Transglutaminase-Mediated Semen Coagulation Controls Sperm Storage in the Malaria Mosquito

The mating plug is a key regulator of mosquito fertility

Asian-specific mitochondrial genome polymorphism (9-bp deletion) in Hungarian patients with mitochondrial disease

A 9-bp deletion of the mtDNA is known as an anthropological marker of people with East-Asian origin. This 9-bp mtDNA deletion was analyzed in 1073 Hungarians with suspected mitochondrial disease and in 468 healthy control individuals. Fourteen cases with the 9-bp deletion were found in the cohort of mitochondrial patients, and one individual from 468 controls. In six cases the 9-bp deletion was present together with pathogenic major deletions in the mitochondrial genome. In one patient we found a frame shift mutation in the D-loop region, and in another family a pathogenic m.8322 A > G mutation in the tRNALys gene. Although the 9-bp deletion is common in the populations of the Pacific region and Asia, it is present in the Hungarian population as well. This 9-bp deletion may induce instability of the mtDNA and may provoke the introduction of other pathogenic mutations

Is mimicry a diversification-driver in ants? Biogeography, ecology, ethology, genetics and morphology define a second West-Palaearctic Colobopsis species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

The West-Palaearctic Colobopsis ant populations have long been considered a single species (Colobopsis truncata). We studied the diversity of this species by employing a multidisciplinary approach and combining data from our surveys, museum and private collections, and citizen science platforms. As a result, we have revealed the existence of a second species, which we describe as Colobopsis imitans sp. nov., distributed allopatrically from Co. truncata and living in the Maghreb, Sicily and southern Iberia. While the pigmentation of Co. truncata is reminiscent of Dolichoderus quadripunctatus, that of Co. imitans is similar to Crematogaster scutellaris, with which Co. imitans lives in close spatial association, and whose foraging trails it habitually follows, similar to Camponotus lateralis and other ant-mimicking ants. The isolation between Co. imitans and Co. truncata seems to have occurred relatively recently because of significant, yet not extreme, morphometric differentiation, and to mtDNA polyphyly. Both Co. imitans and Co. truncata appear to employ mimicry of an unpalatable or aggressive ant species as an important defensive strategy; this 'choice' of a different model species is motivated by biogeographic reasons and appears to act as a critical evolutionary driver of their diversification

Screening of substrate peptide sequences for tissue-type transglutaminase (TGase 2) using T7 phage cDNA library

Transglutaminase (TGase) is a family of enzymes that catalyzes cross-linking reaction between glutamine- and lysine residue of substrate proteins in several mammalian biological events. Substrate proteins for TGase and their physiological relevance have been still in research, continuously expanding. In this study, we have established a novel screening system that enables identification of cDNA sequence encoding favorable primary structure as a substrate for tissue-type transglutaminase (TGase 2), a multifunctional and ubiquitously expressing isozyme. By the screening, we identified several T7 phage clones that displayed substrate peptides for TGase 2 as a translated product from human brain cDNA library. Among the selected clones, the C-terminal region of IKAP, IkappaB kinase complex associated protein, appeared as a highly reactive substrate sequence for TGase 2. This system will open possibility of rapid identification of substrate sequences for transglutaminases at a genetic level