In the past 10 years, much attention has been focused on transcription preinitiation complex formation as a target for regulating gene expression, and other targets such as transcription termination complex assemblage have been less intensively investigated. We established the existence of poly(A) site choice and fusion splicing of two adjacent genes, galactose-1-phosphate uridylyltransferase (GALT) and interleukin-11 receptor ␣-chain

Staphylococcus aureus is a major human pathogen, a relevant pathogen in veterinary medicine, and a major cause of food poisoning. Epidemiological investigation tools are needed to establish surveillance of S. aureus strains in humans, animals and food. In this study, we investigated 145 S. aureus isolates recovered from various animal species, disease conditions, food products and food poisoning events. Multiple Locus Variable Number of Tandem Repeat (VNTR) analysis (MLVA), known to be highly efficient for the genotyping of human S. aureus isolates, was used and shown to be equally well suited for the typing of animal S. aureus isolates. MLVA was improved by using sixteen VNTR loci amplified in two multiplex PCRs and analyzed by capillary electrophoresis ensuring a high throughput and high discriminatory power. The isolates were assigned to twelve known clonal complexes (CCs) and –a few singletons. Half of the test collection belonged to four CCs (CC9, CC97, CC133, CC398) previously described as mostly associated with animals. The remaining eight CCs (CC1, CC5, CC8, CC15, CC25, CC30, CC45, CC51), representing 46% of the animal isolates, are common in humans. Interestingly, isolates responsible for food poisoning show a CC distribution signature typical of human isolates and strikingly different from animal isolates, suggesting a predominantly human origin.

No abstract

Interleukin-11 (IL-11) is a stromal cell-derived cytokine with multiple biologic activities on lymphohematopoietic cells. It belongs to a family of pleiotropic and redundant cytokines that use the gp 130 transducing subunit in their high affinity receptors. By amplifying human cDNA libraries with oligonucleotide primers corresponding to the conserved WSXWS motif found in the hematopoietic cytokine receptor family, a novel cytokine receptor cDNA was identified that, based on high (82%) sequence homology with the recently cloned murine IL-11 receptor, appears to encode the human IL-11 receptor. This receptor is a 422-amino acid protein containing a signal peptide followed by extracellular, transmembrane, and cytoplasmic domains. The extracellular region has a two-domain structure homologous to those of the IL-6 and ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) receptors: an immunoglobulin-like domain and a cytokine receptor-like domain. In addition, an isoform of the human IL-11 receptor that lacks the cytoplasmic domain was also identified. In agreement with the pleiotropic effects of IL-11 on different hematopoietic lineages and bone cells, IL-11 receptor transcripts were found to be expressed by the myelogenous leukemia cell line K562, the megakaryocytic leukemia cell line Mo7E, the erythroleukemia cell line TF1, and the osteosarcoma cell lines MG-63 and Saos-2.

Multiple locus variable number of tandem repeats (VNTR) analysis (MLVA) has been shown to provide a high level of information for epidemiological investigations and the follow-up of Pseudomonas aeruginosa chronic infection. In the present study, an automatized MLVA assay has been developed for the analysis of 16 VNTRs in two multiplex polymerase chain reactions (PCRs), followed by capillary electrophoresis. The result in the form of a code is directly usable for clustering analyses. This MLVA-16(Orsay) scheme was applied to the genotyping of 83 isolates from eight cystic fibrosis patients, demonstrating that the same genotype persisted during eight years of chronic infection in the majority of cases. Comparison with pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) analysis showed that both methods were congruent, MLVA providing, in some cases, additional informativity. The evolution of strains during long-term infection was revealed by the presence of VNTR variants.