A mutant strain of Aspergillus nidulans is hypersensitive to cycloheximide

We routinely use a strain derived from the master strain A513 (FGSC) for mitotic linkage studies in our laboratory. This strain carries the ActA1 mutation on linkage group III, which should confer resistance to actidione (trade name for cycloheximide). However, we have observed that our strain 513s is hypersensitive to actidione in comparison with a wild-type strain at the ActA1 locus (our collection)

Mapping of mutants resistant to p-fluorophenylalanine in diploid Aspergillus nidulans, lethal in haploids

In a previous paper (Babudri and Morpurgo 1990 Curr. Genet. 17:519-522) we described a new class of para-fluorophenylalanine (FPA) resistant mutants in Aspergillus nidulans. These mutants were obtained by plating UV irradiated diploid conidia on minimal medium (MM) supplemented with FPA (0.188 mg/ml)

UV light induced accumulation of variability in a diploid strain of Aspergillus nidulans

The accumulated variability in asexual species was evaluated in Aspergillus nidulans diploid cells after repeated cycles of UV irradiation. The results show that diploid cells can accumulate a very high genetic variability in the heterozygous condition as previously shown with the base analog 6-N-hydroxylaminopurine (HAP)

Genotoxic activity of 2-amino-N-hydroxylaminopurine (AHA) in Aspergillus nidulans

In Aspergillus nidulans, as well as in other eukaryotic cells, not all base analogs are mutagenic. For example, 2-aminopurine (2-AP) is non-mutagenic or weakly mutagenic for eukaryotes while it is mutagenic for bacteria. Because of their potential use in genetical research, an effort has been made to find base analogs mutagenic for eukaryotic cells. Work in this field has been successful: in fact, 6- hydroxylamino-purine (HAP) and 2-amino-N-hydroxylaminopurine (AHA) have been found mutagenic for yeast as well as for other eukaryotic cells. (Pavlov et al. 1991, Mut. Res. 253:33-46). In particular, Brockman et al. (Mut. Res. 177:61-75, 1987) tested the mutagenic activity of HAP and AHA in Neurospora crassa and found that AHA is about equally mutagenic as HAP at low doses but more mutagenic at high doses. In this paper we report the genotoxic activity of AHA in A. nidulans. In this mold, we have tested AHA-induced lethality and mutagenic and recombinogenic effect

2,2′-(Propane-2,2-di­yl)dibenzothia­zole

The two symmetry-independent mol­ecules in the asymmetric unit of the title compound, C17H14N2S2, have similar geometry; the dihedral angles between the least-squares planes of the benzothia­zole groups in the two mol­ecules are 83.93 (3) and 81.26 (3)°

Effectiveness of cardiac resynchronization therapy in heart failure patients with valvular heart disease: comparison with patients affected by ischaemic heart disease or dilated cardiomyopathy. The InSync/InSync ICD Italian Registry

AimsTo analyse the effectiveness of cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) in patients with valvular heart disease (a subset not specifically investigated in randomized controlled trials) in comparison with ischaemic heart disease or dilated cardiomyopathy patients.Methods and resultsPatients enrolled in a national registry were evaluated during a median follow-up of 16 months after CRT implant. Patients with valvular heart disease treated with CRT (n = 108) in comparison with ischaemic heart disease (n = 737) and dilated cardiomyopathy (n = 635) patients presented: (i) a higher prevalence of chronic atrial fibrillation, with atrioventricular node ablation performed in around half of the cases; (ii) a similar clinical and echocardiographic profile at baseline; (iii) a similar improvement of LVEF and a similar reduction in ventricular volumes at 6-12 months; (iv) a favourable clinical response at 12 months with an improvement of the clinical composite score similar to that occurring in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy and more pronounced than that observed in patients with ischaemic heart disease; (v) a long-term outcome, in term of freedom from death or heart transplantation, similar to patients affected by ischaemic heart disease and basically more severe than that of patients affected by dilated cardiomyopathy.ConclusionIn 'real world' clinical practice, CRT appears to be effective also in patients with valvular heart disease. However, in this group of patients the outcome after CRT does not precisely overlap any of the two other groups of patients, for which much more data are currently available

Palladium–mediated organofluorine chemistry

Producción CientíficaThe substitution of fluorine for hydrogen in a molecule may result in profound changes in its properties and behaviour. Fluorine does not introduce special steric constraints since the F atom has a small size. However, the changes in bond polarity and the possibility of forming hydrogen bonds with other hydrogen donor fragments in the same or other molecules, may change the solubility and physical properties of the fluorinated compound when compared to the non-fluorinated one. Fluorine forms strong bonds to other elements and this ensures a good chemical stability. Altogether, fluorinated compounds are very attractive in materials chemistry and in medicinal chemistry, where many biologically active molecules and pharmaceuticals do contain fluorine in their structure and this has been shown to be essential for their activityJunta de Castilla y León (programa de apoyo a proyectos de investigación – Ref. VA302U13)Junta de Castilla y León (programa de apoyo a proyectos de investigación – Ref. VA256U13

Bifunctional copper catalysts. A one step synthesis of bicyclic ethers starting from alpha,beta-unsaturated ketones

A new, one pot synthesis of bicyclic ethers starting from alpha,beta-unsaturated ketones containing an additional isolated olefinic bond is proposed. It relies on highly chemoselective hydrogenation of the enone group to the corresponding alcohol in the presence of supported copper catalysts, and on the presence of acidic sites on the catalyst support activating the double bond as a carbocation. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd