The DNA binding site of the Dof protein NtBBF1 is essential for tissue-specific and auxin-regulated expression of the rolB oncogene in plants. (1/814)

The Dof proteins are a large family of plant transcription factors that share a single highly conserved zinc finger. The tobacco Dof protein NtBBF1 was identified by its ability to bind to regulatory domain B in the promoter of the rolB oncogene. In this study, we show that the ACT T TA target sequence of NtBBF1 in domain B is necessary for tissue-specific expression of rolB. beta-Glucuronidase (GUS) activity of tobacco plants containing a rolB promoter-GUS fusion with a mutated NtBBF1 target sequence within domain B is almost completely suppressed in apical meristems and is severely abated in the vascular system. The ACT T TA motif is shown here also to be one of the cis-regulatory elements involved in auxin induction of rolB. The pattern of NtBBF1 expression in plants is remarkably similar to that of rolB, except in mesophyll cells of mature leaves, in which only NtBBF1 expression could be detected. Ectopic expression of rolB in mesophyll cells was achieved by particle gun delivery if the NtBBF1 binding sequence was intact. These data provide evidence that in the plant, a Dof protein DNA binding sequence acts as a transcriptional regulatory motif, and they point to NtBBF1 as the protein involved in mediating tissue-specific and auxin-inducible expression of rolB.  (+info)

Stochastic and nonstochastic post-transcriptional silencing of chitinase and beta-1,3-glucanase genes involves increased RNA turnover-possible role for ribosome-independent RNA degradation. (2/814)

Stochastic and nonstochastic post-transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS) in Nicotiana sylvestris plants carrying tobacco class I chitinase (CHN) and beta-1,3-glucanase transgenes differs in incidence, stability, and pattern of expression. Measurements with inhibitors of RNA synthesis (cordycepin, actinomycin D, and alpha-amanitin) showed that both forms of PTGS are associated with increased sequence-specific degradation of transcripts, suggesting that increased RNA turnover may be a general feature of PTGS. The protein synthesis inhibitors cycloheximide and verrucarin A did not inhibit degradation of CHN RNA targeted for PTGS, confirming that PTGS-related RNA degradation does not depend on ongoing protein synthesis. Because verrucarin A, unlike cycloheximide, dissociates mRNA from ribosomes, our results also suggest that ribosome-associated RNA degradation pathways may not be involved in CHN PTGS.  (+info)

Molecular cloning and expression of the novel fungal beta-glucosidase genes from Humicola grisea and Trichoderma reesei. (3/814)

A novel fungal beta-glucosidase gene (bgl4) and its homologue (bgl2) were cloned from the cellulolytic fungi Humicola grisea and Trichoderma reesei, respectively. The deduced amino acid sequences of H. grisea BGL4 and T. reesei BGL2 comprise 476 and 466 amino acids, respectively, and share 73.1% identity. These beta-glucosidases show significant homology to plant beta-glucosidases belonging to the beta-glucosidase A (BGA) family. Both genes were expressed in Aspergillus oryzae, and the recombinant beta-glucosidases were purified. Recombinant H. grisea BGL4 is a thermostable enzyme compared with recombinant T. reesei BGL2. In addition to beta-glucosidase activity, recombinant H. grisea BGL4 showed a significant level of beta-galactosidase activity, while recombinant T. reesei BGL2 showed weak beta-galactosidase activity. Cellulose saccharification by Trichoderma cellulases was improved by the addition of recombinant H. grisea BGL4.  (+info)

Properties of beta-glucosidase in cultured skin fibroblasts from controls and patients with Gaucher disease. (4/814)

Membrane-bound beta-glucosidase from cultured skin fibroblasts can be solubilized in an active form by treatment of membrane preparations with a mixture of Triton X-100 and sodium taurocholate. Several properties of the solubilized enzyme have been studied in fibroblasts from normal, healthy individuals and from 14 patients with different clinical forms of Gaucher disease. The patients studied were classified as follows: group 1 consisted of 10 chronic patients, all (with one exception) of Ashkenazi Jewish origin; group 2 consisted of three black American patients with severe visceral symptoms, manifest from early childhood, but with no apparent neurological involvement; and group 3 consisted of a single white patient with the classical infantile form of the disease. Specific beta-glucosidase activity ranged from 6.6% to 16.5% mean control value in group 1 patients and from 4.1% to 5.8% in groups 2 and 3. When compared with the enzyme from control fibroblasts, the enzyme from chronic Gaucher patients (group 1) was more rapidly inactivated at 50 degrees C, had an altered pH curve, was less effectively inhibited by deoxycorticosterone-beta-glucoside, and was more effectively inhibited by deoxycorticosterone. The enzyme from patients in groups 2 and 3 was qualitatively indistinguishable from the control enzyme in terms of these parameters. No differences in Km (4-methylumbelliferyl-beta-glucoside) or sedimentation coefficient were found between the beta-glucosidases from control and Gaucher cells. The results demonstrate that cells from Ashkenazi Jewish patients with the chronic form of Gaucher disease contain a structurally altered form of beta-glucosidase. This enzyme differs both from normal beta-glucosidase and from the residual enzyme in patients of different ethnic origin and with clinically more severe forms of the disease.  (+info)

Growth of Azospirillum irakense KBC1 on the aryl beta-glucoside salicin requires either salA or salB. (5/814)

The rhizosphere nitrogen-fixing bacterium Azospirillum irakense KBC1 is able to grow on pectin and beta-glucosides such as cellobiose, arbutin, and salicin. Two adjacent genes, salA and salB, conferring beta-glucosidase activity to Escherichia coli, have been identified in a cosmid library of A. irakense DNA. The SalA and SalB enzymes preferentially hydrolyzed aryl beta-glucosides. A Delta(salA-salB) A. irakense mutant was not able to grow on salicin but could still utilize arbutin, cellobiose, and glucose for growth. This mutant could be complemented by either salA or salB, suggesting functional redundancy of these genes in salicin utilization. In contrast to this functional homology, the SalA and SalB proteins, members of family 3 of the glycosyl hydrolases, show a low degree of amino acid similarity. Unlike SalA, the SalB protein exhibits an atypical truncated C-terminal region. We propose that SalA and SalB are representatives of the AB and AB' subfamilies, respectively, in glycosyl hydrolase family 3. This is the first genetic implication of this beta-glucosidase family in the utilization of beta-glucosides for microbial growth.  (+info)

Yeast VSM1 encodes a v-SNARE binding protein that may act as a negative regulator of constitutive exocytosis. (6/814)

We have screened for proteins that interact with v-SNAREs of the late secretory pathway in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. A novel protein, designated Vsm1, binds tightly to the Snc2 v-SNARE in the two-hybrid system and can be coimmunoprecipitated with Snc1 or Snc2 from solubilized yeast cell extracts. Disruption of the VSM1 gene results in an increase of proteins secreted into the medium but does not affect the processing or secretion of invertase. In contrast, VSM1 overexpression in cells which bear a temperature-sensitive mutation in the Sec9 t-SNARE (sec9-4 cells) results in the accumulation of non-invertase-containing low-density secretory vesicles, inhibits cell growth and the secretion of proteins into the medium, and blocks rescue of the temperature-sensitive phenotype by SNC1 overexpression. Yet, VSM1 overexpression does not affect yeast bearing a sec9-7 allele which, in contrast to sec9-4, encodes a t-SNARE protein capable of forming a stable SNARE complex in vitro at restrictive temperatures. On the basis of these results, we propose that Vsm1 is a novel v-SNARE-interacting protein that appears to act as negative regulator of constitutive exocytosis. Moreover, this regulation appears specific to one of two parallel exocytic paths which are operant in yeast cells.  (+info)

Cellobiose transport by mixed ruminal bacteria from a Cow. (7/814)

The transport of cellobiose in mixed ruminal bacteria harvested from a holstein cow fed an Italian ryegrass hay was determined in the presence of nojirimycin-1-sulfate, which almost inhibited cellobiase activity. The kinetic parameters of cellobiose uptake were 14 microM for the Km and 10 nmol/min/mg of protein for the Vmax. Extracellular and cell-associated cellobiases were detected in the rumen, with both showing higher Vmax values and lower affinities than those determined for cellobiose transport. The proportion of cellobiose that was directly transported before it was extracellularly degraded into glucose increased as the cellobiose concentration decreased, reaching more than 20% at the actually observed levels of cellobiose in the rumen, which were less than 0.02 mM. The inhibitor experiment showed that cellobiose was incorporated into the cells mainly by the phosphoenolpyruvate phosphotransferase system and partially by an ATP-dependent and proton-motive-force-independent active transport system. This finding was also supported by determinations of phosphoenolpyruvate phosphotransferase-dependent NADH oxidation with cellobiose and the effects of artificial potentials on cellobiose transport. Cellobiose uptake was sensitive to a decrease in pH (especially below 6.0), and it was weakly but significantly inhibited in the presence of glucose.  (+info)

Transcriptional regulation in the hyperthermophilic archaeon Pyrococcus furiosus: coordinated expression of divergently oriented genes in response to beta-linked glucose polymers. (8/814)

The genetic organization, expression, and regulation of the celB locus of the hyperthermophilic archaeon Pyrococcus furiosus were analyzed. This locus includes the celB gene, which codes for an intracellular beta-glucosidase, and a divergently orientated gene cluster, adhA-adhB-lamA, which codes for two alcohol dehydrogenases and an extracellular beta-1,3-endoglucanase that is transcribed as a polycistronic messenger (the lamA operon). During growth of P. furiosus on either the beta-1,4-linked glucose dimer cellobiose or the beta-1,3-linked glucose polymer laminarin, the activities of both beta-glucosidase and endoglucanase were increased at least fivefold compared with levels during growth on maltose or pyruvate. Northern blot analysis revealed an enhanced transcription of both the celB gene and the lamA operon in the presence of these glucose-containing substrates. The in vivo and in vitro transcription initiation sites of both the celB gene and the lamA operon were identified 25 nucleotides downstream of conserved TATA box motifs. A number of repeating sequences have been recognized in the celB-adhA intergenic region, some of which might be part of a transcriptional regulator-binding site.  (+info)

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• 6
• 7
• 8
• 9
• 10