TY - JOUR A1 - Jahn, Martin T. A1 - Schmidt, Katrin A1 - Mock, Thomas T1 - A novel cost effective and high-throughput isolation and identification method for marine microalgae JF - Plant Methods N2 - BACKROUND: Marine microalgae are of major ecologic and emerging economic importance. Biotechnological screening schemes of microalgae for specific traits and laboratory experiments to advance our knowledge on algal biology and evolution strongly benefit from culture collections reflecting a maximum of the natural inter- and intraspecific diversity. However, standard procedures for strain isolation and identification, namely DNA extraction, purification, amplification, sequencing and taxonomic identification still include considerable constraints increasing the time required to establish new cultures. RESULTS: In this study, we report a cost effective and high-throughput isolation and identification method for marine microalgae. The throughput was increased by applying strain isolation on plates and taxonomic identification by direct PCR (dPCR) of phylogenetic marker genes in combination with a novel sequencing electropherogram based screening method to assess the taxonomic diversity and identity of the isolated cultures. For validation of the effectiveness of this approach, we isolated and identified a range of unialgal cultures from natural phytoplankton communities sampled in the Arctic Ocean. These cultures include the isolate of a novel marine Chlorophyceae strain among several different diatoms. CONCLUSIONS: We provide an efficient and effective approach leading from natural phytoplankton communities to isolated and taxonomically identified algal strains in only a few weeks. Validated with sensitive Arctic phytoplankton, this approach overcomes the constraints of standard molecular characterisation and establishment of unialgal cultures." KW - cultivation KW - direct PCR KW - isolation KW - marine microalgae KW - taxonomy Y1 - 2014 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-121255 VL - 10 IS - 26 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kreuzwieser, Jürgen A1 - Scheerer, Ursel A1 - Kruse, Jörg A1 - Burzlaff, Tim A1 - Honsel, Anne A1 - Alfarraj, Saleh A1 - Georgiev, Palmen A1 - Schnitzler, Jörg-Peter A1 - Ghirardo, Andrea A1 - Kreuzer, Ines A1 - Hedrich, Rainer A1 - Rennenberg, Heinz T1 - The Venus flytrap attracts insects by the release of volatile organic compounds JF - Journal of Experimental Botany N2 - Does Dionaea muscipula, the Venus flytrap, use a particular mechanism to attract animal prey? This question was raised by Charles Darwin 140 years ago, but it remains unanswered. This study tested the hypothesis that Dionaea releases volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to allure prey insects. For this purpose, olfactory choice bioassays were performed to elucidate if Dionaea attracts Drosophila melanogaster. The VOCs emitted by the plant were further analysed by GC-MS and proton transfer reaction-mass spectrometry (PTR-MS). The bioassays documented that Drosophila was strongly attracted by the carnivorous plant. Over 60 VOCs, including terpenes, benzenoids, and aliphatics, were emitted by Dionaea, predominantly in the light. This work further tested whether attraction of animal prey is affected by the nutritional status of the plant. For this purpose, Dionaea plants were fed with insect biomass to improve plant N status. However, although such feeding altered the VOC emission pattern by reducing terpene release, the attraction of Drosophila was not affected. From these results it is concluded that Dionaea attracts insects on the basis of food smell mimicry because the scent released has strong similarity to the bouquet of fruits and plant flowers. Such a volatile blend is emitted to attract insects searching for food to visit the deadly capture organ of the Venus flytrap. KW - carnivorus plants KW - dionaea muscipula KW - drosophila melanogaster KW - VOC emissions KW - nitrogen status KW - olfactory bioassay KW - plant-animal interaction Y1 - 2014 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-121161 VL - 65 IS - 2 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Abdelmohsen, Usama Ramadan A1 - Cheng, Cheng A1 - Viegelmann, Christina A1 - Zhang, Tong A1 - Grkovic, Tanja A1 - Ahmed, Safwat A1 - Quinn, Ronald J. A1 - Hentschel, Ute A1 - Edrada-Ebel, RuAngelie T1 - Dereplication Strategies for Targeted Isolation of New Antitrypanosomal Actinosporins A and B from a Marine Sponge Associated-Actinokineospora sp EG49 JF - Marine Drugs N2 - High resolution Fourier transform mass spectrometry (HRFTMS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy were employed as complementary metabolomic tools to dereplicate the chemical profile of the new and antitrypanosomally active sponge-associated bacterium Actinokineospora sp. EG49 extract. Principal Component (PCA), hierarchical clustering (HCA), and orthogonal partial least square-discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) were used to evaluate the HRFTMS and NMR data of crude extracts from four different fermentation approaches. Statistical analysis identified the best culture one-strain-many-compounds (OSMAC) condition and extraction procedure, which was used for the isolation of novel bioactive metabolites. As a result, two new O-glycosylated angucyclines, named actinosporins A (1) and B (2), were isolated from the broth culture of Actinokineospora sp. strain EG49, which was cultivated from the Red Sea sponge Spheciospongia vagabunda. The structures of actinosporins A and B were determined by 1D- and 2D-NMR techniques, as well as high resolution tandem mass spectrometry. Testing for antiparasitic properties showed that actinosporin A exhibited activity against Trypanosoma brucei brucei with an IC₅₀ value of 15 µM; however no activity was detected against Leishmania major and Plasmodium falciparum, therefore suggesting its selectivity against the parasite Trypanosoma brucei brucei; the causative agent of sleeping sickness. KW - dereplication KW - secondary metabolomics KW - anti-trypanosoma KW - Actinokineospora KW - Spheciospongia vagabunda KW - actinosporins Y1 - 2014 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-119876 SN - 1660-3397 VL - 12 IS - 3 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Gohlke, Jochen A1 - Deeken, Rosalia T1 - Plant responses to Agrobacterium tumefaciens and crown gall development JF - Frontiers in Plant Science N2 - Agrobacterium tumefaciens causes crown gall disease on various plant species by introducing its T-DNA into the genome. Therefore, Agrobacterium has been extensively studied both as a pathogen and an important biotechnological tool. The infection process involves the transfer of T-DNA and virulence proteins into the plant cell. At that time the gene expression patterns of host plants differ depending on the Agrobacterium strain, plant species and cell-type used. Later on, integration of the T-DNA into the plant host genome, expression of the encoded oncogenes, and increase in phytohormone levels induce a fundamental reprogramming of the transformed cells. This results in their proliferation and finally formation of plant tumors. The process of reprogramming is accompanied by altered gene expression, morphology and metabolism. In addition to changes in the transcriptome and metabolome, further genome-wide ("omic") approaches have recently deepened our understanding of the genetic and epigenetic basis of crown gall tumor formation. This review summarizes the current knowledge about plant responses in the course of tumor development. Special emphasis is placed on the connection between epigenetic, transcriptomic, metabolomic, and morphological changes in the developing tumor. These changes not only result in abnormally proliferating host cells with a heterotrophic and transport-dependent metabolism, but also cause differentiation and serve as mechanisms to balance pathogen defense and adapt to abiotic stress conditions, thereby allowing the coexistence of the crown gall and host plant. KW - phytohormones KW - plant defenses KW - morphological adaptions KW - metabolomic changes KW - epigenetics Y1 - 2014 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-119768 SN - 1664-462X VL - 5 IS - 155 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schmitt, Dominik R. A1 - Kuper, Jochen A1 - Elias, Agnes A1 - Kisker, Caroline T1 - The Structure of the TFIIH p34 Subunit Reveals a Von Willebrand Factor A Like Fold JF - PLoS ONE N2 - RNA polymerase II dependent transcription and nucleotide excision repair are mediated by a multifaceted interplay of subunits within the general transcription factor II H (TFIIH). A better understanding of the molecular structure of TFIIH is the key to unravel the mechanism of action of this versatile protein complex within these vital cellular processes. The importance of this complex becomes further evident in the context of severe diseases like xeroderma pigmentosum, Cockayne's syndrome and trichothiodystrophy, that arise from single point mutations in TFIIH subunits. Here we describe the structure of the p34 subunit of the TFIIH complex from the eukaryotic thermophilic fungus Chaetomium thermophilum. The structure revealed that p34 contains a von Willebrand Factor A (vWA) like domain, a fold which is generally known to be involved in protein-protein interactions. Within TFIIH p34 strongly interacts with p44, a positive regulator of the helicase XPD. Putative protein-protein interfaces are analyzed and possible binding sites for the p34-p44 interaction suggested. KW - sequence motif analysis KW - iodides KW - protein-protein interactions KW - protein domains KW - molecular structure KW - electron density KW - protein structure KW - crystal structure Y1 - 2014 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-119471 SN - 1932-6203 VL - 9 IS - 7 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Szambowska, Anna A1 - Tessmer, Ingrid A1 - Kursula, Petri A1 - Usskilat, Christian A1 - Prus, Potr A1 - Pospiech, Helmut A1 - Grosse, Frank T1 - DNA binding properties of human Cdc45 suggest a function as molecular wedge for DNA unwinding JF - Nucleic Acids Research N2 - The cell division cycle protein 45 (Cdc45) represents an essential replication factor that, together with the Mcm2-7 complex and the four subunits of GINS, forms the replicative DNA helicase in eukaryotes. Recombinant human Cdc45 (hCdc45) was structurally characterized and its DNA-binding properties were determined. Synchrotron radiation circular dichroism spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering, small-angle X-ray scattering and atomic force microscopy revealed that hCdc45 exists as an alpha-helical monomer and possesses a structure similar to its bacterial homolog RecJ. hCdc45 bound long (113-mer or 80-mer) single-stranded DNA fragments with a higher affinity than shorter ones (34-mer). hCdc45 displayed a preference for 3' protruding strands and bound tightly to single-strand/double-strand DNA junctions, such as those presented by Y-shaped DNA, bubbles and displacement loops, all of which appear transiently during the initiation of DNA replication. Collectively, our findings suggest that hCdc45 not only binds to but also slides on DNA with a 3'-5' polarity and, thereby acts as a molecular 'wedge' to initiate DNA strand displacement. KW - protein secondary structure KW - circular dichroism spectra KW - small-angle scattering KW - single-stranded-DNA KW - cyclin-dependent kinases KW - ray solution scattering KW - saccharmyces cerevisiae KW - escherichia coli KW - recj exonuclease KW - s-phase Y1 - 2014 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-117538 SN - 1362-4962 VL - 42 IS - 4 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Cardani, Diego A1 - Sardi, Claudia A1 - La Ferla, Barbara A1 - D'Orazio, Guiseppe A1 - Sommariva, Michele A1 - Marcucci, Fabrizio A1 - Olivero, Daniela A1 - Tagliabue, Elda A1 - Koepsell, Hermann A1 - Nicotra, Francesco A1 - Balsari, Andrea A1 - Rumio, Christiano T1 - Sodium glucose cotransporter 1 ligand BLF501 as a novel tool for management of gastrointestinal mucositis JF - Molecular Cancer N2 - Background: Recent studies demonstrated that engagement of sodium glucose transporter 1 (SGLT-1) by orally administered D-glucose protects the intestinal mucosa from lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced injury. We tested whether SGLT-1 engagement might protect the intestinal mucosa from doxorubicin (DXR)- and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)-induced injury in animal models mimicking acute or chronic mucositis. Methods: Mice were treated intraperitoneally with DXR, alone or in combination with 5-FU, and orally with BLF501, a glucose-derived synthetic compound with high affinity for SGLT-1. Intestinal mucosal epithelium integrity was assessed by histological analysis, cellular proliferation assays, real-time PCR gene expression assays and Western blot assays. Student's t-test (paired two-tailed) and X-2 analyses were used for comparisons between groups. Differences were considered significant at p < 0.05. Results: BLF501 administration in mice treated with DXR and/or 5-FU decreased the injuries to the mucosa in terms of epithelial integrity and cellular proliferative ability. Co-treatment with BLF501 led to a normal expression and distribution of both zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1) and beta-catenin, which were underexpressed after treatment with either chemotherapeutic agent alone. BLF501 administration also restored normal expression of caspase-3 and ezrin/radixin/moesin (ERM), which were overexpressed after treatment with DXR and 5-FU. In SGLT1-/- mice, BLF501 had no detectable effects. BLF501 administration in wild-type mice with growing A431 tumors did not modify antitumor activity of DXR. Conclusions: BLF501-induced protection of the intestinal mucosa is a promising novel therapeutic approach to reducing the severity of chemotherapy-induced mucositis. KW - apoptosis KW - prevention KW - doxorubicin KW - cancer KW - gastrointestinal mucositis KW - SGLT-1 KW - synthetic D-glucose analogy KW - chemotherapy KW - inflammation KW - clinical practice guidelines KW - intestinal mucositis KW - epithelial cells KW - oral mucositis KW - gene-expression Y1 - 2014 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-117352 SN - 1476-4598 VL - 13 IS - 23 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Röder, Pia V. A1 - Geillinger, Kerstin E. A1 - Zietek, Tamara S. A1 - Thorens, Bernard A1 - Koepsell, Hermann A1 - Daniel, Hannelore T1 - The Role of SGLT1 and GLUT2 in Intestinal Glucose Transport and Sensing JF - PLOS ONE N2 - Intestinal glucose absorption is mediated by SGLT1 whereas GLUT2 is considered to provide basolateral exit. Recently, it was proposed that GLUT2 can be recruited into the apical membrane after a high luminal glucose bolus allowing bulk absorption of glucose by facilitated diffusion. Moreover, SGLT1 and GLUT2 are suggested to play an important role in intestinal glucose sensing and incretin secretion. In mice that lack either SGLT1 or GLUT2 we re-assessed the role of these transporters in intestinal glucose uptake after radiotracer glucose gavage and performed Western blot analysis for transporter abundance in apical membrane fractions in a comparative approach. Moreover, we examined the contribution of these transporters to glucose-induced changes in plasma GIP, GLP-1 and insulin levels. In mice lacking SGLT1, tissue retention of tracer glucose was drastically reduced throughout the entire small intestine whereas GLUT2-deficient animals exhibited higher tracer contents in tissue samples than wild type animals. Deletion of SGLT1 resulted also in reduced blood glucose elevations and abolished GIP and GLP-1 secretion in response to glucose. In mice lacking GLUT2, glucose-induced insulin but not incretin secretion was impaired. Western blot analysis revealed unchanged protein levels of SGLT1 after glucose gavage. GLUT2 detected in apical membrane fractions mainly resulted from contamination with basolateral membranes but did not change in density after glucose administration. SGLT1 is unequivocally the prime intestinal glucose transporter even at high luminal glucose concentrations. Moreover, SGLT1 mediates glucose-induced incretin secretion. Our studies do not provide evidence for GLUT2 playing any role in either apical glucose influx or incretin secretion. KW - rat small-intestine KW - brush border membrane KW - apical GLUT2 KW - incretin secretion KW - diffusive component KW - sugar absorption KW - mice KW - calcium absorption KW - phosphorylation KW - cotransporter Y1 - 2014 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-117262 VL - 9 IS - 2 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Dashti, Yousef A1 - Grkovic, Tanja A1 - Abdelmohsen, Usama Ramadan A1 - Hentschel, Ute A1 - Quinn, Ronald J. T1 - Production of Induced Secondary Metabolites by a Co-Culture of Sponge-Associated Actinomycetes, Actinokineospora sp EG49 and Nocardiopsis sp RV163 JF - MARINE DRUGS N2 - Two sponge-derived actinomycetes, Actinokineospora sp. EG49 and Nocardiopsis sp. RV163, were grown in co-culture and the presence of induced metabolites monitored by H-1 NMR. Ten known compounds, including angucycline, diketopiperazine and beta-carboline derivatives 1-10, were isolated from the EtOAc extracts of Actinokineospora sp. EG49 and Nocardiopsis sp. RV163. Co-cultivation of Actinokineospora sp. EG49 and Nocardiopsis sp. RV163 induced the biosynthesis of three natural products that were not detected in the single culture of either microorganism, namely N-(2-hydroxyphenyl)-acetamide (11), 1,6-dihydroxyphenazine (12) and 5a, 6,11a, 12-tetrahydro-5a, 11a-dimethyl[1,4]benzoxazino[3,2-b][1,4]benzoxazine (13a). When tested for biological activity against a range of bacteria and parasites, only the phenazine 12 was active against Bacillus sp. P25, Trypanosoma brucei and interestingly, against Actinokineospora sp. EG49. These findings highlight the co-cultivation approach as an effective strategy to access the bioactive secondary metabolites hidden in the genomes of marine actinomycetes. KW - co-cultivation KW - induced metabolites KW - sponge-associated actinomyetes KW - NMR fingerprint KW - bioactivity KW - natural products KW - A-D KW - aspergillus fumigatus KW - marine KW - biosynthesis Y1 - 2014 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-116547 SN - 1660-3397 VL - 12 IS - 5 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Oli, Swarna A1 - Abdelmohsen, Usama Ramadan A1 - Hentschel, Ute A1 - Schirmeister, Tanja T1 - Identification of Plakortide E from the Caribbean Sponge Plakortis halichondroides as a Trypanocidal Protease Inhibitor using Bioactivity-Guided Fractionation JF - MARINE DRUGS N2 - In this paper, we report new protease inhibitory activity of plakortide E towards cathepsins and cathepsin-like parasitic proteases. We further report on its anti-parasitic activity against Trypanosoma brucei with an IC50 value of 5 mu M and without cytotoxic effects against J774.1 macrophages at 100 mu M concentration. Plakortide E was isolated from the sponge Plakortis halichondroides using enzyme assay-guided fractionation and identified by NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. Furthermore, enzyme kinetic studies confirmed plakortide E as a non-competitive, slowly-binding, reversible inhibitor of rhodesain. KW - plakortis halichondroides KW - plakortide E. KW - protease inhibitor KW - slowly-binding reversible inhibitor KW - cathepsin KW - trypanosoma brucei KW - cysteine protease KW - malaria parasites KW - cathepsin-L KW - in-vitro KW - rhodesain Y1 - 2014 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-116536 SN - 1660-3397 VL - 12 IS - 5 ER -