Brorfelde Schmidt CCD Catalog (BSCC)

The Brorfelde Schmidt CCD Catalog (BSCC) contains about 13.7 million stars, north of +49 deg Declination with precise positions and V, R photometry. The catalog has been constructed from the reductions of 18,667 CCD frames observed with the Brorfelde Schmidt Telescope between 2000 and 2007. The Tycho-2 catalog was used for astrometric and photometric reference stars. Errors of individual positions are about 20 to 200 mas for stars in the R = 10 to 18 mag range. External comparisons with 2MASS and SDSS reveal possible small systematic errors in the BSCC of up to about 30 mas. The catalog is supplemented with J, H, and K_s magnitudes from the 2MASS catalog. The catalog data file (about 550 MB ASCII, compressed) will be made available at the Strasbourg Data Center (CDS).Comment: 16 pages, 22 figures, 2 tables, accepted by A

Stress Activation of a Bean Hydroxyproline-Rich Glycoprotein Promoter Is Superimposed on a Pattern of Tissue-Specific Developmental Expression

The HRGP4.1 gene, which encodes a cell wall hydroxyproline-rich glycoprotein, was isolated from a genomic library of bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.). Two transcripts, one induced by wounding and one by elicitation, were transcribed from the same initiation site. The gene encodes a polypeptide of 580 amino acids with the amino terminal half consisting of repeats of the sequence serine-(proline)4-lysine-histidine-serine-(proline)4-(tyrosine)3-histidi ne and the carboxyl-terminal half composed of repeats of the sequence serine-(proline)4-valine-tyrosine-lysine-tyrosine-lysine. A 964-bp upstream promoter fragment was translationally fused to the beta-glucuronidase reporter gene (Escherichia coli uidA) and transferred into tobacco by Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated leaf disc transformation. Analysis of beta-glucuronidase activity showed that wounding caused local activation of the HRGP4.1 promoter in the phloem. Infection by tobacco mosaic virus was a less effective inducer than wounding. Stress induction was superimposed on tissue-specific developmental expression in stem nodes and root tips, suggesting that HRGP4.1 may have specific structural roles in development as well as protective functions in defense. Deletion analysis showed that control of tissue specificity and wound inducibility lies in a region between -94 and -251 relative to the transcription start site and that activation by infection lies outside that region

Delayed Toxicity Associated with Soluble Anthrax Toxin Receptor Decoy-Ig Fusion Protein Treatment

Soluble receptor decoy inhibitors, including receptor-immunogloubulin (Ig) fusion proteins, have shown promise as candidate anthrax toxin therapeutics. These agents act by binding to the receptor-interaction site on the protective antigen (PA) toxin subunit, thereby blocking toxin binding to cell surface receptors. Here we have made the surprising observation that co-administration of receptor decoy-Ig fusion proteins significantly delayed, but did not protect, rats challenged with anthrax lethal toxin. The delayed toxicity was associated with the in vivo assembly of a long-lived complex comprised of anthrax lethal toxin and the receptor decoy-Ig inhibitor. Intoxication in this system presumably results from the slow dissociation of the toxin complex from the inhibitor following their prolonged circulation. We conclude that while receptor decoy-Ig proteins represent promising candidates for the early treatment of B. anthracis infection, they may not be suitable for therapeutic use at later stages when fatal levels of toxin have already accumulated in the bloodstream

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Oxygen regulation of a nodule-located carbonic anhydrase in alfalfa.

Control of the permeability to oxygen is critical for the function of symbiotic nitrogen fixation in legume nodules. The inner cortex (IC) seems to be a primary site for this regulation. In alfalfa (Medicago sativa) nodules, expression of the Msca1 gene encoding a carbonic anhydrase (CA) was previously found to be restricted to the IC. We have now raised antibodies against recombinant Msca1 protein and used them, together with antibodies raised against potato leaf CA, to demonstrate the presence of two forms of CA in mature nodules. Each antibody recognizes a different CA isoform in nodule tissues. Immunolocalization revealed that leaf-related CAs were localized primarily in the nitrogen-fixing zone, whereas the Msca1 protein was restricted exclusively to the IC region, in indeterminate and determinate nodules. In alfalfa nodules grown at various O(2) concentrations, an inverse correlation was observed between the external oxygen pressure and Msca1 protein content in the IC, the site of the putative diffusion barrier. Thus Msca1 is a molecular target of physiological processes occurring in the IC cells involved in gas exchange in the nodule

Oxygen regulation of a nodule-located carbonic anhydrase in alfalfa.

Control of the permeability to oxygen is critical for the function of symbiotic nitrogen fixation in legume nodules. The inner cortex (IC) seems to be a primary site for this regulation. In alfalfa (Medicago sativa) nodules, expression of the Msca1 gene encoding a carbonic anhydrase (CA) was previously found to be restricted to the IC. We have now raised antibodies against recombinant Msca1 protein and used them, together with antibodies raised against potato leaf CA, to demonstrate the presence of two forms of CA in mature nodules. Each antibody recognizes a different CA isoform in nodule tissues. Immunolocalization revealed that leaf-related CAs were localized primarily in the nitrogen-fixing zone, whereas the Msca1 protein was restricted exclusively to the IC region, in indeterminate and determinate nodules. In alfalfa nodules grown at various O(2) concentrations, an inverse correlation was observed between the external oxygen pressure and Msca1 protein content in the IC, the site of the putative diffusion barrier. Thus Msca1 is a molecular target of physiological processes occurring in the IC cells involved in gas exchange in the nodule

Recombinant Anthrax Toxin Receptor-Fc Fusion Proteins Produced in Plants Protect Rabbits against Inhalational Anthrax ▿ †

Inhalational anthrax, a zoonotic disease caused by the inhalation of Bacillus anthracis spores, has a ∼50% fatality rate even when treated with antibiotics. Pathogenesis is dependent on the activity of two toxic noncovalent complexes: edema toxin (EdTx) and lethal toxin (LeTx). Protective antigen (PA), an essential component of both complexes, binds with high affinity to the major receptor mediating the lethality of anthrax toxin in vivo, capillary morphogenesis protein 2 (CMG2). Certain antibodies against PA have been shown to protect against anthrax in vivo. As an alternative to anti-PA antibodies, we produced a fusion of the extracellular domain of human CMG2 and human IgG Fc, using both transient and stable tobacco plant expression systems. Optimized expression led to the CMG2-Fc fusion protein being produced at high levels: 730 mg/kg fresh leaf weight in Nicotiana benthamiana and 65 mg/kg in N. tabacum. CMG2-Fc, purified from tobacco plants, fully protected rabbits against a lethal challenge with B. anthracis spores at a dose of 2 mg/kg body weight administered at the time of challenge. Treatment with CMG2-Fc did not interfere with the development of the animals' own immunity to anthrax, as treated animals that survived an initial challenge also survived a rechallenge 30 days later. The glycosylation of the Fc (or lack thereof) had no significant effect on the protective potency of CMG2-Fc in rabbits or on its serum half-life, which was about 5 days. Significantly, CMG2-Fc effectively neutralized, in vitro, LeTx-containing mutant forms of PA that were not neutralized by anti-PA monoclonal antibodies