in overwintering evergreens

How evergreen species store and protect chlorophyll during exposure to high light in winter remains unexplained. This study reveals that the evergreen snow gum (Eucalyptus pauciflora Sieb. ex Spreng.) stores and protects its chlorophylls by forming special complexes that are unique to the winter-acclimated state. Our in vivo spectral and kinetic characterizations reveal a prominent component of the chlorophyll fluorescence spectrum around 715 nm at 77 K. This band coincides structurally with a loss of chlorophyll and an increase in energy-dissipating carotenoids. Functionally, the band coincides with an increased capacity to dissipate excess light energy, absorbed by the chlorophylls, as heat without intrathylakoid acidification. The increased heat dissipation helps protect the chlorophylls from photo-oxidative bleaching and thereby facilitates rapid recovery of photosynthesis in spring.

Effect of nicotine on brain activation during performance of a working memory task

Nicotine influences cognition and behavior, but the mechanisms by which these effects occur are unclear. By using positron emission tomography, we measured cognitive activation (increases in relative regional cerebral blood flow) during a working memory task [2-back task (2BT)] in 11 abstinent smokers and 11 ex-smokers. Assays were performed both after administration of placebo gum and 4-mg nicotine gum. Performance on the 2BT did not differ between groups in either condition, and the pattern of brain activation by the 2BT was consistent with reports in the literature. However, in the placebo condition, activation in ex-smokers predominated in the left hemisphere, whereas in smokers, it occurred in the right hemisphere. When nicotine was administered, activation was reduced in smokers but enhanced in ex-smokers. The lateralization of activation as a function of nicotine dependence suggests that chronic exposure to nicotine or withdrawal from nicotine affects cognitive strategies used to perform the memory task. Furthermore, the lack of enhancement of activation after nicotine administration in smokers likely reflects tolerance.