The complete primary structure of the str operon of Bacillus stearothermophilus was determined. It was established that the operon is a five-gene transcriptional unit: 5'-ybxF (unknown function; homology to eukaryotic ribosomal protein L30)-rpsL (S12)-rpsG (S7)-fus (elongation factor G [EF-G])-tuf (elongation factor Tu [EF-Tu])-3'. The main operon promoter (strp) was mapped upstream of ybxF, an...

Through the analysis of spontaneous insertion mutants of Lactobacillus sakei L45, a second operon involved in lactocin S production was identified and characterized. The new, bicistronic unit, termed lasXY, is situated immediately upstream of the previously characterized nine-open reading frame (ORF) lactocin S operon (lasA-W) and is transcribed in the opposite direction. The proximal of the tw...

In healthy individuals, acute changes in cholesterol intake produce modest changes in plasma cholesterol levels. A striking exception occurs in sitosterolemia, an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by increased intestinal absorption and decreased biliary excretion of dietary sterols, hypercholesterolemia, and premature coronary atherosclerosis. We identified seven different mutations in...

Cytoplasmic dynein and kinesin I are both unidirectional intracellular motors. Dynein moves cargo toward the cell center, and kinesin moves cargo toward the cell periphery. There is growing evidence that bi-directional motility is regulated in the cell, potentially through direct interactions between oppositely oriented motors. We have identified a direct interaction between cytoplasmic dynein ...

We demonstrate new principles of microfluidic pumping and mixing by electronic components integrated into a microfluidic chip. The miniature diodes embedded into the microchannel walls rectify the voltage induced between their electrodes from an external alternating electric field. The resulting electroosmotic flows, developed in the vicinity of the diode surfaces, were utilized for pumping or ...

We propose an experimental technique for an easy to control realization of a binary dipolar monolayer where the two components have oppositely oriented dipole moments constrained perpendicular to the plane of motion without the application of an external field. The experimental setup ensures that hydrodynamic effects do not play a crucial role in the structure formation, the particles move dete...

Integral membrane proteins are generally believed to have unique membrane topologies. However, it has been suggested that dual-topology proteins that adopt a mixture of two opposite orientations in the membrane may exist. Here we show that the membrane orientations of five dual-topology candidates identified in Escherichia coli are highly sensitive to changes in the distribution of positively c...