Complete Genome Sequence of Achromobacter Strain ES-001, a Betaproteobacterium Associated with a Cellulolytic Soil Community.

The genome sequence of the soilborne bacterium Achromobacter strain ES-001, assembled from Illumina NextSeq and Nanopore MinION reads, is rich in genes predicted to encode iron, arsenic, and hydrocarbon metabolism, as well as type 6 secretion components. The sequenced genome will aid in determining the roles of noncellulolytic species in cellulose-enriched environments.

Genome Sequence of a Novel Soil Actinomycete, Protaetiibacter sp. Strain SSC-01.

The family Microbacteriaceae represents a diverse and important group of soil bacteria in the phylum Actinobacteria Here, we report the genome sequence of a soil Microbacteriaceae strain, Protaetiibacter sp. strain SSC-01, the second putative species of the genus. Iron acquisition and xylose metabolism are central pathways identified in the annotated genome.

Comparison of Commercial Kits for Recovery and Analysis of Bacterial DNA From Fingerprints.

In forensic science, fingerprints are a common source of evidentiary information. However, latent examination is not always successful and trace human DNA cannot always be obtained. Thus, examining the fingerprint microbiome may offer a suitable alternative to more traditional methods of forensic identification. The Zymo Research ZR Bacterial/Fungal DNA MicroPrep™ Kit, Qiagen QIAmp® DNA Mini Kit, Promega Wizard® Genomic DNA Purification Kit, and the MPBio FastDNA® Spin Kit were compared for their ability to yield a sufficient amount of bacterial DNA for next-generation sequencing in order to obtain a microbiome profile. Prints were deposited onto slides, allowed to sit for up to 1 month, and total DNA isolated and quantified using each kit. The kit from Zymo Research yielded the most concentrated DNA sample (0.0084 ng/µL) in the least amount of time as compared to other kits examined. Although this amount of DNA was far below the recommended DNA concentration threshold recommended for next-generation sequencing, a microbiome profile was successfully obtained. As interest in using the microbiome of an individual as a forensic tool continues to increase, there is the possibility that the microbiome of a fingerprint could complement traditional human DNA profiling in the future. This study provides evidence that trace amounts of bacterial DNA from fingerprints is quantifiable and sufficient for microbiome analysis.

The discovery of Arylex™ active and Rinskor™ active: Two novel auxin herbicides.

Multiple classes of commercially important auxin herbicides have been discovered since the 1940s including the aryloxyacetates (2,4-D, MCPA, dichlorprop, mecoprop, triclopyr, and fluroxypyr), the benzoates (dicamba), the quinoline-2-carboxylates (quinclorac and quinmerac), the pyrimidine-4-carboxylates (aminocyclopyrachlor), and the pyridine-2-carboxylates (picloram, clopyralid, and aminopyralid). In the last 10 years, two novel pyridine-2-carboxylate (or picolinate) herbicides were discovered at Dow AgroSciences. This paper will describe the structure activity relationship study that led to the discovery of the 6-aryl-picolinate herbicides Arylex™ active (2005) and Rinskor™ active (2010). While Arylex was developed primarily for use in cereal crops and Rinskor is still in development primarily for use in rice crops, both herbicides will also be utilized in additional crops.

Familiarity effects in the construction of facial-composite images using modern software systems.

We investigate the effect of target familiarity on the construction of facial composites, as used by law enforcement to locate criminal suspects. Two popular software construction methods were investigated. Participants were shown a target face that was either familiar or unfamiliar to them and constructed a composite of it from memory using a typical 'feature' system, involving selection of individual facial features, or one of the newer 'holistic' types, involving repeated selection and breeding from arrays of whole faces. This study found that composites constructed of a familiar face were named more successfully than composites of an unfamiliar face; also, naming of composites of internal and external features was equivalent for construction of unfamiliar targets, but internal features were better named than the external features for familiar targets. These findings applied to both systems, although benefit emerged for the holistic type due to more accurate construction of internal features and evidence for a whole-face advantage. STATEMENT OF RELEVANCE: This work is of relevance to practitioners who construct facial composites with witnesses to and victims of crime, as well as for software designers to help them improve the effectiveness of their composite systems.

α-actinin is required for the proper assembly of Z-disk/focal-adhesion-like structures and for efficient locomotion in Caenorhabditis elegans.

The actin binding protein α-actinin is a major component of focal adhesions found in vertebrate cells and of focal-adhesion-like structures found in the body wall muscle of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. To study its in vivo function in this genetic model system, we isolated a strain carrying a deletion of the single C. elegans α-actinin gene. We assessed the cytological organization of other C. elegans focal adhesion proteins and the ultrastructure of the mutant. The mutant does not have normal dense bodies, as observed by electron microscopy; however, these dense-body-like structures still contain the focal adhesion proteins integrin, talin, and vinculin, as observed by immunofluorescence microscopy. Actin is found in normal-appearing I-bands, but with abnormal accumulations near muscle cell membranes. Although swimming in water appeared grossly normal, use of automated methods for tracking the locomotion of individual worms revealed a defect in bending. We propose that the reduced motility of α-actinin null is due to abnormal dense bodies that are less able to transmit the forces generated by actin/myosin interactions.

Identification of major classes of cholinergic neurons in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans.

The neurotransmitter acetylcholine (ACh) is specifically synthesized by the enzyme choline acetyltransferase (ChAT). Subsequently, it is loaded into synaptic vesicles by a specific vesicular acetylcholine transporter (VAChT). We have generated antibodies that recognize ChAT or VAChT in a model organism, the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, in order to examine the subcellular and cellular distributions of these cholinergic proteins. ChAT and VAChT are found in the same neurons, including more than one-third of the 302 total neurons present in the adult hermaphrodite. VAChT is found in synaptic regions, whereas ChAT appears to exist in two forms in neurons, a synapse-enriched form and a more evenly distributed possibly cytosolic form. We have used antibodies to identify the cholinergic neurons in the body of larval and adult hermaphrodites. All of the classes of putative excitatory motor neurons in the ventral nerve cord appear to be cholinergic: the DA and DB neurons in the first larval stage and the AS, DA, DB, VA, VB, and VC neurons in the adult. In addition, several interneurons with somas in the tail and processes in the tail or body are cholinergic; sensory neurons are generally not cholinergic. Description of the normal pattern of cholinergic proteins and neurons will improve our understanding of the role of cholinergic neurons in the behavior and development of this model organism.

Discovery, synthesis, and insecticidal activity of cycloaspeptide E.

Several Penicillia and one Tricothecium strain produced a new, insecticidally active member of the cycloaspeptide family, with the proposed name cycloaspeptide E (1). The structure, which was determined on the basis of spectroscopic (NMR, UV, MS) data and Marfey amino acid analysis, was the tyrosine desoxy version of cycloaspeptide A (2). Two synthetic routes to compound 1 were developed: one a partial synthesis from 2 and the other a total synthesis from methyl alaninate hydrochloride. Cycloaspeptide E, the first member of this series not to contain a tyrosine moiety, is also the first to be reported with insecticidal activity.

The Caenorhabditis elegans snf-11 gene encodes a sodium-dependent GABA transporter required for clearance of synaptic GABA.

Sodium-dependent neurotransmitter transporters participate in the clearance and/or recycling of neurotransmitters from synaptic clefts. The snf-11 gene in Caenorhabditis elegans encodes a protein of high similarity to mammalian GABA transporters (GATs). We show here that snf-11 encodes a functional GABA transporter; SNF-11-mediated GABA transport is Na+ and Cl- dependent, has an EC50 value of 168 microM, and is blocked by the GAT1 inhibitor SKF89976A. The SNF-11 protein is expressed in seven GABAergic neurons, several additional neurons in the head and retrovesicular ganglion, and three groups of muscle cells. Therefore, all GABAergic synapses are associated with either presynaptic or postsynaptic (or both) expression of SNF-11. Although a snf-11 null mutation has no obvious effects on GABAergic behaviors, it leads to resistance to inhibitors of acetylcholinesterase. In vivo, a snf-11 null mutation blocks GABA uptake in at least a subset of GABAergic cells; in a cell culture system, all GABA uptake is abolished by the snf-11 mutation. We conclude that GABA transport activity is not essential for normal GABAergic function in C. elegans and that the localization of SNF-11 is consistent with a GABA clearance function rather than recycling.

9-BBN: An amino acid protecting group for functionalization of amino acid side chains in organic solvents.

9-Borabicyclononane (9-BBN) has been utilized to protect functionalized amino acids for potential chemoselective side chain manipulation. The 9-BBN group imparts organic solubility to otherwise hydrophilic molecules and is tolerant of a wide range of reaction conditions. The high degree of solubility of these molecules in THF is particularly noteworthy. It is cleaved with either aqueous HCl or by exchange with ethylenediamine in methanol. [reaction: see text]

Mitochondrial membrane dynamics are altered in cluA- mutants of Dictyostelium.

In cluA- mutants of Dictyostelium, mitochondria are clustered near the cell center rather than being dispersed throughout the cytoplasm. We have examined two possible mechanisms that could account for this phenotype. First, we sought evidence that the cytoskeleton or a presumptive mitochondrion-cytoskeleton linkage was altered in mutant cells. We found that cytoskeletal structures in cluA- cells appeared normal by immunostaining, and that the distribution of peroxisomes in mutant cells was indistinguishable from that in wild type cells. Treatment of wild type cells with drugs that disrupted microtubules or actin filaments did not mimic the cluA- phenotype. Thus, cytoskeletal defects seemed unlikely to account for the mitochondrial clustering in cluA- cells. Observation of the movement of GFP-tagged mitochondria in wild type cells suggested that mitochondria are transported along microtubules, as in mammalian cells, rather than along actin filaments, as in budding yeast. Therefore, the similar phenotypes of cluA- Dictyostelium cells and clu1delta yeast cells argued against CluA/Clu1p acting as a mitochondrion-cytoskeleton linker. We next examined the ultrastructure of mitochondria in freeze-substituted, thin-sectioned cells. We found that the clustered mitochondria in cluA- cells are interconnected. Often, adjacent mitochondria are linked by narrow membranous strands, although sometimes the mitochondria are partially merged. The presence of narrow constrictions at presumptive division sites argues that the constriction step of division proceeds normally. Our data suggest that cluA- cells may be blocked at a very late step in fission of the outer mitochondrial membrane.

Small for gestational age associated with short stature during adolescence.

This study examined the relationship between intrauterine growth retardation and adolescent stature in a sample of 1510 White subjects (754 males and 756 females) who were evaluated at birth and at the ages of 15, 16, and 17 years. The subjects were classified into two groups based on birthweight, small for gestational age (SGA) and appropriate for gestational age (AGA), corresponding respectively to values below the 10th, and between the 11th and 99th, percentiles of gestational age and sex. Results showed that boys and girls born prematurely (gestational age < 37 weeks of gestation) attained the same stature as those born at full term (>37 weeks of gestation). In contrast, those born SGA were significantly shorter than their counterparts born AGA. The average reduction in stature was 4.9 cm for males and 2.9 cm for females. When the analysis included adjustments for parental stature (and adolescent's age at menarche for females), the average reduction in stature equaled about 3.5 cm for males and 2.0 cm for females. It is thus concluded that the stature deficit reflects a reduction in growth rate rather than delay in maturation. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.