No abstract

The G ^ T transversion mutation, ade6-M26, creates the heptanucleotide sequence ATGACTG, which lies close to the 5' end of the open reading frame of the ade6 gene in Schizosaccharomyces pombe. The mutation generates a meiosis-specific recombination hot spot and a binding site for the Mtsl/Mts2 protein. We examined the chromatin structure at the ade6 locus in the M26 strain and compared it to that of the wild-type and hot spot-negative control M375. Micrococcal nuclease (MNase) digestion and indirect end-labeling methods were applied. In the M26 strain, we detected a new MNase-hypersensitive site at the position of the M26 mutation and no longer observed the phasing of nucleosomes seen in the wild-type and the M375 strains. Quantitative comparison of MNase sensitivity of the chromatin in premeiotic and meiotic cultures revealed a small meiotic induction of MNase hypersensitivity in the ade6 promoter region of the wild-type and M375 strains. The meiotic induction of MNase hypersensitivity was enhanced significantly in the ade6 promoter region of the M26 strain and also occurred at the M26 mutation site. The formation of the MNase-sensitive region around the heptamer sequence was abolished by the introduction of single-nucleotide substitutions in the heptamer sequence, which also abolish hot spot activity and binding of Mtsl/Mts2. These data suggest that Mtsl/Mts2 binding to the heptamer sequence results in a chromatin structure suitable for the recruitment of a meiosis-specific recombination function or functions.

Recent findings on the translocation of intact fibroblast growth factor (FGF) into the cell nucleus suggest that it functions directly in nuclear events. We examined the effect of human basic FGF (bFGF) on gene transcription in a cell-free system. When mouse genes encoding phosphoglycerate kinases 1 and 2 (Pgk-1 and Pgk-2) were transcribed by using nuclear extracts of Ehrlich ascites tumor cells, FGF affected transcription in different ways: in the presence of bFGF, transcription of the Pgk-1 gene was inhibited, whereas that of the Pgk-2 gene was enhanced. When viral genes were tested, transcription of the adenovirus major late DNA was slightly stimulated but that of the adenovirus early EIA DNA or the human immunodeficiency virus DNA was not changed by the addition of bFGF. Moreover, the presence of a distinct 5' upstream region of the Pgk-2 gene, which includes a negative cis-acting element, was required for transcription stimulation by bFGF. These results suggest that bFGF can regulate transcription directly in the nucleus in a gene-specific manner.

No abstract

Photoluminescence of pentacene single crystals is studied in the temperature range of 7 K to 200 K under excitation with He-Ne laser light. Photoluminescence spectra consist of four broad bands, L1 to L4. The highest energy band, L1, located close to the lowest exciton absorption band mainly appears for //b-polarization. The intensity of the second one, L2, with Stokes-shift of about 1500 cm -1, decreases as temperature rises above 30 K and disappears at 100 K. The bands, L3 and L4, which are located at lower energy, are observed at higher temperatures up to 200 K. Based on their energy positions, the band L2 is assigned to a shallow self-trapped exciton luminescence band, and the bands L3 and L4 to deep self-trapped exciton luminescence bands. By comparing this result with reported result on tetracene crystals, self-trapped excitons are considered to be more stable in pentacene.