This month in Bio-Med Roundup:
· Genetic studies by Thangaraj et al. and Macaulay et al. suggest that early humans migrated out of Africa by a southern route, along the coast of the
· Monot et al. showed that a single clone of Mycobacterium leprae is responsible for almost all cases of leprosy worldwide.
· Giraldez et al. demonstrated the importance of microRNAs for zebrafish brain and heart development.
· Wills et al. provided insight into how space is represented in the brain.
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This month’s BioMed Roundup is sponsored by:
IBC’S 12TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
Chips to Hits® 2005
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Molecular Biology
Microbiology
Neuroscience
Cell/Developmental Biology
Biochemistry
Structural Biology
Medicine
Plant Science
Reconstructing the Origin of Andaman Islanders (13 May 2005)
K. Thangaraj, G. Chaubey, T. Kivisild, A. G. Reddy, V. K. Singh, A. A. Rasalkar, L. Singh
The genetics of natives of islands in the Bay of Bengal suggest that humans migrated out of Africa by a southern route, along the coast of the
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/308/5724/996
See related Perspective at http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/308/5724/965
Single, Rapid Coastal Settlement of
V. Macaulay, C. Hill, A. Achilli, C. Rengo, D. Clarke, W. Meehan, J. Blackburn, O. Semino, R. Scozzari, F. Cruciani et al.
The genetics of isolated south-east Asian populations suggest that humans migrated out of Africa by a southern route, along the coast of the
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/308/5724/1034
See related Perspective at http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/308/5724/965
Transcriptional Maps of 10 Human Chromosomes at 5-Nucleotide Resolution (20 May 2005)
J. Cheng, P. Kapranov, J. Drenkow, S. Dike, S. Brubaker, S. Patel, J. Long, D. Stern, H. Tammana,
G. Helt, et al.
Fifteen percent of the human genome, an unexpectedly high proportion and larger than the fraction of DNA that codes for genes, seems to be transcribed into RNA.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/308/5725/1149
Functional Genomic Analysis of RNA Interference in C. elegans (20 May 2005)
J. K. Kim, H.W. Gabel, R. S. Kamath, M. Tewari, A. Pasquinelli, J.-F.Rual, S. Kennedy, M. Dybbs,
N. Bertin, J. M. Kaplan, M.Vidal, G. Ruvkun
A comprehensive screen for proteins involved in producing small RNAs that silence genes revealed more than 70 new genes in the worm.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/308/5725/1164
The Effects of Artificial Selection on the Maize Genome (27 May 2005)
S. I. Wright, I.V. Bi, S. G. Schroeder, M. Yamasaki, J. F. Doebley, M. D. McMullen, B. S. Gaut
The early domestication of maize from the wild grass teosinte selected genes that affect the plant’s growth habit, many of which are also now agriculturally important loci.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/308/5726/1310
Clonal Dominance of Hematopoietic Stem Cells Triggered by Retroviral Gene Marking (20 May 2005)
O. Kustikova, B. Fehse, U. Modlich, M. Yang, J. Düllmann, K. Kamino, N. von Neuhoff, B. Schlegelberger, Z. Li, C. Baum
Inactivated RNA viruses inserted as markers into stem cells do not integrate randomly as assumed but selectively enhance the genes controlling cell survival.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/308/5725/1171
An Active Role for tRNA in Decoding Beyond Codon:Anticodon Pairing (20 May 2005)
L. Cochella and R. Green
Transfer RNAs, in addition to carrying specific amino acids to the ribosome, ensure that the correct amino acids are incorporated into newly synthesized proteins.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/308/5725/1178
See related Perspective at http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/308/5725/1123
Nicotinic Acid Limitation Regulates Silencing of Candida Adhesins During UTI (6 May 2005)
R. Domergue, I. Castaño, A. De Las Peñas, M. Zupancic, V. Lockatell, J. R. Hebel, D. Johnson, B. P. Cormack
Low vitamin B3 concentrations in the urinary tract allow a yeast pathogen to synthesize an adhesion protein and thereby infect the epithelium.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/308/5723/866
On the Origin of Leprosy (13 May 2005)
M. Monot, N. Honoré, T. Garnier, R. Araoz, J.-Y. Coppée, C. Lacroix, S. Sow, J. S. Spencer, R. W. Truman, D. L. Williamset al.
A single clone of Mycobacterium leprae, a peculiar bacterium littered with pseudogenes, is responsible for almost all of the world’s leprosy.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/308/5724/1040
The Intracellular Fate of Salmonella Depends on the Recruitment of Kinesin (20 May 2005)
E. Boucrot, T. Henry, J.-P. Borg, J.-P. Gorvel, S. Méresse
A bacterial pathogen seizes control of the host vacuole in which it resides by preventing a host molecular motor from moving to the vacuole and regulating its dynamics.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/308/5725/1174
A Microbial Arsenic Cycle in a Salt-Saturated, Extreme Environment (27 May 2005)
R. S. Oremland, T. R. Kulp, J. S. Blum, S. E. Hoeft, S. Baesman, L.G. Miller, J. F. Stolz
Using only inorganic electron donors, an anaerobic bacterium helps drive a full biogeochemical cycle of arsenic in highly contaminated Searle’s
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/308/5726/1305
Target Cell–Dependent Normalization of Transmitter Release at Neocortical Synapses (6 May 2005)
H. J. Koester and D. Johnston
All synapses between one cortical neuron and any particular target cell have the same calcium response and release probability, indicating that the target cell specifies the synapse type.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/308/5723/863
See related Perspective at http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/308/5723/800
Attractor Dynamics in the Hippocampal Representation of the Local Environment (6 May 2005)
T. J. Wills, C. Lever, F. Cacucci, N. Burgess, J. O’Keefe
Neurons in the hippocampus code smooth changes in the shape of a room by an abrupt change from a firing pattern characteristic of one distinct shape category to another.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/308/5723/873
See related Perspective at http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/308/5723/799
A Cost of Long-Term Memory in Drosophila (20 May 2005)
F. Mery and T. J. Kawecki
Fruit flies that experience long-term memory formation suffer an ecological cost in the form of quicker death when food and water are scarce.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/308/5725/1148
Resting Microglial Cells Are Highly Dynamic Surveillants of Brain Parenchyma in Vivo (27 May 2005)
A. Nimmerjahn, F. Kirchhoff, F. Helmchen
Imaging of resident immune cells in the living mouse brain reveals that they are always in motion, continuously sending out processes and protuberances and reacting quickly to damage by sealing off the injured area.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/308/5726/1314
Functional Genomic Analysis of the Wnt-Wingless Signaling Pathway (6 May 2005)
R. DasGupta, A. Kaykas, R. T. Moon, N. Perrimon
A genome-scale screen in flies turns up hundreds of new components in a key developmental signaling pathway, many of which appear relevant to cellular regulation and disease in vertebrates as well.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/308/5723/826
See related Perspective at http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/308/5723/801
A Synaptonemal Complex Protein Promotes Homology-Independent Centromere Coupling (6 May 2005)
T. Tsubouchi and G. S. Roeder
Chromosomes pair up in meiosis by trial and error, pairing with any chromosome until they find their homolog.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/308/5723/870
MicroRNAs Regulate Brain Morphogenesis in Zebrafish (6 May 2005)
A. J. Giraldez, R. M. Cinalli, M. E. Glasner, A. J. Enright, J. M. Thomson, S. Baskerville, S. M. Hammond, D. P. Bartel, A. F. Schier
In zebrafish, small, noncoding RNAs are necessary for proper segmentation and morphogenesis of the brain and heart.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/308/5723/833
Functional Interaction Between b-Catenin and FOXO in Oxidative Stress Signaling (20 May 2005)
M. A. G. Essers, L. M. M. de Vries-Smits, N. Barker, P. E. Polderman, B. M. T. Burgering, H. C. Korswagen
A signaling molecule implicated in cancer and development unexpectedly interacts with a transcription factor when a cell responds to oxidative stress.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/308/5725/1181
See related Perspective at http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/308/5725/1119
Computational Thermostabilization of an Enzyme (6 May 2005)
A. Korkegian, M. E. Black, D. Baker, B. L. Stoddard
A computational approach that should be generally applicable predicts mutations that increase an enzyme’s half-life 30-fold without reducing its catalytic efficiency.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/308/5723/857
Human Mpp11 J Protein: Ribosome-Tethered Molecular Chaperones Are Ubiquitous (13 May 2005)
H. A. Hundley, W. Walter, S. Bairstow, E. A. Craig
Molecular chaperones that help fold proteins as they emerge from the ribosome are similar in yeast and in human cells but distinct from those found in bacteria.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/308/5724/1032
Structural Bioinformatics-Based Design of Selective, Irreversible Kinase Inhibitors (27 May 2005)
M. S. Cohen, C. Zhang, K. M. Shokat, J. Taunton
Analysis of the apparently similar catalytic sites of two ubiquitous enzymes enables the design of small molecules that inhibit only one of them, and therefore may be useful as targeted drugs.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/308/5726/1318
See related Perspective at http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/308/5726/1266
Global Topology Analysis of the Escherichia coli Inner Membrane Proteome (27 May 2005)
D. O. Daley, M. Rapp, E. Granseth, K. Melén, D. Drew, G. von Heijne
Visible markers attached to one end of each membrane protein facilitate its assignment as facing the cytoplasm or the periplasm.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/308/5726/1321
The Structure of a pH-Sensing Mycobacterial Adenylyl Cyclase Holoenzyme (13 May 2005)
I. Tews, F. Findeisen,
Comparison of the active and inactive structures of the enzyme that makes cyclic AMP reveals that an amino-terminal regulatory domain inhibits the enzyme at high pH.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/308/5724/1020
Structural Basis of Energy Transduction in the Transport Cycle of MsbA (13 May 2005)
J. Dong, G. Yang, H. S. Mchaourab
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/308/5724/1023
Structure of the ABC Transporter MsbA in Complex with ADP·Vanadate and Lipopolysaccharide (13 May 2005)
C. L. Reyes and G. Chang
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/308/5724/1028
A membrane transporter exports drugs from bacteria, using ATP hydrolysis to flip the drug across the membrane, thus conferring resistance.
See related Perspective at http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/308/5724/963
Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome in Circadian Clock Mutant Mice (13 May 2005)
F. W. Turek, C. Joshu, A. Kohsaka, E. Lin, G. Ivanova, E. McDearmon, A. Laposky, S. Losee-Olson, A. Easton, D. R. Jensen et al.
Mice with a gene mutation that disrupts their circadian rhythm show signs of metabolic syndrome, a precursor to diabetes, suggesting that proper timekeeping is essential for health.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/308/5724/1043
Mutations in Col4a1 Cause Perinatal Cerebral Hemorrhage and Porencephaly (20 May 2005)
D. B. Gould, F. C. Phalan, G. J. Breedveld, S. E. van Mil, R. S. Smith, J. C. Schimenti, U. Aguglia, M. S. van der Knaap, P. Heutink, S. W. M. John
A mutation in a gene for collagen produces defects in the vasculature of the brain and thus causes cerebral hemorrhage and a neurodegenerative disease in mice and man.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/308/5725/1167
Induction of Protein Secretory Pathway Is Required for Systemic Acquired Resistance (13 May 2005)
D.Wang, N. D .Weaver, M. Kesarwani, X. Dong
In reaction to a viral attack, plant cells manufacture the constituents needed to synthesize and secrete defense proteins.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/308/5724/1036
Physical Limits and Design Principles for Plant and Fungal Movements (27 May 2005)
J. M. Skotheim and L. Mahadevan
Movement in plants leads to insights into how hydraulically driven systems operate.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/308/5726/1308