the L1-specific gene expression (Abe et al., 2001). The L1 box is well-conserved within the promoter regions of all L1-specific

The Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) genome contains 16 genes belonging to the class IV homeodomain-Leucine zipper gene family. These include GLABRA2, ANTHOCYANINLESS2, FWA, ARABIDOPSIS THALIANA MERISTEM LAYER1 (ATML1), and PROTODERMAL FACTOR2 (PDF2). Our previous study revealed that atml1 pdf2 double mutants have severe defects in the shoot epidermal cell differentiation. Here, we have characterized additional members of this gene family, which we designated HOMEODOMAIN GLABROUS1 (HDG1) through HDG12. Analyses of transgenic Arabidopsis plants carrying the gene-specific promoter fused to the bacterial β-glucuronidase reporter gene revealed that some of the promoters have high activities in the epidermal layer of the shoot apical meristem and developing shoot organs, while others are temporarily active during reproductive organ development. Expression profiles of highly conserved paralogous gene pairs within the family were found to be not necessarily overlapping. Analyses of T-DNA insertion mutants of these HDG genes revealed that all mutants except hdg11 alleles exhibit no abnormal phenotypes. hdg11 mutants show excess branching of the trichome. This phenotype is enhanced in hdg11 hdg12 double mutants. Double mutants were constructed for other paralogous gene pairs and genes within the same subfamily. However, novel phenotypes were observed only for hdg3 atml1 and hdg3 pdf2 mutants that both exhibited defects in cotyledon development. These observations suggest that some of the class IV homeodomain-Leucine zipper members act redundantly with other members of the family during various aspects of cell differentiation. DNA-binding sites were determined for two of the family members using polymerase chain reaction-assisted DNA selection from random oligonucleotides with their recombinant proteins. The binding sites were found to be similar to those previously identified for ATML1 and PDF2, which correspond to the pseudopalindromic sequence 5′-GCATTAAATGC-3′ as the preferential binding site.

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Abstract. Killer whales were used to evaluate peripartum changes and interactions between body temperature and circulating progesterone concentration. Daily body temperature was measured between 0800 h and 0830 h before activity. Body temperature clearly increased during the first phase of pregnancy, and this was followed by a gradual decline until full term. The initial increase was paralleled by circulating levels of progesterone. A decrease in body temperature was first detected on day 5 (p<0.01) before parturition, and body temperature decreased significantly every 2 days until delivery. Five days before delivery, body temperature was 0.3 C lower than the mean value during the pregnancy period, and the decrease was more marked on day 1 before delivery (0.8 C). Serum progesterone levels during pregnancy showed a general pattern of initial rapid elevation (increasing phase), followed by a gradual decline (decreasing phase) throughout the remainder of pregnancy. However, statistically significant correlations between body temperature and progesterone pattern were only found only during the increasing phase. These results suggest that monitoring body temperature variation can be considered valuable for predicting impending parturition in killer whales.

The genus Nocardia includes both pathogens and producers of useful secondary metabolites. Although 16S rRNA analysis is required to accurately discriminate among phylogenetic relationships of the Nocardia species, most branches of 16S rRNA-based phylogenetic trees are not reliable. In this study, we performed in silico analyses of the genome sequences of Nocardia species in order to understand their diversity and classification for their identification and applications. Draft genome sequences of 26 Nocardia strains were determined. Phylogenetic trees were prepared on the basis of multilocus sequence analysis of the concatenated sequences of 12 genes (atpD-dnaJ-groL1-groL2-gyrB-recA-rpoA-secA-secY-sodA-trpB-ychF) and a bidirectional best hit. To elucidate the evolutionary relationships of these genes, the genome-to-genome distance was investigated on the basis of the average nucleotide identity, DNA maximal unique matches index, and genome-to-genome distance calculator. The topologies of all phylogenetic trees were found to be essentially similar to each other. Furthermore, whole genome-derived and multiple gene-derived relationships were found to be suitable for extensive intra-genus assessment of the genus Nocardia.