The mechanism by which the phytochrome (phy) photoreceptor family transduces informational light signals to photoresponsive genes is unknown. Using a yeast two-hybrid screen, we have identified a phytochrome-interacting factor, PIF3, a basic helix-loop-helix protein containing a PAS domain. PIF3 binds to wild-type C-terminal domains of both phyA and phyB, but less strongly to signaling-defectiv...

The transcriptional regulatory network that controls the determination and differentiation of skeletal muscle cells in the embryo has at its core the four myogenic regulatory factors (MRFs) Myf5, MyoD, Mrf4 and MyoG. These basic helix-loop-helix transcription factors act by binding, as obligate heterodimers with the ubiquitously expressed E proteins, to the E-box sequence CANNTG. While all skel...

W hat is the origin of species? Nearly a century and a half after the question was first posed 1 , evolutionary biology has yet to come up with a satisfactory answer. This is largely because of the timescales involved: an entire speciation event is unlikely to occur within the lifetime of a research scientist, let alone the lifetime of a research grant. Nevertheless , it is still possible to de...

Helix pomatia agglutinin (HPA) is a N-acetylgalactosamine (GalNAc) binding lectin found in the albumen gland of the roman snail. As a constituent of perivitelline fluid, HPA protects fertilized eggs from bacteria and is part of the innate immunity system of the snail. The peptide sequence deduced from gene cloning demonstrates that HPA belongs to a family of carbohydrate-binding proteins recent...

BACKGROUND An important contributing factor to the success of terrestrial flowering plants in colonizing the land was the evolution of a developmental strategy, termed skotomorphogenesis, whereby postgerminative seedlings emerging from buried seed grow vigorously upward in the subterranean darkness toward the soil surface. RESULTS Here we provide genetic evidence that a central component of t...

in this paper, the operation of helix traveling wave tube in interaction region is investigated by using a three dimensional large signal lagrangian model in frequency domain. the complete simulation of these tubes is essential for optimum design and minimum manufacturing cost. this 3d code can compute interception current (or current losses ), beam radius changes in interaction region and the ...

Basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) proteins perform a wide variety of biological functions. Most bHLH proteins recognize the consensus DNA sequence CAN NTG (the E-box consensus sequence is underlined) but acquire further functional specificity by preferring distinct internal and flanking bases. In addition, induction of myogenesis by MyoD-related bHLH proteins depends on myogenic basic region (BR) a...

Hemocyanin of the snail helix pomatia was studied by small angle X-ray scattering in 0.15 M phosphate buffer pH 6. The outer portion of the scattering curve showed minima, which indicated that the hemocyanin molecule is composed of a large number of identical (or very similar) nearly spherical subunits. From the position of the minima the radius of gyration R u of the subunit was calculated to ...