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R Melis

Publications and source records attributed to R Melis.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Large-scale methylation patterns in the nuclear genomes of plants.

Methylation was investigated in compositional fractions of nuclear DNA preparations (50-100 kb in size) from five plants (onion, maize, rye, pea and tobacco), and was found to increase from GC-poor to GC-rich fractions. This methylation gradient showed different patterns in different plants and appears, therefore, to represent a novel, characteristic genome feature which concerns the noncoding, intergenic sequences that make up the bulk of the plant genomes investigated and mainly consist of repetitive sequences. The structural and functional implications of these results are discussed.

5-Methylcytosine↗
PubMed1991

Compositional bimodality of the nuclear genome of tobacco.

We have studied the compositional distribution of six genes (or small multigene families) and of one family of transposable elements, Tnt1, in DNA fractions from tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) separated according to base composition. We have shown that gene distribution is bimodal and that such bimodality is due to the different base composition of the two parental genomes of tobacco (N.sylvestris and N.tomentosiformis) and to the different parental origin of the genes tested. These results indicate a physical separation and an absence of extensive recombination of the parental genomes, which have been together in the tobacco nucleus for a small span of their evolutionary life, and a conservation of their compositional patterns, including gene localization.

Cell Nucleus↗
PubMed1988

Regions flanking ori sequences affect the replication efficiency of the mitochondrial genome of ori+ petite mutants from yeast.

The mitochondrial genomes of progenies from 26 crosses between 17 cytoplasmic, spontaneous, suppressive, ori+ petite mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae have been studied by electrophoresis of restriction fragments. Only parental genomes (or occasionally, genomes derived from them by secondary excisions) were found in the progenies of the almost 500 diploids investigated; no evidence for illegitimate, site-specific mitochondrial recombination was detected. One of the parental genomes was always found to be predominate over the other one, although to different extents in different crosses. This predominance appears to be due to a higher replication efficiency, which is correlated with a greater density of ori sequences on the mitochondrial genome (and with a shorter repeat unit size of the latter). Exceptions to the 'repeat-unit-size rule' were found, however, even when the parental mitochondrial genomes carried the same ori sequence. This indicates that noncoding, intergenic sequences outside ori sequences also play a role in modulating replication efficiency. Since in different petites such sequences differ in primary structure, size, and position relative to ori sequences, this modulation is likely to take place through an indirect effect on DNA and nucleoid structure.

Crosses, Genetic↗
PubMed1988

Development of a Salmonella-specific biotinylated DNA probe for rapid routine identification of Salmonella.

Classical microbiological techniques used in the detection and identification of Salmonella spp. in foods, drinking water and clinical samples are relatively lengthy. Immunoassays, on the other hand, have the major disadvantage of often generating false positives and false negatives. Recombinant DNA technology offers more efficient alternatives to the detection of a specific organism by employing cloned DNA sequences unique to the organism. Demonstration of a presence of complementary sequences among a heterogeneous population of molecules of DNA isolated from bacteria can be made by using a DNA-DNA hybridization technique. We have obtained a fragment of DNA from Salmonella typhimurium chromosomal DNA, cloned it in Escherichia coli plasmid and tested it in colony hybridization tests with 57 strains of Salmonella and other enterobacteriaceae. In all tests, the fragment was found to be Salmonella-specific in that it gave a positive reaction with all strains of Salmonella tested and was negative when tested against other Enterobacteriaceae.

Animals↗