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Biomedical subjects

P Sitte

Publications and source records attributed to P Sitte.

10 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1996

[Evolution of cells].

Life has existed on earth for some 4 x 10(9) years. During most of this time, evolution took place at the level of cell evolution. The cells of presently existing organisms belong to two fundamentally different cell types, protocytes (of bacteria and archaea) and eucytes (of eukarya). Thanks to molecular phylogenetics, the path of evolution can now be traced back to its very beginnings, although the picture may be blurred by repeated horizontal gene transfer. A symbiogenetic origin of plastids and mitochondria is now very well documented, and it is being discussed also for some other constituents of eucytes, including even the cells nucleus. It could be demonstrated that not only did bacterial cells become incorporated into protoeucytes and transformed into organelles of their respective hosts, but also that endocytic eucytes have apparently been transformed to complex organelles by coevolution with host cells.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Plastid DNA from Pyrenomonas salina (Cryptophyceae): physical map, genes, and evolutionary implications.

Cryptomonads are thought to have arisen from a symbiotic association between a eukaryotic flagellated host and a eukaryotic algal symbiont, presumably related to red algae. As organellar DNAs have proven to be useful tools in elucidating phylogenetic relationships, the plastid (pt) DNA of the cryptomonad alga Pyrenomonas salina has been characterized in some detail. A restriction map of the circular 127 kb ptDNA from Pyrenomonas salina was established. An inverted repeat (IR) region of about 5 kb separates two single-copy regions of 15 and 102 kb, respectively. It contains the genes for the small and large subunit of rRNA. Ten protein genes, coding for the large subunit of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase, the 47 kDa, 43 kDa and 32 kDa proteins of photosystem II, the ribosomal proteins L2, S7 and S11, the elongation factor Tu, as well as the alpha- and beta-subunits of ATP synthase, have been localized on the restriction map either by hybridization of heterologous gene probes or by sequence homologies. The gene for the plastidal small subunit (SSUr) RNA has been sequenced and compared to homologous SSU regions from the cyanobacterium Anacystis nidulans and plastids from rhodophytes, chromophytes, euglenoids, chlorophytes, and land plants. A phylogenetic tree constructed with the neighborliness method and indicating a relationship of cryptomonad plastids with those of red algae is presented.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1991

A eukaryotic genome of 660 kb: electrophoretic karyotype of nucleomorph and cell nucleus of the cryptomonad alga, Pyrenomonas salina.

Cryptomonads are unicellular algae with chloroplasts surrounded by four membranes. Between the inner and the outer pairs of membranes is a narrow plasmatic compartment which contains a nucleus-like organelle called the nucleomorph. Using pulsed field gel electrophoresis it is shown that the nucleomorph of the cryptomonad Pyrenomonas salina contains three linear chromosomes of 195 kb, 225 kb and 240 kb all of which encode rRNAs. Thus, this vestigial nucleus has a haploid genome size of 660 kb, harboring the smallest eukaryotic genome known so far. From the cell nucleus of P. salina at least 20 chromosomes ranging from 230 kb to 3.000 kb were fractionated. Here, the rDNA was detected on a single chromosome of about 2.500 kb.

Blotting, Southern↗
PubMed1991

Isolation, physical map and gene map of mitochondrial DNA from the cryptomonad Pyrenomonas salina.

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from the cryptomonad Pyrenomonas salina was isolated by CsCl-buoyant density centrifugation of whole-cell DNA in the presence of Hoechst dye 33258. mtDNA consists of circular molecules about 47 kb in size as estimated from restriction enzyme analysis. A physical map for six restriction enzymes (Bam HI, Bge I, Eco RI, Pst I, Sac I and Sal I) has been constructed. Genes coding for the small subunit of rRNA, cytochrome oxidase subunits I and II, and apocytochrome b were localized on this map using Southern blot hybridization with heterologous gene probes from Oenothera. Genes for 5S rRNA and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 5 are absent from P. salina mtDNA. The mitochondrial genome, being the first analysed to this extent in chromophytic algae, should be valuable for taxonomic and phylogenetic studies.

Centrifugation, Density Gradient↗
PubMed1991

Primary and secondary structure of the nuclear small subunit ribosomal RNA of the cryptomonad Pyrenomonas salina as inferred from the gene sequence: evolutionary implications.

The cryptomonad Pyrenomonas salina presumably has arisen from a symbiotic event involving a flagellated phagotrophic host cell and a photosynthetic eukaryote as the symbiont. Correspondingly, in this unicellular alga there are four different genomes, e.g., the nuclear and the mitochondrial genomes of the host cell as well as the plastid genome and the genome contained in the vestigial nucleus of the endocytobiont (nucleomorph). To analyze the origin of one of the symbiotic partners the small subunit rRNA gene sequence of the host cell nucleus was determined, and a secondary structure model has been constructed. This sequence is compared to those of 40 other eukaryotes. A phylogenetic tree constructed using the neighborliness method revealed a close relationship between the host cell of P. salina and the chlorophytes, whereas the rhodophytes diverge more deeply in the tree.

Archaea↗
PubMed1970

Scale formation in chrysophycean algae. I. Cellulosic and noncellulosic wall components made by the Golgi apparatus.

The cell wall of the marine chrysophycean alga Pleurochrysis scherfellii is composed of distinct wall fragments embedded in a gelatinous mass. The latter is a polysaccharide of pectic character which is rich in galactose and ribose. These wall fragments are identified as scales. They have been isolated and purified from the vegetative mother cell walls after zoospore formation. Their ultrastructure is described in an electron microscope study combining sectioning, freeze-etch, and negative staining techniques. The scales consist of a layer of concentrically arranged microfibrils (ribbons with cross-sections of 12 to 25 x 25 to 40 A) and underlying radial fibrils of similar dimensions. Such a network-plate is densely coated with particles which are assumed to be identical to the pectic component. The microfibrils are resistant to strong alkaline treatment and have been identified as cellulose by different methods, including sugar analysis after total hydrolysis, proton resonance spectroscopical examination (NMR spectroscopy) of the benzoylated product, and diverse histochemical tests. The formation and secretion of the scales can be followed along the maturing Golgi cisternae starting from a pronounced dilated "polymerization center" as a completely intracisternal process which ends in the exocytotic extrusion of the scales. The scales reveal the very same ultrastructure within the Golgi cisternae as they do in the cell wall. The present finding represents the first evidence on cellulose formation by the Golgi apparatus and is discussed in relation to a basic scheme for cellulose synthesis in plant cells in general.

Cell Wall↗
PubMed1969

Cellulosic wall component produced by the golgi apparatus of Pleurochrysis scherffelii.

The Golgi apparatus of a marine chrysophycean alga Pleurochrysis scherffelii Pringsheim produces wall fragments (circular-to-ellipsoidal "scales") which are released to the periphery by an exocytotic process involving the fusion of cisternae and the plasma membrane. The cellulosic component of the scales is a complex network of fibrils (10 to 25 angstroms in diameter) that resist treatment with strong alkali. Untreated washed scales yield galactose, ribose, arabinose, and traces of glucose; alkali-purified scales yield much more glucose. The fibrillar scale constituent shows a positive iodine dichroism of the intact wall, a positive zinc chloride-iodine reaction, breakage sites characteristic of highly crystalline cellulose, and solubility in Schweizer's reagent.

Cellulose↗