Search results for " DNA"
showing 10 items of 2475 documents
Expression of homeobox-containing genes in the sea urchin (Parancentrotus lividus) embryo
1994
Two homeobox-containing genes that belong to different homeodomain classes have been isolated from a sea urchin geonomic library. One, PlHbox11, is the sea urchin homologue of the human and mouse Hox B3 gene, the other, PlHbox12, shows about 55% identity with paired class genes. Expression profile analysis of the two sea urchin Hbox genes suggests that they play different roles during embryogenesis. In fact, PlHbox11 transcripts are rare and are detected only in the pluteus larva and in the Aristotle's lantern and intestine of the adult. The PlHbox12 gene is, on the contrary, transiently expressed in the very early embryo already at the four cell stage; it accumulates at the 64 cell stage a…
The Cryptocercus punctulatus species complex (Dictyoptera: Cryptocercidae) in the eastern United States: comparison of cuticular hydrocarbons, chromo…
2008
1055-7903; The goal of the current study was to determine if cuticular hydrocarbons could be used to empirically delimit taxa within the Cryptocercus punctulatus species complex in the eastern United States. Cockroaches were collected from rotting logs in 22 locations across four states. Hydrocarbon phenotypes and two mitochondrial (16S and COII) genes and one nuclear (ITS2) gene were independently analyzed to determine their relationship with chromosome number. Five distinct hydrocarbon phenotypes were found, but these were only partly congruent with chromosome number and thus with purported species descriptions. Molecular and cuticular hydrocarbon data each indicate that Cryptocercus with…
Antiidiotypic DNA vaccination induces serum bactericidal activity and protection against group B meningococci
2006
No vaccine is available for preventing infections by serogroup B Neisseria meningitidis (MenB), which accounts for a major portion of meningococcal cases in developed countries, because of the poor immunogenicity of the capsular polysaccharide (CP) even after protein conjugation. We have previously induced anticapsular antibodies by immunization with a single chain variable fragment (scFv), which mimics a protective CP epitope. This surrogate antigen, however, was ineffective at inducing serum bactericidal activity, an accepted marker of protection in humans. Serum bactericidal activity was consistently achieved by immunizing mice with the scFv-encoding gene. Immunization with vectors witho…
Inhibition of inflammatory responses by epitaondiol and other marine natural products
1995
The marine metabolites pacifenol, stypotriol triacetate and epitaondiol were tested for their effects on a number of inflammatory responses. Epitaondiol exhibited a potent topical anti-inflammatory activity related to inhibition of leukocyte accumulation. The other compounds showed a lower potency, similar to that of indomethacin. None of the compounds affected superoxide generation by human neutrophils but pacifenol effectively inhibited the degranulation response. This compound and epitaondiol decreased the release of eicosanoids with a higher potency on the cyclo-oxygenase pathway. Only epitaondiol inhibited human recombinant synovial phospholipase A2 activity in a concentration-dependen…
The transcriptional programme of contact-inhibition.
2010
Proliferation of non-transformed cells is regulated by cell-cell contacts, which are referred to as contact-inhibition. Vice versa, transformed cells are characterised by a loss of contact-inhibition. Despite its generally accepted importance for cell-cycle control, little is known about the intracellular signalling pathways involved in contact-inhibition. Unravelling the molecular mechanisms of contact-inhibition and its loss during tumourigenesis will be an important step towards the identification of novel target genes in tumour diagnosis and treatment. To better understand the underlying molecular mechanisms we identified the transcriptional programme of contact-inhibition in NIH3T3 fib…
First case in Italy of acquired resistance to oseltamivir in an immunocompromised patient with influenza A/H1N1v infection
2010
A pandemic influenza A/H1N1v strain with the neuraminidase H274Y mutation was detected in nasal secretions of a 2-year-old leukemic patient with influenza-like illness after 18 days of treatment with oseltamivir. At baseline, no drug-resistant virus was found, while 4 days after treatment initiation a mix- ture of wild-type and mutated virus was detected. After treatment interruption, the wild type influenza virus re-emerged and became prevalent in nasal secretions after a few days, suggesting the lower fitness of the mutated virus strain. The patient slowly improved concurrently with a decrease in virus load, which resulted negative 42 days after diagnosis. No other drug-resistant influenz…
Growth of immobilized DNA by polymerase: bridging nanoelectrodes with individual dsDNA molecules.
2011
We present a method for controlled connection of gold electrodes with dsDNA molecules (locally on a chip) by utilizing polymerase to elongate single-stranded DNA primers attached to the electrodes. Thiol-modified oligonucleotides are directed and immobilized to nanoscale electrodes by means of dielectrophoretic trapping, and extended in a procedure mimicking PCR, finally forming a complete dsDNA molecule bridging the gap between the electrodes. The technique opens up opportunities for building from the bottom-up, for detection and sensing applications, and also for molecular electronics.
The genomic history of the Aegean palatial civilizations
2021
Summary The Cycladic, the Minoan, and the Helladic (Mycenaean) cultures define the Bronze Age (BA) of Greece. Urbanism, complex social structures, craft and agricultural specialization, and the earliest forms of writing characterize this iconic period. We sequenced six Early to Middle BA whole genomes, along with 11 mitochondrial genomes, sampled from the three BA cultures of the Aegean Sea. The Early BA (EBA) genomes are homogeneous and derive most of their ancestry from Neolithic Aegeans, contrary to earlier hypotheses that the Neolithic-EBA cultural transition was due to massive population turnover. EBA Aegeans were shaped by relatively small-scale migration from East of the Aegean, as e…
Terricaulis silvestris gen. nov., sp. nov., a novel prosthecate, budding member of the family Caulobacteraceae isolated from forest soil
2020
The family Caulobacteraceae comprises prosthecate bacteria with a dimorphic cell cycle and also non-prosthecate bacteria. Cells of all described species divide by binary fission. Strain 0127_4T was isolated from forest soil in Baden Württemberg (Germany) and determined to be the first representative of the family Caulobacteraceae which divided by budding. Cells of strain 0127_4T were Gram-negative, rod-shaped, prosthecate, motile by means of a polar flagellum, non-spore-forming and non-capsulated. The strain formed small white colonies and grew aerobically and chemo-organotrophically utilizing organic acids, amino acids and proteinaceous substrates. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated…
Variable-order reference-free variant discovery with the Burrows-Wheeler Transform
2020
Abstract Background In [Prezza et al., AMB 2019], a new reference-free and alignment-free framework for the detection of SNPs was suggested and tested. The framework, based on the Burrows-Wheeler Transform (BWT), significantly improves sensitivity and precision of previous de Bruijn graphs based tools by overcoming several of their limitations, namely: (i) the need to establish a fixed value, usually small, for the order k, (ii) the loss of important information such as k-mer coverage and adjacency of k-mers within the same read, and (iii) bad performance in repeated regions longer than k bases. The preliminary tool, however, was able to identify only SNPs and it was too slow and memory con…