0000000000422130
AUTHOR
A. Sutter
A method to isolate cDNA-quality RNA from adult conifer needles and a psbA cDNA from Norway spruce
Summary In order to investigate the expression of the psbA gene in damaged and undamaged Norway spruce trees ( Picea abies ) a cDNA clone encoding the D1 protein was isolated via RT-PCR. Applying a method developed by Schneiderbauer et al. (1991) with some modifications, we were able to obtain the required RNA from mature needles and successfully reverse transcribe it into cDNA. Sequence analysis of the cDNA clone revealed an open reading frame (ORF) encoding a 353 amino acid polypeptide that is highly homologous to the D1 protein sequences deduced from higher plant psbA genes. A 4 bp insertion, directly following the stop codon ochre (TAA), was found by comparison with two Pinus species, t…
Assessment of mechanisms driving non-linear dose-response relationships in genotoxicity testing.
In genetic toxicology, risk assessment has traditionally adopted linear dose-responses for any compound that causes genotoxic effects. Increasing evidence of non-linear dose-responses, however, suggests potential cellular tolerance to low levels of many genotoxicants with diverse modes of action. Such putative non-linear dose-responses need to be substantiated by strong mechanistic data that identifies the mechanisms responsible for the tolerance to low doses. This can be achieved by experimental demonstration of cytoprotective mechanisms and by providing experimental support for the existence of tolerance mechanisms against low dose effects. By highlighting key experiments into low dose me…
Evidence for the Existence of a Pseudogene for the Large Subunit of Rubisco within the Chloroplast DNA of Norway Spruce (Picea Abies)
Many hundreds of genes are involved in the synthesis, maintenance and degradation of chloroplasts. Although quite a number of these genes are located in the chloroplast genome, by far the greater proportion is present in the nuclear genome. The sizes of chloroplast DNAs (cpDNA) were estimated from restriction enzyme mapping studies and the complete sequences of different cpDNAs from diverse plant lineages have been determined to date (Marchantia polymorpha [1], Nicotiana tabacum [2], Oryza saliva [3], Epifagus virginiana [4], Euglena gracilis [5], Pinus thunbergii [6], Porphyra purpurea [7], Odontella sinensis [8], Zea mays [9], Chlorella vulgaris [10]).