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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Septin Phosphorylation And Coiled-Coil Domains Function In Cell And Septin Ring Morphology In The Filamentous Fungus Ashbya Gossypii, Rebecca A. Meseroll, Patricia Occhipinti, Amy S. Gladfelter Nov 2012

Septin Phosphorylation And Coiled-Coil Domains Function In Cell And Septin Ring Morphology In The Filamentous Fungus Ashbya Gossypii, Rebecca A. Meseroll, Patricia Occhipinti, Amy S. Gladfelter

Dartmouth Scholarship

Septins are a class of GTP-binding proteins conserved throughout many eukaryotes. Individual septin subunits associate with one another and assemble into heteromeric complexes that form filaments and higher-order structures in vivo. The mechanisms underlying the assembly and maintenance of higher-order structures in cells remain poorly understood. Septins in several organisms have been shown to be phosphorylated, although precisely how septin phosphorylation may be contributing to the formation of high-order septin structures is unknown. Four of the five septins expressed in the filamentous fungus, Ashbya gossypii, are phosphorylated, and we demonstrate here the diverse roles of these phosphorylation sites …


Gametes: A Fast, Direct Algorithm For Generating Pure, Strict, Epistatic Models With Random Architectures, Ryan J. Urbanowicz, Jeff Kiralis, Nicholas A. Sinnott-Armstrong, Tamra Heberling, Jonathan M. Fisher, Jason H. Moore Oct 2012

Gametes: A Fast, Direct Algorithm For Generating Pure, Strict, Epistatic Models With Random Architectures, Ryan J. Urbanowicz, Jeff Kiralis, Nicholas A. Sinnott-Armstrong, Tamra Heberling, Jonathan M. Fisher, Jason H. Moore

Dartmouth Scholarship

Background: Geneticists who look beyond single locus disease associations require additional strategies for the detection of complex multi-locus effects. Epistasis, a multi-locus masking effect, presents a particular challenge, and has been the target of bioinformatic development. Thorough evaluation of new algorithms calls for simulation studies in which known disease models are sought. To date, the best methods for generating simulated multi-locus epistatic models rely on genetic algorithms. However, such methods are computationally expensive, difficult to adapt to multiple objectives, and unlikely to yield models with a precise form of epistasis which we refer to as pure and strict. Purely and …


Insights Into Mrnp Biogenesis Provided By New Genetic Interactions Among Export And Transcription Factors, Francisco Estruch, Christine Hodge, Natalia Gómez-Navarro, Lorena Peiró-Chova, Catherine V. Heath, Charles N. Cole Sep 2012

Insights Into Mrnp Biogenesis Provided By New Genetic Interactions Among Export And Transcription Factors, Francisco Estruch, Christine Hodge, Natalia Gómez-Navarro, Lorena Peiró-Chova, Catherine V. Heath, Charles N. Cole

Dartmouth Scholarship

The various steps of mRNP biogenesis (transcription, processing and export) are interconnected. It has been shown that the transcription machinery plays a pivotal role in mRNP assembly, since several mRNA export factors are recruited during transcription and physically interact with components of the transcription machinery. Although the shuttling DEAD-box protein Dbp5p is concentrated on the cytoplasmic fibrils of the NPC, previous studies demonstrated that it interacts physically and genetically with factors involved in transcription initiation. We investigated the effect of mutations affecting various components of the transcription initiation apparatus on the phenotypes of mRNA export mutant strains. Our results show …


Farnesol And Cyclic Amp Signaling Effects On The Hypha-To-Yeast Transition In Candida Albicans, Allia K. Lindsay, Aurélie Deveau, Amy E. Piispanen, Deborah A. Hogan Aug 2012

Farnesol And Cyclic Amp Signaling Effects On The Hypha-To-Yeast Transition In Candida Albicans, Allia K. Lindsay, Aurélie Deveau, Amy E. Piispanen, Deborah A. Hogan

Dartmouth Scholarship

Candida albicans, a fungal pathogen of humans, regulates its morphology in response to many environmental cues and this morphological plasticity contributes to virulence. Farnesol, an autoregulatory molecule produced by C. albicans, inhibits the induction of hyphal growth by inhibiting adenylate cyclase (Cyr1). The role of farnesol and Cyr1 in controlling the maintenance of hyphal growth has been less clear. Here, we demonstrate that preformed hyphae transition to growth as yeast in response to farnesol and that strains with increased cyclic AMP (cAMP) signaling exhibit more resistance to farnesol. Exogenous farnesol did not induce the hypha-to-yeast transition in mutants …


Minor Pilins Of The Type Iv Pilus System Participate In The Negative Regulation Of Swarming Motility, S L. Kuchma, E. F. Griffin, G. A. O'Toole Aug 2012

Minor Pilins Of The Type Iv Pilus System Participate In The Negative Regulation Of Swarming Motility, S L. Kuchma, E. F. Griffin, G. A. O'Toole

Dartmouth Scholarship

Pseudomonas aeruginosa exhibits distinct surface-associated behaviors, including biofilm formation, flagellum-mediated swarming motility, and type IV pilus-driven twitching. Here, we report a role for the minor pilins, PilW and PilX, components of the type IV pilus assembly machinery, in the repression of swarming motility. Mutating either the pilW or pilX gene alleviates the inhibition of swarming motility observed for strains with elevated levels of the intracellular signaling molecule cyclic di-GMP (c-di-GMP) due to loss of BifA, a c-di-GMP-degrading phosphodiesterase. Blocking PilD peptidase-mediated processing of PilW and PilX renders the unprocessed proteins defective for pilus assembly but still functional in c-di-GMP-mediated swarming …


Condensin Ii Promotes The Formation Of Chromosome Territories By Inducing Axial Compaction Of Polyploid Interphase Chromosomes, Christopher R. R. Bauer, Tom A. Hartl, Giovanni Bosco Aug 2012

Condensin Ii Promotes The Formation Of Chromosome Territories By Inducing Axial Compaction Of Polyploid Interphase Chromosomes, Christopher R. R. Bauer, Tom A. Hartl, Giovanni Bosco

Dartmouth Scholarship

The eukaryotic nucleus is both spatially and functionally partitioned. This organization contributes to the maintenance, expression, and transmission of genetic information. Though our ability to probe the physical structure of the genome within the nucleus has improved substantially in recent years, relatively little is known about the factors that regulate its organization or the mechanisms through which specific organizational states are achieved. Here, we show that Drosophila melanogaster Condensin II induces axial compaction of interphase chromosomes, globally disrupts interchromosomal interactions, and promotes the dispersal of peri-centric heterochromatin. These Condensin II activities compartmentalize the nucleus into discrete chromosome territories and indicate …


Epoxide-Mediated Cifr Repression Of Cif Gene Expression Utilizes Two Binding Sites In Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, Alicia E. Ballok, Christopher D. Bahl, Emily L. Dolben, Allia K. Lindsay, Jessica D. St. Laurent, Deborah Hogan, Dean Madden, George A. O'Toole Jul 2012

Epoxide-Mediated Cifr Repression Of Cif Gene Expression Utilizes Two Binding Sites In Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, Alicia E. Ballok, Christopher D. Bahl, Emily L. Dolben, Allia K. Lindsay, Jessica D. St. Laurent, Deborah Hogan, Dean Madden, George A. O'Toole

Dartmouth Scholarship

Pseudomonas aeruginosa secretes an epoxide hydrolase virulence factor that reduces the apical membrane expression of ABC transporters such as the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR). This virulence factor, named CFTR inhibitory factor (Cif), is regulated by a TetR-family, epoxide-responsive repressor known as CifR via direct binding and repression. We identified two sites of CifR binding in the intergenic space between cifR and morB, the first gene in the operon containing the cif gene. We have mapped these binding sites and found they are 27 bp in length, and they overlap the -10 and +1 sites of both the cifR …


Septin Ring Size Scaling And Dynamics Require The Coiled-Coil Region Of Shs1p, Rebecca A. Meseroll, Louisa Howard, Amy S. Gladfelter Jul 2012

Septin Ring Size Scaling And Dynamics Require The Coiled-Coil Region Of Shs1p, Rebecca A. Meseroll, Louisa Howard, Amy S. Gladfelter

Dartmouth Scholarship

Septins are conserved GTP-binding proteins that assemble into heteromeric complexes that form filaments and higher-order structures in cells. What directs filament assembly, determines the size of higher-order septin structures, and governs septin dynamics is still not well understood. We previously identified two kinases essential for septin ring assembly in the filamentous fungus Ashbya gossypii and demonstrate here that the septin Shs1p is multiphosphorylated at the C-terminus of the protein near the predicted coiled-coil domain. Expression of the nonphosphorylatable allele shs1-9A does not mimic the loss of the kinase nor does complete truncation of the Shs1p C-terminus. Surprisingly, however, loss …


Two Boundaries Separate Borrelia Burgdorferi Populations In North America, Gabriele Margos, Jean I. Tsao, Santiago Castillo-Ramirez, Yvette A. Girard, Anne G. Hoen Jun 2012

Two Boundaries Separate Borrelia Burgdorferi Populations In North America, Gabriele Margos, Jean I. Tsao, Santiago Castillo-Ramirez, Yvette A. Girard, Anne G. Hoen

Dartmouth Scholarship

Understanding the spread of infectious diseases is crucial for implementing effective control measures. For this, it is important to obtain information on the contemporary population structure of a disease agent and to infer the evolutionary processes that may have shaped it. Here, we investigate on a continental scale the population structure of Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme borreliosis (LB), a tick-borne disease, in North America. We test the hypothesis that the observed d population structure is congruent with recent population expansions and that these were preceded by bottlenecks mostly likely caused by the near extirpation in the 1900s …


Interleukin-1Β Mediates Metalloproteinase-Dependent Renal Cell Carcinoma Tumor Cell Invasion Through The Activation Of Ccaat Enhancer Binding Protein Β, Brenda L. Petrella, Matthew P. P. Vincenti May 2012

Interleukin-1Β Mediates Metalloproteinase-Dependent Renal Cell Carcinoma Tumor Cell Invasion Through The Activation Of Ccaat Enhancer Binding Protein Β, Brenda L. Petrella, Matthew P. P. Vincenti

Dartmouth Scholarship

Effective treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) remains a major medical concern, as these tumors are refractory to standard therapies and prognosis is poor. Although molecularly targeted therapies have shown some promise in the treatment of this disease, advanced RCC tumors often develop resistance to these drugs. Dissecting the molecular mechanisms underlying the progression to advanced disease is necessary to design alternative and improved treatment strategies. Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) found in aggressive RCC tumors produce a variety of inflammatory cytokines, including interleukin-1 b (IL-1b). Moreover, the presence of TAMs and high serum levels of IL-1b in RCC patients correlate …


Dna Methylation Arrays As Surrogate Measures Of Cell Mixture Distribution, Eugene Houseman, William P. Accomando, Devin C. Koestler, Brock C. Christensen, Carmen J. Marsit May 2012

Dna Methylation Arrays As Surrogate Measures Of Cell Mixture Distribution, Eugene Houseman, William P. Accomando, Devin C. Koestler, Brock C. Christensen, Carmen J. Marsit

Dartmouth Scholarship

There has been a long-standing need in biomedical research for a method that quantifies the normally mixed composition of leukocytes beyond what is possible by simple histological or flow cytometric assessments. The latter is restricted by the labile nature of protein epitopes, requirements for cell processing, and timely cell analysis. In a diverse array of diseases and following numerous immune-toxic exposures, leukocyte composition will critically inform the underlying immuno-biology to most chronic medical conditions. Emerging research demonstrates that DNA methylation is responsible for cellular differentiation, and when measured in whole peripheral blood, serves to distinguish cancer cases from controls.


Dcm Methylation Is Detrimental To Plasmid Transformation In Clostridium Thermocellum, Adam M. Guss, Daniel G. Olson, Nicky C. Caiazza, Lee R. Lynd May 2012

Dcm Methylation Is Detrimental To Plasmid Transformation In Clostridium Thermocellum, Adam M. Guss, Daniel G. Olson, Nicky C. Caiazza, Lee R. Lynd

Dartmouth Scholarship

Background: Industrial production of biofuels and other products by cellulolytic microorganisms is of interest but hindered by the nascent state of genetic tools. Although a genetic system for Clostridium thermocellum DSM1313 has recently been developed, available methods achieve relatively low efficiency and similar plasmids can transform C. thermocellum at dramatically different efficiencies. Results: We report an increase in transformation efficiency of C. thermocellum for a variety of plasmids by using DNA that has been methylated by Escherichia coli Dam but not Dcm methylases. When isolated from a dam + dcm + E. coli strain, pAMG206 transforms C. thermocellum 100-fold better …


The Tlo Proteins Are Stoichiometric Components Of Candida Albicans Mediator Anchored Via The Med3 Subunit, Anda Zhang, Kostadin O. Petrov, Emily R. Hyun, Zhongle Liu, Scott A. Gerber, Lawrence C. Myers May 2012

The Tlo Proteins Are Stoichiometric Components Of Candida Albicans Mediator Anchored Via The Med3 Subunit, Anda Zhang, Kostadin O. Petrov, Emily R. Hyun, Zhongle Liu, Scott A. Gerber, Lawrence C. Myers

Dartmouth Scholarship

The amplification of the TLO (for telomere-associated) genes in Candida albicans, compared to its less pathogenic, close relative Candida dubliniensis, suggests a role in virulence. Little, however, is known about the function of the Tlo proteins. We have purified the Mediator coactivator complex from C. albicans (caMediator) and found that Tlo proteins are a stoichiometric component of caMediator. Many members of the Tlo family are expressed, and each is a unique member of caMediator. Protein expression analysis of individual Tlo proteins, as well as the purification of tagged Tlo proteins, demonstrate that there is a large free population of Tlo …


Corneal Replication Is An Interferon Response-Independent Bottleneck For Virulence Of Herpes Simplex Virus 1 In The Absence Of Virion Host Shutoff, Tracy J. Pasieka, Vineet D. Menachery, Pamela C. Rosato, David A. Leib May 2012

Corneal Replication Is An Interferon Response-Independent Bottleneck For Virulence Of Herpes Simplex Virus 1 In The Absence Of Virion Host Shutoff, Tracy J. Pasieka, Vineet D. Menachery, Pamela C. Rosato, David A. Leib

Dartmouth Scholarship

Herpes simplex viruses lacking the virion host shutoff function (Δvhs) are avirulent and hypersensitive to type I and type II interferon (IFN). In this study, we demonstrate that even in the absence of IFN responses in AG129 (IFN-αβγR−/−) mice, Δvhs remains highly attenuated via corneal infection but is fully virulent via intracranial infection. The data demonstrate that the interferon-independent inherent replication defect of Δvhs has a significant impact upon peripheral replication and neuroinvasion.


Pv1 Down-Regulation Via Shrna Inhibits The Growth Of Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma Xenografts, Sophie J. Deharvengt, Dan Tse, Olga Sideleva, Caitlin Mcgarry, Jason R. Gunn, Daniel S. Longnecker, Catherine Carriere, Radu V. Stan May 2012

Pv1 Down-Regulation Via Shrna Inhibits The Growth Of Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma Xenografts, Sophie J. Deharvengt, Dan Tse, Olga Sideleva, Caitlin Mcgarry, Jason R. Gunn, Daniel S. Longnecker, Catherine Carriere, Radu V. Stan

Dartmouth Scholarship

PV1 is an endothelial-specific protein with structural roles in the formation of diaphragms in endothelial cells of normal vessels. PV1 is also highly expressed on endothelial cells of many solid tumours. On the basis of in vitro data, PV1 is thought to actively participate in angiogenesis. To test whether or not PV1 has a function in tumour angiogenesis and in tumour growth in vivo, we have treated pancreatic tumour-bearing mice by single-dose intratumoural delivery of lentiviruses encoding for two different shRNAs targeting murine PV1. We find that PV1 down-regulation by shRNAs inhibits the growth of established tumours derived from two …


Pf19 Encodes The P60 Catalytic Subunit Of Katanin And Is Required For Assembly Of The Flagellar Central Apparatus In Chlamydomonas, Erin E. Dymek, Elizabeth F. Smith Mar 2012

Pf19 Encodes The P60 Catalytic Subunit Of Katanin And Is Required For Assembly Of The Flagellar Central Apparatus In Chlamydomonas, Erin E. Dymek, Elizabeth F. Smith

Dartmouth Scholarship

For all eukaryotic cilia the basal bodies provide a template for the assembly of the doublet microtubules, and intraflagellar transport provides a mechanism for transport of axonemal components into the growing cilium. What is not known is how the central pair of microtubules is nucleated or how their associated polypeptides are assembled. Here we report that the Chlamydomonas pf19 mutation results in a single amino acid change within the p60 catalytic subunit of katanin, and that this mutation prevents microtubule severing activity. The pf19 mutant has paralyzed flagella that lack the central apparatus. Using a combination of mutant analysis, RNAi-mediated …


Heterogeneity In Mitochondrial Morphology And Membrane Potential Is Independent Of The Nuclear Division Cycle In Multinucleate Fungal Cells, John P. Gerstenberger, Patricia Occhipinti, Amy S. Gladfelter Jan 2012

Heterogeneity In Mitochondrial Morphology And Membrane Potential Is Independent Of The Nuclear Division Cycle In Multinucleate Fungal Cells, John P. Gerstenberger, Patricia Occhipinti, Amy S. Gladfelter

Dartmouth Scholarship

In the multinucleate filamentous fungus Ashbya gossypii, nuclei divide asynchronously in a common cytoplasm. We hypothesize that the division cycle machinery has a limited zone of influence in the cytoplasm to promote nuclear autonomy. Mitochondria in cultured mammalian cells undergo cell cycle-specific changes in morphology and membrane potential and therefore can serve as a reporter of the cell cycle state of the cytoplasm. To evaluate if the cell cycle state of nuclei in A. gossypii can influ


The Role Of Cax1 And Cax3 In Elemental Distribution And Abundance In Arabidopsis Seed, Tracy Punshon, Kendall Hirschi, Jian Yang, Antonio Lanzirotti, Barry Lai, Mary Lou Guerinot Jan 2012

The Role Of Cax1 And Cax3 In Elemental Distribution And Abundance In Arabidopsis Seed, Tracy Punshon, Kendall Hirschi, Jian Yang, Antonio Lanzirotti, Barry Lai, Mary Lou Guerinot

Dartmouth Scholarship

The ability to alter nutrient partitioning within plants cells is poorly understood. In Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), a family of endomembrane cation exchangers (CAXs) transports Ca2+ and other cations. However, experiments have not focused on how the distribution and partitioning of calcium (Ca) and other elements within seeds are altered by perturbed CAX activity. Here, we investigate Ca distribution and abundance in Arabidopsis seed from cax1 and cax3 loss-of-function lines and lines expressing deregulated CAX1 using synchrotron x-ray fluorescence microscopy. We conducted 7- to 10-μm resolution in vivo x-ray microtomography on dry mature seed and 0.2-μm resolution x-ray …