• Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.34 no.4
• /
• pp.311-315
• /
• 1996

The retroviral Gag polyprotein directs the assembly of virion particles and plays an important role in some events after entry into a host cell. The Gag polyprotein of a virus mixture is responsible for inducing murine acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (MAIDS) when injected into susceptible strains of mice. In order to identify the host cellular proteins which interact with the MAIDS virus Gag proteins and possibly mediate the function of the Gag proteins, mouse T-cell leukemic cDNA expression library was screened using the yeast GAL4 two hybrid system. Of 11 individual positive clones, the clone Y1 was selected for the study of protein-protein interaction. Its DNA sequence revealed that it was an exact match to the murine SH3 domain-containing protein SH3P8. It is expressed as 2.4 kbp transcripts in testis at higher levels and in various tissues tested at lower levels. Glutathione S-transferase-Y1 fusion protein binds tightly to $Pr60^{def-gag}$ as well as $Pr65^{eco-gag}$.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.30 no.6
• /
• pp.472-478
• /
• 1992

Synthesis of the pol gene products of HTLV-I requires rihosomes to shift frame twice in - I direction while translating genome-size mRNA. We havc made a lI1utagcni/cd RNA in which the gag and pro genes are aligned to allow synthe,.is of a largcr amount of the Gag-Pro-Pol polyproteins by a single frameshifting. Using this mutant, wc could examine the questions whether the predicted RNA secondary or tertiary structure downstream of the shift site is operative as a determinant for - I frameshifting. Deletion analysis showed that the stem-loop structure is essential for efficient frameshifting in the pro-pol overlap, but formation of a pseudoknot is less important.

• Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.34 no.4
• /
• pp.327-333
• /
• 1996

Yeast, like many other microbes, encounters large variations in ambient pH in their natural environments. Microorganisms capable of growing over a wide pH range require a versatile, efficient pH homeostatic mechanism protecting intracellular processes against extremes of pH. In several organisms, fusions to the bacterial lacZ gene have been extremely useful for the identification of genes expressed at different time during the life cycle or under different growth conditions. In this study, using the lacZ gene screening system, we surveyed a large number of yeast strains with lacZ insertion to identify genes regulated by pH. A yeast genomic library was constructed and inserted with lacZ by a shuttle mutagenesis procedure. The yeast transformants were individually picked up with a toothpick, replica-plated, and grown in alkaline pH medium. Among the 35,000 colonies screened, 10 candidate strains were identified initially by the $\beta$-gal assay. We finally confirmed two yeast strains carrying the genes whose expression are strictly dependent on pH of growth medium. One of the fusions showing a 10-fold induction in expression level in response to alkali pH was selected and further characterized. The pH-regulated gene was cloned by inverse PCR and a partial sequence of the gene was determined. Identification and characterization of the gene is currently under investigation.