Lithophagic snail from southern British Honduras

A freshwater gastropod, Pachycheilus glaphyrus, responsible for unusual erosion in limestone has been located in southern British Honduras where it is abundant in streams flowing through areas of karst topography. These snails ingest algae that proliferate in solution grooves formed at the fluctuating air-water interface. Rasping action of the radula results in deepening of these grooves and appears to improve the algal habitat.     

Hormone-sensitive lipase: sequence, expression, and chromosomal localization to 19 cent-q13.3

Hormone-sensitive lipase, a key enzyme in fatty acid mobilization, overall energy homeostasis, and possibly steroidogenesis, is acutely controlled through reversible phosphorylation by catecholamines and insulin. The 757-amino acid sequence predicted from a cloned rat adipocyte complementary DNA showed no homology with any other known lipase or protein. The activity-controlling phosphorylation site was localized to Ser563 in a markedly hydrophilic domain, and a lipid-binding consensus site was tentatively identified. One or several messenger RNA species (3.3, 3.5, or 3.9 kilobases) were expressed in adipose and steroidogenic tissues and heart and skeletal muscle. The human hormone-sensitive lipase gene mapped to chromosome 19 cent-q13.3.