Sister chromatids are often arranged as incompletely aligned entities in interphase nuclei of Arabidopsis thaliana. The STRUCTURAL MAINTENANCE OF CHROMOSOMES (SMC) 5/6 complex, together with cohesin, is involved in double-strand break (DSB) repair by sister chromatid recombination in yeasts and mammals. Here, we analyzed the function of genes in Arabidopsis. The wild-type allele of SMC5 is esse...

To investigate the usefulness of sister chromatid exchange (SCE) analysis in lymphocytes as an indicator for mutagenic effects after in vivo exposure to hexavalent chromium (Cr), SCE frequency was analysed in lymphocytes of 44 Cr platers occupationally exposed to hexavalent Cr and 47 controls. Although urinary Cr analysis confirmed that the Cr platers were exposed to Cr, no effects of the expos...

44 SA JOURNAL OF RADIOLOGY • September 2006 Cutaneous metastases localised to the umbilicus are named ‘Sister Mary Joseph’s nodules’. Sister Mary Joseph, who was the superintendent nurse and surgical assistant of Dr William Mayo at St. Mayo Hospital from 1856 to 1939, was the first to note the link between umbilical nodules and intra-abdominal malignancies. Metastases to the umbilicus are uncom...

A 95-year-old woman presented with an umbilical mass, pain, and loss of appetite over a three-week period. Physical examination showed a hard nodule protruding through the umbilicus (Picture 1). Computed tomography revealed a nodule at the umbilicus (Picture 2) along with multiple liver metastases. These results led to a diagnosis of a Sister Mary Joseph’s nodule (1). As a result of her advance...

Splicing of pre‐mRNAs is a necessary step for expression of the majority of genes in higher eukaryotes, and its regulation through alternative splice site selection shapes their proteomes. Defects in multiple splicing factors result in aberrant mitotic progression, although the molecular basis for this observation has remained elusive. Recent papers in The EMBO Journal and EMBO Reports reveal t...

Background: To explore the strengths and weaknesses of conventional biomedical research strategies and methods as applied to complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), and to suggest a new research framework for assessing these treatment modalities. Discussion: There appears to be a gap between published studies showing little or no efficacy of CAM, and reports of substantial clinical benefi...

Histone tail modifications can greatly influence chromatin-associated processes. Asymmetrically modified nucleosomes exist in multiple cell types, but whether modifications on both sister histones contribute equally to chromatin dynamics remains elusive. Here, we devised a bivalent nucleosome system that allowed for the constitutive assembly of asymmetrically modified sister histone H3s in nucl...

Sister chromatid separation is initiated at anaphase onset by the activation of separase, which removes cohesins from chromosomes. However, it remains elusive how sister chromatid separation is completed along the entire chromosome length. Here we found that, during early anaphase in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, sister chromatids separate gradually from centromeres to telomeres, accompanied by reg...