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Biomedical subjects

M H Nesson

Publications and source records attributed to M H Nesson.

5 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2003

Zinc is incorporated into cuticular "tools" after ecdysis: the time course of the zinc distribution in "tools" and whole bodies of an ant and a scorpion.

An understanding of the developmental course of specialized accumulations in the cuticular "tools" of arthropods will give clues to the chemical form, function and biology of these accumulations as well as to their evolutionary history. Specimens from individuals representing a range of developmental stages were examined using MeV - Ion microscopy. We found that zinc, manganese, calcium and chlorine began to accumulate in the mandibular teeth of the ant Tapinoma sessile after pre-ecdysial tanning, and the zinc mostly after eclosion; peak measured zinc concentrations reached 16% of dry mass. Accumulations in the pedipalp teeth, tarsal claws, cheliceral teeth and sting (aculeus) of the scorpion Vaejovis spinigeris also began after pre-ecdysial tanning and more than 48 h after ecdysis of the second instars. Zinc may be deposited in the fully formed cuticle through a network of nanometer scale canals that we observed only in the metal bearing cuticle of both the ants and scorpions. In addition to the elemental analyses of cuticular "tools", quantitative distribution maps for whole ants were obtained. The zinc content of the mandibular teeth was a small fraction of, and independent of, the total body content of zinc. We did not find specialized storage sites that were depleted when zinc was incorporated into the mandibular teeth. The similarities in the time course of zinc, manganese and calcium deposition in the cuticular "tools" of the ant (a hexapod arthropod) and those of the scorpion (a chelicerate arthropod) contribute to the evidence suggesting that heavy metal-halogen fortification evolved before these groups diverged.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

The genome of the multicapsid baculovirus of Orgyia pseudotsugata: restriction map and analysis of two sets of GC-rich repeated sequences.

Five cosmids containing inserts that comprise the complete genome of the multicapsid nuclear polyhedrosis virus of Orgyia pseudotsugata were mapped with four restriction enzymes (Bg/II, ClaI, SstI, XhoI). From these cosmid maps, composite maps of the complete genome were constructed for each restriction enzyme. A region containing repeats of the sequence GGC downstream of the polyhedrin gene was used to probe the genome. It cross-hybridized with a region which, upon sequence analysis, was found to be a highly repetitive GC-rich region of nearly 500 nucleotides. The two GC-rich regions appeared to be evolutionarily unrelated.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Cloning and sequencing of the granulin gene from the Trichoplusia ni granulosis virus.

A restriction fragment containing the granulin gene from the Trichoplusia ni granulosis virus was located in a blot of viral genomic DNA using a cloned polyhedrin gene as a probe. This fragment was cloned, mapped, subcloned, and the sequence of the coding region and 5' and 3' flanking regions was determined. Although granulin is very similar in size to nuclear polyhedrosis virus polyhedrins, the N-terminal region of granulin demonstrated a high degree of variability with the first 60 amino acids only 28% homologous to the Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus (AcMNPV) polyhedrin sequence. Between amino acid 60 and the carboxyterminus at amino acid 248, the sequence was very similar (64%) to polyhedrin sequences. Overall the nucleotide and amino acid sequences were 58 and 53%, respectively, related to those of AcMNPV. No introns were evident in the gene.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1985

The nucleotide sequence of the Pieris brassicae granulosis virus granulin gene.

Two overlapping restriction fragments containing the Pieris brassicae granulosis virus (GV) granulin gene were cloned into plasmids. The regions containing the coding region and the 5' and 3' flanking regions were subcloned into M13 and sequenced. The nucleotide sequence data were compared to those for the granulin gene from the Trichoplusia ni GV and the polyhedrin gene from the Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus (AcMNPV). The amino acid sequences derived from these DNA sequences indicated that the two GV proteins are more closely related to each other (77% amino acid homology) than either is to the AcMNPV (about 53% amino acid homology for either GV). The N-terminal region shows the greatest degree of variation between these proteins. Highly conserved amino acid sequences were identified between the two GVs and were also found between NPVs. Certain of these conserved regions are shared between GVs and NPVs while others are not.

Amino Acid Sequence↗