Characterization of two membrane-associated protease genes obtained from screening out-membrane protein genes of Flavobacterium columnare G(4)

In order to identify genes encoding the outer membrane proteins (OMPs) of the myxobacter Flavobacterium columnare G(4), the expression library of the bacterium was screened by using rabbit antisera developed against its OMPs. Positive colonies of Escherichia coli M15 containing fragments encoding the bacterial OMPs were selected for cloning the relevant genes by genomic walking methods. Two genes encoding a membrane-associated zinc metalloprotease and prolyl oligopeptidase are reported in this paper. The membrane-associated zinc metalloprotease gene (map) is 1800 bp in length, coding for 449 amino acids (aa). Despite the presence of a conserved motif HEXXH for all metalloproteases, the special HEXXH similar to 32 aa similar to E motif of the F. columnare G(4) Map and its low level of identity with other reported zinc-containing metalloproteases may imply that the membrane-associated zinc metalloprotease of F. columnare G(4) represents a new family of zincins. The gene encoding prolyl oligopeptidase (Pop), a serine proteinase, is 2352 bp in length, coding for 649 aa. Sequence homology analysis revealed that the Pop is also novel as it has <50% identity with other reported prolyl oligopeptidase family proteins. The present study represents the first to employ anti-fish bacterial OMP sera to screen genes of membrane-associated proteases of fish pathogenic bacteria, and to provide necessary information for the examination of the role of the two genes in the infection and pathogenesis of F. columnare.

Discovery and characterization of two types of liver-expressed antimicrobial peptide 2 (LEAP-2) genes in rainbow trout

The sequences and gene organisation of two LEAP-2 molecules (LEAP-2A and LEAP-2B) from rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss are presented. Both genes consist of a 3 exon/2 intron structure, with exon sizes comparable to known mammalian genes. LEAP-2A notably differs from LEAP-2B in having larger introns and a larger 3'UTR. The predicted proteins contain a signal peptide and prodomain, followed by a mature peptide of 41 aa containing four conserved cysteines. The RXXR cleavage site to release the mature peptide was also conserved. Both genes were found to be constitutively expressed in the liver, with expression in the intestine, and to a lesser extent the skin, evident after bacterial challenge. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Differential screening and characterization analysis of the egg envelope glycoprotein ZP3 cDNAs between gynogenetic and gonochoristic crucian carp

Gynogenetic silver crucian carp, Carassius auratus gibelio, is an intriguing model. system. In the present work, a systemic study has been initiated by introducing suppression subtractive hybridization technique into this model system to identify the differentially expressed genes in oocytes between gynogenetic silver crucian carp and its closely related gonochoristic color crucian carp. Five differential cDNA fragments were identified from the preliminary screening, and two of them are ZP3 homologues. Moreover, the full length ZP3 cDNAs were cloned from their oocyte cDNA libraries. The length of ZP3 cDNAs were 1378 bp for gyno-carp and 1367 bp for gono-carp, and they can be translated into proteins with 435 amino acids. Obvious differences are not only in the composition of amino acids, but also in the number of potential O-linked oligosaccharide sites. In addition, gyno-carp ZP3 amino acid sequence has an unexpected higher identity value with common carp (83.5%) than that with the closely related gono-carp (74.7%). The unique homology may be originated from the ancient hybridization. Northern blot analysis confirmed that expression of the ZP3 gene occurred exclusively in the oocytes. Because O-linked oligosaccharides on ZP3 have been demonstrated to play very important roles in fertilization, it is suggested that the extra O-linked glycosylation sites may be related to the unique sperm-egg recognition mechanism in gynogenesis.

A new enzyme immunoassay for PCDD/F TEQ screening in environmental samples: Comparison to micro-EROD assay and to chemical analysis

A new Enzyme ImmunoAssay (EIA) for PCDD/F TEQ measurement in extracts of environmental samples was described. The bioassay TEQ which derived from EIA and EROD were compared with each other and with results from chemical analysis. For all environmental samples, the EROD-TEQ is higher than the value from chemical analysis. However, the EIA-TEQ is much more identical with the value from chemical analysis. Our results indicate that the EIA assay is a complementary method to the EROD assay and should be useful as a rapid and sensitive screening tool for environmental samples in many situations. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved

Theoretical analysis and experimental study of the space-charge-screening effect in uni-traveling-carrier photodiode

A new optimized structure of an UTC (uni-traveling-carrier) photodiode is developed and epitaxied by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition. We fabricated a UTC photodiode of 30 mu m in diameter. Theoretical simulation based on drift-diffusion model was used to analyze the space-charge-screening effect in UTC photodiode primarily in two aspects: the carrier concentrations and the space electric field. The simulation results were generally in agreement with the experimental data.

Grey screening-photovoltaic soliton-induced waveguides

This paper shows that waveguides induced by grey screening-photovoltaic solitons are always single mode for all intensity ratios, which are the ratio between the peak intensity of the soliton and the dark irradiance. It finds that the confined energy near the centre of the grey soliton and the propagation constant of the guided mode increase monotonically with increasing intensity ratio. On the other hand, when the soliton greyness increases, the confined energy near the centre of the grey soliton and the propagation constant of the guided mode reduce monotonically. When the bulk photovoltaic effect is neglected for short circuits, these waveguides become waveguides induced by grey screening solitons. When the external bias field is absent, these waveguides become waveguides induced by grey photovoltaic solitons.

Waveguides induced by screening-photovoltaic solitons in biased photorefractive-photovoltaic crystals

We investigate theoretically waveguides induced by screening-photovoltaic solitons in biased photorefractive-photovoltaic crystals. We show that the number of guided modes in a waveguide induced by a bright screening-photovoltaic soliton increases monotonically with the increasing intensity ratio of the soliton, which is the ratio between the peak intensity of the soliton and the dark irradiance. On the other hand, waveguides induced by dark screening-photovoltaic solitons are always single mode for all intensity ratios and the confined energy near the centre of a dark screening-photovoltaic soliton increases monotonically with the increasing intensity ratio. When the bulk photovoltaic effect is neglectable, these waveguides are those induced by screening solitons. When the external field is absent, these waveguides predict those induced by photovoltaic solitons.