Search results for "alignment"
showing 10 items of 627 documents
Lineage diversification and recombination in type-4 human astroviruses.
2013
Abstract Human astroviruses (HAstVs) are important enteric pathogens and can be classified genetically and antigenically into eight types. During surveillance of HAstVs in Italy, type-4 HAstVs were detected only sporadically and found to cluster into two distinct genetic groups. Upon sequence analysis of the 3′ end of the polymerase gene (ORF1b) and of the full-length ORF2, the 2008 type-4 HAstV strains were characterised as a novel ORF2 genetic lineage, designated as 4c. The 2008 type-4 HAstVs also shared the ORF1b gene with similar HAstV-4c strains detected globally, thus displaying a conserved ORF1b/ORF2 asset. By interrogation of the databases, this novel lineage 4c accounted for 60.8% …
Identification of a copper chaperone from tomato fruits infected with Botrytis cinerea by differential display
2003
Differential display was used to isolate tomato genes responding to fungal infection. Here we describe the isolation and characterization of a gene that is down-regulated in tomato fruits infected with the phytopathogen Botrytis cinerea. The cDNA identified encodes a protein that shares sequence similarity to the amino terminal region of CCH, a copper chaperone from Arabidopsis thaliana, that participates in intracellular copper homeostasis by delivering Cu to the secretory pathway. The fact that this newly characterized tomato gene, referred to as LeCCH (Lycopersicon esculentum copper chaperone), be differentially expressed after fungal infection, suggests an interesting relationship betwe…
Primary Structure of Selected Archaeal Mesophilic and Extremely Thermophilic Outer Surface Layer Proteins
2002
The archaea are recognized as a separate third domain of life together with the bacteria and eucarya. The archaea include the methanogens, extreme halophiles, thermoplasmas, Sulfate reducers and Sulfur metabolizing thermophiles, which thrive in different habitats such as anaerobic niches, salt lakes, and marine hydrothermals systems and continental solfataras. Many of these habitats represent extreme environments in respect to temperature, osmotic pressure and pH-values and remind on the conditions of the early earth. The cell envelope structures were one of the first biochemical characteristics of archaea studied in detail. The most common archaeal cell envelope is composed of a single cry…
Evolution of nacre: biochemistry and proteomics of the shell organic matrix of the cephalopod Nautilus macromphalus.
2009
12 pages; International audience; In mollusks, one of the most widely studied shell textures is nacre, the lustrous aragonitic layer that constitutes the internal components of the shells of several bivalves, a few gastropods, and one cephalopod: the nautilus. Nacre contains a minor organic fraction, which displays a wide range of functions in relation to the biomineralization process. Here, we have biochemically characterized the nacre matrix of the cephalopod Nautilus macromphalus. The acid-soluble matrix contains a mixture of polydisperse and discrete proteins and glycoproteins, which interact with the formation of calcite crystals. In addition, a few bind calcium ions. Furthermore, we h…
The change of volume of the lumbar vertebrae along with aging in asymptomatic population: a preliminary analysis
2018
Previous studies have demonstrated that the length of the lumbar spine is decreasing with age. Despite considerable research based on sagittal measurements, little is known about the changes in the volume of vertebrae. The objective of this study was to evaluate the changes in the volume of either column of the spine with age. Materials and methods: Computed tomography scans of 62 asymptomatic subjects, performed for thoracolumbar trauma evaluation were used to create virtual 3D models. At least 10 patients were assigned to every decade of life from third to eight. We used a novel technique to measure the volume of anterior column (AC) and posterior column (PC) per each segment (a total of …
Molecular characterization of a male-specific glycosyl hydrolase, Lma-p72, secreted on to the abdominal surface of the Madeira cockroach Leucophaea m…
2003
0264-6021 (Print) Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't; The epicuticular surface protein Lma-p72 is specific to the abdominal secretions of Leucophaea maderae (Madeira cockroach) adult males. Natural Lma-p72 was purified and the complete cDNA sequence determined by reverse-transcription PCR using primers based on Edman degradation fragments. Northern blot and in situ hybridization analyses showed that Lma-p72 was expressed in the tergal and sternal glands. Sequence alignment indicates that Lma-p72 is closely related to the family 1 glycosyl hydrolases (EC 3.2.1). Native Lma-p72 was proved to be active in the abdominal secretions and exhibit a beta-galactosidase-like activity. Ho…
Isotropic-nematic interface and wetting in suspensions of colloidal platelets.
2006
We study interfacial phenomena in a colloidal dispersion of sterically stabilized gibbsite platelets, exhibiting coexisting isotropic and nematic phases separated by a sharp horizontal interface. The nematic phase wets a vertical glass wall and polarized light micrographs reveal homeotropic surface anchoring both at the free isotropic-nematic interface and at the wall. On the basis of complete wetting of the wall by the nematic phase, as found in our density functional calculations and computer simulations, we analyze the balance between Frank elasticity and surface anchoring near the contact line. Because of weak surface anchoring, the director field in the capillary rise region is uniform…
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 …
Genotypic analysis at multiple loci across Kaposi's sarcoma herpesvirus (KSHV) DNA molecules: clustering patterns, novel variants and chimerism
2001
Abstract Background: the genomes of human Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) display several levels of DNA sequence heterogeneity and subgrouping that show distinctive clustering patterns in related human populations. The four major subtype patterns for the hypervariable ORF-K1 protein correlate closely with the principal diasporas resulting from the migration of modern humans out of East Africa and suggest that KSHV is an ancient human virus that is transmitted primarily in a familial fashion with consequent very low recombination rates. However, chimeric genomes have also been detected, especially with regard to the presence of P versus M alleles of the ORF-K15 gene. Objective…
Identification and characterization of a gene encoding a putative mouse Rho GTPase activating protein gene 8, Arhgap8.
2003
Rho GTPase activating proteins promote the intrinsic GTP hydrolysis activity of Rho family proteins. We isolated a putative mouse ortholog of the human Rho GTPase activating protein 8, ARHGAP8. The open reading frame encodes a peptide of 387 amino acids with high homology to human ARHGAP8 in its N-terminal domain. Both radiation hybrid mapping and fluorescent in situ hybridization localized the gene to mouse chromosome 15E. The 23 kb genomic Arhgap8 sequence consists of eight exons and seven introns. Northern blot and RT-PCR analyses showed that a transcript of approximately 1.9 kb is ubiquitously expressed in various adult mouse tissues with particularly strong expression in kidney.