Biomedical subjects

B L Gross

Publications and source records attributed to B L Gross.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2004

The ecological genetics of homoploid hybrid speciation.

Our understanding of homoploid hybrid speciation has advanced substantially since this mechanism of species formation was codified 50 years ago. Early theory and research focused almost exclusively on the importance of chromosomal rearrangements, but it later became evident that natural selection, specifically ecological selection, might play a major role as well. In light of this recent shift, we present an evaluation of ecology's role in homoploid hybrid speciation, with an emphasis on the genetics underlying ecological components of the speciation process. We briefly review new theoretical developments related to the ecology of homoploid hybrid speciation; propose a set of explicit, testable questions that must be answered to verify the role of ecological selection in homoploid hybrid speciation; discuss published work with reference to these questions; and also report new data supporting the importance of ecological selection in the origin of the homoploid hybrid sunflower species Helianthus deserticola. Overall, theory and empirical evidence gathered to date suggest that ecological selection is a major factor promoting homoploid hybrid speciation, with the strongest evidence coming from genetic studies.

Ecology↗

PubMed1995

Selection of aminoacyl-tRNAs at sense codons: the size of the tRNA variable loop determines whether the immediate 3' nucleotide to the codon has a context effect.

Codon context can affect translational efficiency by several molecular mechanisms. The base stacking interactions between a codon-anticodon complex and the neighboring nucleotide immediately 3' can facilitate translation by amber suppressors and the tRNA structure is also known to modulate the sensitivity to context. In this study the relative rates of aminoacyl-tRNA selection were measured at four sense codons (UGG, CUC, UUC and UCA), in all four 3' nucleotide contexts, through direct competition with a programmed frameshift at a site derived from the release factor 2 gene. Two codons (UGG and UUC) are read by tRNAs with small variable regions and their rates of aminoacyl-tRNA selection correlated with the potential base stacking strength of the 3' neighboring nucleotide. The other two codons (CUC and UCA) are read by tRNAs with large variable regions and the rate of selection of the aminoacyl-tRNAs in these cases varied little among the four contexts. Re-examination of published data on amber suppression also revealed an inverse correlation between context sensitivity and the size of the variable region. Collectively the data suggest that a large variable loop in a tRNA decreases the influence of the 3' context on tRNA selection, probably by strengthening tRNA-ribosomal interactions.

Base Sequence↗

PubMed1994

Evidence that GHN phase bias does not constitute a framing code.

It has been suggested that a triplet repeated pattern found in coding sequences, the G-nonG-N or GHN phase bias, serves a framing function during protein synthesis. To test this idea, the framing characteristics of a highly GHN biased sequence are examined. No effects on reading frame maintenance are observed despite the use of sensitive frameshift assays. Specifically, first the GHN phase is not more accurate than the alternative overlapping phases (i.e., HNG and NGH). Second, ribosomes do not exhibit any significant tendency to slip from the alternative frames into the GHN pahse. In addition, examination of Escherichia coli programmed frameshift sites does not support roles for GHN phase bias in programmed frameshifting. Framing functions for GHN phase bias, if they occur at all, must be extremely limited.

Bacterial Proteins↗