[Music in the head. Individual differences in sound perception and the cerebral symphony orchestra].
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Auditory Perception↗
Biomedical subjects
M Andermann
Publications and source records attributed to M Andermann.
Transcriptional autoregulation and inhibition of mRNA translation of amino acid regulator gene cpcA of filamentous fungus Aspergillus nidulans.
The CPCA protein of the filamentous fungus Aspergillus nidulans is a member of the c-Jun-like transcriptional activator family. It acts as central transcription factor of the cross-pathway regulatory network of amino acid biosynthesis and is functionally exchangeable for the general control transcriptional activator Gcn4p of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In contrast to GCN4, expression of cpcA is strongly regulated by two equally important mechanisms with additive effects that lead to a fivefold increased CPCA protein amount under amino acid starvation conditions. One component of cpcA regulation involves a transcriptional autoregulatory mechanism via a CPCA recognition element (CPRE) in the cpcA promoter that causes a sevenfold increased cpcA mRNA level when cells are starved for amino acids. Point mutations in the CPRE cause a constitutively low mRNA level of cpcA and a halved protein level when amino acids are limited. Moreover, two upstream open reading frames (uORFs) in the 5' region of the cpcA mRNA are important for a translational regulatory mechanism. Destruction of both short uORFs results in a sixfold increased CPCA protein level under nonstarvation conditions and a 10-fold increase under starvation conditions. Mutations in both the CPRE and uORF regulatory elements lead to an intermediate effect, with a low cpcA mRNA level but a threefold increased CPCA protein level independent of amino acid availability. These data argue for a combined regulation of cpcA that includes a translational regulation like that of yeast GCN4 as well as a transcriptional regulation like that of the mammalian jun and fos genes.
Alleles↗
Developmental and metabolic regulation of the phosphoglucomutase-encoding gene, pgmB, of Aspergillus nidulans.
We have isolated the pgmB gene from Aspergillus nidulans, which encodes a phosphoglucomutase, one of the key enzymes in carbohydrate metabolism. The pgmB gene is located on chromosome VII and its ORF encodes 557 amino acids. Mutant phenotypes were analysed by expression of high levels of pgmB antisense RNA, which lead to a loss of detectable levels of sense RNA. Under conditions of antisense RNA expression, a 30% reduction in the growth rate was observed in comparison to wild-type. On the enzyme level, expression of pgmB antisense RNA resulted in a 35% reduction in total phosphoglucomutase activity. Two pgmB mRNAs were observed under all conditions tested and differ with respect to the location of the poly(A) site. Expression of pgmB driven by the GAL1 promoter in Saccharomyces cerevisiae complemented the growth phenotype of a pgm2delta mutant strain and suppressed the sensitivity of a gcn4delta mutant strain to amino acid starvation in the presence of galactose. Cultivation of A. nidulans in the presence of glucose or galactose as carbon source did not affect transcription of pgmB. However, amino acid starvation conditions resulted in a six-fold reduction in the level of pgmB mRNA, while genes for amino acid biosynthesis showed increased transcription. Transcription of pgmB was low during hyphal growth and in the sexual phase of development, but was significantly increased during the asexual stage of the A. nidulans life cycle.
Amino Acid Sequence↗
Detecting changes in nonisotropic images.
If the noise component of image data is nonisotropic, i.e., if it has nonconstant smoothness or effective point spread function, then theoretical results for the P value of local maxima and the size of suprathreshold clusters of a statistical parametric map (SPM) based on random field theory are not valid. This assumption is reasonable for PET or smoothed fMRI data, but not if these data are projected onto an unfolded, inflated, or flattened 2D cortical surface. Anatomical data such as structure masks, surface displacements, and deformation vectors are also highly nonisotropic. The solution offered here is to suppose that the image can be warped or flattened (in a statistical sense) into a space where the data are isotropic. The subsequent corrected P values do not depend on finding this warping; it is sufficient only to know that such a warping exists.
Brain↗
Biochemical and molecular characterization of the Pseudomonas lemoignei polyhydroxyalkanoate depolymerase system.
Pseudomonas lemoignei has five different polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) depolymerase genes (phaZ1 to phaZ5), which encode the extracellularly localized poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) depolymerases C, B, and D, poly(3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHV) depolymerase, and PHB depolymerase A, respectively. Four of the five genes (phaZ1 to phaZ4) have been cloned, and one of them (phaZ1) was studied in detail earlier (D. Jendrossek, B. Müller, and H. G. Schlegel, Eur. J. Biochem. 218:701-710, 1993). The fifth PHA depolymerase gene (phaZ5) was identified by colony hybridization of recombinant Escherichia coli clones with a phaZ5-specific oligonucleotide. The nucleotide sequence of a 3,704-bp EcoRI fragment was determined and found to contain two large open reading frames (ORFs) which coded for a polypeptide with significant similarities to glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenases of various sources (313 amino acids; M(r), 32,193) and for the precursor of PHB depolymerase A (PhaZ5; 433 amino acids; M(r), 44,906). The PHV depolymerase gene (phaZ4) was subcloned, and the nucleotide sequence of a 3,109-bp BamHI fragment was determined. Two large ORFs (ORF3 and ORF4) that represent putative coding regions were identified. The deduced amino acid sequence of ORF3 (134 amino acids; M(r), 14,686) revealed significant similarities to the branched-chain amino acid aminotransferase (IlfE) of enterobacteria. ORF4 (1,712 bp) was identified as the precursor of a PHV depolymerase (567 amino acids; M(r), 59,947). Analysis of primary structures of the five PHA depolymerases of P. lemoignei and of the PHB depolymerases of Alcaligenes faecalis and Pseudomonas pickettii revealed homologies of 25 to 83% to each other and a domain structure: at their N termini, they have typical signal peptides of exoenzymes. The adjacent catalytic domains are characterized by several conserved amino acids that constitute putative catalytic triads which consist of the consensus sequence of serine-dependent hydrolases including the pentapeptide G-X-S-X-G, a conserved histidine and aspartate, and a conserved region resembling the oxyanion hole of lipases. C terminal of the catalytic domain an approximately 40-amino-acid-long threonine-rich region (22 to 27 threonine residues) is present in PhaZ1, PhaZ2, PhaZ3, and PhaZ5. Instead of the threonine-rich region PhaZ4 and the PHB depolymerases of A. faecalis and P. pickettii contain an approximately 90-amino-acid-long sequence resembling the fibronectin type III module of eucaryotic extracellular matrix proteins. The function of the fibronectin type III module in PHA depolymerases remains obscure. Two types of C-terminal sequences apparently represent substrate-binding sites; the PHB type is present in the PHB depolymerases of A. faecalis and P. pickettii and in PhaZ2, PhaZ3, and PhaZ5 and the PHV type is present in the PHV-hydrolyzing depolymerases (PhaZ4 and PhaZ1). phaZ1 was transferred to A. eutrophus H16 and JMP222. All transconjugants of both strains were able to grow with extracellular PHB as a carbon source and produced translucent halos on PHB-containing solid media. PhaZ1, PhaZ2, PhaZ4, and PhaZ5 were purified from P. lemoignei and from recombinant E. coli; the processing sites of the precursors in E. coli were the same as in P. lemoignei, and similar substrate specificities were determined for the wild-type and the recombinant proteins. All PHA depolymerases hydrolyzed PHB at high specific activities. PhaZ1 and PhaZ4 additionally cleaved PHV, and PhaZ4 hydrolyzed poly(4-hydroxybutyrate). None of the depolymerases was able to hydrolyze polyactide or PHA consisting of monomers with more than five carbon atoms. While the wild-type depolymerase proteins were glycosylated and found to contain glucose and N-acetylglucosamine, none of the recombinant proteins was glycosylated. PHB hydrolysis was dependent on divalent cations such as Ca2+ and was inhibited by the presence of EDTA.
Amino Acid Sequence↗
Characterization of the extracellular poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) depolymerase of Comamonas sp. and of its structural gene.
The poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) depolymerase structural gene of Comamonas sp. (phaZCsp) was cloned in Escherichia coli and identified by halo formation on PHB-containing solid medium. The nucleotide sequence of a 1719 base pair MboI fragment was determined and contained one large open reading frame (ORF1, 1542 base pairs). This open reading frame encoded the precursor of the PHB depolymerase (514 amino acids; Mr, 53,095), and the deduced amino acid sequence was in agreement with the N-terminal amino acid sequence of the purified PHB depolymerase from amino acid 26 onwards. Analysis of the deduced amino acid sequence revealed a domain structure of the protein: a signal peptide that was 25 amino acids long was followed by a catalytic domain of about 300 amino acids, a fibronectin type III (Fn3) modul sequence, and a putative PHB-specific substrate-binding site. By comparison of the primary structure with that of other polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) depolymerases, the catalytic domain apparently contained a catalytic triad of serine, histidine, and aspartate. In addition, a conserved region resembling the oxyanion hole of lipases was present. The catalytic domain was linked to a C-terminal putative substrate-binding site by a sequence about 90 amino acids long resembling the Fn3 modul of fibronectin and other eukaryotic extracellular matrix proteins. A threonine-rich region, which was found in four of five PHA depolymerases of Pseudomonas lemoignei, was not present in the Comamonas sp. depolymerase. The similarities with and differences from other PHA depolymerases are discussed.
Amino Acid Sequence↗