The fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, is generally diurnal, but a few mutant strains, such as the circadian clock mutant Clk(Jrk), have been described as nocturnal. We report here that increased nighttime activity of Clk mutants is mediated by high levels of the circadian photoreceptor CRYPTOCHROME (CRY) in large ventral lateral neurons (l-LN(v)s). We found that CRY expression is also require...

BACKGROUND Photolyases and cryptochromes are evolutionarily related flavoproteins, which however perform distinct physiological functions. Photolyases (PHR) are evolutionarily ancient enzymes. They are activated by light and repair DNA damage caused by UV radiation. Although cryptochromes share structural similarity with DNA photolyases, they lack DNA repair activity. Cryptochrome (CRY) is one ...

Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) Cry toxins are used to control Aedes aegypti, an important vector of dengue fever and yellow fever. Bt Cry toxin forms pores in the gut cells, provoking larvae death by osmotic shock. Little is known, however, about the endocytic and/or degradative cell processes that may counteract the toxin action at low doses. The purpose of this work is to describe the mechanisms...

This study describes the insecticidal activity of a novel Bacillus thuringiensis Cry-related protein with a deduced 799 amino acid sequence (~89 kDa) and ~19% pairwise identity to the 95-kDa-aphidicidal protein (sequence number 204) from patent US 8318900 and ~40% pairwise identity to the cancer cell killing Cry proteins (parasporins Cry41Ab1 and Cry41Aa1), respectively. This novel Cry-related ...

Three cases of cri du chat syndrome with varying ages of presentation are compared and contrasted to highlight the clinical features and evolution of the phenotype with time.

Bacillus thuringiensis produces crystal proteins (Cry) that account for up to 25% of the dry cell weight during the stationary phase. The high-level expression and stationary phase-specific autoinduction of the cry gene led to development of a cry promoter-based Bacillus expression system. Among the various cry promoters, cry3Aa promoter was selected by comparing the lacZ expression levels in B...

Cry j 1 is a causative substance of Japanese cedar pollinosis, and it may deteriorate by Cry j 1 invasion to a lower respiratory tract. We observed airborne particles containing Cry j 1 by an immunofluorescence technique using a fluorescence microscope, and we clarified that Cry j 1 exist as aggregates of airborne fine particles (< 1.1 μm) in the urban atmosphere. Airborne Cry j 1 may react wit...

Eukaryotic circadian clocks are built on transcriptional feedback loops. In mammals, the PERIOD (PER) and CRYPTOCHROME (CRY) proteins accumulate, form a large nuclear complex (PER complex), and repress their own transcription. We found that mouse PER complexes included RNA helicases DDX5 and DHX9, active RNA polymerase II large subunit, Per and Cry pre-mRNAs, and SETX, a helicase that promotes ...

Most organisms have circadian clocks consisting of negative feedback loops of gene regulation that facilitate adaptation to cycles of light and darkness. In this study, CRYPTOCHROME (CRY), a protein involved in circadian photoperception in Drosophila, is shown to block the function of PERIOD/TIMELESS (PER/TIM) heterodimeric complexes in a light-dependent fashion. TIM degradation does not occur ...

In this study the first communication signal of life (i.e. the infant cry) will be analyzed. Authors show methods for the acoustic analysis of the infant cry and ways how to obtain the melody of crying. Previously several research groups had reported about the development of the infant cry, now authors are to present the development of the melody. The results are based on an infant cry database...