Calmodulin: Properties, Intracellular Localization, and Multiple Roles in Cell Regulation

Abstract The Asian citrus psyllid Diaphorina citri (Insecta: Hemiptera: Psylloidea), a serious pest of citrus species worldwide, harbors vertically transmitted intracellular mutualists, Candidatus Profftella armatura (Profftella_DC, Gammaproteobacteria: Burkholderiales) and Candidatus Carsonella ruddii (Carsonella_DC, Gammaproteobacteria: Oceanospirillales). Whereas Carsonella_DC is a typical nutritional symbiont, Profftella_DC is a unique defensive symbiont with organelle-like features, including intracellular localization within the host, perfect infection in host populations, vertical transmission over evolutionary time, and drastic genome reduction down to much less than 1 Mb. Large parts of the 460-kb genome of Profftella_DC are devoted to genes for synthesizing a polyketide toxin; diaphorin. To better understand the evolution of this unusual symbiont, the present study analyzed the genome of Profftella_Dco, a sister lineage to Profftella_DC, using Diaphorina cf. continua, a host psyllid congeneric with D. citri. The genome of coresiding Carsonella (Carsonella_Dco) was also analyzed. The analysis revealed nearly perfect synteny conservation in these genomes with their counterparts from D. citri. The substitution rate analysis further demonstrated genomic stability of Profftella which is comparable to that of Carsonella. Profftella_Dco and Profftella_DC shared all genes for the biosynthesis of diaphorin, hemolysin, riboflavin, biotin, and carotenoids, underlining multiple roles of Profftella, which may contribute to stabilizing symbiotic relationships with the host. However, acyl carrier proteins were extensively amplified in polyketide synthases DipP and DipT for diaphorin synthesis in Profftella_Dco. This level of acyl carrier protein augmentation, unprecedented in modular polyketide synthases of any known organism, is not thought to influence the polyketide structure but may improve the synthesis efficiency.

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The Morphology of the Rat Kidney Following Folic Acid Administration

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100067996 ◽

1970 ◽

Vol 28 ◽

pp. 200-201

Author(s):

Aline Byrnes ◽

Elsa E. Ramos ◽

Minoru Suzuki ◽

E.D. Mayfield

Keyword(s):

Folic Acid ◽

De Novo ◽

Specific Activity ◽

Rat Kidney ◽

Present Report ◽

Intracellular Localization ◽

Male Rats ◽

Renal Hypertrophy ◽

Electron Microscopic ◽

Biochemical Alterations

Renal hypertrophy was induced in 100 g male rats by the injection of 250 mg folic acid (FA) dissolved in 0.3 M NaHCO3/kg body weight (i.v.). Preliminary studies of the biochemical alterations in ribonucleic acid (RNA) metabolism of the renal tissue have been reported recently (1). They are: RNA content and concentration, orotic acid-c14 incorporation into RNA and acid soluble nucleotide pool, intracellular localization of the newly synthesized RNA, and the specific activity of enzymes of the de novo pyrimidine biosynthesis pathway. The present report describes the light and electron microscopic observations in these animals. For light microscopy, kidney slices were fixed in formalin, embedded, sectioned, and stained with H & E and PAS.

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The Immuno-Electron Microscopic Localization of the Mo-Fe Protein Component of Nitrogenase in Cells of Azotobacter Vinelandii

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100073313 ◽

1973 ◽

Vol 31 ◽

pp. 574-575

Author(s):

J. T. Stasny ◽

R. C. Burns ◽

R. W. F. Hardy

Keyword(s):

Cellular Localization ◽

Direct Evidence ◽

Azotobacter Vinelandii ◽

Intracellular Localization ◽

Protein Component ◽

Electron Microscopic ◽

Thin Sections ◽

Fe Protein ◽

Intracytoplasmic Membranes

Structure-functlon studies of biological N2-fixation have correlated the presence of the enzyme nitrogenase with increased numbers of intracytoplasmic membranes in Azotobacter. However no direct evidence has been provided for the internal cellular localization of any nitrogenase. Recent advances concerned with the crystallizatiorTand the electron microscopic characterization of the Mo-Fe protein component of Azotobacter nitrogenase, prompted the use of this purified protein to obtain antibodies (Ab) to be conjugated to electron dense markers for the intracellular localization of the protein by electron microscopy. The present study describes the use of ferritin conjugated to goat antitMo-Fe protein immunoglobulin (IgG) and the observations following its topical application to thin sections of N2-grown Azotobacter.

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Microchemistry of ZnO Varistors

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100133102 ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 50 (2) ◽

pp. 1694-1695

Author(s):

K. K. Soni ◽

J. Hwang ◽

V. P. Dravid ◽

T. O. Mason ◽

R. Levi-Setti

Keyword(s):

Grain Boundaries ◽

Multiple Roles ◽

Grain Boundary Engineering ◽

Ion Microprobe ◽

Dopant Distribution ◽

Important Ingredient ◽

Zno Varistor ◽

Zno Varistors ◽

Zno Powder ◽

The University

ZnO varistors are made by mixing semiconducting ZnO powder with powders of other metal oxides e.g. Bi2O3, Sb2O3, CoO, MnO2, NiO, Cr2O3, SiO2 etc., followed by conventional pressing and sintering. The non-linear I-V characteristics of ZnO varistors result from the unique properties that the grain boundaries acquire as a result of dopant distribution. Each dopant plays important and sometimes multiple roles in improving the properties. However, the chemical nature of interfaces in this material is formidable mainly because often trace amounts of dopants are involved. A knowledge of the interface microchemistry is an essential component in the ‘grain boundary engineering’ of materials. The most important ingredient in this varistor is Bi2O3 which envelopes the ZnO grains and imparts high resistance to the grain boundaries. The solubility of Bi in ZnO is very small but has not been experimentally determined as a function of temperature.In this study, the dopant distribution in a commercial ZnO varistor was characterized by a scanning ion microprobe (SIM) developed at The University of Chicago (UC) which offers adequate sensitivity and spatial resolution.

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An immunocytochemical study of maternal immunoglobulin localization in the suckling pig intestine

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s042482010016217x ◽

1990 ◽

Vol 48 (3) ◽

pp. 922-923

Author(s):

László G. Kömüves ◽

Donna S. Turner ◽

Kathy S. McKee ◽

Buford L. Nichols ◽

Julian P. Heath

Keyword(s):

Sodium Ethoxide ◽

Intracellular Localization ◽

Protein A ◽

Tween 20 ◽

Intestinal Epithelial ◽

Immunocytochemical Study ◽

Fish Skin ◽

Newborn Piglets ◽

Rabbit Igg ◽

Fish Skin Gelatin

In this study we used colloidal gold probes to detect the intracellular localization of colostral immunoglobulins in intestinal epithelial cells of newborn piglets.Tissues were obtained from non-suckled newborn and suckled piglets aged between 1 hour to 1 month. Samples were fixed in 2.5 % glutaraldehyde, osmicated and embedded into Spurr’s resin. Thin (80 nm) sections were etched with 5% sodium ethoxide for 5 min, washed and treated with 4 % sodium-m-periodate in distilled water for 30 min. The sections were then first incubated with blocking buffer (2 % BSA, 0.25 % fish skin gelatin, 0.5 % Tween 20 in 10 mM Trizma buffer, pH=7.4 containing 500 mM NaCl) for 30 min followed by the immunoreagents diluted in the same buffer, 1 hr each. For the detection of pig immunoglobulins a rabbit anti-pig IgG antiserum was used followed by goat anti-rabbit IgG-Au10 or protein A-Au15 probes.

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Immunoferritin Labelling of Murine Leukemia Virus Antigens in thin Sections

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s1431927600002221 ◽

1980 ◽

Vol 38 ◽

pp. 508-509

Author(s):

Ray A. Weigand ◽

Gregory C. Varjabedian

Keyword(s):

Murine Leukemia Virus ◽

Leukemia Virus ◽

Intracellular Localization ◽

Uranyl Acetate ◽

Antibody Technique ◽

Thin Sections ◽

Tumor Virus ◽

Labelling Procedure ◽

Unlabelled Antibody ◽

Murine Leukemia

We previously described the intracellular localization of murine mammary tumor virus (MuMTV) p28 protein in thin sections (1). In that study, MuMTV containing cells fixed in 3% paraformaldehyde plus 0.05% glutaraldehyde were labelled after thin sectioning using ferritin-antiferritin in an unlabelled antibody technique. We now describe the labelling of murine leukemia virus (MuLV) particles using the unlabelled antibody technique coupled to ferritin-Fab antiferritin. Cultures of R-MuLV in NIH/3T3 cells were grown to 90% confluence (2), fixed with 2% paraformaldehyde plus 0.5% glutaraldehyde in 0.1 M cacodylate at pH 7.2, postfixed with buffered 17 OsO4, dehydrated with a series of etha-nols, and embedded in Epon. Thin sections were collected on nickel grids, incubated in 107 H2O2, rinsed in HEPES buffered saline, and subjected to the immunoferritin labelling procedure. The procedure included preincubation in 27 egg albumin, a four hour incubation in goat antisera against purified gp69/71 of MuLV (3) (primary antibody), incubation in F(ab’)2 fragments of rabbit antisera to goat IgG (secondary antibody), incubation in apoferritin, incubation in ferritin-Fab ferritin, and a brief fixation with 2% glutaraldehyde. The sections were stained with uranyl acetate and examined in a Siemens IA electron microscope at an accelerating voltage of 60 KV.

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