Rhizobium tropici is a broad host-range symbiont of Phaseolus vulgaris. This bacterium produces a mixture of sulfated and non-sulfated N-methylated pentameric nodulation (Nod) factors. To understand the genetic bases of the partial sulfation of R. tropici Nod factors, which might be involved in the broad host-range of this species, we introduced in R. tropici CFN299 the recombinant plasmid pGMI...

Nodulation in legumes requires the recognition of rhizobially made Nod factors. Genetic studies have revealed that the perception of Nod factors involves LysM domain receptor-like kinases, while biochemical approaches have identified LECTIN NUCLEOTIDE PHOSPHOHYDROLASE (LNP) as a Nod factor-binding protein. Here, we show that antisense inhibition of LNP blocks nodulation in Lotus japonicus. This...

NOD/Shi-scid IL-2Rγ(null) (NOG) mice established by introducing the IL-2Rγ(null) gene of IL-2Rγ KO mice into NOD/Shi-scid mice by backcross-mating show a high xenograft engraftment level and are therefore well suited as a humanized mouse model. SCID mice bearing the Prkdc(scid) gene show a high incidence of thymic lymphoma and a leaky phenomenon in which a few clonal T and B cells develop in ag...

The nodulation genes of Mesorhizobium sp. (Astragalus sinicus) strain 7653R were cloned by functional complementation of Sinorhizobium meliloti nod mutants. The common nod genes, nodD, nodA, and nodBC, were identified by heterologous hybridization and sequence analysis. The nodA gene was found to be separated from nodBC by approximately 22 kb and was divergently transcribed. The 2. 0-kb nodDBC ...

Azorhizobium caulinodans ORS571, a bacterium capable of nodulating roots and stems of the tropical legume Sesbania rostrata, has been shown to have no nodD-like gene located immediately upstream from its common nodABC locus. A clone carrying a functional nodD gene of strain ORS571 has now been isolated from a pLAFR1 gene library by screening for naringenin-induced expression of the common nod g...

Transcriptional regulators of the lysR family largely control the expression of bacterial symbiotic genes. Rhizobium sp. NGR234 contains at least four members of this family: two resemble nodD, while two others are more closely related to syrM. Part of the extremely broad host range of NGR234 can be attributed to nodD1, although the second gene shares a high degree of DNA sequence homology with...

In humans, CXCR1 and CXCR2 are two homologous proteins that bind ELR+ chemokines. Both receptors play fundamental roles in neutrophil functions such as migration and reactive oxygen species production. Mouse Cxcr1 and Cxcr2 genes are located in an insulin-dependent diabetes genetic susceptibility locus. The non obese diabetic (NOD) mouse is a spontaneous well-described animal model for insulin-...

Studies in NOD mice have provided important insight into the genetics and pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes (T1D). Our goal was to further explore novel methods of genetic manipulation in this mouse model. We tested the feasibility of using zinc-finger nucleases (ZFNs) to knock out a gene directly in a pure NOD background, bypassing the need of embryonic stem cells. We report here the successful ...

Nerve growth factor (NGF) cooperates with glucocorticoids, activators of adenylate cyclase, and lithium to induce the expression of teh gene encoding the neuropeptides neurotensin and neuromedin N (NT/N gene) in PC 12 pheochromocytoma cells. High level expression requires simultaneous treatment with three or all four inducers. To examine the mechanism underlying this complex synergism, we have ...

Transgenic restoration of normally absent H2-E MHC class II molecules on APC dominantly inhibits T cell-mediated autoimmune diabetes (IDDM) in nonobese diabetic (NOD) mice. We analyzed the minimal requirements for transgenic H2-E expression on APC subtypes (B lymphocytes vs macrophages/dendritic cells (DC)) to inhibit IDDM. This issue was addressed through the use of NOD stocks transgenically e...