Life Sciences Commons^™

Genetic Analysis Of Prostatic Atypical Adenomatous Hyperplasia (Adenosis), Helen Donis-Keller, Jennifer Doll, Xiaopei Zhu, Jaime Furman, Zahid Kaleem, Carlos Torres, Peter Humphrey

Helen Donis-Keller

Atypical adenomatous hyperplasia (AAH) of the prostate, a small glandular proliferation, is a putative precursor lesion to prostate cancer, in particular to the subset of well-differentiated carcinomas that arise in the transition zone, the same region where AAH lesions most often occur. Several morphological characteristics of AAH suggest a relationship to cancer; however, no definitive evidence has been reported. In this study, we analyzed DNA from 25 microdissected AAH lesions for allelic imbalance as compared to matched normal DNA, using one marker each from chromosome arms 1q, 6q, 7q, 10q, 13q, 16q, 17p, 17q, and 18q, and 19 markers from …

A Gene Encoding A Transmembrane Protein Is Mutated In Patients With Diabetes Mellitus And Optic Atrophy (Wolfram Syndrome), Helen Donis-Keller, Hiroshi Inoue, Yukio Tanizawa, Jon Wasson, Philip Behn, Kamini Kalidas, Ernesto Bernal-Mizrachi, Mike Mueckler, Helen Marshall, Patricia Crock, Douglas Rogers, Masahiko Mikuni, Hisashi Kumashiro, Koichiro Higashi, Gen Sobue, Yoshitomo Oka, M. Permutt

Helen Donis-Keller

Wolfram syndrome (WFS; OMIM 222300) is an autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disorder defined by young-onset non-immune insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus and progressive optic atrophy. Linkage to markers on chromosome 4p was confirmed in five families. On the basis of meiotic recombinants and disease-associated haplotypes, the WFS gene was localized to a BAC/P1 contig of less than 250 kb. Mutations in a novel gene (WFS1) encoding a putative transmembrane protein were found in all affected individuals in six WFS families, and these mutations were associated with the disease phenotype. WFS1appears to function in survival of islet -cells and neurons.

Nonsyndromic Congenital Retinal Nonattachment Gene Maps To Human Chromosome Band 10q21, Helen Donis-Keller, N Ghiasvand, A Kanis, C Helms, V Sheffield, E Stone

Helen Donis-Keller

Nonsyndromic congenital retinal nonattachment (NCRNA) comprises congenital insensitivity to light, massive retrolental mass, shallow anterior chamber, microphthalmia, and nystagmus. We searched for the location of the gene responsible for an autosomal recessive form of NCRNA by using DNA samples from 36 individuals from a founding population. To this end we applied homozygosity mapping and a DNA pooling strategy using genomewide screen polymorphic microsatellite markers. We used two DNA pools, one pool contained DNA from 16 individuals affected with NCRNA. The second pool contained DNA from 20 normal carrier individuals, the parents of the patients. The polymorphic microsatellite markers were polymerase …

Comparative Genomic Analysis Of 60 Mycobacteriophage Genomes: Genome Clustering, Gene Acquisition, And Gene Size, Graham Hatfull, Deborah Jacobs-Sera, Jeffrey Lawrence, Welkin Pope, Daniel Russell, Ching-Chung Ko, Rebecca Weber, Manisha Patel, Katherine Germane, Robert Edgar, Natasha Hoyte, Charles Bowman, Anthony Tantoco, Elizabeth Paladin, Marlana Myers, Alexis Smith, Molly Grace, Thuy Pham, Matthew O'Brien, Amy Vogelsberger, Andrew Hryckowian, Jessica Wynalek, Helen Donis-Keller, Matt Bogel, Craig Peebles, Steven Cresawn, Roger Hendrix

Helen Donis-Keller

Mycobacteriophages are viruses that infect mycobacterial hosts. Expansion of a collection of sequenced phage genomes to a total of 60—all infecting a common bacterial host—provides further insight into their diversity and evolution. Of the 60 phage genomes, 55 can be grouped into nine clusters according to their nucleotide sequence similarities, 5 of which can be further divided into subclusters; 5 genomes do not cluster with other phages. The sequence diversity between genomes within a cluster varies greatly; for example, the 6 genomes in Cluster D share more than 97.5% average nucleotide similarity with one another. In contrast, similarity between the …

Sharks Of The Devonian, Andrew Blitman

Andrew Blitman

No abstract provided.

Reeling You In: Billfish In Popular Culture, Andrew Blitman

Andrew Blitman

No abstract provided.

Mapping A Gene For Familial Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy To Chromosome 14q1, John Jarcho, William Mckenna, J.A. Peter Pare, Scott Solomon, Randall Holcombe, Shaughan Dickie, Tatjana Levi, Helen Donis-Keller, J.G. Seidman, Christine Seidman

Helen Donis-Keller

To identify the chromosomal location of a gene responsible for familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, we used clinical and molecular genetic techniques to evaluate the members of a large kindred. Twenty surviving and 24 deceased family members had hypertrophic cardiomyopathy; 58 surviving members were unaffected. Genetic-linkage analyses were performed with polymorphic DNA loci dispersed throughout the entire genome, to identify a locus that was inherited with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in family members. The significance of the linkage detected between the disease locus and polymorphic loci was assessed by calculating a lod score (the logarithm of the probability of observing coinheritance of two loci, …

Pericellular Conditions Regulate Extent Of Cell-Mediated Compaction Of Collagen Gels, Mark Stevenson, Alisha Sarang-Sieminski, Claire Mcleod, Fitzroy Byfield, Victor Barocas, Ketih Gooch

Alisha L. Sarang-Sieminski

Cell-mediated compaction of the extracellular matrix (ECM) plays a critical role in tissue engineering, woundhealing, embryonic development, and many disease states. The ECM is compacted as a result of cellular traction forces. Wehypothesize that a cell mechanically remodels the nearby ECM until some target conditions are obtained, and then the cell stopscompacting. A key feature of this hypothesis is that ECM compaction primarily occurs in the pericellular region and the propertiesof the ECM in the pericellular region govern cellular force generation. We developed a mathematical model to describe theamount of macroscopic compaction of cell-populated collagen gels in terms of the …

Catecholamines Increase Conjugative Gene Transfer Between Enteric Bacteria., Amit Kumar

Amit Kumar, DVM, MS, PhD

The ability of pathogenic bacteria to sense and respond to periods of host stress is critical to their lifestyle. Adrenaline and norepinephrine are catecholamines that mediate acute host stress in vertebrates and invertebrates. Catecholamines are also used as environmental cues to enhance growth, motility and virulence of bacterial pathogens via specific binding receptors. Incidence of multidrug resistant and highly virulent bacterial pathogens is on the rise, and majority of the genes for antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and virulence are carried on horizontally transferable genetic elements. Conjugation machinery offers an efficient method for acquisition of AMR and virulence genes, which may be …

Basking Behavior Of Emydid Turtles (Chysemys Picta Marginata, Graptemys Geographica, And Trachemys Scripta Elegans) In An Urban Landscape, W. Peterman, Travis Ryan

Travis J. Ryan

Basking is common in emydid turtles and is generally accepted to be in thermoregulatory behavior. In 2004, we quantified and described the basking behavior of turtles in the Central Canal of Indianapolis. This canal system runs through an urban landscape that is dominated by fragmented woodlots, residential areas. and commercial areas. We observed that basking turtles exhibited variable basking behavior. with spatial and temporal shins in basking behavior from east-facing banks in the morning to west-facing banks in the afternoon. Turtles in the Central Canal are subject to frequent disturbance, which altered basking behavior. Many turtles forewent aerial basking on …

A Rapid Direct Solvent Extraction Method For The Extraction Of 2-Dodecylcyclobutanone From Irradiated Ground Beef Patties Using Acetonitrile., Amit Kumar

Amit Kumar, DVM, MS, PhD

The amount of irradiated beef in the U.S. market is growing, and a reliable, rapid method is needed to detect irradiated beef and quantify the irradiation dose. The official analytical method (BS EN 1785 2003) that has been adopted by the European Union is time consuming. The objective of this study was to develop a rapid method for the analysis of 2-dodecylcyclobutanone (2-DCB) in irradiated beef. A 5 g sample of commercially irradiated ground beef patty (90/10) was extracted with n-hexane using a Soxhlet apparatus or with acetonitrile via direct solvent extraction. The Soxhlet hexane extract was evaporated to dryness, …

Architecture Of The Potyviruses, Michele Mcdonald, Amy Kendall, Wen Bian, Ian Mccullough, Elizabeth Lio, Wendy Havens, Said Ghabrial, Gerald Stubbs

Ian McCullough

X-ray fiber diffraction data were obtained and helical pitch and symmetry were determined for seven members of the family Potyviridae, including representatives from the genera Potyvirus, Rymovirus, and Tritimovirus. The diffraction patterns are similar, as expected. There are, however, significant variations in the symmetries, as previously found among the flexible potexviruses, but not among the rigid tobamoviruses. Wheat streak mosaic virus, the only member of the genus Tritimovirus examined, displayed the largest deviations in diffraction data and helical parameters from the other viruses in the group.

Hydroperiod And Metamorphosis In The Small-Mouthed Salamander

Travis J. Ryan

Radial Density Distribution And Symmetry Of A Potexvirus, Narcissus Mosaic Virus, Amy Kendall, Wen Bian, Justin Junn, Ian Mccullough, David Gore, Gerald Stubbs

Ian McCullough

Narcissus mosaic virus is a Potexvirus, a member of the Flexiviridae family of filamentous plant viruses. Fiber diffraction patterns from oriented sols of narcissus mosaic virus have been used to determine the symmetry and structural parameters of the viral helix. The virions have a radius of 55 ± 5 Å. The viral helix has a pitch of 34.45 ± 0.5 Å, with 7.8 subunits per turn of the helix. We conclude that all members of the Potexvirus genus have close to 8 subunits per helical turn.

Legacy Of Land Use In Southern Appalachian Forests: Effects On Terrestrial Salamander Abundance Along Edges And Within Abandoned Logging Roads, R. Semlitsch,, Travis Ryan, M. Chatfield, B. Drehman, K. Hamed, N. Pekarek, M. Spath

Travis J. Ryan

Presence And Colonization Of Placobdella On Two Species Of Freshwater Turtles (Graptemys Geographica And Sternotherus Odoratus), Travis Ryan

Travis J. Ryan

It is generally accepted that bottom-dwelling turtles have a higher ectoparasite load than turtles that bask aerially because of effects of desiccation on ectoparasites, especially with regard to leeches. We compared number of leeches (primarily Placobdella parasitica) on field-caught Common Musk Turtles (Stemotherus odoratus) and Common Map Turtles (Graptemys geographica). The bottom-dwelling species S. odoratus had more than 20 times the number of leeches than the aerial-basking species G. geographica. We then exposed cleaned (leech-free) turtles to leeches in mesocosms (cattle tanks) to measure the rate of colonization. In this experiment, S. odoratus had more than four times the number …

The Effect Of Mismatch Repair And Heteroduplex Formation On Sexual Isolation In Bacillus, Jacek Majewski, Frederick M. Cohan

Frederick M. Cohan

No abstract provided.

A Comprehensive Genetic Linkage Map Of The Human Genome, Nih/Ceph Collaborators Mapping Group, Helen Donis-Keller

Helen Donis-Keller

A genetic linkage map of the human genome was constructed that consists of 1416 loci, including 279 genes and expressed sequences. The loci are represented by 1676 polymorphic systems genotyped with the CEPH reference pedigree resource. A total of 339 microsatellite repeat markers assayed by PCR are contained within the map, and of the 351 markers with heterozygosities of at least 70%, 205 are microsatellites. Seven telomere loci define physical and genetic endpoints for 2q, 4p, 7q, 8p, 14q, 16p, and 16q, and in other cases distal markers on the maps have been localized to terminal cytogenetic bands. Therefore, at …

Rna Sequencing Provides Evidence For Allelism Of Determinants Of The N-, B-, Or Nb- Tropism Of Murine Leukemia Viruses, Jean Rommelaere, Helen Donis-Keller, Nancy Hopkins

Helen Donis-Keller

Previous genetic and biochemical studies identified three large RNAase T1-resistant oligonucleotides, each associated with either the N-, B- or NB-tropism of murine C-type viruses of BALB/c origin. These oligonucleotides were shown to lie in the 5′ third of the oligonucleotide maps of their respective viruses. We sequenced the three oligonucleotides and found that they share a 10 base sequence. Together these observations provide good evidence that the determinants of N-, B- or NB-tropism monitored by the three oligonucleotides are allelic.The oligonucleotides associated with N- and B-tropism differ in sequence at four of sixteen nucleotides, while the B- and NB-tropism-associated oligonucleotides …

Mapping Adenines, Guanines, And Pyrimidines In Rna, Helen Donis-Keller, Allan Maxam, Walter Gilbert

Helen Donis-Keller

The positions of adenines, guanines, and pyrimidines can be determined by partial nuclease digestion of a terminally labeled RNA molecule. In urea, at elevated temperatures, RNase T1 generates a pattern reflecting cleavage at guanines while RNase U2 cleaves only at adenine. A limited alkaline hydrolysis provides a continuum of fragments derived from breaks at every phosphodiester bond. The reaction products are electrophoretically fractionated by size in adjacent lanes of a polyacrylamide gel. An autoradiograph of the gel displays the sequence up to 100 nucleotides from the end of the molecule, although uracil cannot as yet be distinguished from cytosine. These …