Genome sequence of Theileria parva, a bovine pathogen that transforms lymphocytes

We report the genome sequence of Theileria parva, an apicomplexan pathogen causing economic losses to smallholder farmers in Africa. The parasite chromosomes exhibit limited conservation of gene synteny with Plasmodium falciparum, and its plastid-like genome represents the first example where all apicoplast genes are encoded on one DNA strand. We tentatively identify proteins that facilitate parasite segregation during host cell cytokinesis and contribute to persistent infection of transformed host cells. Several biosynthetic pathways are incomplete or absent, suggesting substantial metabolic dependence on the host cell. One protein family that may generate parasite antigenic diversity is not telomere-associated.     

Specific expression of a tyrosine kinase gene, blk, in B lymphoid cells

Several pathways of transmembrane signaling in lymphocytes involve protein-tyrosine phosphorylation. With the exception of p56lck, a tyrosine kinase specific to T lymphoid cells that associates with the T cell transmembrane proteins CD4 and CD8, the kinases that function in these pathways are unknown. A murine lymphocyte complementary DNA that represents a new member of the src family has now been isolated and characterized. This complementary DNA, termed blk (for B lymphoid kinase), specifies a polypeptide of 55 kilodaltons that is related to, but distinct from, previously identified retroviral or cellular tyrosine kinases. The protein encoded by blk exhibits tyrosine kinase activity when expressed in bacterial cells. In the mouse and among cell lines, blk is specifically expressed in the B cell lineage. The tyrosine kinase encoded by blk may function in a signal transduction pathway that is restricted to B lymphoid cells.     

Single-Stranded DNA Binding Protein Encoded by the virE Locus of Agrobacterium tumefaciens

The transfer process of T (transfer)-DNA of Agrobacterium tumefaciens is activated after the induction of the expression of the Ti plasmid virulence (vir) loci by plant signal molecules such as acetosyringone. The vir gene products then act to generate a free transferable single-stranded copy of the T-DNA, designated the T-strand. Although some vir proteins are responsible for the synthesis of the T-strand, others may mediate T-strand transfer to plant cells as part of a DNA-protein complex. Here, a novel 69-kilodalton vir-specific single-stranded DNA binding protein is identified in Agrobacterium harboring a nopaline-type Ti plasmid. This protein binds single-stranded but not double-stranded DNA regardless of nucleotide sequence composition. The molecular size of the vir-specific single-stranded DNA binding protein and its relative abundance in acetosyringone-induced Agrobacterium suggested that it might be the product of the virE locus; molecular cloning and expression of the virE region in Escherichia coli confirmed this prediction.     

Plague bacteria target immune cells during infection

The plague is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Plague bacteria are thought to inject effector Yop proteins into host cells via the type III pathway. The identity of the host cells targeted for injection during plague infection is unknown. We found, using Yop beta-lactamase hybrids and fluorescent staining of live cells from plague-infected animals, that Y. pestis selected immune cells for injection. In vivo, dendritic cells, macrophages, and neutrophils were injected most frequently, whereas B and T lymphocytes were rarely selected. Thus, it appears that Y. pestis disables these cell populations to annihilate host immune responses during plague.     

环形泰勒虫感染细胞抑制性消减文库的构建及ESTs分析

【目的】环形泰勒虫（Theileria annulata）可以感染牛B淋巴细胞、树突状细胞和巨噬细胞,并可使被感染细胞发生转化,体外培养时可获得类似肿瘤样细胞的无限增殖能力。本研究通过构建环形泰勒虫转化和非转化宿主细胞抑制性消减文库,筛选环形泰勒虫裂殖体基因及转化细胞与宿主正常细胞之间的差异表达基因。【方法】以环形泰勒虫裂殖体转化细胞和非感染牛外周血单个核细胞（即非转化宿主细胞）为试验材料,提取总RNA和mRNA,反转录合成cDNA;然后分别作为tester和driver,进行抑制性消减杂交（SSH）,构建环形泰勒虫转化和非转化宿主细胞抑制性消减文库;对随机挑取的阳性克隆进行测序及生物信息学分析,并利用实时荧光定量PCR对文库部分差异基因进行验证。【结果】通过对文库454个阳性克隆进行测序,共获得了有效表达序列标签（ESTs）364条,大小主要分布在350-1 200 bp之间;将这些ESTs序列在GenBank中进行BLASTn网上序列比对,其匹配于192条基因序列;其中包括环形泰勒虫序列60条(11条为虫体蛋白酶基因序列、10条为膜蛋白基因序列、7条为假设蛋白基因序列、5条为凋亡相关虫体蛋白基因序列、5条为核糖体蛋白基因序列、4条为细胞周期蛋白基因序列、4条为虫体抗原基因序列和虫体其它基因序列14条)、牛基因序列131条（其中19条为肿瘤相关蛋白基因序列）和1条未知序列;其中已有功能注释的ESTs 285条,再将已知功能的ESTs通过WEGO软件从生物学过程（biological process）、细胞组成（cellular component）和分子功能（molecular function）3个部分进行GO聚类分析,结果表明,宿主细胞差异基因主要集中在细胞、细胞进程、结合、催化、代谢进程、生物调节等功能方面。另外,通过对部分环形泰勒虫裂殖体转化宿主细胞差异基因进行荧光定量PCR分析,结果表明,肿瘤相关基因HCLS1和SENP5在转化宿主细胞中转录水平分别是非感染牛PBMCs(非转化宿主细胞)的2.06和1.32倍。【结论】利用SSH技术,成功构建了环形泰勒虫感染宿主细胞的抑制性消减文库,筛选获得了转化宿主细胞和环形泰勒虫裂殖体的表达基因,并通过荧光定量PCR分析获得了2个可能参与宿主细胞转化的基因,为进步探索环形泰勒虫与宿主细胞相互作用的分子机制奠定了基础。     

T cells against a bacterial heat shock protein recognize stressed macrophages

Heat shock proteins are evolutionarily highly conserved polypeptides that are produced under a variety of stress conditions to preserve cellular functions. A major antigen of tubercle bacilli of 65 kilodaltons is a heat shock protein that has significant sequence similarity and cross-reactivity with antigens of various other microbes. Monoclonal antibodies against this common bacterial heat shock protein were used to identify a molecule of similar size in murine macrophages. Macrophages subjected to various stress stimuli including interferon-gamma activation and viral infection were recognized by class I-restricted CD8 T cells raised against the bacterial heat shock protein. These data suggest that heat shock proteins are processed in stressed host cells and that epitopes shared by heat shock proteins of bacterial and host origin are presented in the context of class I molecules.     

The staphylococcal enterotoxins and their relatives

Staphylococcal enterotoxins and a group of related proteins made by Streptococci cause food poisoning and shock in man and animals. These proteins share an ability to bind to human and mouse major histocompatibility complex proteins. The complex ligand so formed has specificity for a particular part of T cell receptors, V beta, and by engaging V beta can stimulate many T cells. It is likely that some or all of the pathological effects of these toxins are caused by their ability to activate quickly so many T cells. It is also possible that encounters with such toxins have caused mice, at least, to evolve mechanisms for varying their T cell V beta repertoires, such that they are less susceptible to attack by the toxins.     

G protein signalling involved in host recognition and mycoparasitismrelated chitinase expression in Trichoderma atroviride

Mycoparasitic species of Trichoderma are commercially applied as biological control agents against various fungal pathogens. The mycoparasitic interaction is host specific and includes recognition, attack and subsequent penetration and killing of the host. Investigations on the underlying events revealed that Trichoderma responds to multiple signals from the host (e.g. lectins or other ligands such as low molecular weight components released from the host's cell wall) and host attack is ac…     

Bacteriophage T5 chromosome fractionation: genetic specificity of a DNA fragment

The bacteriophage T5 DNA fragments retained by a population of blended early complexes, formed under conditions of limited viral DNA transfer to host cells, appear to include only one of six tested cistrons. When complexes harboring wild-type fragments are infected with appropriate amber mutants, recombination occurs but apparently is not needed for productive infection.     

The role of the T cell receptor in positive and negative selection of developing T cells

Although many combinations of alpha beta T cell receptors are available to the T cells in any given organism, far fewer are actually used by mature T cells. The combinations used are limited by two selective processes, positive selection of T cells bearing receptors that will be useful to the host, and clonal elimination or inactivation of T cells bearing receptors that will be damaging to the host. The ways in which these two apparently contradictory processes occur, and the hypotheses that have been suggested to reconcile them, are discussed.     

Making sense of eukaryotic DNA replication origins

DNA replication is the process by which cells make one complete copy of their genetic information before cell division. In bacteria, readily identifiable DNA sequences constitute the start sites or origins of DNA replication. In eukaryotes, replication origins have been difficult to identify. In some systems, any DNA sequence can promote replication, but other systems require specific DNA sequences. Despite these disparities, the proteins that regulate replication are highly conserved from yeast to humans. The resolution may lie in a current model for once-per-cell-cycle regulation of eukaryotic replication that does not require defined origin sequences. This model implies that the specification of precise origins is a response to selective pressures that transcend those of once-per-cell-cycle replication, such as the coordination of replication with other chromosomal functions. Viewed in this context, the locations of origins may be an integral part of the functional organization of eukaryotic chromosomes.     

HTLV-I trans-activator protein, tax, is a trans-repressor of the human beta-polymerase gene

Human T cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I) is the etiological agent for adult T cell leukemia (ATL). The HTLV-I trans-activator protein Tax can activate the expression of its own long terminal repeat (LTR) and many cellular and viral genes. Tax down-regulated the expression of human beta-polymerase (hu beta-pol), a cellular enzyme involved in host cell DNA repair. This finding suggests a possible correlation between HTLV-I infection and host chromosomal damage, which is often seen in ATL cells.     

Homology of cytokine synthesis inhibitory factor (IL-10) to the Epstein-Barr virus gene BCRFI

Complementary DNA clones encoding mouse cytokine synthesis inhibitory factor (CSIF; interleukin-10), which inhibits cytokine synthesis by TH1 helper T cells, were isolated and expressed. The predicted protein sequence shows extensive homology with an uncharacterized open reading frame, BCRFI, in the Epstein-Barr virus genome, suggesting the possibility that this herpes virus exploits the biological activity of a captured cytokine gene to enhance its survival in the host.     

青枯雷尔氏菌致病机制及其相关基因的研究进展

阐述青枯雷尔氏菌致病基因以及它们之间的相互调节。由于青枯雷尔氏菌的复杂性,进而发展了许多青枯雷尔氏菌分子鉴定技术,并且对青枯雷尔氏菌的鉴定逐渐走向快速、便捷和灵敏高的趋势。青枯雷尔氏菌基因组约5.8Mb,具有高(G+C)含量和约5 120个可能的编码基因;它是由3.7Mb的染色体和2.1Mb的大质粒所组成,主要的致病因子有Ⅲ型hrp分泌系统产物、胞外多糖、细胞壁降解酶(包括果胶质酶以及纤维素酶等),其涉及的基因主要包括hrp基因簇、avr基因、毒性基因;青枯雷尔氏菌通过Ⅲ型分泌系统(T3SS)、II型分泌系统(T2SS)等分泌系统将多种毒性因子输送到胞外使寄主植物致病。同时,T3SS和T2SS之间也是相互影响的。上述致病因子的协调作用是由一个复杂的网络调节系统控制的,并以PhcA调节基因的启动和转录为核心,自动而精密地调节有关致病基因的表达及关闭,从而控制细菌的生长状态。     

Microbiology. Arresting features of bacterial toxins

Bacteria produce an arsenal of sophisticated toxins that disrupt the normal processes of the host cell, usually by modifying or inactivating host cell proteins. Now, as Coburn and Leong discuss in their Perspective, members of the cytolethal distending toxin (CDT) family have been identified as enzymes that attack DNA (and not protein) within the host cell (Lara-Tejero and Galán). By attacking DNA, perhaps during chromosomal replication, CDTs cause the host cell to halt in G2 phase of the cell cycle.