Search results for "Gene expression"

Weak D and partial D: our experience in daily activity

2011

Influence of arbuscular mycorrhizal colonisation on cadmium induced Medicago truncatula root isoflavonoid accumulation.

2012

Cadmium is a serious environmental pollution threats to the planet. Its accumulation in plants affects many cellular functions, resulting in growth and development inhibition, whose mechanisms are not fully understood. However, some fungi forming arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis with the majority of plant species have the capacity to buffer the deleterious effect of this heavy metal. In the present work we investigated the capacity of Rhizophagus irregularis (syn. Glomus irregularis) to alleviate cadmium stress in Medicago truncatula. In spite of a reduction in all mycorrhizal parameters, plants colonized for 21 days by R. irregularis and treated by 2 mg kg(-1) cadmium displayed less growth…

Chromatin-associated RNA interference components contribute to transcriptional regulation in Drosophila

2009

RNA interference (RNAi) pathways have evolved as important modulators of gene expression that operate in the cytoplasm by degrading RNA target molecules through the activity of short (21-30 nucleotide) RNAs1-6. RNAi components have been reported to have a role in the nucleus, as they are involved in epigenetic regulation and heterochromatin formation(7-10). However, although RNAi-mediated post-transcriptional gene silencing is well documented, the mechanisms of RNAi-mediated transcriptional gene silencing and, in particular, the role of RNAi components in chromatin dynamics, especially in animal multicellular organisms, are elusive. Here we show that the key RNAi components Dicer 2 (DCR2) a…

Engineering a Circular Riboregulator in Escherichia coli

2020

RNAs of different shapes and sizes, natural or synthetic, can regulate gene expression in prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Circular RNAs have recently appeared to be more widespread than previously thought, but their role in prokaryotes remains elusive. Here, by inserting a riboregulatory sequence within a group I permuted intron-exon ribozyme, we created a small noncoding RNA that self-splices to produce a circular riboregulator in Escherichia coli . We showed that the resulting riboregulator can trans -activate gene expression by interacting with a cis -repressed messenger RNA. We characterized the system with a fluorescent reporter and with an antibiotic resistance marker, and we modeled thi…

Promoter architecture and transcriptional regulation of Abf1-dependent ribosomal protein genes inSaccharomyces cerevisiae

2016

In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, ribosomal protein gene (RPG) promoters display binding sites for either Rap1 or Abf1 transcription factors. Unlike Rap1-associated promoters, the small cohort of Abf1-dependent RPGs (Abf1-RPGs) has not been extensively investigated. We show that RPL3, RPL4B, RPP1A, RPS22B and RPS28A/B share a common promoter architecture, with an Abf1 site upstream of a conserved element matching the sequence recognized by Fhl1, a transcription factor which together with Ifh1 orchestrates Rap1-associated RPG regulation. Abf1 and Fhl1 promoter association was confirmed by ChIP and/or gel retardation assays. Mutational analysis revealed a more severe requirement of Abf1 than Fhl1 …

The mRNA degradation factor Xrn1 regulates transcription elongation in parallel to Ccr4

2019

Abstract Co-transcriptional imprinting of mRNA by Rpb4 and Rpb7 subunits of RNA polymerase II (RNAPII) and by the Ccr4–Not complex conditions its post-transcriptional fate. In turn, mRNA degradation factors like Xrn1 are able to influence RNAPII-dependent transcription, making a feedback loop that contributes to mRNA homeostasis. In this work, we have used repressible yeast GAL genes to perform accurate measurements of transcription and mRNA degradation in a set of mutants. This genetic analysis uncovered a link from mRNA decay to transcription elongation. We combined this experimental approach with computational multi-agent modelling and tested different possibilities of Xrn1 and Ccr4 acti…

Crystallization and Preliminary X-Ray Analysis of Rotavirus Protein VP6

1998

ABSTRACT As a first step to gain insight into the structure of the rotavirus virion at atomic resolution, we report here the expression, purification, and crystallization of recombinant rotavirus protein VP6. This protein has the property of polymerizing in the form of tubular structures in solution which have hindered crystallization thus far. Using a combination of electron microscopy and small-angle X-ray scattering, we found that addition of Ca 2+ at concentrations higher than 100 mM results in depolymerization of the tubes, leading to an essentially monodisperse solution of trimeric VP6 even at high protein concentrations (higher than 10 mg/ml), thereby enabling us to search for crysta…

Rotavirus-Specific Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes Recognize Overlapping Epitopes in the Amino-Terminal Region of the VP7 Glycoprotein

1999

Abstract Rotavirus-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) play an important role in the resolution of rotavirus infection. The outer capsid glycoprotein, VP7, elicits a class I MHC-restricted CTL response. Vaccinia virus recombinants expressing the VP7 genes from simian rotavirus SA11 (serotype G3) and from the RF strain of bovine rotavirus (serotype G6) were used to analyze the CTL activity to this antigen in BALB/c (H-2 d ) and C57BL/6 (H-2 b ) mice neonatally infected with homologous and heterologous rotaviruses. A vaccinia virus recombinant expressing the first amino-terminal 88 amino acids of VP7 was constructed and used to search for cross-reactive CTL against this region of the prote…

Rotavirus stimulates release of serotonin (5-HT) from human enterochromaffin cells and activates brain structures involved in nausea and vomiting

2011

Rotavirus (RV) is the major cause of severe gastroenteritis in young children. A virus-encoded enterotoxin, NSP4 is proposed to play a major role in causing RV diarrhoea but how RV can induce emesis, a hallmark of the illness, remains unresolved. In this study we have addressed the hypothesis that RV-induced secretion of serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) by enterochromaffin (EC) cells plays a key role in the emetic reflex during RV infection resulting in activation of vagal afferent nerves connected to nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS) and area postrema in the brain stem, structures associated with nausea and vomiting. Our experiments revealed that RV can infect and replicate in human…

In vitro reconstitution of rotavirus transcriptional activity using viral cores and recombinant baculovirus expressed VP 6

1993

International audience; Purified baculovirus-expressed group A rotavirus VP6 polypeptide was shown to be active in the recovery of the transcriptase activity associated with the reconstitution of the single-shelled rotavirus particle. Recombinant VP6 polypeptide was able to restore the transcriptional activity in purified viral cores from both SA-11 and RF rotavirus strains. Recombinant group C VP 6 (Cowden strain) is capable of binding as a trimer to group A viral core particles but unable to restore the transcriptase activity, suggesting that the binding of the polypeptide to cores is not the only requirement to restore the transcriptase activity. The VP 6 group A polypeptide was shown to…