Search results for "InSe"
showing 10 items of 3069 documents
Impact of maize mucilage on atrazine mineralization andatzC abundance
2005
Soil was amended with maize mucilage, a major rhizodeposit, to study its role on the number of culturable soil micro-organisms, the structure of the bacterial community, atrazine mineralization and atzC abundance. The maximal percentage of atrazine mineralization was lower for mucilage-amended than for water-amended soil. Total culturable soil bacteria and 16S rDNA copy number, measured by RT-PCR, presented similar values and were not significantly (P < 0.05) different among treatments. Mucilage applied at a rate of 70 mu g C g(-1) dry soil day(-1) over two weeks did not modify the abundance of the total soil microflora. Global structure of soil bacterial communities revealed by RISA analys…
How Does Tremblaya princeps Get Essential Proteins from Its Nested Partner Moranella endobia in the Mealybug Planoccocus citri?
2013
International audience; Many insects maintain intracellular mutualistic symbiosis with a wide range of bacteria which are considered essential for their survival (primary or P-endosymbiont) and typically suffer drastic genome degradation. Progressive loss of P-endosymbiont metabolic capabilities could lead to the recruitment of co-existent facultative endosymbiont (secondary or S-endosymbiont), thus adding more complexity to the symbiotic system. Planococcus citri, among other mealybug species, harbors an unconventional nested endosymbiotic system where every Tremblaya princeps cell (beta-proteobacterium) harbors many Moranella endobia cells (gamma-proteobacterium). In this system, T. princ…
Experimental conditions affect the site of tetrazolium violet reduction in the electron transport chain of Lactococcus lactis
2009
The reduction of tetrazolium salts to coloured formazans is often used as an indicator of cell metabolism during microbiology studies, although the reduction mechanisms have never clearly been established in bacteria. The objective of the present study was to identify the reduction mechanisms of tetrazolium violet (TV) in Lactococcus lactis using a mutagenesis approach, under two experimental conditions generally applied in microbiology: a plate test with growing cells, and a liquid test with non-growing (resting) cells. The results showed that in both tests, TV reduction resulted from electron transfer from an intracellular donor (mainly NADH) to TV via the electron transport chain (ETC), …
Blattabacteria, the endosymbionts of cockroaches, have small genome sizes and high genome copy numbers.
2008
Summary Blattabacteria are intracellular endosymbionts of cockroaches and primitive termites that belong to the class Flavobacteria and live only in specialized cells in the abdominal fat body of their hosts. In the present study we determined genome sizes as well as genome copy numbers for the endosymbionts of three cockroach species, Blattella germanica, Periplaneta americana and Blatta orientalis. The sole presence of blattabacteria in the fat body was demonstrated by rRNA-targeting techniques. The genome sizes of the three blattabacteria were determined by pulsed field gel electrophoresis. The resulting total genome sizes for the three symbionts were all approximately 650 15 kb. Compari…
Arginine kinase in the demosponge Suberites domuncula:regulation of its expression and catalytic activity by silicic acid
2005
SUMMARY In Demospongiae (phylum Porifera) the formation of the siliceous skeleton,composed of spicules, is an energetically expensive reaction. The present study demonstrates that primmorphs from the demosponge Suberites domuncula express the gene for arginine kinase after exposure to exogenous silicic acid. The deduced sponge arginine kinase sequence displays the two characteristic domains of the ATP:guanido phosphotransferases; it can be grouped to the `usual' mono-domain 40 kDa guanidino kinases (arginine kinases). Phylogenetic studies indicate that the metazoan guanidino kinases evolved from this ancestral sponge enzyme; among them are also the `unusual'two-domain 80 kDa guanidino kinas…
A cluster of cuticle protein genes of Drosophila melanogaster at 65A: sequence, structure and evolution
1997
0016-6731 (Print) Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.; A 36-kb genomic DNA segment of the Drosophila melanogaster genome containing 12 clustered cuticle genes has been mapped and partially sequenced. The cluster maps at 65A 5-6 on the left arm of the third chromosome, in agreement with the previously determined location of a putative cluster encompassing the genes for the third instar larval cuticle proteins LCP5, LCP6 and LCP8. This cluster is the largest cuticle gene cluster discovered to date and shows a number of surprising features that explain in part the genetic complexity of the LCP5, LCP6 and LCP8 loci. The genes encoding LCP5 a…
Diversity of stonefly hexamerins and implication for the evolution of insect storage proteins
2007
Hexamerins are large storage proteins of insects in the 500 kDa range that evolved from the copper-containing hemocyanins. Hexamerins have been found at high concentration in the hemolymph of many insect taxa, but have remained unstudied in relatively basal taxa. To obtain more detailed insight about early hexamerin evolution, we have studied hexamerins in stoneflies (Plecoptera). Stoneflies are also the only insects for which a functional hemocyanin is known to co-occur with hexamerins in the hemolymph. Here, we identified hexamerins in five plecopteran species and obtained partial cDNA sequences from Perla marginata (Perlidae), Nemoura sp. (Nemouridae), Taeniopteryx burksi (Taeniopterygid…
Molecular characterization of hemocyanin and hexamerin from the firebrat Thermobia domestica (Zygentoma).
2008
Hexapods possess a tracheal system that enables the transport of oxygen to the inner organs. Although respiratory proteins have been considered unnecessary in most Hexapoda for this reason, we recently showed the presence of a functional hemocyanin in the stonefly Perla marginata. Here we report the identification and molecular characterization of a hemocyanin from Zygentoma (Thysanura). We obtained the full length cDNA of two distinct subunit types from the firebrat Thermobia domestica, and partial sequences of the orthologs from the silverfish Lepisma saccharina. The native T. domestica hemocyanin subunits both consist of 658 amino acids, but a signal peptide for transmembrane transport i…
A respiratory hemocyanin from an insect.
2004
Insects possess an elaborate tracheal system that enables transport of gaseous oxygen from the atmosphere directly to the inner organs. Therefore, the presence of specialized oxygen-transport proteins in the circulatory system of insects has been considered generally unnecessary. Here, we show for the first time, to our knowledge, the presence of an ancestral and functional hemocyanin (Hc) in an insect. In the hemolymph of nymphs and adults of the stonefly Perla marginata , a hexameric Hc was identified, which consists of two distinct subunit types of 659 and 655 amino acids. P. marginata Hc displays cooperative oxygen binding with a moderately high oxygen affinity [(half-saturation pressu…
Molecular cloning and expression of Tenebrio molitor ultraspiracle during metamorphosis and in vivo induction of its phosphorylation by 20-hydroxyecd…
2000
Using a RT-PCR approach, the Tenebrio molitor homologue of Drosophila Ultraspiracle (TmUSP) was characterized. Its DNA binding domain shows a degree of identity with those of the other insect USPs. However, the ligand binding domain is closer to those of retinoid X receptors. Using an antibody raised against DmUSP, Western blot analysis of proteins from epidermis and other tissues revealed five immunoreactive bands, corresponding to different phosphorylated forms of a unique polypeptide, as shown by lambda-phosphatase treatment. The nuclear form of TmUSP seems unphosphorylated. An in vivo 20-hydroxyecdysone treatment increases considerably and rapidly the phosphorylated forms of TmUSP. This…