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Scientists Discover DNA Knot Keeps Viral Genes Tightly Corked Inside Shell
A novel twist of DNA may keep viral genes tightly wound within a capsule, waiting for ejection into a host, a high-resolution analysis of its structure has revealed.
Using electron microscopy and three-dimensional computer reconstruction, UC San Diego biologists and chemists have produced the most detailed image yet of the protein envelope of an asymmetrical virus and the viral DNA packed within, they report this week in the journal Structure. The image, with a resolution of less than a nanometer, or a millionth of a millimeter, will help to unravel how the virus locks onto its host and infects the cells by injecting its DNA.
By assembling more than 12,000 microscopic views of frozen viral particles from different angles, UCSD chemists Jinghua Tang, Norman Olson and Timothy Baker, a professor of chemistry and biological sciences, have determined the structure of a bacteriophage called phi29 with a resolution finer than 8 Angstroms (one Angstrom equals a tenth of a nanometer). Their project was part of a long-term collaboration with molecular virologist Dwight Anderson and his colleagues at the University of Minnesota.
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UC San Diego Biology Professor Named Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator
The Howard Hughes Medical Institute today named UC San Diego biology professor Massimo Scanziani an HHMI investigator for his work on how the brain makes sense of a changing and complex flow of incoming information.
HHMI investigators are chosen for their creative approach to research, provided with research funds and given the opportunity to pursue the most promising leads, even if those move the project in risk-taking new directions. Scanziani was one of 56 investigators chosen this year by the institute, a nonprofit medical research organization established in 1953 by the late aviator-industrialist Howard Hughes, from among 1,070 applicants.
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Bio Grad Awarded Fulbright Grant to Study in Uruguay
Biology grad (’08) Alexandra Anastasopulos has been awarded a Fulbright U.S. Student scholarship to study public health in Uruguay. She is one of about 1,450 U.S. citizens who will travel abroad for the 2008-09 academic year through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program.
“I owe all my accomplishments to my parents, employers and the faculty and staff at UCSD who have acknowledged the little steps, encouraged me to persevere and to never give up on my dreams,” says Anastasopulos.
Born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where her family still resides, Anastasopulos moved to Los Angeles 11 years ago. On arriving in LA, she found a job as a dog groomer and eventually began studying at Santa Monica College. She had to work full time while attending college but finally transferred to UCSD in 2004. Here she majored in Biochemistry and Cell Biology and plans to pursue a career in medicine.
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Staff in Memoriam: Mary La Blue
Mary La Blue Manager, Sponsored Projects Unit Division of Biological Sciences Years of service: 34
Mary La Blue, manager of the Sponsored Projects Unit in the Division of Biological Sciences, died of cancer on March 29, 2008, at age 58.
Mary loved frogs, taquitos, muscle cars, going to Disneyland, riding Harleys, and celebrating her wedding anniversary every month with her husband, Barry. The eldest of 4 children, Mary was adept at "supervising" her brother and sisters as they were growing up.
Mary's long career at UCSD included positions in the Warren College Provost's Office, Neurosurgery, the Center for Magnetic Recording Research, Anesthesiology, University Extension, Neurosciences, and most recently, her home in Biological Sciences.
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Two Plant Biologists at UC San Diego Elected to National Academy of Sciences
Biological Sciences Dean and Biology Professor Receive One of the Highest Honors in Science
Steve A. Kay, dean of the Division of Biological Sciences, and Martin F. Yanofsky, chair of the division’s Section of Cell and Developmental Biology, were among the 72 new members and 18 foreign associates elected to the academy today “in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.”
They join 67 current members of the UC San Diego faculty who previously had been named to membership in the academy, which was established by Congress in 1863 to serve as an official adviser to the federal government on matters of science and technology.
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2008 Life Sciences Career Expo, hosted by BSSA
BSSA will hold its 2008 Life Sciences Career Expo at the UC San Diego Price Center from May 5 through May 8. This signature event of the Biological Sciences Student Association, in collaboration with the Division of Biological Sciences, will bring life science leaders and companies together with the campus’s nearly 7,000 life sciences majors to talk about career options and employment opportunities.
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UC San Diego Scientists Show First 3-D Image of Antibody Gene
Using a multidisciplinary mix of geometry, biological research and techniques developed to solve problems on supercomputers, scientists at the University of California, San Diego have shown for the first time how a genome is organized in three-dimensional space.
Researchers led by Cornelis Murre, a professor of biology at UC San Diego, and Steve Cutchin, senior scientist for visualization services at the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC), used the gene encoding the immunoglobulin heavy chain locus – responsible for generating diverse kinds of antibodies – to demonstrate the structure of the genome.
The observations, the researchers say, permit an insight into the structure of the human genome, which until now has remained elusive.
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UC San Diego Study Finds Mice Can Sense Oxygen Through Skin
Biologists at the University of California, San Diego have discovered that the skin of mice can sense low levels of oxygen and regulate the production of erythropoietin, or EPO, the hormone that stimulates our bodies to produce red blood cells and allows us to adapt to high-altitude, low-oxygen environments.
If found to apply to humans, the discovery could radically change the way physicians treat anemia and other diseases that require boosting our bodies’ ability to produce red blood cells. It also could be used to improve the performance of endurance athletes competing in this summer’s Olympic Games.
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Final “Evolution Matters” Lecture Finds Clues to Human Disease in Genetics of Primates
“Nothing in biology makes sense, except in the light of evolution,” said the famed geneticist Theodosius Dobzhansky in 1973, and biological research since has strongly affirmed that observation. Understanding our origins, then, especially our long genetic history, should prove useful in discovering the causes, mechanisms, and treatments of our diseases. That’s the premise of the fifth and final lecture of the “Evolution Matters” series.
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UC San Diego Alumni Association Announces Top Award Recipients
Author Khaled Hosseini, biophysicist Gunars Valkirs, emergency room physician Anthony Jackson, professor emeritus David Jordan and students Sapna Iyer and Jeffrey Mounzer to be recognized at June 7 Awards for Excellence campus event.
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Biologists at UC San Diego Identify Key Protein in Cell’s “Self-Eating” Function
Molecular biologists at the University of California, San Diego have found one piece of the complex puzzle of autophagy, the process of “self-eating” performed by all eukaryotic cells — cells with a nucleus — to keep themselves healthy.
Their finding, published in the March 11 issue of the journal Developmental Cell, is important because it allows scientists to control this one aspect of cellular autophagy, and may lead to the ability to control other selective “self-eating” processes. This, in turn, could help illuminate autophagy’s role in aging, immunity, neurodegeneration and cancer.
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Study Finds Future ‘Battlegrounds’ for Conservation Very Different to Those in Past
Biologists at the University of California, San Diego have developed a series of global maps that show where projected habitat loss and climate change are expected to drive the need for future reserves to prevent biodiversity loss.
Their study, published online today in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, provides a guide for conservationists of the areas of our planet where conservation investments would have the most impact in the future to limit extinctions and damage to ecosystems due to rapid human-driven climate and land-use change.
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Gene That Controls Ozone Resistance of Plants Could Lead to Drought-Resistant Crops
Biologists at the University of California, San Diego, working with collaborators at the University of Helsinki in Finland and two other European institutions, have elucidated the mechanism of a plant gene that controls the amount of atmospheric ozone entering a plant’s leaves.
Their finding helps explain why rising concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere may not necessarily lead to greater photosynthetic activity and carbon sequestration by plants as atmospheric ozone pollutants increase. And it provides a new tool for geneticists to design plants with an ability to resist droughts by regulating the opening and closing of their stomata–the tiny breathing pores in leaves through which gases and water vapor flow during photosynthesis and respiration.
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Fourth “Evolution Matters” Lecture Unravels the “Abominable Mystery” of Flowers
The magical and mysterious world of flowers is the topic for the fourth lecture in the popular “Evolution Matters” lectures presented by the Division of Biological Sciences at UC San Diego.
For thousands of years, people have pondered the mysteries of flower development and how these flowers ultimately give rise to fruit. Recent studies have begun to unravel these long-standing mysteries, leading to a detailed understanding of how a handful of genes interact to direct the formation of flowers and fruit. This new-found knowledge offers remarkable opportunities for increasing the yield of agriculturally important crop plants.
Martin Yanofsky, professor of biology at UC San Diego, will discuss those recent studies and more in “Unraveling the Mysteries of Flower Formation,” at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 6, in the San Diego Natural History Museum in Balboa Park. Free registration begins at 6 p.m. at the museum, and the public is invited to attend.
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Third “Evolution Matters” Lecture Explores Nature’s Complexities — from Human Brain to Rainforest
The astounding human brain, with its millions of connections, is humbled by even more astonishing systems such as tropical reefs and rainforests, made up of millions of interacting species. How have these amazing complexities evolved?
Learn that and more at the third of the popular “Evolution Matters” lectures — “The Evolution of Complexity: From the Human Brain to the Rainforest” — which will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 28, in the San Diego Natural History Museum in Balboa Park. Free registration begins at 6 p.m. at the museum, and the public is invited to attend.
The lecture will be delivered by Christopher Wills, professor of ecology, behavior and evolution biology, and a member of the Center for Molecular Genetics in the Division of Biological Sciences at UC San Diego.
