Autofluorescent protein tags represent one of the major and, perhaps, most powerful tools in modern cell biology for visualization of various cellular processes in vivo. In addition, advances in confocal microscopy and the development of autofluorescent proteins with different excitation and emission spectra allowed their simultaneous use for detection of multiple events in the same cell. Nevertheless, while autofluorescent tags are widely used in plant research, the need for a versatile and comprehensive set of vectors specifically designed for fluorescent tagging and transient and stable expression of multiple proteins in plant cells from a single plasmid has not been met by either the industrial or the academic communities. Here, we describe a new modular satellite (SAT) vector system that supports N- and C-terminal fusions to five different autofluorescent tags, EGFP, EYFP, Citrine-YFP, ECFP, and DsRed2. These vectors carry an expanded multiple cloning site that allows easy exchange of the target genes between different autofluorescence tags, and expression of the tagged proteins is controlled by constitutive promoters, which can be easily replaced with virtually any other promoter of interest. In addition, a series of SAT vectors has been adapted for high throughput Gateway recombination cloning. Furthermore, individual expression cassettes can be assembled into Agrobacterium binary plasmids, allowing efficient transient and stable expression of multiple autofluorescently tagged proteins from a single vector following its biolistic delivery or Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation.

Background: Severe sepsis is common and frequently fatal, and community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is the leading cause. Although severe sepsis is often attributed to uncontrolled and unbalanced inflammation, evidence from humans with infection syndromes across the breadth of disease is lacking. In this study we describe the systemic cytokine response to pneumonia and determine if specific patterns, including the balance of proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory markers, are associated with severe sepsis and death.Methods: This is a cohort study of 1886 subjects hospitalized with CAP through the emergency departments in 28 US academic and community hospitals. We defined severe sepsis as CAP complicated by new-onset organ dysfunction, following international consensus conference criteria. We measured plasma tumor necrosis factor, IL-6 (interleukin 6), and IL-10 levels daily for the first week and weekly thereafter. Our main outcome measures were severe sepsis and 90-day mortality.Results: A total of 583 patients developed severe sepsis (31%), of whom 149 died (26%). Systemic cytokine level Conclusions:The circulating cytokine response to pneumonia is heterogeneous and continues for more than a week after presentation, with considerable overlap between those who do and do not develop severe sepsis. Unbalanced activation is uncommon, and mortality is highest when both proinflammatory and antiinflammatory cytokine levels are high.

SummaryCD4 + T lymphocytes provide contact-dependent stimuli to B cells that are critical for the generation of specific antibody responses in a process termed T helper function. The surface structures on activated CD4 + T cells that mediate this function are not fully known. We previously reported the isolation of a functionally unique subclone of the Jurkat leukemic T cell line (D1.1) that constitutively expressed contact-dependent helper effector function. To identify T cell surface molecules that mediate contact-dependent T helper function, a monoclonal antibody (mAb), designated 5c8, was generated that inhibits Dl.l-mediated B cell activation and immunoprecipitates a novel 30-kD protein structure from surface-iodinated D1.1 cells. Normal CD4 + T cells express 5c8 antigen (Ag) transiently after activation by phorbol myristate acetate and phytohemagglutinin with maximal expression 5-6 h after activation and absence of expression by 24 h. In contrast, neither resting nor activated CD8 § T cells express 5c8 Ag. In functional studies, mAb 5c8 inhibits the ability of fixed, activated CD4 § T cells to induce B cell surface CD23 expression. In addition, mAb 5c8 inhibits the ability of CD4 + T cells to direct terminal B cell differentiation driven by pokeweed mitogen. Taken together, these data suggest that 5c8 Ag is a novel, activation-induced surface T cell protein that is involved in mediating a contactdependent element of the helper effector function of CD4 § T lymphocytes.I n a contact-dependent process, termed T helper (Th) function, CD4 + T lymphocytes direct the activation and differentiation of B lymphocytes and thereby regulate the humoral immune response by modulating the specificity, secretion and isotype-encoded effector functions of antibody molecules (1-7). The T cell surface molecules that mediate the contact-dependent elements of Th cell function are not fully known.The process by which T cells help B cells to differentiate has been divided into two distinct phases: the inductive and the effector (8, 9). In the inductive phase, resting T cells contact antigen-primed B cells and this association allows clonotypic TCR-CD4 complexes to interact with Ia/Ag complexes on B cells (5, 10-16). TCP,/CD4 recognition of Ia/Ag results in the formation of stable T-B cognate pairs and bidirectional T and B cell activation (17-22). In the effector phase, activated T cells drive B cell differentiation by secreting lymphokines (23, 24) and by contact-dependent stimuli (20,(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32), both of which are required for T cells to drive small, resting B cells to terminally differentiate into Ig-secreting cells (25, 33, 34).Although the inductive phase of T cell help is Ag dependent and MHC restricted (5, 10-15, 34, 35), the effector phase of Th function can be Ag independent and MHC nonrestricted (25, 28, 30, 34,(36)(37)(38)(39)(40)(41)(42)(43)). An additional contrasting feature is that the inductive phase of T cell help often requires CD4 molecules and is inhibited by anti-CD4 mAb (16), whereas help...

Sexual reproduction of flowering plants depends on delivery of the sperm to the egg, which occurs through a long, polarized projection of a pollen cell, called the pollen tube. The pollen tube grows exclusively at its tip, and this growth is distinguished by very fast rates and reaches extended lengths. Thus, one of the most fascinating aspects of pollen biology is the question of how enough cell wall material is produced to accommodate such rapid extension of pollen tube, and how the cell wall deposition and structure are regulated to allow for rapid changes in the direction of growth. This review discusses recent advances in our understanding of the mechanism of pollen tube growth, focusing on such basic cellular processes as control of cell shape and growth by a network of cell wall-modifying enzymes, molecular motor-mediated vesicular transport, and intracellular signaling by localized gradients of second messengers.

Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation of plants, a unique example of transkingdom DNA transfer, requires the presence of several proteins encoded by the host cell. One such cellular factor is VIP1, an Arabidopsis protein proposed to interact with and facilitate import of the bacterial DNA-protein transport (T) complexes into the plant cell nucleus. Thus, VIP1 is required for transient expression of the bacterial DNA, an early step in the transformation process. However, the role of VIP1 in subsequent transformation events leading to the stable expression of bacterial DNA was unexplored. Here, we used reverse genetics to dissect VIP1 functionally and demonstrate its involvement in the stable genetic transformation of Arabidopsis plants by Agrobacterium. Our data indicate that the ability of VIP1 to interact with the VirE2 protein component of the T-complex and localize to the cell nucleus is sufficient for transient genetic transformation, whereas its ability to form homomultimers and interact with the host cell H2A histone in planta is required for tumorigenesis and, by implication, stable genetic transformation.T-complex ͉ VirE2 ͉ nuclear import ͉ histones ͉ chromatin targeting

Geranyl diphosphate (GPP), the precursor of many monoterpene end products, is synthesized in plastids by a condensation of dimethylallyl diphosphate and isopentenyl diphosphate (IPP) in a reaction catalyzed by homodimeric or heterodimeric GPP synthase (GPPS). In the heterodimeric enzymes, a noncatalytic small subunit (GPPS.SSU) determines the product specificity of the catalytic large subunit, which may be either an active geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthase (GGPPS) or an inactive GGPPS-like protein. Here, we show that expression of snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus) GPPS.SSU in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) plants increased the total GPPS activity and monoterpene emission from leaves and flowers, indicating that the introduced catalytically inactive GPPS.SSU found endogenous large subunit partner(s) and formed an active snapdragon/tobacco GPPS in planta. Bimolecular fluorescence complementation and in vitro enzyme analysis of individual and hybrid proteins revealed that two of four GGPPS-like candidates from tobacco EST databases encode bona fide GGPPS that can interact with snapdragon GPPS.SSU and form a functional GPPS enzyme in plastids. The formation of chimeric GPPS in transgenic plants also resulted in leaf chlorosis, increased light sensitivity, and dwarfism due to decreased levels of chlorophylls, carotenoids, and gibberellins. In addition, these transgenic plants had reduced levels of sesquiterpene emission, suggesting that the export of isoprenoid intermediates from the plastids into the cytosol was decreased. These results provide genetic evidence that GPPS.SSU modifies the chain length specificity of phylogenetically distant GGPPS and can modulate IPP flux distribution between GPP and GGPP synthesis in planta.

In plant-pathogen interactions, the host defends against the invading pathogen and the pathogen aims to suppress or subvert this defense. Whereas the defense suppression strategy is relatively well understood for many pathogens, the mechanisms by which pathogens can actively utilize the defense machinery of the host remain obscure. We report that Agrobacterium, a microorganism that elicits neoplastic growths on many plant species, induces expression of a plant defense-related F-box protein, VBF, which it incorporates into its own pathway for genetic transformation. Our data suggest that VBF may function to uncoat the bacterial transferred DNA from its associated virulence VirE2 and host VIP1 proteins via the SCFVBF pathway. Suppression of VBF elevates the intracellular content of VIP1, but renders the plant largely resistant to Agrobacterium, indicating that, in the infection pathway, VBF is functionally epistatic to VIP1. When expressed in Agrobacterium and exported into the plant cell, VBF facilitates tumor formation.

Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated genetic transformation is an efficient tool for genetic engineering of plants. VirE2 is a single-stranded DNA binding Agrobacterium protein that is transported into the plant cell and presumably protects the T-DNA from degradation. Using a yeast two-hybrid system, we identified Arabidopsis thaliana VIRE2-INTERACTING PROTEIN2 (VIP2) with a NOT domain that is conserved in both plants and animals. Furthermore, we provide evidence supporting VIP2 interaction with VIP1, a basic domain/leucine zipper motif-containing protein required for nuclear import and integration of T-DNA. Virus-induced gene silencing of VIP2 in Nicotiana benthamiana and characterization of the Arabidopsis vip2 mutant (At vip2) demonstrate that VIP2 is required for Agrobacterium-mediated stable transformation but not for transient transformation. Assays based upon a promoter-trap vector and quantification of T-DNA integration further confirmed VIP2 involvement in T-DNA integration. Interestingly, VIP2 transcripts were induced to a greater extent over prolonged periods after infection with a T-DNA transfer-competent Agrobacterium strain compared with the transfer-deficient Agrobacterium strain. Transcriptome analyses of At vip2 suggest that VIP2 is likely a transcriptional regulator, and the recalcitrancy to transformation in At vip2 is probably due to the combination of muted gene expression response upon Agrobacterium infection and repression of histone genes resulting in decreased T-DNA integration events.