Alloplasmic male sterility in Brassica napus (CMS 'Tournefortii-Stiewe') is associated with a special gene arrangement around a novel atp9 gene.

To identify regions of the mitochondrial genome potentially involved in the expression of alloplasmic 'Tournefortii-Stiewe' cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) in Brassica napus, transcripts of 25 mitochondrial genes were analysed in fertile and near isogenic male-sterile plants (BC(8) generation). Differences were detected in the transcription of genes for subunit 9 of ATP synthase (atp9), cytochrome b (cob) and subunit 2 of NADH dehydrogenase (nad2). Structural analysis of these gene regions revealed differences in genome organisation around atp9 between male-sterile and fertile plants. Three atp9 genes, two of which were hitherto unknown, are present in the mitochondria of CMS plants, and rearrangements upstream of one of these genes have generated a chimeric 193-codon ORF, designated orf193. This region is transcribed as a CMS specific bi-cistronic mRNA of 1.58 kb comprising orf193 and atp9. The level of the aberrant 1.58-kb transcript is reduced in plants restored to fertility by as yet uncharacterized nuclear genes. orf193 encodes a polypeptide of 22.7 kDa which exhibits partial sequence identity to the subunit 6 of the ATP synthase complex. However, as it forms an uninterrupted ORF with one of the newly discovered atp9 genes it may also be translated as a chimeric 30.2-kDa protein. It is likely that either or both gene products interfere with the function or assembly of the mitochondrial F(0)F(1)-ATP synthase, thus impairing the highly ATP-dependent process of pollen development. The novel molecular features of alloplasmic 'Tournefortii-Stiewe' CMS are discussed with respect to the other known mechanisms of CMS in B. napus.

Rapid expansion of microsatellite sequences in pines.

Microsatellite persistence time and evolutionary change was studied among five species of pines, which included a pair of closely related species (Pinus sylvestris and Pinus resinosa) in the subgenus Pinus, their relative Pinus radiata, and another closely related species pair (Pinus strobus and Pinus lambertiana) in the subgenus Strobus. The effective population sizes of these species are known to have ranged from the very small bottlenecks of P. resinosa to vast populations of P. sylvestris. This background allowed us to place the microsatellite evolution in a well-defined phylogenetic setting. Of 30 loci originating from P. strobus and P. radiata, we were able to consistently amplify 4 in most of the these pine species. These priming sites had been conserved for over 100 Myr. The four microsatellites were sequenced in the five species. Flanking sequences were compared to establish that the loci were orthologous. All microsatellites had persisted in these species, despite very different population sizes. We found a recent microsatellite duplication: a closely related pair of loci in P. strobus, where the other four species had just one locus. On two independent occasions, the repeat area of this same microsatellite (locus RPS 105a/b) had grown from a very low repeat number to 15 or 17 in the last 10-25 Myr. Other parts of the same compound microsatellite had remained virtually unchanged. Locus PR 4.6 is known to be polymorphic in both P. radiata and P. sylvestris, but the polymorphism in the two species is due to different motifs. The very large pine genomes are highly repetitive, and microsatellite loci also occur as gene families.

Implications of fault constitutive properties for earthquake prediction.

The rate- and state-dependent constitutive formulation for fault slip characterizes an exceptional variety of materials over a wide range of sliding conditions. This formulation provides a unified representation of diverse sliding phenomena including slip weakening over a characteristic sliding distance Dc, apparent fracture energy at a rupture front, time-dependent healing after rapid slip, and various other transient and slip rate effects. Laboratory observations and theoretical models both indicate that earthquake nucleation is accompanied by long intervals of accelerating slip. Strains from the nucleation process on buried faults generally could not be detected if laboratory values of Dc apply to faults in nature. However, scaling of Dc is presently an open question and the possibility exists that measurable premonitory creep may precede some earthquakes. Earthquake activity is modeled as a sequence of earthquake nucleation events. In this model, earthquake clustering arises from sensitivity of nucleation times to the stress changes induced by prior earthquakes. The model gives the characteristic Omori aftershock decay law and assigns physical interpretation to aftershock parameters. The seismicity formulation predicts large changes of earthquake probabilities result from stress changes. Two mechanisms for foreshocks are proposed that describe observed frequency of occurrence of foreshock-mainshock pairs by time and magnitude. With the first mechanism, foreshocks represent a manifestation of earthquake clustering in which the stress change at the time of the foreshock increases the probability of earthquakes at all magnitudes including the eventual mainshock. With the second model, accelerating fault slip on the mainshock nucleation zone triggers foreshocks.

Apolipoprotein B mRNA editing in 12 different mammalian species: hepatic expression is reflected in low concentrations of apoB-containing plasma lipoproteins.

Two different isoproteins are encoded by the apolipoprotein (apo) B gene, apoB-48 and apoB-100. ApoB-48, core component of intestinally derived chylomicrons, has an accelerated plasma turnover as compared with the full-length protein apoB-100. A posttranscriptional modification of the apoB mRNA by conversion of cytidine into uridine at nucleotide position 6666 changes the genomically encoded glutamine codon CAA at amino acid residue 2153 into a translational stop codon UAA. This mRNA editing explains the formation of the truncated isoform apoB-48. In the present investigation editing of apoB mRNA in liver and intestine from 12 different mammalian species was measured by a quantitative primer extension analysis of reverse-transcribed and polymerase chain reaction- (PCR) amplified apoB mRNA in order to determine whether i) editing of apoB mRNA is generally restricted to the intestine or may also be found in the liver of other species than rodents, and ii) hepatic expression of apoB mRNA editing influences lipoprotein concentrations in plasma. Intestinal apoB mRNA was edited at high levels in all species, 40% in sheep, 73% in horse, 82% in pig, 84% in dog, 84% in cat, 87% in guinea pig, 88% in rat, 89% in mouse, and > 90% in human, monkey, cow, and rabbit. In liver apoB mRNA was edited to 18% in dog, to 43% in horse, to 62% in rat, and to 70% in mouse. Low levels of editing below 1% were detected in liver of rabbit and guinea pig. In contrast, hepatic apoB mRNA from human, monkey, pig, cow, sheep, and cat liver was not edited. The results of the primer extension analysis were confirmed by cloning and sequencing of the PCR products from dog, horse, cat, guinea pig, sheep, and cow for all of which the apoB cDNA sequence had not been established by previous investigations. Primer extension analysis of apoB mRNA from dog intestine and dog liver indicated C/U editing at C6655 in addition to C6666. Cloning and sequencing of apoB cDNA from dog liver and intestine confirmed additional C/U editing at C6655 which changes ACA for threonine at amino acid residue 2149 into AUA for isoleucine. Synthesis and secretion of apoB-48-containing lipoproteins from liver was demonstrated by pulse labeling of freshly isolated horse hepatocytes and immunoprecipitation with apoB-specific antibodies or density gradient ultracentrifugation. The concentrations of VLDL, LDL, and HDL in all species were determined after fractionation by density gradient ultracentrifugation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)