Standardized nomenclature for inbred strains of mice: sixth listing. (1/28798)

Rules for designating inbred strains of mice are presented, along with a list of strains with their origins and characteristics, a table of biochemical polymorphisms, and standard subline designations.  (+info)

Lack of genic similarity between two sibling species of drosophila as revealed by varied techniques. (2/28798)

Acrylamide gel electrophoresis was performed on the enzyme xanthine dehydrogenase in sixty isochromosomal lines of Drosophila persimilis from three geographic populations. Sequential electrophoretic analysis using varied gel concentrations and buffers revealed twenty-three alleles in this species where only five had been described previously. These new electrophoretic techniques also detected a profound increase in divergence of gene frequencies at this locus between D. persimilis and its sibling species D. pseudoobscura. The implications of these results for questions of speciation and the maintenance of genetic variability are discussed.  (+info)

Genetic heterogeneity within electrophoretic "alleles" of xanthine dehydrogenase in Drosophila pseudoobscura. (3/28798)

An experimental plan for an exhaustive determination of genic variation at structural gene loci is presented. In the initial steps of this program, 146 isochromosomal lines from 12 geographic populations of D. pseudoobscura were examined for allelic variation of xanthine dehydrogenase by the serial use of 4 different electrophoretic conditions and a head stability test. The 5 criteria revealed a total of 37 allelic classes out of the 146 genomes examined where only 6 had been previously revealed by the usual method of gel electrophoresis. This immense increase in genic variation also showed previously unsuspected population differences between the main part of the species distribution and the isolated population of Bogota population. The average heterozygosity at the Xdh locus is at least 72% in natural populations. This result, together with the very large number of alleles segregating and the pattern of allelic frequencies, has implications for theories of genetic polymorphism which are discussed.  (+info)

An overview of the evolution of overproduced esterases in the mosquito Culex pipiens. (4/28798)

Insecticide resistance genes have developed in a wide variety of insects in response to heavy chemical application. Few of these examples of adaptation in response to rapid environmental change have been studied both at the population level and at the gene level. One of these is the evolution of the overproduced esterases that are involved in resistance to organophosphate insecticides in the mosquito Culex pipiens. At the gene level, two genetic mechanisms are involved in esterase overproduction, namely gene amplification and gene regulation. At the population level, the co-occurrence of the same amplified allele in distinct geographic areas is best explained by the importance of passive transportation at the worldwide scale. The long-term monitoring of a population of mosquitoes in southern France has enabled a detailed study to be made of the evolution of resistance genes on a local scale, and has shown that a resistance gene with a lower cost has replaced a former resistance allele with a higher cost.  (+info)

Detailed methylation analysis of the glutathione S-transferase pi (GSTP1) gene in prostate cancer. (5/28798)

Glutathione-S-Transferases (GSTs) comprise a family of isoenzymes that provide protection to mammalian cells against electrophilic metabolites of carcinogens and reactive oxygen species. Previous studies have shown that the CpG-rich promoter region of the pi-class gene GSTP1 is methylated at single restriction sites in the majority of prostate cancers. In order to understand the nature of abnormal methylation of the GSTP1 gene in prostate cancer we undertook a detailed analysis of methylation at 131 CpG sites spanning the promoter and body of the gene. Our results show that DNA methylation is not confined to specific CpG sites in the promoter region of the GSTP1 gene but is extensive throughout the CpG island in prostate cancer cells. Furthermore we found that both alleles are abnormally methylated in this region. In normal prostate tissue, the entire CpG island was unmethylated, but extensive methylation was found outside the island in the body of the gene. Loss of GSTP1 expression correlated with DNA methylation of the CpG island in both prostate cancer cell lines and cancer tissues whereas methylation outside the CpG island in normal prostate tissue appeared to have no effect on gene expression.  (+info)

Identification of DNA polymorphisms associated with the V type alpha1-antitrypsin gene. (6/28798)

alpha1-Antitrypsin (alpha1-AT) is a highly polymorphic protein. The V allele of alpha1-AT has been shown to be associated with focal glomerulosclerosis (FGS) in Negroid and mixed race South African patients. To identify mutations and polymorphisms in the gene for the V allele of alpha1-AT in five South African patients with FGS nephrotic syndrome DNA sequence analysis and restriction fragment length polymorphisms of the coding exons were carried out. Four of the patients were heterozygous for the BstEII RFLP in exon III [M1(Val213)(Ala213)] and one patient was a M1(Ala213) homozygote. The mutation for the V allele was identified in exon II as Gly-148 (GGG)-->Arg (AGG) and in all patients was associated with a silent mutation at position 158 (AAC-->AAT). The patient who was homozygous for (Ala213) also had a silent mutation at position 256 in exon III (GAT-->GAC) which was not present in any of the other four patients. Although the V allele of alpha1-AT is not associated with severe plasma deficiency, it may be in linkage disequilibrium with other genes on chromosome 14 that predispose to FGS. Furthermore, the associated silent mutation at position 158 and the Ala213 polymorphism are of interest, as these could represent an evolutionary intermediate between the M1(Ala213) and M1(Val213) subtypes.  (+info)

The alphaE-catenin gene (CTNNA1) acts as an invasion-suppressor gene in human colon cancer cells. (7/28798)

The acquisition of invasiveness is a crucial step in the malignant progression of cancer. In cancers of the colon and of other organs the E-cadherin/catenin complex, which is implicated in homotypic cell-cell adhesion as well as in signal transduction, serves as a powerful inhibitor of invasion. We show here that one allele of the alphaE-catenin (CTNNA1) gene is mutated in the human colon cancer cell family HCT-8, which is identical to HCT-15, DLD-1 and HRT-18. Genetic instability, due to mutations in the HMSH6 (also called GTBP) mismatch repair gene, results in the spontaneous occurrence of invasive variants, all carrying either a mutation or exon skipping in the second alphaE-catenin allele. The alphaE-catenin gene is therefore, an invasion-suppressor gene in accordance with the two-hit model of Knudsen for tumour-suppressor genes.  (+info)

Correlation between the status of the p53 gene and survival in patients with stage I non-small cell lung carcinoma. (8/28798)

The association of p53 abnormalities with the prognosis of patients with non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) has been extensively investigated to date, however, this association is still controversial. Therefore, we investigated the prognostic significance of p53 mutations through exons 2 to 11 and p53 protein expression in 103 cases of stage I NSCLC. p53 mutations were detected in 49 of 103 (48%) tumors. Two separate mutations were detected in four tumors giving a total of 53 unique mutations in 49 tumors. Ten (19%) of mutations occurred outside exons 5-8. Positive immunohistochemical staining of p53 protein was detected in 41 of 103 (40%) tumors. The concordance rate between mutations and protein overexpression was only 69%. p53 mutations, but not expression, were significantly associated with a shortened survival of patients (P<0.001). Furthermore, we investigated the correlation between the types of p53 mutations and prognosis. p53 missense mutations rather than null mutations were associated with poor prognosis (P < 0.001 in missense mutations and P=0.243 in null mutations). These results indicated that p53 mutations, in particular missense mutations, rather than p53 expression could be a useful molecular marker for the prognosis of patients with surgically resected stage I NSCLC.  (+info)

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