Microbial ecologists have used direct RT-PCR amplification of 16S rRNA molecules for the detection of active species of bacteria and archaea, and 18S rRNA molecules for the detection of active fungi. The drawback to this approach for fungi is that 18S rRNA sequences often do not provide sufficient taxonomic resolution to allow identification of taxa in mixed communities to genus or species leve...

Microbial eukaryotes fulfill key ecological positions in marine food webs. Molecular approaches that connect protistan diversity and biogeography to their diverse metabolisms will greatly improve our understanding of marine ecosystem function. The majority of molecular-based studies to date use 18S rRNA gene sequencing to characterize natural microbial assemblages, but this approach does not ne...

The African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) is a natural reservoir host for both pathogenic and non-pathogenic Theileria species. These often occur naturally as mixed infections in buffalo. Although the benign and mildly pathogenic forms do not have any significant economic importance, their presence could complicate the interpretation of diagnostic test results aimed at the specific diagnosis of the...

The poly-A specific ribonuclease (PARN), initially characterized for its role in mRNA catabolism, supports the processing of different types of non-coding RNAs including telomerase RNA. Mutations in PARN are linked to dyskeratosis congenita and pulmonary fibrosis. Here, we show that PARN is part of the enzymatic machinery that matures the human 18S ribosomal RNA (rRNA). Consistent with its nucl...

The sequences of different plant viral leaders with known translation enhancer ability show partial complementarity to the central region of 18S rRNA. Such complementarity might serve as a means to attract 40S ribosomal subunits and explain in part the translation-enhancing property of these sequences. To verify this notion, we designed beta-glucuronidase (GUS) mRNAs differing only in the natur...

The 18S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene is present in all eukaryotic cells. In this study, we evaluated the use of this gene to verify the presence of PCR-amplifiable host (animal) DNA as an indicator of sufficient sample quality for quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) analysis. We compared (i) samples from various animal species, tissues, and sample types, including swabs; (ii) multiple DNA extraction...

the protozoan intestinal parasite cryptosporidium commonly infects cattle throughout the world and iran. the present study was undertaken to determine the abundance and associated risk factors of cryptosporidium infection in cattle herds of northwestern iran. a total number of 246 fecal samples from 138 (56.1%) diarrheic (d) and 108 (43.9%) non-diarrheic (nd) cattle were randomly collected and ...

Ribosome biogenesis occurs successively in the nucleolus, nucleoplasm, and cytoplasm. Maturation of the ribosomal small subunit is completed in the cytoplasm by incorporation of a particular class of ribosomal proteins and final cleavage of 18S-E pre-rRNA (18S-E). Here, we show that poly(A)-specific ribonuclease (PARN) participates in steps leading to 18S-E maturation in human cells. We found P...

Eukaryote ribosomal RNAs (rRNAs) have expanded in the course of phylogeny by addition of nucleotides in specific insertion areas, the expansion segments. These number about 40 in the larger (25-28S) rRNA (up to 2,400 nucleotides), and about 12 in the smaller (18S) rRNA (<700 nucleotides). Expansion of the larger rRNA shows a clear phylogenetic increase, with a dramatic rise in mammals and espec...

The participation of 18S, 5.8S and 28S ribosomal RNA in subunit association was investigated by chemical modification and primer extension. Derived 40S and 60S ribosomal subunits isolated from mouse Ehrlich ascites cells were reassociated into 80S particles. These ribosomes were treated with dimethyl sulphate and 1-cyclohexyl-3-(morpholinoethyl) carbodiimide metho-p-toluene sulfonate to allow s...