Spiders (Araneae) spin their webs from silk fibers of fibroin proteins that are stored in specialized abdominal glands. It is unclear whether the mechanical characteristics of the silk fibers are due to the spinning mechanisms of the spiders or the sequence of the fibroin proteins. In the March 30 Science, Gatesy et al. report that sequence motifs within Araneae fibroins are high conserved throughout evolution, implying that the sequences themselves are important (Science 2001, 291

The human AF10 gene has been associated with chromosomal translocation in acute leukemias. In the March 15 EMBO Reports, Linder et al. describe their study of the Drosophila AF10 homolog, dAF10, in an attempt to understand its function (EMBO Reports 2001, 2:211-216). They isolated the dAF10 gene from a database screen and show that it codes for four transcripts that are differentially expressed during fly embryogenesis. The dAF10 protein contains a PLVVL pentamer motif that mediates interaction

Members of the myc oncogene family are often amplified or mutated in human tumours. In the March 15 EMBO Journal, Boon et al. described the use of a neuroblastoma cell line with an inducible N-myc allele to identify genes regulated by N-myc (EMBO Journal 2001, 20:1383-1393). They performed serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE) to detect over a hundred genes up-regulated upon N-myc expression. The target genes included over 50 encoding ribosomal proteins, as well as key genes in rRNA maturati

Citrus trees have a long juvenile phase (6-20 years) that delays their reproductive development. In the March Nature Biotechnology, Pena et al. report genetic experiments that accelerated the citrus flowering time (Nature Biotechnology 2001, 19:263-267). They produced transgenic juvenile orange trees that constitutively express Arabidopsis LEAFY (LFY) or APETALA1 (AP1) genes driven by the cauliflower mosaic virus promoter. Both of these flowering genes could shorten the juvenile phase and promo

Molecular reagents that bind to specific proteins with high affinity are valuable tools in the endeavour to understand protein function. In the Early Edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, Wilson et al. describe how a method based on mRNA display can be used to identify ligands with higher affinity than those selected using the phage display technique. The new technique generates polypeptides that are linked via a puromycin moiety to their encoding mRNAs. Wilson et al. demons

The histone code hypothesis posits that distinct combinations of histone modifications can recruit chromatin-modifying enzymes and exert epigenetic control over heterochromatin assembly. In the March 15 ScienceXpress, Nakayama et al. describe a role for histone methylation in heterochromatin assembly in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe. The Clr4 protein methylated lysine 9 of histone H3 (H3Lys9) preferentially within heterochromatin-associated regions. H3Lys9 methylation led to the r

The availability of the complete genome of the pathogenic fungus Candida albicans enables a thorough investigation of its biology. In the 13 March Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Tzung et al describe a comparison of the C. albicans genome with that of the related yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, in an attempt to identify genes that are specifically involved in the sexual cycle, namely, in the processes of meiosis and sporulation (Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2001, 98:3249-3253).By scree

Functional genomics aims to turn genomic information into a comprehensive understanding of the workings of the cell at the molecular level. It is assumed that extensive knowledge of the interactions between proteins will contribute significantly to this goal. In the Early Edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Ito et al. describe the results of a comprehensive high-throughput screen to identify all the protein-protein interactions (the 'interactome') in the budding yeast S

Cellular gatekeepers include the proteins that regulate cell cycle progression in response to DNA damage, and the DNA repair pathways function as genomic caretakers. The p53 and ATM (ataxia-telangiectasia-mutated) proteins behave as cellular gatekeepers, whereas the non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) DNA repair machinery acts as a genomic caretaker. NHEJ factors include Ku70, Ku80 and the DNA-PK enzyme, plus XXRC4 and DNA Ligase IV (Lig4), which function in ligation.In 6 March Proceedings of the

Pasteurella multocida causes disease in birds, cattle, swine and humans, but the mechanisms underlying its virulence are unknown. In the 6 March PNAS May and colleagues report the complete sequence of the Pasteurella multocida (Pm70) genome (PNAS 2001, 98:3460-3465).May et al used a shotgun strategy to sequence more than 53,000 DNA fragments and assemble them into a single circular sequence of about 2.26 Mb. The Pm70 genome contains 2,014 predicted coding regions, accounting for 89% of the entir

A study of mono- and dizygotic twins indicates that there is a strong genetic contribution to musical pitch perception.

In March 8 Nature Philip Leighton and colleagues describe a large-scale screen for molecules that guide axons during the development of the nervous system in mice (Nature 2001, 410:174-179). They developed a gene-trap screening method that incorporates elements of the 'secretory trap' technique combined with an axonal marker (placental alkaline phosphatase) whose translation is driven by an IRES (internal ribosome entry site).The method enabled the generation of a large number of mouse lines wit