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A ten-minute protocol for transforming Saccharomyces cerevisiae by electroporation.

We present a simplified and rapid method for the transformation of yeast cells by electroporation. Stationary cells, scraped off the agar of Petri dish cultures stored in the refrigerator for up to 6 weeks, are suspended in sorbitol buffer, spun down by gentle centrifugation, transferred into the electroporation cuvette, and immediately subjected to transformation via electroporation. Transformation efficiency of this 10-min method, which does not require the preparation of cell cultures, is about 10% of the hitherto best performing transformation procedure using cells of defined growth phase.

DNA, Fungal↗

Transformation of Acremonium coenophialum, a protective fungal symbiont of the grass Festuca arundinacea.

Acremonium coenophialum is a mutualistic mycosymbiont and natural agent of biological protection of the widely distributed grass Festuca arundinacea (tall fescue). An electroporative transformation system was developed for A. coenophialum. Segments of DNA 5' to the beta-tubulin gene (tub2) of the closely related ascomycete Epichloë typhina, fused to the Escherichia coli hph gene encoding hygromycin B phosphotransferase, conferred hygromycin resistance when introduced into A. coenophialum by electroporation. The incorporation of the Emericella nidulans trpC terminator greatly increased protoplast germination on selective medium and improved transformation efficiencies 30-200% depending on the plasmid construct. Plasmid pCSN43, which incorporates the trpC controlling elements for hph expression, was also used to transform A. coenophialum. Southern blot analysis of ten pCSN43 transformants indicated the possibility of random integration of this vector into the genome.

Acremonium↗

Transformation of Nonselectable Reporter Genes in Marine Diatoms.

: We report the genetic transformation of two marine diatoms by microparticle bombardment. The pennate diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum was transformed with the bacterial gene Sh ble from Streptoalloteichus hindustanus, which confers resistance to the antibiotics phleomycin and zeocin. Transformants contained between 1 and 10 copies of the exogenous DNA integrated into the genome by illegitimate recombination at apparently random locations. Transformation efficiencies were around 10(-6), and individual cell lines could be maintained at -80 degrees C following cryopreservation. Also, P. tricornutum could be transformed simultaneously with two different plasmids, one containing the Sh ble gene and another containing the firefly luciferase gene (LUC) under control of a promoter derived from a fucoxanthin, chlorophyll a/c-binding protein gene (FCP). In these cotransformants, LUC activity was light inducible. The transient transformation of the centric diatom Thalassiosira weissflogii with the bacterial beta-glucuronidase (GUS) gene has also been achieved using similar transformation technology. The availability of gene transfer protocols for marine diatoms, together with a range of functional reporter genes and regulated expression systems, will permit molecular dissection of their biology and allow an assessment of the biotechnological potential of these organisms.

Journal Article↗

Genetic transformation of Lactobacillus casei by electroporation.

Lactobacillus casei IAM1045 was transformed with a plasmid pAM beta 1-1, a tra deleted derivative of pAM beta 1, by electroporation. Effective transformation was achieved in electroporation buffers of a wide range of pH values, and in all phases of cell growth tested, with highest frequency in the early log phase. Polyethylene glycol increased the transformation frequency, whereas divalent cations such as Mg2+, Ca2+ and Mn2+ at 0.25 mM decreased the frequency by 2 to 3 orders. Highly efficient transformation of approximately 10(-4)/viable cell was achieved under optimal conditions. A plasmid harboring the trpD, C, F, B and A genes from L casei RNL7 was introduced by electroporation into tryptophan auxotrophic L casei JCM1053. The resulting transformant was found to express the trp genes introduced.

Calcium↗

Role of phosphoinositide 3-OH kinase in cell transformation and control of the actin cytoskeleton by Ras.

The pathways by which mammalian Ras proteins induce cortical actin rearrangement and cause cellular transformation are investigated using partial loss of function mutants of Ras and activated and inhibitory forms of various postulated target enzymes for Ras. Efficient transformation by Ras requires activation of other direct effectors in addition to the MAP kinase kinase kinase Raf and is inhibited by inactivation of the PI 3-kinase pathway. Actin rearrangement correlates with the ability of Ras mutants to activate PI 3-kinase. Inhibition of PI 3-kinase activity blocks Ras induction of membrane ruffling, while activated PI 3-kinase is sufficient to induce membrane ruffling, acting through Rac. The ability of activated Ras to stimulate PI 3-kinase in addition to Raf is therefore important in Ras transformation of mammalian cells and essential in Ras-induced cytoskeletal reorganization.

3T3 Cells↗

Negative charge at the casein kinase II phosphorylation site is important for transformation but not for Rb protein binding by the E7 protein of human papillomavirus type 16.

The human papillomavirus E7 protein is phosphorylated at the two serines in positions 31/32, which are part of a consensus sequence for casein kinase II (CKII). In this study, we have investigated the effect of CKII phosphorylation site mutations, all of which lead to unphosphorylated E7 proteins. The replacement of the two serines by uncharged alanine residues drastically reduced the ability of E7 to cotransform primary cells with ras, whereas negatively charged aspartic acid at the same positions produced only a slight effect. This difference was not reflected in the p105Rb binding or the E2 promoter transactivation capability of these two mutants. Mutations that changed the CKII consensus without altering the serine residues also resulted in a loss of phosphorylation and transformation. This indicated that negative charge at positions 31/32 provided either by phosphorylation or by a negatively charged amino acid is necessary for efficient transformation without significantly affecting p105Rb binding or transactivation.

Adenoviridae↗

Identification of Arabidopsis thaliana transformants without selection reveals a high occurrence of silenced T-DNA integrations.

Several recent investigations of T-DNA integration sites in Arabidopsis thaliana have reported 'cold spots' of integration, especially near centromeric regions. These observations have contributed to the ongoing debate over whether T-DNA integration is random or occurs preferentially in transcriptionally active regions. When transgenic plants are identified by selecting or screening for transgenic activity, transformants with integrations into genomic regions that suppress transcription, such as heterochromatin, may not be identified. This phenomenon, which we call selection bias, may explain the perceived non-random distribution of T-DNA integration in previous studies. In order to investigate this possibility, we have characterized the sites of T-DNA integration in the genomes of transgenic plants identified by pooled polymerase chain reaction (PCR), a procedure that does not require expression of the transgene, and is therefore free of selection bias. Over 100 transgenic Arabidopsis plants were identified by PCR and compared with kanamycin-selected transformants from the same T(1) seed pool. A higher perceived transformation efficiency and a higher frequency of transgene silencing were observed in the PCR-identified lines. Together, the data suggest approximately 30% of transformation events may result in non-expressing transgenes that would preclude identification by selection. Genomic integration sites in PCR-identified lines were compared with those in existing T-DNA integration databases. In PCR-identified lines with silenced transgenes, the integration sites mapped to regions significantly underrepresented by T-DNA integrations in studies where transformants were identified by selection. The data presented here suggest that selection bias can account for at least some of the observed non-random integration of T-DNA into the Arabidopsis genome.

Arabidopsis↗

Platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) B and A homodimers transform murine fibroblasts depending on the genetic background of the cell.

The endogenously overexpressed c-sis (platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) B-chain) proto-oncogene and its viral counterpart v-sis effectively transform NIH 3T3 cells by an autocrine mechanism, whereas the PDGF A-chain gene does not. However, PDGF B continuously cultured with confluent NIH 3T3 cells fails to induce phenotypic transformation as would be predicted by the autocrine model. We now have established conditions in which subconfluent, logarithmically growing NIH 3T3 cells are efficiently transformed by exogenous PDGF B but not PDGF A. Clonally selected cells from transformed foci remain transformed when continuously cultured with PDGF B but revert to the non-transformed phenotype without PDGF B or if PDGF A is substituted for PDGF B, suggesting that PDGF B complements a genetically stable NIH 3T3 cell phenotype to induce transformation and initiates a signal different from that of PDGF A required to induce transformation. Neither PDGF A nor PDGF B transform normal rat kidney (NRK) cells under identical conditions of culture. However, we now demonstrate that exogenous PDGF A and PDGF B independently transform NRK cells that endogenously overexpress the anti-apoptotic bcl-2 gene. These results suggest that both PDGF A and PDGF B effectively transform murine fibroblasts with a compatible genotype, that transformation by the PDGF isoforms requires complementation with a compatible genotype in a multistep transformational process, and that the autocrine mechanism is required but not sufficient for transformation of murine fibroblasts by PDGF.

3T3 Cells↗

NIH/3T3 cells transformed with the activated erbB-2 oncogene can be phenotypically reverted by a kinase deficient, dominant negative erbB-2 variant.

A single missense mutation in the human erbB-2 proto-oncogene (HER2N) efficiently transforms cultured NIH/3T3 fibroblasts. The transforming allele (HER2VE) contains a glutamic acid residue at position 659, instead of a valine, in the transmembrane region of the growth factor receptor. Receptor action is dependent on oligomerization. We have investigated the ability of erbB-2 gene variants with mutations in the intracellular tyrosine kinase domain to revert the transformed phenotype of cells. These variants most likely form hetero-oligomers with the transforming oncogene. Two receptor variants were constructed and introduced into cells expressing the oncogenic form of the human erbB-2 gene, HER2VE. The mutant HER2N delta contains a deletion of a large part of the kinase domain including the ATP binding site. This mutant had no effect on the growth of transformed cells, although it was found to interact with HER2VE. HER2N delta is phosphorylated in the presence, but not in the absence of HER2VE. A second mutant was constructed, HER2VEK753A, which contains both a mutation in the transmembrane region and a mutation in the ATP binding site of the kinase domain. This mutant led to a reversion of the transformed phenotype and significantly decreased growth in soft agar of HER2VE transformed cells. A concomitant increase in phosphorylated receptors was observed. These results indicate that an intact kinase domain is required for the oncogenic action of HER2VE and that transformation parameters can be suppressed by kinase domain mutants.

3T3 Cells↗

Small nuclear RNAs encoded by Herpesvirus saimiri upregulate the expression of genes linked to T cell activation in virally transformed T cells.

Seven small nuclear RNAs of the Sm class are encoded by Herpesvirus saimiri (HVS), a gamma Herpesvirus that causes aggressive T cell leukemias and lymphomas in New World primates and efficiently transforms T cells in vitro. The Herpesvirus saimiri U RNAs (HSURs) are the most abundant viral transcripts in HVS-transformed, latently infected T cells but are not required for viral replication or transformation in vitro. We have compared marmoset T cells transformed with wild-type or a mutant HVS lacking the most highly conserved HSURs, HSURs 1 and 2. Microarray and Northern analyses reveal that HSUR 1 and 2 expression correlates with significant increases in a small number of host mRNAs, including the T cell-receptor beta and gamma chains, the T cell and natural killer (NK) cell-surface receptors CD52 and DAP10, and intracellular proteins--SKAP55, granulysin, and NKG7--linked to T cell and NK cell activation. Upregulation of three of these transcripts was rescued after transduction of deletion-mutant-HVS-transformed cells with a lentiviral vector carrying HSURs 1 and 2. These changes indicate an unexpected role for the HSURs in regulating a remarkably defined and physiologically relevant set of host targets involved in the activation of virally transformed T cells during latency.

Animals↗

New, azide-free transformation of epoxides into 1,2-diamino compounds: synthesis of the anti-influenza neuraminidase inhibitor oseltamivir phosphate (Tamiflu).

A new, azide-free transformation of the key precursor epoxide 6 to the influenza neuraminidase inhibitor prodrug oseltamivir phosphate (1, Tamiflu) is described. This sequence represents a new and efficient transformation of an epoxide into a 1,2-diamino compound devoid of potentially toxic and hazardous azide reagents and intermediates and avoids reduction and hydrogenation conditions. Using catalytic MgBr(2).OEt(2) as a new, inexpensive Lewis acid, the introduction of the first amino function was accomplished by opening of the oxirane ring with allylamine followed by Pd/C-catalyzed deallylation to the amino alcohol 16. The introduction of the second amino group was then accomplished via an efficient reaction cascade involving a domino sequence preferably utilizing a transient imino protection. Selective acetylation of the resulting diamine 17 was achieved under acidic conditions providing the crystalline 4-acetamido-5-N-allylamino-derivative 18, which upon deallylation over Pd/C and phosphate salt formation afforded drug substance 1. The overall yield of this route from 6 of 35-38% exceeds the yield of the azide-based process (27-29%) and does not require any chromatographic purification.

Acetamides↗

Transformation and expression of a cloned delta-endotoxin gene in Bacillus thuringiensis.

A shuttle vector containing the replication region of a resident plasmid of B. thuringiensis, was used to determine the conditions allowing efficient transformation of B. thuringiensis by electroporation. Using this plasmid a delta-endotoxin gene was cloned and expressed both in Escherichia coli and B. thuringiensis. It was shown that this gene was poorly expressed in the wild type situation whereas after cloning in acrystalliferous strains of B. thuringiensis large amounts of crystal protein were obtained.

Bacillus thuringiensis↗

Stable nuclear transformation of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii with a Streptomyces rimosus gene as the selective marker.

The aminoglycoside 3'-phosphotransferase type VIII (APHVIII) encoding gene (aphVIII) from Streptomyces rimosus was introduced by glass-bead high-efficiency transformation into the nuclear genome of green unicellular alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii for induction of transformants resistant to aminoglycoside antibiotics. The aphVIII structural sequence was flanked by S. rimosus regulatory sequences which failed to direct expression in C. reinhardtii. The pSU937 plasmid containing these sequences was able to transform C. reinhardtii strain cw15 arg7-8 mt+ for paromomycin resistance (PmR) at a frequency (1.3-1.9) x 10(-7), probably as a result of in vivo gene fusion and expression of the aphVIII gene from regulatory elements of nuclear DNA. Evidence for the real C. reinhardtii transformation includes blot-hybridization with a probe specific for aphVIII and demonstration of APHVIII enzyme activity in crude cell extracts of transformants. Integrated Streptomyces DNA sequences, APHVIII enzyme activity and the aminoglycoside-resistance phenotype were stable through mitosis in the presence and absence of selection. The PmR phenotype was inherited by the meiotic progeny of transformants from crosses with wild-type strains.

Animals↗

Biotransformations of putative phytoecdysteroid biosynthetic precursors in tissue cultures of Polypodium vulgare.

Incubation of calli and prothalli of Polypodium vulgare with different tritium-labelled ecdysteroids has led to modification of some previous assumptions about the biosynthesis of ecdysteroids in plants. Thus, 25-deoxy-20-hydroxyecdysone was transformed efficiently in both tissues into 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E), but no 25-deoxyecdysteroids such as pterosterone and inokosterone were formed. Likewise, incubation of 2-deoxyecdysone (2dE) produced exclusively ecdysone (E) and 20E, indicating a high 2-hydroxylase activity in both tissues, despite calli not producing phytoecdysteroids. This 2-hydroxylation was also evident in the transformation of 2,22-dideoxyecdysone (2,22dE) into 22-deoxyecdysone (22dE). Different ecdysteroids that do not occur in P. vulgare were formed in the incubation of 3-dehydro-2,22,25-trideoxyecdysone (3D2,22,25dE) by 3alpha-reduction and 3beta-reduction and 25-hydroxylation processes. The fact that 22,25-dideoxyecdysone and 22dE were the only 2-hydroxylated products formed in this case suggests that only compounds bearing a 3beta-hydroxyl group are substrates for the 2-hydroxylase. Surprisingly, 22-hydroxylation was never observed with either 2,22dE or 3D2,22,25dE, raising the possibility that it could occur at an early step in the biosynthetic pathway. In this respect, labelled 22R-hydroxycholesterol was efficiently converted into E and 20E, whereas 22S-hydroxycholesterol was not transformed into ecdysteroids, because of its unsuitable configuration at C22. Finally, the conversion of 25-hydroxycholesterol into E and 20E was greatly enhanced after thermal treatment of prothalli which induces the release of previously stored ecdysteroids. Thus, P. vulgare prothalli and calli appear to be particularly suitable models for the study of ecdysteroid biosynthesis and its regulation in plants.

Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid↗

Mutational activation of H-ras oncogene transformability by alkylnitrosourea-induced DNA damage.

To assess the role of DNA alkylation damage in oncogene activation, plasmid DNA containing H-ras proto-oncogene (p220-EC) and oncogene (p220-EJ) were treated with increasing concentrations of carcinogenic methylnitrosourea (MNU) and ethylnitrosourea (ENU). The modified plasmid DNA were analyzed by transfection-transformation of the NIH/3T3-recipient cells. Treatment with varying doses of MNU (0.1-5 mM) and ENU (1-15 mM) did not result in the inactivation of the plasmid containing target genes. A transformation efficiency of greater than 40% was observed upon treatment of H-ras oncogene with the highest doses of the alkylating agents. The morphologically transformed foci obtained with alkylated p220-EC ranged from 2.8 to 0.3/microgram MNU alkylated and 1.6 to 0.6/microgram ENU alkylated plasmid DNA. A significant proportion of the morphological transformants exhibited growth in soft agar. The HpaII/MspI restriction length polymorphism (RFLP) at codon 12 of H-ras exon-1 was detected with 4 independently isolated clones obtained from MNU-alkylated p220-EC transfections. Allele-specific in situ gel hybridization with a battery of codon 12 and codon 61 oligonucleotide probes confirmed these RFLPs to be due to sequence changes at codon 12. No clone with sequence changes in the H-ras codon 61 could be detected. The data indicate that a high degree of in vitro alkylation damage of the target gene is necessary to elicit mutational activation of H-ras in transfection-transformation assay. Low frequency notwithstanding, the data demonstrate that DNA alkylation damage at critical target sites can initiate neoplastic cellular transformation.

3T3 Cells↗

Rat cellular mutants for expression of mRNA from the long terminal repeat of murine retrovirus.

Previously we isolated revertants from a rat cell line transformed by recombinant murine retrovirus containing the v-src gene. These mutant cell lines, R78 and R107, showed low src-kinase activity, but retained wild-type transforming retrovirus, suggesting that a cellular gene involved in viral gene expression was mutated. Southern and Northern hybridization analyses showed that the expression of viral mRNAs from the integrated proviral DNA was reduced in these mutant cells. DNA transfection experiments with various transforming genes and promoters revealed that the mutant cell lines were resistant to transformation by transforming genes expressed under the long terminal repeat (LTR) of Moloney murine leukemia virus (Mo-MuLV). In contrast, these cell lines could be efficiently transformed by the same transforming genes with human metallothionein promoter, polyomavirus promoter-enhancer, and c-H-ras promoter. Transient expression assays using plasmids containing the CAT gene under the LTR of Mo-MuLV also showed that CAT activity expressed under the LTR in these mutant cells was lower than that in the parental cell line, No. 7. These results suggest that cellular mutations of R78 and R107 cells affect specific transcription from the LTR of Mo-MuLV. Studies using various constructs of the LTR CAT indicated that the region responsible for the repression was located in a fragment (-328 to -150) of the LTR containing the 72-bp repeat enhancer. Somatic cell hybridization experiments showed that the mutant phenotype of these mutant cell lines is dominant to that of the parental cell line.

Animals↗

Evi-1 ZF1 DNA binding activity and a second distinct transcriptional repressor region are both required for optimal transformation of Rat1 fibroblasts.

The Evi-1 gene encodes a zinc finger transcriptional repressor protein that normally plays a role in development and is frequently activated in myeloid leukaemias. Evi-1 has two distinct DNA binding domains, ZF1 and ZF2, and a defined repressor domain but the function of the remainder of the molecule is unknown. The ZF2 and repressor domains have been shown to be required for transformation and we show here that ZF1 is also required. An alternative splice variant of Evi-1, designated delta324, encodes a protein which lacks a portion of the ZF1 DNA binding domain and the intervening amino acids 239-514 (designated IR) located between ZF1 and the repressor domain. We show that delta324 can neither bind ZF1, repress transcription through this site nor transform Rat1 fibroblasts. Reconstitution studies demonstrate that the defect in delta324 is partially complemented by recreating the ZF1 DNA binding activity. However, full function also requires the IR region which has transcriptional repressor activity. This study shows therefore, that ZF1, ZF2 and repressor domains and the IR region all contribute to the transformation efficiency of the Evi-1 protein.

Alternative Splicing↗