The pasticcino mutants of Arabidopsis thaliana are affected in vegetative development and response to cytokinins

The control of cell division by growth regulators is critical to proper plant development. The isolation of single-gene mutants altered in the response to plant hormones should permit the identification of essential genes controlling the growth and development of plants. We have isolated mutants pasticcino belonging to 3 complementation groups (pas1, pas2, pas3) in the progeny of independent ethyl methane sulfonate and T-DNA mutagenized Arabidopsis thaliana plants. The screen was performed in the presence or absence of cytokinin. The mutants isolated were those that showed a significant hypertrophy of their apical parts when grown on cytokinin-containing medium. The pas mutants have altered embryo, leaf and root development. They display uncoordinated cell divisions which are enhanced by cytokinin. Physiological and biochemical analyses show that cytokinins are probably involved in pas phenotypes. The PAS genes have been mapped respectively to chromosomes 3, 5 and 1 and represent new plant genes involved in the control of cell division and plant development

The **PASTICCINO** genes of **Arabidopsis thaliana** are involved in the control of cell division and differentiation

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Assessment of Anopheles salivary antigens as individual exposure biomarkers to species-specific malaria vector bites

Background: Malaria transmission occurs during the blood feeding of infected anopheline mosquitoes concomitant with a saliva injection into the vertebrate host. In sub-Saharan Africa, most malaria transmission is due to Anopheles funestus s.s and to Anopheles gambiae s.l. (mainly Anopheles gambiae s.s. and Anopheles arabiensis). Several studies have demonstrated that the immune response against salivary antigens could be used to evaluate individual exposure to mosquito bites. The aim of this study was to assess the use of secreted salivary proteins as specific biomarkers of exposure to An. gambiae and/or An. funestus bites. Methods: For this purpose, salivary gland proteins 6 (SG6) and 5 ' nucleotidases (5 ' nuc) from An. gambiae (gSG6 and g-5 ' nuc) and An. funestus (fSG6 and f-5 ' nuc) were selected and produced in recombinant form. The specificity of the IgG response against these salivary proteins was tested using an ELISA with sera from individuals living in three Senegalese villages (NDiop, n = 50; Dielmo, n = 38; and Diama, n = 46) that had been exposed to distinct densities and proportions of the Anopheles species. Individuals who had not been exposed to these tropical mosquitoes were used as controls (Marseille, n = 45). Results: The IgG responses against SG6 recombinant proteins from these two Anopheles species and against g-5 ' nucleotidase from An. gambiae, were significantly higher in Senegalese individuals compared with controls who were not exposed to specific Anopheles species. Conversely, an association was observed between the level of An. funestus exposure and the serological immune response levels against the f-5 ' nucleotidase protein. Conclusion: This study revealed an Anopheles salivary antigenic protein that could be considered to be a promising antigenic marker to distinguish malaria vector exposure at the species level. The epidemiological interest of such species-specific antigenic markers is discussed

C11ORF24 Is a Novel Type I Membrane Protein That Cycles between the Golgi Apparatus and the Plasma Membrane in Rab6-Positive Vesicles.

The Golgi apparatus is an intracellular compartment necessary for post-translational modification, sorting and transport of proteins. It plays a key role in mitotic entry through the Golgi mitotic checkpoint. In order to identify new proteins involved in the Golgi mitotic checkpoint, we combine the results of a knockdown screen for mitotic phenotypes and a localization screen. Using this approach, we identify a new Golgi protein C11ORF24 (NP_071733.1). We show that C11ORF24 has a signal peptide at the N-terminus and a transmembrane domain in the C-terminal region. C11ORF24 is localized on the Golgi apparatus and on the trans-Golgi network. A large part of the protein is present in the lumen of the Golgi apparatus whereas only a short tail extends into the cytosol. This cytosolic tail is well conserved in evolution. By FRAP experiments we show that the dynamics of C11ORF24 in the Golgi membrane are coherent with the presence of a transmembrane domain in the protein. C11ORF24 is not only present on the Golgi apparatus but also cycles to the plasma membrane via endosomes in a pH sensitive manner. Moreover, via video-microscopy studies we show that C11ORF24 is found on transport intermediates and is colocalized with the small GTPase RAB6, a GTPase involved in anterograde transport from the Golgi to the plasma membrane. Knocking down C11ORF24 does not lead to a mitotic phenotype or an intracellular transport defect in our hands. All together, these data suggest that C11ORF24 is present on the Golgi apparatus, transported to the plasma membrane and cycles back through the endosomes by way of RAB6 positive carriers

Expression of the gp150 maedi visna virus envelope precursor protein by mammalian expression vectors

There are very few previous reports of expression of native full-length maedi visna virus (MVV) Env gp150 protein in the literature. Therefore the use of different plasmid and viral expression vectors to obtain full-length gp 150 was investigated. A mammalian expression plasmid, pN3-Env, was constructed containing the MVV env gene encoding the precursor protein gp150 Env. The functionality of the recombinant plasmid was tested for expression in HEK293 cells. A recombinant modified vaccinia Ankara virus, MVA-Env, with expression detected in avian cells was also made. The expression of the MVV gp 150 Env precursor protein was shown for the first time upon transfection of the eukaryotic HEK293 cells by the pN3-Env plasmid DNA as demonstrated by Western blot analysis. These plasmid or viral expression vectors are of potential use in MVV vaccines. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved