Current Genetics 

About: Current Genetics is an academic journal published by Springer Science+Business Media. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Gene & Saccharomyces cerevisiae. It has an ISSN identifier of 0172-8083. Over the lifetime, 4350 publications have been published receiving 138433 citations. The journal is also known as: Current genetics (Print).

High efficiency transformation of intact yeast cells using single stranded nucleic acids as a carrier.

Abstract: A method, using LiAc to yield competent cells, is described that increased the efficiency of genetic transformation of intact cells of Saccharomyces cerevisiae to more than 1 × 105 transformants per microgram of vector DNA and to 1.5% transformants per viable cell. The use of single stranded, or heat denaturated double stranded, nucleic acids as carrier resulted in about a 100 fold higher frequency of transformation with plasmids containing the 2μm origin of replication. Single stranded DNA seems to be responsible for the effect since M13 single stranded DNA, as well as RNA, was effective. Boiled carrier DNA did not yield any increased transformation efficiency using spheroplast formation to induce DNA uptake, indicating a difference in the mechanism of transformation with the two methods.

OrganellarGenomeDRAW (OGDRAW): a tool for the easy generation of high-quality custom graphical maps of plastid and mitochondrial genomes.

Abstract: Mitochondria and plastids are DNA-containing cell organelles whose genomes occur at high copy numbers per cell. Organellar genomes vary greatly in size ranging from approximately 15 kb for some animal mitochondrial genomes to more than 2 Mb for some plant mitochondrial genomes. The vast majority of organellar genomes map as circular molecules that are difficult to illustrate by available commercial or free software tools. Thus, published genome maps are extremely heterogeneous in design, often tediously drawn semi-manually and lack any consensus in display. Here, we present a new web-based tool, OrganellarGenomeDRAW (OGDRAW), which produces high-resolution custom graphical maps of DNA sequences as stored in standard GenBank format entries. GenBank data can be provided as either file uploads or accession numbers. The program is specially optimized for the display of chloroplast and mitochondrial genomes but can also be used to depict other circular DNA sequences. The design of the program core as a Perl module with an object-oriented interface allows easy integration into custom scripts.

One-step transformation of yeast in stationary phase.

Abstract: A fast yeast-transformation technique has been developed by adding thio compounds to alkali-ion based protocols and incubating at 45°C. This procedure is especially recommended for cells from stationary phase at a density up to 2.5×108 cells/ml. It involves only one step for the preparation and transformation of competent cells within 30 min. The yield was more than 104 transformants/μg plasmid DNA. This protocol is easy to scale up for many DNA samples and is also applicable for yeast cells from different types of storages.

On the origin and functions of RNA-mediated silencing: from protists to man.

Abstract: Double-stranded RNA has been shown to induce gene silencing in diverse eukaryotes and by a variety of pathways. We have examined the taxonomic distribution and the phylogenetic relationship of key components of the RNA interference (RNAi) machinery in members of five eukaryotic supergroups. On the basis of the parsimony principle, our analyses suggest that a relatively complex RNAi machinery was already present in the last common ancestor of eukaryotes and consisted, at a minimum, of one Argonaute-like polypeptide, one Piwi-like protein, one Dicer, and one RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. As proposed before, the ancestral (but non-essential) role of these components may have been in defense responses against genomic parasites such as transposable elements and viruses. From a mechanistic perspective, the RNAi machinery in the eukaryotic ancestor may have been capable of both small-RNA-guided transcript degradation as well as transcriptional repression, most likely through histone modifications. Both roles appear to be widespread among living eukaryotes and this diversification of function could account for the evolutionary conservation of duplicated Argonaute-Piwi proteins. In contrast, additional RNAi-mediated pathways such as RNA-directed DNA methylation, programmed genome rearrangements, meiotic silencing by unpaired DNA, and miRNA-mediated gene regulation may have evolved independently in specific lineages.

Molecular cloning and characterization of a novel gene of Candida albicans, CDR1, conferring multiple resistance to drugs and antifungals.

Abstract: By functional complementation of a PDR5 null mutant of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, we have cloned and sequenced the multidrug-resistance gene CDR1 of Candida albicans. Transformation by CDR1 of a PDR5-disrupted host hypersensitive to cycloheximide and chloramphenicol resulted in resistance to cycloheximide, chloramphenicol and other drugs, such as the antifungal miconazole, with collateral hypersensitivity to oligomycin, nystatin and 2,4 dinitrophenol. Our results also demonstrate the presence of several PDR5 complementing genes in C. albicans, displaying multidrug-resistance patterns different from PDR5 and CDR1. The nucleotide sequence of CDR1 revealed that, like PDR5, it encodes a putative membrane pump belonging to the ABC (ATP-binding cassette) superfamily. CDR1 encodes a 1501-residue protein of 169.9 kDa whose predicted structural organization is characterized by two homologous halves, each comprising a hydrophobic region with a set of six transmembrane stretches, preceded by a hydrophilic nucleotide binding fold.