UDP-Galactose 4′-Epimerase Activities toward UDP-Gal and UDP-GalNAc Play Different Roles in the Development of Drosophila melanogaster

In both humans and Drosophila melanogaster, UDP-galactose 4′-epimerase (GALE) catalyzes two distinct reactions, interconverting UDP-galactose (UDP-gal) and UDP-glucose (UDP-glc) in the final step of the Leloir pathway of galactose metabolism, and also interconverting UDP-N-acetylgalactosamine (UDP-galNAc) and UDP-N-acetylglucosamine (UDP-glcNAc). All four of these UDP-sugars serve as vital substrates for glycosylation in metazoans. Partial loss of GALE in humans results in the spectrum disorder epimerase deficiency galactosemia; partial loss of GALE in Drosophila melanogaster also results in galactose-sensitivity, and complete loss in Drosophila is embryonic lethal. However, whether these outcomes in both humans and flies result from loss of one GALE activity, the other, or both has remained unknown. To address this question, we uncoupled the two activities in a Drosophila model, effectively replacing the endogenous dGALE with prokaryotic transgenes, one of which (Escherichia coli GALE) efficiently interconverts only UDP-gal/UDP-glc, and the other of which (Plesiomonas shigelloides wbgU) efficiently interconverts only UDP-galNAc/UDP-glcNAc. Our results demonstrate that both UDP-gal and UDP-galNAc activities of dGALE are required for Drosophila survival, although distinct roles for each activity can be seen in specific windows of developmental time or in response to a galactose challenge. By extension, these data also suggest that both activities might play distinct and essential roles in humans

FTIR spectroscopy for determination of the raw materials used in wood pellet production

The research investigates the possibility of distinguishing pellet wood fuels using infrared spectroscopy. It has been applied Attenuated Total Reflectance – Fourier Transform InfraRed (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy, deemed an analysis technique appropriate for detecting the chemical composition of materials, to determine woody components make up a wood pellet. Considering the large quantities of this solid biofuel on the market, it is necessary to guarantee the safety and traceability aspects of the product, as its origin and source, in addition to the quality parameters indicated by the ISO 17225-2 standards. In this study, a total of 98 samples of the most common wood used for European pellet production, have been selected and collected. This set of samples include also materials coming from the wood industry, as residues of the chemical process. Through clustering analysis Principal component Analysis (PCA) and Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA) techniques applied to spectroscopic analyzer data, it has been seen that ATR-FTIR results provide information on wood pellet typology, hardwood and softwood, and pellet made by woody materials containing high quantity of chemical products like glues

Three new mutations (P183T, V150L, 528insG) and eleven sequence polymorphisms in Italian patients with galactose-1-phosphate uridyltransferase (GALT) deficiency.

Donnelly, Andrew ; Colley, Alison ; Crimmins, Denis ; Mulley, Joh

Human UDP-galactose 4' epimerase (GALE) gene and identification of five missense mutations in patients with epimerase-deficiency galactosemia

The galactosemias are a series of three inborn errors of metabolism caused by deficiency of any one of the three human galactose-metabolic enzymes: galactokinase (GALK), galactose-1-phosphate uridyl transferase (GALT), and UDP-galactose 4' epimerase (GALE). We report here the characterization of the entire coding sequence of the GALE gene and screening for mutations in epimerase-deficient individuals. The human GALE gene is about 4 kb in size and is divided into 11 exons on chromosome band 1p36. We have identified five mutations in the GALE gene of epimerase-deficient galactosemia patients. The patients were either homozygotes or compound heterozygotes for mutations. These results confirm that epimerase-deficiency galactosemia is the result of missense mutations in the GALE gene and indicate that the disease is characterized by extensive allelic heterogeneity. (C) 1998 Academic Press

Identification of three novel cystic fibrosis mutations in a sample of Italian cystic fibrosis patients

An analysis of 274 non-delta F508 Italian cystic fibrosis chromosomes was carried out to determine their molecular defect. In a first step, the delta F508 and 59 other mutations were detected by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, restriction digestion, and the amplification refractory mutation system (ARMS) technique. The molecular defects of the other chromosomes were screened for by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis analysis of exons 3, 4, 7, 11, 12, 13, 14a, 17b, 19 and 20. Direct sequencing was carried out if necessary. This approach allowed us to identify 3 novel mutations, namely M348K, D614G and F693L

Simultaneous detection of delta F508, G542X, N1303K, G551D, and 1717-1G-->A cystic fibrosis alleles by a multiplex DNA enzyme immunoassay

We describe the use of a polymerase chain reaction in conjunction with a DNA enzyme immunoassay for the simultaneous detection of five common cystic fibrosis mutations. The method is specific, sensitive, rapid, and proved effective in Guthrie card-based screening of cystic fibrosis mutations