Search results for " alignment"
showing 10 items of 587 documents
Isolation and characterization of a cDNA encoding a potential morphogen from the marine sponge Geodia cydonium that is conserved in higher metazoans.
1998
Species belonging to the lowest metazoan phylum, the sponges (Porifera), exhibit a surprisingly complex and multifaceted Bauplan (body plan). Recently, key molecules have been isolated from sponges which demonstrate that the cells of these animals are provided with characteristic metazoan adhesion and signal transduction molecules, allowing tissue formation. In order to understand which factors control the spatial organization of these cells in the sponge body plan, we screened for a cDNA encoding a soluble modulator of the behaviour of endothelial cells. A cDNA encoding a putative protein, which is highly similar to the human and mouse endothelial monocyte-activating polypeptide (EMAP) II …
Retinoid X receptor and retinoic acid response in the marine sponge Suberites domuncula
2003
SUMMARY To date no nuclear receptors have been identified or cloned from the phylogenetically oldest metazoan phylum, the Porifera (sponges). We show that retinoic acid causes tissue regression in intact individuals of the demosponge Suberites domuncula and in primmorphs, special three-dimensional cell aggregates. Primmorphs were cultivated on a galectin/poly-L-lysine matrix in order to induce canal formation. In the presence of 1 or 50 μmol l–1 retinoic acid these canals undergo regression, a process that is reversible. We also cloned the cDNA from S. domunculaencoding the retinoid X receptor (RXR), which displays the two motifs of nuclear hormone receptors, the ligand-binding and the DNA-…
Identification of a novel Drosophila melanogaster gene, angel, a member of a nested gene cluster at locus 59F4,5.
1996
The identification of a novel Drosophila melanogaster gene, angel, is presented in this study. angel is located on the right arm of the second chromosome at locus 59F5, close to the nested genes l(2)tid, l(2)not, l(2)rot and l(2)dtl. We describe the genetic and molecular localization of angel and present its temporal expression in the wild-type. The deduced amino acid sequence of the ANG39 protein is characterized by a nuclear localization signal. Furthermore, the central part of the predicted ANG39 protein shows significant homology to the C-terminal portion of the yeast transcriptional effector CCR4.
Tumor suppression inDrosophila is causally related to the function of thelethal(2)tumorous imaginal discs gene, adnaJ homolog
1995
The Drosophila melanogaster tumor suppressor gene lethal(2)tumorous imaginal discs (l(2)tid) causes in homozygotes malignant growth of cells of the imaginal discs and the death of the mutant larvae at the time of puparium formation. We describe the molecular cloning of the l(2)tid+ gene and its temporal expression pattern in the wild-type and mutant alleles. Germ line rescue of the tumor phenotype was achieved with a 7.0 kb Hindlll-fragment derived from the polytene chromosome band 59F5. The l(2)tid+ gene spans approximately 2.5 kb of genomic DNA. The protein coding region, 1,696 bps long, is divided by an intron into two exons. The predicted Tid56 protein contains 518 amino acids and posse…
Identification and Expression of the SOS Response, aidB-Like, Gene in the Marine Sponge Geodia cydonium: Implication for the Phylogenetic Relationshi…
1998
Sponges (Porifera) are the phylogenetically oldest metazoan organisms. From one member of the siliceous sponges, Geodia cydonium, the cDNA encoding a putative SOS protein, the AidB-like protein of the Ada system from bacteria, was isolated and characterized. The cDNA, GCaidB, comprises an open reading frame of 446 amino acid (aa) residues encoding a polypeptide with a calculated Mr of 49,335. This molecule shows high similarity to the bacterial AidB proteins from Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Escherichia coli and somewhat lower similarities to acyl-CoA dehydrogenases (ADHs) and acyl-CoA oxidases (AOXs). Northern blot analysis confirmed the presence of the complete transcript. The deduced s…
Arbutin synthase, a novel member of the NRD1β glycosyltransferase family, is a unique multifunctional enzyme converting various natural products and …
2002
Plant glucosyltransferases (GTs) play a crucial role in natural product biosynthesis and metabolization of xenobiotics. We expressed the arbutin synthase (AS) cDNA from Rauvolfia serpentina cell suspension cultures in Escherichia coli with a 6 x His tag and purified the active enzyme to homogeneity. The recombinant enzyme had a temperature optimum of 50 degrees C and showed two different pH optima (4.5 and 6.8 or 7.5, depending on the buffer). Out of 74 natural and synthetic phenols and two cinnamyl alcohols tested as substrates for the AS, 45 were accepted, covering a broad range of structural features. Converting rates comparable to hydroquinone were not achieved. In contrast to this broa…
Acetyltransfer in natural product biosynthesis--functional cloning and molecular analysis of vinorine synthase.
2004
Vinorine synthase (EC 2.3.1.160) catalyses the acetyl-CoA- or CoA-dependent reversible formation of the alkaloids vinorine (or 11-methoxy-vinorine) and 16-epi-vellosimine (or gardneral). The forward reaction leads to vinorine, which is a direct biosynthetic precursor along the complex pathway to the monoterpenoid indole alkaloid ajmaline, an antiarrhythmic drug from the Indian medicinal plant Rauvolfia serpentina. Based on partial peptide sequences a cDNA clone was isolated and functionally expressed in Escherichia coli. The Km values of the native enzyme for gardneral and acetyl-CoA were determined to be 7.5 and 57 microM. The amino acid sequence of vinorine synthase has highest level of i…
Isolation and characterization of five Fox (Forkhead) genes from the sponge Suberites domuncula.
2003
Fox or Forkhead genes constitute a subgroup of the helix-turn-helix class of transcription factors with a characteristic and highly conserved DNA binding domain. To date, around 100 different Fox genes have been reported ranging from yeast to humans; these have been classified into 18 subclasses (A to P). Fox proteins are responsible for a wide range of functions and key roles in early developmental processes, during organogenesis and also for the function of the major organs and tissues in the adult. Here, we report the isolation and phylogenetic characterization of five members of the Fox family from the sponge Suberites domuncula. Four of them (Sd-FoxL2, Sd-FoxP, Sd-FoxD and Sd-FoxF) fal…
Molecular cloning of rat G-protein-coupled receptor kinase 6 (GRK6) from brain tissue, and its mRNA expression in different brain regions and periphe…
1997
The rat G-protein-coupled receptor kinase 6 (GRK6) cDNA was cloned from rat brain tissue by a combination of reverse-transcription polymerase chain reactions (RT-PCR), based on homology to the cloned human GRK6, and rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE-PCR). We obtained a clone of 2817 bp with an open reading frame of 1731 bp encoding for a protein of 576 amino acids that is 96.7% identical and 97.9% similar to its human counterpart. mRNA was detectable in all brain areas examined. In addition, GRK6 was expressed in skeletal muscle, small intestine, aorta, liver, heart, lung, thymus, stomach, uterus and kidney.
A heterochromatic P sequence in the D. subobscura genome.
1994
The study of a heterochromatic P sequence of D. subobscura reveals that it is a degraded element, located at the centromeric region of the A chromosome (X chromosome in this species), and that it is strongly diverged from the euchromatic P sequences previously described in this species. This heterochromatic sequence is composed of some P element fragments embedded in undefined beta-heterochromatic sequences. These mosaic P sequences do not show any transcriptional activity and seem to be ancient parasites of the D. subobscura genome. Phylogenetic analyses indicate that both the euchromatic and heterochromatic P sequences of D. subobscura could come from an ancestral element which was presen…