The question of post-mortem interval (PMI) or time since death is often the most sought after piece of information associated with a medical death investigation. Based on the observation that DNA degradation disproportionately affects the analysis of larger genetic loci, it was proposed that DNA degradation, as a result of autolysis or putrefaction, could prove suitable as a potential rate-of-change indicator of PMI. Nine randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis primers and three sets of directed amplification primers were evaluated to determine their suitability for use in assessing the degree of DNA fragmentation in tissue samples. They were assessed for amplicon specificity, total DNA target sensitivity, allele monomorphism and the observance of degradation-based profile changes. Markers meeting the requisite criteria were then used to assess a range samples degraded under controlled and uncontrolled conditions. Tissue samples collected from seven domestic pigs (Sus scrofa) were incubated under controlled laboratory or uncontrolled field conditions to produce samples simulating those potentially collected in a forensic case. DNA samples isolated from these specimens were then analyzed at those loci which had been determined to meet the requisite criteria. Collectively, data generated from these analyses indicate that genetic profiles generated by this approach can provide …

Methods to determine genetic diversity and relatedness within populations are essential tools for proper wildlife management. Today the approach of choice is polymerase chain reaction-based microsatellite analysis. Seven new polymorphic loci were isolated from a microsatellite-enriched Caribbean flamingo genomic library and used to characterize survey populations of Caribbean and African greater flamingos. In addition, four of these loci were used to verify parentage relationships within a captive-breeding population of African greater flamingos. Parentage predictions based upon gamekeeper observations of breeding and nesting did not always agree with genetic-based parentage analyses of the nine suggested family groups. Four family groups were supported (groups I, II, III and VI) by there results. However, an analysis of the remaining five suggested groups, with a total of eight offspring/dam and eight offspring/sire suggested relationships, yielded seven exclusions of the suggested dam and six exclusions of the suggested sire. This put the overall suggested dam exclusion rate at 35% and exclusion rate for suggested sires at 29%. Although the keeper observation data for our family groups must be considered a variable of concern at this time, these findings are certainly suggestive that more carefully controlled studies may reveal that flamingos are not monogamous as long …

The regulation of short chain fatty acid metabolism has been examined. Metabolism of acetoacetate, and short chain fatty acids such as butyrate and valerate, is predicated upon the expression of genes of the ato operon. Acetoacetate induces expression of a CoA transferase (encoded by the atoDA genes) and expression of a thiolase (encoded by the atoB gene). Metabolism of saturated short chain fatty acids requires the activities of the transferase and thiolase and enzymes of 6-oxidation as well. Spontaneous mutant strains were isolated that were either constitutive or that were inducible by valerate or butyrate instead of acetoacetate.

Brucella ovis is a sexually transmitted, facultatively anaerobic, intracellular bacterial pathogen of sheep (Ovis aries) and red deer (Cervus elaphus). Brucella spp. infect primarily by penetrating the mucosa and are phagocytized by host macrophages, where survival and replication occurs. At least in some species, it has been shown that entry into stationary phase is necessary for successful infection. Brucella, like other alphaproteobacteria, lack the canonical stationary phase sigma factor ?s. Research on diverse members of this large phylogenetic group indicate the widespread presence of a conserved four-gene set including an alternative ECF sigma factor, an anti-sigma factor, a response regulator (RR), and a histidine kinase (HK). The first description of the system was made in Methylobacterium extorquens where the RR, named PhyR, was found to regulate the sigma factor activity by sequestering the anti-sigma factor in a process termed "sigma factor mimicry." These systems have been associated with various types of extracellular stress responses in a number of environmental bacteria. I hypothesized that homologous genetic sequences (Bov_1604-1607), which are similarly found among all Brucella species, may regulate survival functions during pathogenesis. To further explore the involvement of this system to conditions analogous to those occurring during infection, pure cultures of …

A highly specific steroid regulated transcription system system in Saccharomyces cerevisae was used to screen for phytoestrogens indioecious plants. Yeast cells were co-transformed with a human estrogen receptor expression plasmid and a reporter plasmid containing the E. coli β-galactosidase gene.

The electrophysiological and morphological properties of small networks of mammalian neurons were investigated with mouse spinal cord monolayer cultures of 2 mm diameter grown on multimicroelectrode plates (MMEPs). Such cultures were viewed microscopically and their activity simultaneously recorded from 2 of any 36 fixed recording sites. The specific aims achieved were: development of techniques for production of functional MMEPs and maintenance of mini-cultures, characterization of the spontaneous activity of mini-cultures, application of inhibitory and disinhibitory agents, development of staining methods for cultured neurons and initial light microscopic analysis with correlation of electrophysiological and morphological characteristics.

The pyrimidine biosynthetic pathway is essential and similar in all bacteria. The pathway from Pseudomonas is regulated by nucleotides which bind to the upstream region of the pyrBC’ gene complex. Work in our lab mapped the genes and showed that the pyrB and pyrC’ were part of an overlap complex. The Pseudomonas aeruginosa has one circular chromosome. A former Pseudomonas now called Burkholderia cepacia is similar to P. aeruginosa except that it contains three circular chromosomes (CI, CII, CIII) and one large plasmid. The primary chromosome named CI contains the pyrBC’. To our knowledge there has been no report of the activity of ATCase in Pseudomonas and contrasted with that of Burkholderia. Here, we compare the activity of ATCase in P. aeruginosa and B .cepacia. Cells of both organisms were grown in Pseudomonas minimal medium and in Enriched medium. The ATCase was extracted and partially purified from each sample. It is hypothesized that the B. cepacia has greater activity for ATCase than do the Pseudomonas.

Forensic STR analysis is limited by the quality and quantity of DNA. Significant damage or alteration to the molecular structure of DNA by depurination, crosslinking, base modification, and strand breakage can impact typing success. Two methods that could potentially improve STR typing of challenged samples were explored: an in vitro DNA repair assay (PreCR™ Repair Mix) and whole genome amplification. Results with the repair assay showed trends of improved performance of STR profiling of bleach-damaged DNA. However, the repair assay did not improve DNA profiles from environmentally-damaged bloodstains or bone, and in some cases resulted in lower RFU values for STR alleles. The extensive spectrum of DNA damage and myriad combinations of lesions that can be present in forensic samples appears to pose a challenge for the in vitro PreCR™ assay. The data suggest that the use of PreCR™ in casework should be considered with caution due to the assay’s varied results. As an alternative to repair, whole genome amplification (WGA) was pursued. The DOP-PCR method was selected for WGA because of initial primer design and greater efficacy for amplifying degraded samples. Several modifications of the original DOP-PCR primer were evaluated. These modifications allowed for an overall more robust amplification …

Triosephosphate isomerase (EC 5.3.1.1., TPI) undergoes specific posttranslational modifications (deamidation and oxidation) which are believed to initiate protein turnover by destabilization of the dimer. The crystal structures, amino acid sequences, and aging related changes of TPI from various species have been independently characterized by several laboratories. TPI has thus become the prototype enzyme for examining the initial steps in protein turnover. The binding of substrate enhances the specific deamidation of the mammalian enzyme, and a general mechanism of 'molecular wear and tear' [Gracy, R. W., Yiiksel, K. 0., Chapman, M. L., and Dimitrijevich, S. D. (1990) in Isozymes-Structure, Function and Use in Biology and Medicine (Ogita, Z-I., and Markert, C. L., Eds) pp. 787-817, Wiley-Liss, New York] has been proposed to explain how enzymes may wear out.

N-Acylethanolamines (NAEs) are bioactive acylamides that are present in a wide range of organisms. Because NAE levels in seeds decline during imbibition similar to ABA, a physiological role was predicted for these metabolites in Arabidopsis thaliana seed germination and seedling development. There is also a corresponding increase of AtFAAH (fatty acid amide hydrolase), transcript levels and activity, which metabolizes NAE to ethanolamine and free fatty acids. Based on whole genome microarray studies it was determined that a number of up-regulated genes that were responsive to NAE were also ABA responsive. NAE induced gene expression in these ABA responsive genes without elevating endogenous levels of ABA. It was also determined that many of these NAE/ABA responsive genes were associated with an ABA induced secondary growth arrest, including ABI3. ABI3 is a transcription factor that regulates the transition from embryo to seedling growth, the analysis of transcript levels in NAE treated seedlings revealed a dose dependent, inverse relationship between ABI3 transcript levels and growth, high ABI3 transcript levels were associated with growth inhibition. Similar to ABA, NAE negatively regulated seedling growth within a narrow window of early seedling establishment. When seedlings are exposed to NAE or ABA within the window of sensitivity, …

Murine neuronal networks, derived from embryonic frontal cortex (FC) tissue grown on microelectrode arrays, were used to investigate zinc toxicity at concentrations ranging from 20 to 2000 mM total zinc acetate added to the culture medium. Continual multi-channel recording of spontaneous action potential generation allowed a quantitative analysis of the temporal evolution of network spike activity generation at specific zinc acetate concentrations. Cultures responded with immediate concentration-dependent excitation lasting from 5 to 50 min, consisting of increased spiking and enhanced, coordinated bursting. This was followed by irreversible activity decay. The time to 50% and 90% activity loss was concentration dependent, highly reproducible, and formed linear functions in log-log plots. Network activity loss generally preceded morphological changes. 20% cell swelling was correlated with 50% activity loss. Cultures pretreated with the GABAA receptor antagonists bicuculline (40 mM) and picrotoxin (1 mM) lacked the initial excitation phase. This suggests that zinc-induced excitation may be mediated by interfering with GABA inhibition. Partial network protection was achieved by stopping spontaneous activity with either tetrodotoxin (200 nM) or lidocaine (250 mM). However, recovery was not complete and slow deterioration of network activity continued over 6 hrs. Removal of zinc by early medium changes showed irreversible, catastrophic …

Burkholderia cepacia is a common soil bacterium of significance in agriculture and bioremediation. B. cepacia is also an opportunistic pathogen of humans causing highly communicable pulmonary infections in cystic fibrosis and immunocompromized patients. The pyrB gene encoding ATCase was cloned and ATCase was purified by the glutathione S-transferase gene fusion system. The ATCase in B. cepacia has been previously classified as a class A enzyme by Bethell and Jones. ATCase activity gels showed that B. cepacia contained a holoenzyme pyrBC complex of 550 kDa comprised of 47 kDa pyrB and 45 kDa pyrC subunits. In the course of purifying the enzyme, trimeric subunits of 140 kDa and 120 kDa were observed as well as a unique proteolysis of the enzyme. The 47 kDa ATCase subunits were cleaved to 40 kDa proteins, which still demonstrated high activity as trimers. The proteolysis site is between Ser74 and Val75 residues. To confirm this, we converted the Ser74 residue to an Ala and to an Arg by site-directed mutagenesis. After this primary sequence changed, the proteolysis of ATCase was not observed. To further investigate the characteristics of B. cepacia pyrB gene, a pyrB knock-out (pyrB-) was constructed by in vitro mutagenesis. In the assay, …

Myzus persicae (Sülzer), commonly known as green peach aphid (GPA), utilizes its slender stylet to penetrate the plant tissues intercellularly and consume copious amounts of photoassimilates present in the phloem sap causing extensive damage to host plants. The compatible interaction between GPA and Arabidopsis thaliana enabled us to characterize plant response to aphid infestation. Upon GPA infestation, Arabidopsis PAD4 (PHYTOALEXIN DEFICIENT4) gene modulates premature leaf senescence, which is involved in the programmed degradation of cellular components and the export of nutrients out of the senescing leaf. Senescence mechanism is utilized by plants to limit aphid growth. In addition, PAD4 provides antixenosis (deters insect settling and feeding) and antibiosis (impair aphid fecundity) against GPA and adversely impact sieve element availability to GPA. Basal expression of PAD4 contributes to antibiosis, and the GPA-induced expression of PAD4 contributes to antixenosis. Mutation in the Arabidopsis stearoyl-ACP desaturase encoding SSI2 (suppressor of SALICYLIC ACID [SA] insensitivity2) gene that results in an accelerated cell death phenotype and dwarfing, also conferred heightened antibiosis to GPA. Results of this study indicate that PAD4 is required for the ssi2-mediated enhanced antibiosis to GPA. The PAD4 protein contains conserved Ser, Asp and His residues that form the catalytic triad of …

The aspartate transcarbamoylase (ATCase) was purified from Burkholderia cepacia 25416. In the course of purification, three different ATCase activities appeared namely dodecameric 550 kDa holoenzyme, and two trimeric ATCases of 140 kDa (consists of 47 kDa PyrB subunits) and 120 kDa (consists of 40 kDa PyrB subunits) each. The 120 kDa PyrB polypeptide arose by specific cleavage of the PyrB polypeptide between Ser74 and Val75 creating an active polypeptide short by 74 amino acids. Both the 40 and 47 kDa polypeptides produced active trimers. To compare the enzyme activity of these trimers, an effector assay using nucleotides was performed. The 140 kDa trimer showed inhibition while the 120 kDa polypeptide showed less inhibition. To verify the composition of the pyrBC holoenzyme complex, B. cepacia dihydroorotase (DHOase, subunit size of 45 kDa) was purified by the pMAL protein fusion and purification system and holoenzyme reconstruction was performed using purified ATCase and DHOase. Both the 140 kDa and the 120 kDa trimers could produce holoenzymes of 550 kDa and 510 kDa, respectively. The reconstructed ATCase holoenzyme from cleaved ATCase showed better reconstruction compared to that from uncleaved ATCase in the conventional ATCase activity gel assay. To characterize the relationship between pyrimidine pathway …

Myzus persicae (Sülzer), commonly known as the green peach aphid (GPA), is a polyphagous insect that can infest over 100 families of economically important plants and is major pest for vegetable crops. This study utilizes the Arabidopsis-GPA model system with the aim to elucidate the role of the plant disaccharide trehalose in providing defense against GPA. This study demonstrates a novel role for TPS11 in providing defense against GPA. TPS11 expression was found to be transiently induced in Arabidopsis plants in response to GPA infestation and the TPS11 gene was required for curtailing GPA infestation. TPS11, which encodes for trehalose phosphate synthase and phosphatase activities, contributes to the transient increase in trehalose in the GPA infested tissues. This work suggests that TPS11-dependent trehalose has a signaling function in plant defense against GPA. in addition, trehalose also has a more direct role in curtailing GPA infestation on Arabidopsis. This work also shows that TPS11 is able to modulate both carbohydrate metabolism and plant defenses in response to GPA infestation. the expression of PAD4, an Arabidopsis gene required for phloem-based defenses against GPA, was found to be delayed in GPA infested tps11 mutant plants along with increased sucrose levels and lower starch …

Polyunsaturated fatty acids are major structural components of plant chloroplast and endoplasmic reticulum membranes. Two fatty acid desaturases (designated FAD2 and FAD3) desaturate 75% of the fatty acids in the endoplasmic reticulum. The w -6 fatty acid desaturase (FAD2) may be responsible for cold acclimation response, since polyunsaturated phospholipids are important in helping maintain plant viability at lowered temperatures. To study regulation of FAD2 gene expression in cotton, a FAD2 gene was isolated from two genomic libraries using an Arabidopsis FAD2 hybridization probe and a cotton FAD2 5¢ -flanking region gene-specific probe, respectively. A cotton FAD2 gene was found to be in two overlapping genomic clones by physical mapping and DNA sequencing. The cloned DNA fragments are identical in size to cotton FAD2 genomic DNA fragments shown by genomic blot hybridization. The cotton FAD2 coding region has 1,155 bp with no introns and would encode a putative polypeptide of 384 amino acids. The cotton FAD2 enzyme has a high identity of 75% with other plant FAD2 enzymes. The enzyme has three histidine-rich motifs that are conserved in all plant membrane desaturases. These histidine boxes may be the iron-binding domains for reduction of oxygen during desaturation. To confirm that this FAD2 …

In response to compatible rhizobia, leguminous plants develop unique plant organs, root nodules, in which rhizobia fix nitrogen into ammonia. During nodule invasion, the rhizobia gain access to newly divided cells, the nodule primordia, in the root inner cortex through plant-derived cellulose tubes called infection threads. Infection threads begin in curled root hairs and bring rhizobia into the root crossing several cell layers in the process. Ultimately the rhizobia are deposited within nodule primordium cells through a process resembling endocytosis. Plant host mechanisms underlying the formation and regulation of the invasion process are not understood. To identify and clone plant genes required for nodule invasion, recent efforts have focused on Medicago truncatula. In a collaborative effort the nodulation defect in the lin (lumpy infections) mutant was characterized. From an EMS-mutagenized population of M. truncatula, two non-allelic mutants nip (numerous infections with polyphenolics) and sli (sluggish infections) were identified with defects in nodule invasion. Infection threads were found to proliferate abnormally in the nip mutant nodules with only very rare deposition of rhizobia within plant host cells. nip nodules were found to accumulate polyphenolic compounds, indicative of a host defense response. Interestingly, nip was also found to have defective lateral root …

The complete nucleotide sequence of the region encoding the DHCDH function of the pDK1 lower operon was determined. DNA analysis has shown the presence of two open reading frames, one gene consisting of 777 nucleotides encoding a polypeptide of 27.85 kDa and another gene of 303 nucleotides encoding a polypeptide of 11.13 kDa. The results of enzymatic expression studies suggest that DHCDH activity is associated only with xy1L. However although the addition of xy1T cell-free extracts to xy1L cell-free extracts does not produce an increase in DHCDH activity, subclones carrying both xy1L and xy1T exhibit 300- 400% more DHCDH activity than subclones carrying only xy1L.

Natural transformation is the process by which cells take up DNA from the surrounding medium under physiological conditions, altering the genotype in a heritable fashion. This occurs without chemical or physical treatment of the cells. Certain Acinetobacter strains exhibit a strong tendency to incorporate homologous DNA into their chromosomes by natural transformation. Transformation in Acinetobacter exhibits several unique properties that indicate this system's superiority as a model for transformation studies or studies which benefit from the use of transformation as an experimental method of gene manipulation. Pseudomonas putida is the natural host of TOL plasmids, ranging between 50 kbp and 300 kbp in size and encoding genes for the catabolism of toluene, meta-toluate, and xylene. These very large, single-copy plasmids are difficult to isolate, manipulate, or modify in vitro. In this study, the TOL plasmid pDKR1 was introduced into Acinetobacter calcoaceticus strains and genetically engineered utilizing natural transformation as part of the process. Following engineering by transformation, the recombinant DNA molecule was returned to the native genetic background of the original host P. putida strain. Specific parameters for the successful manipulation of large plasmids by natural transformation in Acinetobacter were identified and are outlined. The effects of growth phase, total …

The Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCase was cloned and sequenced to determine the correct size, subunit composition and architecture of this pivotal enzyme in pyrimidine biosynthesis. During the course of this work, it was determined that the ATCase of Pseudomonas was not 360,000 Da but rather present in a complex of 484,000 Da consisting of two different polypeptides (36,000 Da and 44,000 Da) with an architecture similar to that of E. coli ATCase, 2(C3):3(r2). However, there was no regulatory polypeptide found in the Pseudomonas ATCase.

Cloning and molecular characterization of new genes constitutes a useful approach in studying the symbiotic interactions between the model plant Medicago truncatula and Synorhizobium meliloti. Large numbers of expressed sequence tags (ESTs) available for Medicago truncatula, along with numerous cDNA, oligonucleotides, and Affimetrix DNA microarray chips, represent useful tools for gene discovery. In an attempt to identify a new gene that might be involved in the process of nodulation in Medicago truncatula, preliminary data reported by Fedorova et al. (2002), who identified 340 putative gene products or tentative consensus sequences (TCs) expressed only in nodules, was used. This research was focused on TC33166 (TC103185), which has 3 ESTs in the TC, and whose strongest BLASTX hit of TC103185 is the incomplete root hair elongation (IRE) protein kinase-like protein (NP_192429) from Arabidopsis thaliana. The Arabidopsis IRE gene is required for normal root hair growth, and a role in apical growth was suggested (Oyama et al., 2002). Infection thread growth can be looked at as an inward growth of the root hair. Thus, TC103185 was a good candidate for identifying a gene that may be involved in early events of nodulation. MtIRE (GenBank accession AC122727) is organized in 17 exons and 16 …

A new column, Dionex AS4A, (polystyrenedivinylbenzene matrix) used for the separation of ribonucleotides and deoxyribonucleotides for the first time, and previously used for ion analysis was found superior to conventional silica columns because it separates ribonucleotides and deoxyribonucleotides. Resolution of dGTP was not possible with the Dionex column and CTP and GDP often co-eluted. Using conventional silica columns, monophosphates separated from diphosphates and diphosphates from triphosphates. Using the new Dionex column resolves all three simultaneously. The Dionex column resolved nucleotides with sharper peaks than silica columns, and the longer its retention time the better was the resolution. This Dionex column is stable, with 80 runs possible without cleaning while resolving ribonucleotides and deoxyribonucleotides to the picomole level.

Previous research in our laboratory established that pyrB, pyrC or pyrD knock-out mutants in Pseudomonas aeruginosa required pyrimidines for growth. Each mutant was also discovered to be defective in the production of virulence factors. Moreover, the addition of exogenous uracil did not restore the mutant to wild type virulence levels. In an earlier study using non-pathogenic P. putida, mutants blocked in one of the first three enzymes of the pyrimidine pathway produced no pyoverdine pigment while mutants blocked in the fourth, fifth or sixth steps produced copious quantities of pigment, just like wild type P. putida. The present study explored the correlation between pyrimidine auxotrophy and pigment production in P. aeruginosa. Since the pigment pyoverdine is a siderophore it may also be considered a virulence factor. Other virulence factors tested included casein protease, elastase, hemolysin, swimming, swarming and twitching motilities, and iron binding capacity. In all cases, these virulence factors were significantly decreased in the pyrB, pyrC or pyrD mutants and even in the presence of uracil did not attain wild type levels. In order to complete this comprehensive study, pyrimidine mutants blocked in the fifth (pyrE) and sixth (pyrF) steps of the biosynthetic pathway were examined in P. aeruginosa. …

Current energy and environmental challenges are driving the use of cellulosic materials for biofuel production. A major obstacle in this pursuit is poor ethanol tolerance among cellulolytic Clostridium species. The first objective of this work was to establish a potential upper boundary of ethanol tolerance for the cellulosome itself. The hydrolytic function of crude cellulosome extracts from C. cellulolyticum on carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) with 0, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25% (v/v) ethanol was determined. Results indicated that the endoglucanase activity of the cellulosome incubated in 5% and 10% ethanol was significantly different from a control without ethanol addition. Furthermore a significant difference was observed in endoglucanase activity for cellulosome incubated in 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% and 25% ethanol in a standalone experiment. Endoglucanase activity continued to be observed for up to 25% ethanol, indicating that cellulosome function in ethanol will not be an impediment to future efforts towards engineering increasing production titers to levels at least as high as the current physiological limits of the most tolerant ethanologenic microbes. The second objective of this work was to study bioethanol production by a microbial co-culture involving Clostridium cellulolyticum and a recombinant Zymomonas mobilis engineered for the utilization of oligodextrans. The …