HIV type 1 tat gene heteroduplex mobility assay as a tool to establish epidemiologic relationships among HIV type 1-infected individuals

Molecular biology techniques are increasingly used to study the molecular epidemiology of infectious diseases. Most of these methods are expensive and labor-intensive. The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has substantial genomic variation, such that HIVs from different individuals are genetically diverse, although mutation rates differ for distinct regions of the genome. Most studies of HIV linkage and molecular evolution have focused on env or gag regions. We show that heteroduplex mobility analysis of the first exon of the HIV tat gene provides a simple, rapid, inexpensive, and reliable discriminatory tool for the molecular differentiation of shared versus distinct HIV-1 quasispecies when epidemiologic relations need to be defined. tat, as a relatively conserved region, appears to be a better region than the more variable env region to establish HIV-1 epidemiological linkages.

A study of several red cell enzyme markers in two samples of the Italian population. Report of new CA1 and PGD variant phenotypes

Gene frequencies for 17 red cell enzymatic markers have been determined in two samples of the Italian population (Lombardy and Tuscany regions). A significant difference was found between the two samples for the AK1 and PGM1 systems (AK1*2 .028 and .044, PGM1*2 .254 and .301 in Lombardy and Tuscany respectively). Variant phenotypes, for PEPA, PEPB, CA2, PGM2, PGD and GPT markers, have been observed; some of these are due to new alleles occurring at the CA2 and PGD loci.

Electrophoretic subtyping of phosphoglucomutase locus 1 (PGM1) polymorphism in the Italian and Czechoslovakian populations

About 3,500 subjects from Italy and Czechoslovakia have been analyzed by acid starch gel electrophoresis for the subtyping of PGM1 polymorphism. The Italian sample included three different subgroups, from Northern, Central and Southern Italy. The allele frequencies found in the three groups do not differ significantly from each other; the observed values in the pooled sample are: PGM1S1 = 0.594, PGM1F1 = 0.118, PGM2S1 = 0.231, PGM2F1 = 0.057. In the Czechoslovakian group, which differs significantly from the Italian population, the following allele frequencies were found: PGM1S1 = 0.639, PGM1F1 = 0.118, PGM2S1 = 0.180, PGM2F1 = 0.063. The analysis of 217 families did not show any exception to Mendelian inheritance of the patterns.

Synthesis of plastoquinone analogs and inhibition of photosynthetic and mammalian enzyme systems

New 5-hydroxy- and 5-chloro-6-alkyl-1,4-benzoquinones with one or two methyl groups on the nucleus were synthesized as potential antimetabolites of plastoquinones for biological research on photosynthetic and mammalian enzyme systems; the primary emphasis was on photosynthesis.2,3-Dimethyl-5-hydroxy-6-phytyl-1,4-benzoquinone completely inhibited in chloroplasts the water-dependent electron transport, but photosystem I was insensitive to this analog. The data are consistent with the interpretation that this analog inhibits electron transport in the chain prior to the site of electron donation from the ascorbate-dichlorophenolindophenol couple. Concentrations of 70 muM and 120 muM of this analog caused about 50 and 100% inhibition, respectively, of cyclic photophosphorylation.2,3-Dimethyl-5-hydroxy-6-phytyl-1,4-benzoquinone is a new type of inhibitor of photosynthetic electron transport that specifically inhibits the rate-limiting step between photosystems I and II. Structurally related analogs caused inhibitions in the range of 50-100% in chloroplasts. These analogs showed marginal inhibition in mitochondrial coenzyme Q(10)-oxidase systems from beef heart.