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Biomedical subjects

J R Fincham

Publications and source records attributed to J R Fincham.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1986

Sequencing studies of ICR-170 mutagenic specificity in the am (NADP-specific glutamate dehydrogenase) gene of Neurospora crassa.

The acridine half-mustard ICR-170-induced reversion of the mutant am15, which has a single base-pair deletion, at a frequency of between 9 and 28 X 10(-6). In each of three classes of revertants, the mutagen had induced the insertion of a -G- -C- base pair at a -G-G- -C-C- site. The mutant am6, which has a single base pair insertion, is known to be revertible, with UV light, by deletion of a -G- -C- base pair at a -G-G-G- -C-C-C- site. This mutant reverted with ICR-170 at a frequency of 0.1 X 10(-6). These results show that ICR-170 is able to induce addition frameshifts in Neurospora crassa within short, monotonous runs of G:C base pairs, but indicate a lack of deletion activity at such sequences.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1983

The complete nucleotide sequence of the Neurospora crassa am (NADP-specific glutamate dehydrogenase) gene.

The complete nucleotide sequence of a 2.7-kb genomic fragment, containing the Neurospora crassa am [NADP-specific glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH)] gene, has been determined. The transcription initiation and polyadenylation sites have been defined by S1 mapping. There are at least four initiation sites between 35 and 60 bases downstream of a TATAAA sequence. The single polyadenylation site is immediately downstream of a six-nucleotide sequence which is present in the corresponding position in the N. crassa gene (pl) coding for the imported proteolipid component of mitochondrial ATP synthase [Viebrock et al. Embo J. 1 (1982) 565-571] the initiation sites also show some sequence similarity between am and pl. There are two introns, of 66 and 61 bases respectively; they interrupt sequences that are conserved (highly so in the case of the second intron) between Neurospora and Escherichia coli. As well as showing typical consensus splicing sequences, the two introns show some striking internal similarities to each other. The am gene resembles the pl gene in its strongly selective use of codons (pyrimidines preferred to purines and guanine to adenine in third positions). The coding sequence here reported requires four corrections to be made in the previously published amino acid sequence of Neurospora GDH.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1982

Cloning of the am (glutamate dehydrogenase) gene of Neurospora crassa through the use of a synthetic DNA probe.

In a previous study the alteration in the amino acid sequence of Neurospora crassa NADP-specific glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) resulting from two mutually compensating frameshift mutations was used to deduce the first 17 nucleotides of the coding sequence of the am gene. In the work reported here, a synthetic 17-mer corresponding to the deduced sequence was shown to hybridize strongly to a 9-kb HindIII fragment from N. crassa wild-type DNA but not to any corresponding fragment from the DNA of a mutant strain known to be deleted for most or all of the gene. Wild-type HindIII fragments were fractionated for size and a fraction centering around 9 kb was cloned in vector lambda L47. Two clones carrying the strongly hybridizing fragment were identified. The hybridization to the 17-mer was localized within a 2.7-kb BamHI fragment and, within this, to a 700-bp BamHI-Bg/II subfragment. 5' end-labelled polyadenylated RNA isolated from wild-type mycelium hybridized to the 2.7-kb BamHI fragment and not appreciably to flanking fragments. The partial sequence analysis of the BamHI-Bg/II fragment has confirmed that the 17-mer probe matches the coding sequence at the 5' end of the gene and has also revealed an intervening sequence 67 bp in length, interrupting codon 15. Both the 9-kb HindIII fragment and the 2.7-kb BamHI fragment have been shown to be capable of transforming the deletion mutant to prototrophy and ability to produce GDH. Analysis of one transformant showed that the am gene was integrated, together with a part of the long arm of the lambda vector, at an unusual locus. This transformant, in which the am gene does not show its normal linkage to the linkage group 5 marker inl, was found to produce GDH to about 20% of the normal level.

Bacteriophage lambda↗
PubMed1980

New mutational variants of Neurospora NADP-specific glutamate dehydrogenase.

The am locus of Neurospora codes for NADP-dependent glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH). Four new am mutants that produced mutationally altered GDH have been characterized. Mutant am119 is a CRM-negative, complementing mutant that maps between am2 and am1. The other three mutants are CRM formers that produce varieties of GDH that can be activated by glutamate or succinate. The GDH of am130 and am131 is similar in terms of activation properties to that of am3. The GDH of am122 requires very high concentrations of dicarboxylate for activity. The mutation in am130 maps between am14 and am2 and resulted in a replacement at residue 75 of the GDH (pro leads to ser). The mutation in am122 maps near am11 and apparently resulted in the replacement of the tryptophan residue at position 389 with an unknown amino acid. The mutation in am131 maps between am2 and am1.

Allosteric Regulation↗
PubMed1979

An unstable allele of the am locus of Neurospora crassa.

The mutant strain am126 was isolated, using the direct selection procedure, after nitrous acid mutagenesis. It produced neither measurable NADP-dependent glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) nor immunologically cross-reacting material. That the am126 strain produced some form of GDH product was shown by the fact that it complemented several other am mutant strains. The GDH formed by complementation between am126 and each of two other am mutants was relatively thermolabile, but could not be distinguished from wild-type GDH formed by electrophoresis in polyacrylamide gels. This, together with the relatively high yield of the complementation enzymes, suggest that the am126 product is a polypeptide chain not grossly abnormal in structure. The spontaneous revertant frequency was between 0.3 and 3 prototrophic revertants per 10(5) live cells. This frequency was at least 40 times greater than that for am19, which had the second highest spontaneous revertant frequency among the mutants tested. Neither meiosis nor mutagenesis increased the revertant frequency, nor did incubation at elevated temperatures lower it. Sixty-eight revertant strains were examined for thermostability of their GHD. All appeared to be identical to wild type. Seven of the revertant strains were also tested for instability with regard to forward mutation to am auxtrophy. None was found to be unstable. Models for the genetic instability of the am126 mutation are discussed.

Cross Reactions↗
PubMed1977

Amino acid replacements resulting from suppression and missense reversion of a chain-terminator mutation in Neurospora.

The Neurospora crassa super-suppressor mutation, ssu-1, suppresses the auxotrophic phenotype of the mutant am(17) by inserting tyrosine at residue 313 of NADP-specific glutamate dehydrogenase, a position occupied in the wild type by glutamate. Two classes of am(17) revertants due to further mutation within the am gene have, respectively, tyrosine and leucine at residue 313. These replacements are consistent with a chain-terminating codon in am(17) of either the amber (UAG) or the ochre type (UAA), but are inconsistent with UGA. The Leu313 and Tyr313 variants of the enzyme have effective activity but are grossly different from the wild type in Michaelis constants (especially for ammonium) and heat stabilities at two different pH values. They show smaller but significant differences in these respects from each other.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1976

Recombination in the AM gene of Neurospora crassa--a new model for conversion polarity and an explanation for a marker effect.

It is argued that polarised intragenic recombination is not necessarily due to hybrid DNA extending into the gene for variable distances from one side; it can as well be explained by hybrid DNA usually covering the whole gene, the two complementary DNA strands of the gene having unequal chances of undergoing the interchromatid transfer involved in hybrid DNA formation, and excision from base-pair mismatches proceeding predominantly in one chemical direction (perhaps 5' to 3'). This alternative model for polarity is thought to be in better accord with the behaviour of flanking markers in the am data, which appears to show that conversion-associated crossing-over can occur with almost equal likelihood on either side of the gene (a feature previously held to support negative interference--Fincham, 1974). It also provides an explanation for an unusual marker effect involving two am mutational sites separated by only three base pairs. The nature of the sites (defined by amino acid replacement analysis) is such that one forms a purine-purine mismatch on the same chromatid as the other forms a pyrimidine-pyrimidine mismatch, and vice versa. They show an approximately two-fold difference in recombination frequencies in crosses to other am mutants mapping to the left, and a difference of similar magnitude, but opposite sign, in crosses to mutants mapping to the right.

Crossing Over, Genetic↗
PubMed1975

The amino acid sequence of Neurospora NADP-specific glutamate dehydrogenase. The tryptic peptides.

The NADP-specific glutamate dehydrogenase of Neurospora crassa was digested with trypsin, and peptides accounting for 441 out of the 452 residues of the polypeptide chain were isolated and substantially sequenced. Additional experimental detail has been deposited as Supplementary Publication SUP 50052 (11 pages) with the British Library (Lending Division), Boston Spa, Wetherby, W. Yorkshire LS23 7BQ, U.K., from whom copies may be obtained under the terms given in Biochem J. (1975) 145, 5.

Amides↗
PubMed1975

The amino acid sequence of Neurospora NADP-specific glutamate dehydrogenase. Peptides from digestion with a staphylococcal proteinase.

The extracellular proteinase of Staphylococcus aureus strain V8 was used to digest the NADP-specific glutamate dehydrogenase of Neurospora crassa. Of 35 non-overlapping peptides expected from the glutamate content of the polypeptide chain, 29 were isolated and substantially sequenced. The sequences obtained were valuable in providing overlaps for the alignment of about two-thirds of the sequences found in tryptic peptides [Wootton, J. C., Taylor, J, G., Jackson, A. A., Chambers, G. K. & Fincham, J. R. S. (1975) Biochem. J. 149, 739-748]. The blocked N-terminal peptide of the protein was isolated. This peptide was sequenced by mass spectrometry, and found to have N-terminal N-acetylserine by Howard R. Morris and Anne Dell, whose results are presented as an Appendix to the main paper. The staphylococcal proteinase showed very high specificity for glutamyl bonds in the NH4HCO3 buffer used. Partial splits of two aspartyl bonds, both Asp-Ile, were probably attributable to the proteinase. No cleavage of glutaminyl or S-carboxymethylcysteinyl bonds was found. Additional experimental detail has been deposited as Supplementary Publication SUP 50053 (5 pages) with the British Library (Lending Division), Boston Spa, Wetherby, W. Yorkshire LS23 7BQ, U.K, from whom copies may be obtained under the terms given in Biochem. J. (1975) 1458 5.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1975

The amino acid sequence of Neurospora NADP-specific glutamate dehydrogenase. Peptic and chymotryptic peptides and the complete sequence.

Peptic and chymotryptic peptides were isolated form the NADP-specific glutamate dehydrogenase of Neurospora crassa and substantially sequenced. Out of 452 residues in the polypeptide chain, 265 were recovered in the peptic and 427 in the chymotryptic peptides. Together with the tryptic peptides [Wootton, J. C., Taylor, J. G., Jackson, A. A., Chambers, G. K. & Fincham, J. R. S. (1975) Biochem. J. 149, 749-755], these establish the complete sequence of the chain, including the acid and amide assignments, except for seven places where overlaps are inadequate. These remaining alignments are deduced from information on the CNBr fragments obtained in another laboratory [Blumenthal, K. M., Moon, K. & Smith, E. L. (1975), J. Biol. Chem. 250, 3644-3654]. Further information has been deposited as Supplementary Publication SUP 50054 (17 pages) with the British Library (Lending Division), Boston Spa, Wetherby, W. Yorkshire LS23 7BQ, U.K., from whom copies may be obtained under the terms given in Biochem. J. (1975) 145, 5.

Amides↗
PubMed1974

Slow conformational changes of a Neurospora glutamate dehydrogenase studied by protein fluorescence.

1. The NADP-dependent glutamate dehydrogenase of Neurospora crassa undergoes slow reversible structural transitions, with half-times in the order of a few minutes, between active and inactive states. The inactive state of the enzyme, which predominates at pH values below 7.0, has an intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence 25% lower than that of the active state, which predominates at pH values above 7.6. The inactive state can be activated either by an increase in pH or by addition of activators such as succinate. 2. The kinetics of the slow transitions that follow activating and inactivating rapid changes in conditions have been monitored by measurements of protein fluorescence. The results show that the slow reversible conformational change detected by the change in fluorescence is the rate-limiting process for enzyme activation and inactivation. 3. In both directions this conformational change follows apparent first-order kinetics and the rate constant is independent of protein concentration. These kinetics and published measurements of molecular weight are indicative of an isomerization process. 4. In both directions the changes show a large energy of activation and a large positive entropy of activation, consistent with a considerable disturbance of conformation in the transition state. 5. Comparisons of the fluorescence emission spectra of the active and inactive states indicate that the difference in fluorescence is produced by quenching, possibly intramolecular, in the inactive conformation. Iodide ions cause similar quenching. 6. In some mutationally altered forms of the enzyme comparable but modified conformational changes can be followed by protein fluorescence.

Enzyme Activation↗
PubMed1974

Amino-acid sequence of NADP-specific glutamate dehydrogenase of neurospora crassa.

A tentative primary structure of the NADP-specific glutamate dehydrogenase [L-glutamate: NADP oxidoreductase (deaminating), EC 1.4.1.4] from Neurospora crassa has been determined. The proposed sequence contains 452 amino-acid residues in each of the identical subunits of the hexameric enzyme. Comparison of the sequence with that of the bovine liver enzyme reveals considerable homology in the amino-terminal portion of the chain, including the vicinity of the reactive lysine, with only shorter stretches of homology within the carboxyl-terminal regions. The significance of this distribution of homologous regions is discussed.

Amino Acid Sequence↗