Leucine-tRNA initiates at CUG start codons for protein synthesis and presentation by MHC class I

Effective immune surveillance by cytotoxic T cells requires newly synthesized polypeptides for presentation by major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I molecules. These polypeptides are produced not only from conventional AUG-initiated, but also from cryptic non-AUG-initiated, reading frames by distinct translational mechanisms. Biochemical analysis of ribosomal initiation complexes at CUG versus AUG initiation codons revealed that cells use an elongator leucine-bound transfer RNA (Leu-tRNA) to initiate translation at cryptic CUG start codons. CUG/Leu-tRNA initiation was independent of the canonical initiator tRNA (AUG/Met-tRNA(i)(Met)) pathway but required expression of eukaryotic initiation factor 2A. Thus, a tRNA-based translation initiation mechanism allows non-AUG-initiated protein synthesis and supplies peptides for presentation by MHC class I molecules.     

Early pottery at 20,000 years ago in Xianrendong Cave, China

The invention of pottery introduced fundamental shifts in human subsistence practices and sociosymbolic behaviors. Here, we describe the dating of the early pottery from Xianrendong Cave, Jiangxi Province, China, and the micromorphology of the stratigraphic contexts of the pottery sherds and radiocarbon samples. The radiocarbon ages of the archaeological contexts of the earliest sherds are 20,000 to 19,000 calendar years before the present, 2000 to 3000 years older than other pottery found in East Asia and elsewhere. The occupations in the cave demonstrate that pottery was produced by mobile foragers who hunted and gathered during the Late Glacial Maximum. These vessels may have served as cooking devices. The early date shows that pottery was first made and used 10 millennia or more before the emergence of agriculture.     

Glycyrrhetinic acid protects mice from Staphylococcus aureus pneumonia

In the present study, the antimicrobial activity of glycyrrhetinic acid (GA) against Staphylococcus aureus, and its influence on the production of S. aureus alpha-haemolysin (Hla) were investigated, along with the in vivo activity of GA against S. aureus-induced pneumonia. GA could not inhibit the growth of S. aureus, but the secretion of Hla by S. aureus was significantly inhibited by low concentrations of GA in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, in vivo data show that GA provides protection against staphylococcal pneumonia in a murine model system.     

EPSPS gene amplification in glyphosate-resistant Italian ryegrass (Lolium perenne ssp. multiflorum) from Arkansas

BACKGROUND: Resistance to glyphosate in weed species is a major challenge for the sustainability of glyphosate use in crop and non‐crop systems. A glyphosate‐resistant Italian ryegrass population has been identified in Arkansas. This research was conducted to elucidate its resistance mechanism. RESULTS: The investigation was conducted on resistant and susceptible plants from a population in Desha County, Arkansas (Des03). The amounts of glyphosate that caused 50% overall visual injury were 7 to 13 times greater than those for susceptible plants from the same population. The EPSPS gene did not contain any point mutation that has previously been associated with resistance to glyphosate, nor were there any other mutations on the EPSPS gene unique to the Des03 resistant plants. The resistant plants had 6‐fold higher basal EPSPS enzyme activities than the susceptible plants, but their I₅₀ values in response to glyphosate were similar. The resistant plants contained up to 25 more copies of EPSPS gene than the susceptible plants. The level of resistance to glyphosate correlated with increases in EPSPS enzyme activity and EPSPS copy number. CONCLUSION: Increased EPSPS gene amplification and EPSPS enzyme activity confer resistance to glyphosate in the Des03 population. This is the first report of EPSPS gene amplification in glyphosate‐resistant Italian ryegrass. Other resistance mechanism(s) may also be involved. Copyright © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry     

A face recognition method based on modular PCA and SVD

In order to solve the problem that modular PCA method is sensitive to translation, rotation and other geometric transform, a face recognition method based on modular PCA and singular value decomposition (SVD) is proposed. The PCA features of sub image and SVD features are extracted respectively. The distance measure that fuses information of modular PCA and SVD is obtained. Minimum distance classifier is used to face recognition. Experimental results on ORL human face database show that the proposed method can obtain higher recognition rate.     

Urine sample used for detection of toxoplasma gondii infection by loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP)

In this study, a loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay was established to detect Toxoplasma gondii DNA in mice infected with T. gondii PRU strain. This LAMP assay was based on the sequence of highly repetitive B1 gene. The detection limit of T. gondii LAMP assay was 1 pg of T. gondii DNA, which was evaluated using 10-fold serially diluted DNA of cultured parasites. The LAMP assay was also highly specific for T. gondii and able to detect T. gondii DNA in urine of mice treated with dexamethasone at 90 day post infection (p.i.), although this assay could not detect the DNA in mice urine 2-6 days p.i. These results demonstrated that LAMP is effective for evaluation of therapy effectiveness for T. gondii infection. The established LAMP assay may represent a useful and practical tool for the routine diagnosis and therapeutic evaluation of human toxoplasmosis.     

Activation of PKCalpha and pulmonary vascular remodelling in broilers

OBJECTIVE: The present study was conducted to examine the presence of protein kinase Calpha (PKCalpha) in the pulmonary arterioles of broilers during the development of pulmonary hypertension and pulmonary vascular remodelling. METHOD: One hundred and sixty day-old Avian-2000 broilers were divided equally into a control group and a cold temperature group. All the birds were reared in normal temperatures up to day 14, with the lighting schedule at 24 h per day. Thereafter, birds in the cold temperature group were subjected to low temperature by lowering 1-2 degrees C per day to 12-14 degrees C, and then kept constant until day 49, while birds in the control group were still brooded at normal temperatures. All the birds were fed a diet of pellets throughout the study. Samples of blood were taken from the wing vein, and of heart and lung collected after the birds were killed with an overdose of sodium pentobarbitial, at days 24, 32, 39 and 45 of age, respectively. Right ventricle to total ventricle ratio (RV/TV) and packed cell volume (PCV) were measured. Vessel wall area to vessel total area ratio (WA/TA) and mean media thickness in pulmonary arterioles (mMTPA) was examined using computer-image analytic software. Expression of PKC in pulmonary muscular arterioles was assessed by immunohistochemistry and quantified by measuring optical density (OD) using computer-image analytic software. RESULTS: The incidence of pulmonary hypertension syndrome (PHS) was 12.5% in birds exposed to cold, and 3.75% in the control group (P<0.05). PCV in the cold temperature group was elevated after day 32 (P<0.05), and RV/TV ratio increased on day 45 (P<0.05). Both the WA/TA and mMTPA of birds subjected to cold were significantly elevated (P<0.05). The OD values were not significantly increased before day 32 (P>0.05), however, one week later (at day 39 of age), the difference between the two groups was significant (P<0.05). The increased PKCalpha expression was positively correlated with the values of mMTPA and WA/TA. CONCLUSION: PKCalpha expression was up-regulated during the development of pulmonary hypertension. The activation of PKCalpha might be involved in the development of pulmonary vascular remodelling.     

Mutation scan screening of Echinococcus granulosus isolates of Indian origin

During the present investigation a total of forty Indian animal isolates were screened by single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) collected from sheep, goat, cattle and buffalo. The result of the study indicated that nuclear variants of Echinococcus granulosus were present in both small and large ruminants. SSCP phenotypes of AgB, intron of actin II and Hbx-2 have been deduced. Presence of nuclear variants due to mutation of E. granulosus has been discussed depending on hypotheses imparted earlier in literature. High polymophism of AgB demands further investigation because the gene is related with immune evasion and infectivity. This communication reports for the first time the comparative profile of Indian goat, sheep, cattle and buffalo isolates of E. granulosus complex.