Amino acid racemization dating: Evidence of apparent reversal in aspartic acid racemization with time in shells of Ostrea

1986 ◽  
Vol 50 (6) ◽  
pp. 1159-1161 ◽  
Author(s):  
R.W.L Kimber ◽  
C.V Griffin ◽  
A.R Milnes
Radiocarbon ◽  
1983 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 647-654 ◽  
Author(s):  
R E Taylor

Radiocarbon determinations, employing both decay and direct counting, were obtained on various organic fractions of four human skeletal samples previously assigned ages ranging from 28,000 to 70,000 years on the basis of their D/L aspartic acid racemization values. In all four cases, the 14C values require an order of magnitude reduction in age.


1974 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 340-345 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael G. Petit

The racemization rate constant for aspartic acid has been determined from the D/L isomeric ratio in four strata of radiocarbon dated woodrat midden in Arizona. Two different methods of stereospecifically deaminating L-aspartic acid prior to the assay are compared. It is found that pure L-amino acid oxidase pretreatment of the DL aspartic acid mixture requires one less step than treatment with crude, dialyzed venom (Crotalus viridis) but that the two methods give the same results. Application of the theory of amino acid racemization dating is discussed in the context of the steric properties ofthe protein environment in which the racemization actually occurs.


Genetics ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 155 (4) ◽  
pp. 1701-1709 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge Vieira ◽  
Brian Charlesworth

AbstractThe genomic DNA sequence of a 2.4-kb region of the X-linked developmental gene fused was determined in 15 Drosophila virilis strains. One common replacement polymorphism is observed, where a negatively charged aspartic amino acid is replaced by the noncharged amino acid alanine. This replacement variant is located within the serine/threonine kinase domain of the fused gene and is present in ~50% of the sequences in our sample. Significant linkage disequilibrium is detected around this replacement site, although the fused gene is located in a region of the D. virilis X chromosome that seems to experience normal levels of recombination. In a 600-bp region around the replacement site, all eight alanine sequences are identical; of the six aspartic acid sequences, three are also identical. The occurrence of little or no variation within the aspartic acid and alanine haplotypes, coupled with the presence of several differences between them, is very unlikely under the usual equilibrium neutral model. Our results suggest that the fused alanine haplotypes have recently increased in frequency in the D. virilis population.


1988 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 1247-1252 ◽  
Author(s):  
E Lazar ◽  
S Watanabe ◽  
S Dalton ◽  
M B Sporn

To study the relationship between the primary structure of transforming growth factor alpha (TGF-alpha) and some of its functional properties (competition with epidermal growth factor (EGF) for binding to the EGF receptor and induction of anchorage-independent growth), we introduced single amino acid mutations into the sequence for the fully processed, 50-amino-acid human TGF-alpha. The wild-type and mutant proteins were expressed in a vector by using a yeast alpha mating pheromone promoter. Mutations of two amino acids that are conserved in the family of the EGF-like peptides and are located in the carboxy-terminal part of TGF-alpha resulted in different biological effects. When aspartic acid 47 was mutated to alanine or asparagine, biological activity was retained; in contrast, substitutions of this residue with serine or glutamic acid generated mutants with reduced binding and colony-forming capacities. When leucine 48 was mutated to alanine, a complete loss of binding and colony-forming abilities resulted; mutation of leucine 48 to isoleucine or methionine resulted in very low activities. Our data suggest that these two adjacent conserved amino acids in positions 47 and 48 play different roles in defining the structure and/or biological activity of TGF-alpha and that the carboxy terminus of TGF-alpha is involved in interactions with cellular TGF-alpha receptors. The side chain of leucine 48 appears to be crucial either indirectly in determining the biologically active conformation of TGF-alpha or directly in the molecular recognition of TGF-alpha by its receptor.


1988 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 81-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. M. Ahmed ◽  
J. A. Applewhite

Abstract Florunner peanut seeds contained five trypsin isoinhibitors. Amino acid profiles of the trypsin inhibitors fraction showed high levels of aspartic acid, half-cystine and serine and low levels of histidine and tyrosine. The molecular weight of the inhibitor was 8.3 KDa. The presence of multiforms of this inhibitor, its low molecular weight and the high amount of half-cystine indicate that peanut trypsin inhibitor is of the Bowman-Birk type.


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