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Biochemical Genetics (v.38, #1-2)

Molecular Cloning and Characterization of Mouse Testis Poly(A) Binding Protein II Encoded by the Pabp3 Gene, Which Transcomplements Meiotic Mutant sme2 of S. pombe by Tadashi Okamura; Yoshiyuki Imai; Yasuhiro Kon; Masuo Goto; Masayuki Yamamoto; Tomomasa Watanabe (pp. 1-11).

A cDNA clone from a mouse testis cDNA library was isolated by the transcomplementation method using a Schizosaccharomyces pombe meiotic mutant (sme2) that is defective in meiosis I. The cDNA clone isolated has an open reading frame encoding 302 amino acids constituting a protein with a strong similarity to mouse poly(A) binding protein II (mPABII) and bovine poly(A) binding protein II (PABII). PABII is known to bind to the growing poly(A) tail and stimulates poly(A) polymerase, which catalyzes the polymerization of the mRNA poly(A) tail. Northern blot analysis of the cDNA clone identified as mPABII revealed a single transcript of 1.2 kb. This was detectable exclusively in adult testis. Immunohistochemical analysis using a polyclonal antibody demonstrated that mPABII protein was expressed in the nucleus at specific stages from late pachytene spermatocytes to round spermatids. Genetic mapping showed the Pabp3 gene encoding mPABII to be located near position 19.5 on mouse chromosome 14. These results suggest that mPABII might be involved in specific spermatogenetic cell differentiation.

Keywords: mouse testis; poly(A)binding protein; meiosis; Schizosaccharomyces pombe.

Genetic Analysis of Bemisia (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) Populations by Isoelectric Focusing Electrophoresis by J. K. Brown; Thomas M. Perring; A. D. Cooper; I. D. Bedford; P. G. Markham (pp. 13-25).

Twenty-one whitefly populations in the genus Bemisia were evaluated for genetic variation at 3 allozyme loci. Nine of the 22 populations that exhibited polymorphic loci were subjected to allozyme analysis using a minimum of 10 enzymes, representing 10 to 14 distinct loci. Among those nine variants examined, calculated genetic distances ranged between 0.03 and 0.52, with three main groups emerging from the analysis. One group comprised two closely related Western Hemisphere variants of B. tabaci: type A from California, United States and a geographically proximal population from Culiacan, Mexico. A second cluster contained five collections previously identified as B. tabaci type B and Bemisia argentifolii, while a third group contained a single population from Benin, Africa. The latter two groups were grouped separately from New World populations and are thought to have a recent origin in the Eastern Hemisphere.

Keywords: sibling species; silverleaf whitefly; sweetpotato whitefly; species complex

A Phylogenetic View on Species Radiation in Apodemus Inferred from Variation of Nuclear and Mitochondrial Genes by Keiko Serizawa; Hitoshi Suzuki; Kimiyuki Tsuchiya (pp. 27-40).

Species of field mice (genus Apodemus) are the most common rodents inhabiting woodlands and forests of the Palaearctic region. We examined the cytochrome b (cyt b) gene in mitochondrial DNA (1140 bp) and the interphotoreceptor retinoid binding protein (IRBP) gene in nuclear DNA (1152 bp) in nine species of Apodemus. Based on the genetic variation, the nine species were grouped into four lineages: (1) Agrarius group (A. agrarius, A. peninsulae, A. semotus, and A. speciosus), (2) Argenteus group (A. argenteus), (3) Gurkha group (A. gurkha), and (4) Sylvaticus group (A. alpicola, A. flavicollis, and A. sylvaticus). It was shown that these four lineages diverged within a short period of evolutionary time, suggestive of a radiation event. Soon after the radiation, the Agrarius group was likely to have differentiated again into the species lineages simultaneously. In contrast, the European clade, the Sylvaticus group, radiated rather recently. The relative ratio of the extent of sequence divergence among the four main lineages to that among the members of the subfamily Murinae (including Mus and Rattus) was calculated to be 72.4% in the cyt b gene with transversional substitutions, and 58.5% in the IRBP gene with all substitutions, using the Kimura two-parameter method. The value for the three European lineages was 27.6% in the cyt b gene and 12.3% in the IRBP gene. These results may have a correlation with the notion that deciduous broadleaf forests remained in Central East Asia through the late Tertiary to the present, while those in Europe to a large extent had disappeared by the Pliocene.

Keywords: Apodemus ; field mice; molecular phylogeny; cytochrome b ; IRBP

Insulin-like Growth Factor-I cDNA Gene Transfer in vitro and in vivo by Z. Tao; D. Herndon; H. Hawkins; T. Wood; R. Perez-Polo (pp. 41-55).

Our hypothesis is that gene transfer of an IGF-I CMV-cDNA with cholesterol containing cationic liposomes is an efficient tool for transient transfection of growth factors in vitro and in vivo. In vitro, we transiently cotransfected IGF-I cDNA with a CMV construct and a Lac Z CHKβCHK-galactosidase cDNA/CMV construct using cholesterol containing cationic liposomes and measured CHKβCHK-galactosidase and IGF-I mRNA and protein. In vivo, we subcutaneously injected 3-month-old male Sprague–Dawley rats with IGF-I cDNA and CHKβCHK-galactosidase cDNA into rat skin. After IGF-I and CHKβCHK-galactosidase were cotransfected into PC12 cells, Northern blot analysis showed that the peak time of IGF-I expression was 2 days for mRNA and 5 days for protein. In vivo, a cDNA/liposome ratio of 1:2 was most effective. IGF-I protein expression in IGF-I-transfected skin resulted in significant transfection from day 5 to day 7. In situ determination of CHKβCHK-galactosidase activity confirmed that transfections resulted in a restricted expression area.

Keywords: gene transfer; liposome; IGF-I; wound healing; rat

PCR Cloning of Cerambycidae Parechthistatus gibber (Pg) Homeobox Genes by Tamotsu Tamura; Iluko Mizuta; Yasuhiko Sakoyama (pp. 57-62).

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Biochemical Genetics (v.38, #1-2)

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Biochemical Genetics (v.38, #1-2)