similarity

Scientists find missing enzyme for tuberculosis iron scavenging pathway

... antibiotic resistance genes due to their sequence similarity to existing antibiotic resistance genes. Dr. Edward N. Baker of the University of Auckland in New Zealand explains, "Generally the sequence of the open reading frame is compared with the sequences of genes for other proteins (most of which are from d...

Found: Missing sequence of the human Y chromosome

..., 4,9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16, and 22. This remarkable similarity can beattributed to segmental duplications, a phenomenon whereby largeportions of the genome are copied during evolution. Segmentalduplications, which emerged during the past 30 million years of primateevolution, are significantly enriched in subtelo...

Same mutation aided evolution in many fish species, Stanford study finds

...in how a gene was turned on and off. The striking similarity is that in both studies evolution turned to the same genetic switch to work a visible change in the fish. However, in the fin study the group wasn't able to pinpoint the exact genetic alteration. The group continues to wade out into nature, collecti...

Scientists reveal molecular secrets of the malaria parasite

...n able to generate maps thatcompare the degrees of similarity among genes on P. falciparumchromosomes and its rodent-malaria counterparts."The paper is significant on many levels, including the integration ofdraft genome sequence data with microarray and protein expressiondata," says Carlton. "This project also...

TEL2 gene cooperates with MYC gene to provoke B-cell lymphomas

...d's group previously identified TEL2 and noted its similarity to TEL1, which prompted them to investigate whether TEL2 also played a role in leukemia. In the MCB study, the investigators discovered that, unlike TEL1, TEL2 promotes cell multiplication, playing an indirect role in the development of B lymphoma. ...

Genrate: a generative model that finds and scores new genes and exons in genomic microarray data

...eshold-based decisions on intensity of expression, similarity of expression profiles, and arrangements of exons in the genome. We have taken a Bayesian approach and developed GenRate, a generative model that accounts for both genome-wide expression data taken from multiple conditions (e.g. tissues) and co-loca...

Great White shark evolution debate involves WSU Lake Campus geology professor

... the root and entire tooth also shows a remarkable similarity in all four tooth positions under study for both t...d mako shark. Serration densities possess a strong similarity between the Great White and makos, where the serration densities between the Great White and meglado...

Fleshing out the genome

...iological function and ranking them based on their similarity to genes known to encode proteins. Proteins are the workhorses of the cell, playing a role in everything from energy transport and metabolism to cellular communication. This new ability to rank hypothetical sequences according to their likelihood to...

No relief for Pacific Northwest drought

...on is going to go from bad to worse. It bears some similarity to conditions last seen in 2001. "We use five different global climate models as the underlying basis for our projections, and they are all showing the same thing," Neilson said. "It is going to become extremely dry in many parts of the Pacific Nort...

Marburg haemorrhagic fever in Angola update

...ficult: the extreme rarity of this disease and its similarity to other diseases seen in countries where deaths from infectious diseases are common. Neither the source nor the date of the initial cases in Angola can be presently identified with any certainty. The number of cases began increasing in February and...

Molecular thermometers on skin cells detect heat and camphor

...-assembled draft of the human genome. Its sequence similarity to other temperature-gated proteins led them to identify and clone TRPV3 as a possible molecular thermometer--perhaps the first one that makes skin cells able to sense warm temperatures. Now they have demonstrated that the receptor does indeed detec...

Venom doc tracks down snake bioweapons

... (called the waglerin peptide) did not exhibit any similarity to known proteins. Fry believes that it may be a reptile-specific protein. "The wide-ranging origins of snake venom toxin - body counterparts explain the amazing diversity of ways that venomous snakes can kill their prey and why they have so much po...

Leprosy genome tells story of human migrations, French researchers report in Science

...these possible combinations. Overall, the genetic similarity between the different samples suggests that the bacterium's genome is exceedingly stable. "It seems that there was only a single source of the bacterium that was at the origin of this global pandemic," Cole said. Each of the four SNP combinations w...

Spiders help scientists discover how muscles relax

...cture of the smooth muscle myosin molecules. The similarity suggests, Padron said, that the interacting head structure may be common to relaxed-state myosin for smooth and striated muscle and among varied species. "This model is applicable across the whole animal kingdom and all muscle types, and that's excit...

'Punctuated' evolution in the human genome

... which are large DNA sequences that exhibit strong similarity to the euchromatic ancestral loci from which they were copied. According to Eichler, the limited number of comparisons of pericentromeric regions among closely related primates suggests extraordinary dynamism, where duplication, deletion, and rearran...

Gap-climbing fruit flies reveal components of goal-driven behaviors

...the motor programs employed by the flies show high similarity to vertebrate motor programs--for example, when a person is trying to reach a jar on a shelf high above her head, she will reach out with her arm and hand, will straighten her back, and tiptoe. Studying the underlying control principles and neuronal...

Results of world's first gene therapy trial for arthritis show approach safe, feasible

...a, the researchers point out that this is the only similarity between the two trials. The studies were concerned with different genes and with different targets, and in the arthritis trial, the transduced cells were removed after one week during routine joint replacement surgery. Nonetheless, with safety a key ...

DNA traces evolution of extinct sabertooths and the American cheetah-like cat

...ged nares, but the genetic data indicate that this similarity is in fact a marvellous example of evolutionary parallelism, the development of similar body plans in response to similar ecological pressures. In light of the new DNA data and fossil information from other studies, it appears likely that a puma-like...

Studies on human genome variation provide insight into disease

...te cancer susceptibility. "Because of the strong similarity among genes in this region, we had to develop a new technique for our mutational analysis, which we call TAR cloning," explains Larionov. "Using this method, we isolated the SPANX region from 200 individuals by recombination in yeast." Based on...

Housecat-sized Siberian tiger cubs get collared

...te cancer susceptibility. "Because of the strong similarity among genes in this region, we had to develop a new technique for our mutational analysis, which we call TAR cloning," explains Larionov. "Using this method, we isolated the SPANX region from 200 individuals by recombination in yeast." Based on...

Mouse genome much more complex than expected

...so quickly that there would nowadays be hardly any similarity between them. The scientists came across an additional interesting phenomenon when they tried to find the 'original sources' of the mRNA copies in the DNA encyclopedia: information and nonsense are apparently not distributed randomly. Instead there ...

Bacteria which sense the Earth's magnetic field

...amino acids, aligned in repeats. MamJ has a remote similarity to proteins which control crystallisation processes in other biominerals, like bones, teeth, otoliths, and mussel shells. Thus, the scientists initially suspected MamJ is responsible for the development of magnetite crystals. Although it is difficul...

New technique multiplies life span in simple organisms

...ng gene. And the reason was in part because of the similarity with this other gene, called HST1, which negatively regulated so-called protective genes. So we set out to test whether SIR2 could do the opposite of what everybody said it does." The researchers do not quarrel with Guarente's finding of a moderate ...

Telling axons where to go - and grow

...s focus on the RING finger protein Rnf6 due to its similarity to the previously identified protein RLIM, which has been shown to bind to nuclear LIM domains and critically regulate the biological activity of LIM-HD transcription factors. The authors find high levels of Rnf6 protein in axonal projections of mot...

Biologists discover new pathway into plant cells

...iological mechanism discovered here bears striking similarity to the way proteins can function in mammalian cells ?scientists say they may have found a characteristic that has been preserved for more than 600 million years, when plants and animals diverged from a common ancestor on their separate evolutionary p...

Infants can organise visual information at just four months

... shown an array where the stimuli were arranged by similarity in either horizontal lines or vertical columns. For example, for grouping by shape, an array of horizontal lines (or vertical columns) made up of squares and circles was used, constructed so that shape discrimination would be needed to 'see' lines or...

Powerful new tool for studying brain development

...he Web site is http://www.stjudebgem.org/ The similarity of the mouse and human brain make this map useful to researchers who study the development of the human brain and the origin of brain tumors from gene mutations, according to Tom Curran, Ph.D., co-chair of Developmental Neurobiology at St. Jude. "The...

Natural selection at single gene demonstrated

...e. Each variant was assigned a score based on the similarity of two plants around the FRI gene relative to their similarity at other regions in the genome. The higher the score, the less likely it is that a variant could h...

Born with a love of speech

... raise as many questions as they answer. Given the similarity between the speech and speech analogues, the $64, 000 question is what is exactly about speech to which newborns are so drawn? Says Dr. Vouloumanos: "There's something about speech that infants will orient towards, but we don't yet know what it is. ...

Study outlines genetic differences between potential pandemic influenza strains

...recently identified genotype G. That is where the similarity between the two human strains ended. Previous research published by the World Health Organization has further classified genotype Z into subgroups called clades. In 2003 and 2004, clade 1 viruses were primarily responsible for outbreaks, including ...

For some young fish, early gene expression is a clear harbinger of fated lifestyle

... similar gene expression profiles. This remarkable similarity in gene expression between populations sharing the same life history--but being genetically very divergent and occupying different habitats--suggests that the genetic program of a given life history has been a highly selected attribute during the evo...

Computer simulation hints at new HIV drug target

...hiskers even appear to sprout from the bottom. The similarity to a face ends at the top of the molecule, where two flaps open to reveal a cavity. That is where enzymes and other proteins are cleaved into the parts necessary to assemble infectious virus particles. Structural studies of this cavity helped scienti...

Major WHO study concludes calcium supplements can reduce complications during pregnancy

...hiskers even appear to sprout from the bottom. The similarity to a face ends at the top of the molecule, where two flaps open to reveal a cavity. That is where enzymes and other proteins are cleaved into the parts necessary to assemble infectious virus particles. Structural studies of this cavity helped scienti...

MBL leads effort to update E. coli genome

...nimals, even humans, are often understood by their similarity to E. coli genes. As such, the accuracy and completeness of E.coli genome information is of great importance to the scientific community. In an attempt to consolidate the efforts of scientists working independently on the genome of the E.coli K-1...

Most human-chimp differences due to gene regulation ?not genes

...erkeley. That 1975 paper documented the 99-percent similarity of genes from humans and chimps and suggested that altered gene regulation, rather than changes in coding, might explain how so few genetic changes could produce the wide anatomic and behavioral differences between the two. Using novel gene-array t...

Chimpanzees can transmit cultural behavior to multiple 'generations'

...ion," said Horner. "These findings also show great similarity between human and chimpanzee behavior, suggesting cultural learning may be rooted deep within the evolutionary process."Further studies by researchers at the Yerkes-based Living Links Center, established in 1997 to facilitate primate studies that she...

Stanford snake venom study shows that certain cells may eliminate poison

...re, Metz noticed that endothelin-1 bore a striking similarity to sarafotoxin 6b, the most toxic component in the venom of the burrowing asp, or Israeli mole viper. Knowing also that mammalian mast cells had been shown to respond to many snake venoms by secreting some potent biologically active mediators, they h...

Malaria, potato famine pathogen share surprising trait

...d the leader sequence of the malaria parasite. The similarity between this and the leader sequence of P. infestans was remarkable, he said. "So we decided to collaborate and see if the sequences were not just similar, but also functionally the same," he said. "It turned out that they were. But although the mec...

Unusual mechanism keeps repair protein accurate

...n called DNA polymerase beta. In fact, it was this similarity that tipped off scientists that the new protein was probably involved in DNA repair. Region one also had a predicted structure that should allow it to "dock" with other proteins. "This suggests that this protein may do more than just fix DNA damag...

The structure of a virus infecting bacteria resembles a human virus

...rstanding of similar events in human viruses. The similarity of double-stranded RNA viruses that infect different organisms is probably due to their mutual, primitive origin. During evolution, the basic structure has been maintained even though the gene sequences of the viruses have changed dramatically. Corre...

Molecular DNA switch found to be the same for all life

...e initiator wrapped around the DNA, the structural similarity to the DnaA initiator found in the E.coli study suggests that there are likely to be strong mechanistic commonalities in the ways that initiators engage and remodel replication origins, as well as in how they facilitate replisome assembly." The id...

Copying nature could save us energy, study shows

...e analysis showed that there is only a 12 per cent similarity in the way biology and technology solves the problems they are faced with. "Whilst we have been quick to see the potential for developing new kinds of products from nature, it is only now that we can see the potential for making energy savings too,"...

Gut reaction: Researchers define the colon's genome

...M. smithii . These known organisms showed striking similarity to much of the microbiome residents. Based on the sequence comparisons, the researchers conclude that the human GI tract hosts multiple strains of B. longum , and a majority of its archaeal species is related M. smithii. How many unique bacterial...

Cell wall of pneumonia bacteria can cause brain and heart damage

...teria's cell wall, resembles PAF and exploits this similarity to bind to PAFr. The researchers demonstrated the role of PAFr by injecting fragments of S. pneumoniae cell wall into normal mice as well as mice that lacked the gene for PAFr (Pafr-/- mice). None of the regular mice survived after eight hours, an...

Buildup of damaged DNA in cells drives aging

...e act of breathing." The study found that a key similarity between the progeria-like, or progeroid, mice and ...other similarities. What they found was a striking similarity pattern between the progeroid and normal-aged mice in several key pathways. Indeed, for genes tha...

Perceived facial similarity in children is an estimate of kin recognition

Perceived facial similarity of children is effectively an estimate of the prob...n, participants were only asked to rate the facial similarity of each pair of children. In a second condition, participants were asked to classify each pair as si...

Single molecular 'mark' seen as pivotal for genome compaction in spores and sperm

...or author on the study. "Also, there seems to be a similarity in the way the mark is used in organisms as different from each other as yeast and mammals, suggesting that compaction has been important throughout evolution." Berger speculates that compaction might answer a number of important biological purposes...

New study is first to link romantic relationships to genes

... pathogens. The study investigated whether MHC similarity among romantically involved couples predicted aspects of their sexual relationship. "As the proportion of the couple's shared genotypes increased, womens' sexual responsivity to their partners decreased, their number of extra-pair sexual partners inc...

Producing medicines in plant seeds

...nding places for a specified substance. This close similarity to whole antibodies makes these antibody variants extremely useful for therapeutic and diagnostic applications. However, the production of proteins in plants is completed in a different way than in humans. Therefore, to be certain that this diffe...

40,000-year-old skull shows both modern human and Neandertal traits

...d only a minimum age (more than 35,000 years), but similarity in morphological traits with the Oase 1 human mandible ?found in 2002 on the surface of the cave, adjacent to the excavation area, and dated to about 40,500 years ago ?lead the team to conclude that the two fossils were the same age. These are the e...

Hofmeyr skull supports the 'Out of Africa' theory

...kull from Hofmeyr has changed that. The surprising similarity between a fossil skull from the southernmost tip of Africa and similarly ancient skulls from Europe is in agreement with the genetics-based "Out of Africa" theory, which predicts that humans like those that inhabited Eurasia in the Upper Paleolithic ...

Darwin's famous finches and Venter's marine microbes

...ough the different kinase families had very little similarity in their sequence, it emerged that 10 key residues were conserved in almost all kinase families, fingering them as being at the core of what it means to be a kinase. Seven of those had been previously known to be important in human kinases, but the o...

Herpes infection may be symbiotic, help beat back some bacteria

... viruses are genetically very closely related. The similarity strongly suggests that modern herpes viruses are likely descended from herpes viruses that infected evolutionary ancestors common to both mice and humans. "That means that for as long as we've been human, these viruses have been with us," he says....

Dinosaur hearing, listening to muscle noise, quieter cubicles

...equations brought about a new level of clarity and similarity in the acoustical environments of disparate locations from Boston concert halls to New York skyscrapers and Hollywood sound stages. Princeton's Emily Thompson ( emilyt@princeton.edu ), a technology historian, will explore the history of modern sound...

Corals -- More complex than you?

...sed by human activity are important questions. The similarity of the coral and human innate immune repertoires implies that they may function in similar ways, so the hope is that we can apply what we know about human health to better understand coral disease. There may also be a direct payback, in the sense ...

'Insulator' helps silence genes in dormant herpes virus

... in a manner very similar to the host chromatin, a similarity that may work to the virus's advantage, says Shelley L. Berger, Ph.D., the Hilary Koprowski Professor at The Wistar Institute and co-author on the study. "This means that the virus can take advantage of the many regulatory schemes that the host ha...

Potent possibilities for parasite attack

...sequence of the Leishmania genomes - the degree of similarity between these species was unexpected," explained P..., first author on the report. "Given their lack of similarity to human genes, they present a limited repertoire of potential targets for drug and vaccine developm...

Researchers reveal structure of protein altered in autism

...They began studying the neuroligins because of the similarity in structure and amino acid sequence with acetylcholinesterase....

Undergraduate research shows leaderless honeybee organizing

...s and laws) and division of labor. But here the similarity ends. Bees do not have large brains and are not capable of complex thought like humans. Though the bee colony is centered around the queen and her reproductive capabilities, findings by Schneider and others indicates that she does not exactly “rule....