The symbiotic unit of an arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus and its host is able toachieve and maintain far higher inflow of nutrients than non-mycorrhizal roots. The colonization strategy of the mycobiont within the plant is intrinsic to the symbiosis with respect to both structural adaptations and nutrient exchange. An investigation into the effect of Glomus etunicatum colonization on the structure and phloem transport in Eragrostis curvula (Umgeni) allowed for greater insight into the dynamic of the symbiosis. The combined use of stains (such as Trypan Blue, Chlorazol Black, Safranin and Fast Green), and techniques, (such as freeze-microtome transverse sectioning and permanent slide preparations) contributed to a successful general observation of an intermediate colonization strategy using light microscopy methods. However, clarity into structural detail of mycorrhizal forms required electron microscopy studies. The SEM method used with freeze fracture was a relatively quick and simple method allowing for the observation of surface and internal features. The TEM method allowed for highresolution images providing insight into the variations in the apoplasmic compartmental form, and how this may relate to the function of the symbiosis with regard to fungal coils or arbuscules. The apoplasmic nature of mycorrhizas was substantiated and no symplasmic connections were found between symbionts. Fluorescence studies demonstrated that 5,6-carboxyfluorescein was transported through the phloem into the roots of E. curvula, but remained predominantly in the root phloem. Unloading only occurred in optimal nutrient exchange areas of meristimatic lateral or apical growth regions. It was not possible, using fluorescence techniques and related equipment available, to conclusively establish if there were symplasmic connections between the mycobiont and its host or if bidirectional transfer of nutrients occurred at the same interface.

No description available.

No description available.

Oncolytic viruses promise to significantly improve current cancer treatments through their tumour-selective replication and multimodal attack against cancer cells. However, one of the biggest setbacks for oncolytic virus therapies is the intravenous delivery of the virus, as it can be cleared by neutralizing antibodies (nAbs) from the bloodstream before it reaches the tumour cells. In our group, we have succeeded in developing aptamers to vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), as well as to rabbit anti-VSV polyclonal neutralizing antibodies (nAbs). We tested these aptamers’ biological activity with a cell-based plaque forming assay and found that the aptamers prevented in vitro neutralization of VSV by nAbs and increased the virus infection rate of transformed cells up to 77%. In line with this approach, we enhanced the delivery of oncolytic viruses by selecting aptamers to the CT26 colon carcinoma cell line. The binding of aptamer pools has been tested on flow cytometry and the best pools were subjected to high throughput sequencing. Selected aptamers were linked to anti-VSV aptamers and applied for target delivery of the virus to cancer cells. Development of this aptamer-based technology aims to improve viral anti-cancer therapies, with a potential to be applied as treatment for patients affected with cancer. Finally, in collaboration with a group from Erlangen University, we performed an aptamer selection using capillary electrophoresis and cell-SELEX. The target, the extracellular domain of human CD83, is a maturation marker for dendritic cells and is involved in the regulation of the immune system. Selected aptamer sequences bound selectively to mature dendritic cells, in comparison to immature dendritic cells, and thus hold promise to be applied for further studies leading to a better understanding of CD83’s mechanism of action.

Chez les eucaryotes, les RNA Binding Proteins (RBP) s’associent aux transcrits pour former des Particules Ribo-Nucléoprotéiques (mRNP) dynamiques, dont la localisation et la composition sont déterminantes pour la maturation, l’export, la stabilité et la traduction des ARNm. Les protéines à motif LA sont des protéines de liaison à l’ARN, présentes chez plusieurs centaines d’espèces eucaryotes, qui se répartissent en 5 sous-familles : LA authentiques, LARP1, 4, 6 et 7. Les membres de ces sous-familles partagent des caractéristiques évolutives, des domaines additionnels et des fonctions conservés. Mes travaux de thèse ont contribué à l’étude fonctionnelle de protéines LARP6 chez Arabidopsis thaliana. On sait, à l’heure actuelle, que chez Manduca sexta et plusieurs espèces de vertébrés, LARP6 est impliquée dans la régulation de la différenciation cellulaire. Chez l’Homme, elle agit en tant que RBP pour coordonner la traduction des ARNm codant les sous-unités du collagène de type I. Les plantes vasculaires ont la particularité de contenir plusieurs protéines LARP6, classées en trois groupes évolutifs. Chez A. thaliana, l’unique représentant de chaque sous-famille semble s’être spécialisé. D’ailleurs, les protéines LARP6b et c ont des profils d’expression mutuellement exclusifs, où LARP6c est présente dans le pollen et LARP6b est ubiquitaire mais absente du gamétophyte mâle. Nous avons axé notre travail sur la protéine LARP6c et démontré qu’elle est cytoplasmique et impliquée, dans le pollen, dans le contrôle de la quantité d’ARNm codant des acteurs du transport vésiculaire. Les ARNm identifiés comme cibles potentielles de LARP6c codent, eux aussi, des facteurs impliqués dans le transport ; et possèdent dans leur 5’-UTR deux motifs qui pourraient permettre leur co-régulation par fixation de RBP. La délétion de LARP6c, affecte la capacité du tube pollinique à se diriger vers l’ovule suggérant un défaut de communication; ce qui est cohérent avec la dérégulation des ARNm codant des acteurs de la sécrétion/réception de signaux extracellulaires. Nous proposons que LARP6c intervient, dans le pollen, en tant que protéine de mRNP et co-régule la traduction et/ou la stabilité de transcrits codant des acteurs des voies de communications dépendantes de la sécrétion et de l’endocytose, et intervenant dans les échanges mâle/femelle / In eucaryotes, RNA Binding Proteins (RBP) associate with transcripts to form dynamic Ribo-Nucleoprotein Particles (mRNP), whose localization and composition are determinant for mRNA maturation, export, stability and translation. LA motif proteins are RNA binding proteins, found in several hundred eucaryotic species, which fall in 5 sub-families: genuine LA, LARP1, 4, 6 and 7. Members of these subfamilies share conserved evolutionary history, additional motifs and functions. My thesis work contributed to deciphering the functional properties of the Arabidopsis thaliana LARP6 proteins. Currently, we know that in Manduca sexta and many vertebrates species LARP6 is implicated in the regulation of cellular differentiation. In humans, it acts as an RBP to coordinate the translation of mRNA coding for type I collagen subunits. Vascular plants differ in possessing many LARP6 proteins classified in three evolutionary groups. In A. thaliana, the unique member of each subfamily seems to be specialized. LARP6b and c proteins present mutually exclusive expression profiles, with LARP6c only present in pollen and LARP6b ubiquitously expressed except in the male gametophyte. We mostly focused our work on LARP6c and showed it to be cytoplasmic and implicated in controlling the level of mRNAs encoding vesicular transport actors in pollen tubes. Putative identified LARP6c mRNA baits also encode proteins involved in transport and share two motifs in their 5’-UTR that could allow their co-regulation via RBP binding. LARP6c deletion induces deficiencies in pollen tube guidance towards the ovule, suggesting a communication default. This is consistent with the deregulation of mRNA coding for extra-cellular signal secretion/reception actors. We propose that LARP6c acts as an mRNP protein in pollen and co-regulates translation and/or stability of mRNA coding for actors of communication pathways depending on secretion and endocytosis; hence acting on male/female exchanges.

Thesis (M.Sc. (Horticulture)) -- University of Limpopo, 2017 / Refer to document / National Research Foundation of South Africa, and Agricultural Research Council-Universities Collaboration Centreꞌ for scholarship and research

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Trafficking of protein and lipid cargo through the secretory pathway in eukaryotic cells is mediated by membrane-bound vesicles. Secretory vesicles are targeted to sites of exocytosis on the plasma membrane in part by a conserved multi-subunit protein complex termed the exocyst. In addition to tethering vesicles to the plasma membrane, the exocyst complex and components therein may also add a layer of regulation by directly controlling assembly of the SNARE complex, which is required for membrane fusion, as well as other regulatory factors such as Sec1p. In the past, we have shown that Sec6p interacts with Sec9p in vivo and that that interaction retards binary SNARE complex formation in a SNARE assembly assay. Though many interactions have been mapped using in vitro methods, confirming them in vivoand placing them into the context of a complete model that accounts for all observed interactions (and lack of interactions) has proven difficult. In order to address these problems, I have studied the interactions between Sec6p and other factors involved in exocytosis at the plasma membrane via in vivo methods. My hypothesis was that Sec6p interaction with Sec9p and subsequent inhibition of SNARE complex assembly in vitro was an intermediate state and Sec6p was part of a set of cofactors that accelerated SNARE complex assembly in vivo. To test this hypothesis I showed that the interaction between the plasma membrane t-SNARE Sec9p and the yeast exocyst subunit Sec6p can be observed in vivoand designed point mutations to disrupt that interaction. Interestingly, I also showed that Sec6p:Sec9p interaction involves the free pool of Sec6p rather than the exocyst bound fraction of Sec6p. Point mutations in the N-terminal domain of Sec6p result in temperature sensitive growth and secretion defects, without loss of Sec6p-Sec9p interaction. However, at the non-permissive temperature, the exocyst subunits Sec5p, Sec10p and Sec15p are mislocalized and are absent from the exocyst complex. The resulting subcomplex, containing Sec3p, Sec8p, Exo70p and Exo84p, remains stably assembled and localized at sites of polarized secretion. This subcomplex is likely due to disruption of interaction between Sec6p and Sec5p, and may be similar to that observed at restrictive temperatures in the sec6-54temperature sensitive mutant. Additionally, one of the sec6 temperature sensitive mutants displays a loss of binding to the yeast regulatory protein Sec1p. In vitro binding studies indicate a direct interaction between Sec1p and the free pool of the wild-type Sec6p protein, suggesting close interplay between Sec6p and Sec1p in the regulation of SNARE complexes. A coherent model which incorporates all these interactions has continued to be elusive. However, the results I have found do suggest several hypotheses which should prove testable in the future.

This thesis is focused on possibility of studying stability and fusion of catanionic vesicles with Förster resonance energy transfer. The mainly used technique was Time-Correlated single photon counting. Firstly, excitation and emission spectra of chosen probes were measured and donor-acceptor pairs were suggested: 5-hexadecanoylaminofluorescein with Octadecyl Rhodamine B, Bodipy 493/503 with rhodamine or DiI, perylene with fluorescein, DiO with DiI. Then, time-resolved measurements of suggested pairs from environment of catanionic vesicles with different content of cholesterol were made in order to track the FRET associated with fusion of vesicles. It was found out, that it is not possible to use DiO as a donor because of it’s inefficient solubilisation into vesicles. It is also not possible for Bodipy to be used as a donor, because of it‘s excimer formation. In case of using fluorescein as a donor, it was found, that there is ongoing homo-fret between fluorescein molecules. Thanks to this, fusion was tracked by addition of unstained vesicles. It was also possible to track fusion in longer period of time. Also perylene-fluorescein pair was found to be capable of tracking the fusion, but with the exception of vesicles with content of cholesterol of 43 mol. %, tracking of fusion was possible only in short period of time.

Half of the cholinergic neurons of human and primate intrinsic cardiac ganglia (ICG) have a dual cholinergic/noradrenergic phenotype. Likewise, a large subpopulation of cholinergic neurons of the mouse heart expresses enzymes needed for synthesis of norepinephrine (NE), but they lack the vesicular monoamine transporter type 2 (VMAT2) required for catecholamine storage. In the present study, we determined the full scope of noradrenergic properties (i.e. synthetic enzymes and transporters) expressed by cholinergic neurons of mouse ICG, estimated the relative abundance of neurons expressing different elements of the noradrenergic phenotype, and evaluated the colocalization of cholinergic and noradrenergic markers in atrial nerve fibers. Stellate ganglia were used as a positive control for noradrenergic markers. Using fluorescence immunohistochemistry and confocal microscopy, we found that about 30% of cholinergic cell bodies contained tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), including the activated form that is phosphorylated at Ser-40 (pSer40 TH). Dopamine β-hydroxylase (DBH) and norepinephrine transporter (NET) were present in all cholinergic somata, indicating a wider capability for dopamine metabolism and catecholamine uptake. Yet, cholinergic somata lacked VMAT2, precluding the potential for NE storage and vesicular release. In contrast to cholinergic somata, cardiac nerve fibers rarely showed colocalization of cholinergic and noradrenergic markers. Instead, these labels were closely apposed but clearly distinct from each other. Since cholinergic somata expressed several noradrenergic proteins, we questioned whether these neurons might also contain trophic factor receptors typical of noradrenergic neurons. Indeed, we found that all cholinergic cell bodies of mouse ICG, like noradrenergic cell bodies of the stellate ganglia, contained both tropomyosin-related kinase A (TrkA) and p75 neurotrophin receptors. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that mouse intrinsic cardiac neurons (ICNs), like those of humans, have a complex neurochemical phenotype that goes beyond the classical view of cardiac parasympathetic neurons. They also suggest that neurotrophins and local NE synthesis might have important effects on neurons of the mouse ICG.