When the stop codons TGA, TAA, and TAG are found in the second and third reading frames of a protein-encoding gene, they are considered premature stop codons (PSC). Deinococcus radiodurans disproportionately favored TGA more than the other two triplets as a PSC. The TGA triplet was also found more often in noncoding regions and as a stop codon, though the bias was less pronounced. We investigated this phenomenon in 72 bacterial species with widely differing chromosomal GC contents. Although TGA and TAG were compositionally similar, we found a great variation in use of TGA but a very limited range of use of TAG. The frequency of use of TGA in the gene sequences generally increased with the GC content of the chromosome, while the frequency of use of TAG, like that of TAA, was inversely proportional to the GC content of the chromosome. The patterns of use of TAA, TGA and TAG as real stop codons were less biased and less influenced by the GC content of the chromosome. Bacteria with higher chromosomal GC contents often contained fewer PSC trimers in their genes. Phylogenetically related bacteria often exhibited similar PSC ratios. In addition, metabolically versatile bacteria have significantly fewer PSC trimers in their genes. The bias toward TGA but against TAG as a PSC could not be explained either by the preferential usage of specific codons or by the GC contents of individual chromosomes. We proposed that the quantity and the quality of the PSC in the genome might be important in bacterial evolution.
The salivary glands of ixodid ticks are the primary organs of osmoregulation and the source of pathogen transfer from tick to host. Excess fluid is extracted from the blood meal, moved across the gut wall and into the salivary glands, where it is returned to the host. Previously it has been shown in vivo and in vitro that the type III acinus alternately swells as it fills with fluid and then contracts as the acinus empties, and that cytochalasin D prevents contraction of the type III acini.In this investigation, the rhodamine-phalloidin technique was used to localize actin filaments in the salivary glands of fed mated female ticks. Two microfilament inhibitors were used as controls. Samples were also taken for electron microscopy and dot blot analysis.
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