The liverwort Marchantia polymorpha mitochondrial DNA encodes almost all tRNAs required for mitochondrial translation except for the isoleucine (AUU, AUC) and threonine (ACA, ACG) codons, while the missing tRNAs are supplied in part by the nucleus and imported in mitochondria. In this paper, we report a finding of two radically different nuclear tRNAVal(AAC) genes and import of the correspondin...

Ammonium Preference: Agrostis canina (velvet bentgrass) Amphibolis antarctica (a seagrass) Callitriche hamulata (a water starwort) Ceratophyllum demersum (hornwort) Cymodocea rotundata (a seagrass) Drepanocladus fluitans (an aquatic moss) Eichhornia crassipes (water hyacinth) Elodea densa (Anacharis) Elodea nuttallii (Western waterweed) Fontinalis antipyretica (willow moss) Halodule uninervis (...

Adenylyl cyclase (AC), which produces the signalling molecule cAMP, has numerous important cellular functions in diverse organisms from prokaryotes to eukaryotes. Here we report the identification and characterization of an AC gene from the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha. The encoded protein has both a C-terminal AC catalytic domain similar to those of class III ACs and an N-terminal cyclic nu...

We previously reported Agrobacterium-mediated transformation methods for the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha using the hygromycin phosphotransferase gene as a marker for selection with hygromycin. In this study, we developed three additional markers for M. polymorpha transformation: the gentamicin 3'-acetyltransferase gene for selection with gentamicin; a mutated acetolactate synthase gene for ...

Suspension cultured cells of the liverwort Marchantia paleacea var. diptera (MpK) were investigated to clarify the relationship between morphogenesis and the mode of utilization of nitrogen sources in different media. MpK cells grew vigorously in a Murashige and Skoog's liquid medium with 4% glucose in the light condition. Thallus regeneration from cultured cells occurred in culture medium with...

PCR-based approach was used as a phylogenetic profiling tool to probe genomic DNA samples from representatives of evolutionary distant moss taxa, namely, classes Bryopsida, Tetraphidopsida, Polytrichopsida, Andreaeopsida, and Sphagnopsida. We found relatives of all Physcomitrella patens miR390 and TAS3-like loci in these plant taxa excluding Sphagnopsida. Importantly, cloning and sequencing of ...

Glycerotoxin (GLTx), a large neurotoxin isolated from the venom of the sea worm Glycera convoluta, promotes a long-lasting increase in spontaneous neurotransmitter release at the peripheral and central synapses by selective activation of Ca(v)2.2 channels. We found that GLTx stimulates the very high frequency, long-lasting (more than 10 hours) spontaneous release of acetylcholine by promoting n...