Methylation of RNA by methyltransferases is a phylogenetically ubiquitous post-transcriptional modification that occurs most extensively in transfer RNA (tRNA) and ribosomal RNA (rRNA). Biochemical characterization of RNA methyltransferase enzymes and their methylated product RNA or RNA-protein complexes is usually done by measuring the incorporation of radiolabeled methyl groups into the produ...

The nicking of the origin of transfer (oriT) is an essential initial step in the conjugative mobilization of plasmid DNA. In the case of staphylococcal plasmid pC221, nicking by the plasmid-specific MobA relaxase is facilitated by the DNA-binding accessory protein MobC; however, the role of MobC in this process is currently unknown. In this study, the site of MobC binding was determined by DNas...

OBJECTIVE To assess the bacteriological quality of dialysis fluid in 2 hemodialysis units in Alexandria, Egypt. METHODS A total of 321 samples of hemodialysis fluids, 213 from unit A (a governmental unit), 108 from unit B (a private unit), both under the supervision of ministry of health, were collected from the water treatment system (WTS), treated water, concentrates, and final dialysate fr...

Gel mobility shift assays with His-tagged BldD isolated from Escherichia coli have illustrated that BldD is capable of specifically recognizing its own promoter region. DNase I and hydroxyl radical footprinting assays have served to delimit the BldD binding site, revealing that BldD recognizes and binds to a site just upstream from, and overlapping with, the -10 region of the promoter. How BldD...

AmyR is a transcriptional activator in Aspergillus spp. necessary for induction of the amylolytic enzyme genes. It recognizes 5'-CGGN8CGG-3' conserved in a number of the amylolytic gene promoters, and in addition 5'-CGGAAATTTAA-3' in the A. oryzae alpha-amylase promoter. In this report, interaction of AmyR with the 5'-CGGAAATTTAA-3' type binding site in the Taka-amylase gene (taaG2) promoter wa...

Zygotic expression of the BMP-4 gene in Xenopus embryos is regulated by an auto-regulatory loop. Since AP-1 is known as a mediator of auto-regulatory loops both in the case of the Drosophila dpp and the mammalian TGF-beta genes, we have analysed the potential of Xenopus c-Jun (AP-1) as a mediator of BMP-4 expression during Xenopus development. RNA injection experiments revealed that both hetero...

Proinflammatory mediators are important in the pathogenesis of IBD, which are regulated by activation of NF-kappaB. The aim of this study was to investigate whether melatonin reduces inflammatory injury and inhibits proinflammatory molecule and NF-kappaB in rats with colitis. Rat colitis model was established by TNBS enema. NF-kappaB p65, TNF-alpha, ICAM-1, and IkappaBalpha in colon tissue were...

Crystal structures of the GCN4 bZIP (basic region/leucine zipper) with the AP-1 or CRE site show how each GCN4 basic region binds to a 4 bp cognate half-site as a single DNA target; however, this may not always fully describe how bZIP proteins interact with their target sites. Previously, we showed that the GCN4 basic region interacts with all 5 bp in half-site TTGCG (termed 5H-LR) and that 5H-...

A goal of modern agriculture is to improve plant drought tolerance and production per amount of water used, referred to as water use efficiency (WUE). Although stomatal density has been linked to WUE, the causal molecular mechanisms have yet to be determined. Arabidopsis thaliana GT-2 LIKE 1 (GTL1) loss-of-function mutations result in increased water deficit tolerance and higher integrated WUE ...

We have modified the EMIT (Syva) serum digoxin assay for use with a mini-disc centrifugal analyzer. A minicomputer is used to control data acquisition, calculations, and readout for 14 cuvettes simultaneously. Thus, it is not necessary for time each individual assay manually or to plot calibration curves on graph paper. We use incubation times and dilutions similar to those used for the manual ...