The mam4 mutation of Schizosaccharomyces pombe causes mating deficiency in h- cells but not in h+ cells. h- cells defective in mam4 do not secrete active mating pheromone M-factor. We cloned mam4 by complementation. The mam4 gene encodes a protein of 236 amino acids, with several potential membrane-spanning domains, which is 44% identical with farnesyl cysteine carboxyl methyltransferase encode...

Environmental-friendly technology helps to reduce waste and carbon emissions of an imperfect production system. In general, the defective products generated during “out-of-control” state are treated as waste. The single-stage manufacturing-remanufacturing system effectively depletes such spare parts within same cycle but causes a tremendous amount carbon. circumstance, green is highly recommend...

The product of gene 16 of phage P22, P16, is a head protein. P16 does not play an essential role in phage assembly since particles formed without this protein appear normal by electron microscopy examination (Botstein et al., 1973). P16 is essential when the particle infects a cell in the following cycle of infection (Botstein et al., 1973; King et al., 1973). We have characterized a mutant of ...

Plasmids pNov1 and pNov1s , coding for resistance and sensitivity to novobiocin, respectively, were readily lost from wild-type Haemophilus influenzae but retained in a strain lacking an inducible defective prophage. The plasmid loss could be partly or wholly eliminated by a low-copy-number mutation in the plasmid or by the presence of certain antibiotic resistance markers in the host chromosom...

By the complementation of a yeast mutant defective in myo-inositol transport (Nikawa, J., Nagumo, T., and Yamashita, S. (1982) J. Bacteriol. 150, 441-446), we isolated two myo-inositol transporter genes, ITR1 and ITR2, from a yeast gene library. The ITR1 and ITR2 genes contained long open reading frames capable of encoding 584 and 612 amino acids with calculated relative molecular masses of 63,...

In this paper, I present a highly unorthodox and provocative hypothesis, namely that cancer is an evolutionarily derived phenomenon, dormant in every human cell and actively triggered in certain individuals. Cancer is shown to help maintain the integrity of the common gene pool through active elimination of individuals, thus serving a definite advantage for the survival of the species. Those in...

Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) has been recently identified to be involved in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Yet, the role of an important COX-2 metabolic product, prostaglandin (PG) I2 , in the pathogenesis of AD remains unknown. Using human- and mouse-derived neuronal cells as well as amyloid precursor protein/presenilin 1 (APP/PS1) transgenic mice as model systems, we elucidated the...

Sodium vanadate is an effective drug for the enrichment of yeast mutants defective in glycosylation reactions that are carried out in the Golgi complex. We have isolated vanadate-resistant, hygromycin B-sensitive mutants that act at very early steps of N-linked glycosylation, occurring in the endoplasmic reticulum. Here we describe the phenotypic characterization of ost4, a vanadate-resistant m...

background: cytochrome p450 2c19 (cyp2c19) is a polymorphically expressed enzyme that shows marked interindividual and interethnic variation. cyp2c19*2 and cyp2c19*3 are the most frequently identified defective alleles in orientals and caucasian poor metabolizers (pm). the aim of this study was to investigate the frequencies of cyp2c19*1, cyp2c19*2 and cyp2c19*3 alleles and cyp2c19 genotypes in...

The RNA polymerase (RNAP) of Escherichia coli K-12 is a complex enzyme consisting of the core enzyme with the subunit structure α2ββ'ω and one of the σ subunits with promoter recognition properties. The smallest subunit, omega (the rpoZ gene product), participates in subunit assembly by supporting the folding of the largest subunit, β', but its functional role remains unsolved except for its in...