(6-4) photolyase is a flavoenzyme that catalyzes the chemically challenging repair of carcinogenic photoproduct lesions in DNA using sunlight. Nature may have overcome challenge by combining two distinct successive photoreactions, each starting with electron transfer from an excited flavin to lesion. We herewith report transient absorption study returns following chemical transformations succes...

In a research paper entitled: Intracellular expression profi les measured by real-time PCR tomography in the Xenopus laevis oocyte, Dr. Kubista and fellow researchers describe a new method for measuring localized RNA expression profi les within single cells. Th e method is demostrated by using real-time PCR tomography to slice the Xenopus laevis (African Clawed Frog) oocyte into thin layers and...

The viability of free-living glochidia of the freshwater pearl mussel (Margaritifera laevis) was studied in the laboratory at water temperatures of 10 degrees C, 15 degrees C and 20 degrees C. To obtain glochidia, gravid female mussels were collected from the Chitose River, inhabited by adult and juvenile mussels, and from the Abira River, where only adult mussels were found. Daily survival rat...

Using immunohistochemistry and western blot analysis, we demonstrate that melanopsin is localised in cells around the central pore of lateral line neuromasts in the African clawed frog, Xenopus laevis. Since melanopsin is a known photoreceptor pigment with diverse functions in vertebrates, we suggest that the lateral line of Xenopus laevis, which is primarily a mechanoreceptor, might also be li...

Using immunohistochemistry and western blot analysis, we demonstrate that melanopsin is localised in cells around the central pore of lateral line neuromasts in the African clawed frog, Xenopus laevis. Since melanopsin is a known photoreceptor pigment with diverse functions in vertebrates, we suggest that the lateral line of Xenopus laevis, which is primarily a mechanoreceptor, might also be li...

Recently, using the frog Xenopus laevis as a model system, we showed that transcription factor Rfx2 coordinates many genes involved in ciliogenesis and cell movement in multiciliated cells (Chung et al., 2014). To our knowledge, it was the first paper to utilize the genomic resources, including genome sequences and interim gene annotations, from the ongoing Xenopus laevis genome project. For re...

RNAs that localize to the vegetal cortex during Xenopus laevis oogenesis have been reported to function in germ layer patterning, axis determination, and development of the primordial germ cells. Here we report on the genome-wide, comparative analysis of differentially localizing RNAs in Xenopus laevis and Xenopus tropicalis oocytes, revealing a surprisingly weak degree of conservation in respe...

The intracellular localisation and mobility of exogenous DNA introduced into Xenopus laevis oocytes is largely unknown. In this paper, we report a new technique to investigate the cytoplasmic/nuclear transport of a random pool of linear, double-stranded, oligomeric DNA of 147 bp in length. We chose a combinatorial approach which made use of repetitive rounds of selection and amplification to se...

There is growing concern over the effect of sperm cryopreservation on DNA integrity and the subsequent development of offspring generated from this cryopreserved material. In the present study, membrane integrity and DNA stability of Xenopus laevis and Xenopus tropicalis spermatozoa were evaluated in response to cryopreservation with or without activation, a process that happens upon exposure t...