Safety assessment of cre recombinase.

Cre recombinase, when used as a tool in agricultural biotechnology, can precisely excise DNA sequences that may be useful in the introduction of a new trait but are not needed in the commercial product. Although the cre genetic material would not be present in the final product, the present studies were performed to assess the safety of Cre recombinase to provide confirmatory evidence of the safe use of Cre-lox technology in agricultural biotechnology. Cre recombinase shares no relevant sequence similarity to known allergens or toxins. When Cre recombinase was exposed to a pH 1.2 solution of simulated gastric fluid lacking pepsin, CD spectroscopy showed that there was a loss of secondary structure and that the protein was no longer active in a functional assay. Cre recombinase was degraded rapidly when exposed to pepsin in a standardized gastric digestion model; therefore, Cre recombinase would not survive the harsh gastric environment. When orally administered to mice as an acute dosage of 53 mg/kg of body weight, no treatment-related adverse findings were observed. These data support the conclusion that human and animal dietary exposure to Cre recombinase pose no known safety concerns; consistent with the fact that bacteriophage P1, the source of the cre gene and expressed protein, is commonly encountered in the environment and in normal enteric bacteria without reports of adverse consequences.

A role for the RabA4b effector protein PI-4Kbeta1 in polarized expansion of root hair cells in Arabidopsis thaliana.

The RabA4b GTPase labels a novel, trans-Golgi network compartment displaying a developmentally regulated polar distribution in growing Arabidopsis thaliana root hair cells. GTP bound RabA4b selectively recruits the plant phosphatidylinositol 4-OH kinase, PI-4Kbeta1, but not members of other PI-4K families. PI-4Kbeta1 colocalizes with RabA4b on tip-localized membranes in growing root hairs, and mutant plants in which both the PI-4Kbeta1 and -4Kbeta2 genes are disrupted display aberrant root hair morphologies. PI-4Kbeta1 interacts with RabA4b through a novel homology domain, specific to eukaryotic type IIIbeta PI-4Ks, and PI-4Kbeta1 also interacts with a Ca2+ sensor, AtCBL1, through its NH2 terminus. We propose that RabA4b recruitment of PI-4Kbeta1 results in Ca2+-dependent generation of PI-4P on this compartment, providing a link between Ca2+ and PI-4,5P2-dependent signals during the polarized secretion of cell wall components in tip-growing root hair cells.

Structure of the nucleotide complex of PyrR, the pyr attenuation protein from Bacillus caldolyticus, suggests dual regulation by pyrimidine and purine nucleotides.

PyrR is a protein that regulates the expression of genes and operons of pyrimidine nucleotide biosynthesis (pyr genes) in many bacteria. PyrR acts by binding to specific sequences on pyr mRNA and causing transcriptional attenuation when intracellular levels of uridine nucleotides are elevated. PyrR from Bacillus subtilis has been purified and extensively studied. In this work, we describe the purification to homogeneity and characterization of recombinant PyrR from the thermophile Bacillus caldolyticus and the crystal structures of unliganded PyrR and a PyrR-nucleotide complex. The B. caldolyticus pyrR gene was previously shown to restore normal regulation of the B. subtilis pyr operon in a pyrR deletion mutant. Like B. subtilis PyrR, B. caldolyticus PyrR catalyzes the uracil phosphoribosyltransferase reaction but with maximal activity at 60 degrees C. Crystal structures of B. caldolyticus PyrR reveal a dimer similar to the B. subtilis PyrR dimer and, for the first time, binding sites for nucleotides. UMP and GMP, accompanied by Mg2+, bind specifically to PyrR active sites. Nucleotide binding to PyrR is similar to other phosphoribosyltransferases, but Mg2+ binding differs. GMP binding was unexpected. The protein bound specific sequences of pyr RNA 100 to 1,000 times more tightly than B. subtilis PyrR, depending on the RNA tested and the assay method; uridine nucleotides enhanced RNA binding, but guanosine nucleotides antagonized it. The new findings of specific GMP binding and its antagonism of RNA binding suggest cross-regulation of the pyr operon by purines.