The highly conserved multi-protein mismatch repair (MMR) system is known for its ability to correct post replication errors in genomic DNA. A hallmark of MMR deficiency in all organisms is microsatellite instability. The initiating proteins in the eukaryotic MMR system are hetrodimers formed with an integral MSH2 subunit and one...
Papain-like leader proteases are found in diverse families of human, animal, plant, and fungal positive-strand RNA viruses. In addition to autocatalytic processing, these proteases play a variety of roles in the virus life cycle. In particular, the leader protease (L-Pro) of a prototype member of the Closterovirus genus, Beet yellows...
The genome of the multicapsid nuclear polyhedrosis virus of
Orgyia pseudotsugata (OpMNPV) was mapped by examining overlapping
Hindlll fragments from cosmid clones which had been constructed
from partial Hindlll digests of viral DNA. Five OpMNPV cosmid
clones containing fragments encompassing the entire OpMNPV genome
were hybridized to blots of DNA...
We have developed crown-gall resistant transgenic plants capable of suppressing Agrobacterium tumefaciens T-DNA oncogenes. Crown gall tumors result from overproduction of auxin and cytokinin in plant cells transformed by A. tumefaciens. High phytohormone levels result from expression of two auxin biosynthetic genes, tryptophan monooxygenase (iaaM) and indole acetamide hydrolase (iaaH),...
Some positive-strand RNA plant viruses possess a transfer RNA-like structure (TLS) at the 3'-terminus of their genomic RNAs. The closest mimicry to tRNA is exhibited by the valylatable TLSs from tymoviruses and furo-like viruses, which are able to interact with key cellular tRNA enzymes: [CTP, ATP]:tRNA nucleotidyltransferase (CCA NTase), valyl-tRNA...
Coreplication experiments have revealed that replication of
turnip yellow mosaic virus (TYMV) RNA in turnip protoplasts is cis-preferential.
Genomes encoding mutant p141 or p66, proteins
essential for virus replication, were inefficiently rescued by a
helper genome. One model for the cis-preferential replication of
TYMV is that p66 and p141 form...
Molecular DNA markers have become widely used in all areas of genetic
research. The objectives of this thesis were to develop polymorphic markers in sunflower
and utilize the markers for genetic and candidate gene analyses. Amplified fragment
length polymorphism (AFLP) markers were used to estimate genetic similarities and
assess the...