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Functional expression of Aquaspirillum magnetotacticum genes in Escherichia coli K12.

Gene libraries from the magnetotactic bacterium, Aquaspirillum magnetotacticum were constructed in Escherichia coli with cosmids pLAFR3 and c2RB as vectors. Recombinant cosmids able to complement the thr-1, leuB, and proA mutations of the host were identified. The Pro+ recombinant cosmid restored wild-type phenotype in proA and proB but not in the proC mutants of E. coli. The results of restriction endonuclease digestion and Southern hybridization analysis indicate that the relevent leu and pro biosynthetic genes of A. magnetotacticum are not closely linked on the chromosome.

Bacteria↗

Identification of tissue-specific expressed sequences in human band Xq28 with complex pig cDNA probes.

As a part of the functional analysis of the region from the position of the fragile X mutation to the telomere of the long arm of the human X Chromosome (Chr), we have developed a number of different approaches to identify genes located in this area. We describe here a procedure allowing the rapid identification of expressed sequences based on the hybridization of radioactively labeled complex cDNA probes derived from different pig and human tissues to cosmid clones gridded onto nylon filters and to restriction fragments of these clones. This technique has allowed the identification of a number of differentially expressed sequences in cosmid clones covering most of the Xq27.3 to Xqter region. Using these sequences as hybridization probes, cDNA clones for new genes expressed in a tissue-specific manner were isolated. Applied to genomic regions defined by overlapping cosmid clones, this method will serve as a major component in our strategy to establish integrated physical and transcription maps.

Animals↗

DNA fingerprinting involving fluorescence-labeled termini of any enzymatically generated fragments of DNA.

We have developed a new fluorescence-based method for DNA fingerprinting that does not require a fluorescent linker or a synthetic oligonucleotide primer, both of which are normally used for labeling of DNA. Cosmid DNAs are digested with appropriate restriction enzymes and the 3' termini of DNA fragments are labeled with the corresponding, fluorescent dye-conjugated dideoxynucleotide triphosphate terminator (dye-ddNTP) by the Klenow fragment of DNA polymerase I from Escherichia coli, which has 3'-->5' exonuclease and replacement activities as well as its main 5'-->3' polymerase activity. Samples are separated on a DNA-sequencing gel and data are analyzed by application of both the Version 0.3.8a mapper program (Applied Biosystem Inc., Foster City, CA) and our Overlap I program that facilitate rapid analysis of the frequency of overlapping of cosmid DNAs. Using this method we have determined the overlap frequency of DNA fragments of each cosmid clone from the mouse MHC class I gene cluster.

Animals↗

Short-range linkage relationships, genomic organisation and sequence comparisons of a cluster of five HSP70 genes in Fugu rubripes.

Twelve cosmids containing sequences resembling genes encoding members of the 70-kDa heat-shock protein family, HSP70. have been isolated from Fugu rubripes. They can be broadly divided into three groups of overlapping cosmids. Restriction analysis and sequencing of one set of five cosmids have revealed five intronless Fugu HSP70 genes spanning 42 kb, arranged in a combined head-to-head, tail-to-tail and head-to-tail orientation. The levels of DNA and amino acid identity are very high with respect to one another, and are most similar to HSP70 sequences linked to the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) region in other species. Putative heat-shock consensus elements are identified. Non-HSP70 sequences with homology to known genes have been found physically linked to this Fugu HSP70 cluster: the Drosophila melanogaster SOL gene, the Drosophila melanogaster nemo gene, the Caenorhabditis elegans T17E9.1 gene and the sequence encoding the serine protease domain. The linkage relationships described here so far bear no resemblance to those of HSP70 in other organisms. Convergence of mammalian HSP70 and MHC class I and II loci probably occurred after fish had diverged.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Sequence of the Corynebacterium glutamicum pyruvate carboxylase gene.

Pyruvate carboxylase is an important anaplerotic enzyme replenishing oxaloacetate consumed for biosynthesis during growth, or lysine and glutamic acid production in industrial fermentations. We used regions of homology from pyruvate carboxylase sequences of 12 different species (corresponding to the ATP- and pyruvate-binding sites), to design polymerase chain reaction (PCR) primers for amplifying a fragment of the pyruvate carboxylase (pc) gene from C. glutamicum genomic DNA. This 850-base-pair fragment was used to probe a C. glutamicum cosmid library and four candidate pc cosmids were identified. The fragment was sequenced and the sequence of the complete gene was obtained by several rounds of primer synthesis, PCR on one of the positive cosmids, and sequencing. The C. glutamicum pc sequence shows 64% homology with the pc gene of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and 44% homology with the human pc gene. Regions of ATP, pyruvate and biotin binding have also been identified.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

A novel method used to delete a new Aspergillus fumigatus ABC transporter-encoding gene.

Aspergillus fumigatus is an important opportunistic human pathogenic fungus. In severely immunocompromised patients, the fungus causes life-threatening diseases, such as pneumonia and invasive aspergillosis. In order to obtain a better understanding of the key elements involved in A. fumigatus virulence and for identifying possible drug targets, it is essential to be able to generate gene-deletion strains. Until recently, the molecular techniques available did not provide a rapid method for gene deletion. A novel method described for A. nidulans was adapted for A. fumigatus. This method is quick and produces an increased homologous recombination efficiency. By using an Escherichia coli strain expressing the lambda red operon, it is possible to induce an in vivo recombination of a PCR fragment flanked by >50-bp regions with a cosmid containing the gene of interest. This produces cosmids in which the gene of interest has been replaced by a bi-functional marker. Such cosmids have large flanking regions surrounding the selectable marker pyrG of A. fumigatus used here, which result in high recombination efficiencies in A. fumigatus. Here, we identified a new ABC transporter-encoding gene in A. fumigatus, designated abcA. By using this method, an A. fumigatus knock-out mutant was generated, providing evidence that this method of generating gene deletions can also be used in A. fumigatus and significantly broadens our repertoire of molecular techniques to study A. fumigatus.

ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters↗

Efficient gene identification and targeted gene disruption in the wheat blotch fungus Mycosphaerella graminicola using TAGKO.

TAGKO ( transposon- arrayed gene knock out) is a highly efficient method for gene discovery and gene function assignment in the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe grisea. Here, we report the application of genome-wide TAGKO to the wheat blotch fungus Mycosphaerella graminicola, including the successful development of electroporation-based transformation for this fungus. A M. graminicola genomic cosmid library was constructed and a pool of 250 cosmid clones was mutagenized by in vitro transposition. Sequence analysis identified 5,110 unique insertion events in the M. graminicola genome. Eleven transposon-tagged cosmid clones (TAGKO clones) were chosen and transformed into the wild-type strain by electroporation. Ten TAGKO clones out of 11 produced gene-specific mutants at a targeting frequency of 15-28%, significantly higher than that of conventional gene-disruption constructs. The remaining clone failed to produce viable mutants, thereby providing indirect evidence for the identification of an essential gene.

Ascomycota↗

Identification of a new antifungal target site through a dual biochemical and molecular-genetics approach.

The target site of the antifungal compound LY214352 [8-chloro-4-(2-chloro-4-fluorophenoxy) quinoline] has been identified through a dual biochemical and molecular-genetics approach. In the molecular-genetics approach, a cosmid library was prepared from an Aspergillus nidulans mutant that was resistant to LY214352 because of a dominant mutation in a single gene. A single cosmid (6A6-6) that could transform an LY214352-sensitive strain of A. nidulans to LY214352-resistance was isolated from the library by sib-selection. Restriction fragments from cosmid 6A6-6 containing the functional resistance gene were identified by transformation, and sequenced. The LY214352-resistance gene coded for a protein of 520 amino acids that had a 34% identity and a 57% similarity in a 333 amino-acid overlap to E. coli dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHO-DH). The results of a series of biochemical mechanism-of-action studies initiated simultaneously with molecular-genetic experiments also suggested that DHO-DH was the target of LY214352. Assays measuring the inhibition of DHO-DH activity by LY214352 in a wild-type strain (I50=40 ng/ml) and a highly resistant mutant (I50>100 microgram/ml) conclusively demonstrated that DHO-DH is the target site of LY214352 in A. nidulans. Several mutations in the DHO-DH (pyrE) gene that resulted in resistance to LY214352 were identified.

Antifungal Agents↗

Analysis of a marsupial MHC region containing two recently duplicated class I loci.

A 37-kb cosmid containing two complete major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I alpha chain loci from the opossum Monodelphis domestica was isolated, fully sequenced, and characterized. This sequence represents the largest contiguous genomic sequence reported for the MHC region of a nonplacental mammal. Based on particular conserved amino acid residues, and limited expression analyses, the two MHC-I loci, designated ModoUB and ModoUC, appear to encode functional MHC-I molecules. The two coding regions are 98% identical at the nucleotide level; however, their promoter regions differ significantly. Two CpG islands present in the cosmid sequence correspond to the two coding regions. Twelve microsatellites and six retroelements were also present in the cosmid. The retroelements share highest sequence homology to the CORE-SINE family of retroelements. Due to high sequence identity, it is very likely that ModoUB and ModoUC loci are products of recent gene duplication that occurred less than 4 million years ago.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Intranuclear arrangement of human chromosome 12 correlates to large-scale replication domains.

The intranuclear arrangement of human chromosome 12 in G0(G1) nuclei from human myeloid leukemia HL60 cells was analyzed by multicolor fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) using band-specific cosmid clones as probes. Pairs of differently colored cosmids were detected on paraformaldehyde-fixed HL60 nuclei, and their relative positions, internal or peripheral, in individual nuclei were scored. Our results suggest that the intranuclear arrangement of human chromosome 12 is not random. Some chromosomal domains, including the centromere, were located in the periphery of the nucleus, while other domains, including the telomeres, were positioned in the internal areas of the nucleus in GO(G1) cells. Based on the replication banding patterns of metaphase spreads, human chromosome 12 was divided roughly into five large domains. Interestingly, the clones in late replicating domains were preferentially localized in the nuclear periphery, whereas clones in early replicating domains were arranged in the internal areas of the nuclei. The DNA replication timing of each cosmid determined by FISH-based assay did not reflect the replication bands, but an overall profile of the replication timing was relatively correlated with these domains on chromosome 12. These results suggest that the intranuclear arrangement of a human chromosome is correlated with the large-scale replication domains, even before DNA replication.

Cell Nucleus↗

Identification of genes necessary for jinggangmycin biosynthesis from Streptomyces hygroscopicus 10-22.

A series of large chromosomal deletions in Streptomyces hygroscopicus 10-22 were aligned on the physical map of the wild-type strain and the mutants were assessed for their ability to produce the aminocyclitol antibiotic 5102-I (jinggangmycin). Twenty-eight mutants were blocked for jinggangmycin production and all of them were found to lack a 300 kb AseI-F fragment of the wild-type chromosome. An ordered cosmid library of the 300 kb AseI-F fragment was made and one of the cosmids conferred jinggangmycin productivity to Streptomyces lividans ZX1. Three of the overlapping cosmids (18G7, 5H3 and 9A2) also hybridized to the valA gene of the validamycin pathway from S. hygroscopicus 5008 as a probe. This gene resembles acbC from Actinoplanes sp. 50/110, which encodes a C7-cyclitol synthase that catalyses the transformation of sedoheptulose 7-phosphate into 2-5-epi-valiolone for acarbose biosynthesis. The valA/acbC-homolog (orf1) of S. hygroscopicus 10-22 was shown to be essential for jinggangmycin biosynthesis as an engineered mutant with a specific in-frame deletion removing a 609 bp sequence internal to orf1 completely abolished jinggangmycin production and the corresponding knock-out mutant (JXH4) could be complemented for jinggangmycin production by the introduction of an orf1-containing construct. Concurrently, the identities of the genes common to S. hygroscopicus strains 10-22 and 5008 prompted a comparison of the chemical structures of jinggangmycin and validamycin, which led to a clear demonstration that they are identical.

Base Sequence↗

Broad host range vectors derived from an RSF1010::Tn1 plasmid.

Plasmid vector derivatives of the IncQ/P4 plasmid RSF1010 available for cloning DNA into a broad range of bacterial species were constructed. The plasmid pAYC31 constructed for the positive selection of inserted fragments contains part of transposon Tn1 inserted into the sequence of the gene sul. Gene aph transcription in pAYC31 can be initiated from the promoter for the transposase gene tnpA which is under the negative control of the gene tnpR product (Heffron, 1983). The insertion of a BamHI fragment, or of fragments generated by Sau3A, BclI, BglII, or XhoII digestion into the unique BamHI site within the gene tnpR sequence, leads to initiation of transcription from the promoter of the tnpA gene toward the aph gene. Expression of the aph gene upon insertion of a BamHI restriction fragment provides a positive selection for hybrid plasmids by plating the transformed bacteria on media with streptomycin. Versatile cloning vectors pAYC32 of 9.7 kb in length and pAYC39 of 11.3 kb in length were also constructed. Insertion into the BamHI site of vector pAYC32 of a 1.6-kb BglII fragment that contains the lambda cos site produced cosmid vectors pAYC51 and pAYC52. The two 11.3-kb cosmids differ only by the orientation of the 1.6-kb BglII fragment. By insertion into the BamHI site of pAYC32 of a BglII-BamHI fragment of plasmid pHC79 that contains the gene tet and lambda cos site cosmid vector pAYC53 was constructed. Vector pAYC31 was used to construct a gene bank from the chromosomal DNA of an obligate methylotrophic strain Methylomicrobium flagellatum KT.

Chromosome Mapping↗

Molecular cloning of nit-2, a regulatory gene required for nitrogen metabolite repression in Neurospora crassa.

We used an efficient sib-selection procedure to isolate a cosmid clone that complemented a mutated nit-2 gene of Neurospora crassa. Restriction fragment length polymorphism mapping indicated that the cosmid DNA insert was derived from linkage group IL, between 5S rDNA locus 12 and mt, the region of the N. crassa genome that contains nit-2. We conclude that the cosmid carries the nit-2 gene.

Chromosome Mapping↗

The overproduction of DNA terminase of coliphage lambda.

An artificial operon containing the genes coding for the two subunits of lambda DNA terminase, Nul and A, has been constructed. Derivatives of plasmid pBR322 served as the cloning vehicles. The transcription is driven by the pL promoter of phage lambda, and translation of the terminase genes was made efficient by the replacement of the wild-type ribosome-binding sites for those of lambda genes cII and/or D. The operon also carries the oL operator, and this enables regulation of its expression by a thermosensitive repressor. The synthesis of genes Nul and A products is extremely efficient upon derepression. Within 40 min after induction of the operon, the two subunits comprise about 20% of the total cellular protein mass. Crude extracts prepared from these overproducing strains are at least 100 times more active than extracts prepared from induced lambda lysogens in both promotion of lambda DNA packaging and cosmid cleaving. The ability to produce highly concentrated terminase would enormously facilitate the study of its structure and mechanism of action. These extracts are also extremely useful in techniques such as lambda DNA packaging, cosmid mapping and cosmid linearization to improve efficiency of integration into mouse eggs.

Bacteriophage lambda↗

A cos-mini-Mu vector for in vivo DNA cloning.

Construction of a mini-Mu plasmid vector containing a cosmid replicon is described. Upon derepression of mini-Mu transposition, bacterial DNA sequences can be flanked by the integrated mini-Mu. These sequences can then be packaged into lambda heads by superinfection with a lambda helper phage. Cosmid clones carrying particular bacterial genes can be recovered by selection after infection of appropriate strains with the cosmid transducing lambda lysate. We report here the successful in vivo cloning of several Escherichia coli genes using the transposoncosmid vector.

Bacteriophage lambda↗

Isolation of a phytoalexin-detoxification gene from the plant pathogenic fungus Nectria haematococca by detecting its expression in Aspergillus nidulans.

Detoxification of the pea phytoalexin pisatin via demethylation, mediated by a cytochrome P-450 monooxygenase, is thought to be important for pathogenicity of the fungus Nectria haematococca on pea. To isolate a fungal gene encoding pisatin demethylating activity (pda), we transformed Aspergillus nidulans with a genomic library of N. haematococca DNA constructed in a cosmid which carried the A. nidulans trpC gene. Transformants were selected for Trp+ and then screened for pda. One transformant among 1250 tested was Pda+ and was less sensitive to pisatin in culture than Pda- A. nidulans. The cosmid containing the gene (PDA) conferring this activity was recovered by phage lambda packaging of transformant genomic DNA. When A. nidulans was transformed with the cloned cosmid, 98% of the Trp+ transformants were Pda+. RNA blots probed with a 3.35 kb subclone carrying PDA indicated that the gene is expressed constitutively in A. nidulans but is inducible by pisatin in N. haematococca.

Ascomycota↗

Mulcos: a vector for amplification and simultaneous expression of two foreign genes in mammalian cells.

A method was developed for amplification and expression of foreign genes in mammalian cells. This procedure exploits the fact that an SfiI cleavage site, GGCCGCCT/CGGCC (the recognition sequences are underlined), is present at the SV40 replication origin and the cleaved ends, CCT-3' and AGG-3', are not rotationally equivalent. Thus DNA fragments flanked by the SfiI sites can be ligated in head-to-tail tandem arrays and cloned in cosmids; the resulting construct is called a mulcos. The cosmid vector we have used, pCHD2L, contains the single SfiI site as well as HmBR and dhfr genes, selectable markers in mammalian cells. Cassette plasmid pmoRH contains two expression units, each of which consists of SV40 early promoter, EcoRI or HindIII cloning site, small T splicing region, and poly(A) signal, and the two units as a whole are flanked by the SfiI sites. A set of alpha- and beta-chain cDNAs of a human major histocompatibility class-II antigen were inserted into the EcoRI and HindIII sites, respectively. The purified SfiI fragment, containing both expression units, was then ligated with SfiI-linearized cosmid vector pCHD2L at a molar ratio of 20:1. A mulcos containing eight pairs of the alpha- and beta-chain expression units was isolated by in vitro packaging in phage lambda heads and subsequent transfection into Escherichia coli. Drug-selected cells transfected with the mulcos contained significantly higher copy numbers of the expression units and higher expression levels than those obtained using conventional plasmids. More than 85% of these cells expressed class-II antigen on their cell surfaces.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗

The nia gene of Fusarium oxysporum: isolation, sequence and development of a homologous transformation system.

The Fusarium oxysporum gene nia, encoding nitrate reductase (NR), was isolated from a cosmid library by direct complementation of an F. oxysporum nia- mutant. The gene specifies a protein of 905 amino acids and contains a 57-bp intron. Comparison of the deduced aa sequence with NR of other fungi revealed a high degree of similarity and conservation in the intron position. The cloned nia made it possible to develop the first homologous transformation system for this fungus. Transformation frequencies of up to 600 transformants per microgram of DNA were achieved. Gene replacement, single-copy homologous integrations and integrations at non-homologous sites were observed. Direct comparison between plasmids and cosmids carrying the same gene showed a higher frequency of targeted transformation using cosmid vectors. Gene replacement events were observed in about 50% of the transformants analysed with each type of vector used. This high frequency of substitution offers new applications for the transformation system in F. oxysporum.

Amino Acid Sequence↗