Trypanosoma brucei: enrichment by UV of intergenic transcripts from the variable surface glycoprotein gene expression site.

The expression site for the variable surface glycoprotein (VSG) gene AnTat 1.3A of Trypanosoma brucei is 45 kilobases long and encompasses seven expression site-associated genes (ESAGs) (E. Pays, P. Tebabi, A. Pays, H. Coquelet, P. Revelard, D. Salmon, and M. Steinert, Cell 57:835-845, 1989). After UV irradiation, several large transcripts from the putative promoter region were strongly enriched. We report that one such major transcript starts near the poly(A) addition site of the first gene (ESAG 7), spans the intergenic region, and extends to the poly(A) addition site of the second gene (ESAG 6), thus bypassing the normal 3' splice site of the ESAG 6 mRNA. Since this transcript is spliced, we conclude that UV irradiation does not inhibit splicing but stabilizes unstable processing products. This demonstrates that at least some intergenic regions of the VSG gene expression site are continuously transcribed in accordance with a polycistronic transcription model

Trypanosoma brucei: posttranscriptional control of the variable surface glycoprotein gene expression site.

The arrest of variable surface glycoprotein (VSG) synthesis is one of the first events accompanying the differentiation of Trypanosoma brucei bloodstream forms into procyclic forms, which are characteristic of the insect vector. This is because of a very fast inhibition of VSG gene transcription which occurs as soon as the temperature is lowered. We report that this effect is probably not controlled at the level of transcription initiation, since the beginning of the VSG gene expression site, about 45 kilobases upstream from the antigen gene, remains transcribed in procyclic forms. The permanent activity of the promoter readily accounts for the systematic reappearance, upon return to the bloodstream form after cyclical transmission, of the antigen type present before passage to the tsetse fly. The abortive transcription of the VSG gene expression site appears linked to RNA processing abnormalities. Such posttranscriptional controls may allow the modulation of gene expression in a genome organized in large multigenic transcription units.Journal ArticleResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

The essential importance of experimental research and the use of experimental thermodynamics to the benefit of industry

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Predicting the transport properties of acid gases in Aqueous MEA solutions using molecular simulation

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Transport Properties of Mixtures of Acid Gases with Aqueous Monoethanolamine Solutions: A Molecular Dynamics Study

International audienceWe investigated the effect of temperature and monoethanolamine (MEA) concentration on the self-diffusivity of acid gases, CO2 , and H2S in aqueous MEA solutions. For this purpose, we computed densities of pure MEA and 30 wt.% MEA/water solutions while scaling the LJ energy (ϵ) parameter and point charges of MEA. Results show that with a scaling factor of 0.80 applied to the point charges of MEA, computed densities agree well with the experimental ones from literature. This was tested by computing viscosities and the self-diffusivity of pure MEA and 30 wt.% MEA/water solutions and comparing these with experiments. We showed that the scaling factor of 0.80 also works well for predicting transport properties of MEA/water solutions. Finally, we computed self-diffusivities of infinitely diluted CO2 and H2S for temperatures ranging from 293–353 K and MEA concentrations of 10–50 wt.%. Our results show that the self-diffusivity of both acid gases depends significantly on the temperature and MEA concentration in the solution. The results of this study will contribute to the development of more efficient acid gas treatment processes