Race, resistance and translation: the case of John Buchan’s UPrester John

In postcolonial translation studies, increasing attention is being given to the asymmetrical relationships between dominant and indigenous languages. This paper argues that John Francis Cele’s UPrester John (1958), is not simply a subordinated and obeisant translation of John Buchan’s adventure thriller Prester John (1910), but a more complex form of textuality that is both oppositional and complicit with the workings of apartheid. Although Cele’s translation reproduces Buchan’s story of a daring young Scotsman who single-handedly quells a black nationalist uprising, it also ameliorates the novel’s racist language and assumption. Cele’s translation practice is examined in the context of apartheid publishing and Bantu education.Web of Scienc

Disrupted Membrane Structure and Intracellular Ca2+ Signaling in Adult Skeletal Muscle with Acute Knockdown of Bin1

Efficient intracellular Ca2+ ([Ca2+]i) homeostasis in skeletal muscle requires intact triad junctional complexes comprised of t-tubule invaginations of plasma membrane and terminal cisternae of sarcoplasmic reticulum. Bin1 consists of a specialized BAR domain that is associated with t-tubule development in skeletal muscle and involved in tethering the dihydropyridine receptors (DHPR) to the t-tubule. Here, we show that Bin1 is important for Ca2+ homeostasis in adult skeletal muscle. Since systemic ablation of Bin1 in mice results in postnatal lethality, in vivo electroporation mediated transfection method was used to deliver RFP-tagged plasmid that produced short –hairpin (sh)RNA targeting Bin1 (shRNA-Bin1) to study the effect of Bin1 knockdown in adult mouse FDB skeletal muscle. Upon confirming the reduction of endogenous Bin1 expression, we showed that shRNA-Bin1 muscle displayed swollen t-tubule structures, indicating that Bin1 is required for the maintenance of intact membrane structure in adult skeletal muscle. Reduced Bin1 expression led to disruption of t-tubule structure that was linked with alterations to intracellular Ca2+ release. Voltage-induced Ca2+ released in isolated single muscle fibers of shRNA-Bin1 showed that both the mean amplitude of Ca2+ current and SR Ca2+ transient were reduced when compared to the shRNA-control, indicating compromised coupling between DHPR and ryanodine receptor 1. The mean frequency of osmotic stress induced Ca2+ sparks was reduced in shRNA-Bin1, indicating compromised DHPR activation. ShRNA-Bin1 fibers also displayed reduced Ca2+ sparks' amplitude that was attributed to decreased total Ca2+ stores in the shRNA-Bin1 fibers. Human mutation of Bin1 is associated with centronuclear myopathy and SH3 domain of Bin1 is important for sarcomeric protein organization in skeletal muscle. Our study showing the importance of Bin1 in the maintenance of intact t-tubule structure and ([Ca2+]i) homeostasis in adult skeletal muscle could provide mechanistic insight on the potential role of Bin1 in skeletal muscle contractility and pathology of myopathy

First report of tomato cholorosis virus and tomato infectious chlorosis virus in tomato crops in France

Since 2002, yellowing symptoms associated with high levels of white-fly populations have been observed in plants of protected tomato crops in France. Symptomatic plants exhibited interveinal yellowing areas in older leaves, followed by generalized yellowing. Symptoms were not observed in young plants or fruits. Trialeurodes vaporariorum populations were generally abundant in spring, and Bemisia tabaci (established in France for approximately 10 years) became predominant in summer and fall. To check for the presence of Tomato chlorosis virus (ToCV) and Tomato infectious chlorosis virus (TICV), two whitefly-transmitted criniviruses known to induce yellowing symptoms, 696 samples were collected in the major tomato-growing areas; 573 samples from southern France and 123 samples from northern France. Total RNA was extracted from each sample and analyzed using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Primers specific to ToCV (2) and TICV (1,3) were used to amplify either part of the heat-shock-like protein gene HSP70h (both viruses) or part of the diverged coat protein gene (CPd), (TICV only). A 439-bp DNA fragment was obtained with ToCV primers in 178 samples from southern France collected mainly from mid-spring to early fall from 2002 to 2004. Three RT-PCR products amplified from samples collected from diverse growing areas were sequenced and showed 99 to 100% sequence identity with published ToCV sequences from Spain (GenBank Accession Nos. AF215818, AF233435, and AF215817), Portugal (GenBank Accession No. AF234029), Sicily (GenBank Accession No. AY048854), and the United States (GenBank Accession No. AF024630). Considering the high frequency of ToCV-infected samples (41 positive samples of 112 samples collected in 2002, 71 of 295 collected in 2003, and 66 of 166 collected in 2004), this virus appears to be well established in southern France but remains absent in the northern regions. The presence of TICV was tested in 485 samples using the CPd-specific primers or the HSP70h-specific primers. The virus was detected in only two samples from Nice (southeastern France) in 2003 with both primer pairs. The CPd DNA fragment (700 bp) from one of these samples was sequenced, showing 98.9% sequence identity with a TICV Japanese isolate (AB085603). Results of these assays suggest that in contrast to ToCV, TICV is not yet broadly established in France. This difference could be associated with the specificity of the vectors, since ToCV is transmitted by B. tabaci and T. vaporariorum, while TICV is transmitted only by T. vaporariorum (4)

La recombinaison chez les cucumovirus, création in vitro d'une collection d'ARN3 recombinants de cucumovirus

International audienc