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A cloud identification and profiling algorithm is being developed for the multi-spectral imager (MSI), which is one of the four instruments that the Earth Clouds, Aerosols, and Radiation Explorer (EarthCARE) spacecraft will feature. During recent work, we noticed that the MSI response function could shift substantially among some wavelengths (0.67 and 1.65 µm bands) owing to the spectral misalignment (SMILE), in which a shift in the center wavelength appears as a distortion in the spectral image. We evaluated how SMILE affects the cloud retrieval product qualitatively and quantitatively. We chose four detector pixels from bands 1 and 3 with the nadir pixel as the reference to elucidate how the SMILE error affects the cloud optical thickness (τ) and effective cloud droplet radius (re) by simulating the MSI forward radiation with Comprehensive Analysis Program for Cloud Optical Measurement (CAPCOM). We also evaluated the error in simulated scenes from a global cloud system-resolving model and a satellite simulator to measure the effect on actual observation scenes. For typical shallow warm clouds (τ = 8, re = 8 µm), the SMILE error on the cloud retrieval was not significant in most cases (up to 6 % error). For typical deep convective clouds (τ = 8, re = 40 µm), the SMILE error on the cloud retrieval was even less significant in most cases (up to 4 % error). Moreover, our results from two oceanic scenes using the synthetic MSI data agreed well with the forward radiation simulation, indicating that the SMILE error was generally within 10 %. Generally, this negligible impact of the SMILE is true for water surfaces, but it still needs to be investigated further for land surfaces in future works.

Surface downward radiation (SDR), including shortwave downward radiation (SWDR) and longwave downward radiation (LWDR), is of great importance to energy and climate studies. Considering the lack of reliable SDR data with a high spatiotemporal resolution in the East Asia–Pacific (EAP) region, we derived SWDR and LWDR at 10-min and 0.05° resolutions for this region from 2016 to 2020 based on the next-generation geostationary satellite Himawari-8 (H-8). The SDR product is unique in terms of its all-sky features, high accuracy, and high-resolution levels. The cloud effect is fully considered in the SDR product, and the influence of high aerosol loadings and topography on the SWDR are considered. Compared to benchmark products of the radiation, such as Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES) and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) next-generation reanalysis (ERA5), and the Global Land Surface Satellite (GLASS), not only is the resolution of the new SDR product notably much higher, but the product accuracy is also higher than that of those products. In particular, hourly and daily root-mean-square errors of the new SWDR are 104.9 and 31.5 W m−2, respectively, which are much smaller than those of CERES (at 121.6 and 38.6 W m−2, respectively), ERA5 (at 176.6 and 39.5 W m−2, respectively), and GLASS (daily of 36.5 W m−2). Meanwhile, RMSEs of hourly and daily values of the new LWDR are 19.6 and 14.4 W m−2, respectively, which are comparable to that of CERES and ERA5, and even better over high-altitude regions.

A cloud identification and profiling algorithm is being developed for the multi-spectral imager (MSI), which is one of the four instruments that the Earth Clouds, Aerosols, and Radiation Explorer (EarthCARE) spacecraft will feature. During recent work, we noticed that the MSI response function could shift substantially among some wavelengths (0.67 and 1.65 µm bands) owing to the spectral misalignment (SMILE), in which a shift in the center wavelength appears as a distortion in the spectral image. We evaluated how SMILE affects the cloud retrieval product qualitatively and quantitatively. We chose four detector pixels from bands 1 and 3 with the nadir pixel as the reference to elucidate how the SMILE error affects the cloud optical thickness (τ) and effective cloud droplet radius (re) by simulating the MSI forward radiation with Comprehensive Analysis Program for Cloud Optical Measurement (CAPCOM). We also evaluated the error in simulated scenes from a global cloud system-resolving model and a satellite simulator to measure the effect on actual observation scenes. For typical shallow warm clouds (τ = 8, re = 8 µm), the SMILE error on the cloud retrieval was not significant in most cases (up to 6 % error). For typical deep convective clouds (τ = 8, re = 40 µm), the SMILE error on the cloud retrieval was even less significant in most cases (up to 4 % error). Moreover, our results from two oceanic scenes using the synthetic MSI data agreed well with the forward radiation simulation, indicating that the SMILE error was generally within 10 %. Generally, this negligible impact of the SMILE is true for water surfaces, but it still needs to be investigated further for land surfaces in future works.

Wildfires damage land ecosystems and significantly impact the atmosphere by releasing large amounts of CO2 and aerosols. Aerosols, in particular, have a radiative forcing potential that perturbs the global radiation balance. Therefore, understanding their optical properties is essential to estimate the radiative forcing for predicting the climatic impact due to burning. The Global Change Observation Mission—Climate, or GCOM-C (SHIKISAI), is a polar-orbit satellite launched by JAXA on 23 December 2017. This study analyzed wildfires in the Amazon, Angola, Australia, California, Siberia, and Southeast Asia that occurred after 2018 using data from the GCOM-C satellite obtained with the Second-generation Global Imager (SGLI), a multi-band optical imaging radiometer. We compared the aerosol optical properties of Ångström Exponent (AE) and Single Scattering Albedo (SSA) and found that their distributions are different for each region. In addition, the negative correlations are found in the Amazon, Angola, Siberia, and Southeast Asia when we locally fitted the AE and SSA relationship for each wildfire by a linear function. This is likely due to the effect of hygroscopic growth (SSA becomes larger with water uptake), considering the difference in relative humidity in the six regions, and the significant behavior of the aerosol aging. We also found that the relationship between SSA and relative humidity varies depending on the type of the burned vegetation. For the needle-forest-dominated group, a higher SSA is observed in the range from 40 % to 70 % of relative humidity than the broad forest-dominated group. This global investigation of the aerosol optical properties reveals that their characteristics differ due to regional differences such as relative humidity and vegetation type. Thus, the regional characteristics and the aging effect of biomass-burning aerosols must be considered in model predicting. Moreover, we estimated the net incoming radiation at the top of the atmosphere during the intense fire periods to understand the impact of the direct effect of biomass burning aerosols on radiative forcing. The estimates show a significant negative radiative forcing (i.e., a cooling effect) over the ocean (−78 and −96 Wm−2 in Australia and California, respectively). In contrast, small values are observed over land (∼ −10 Wm−2 for all six regions). This suggests that the radiative forcing depends on the region of the wildfire plumes. Therefore, taking the regional characteristics of the optical property and surface reflectance into account is necessary to estimate the effect on radiative forcing and future impacts of a short-lived climate forcer from wildfires.

This study newly applies measurements from two geostationary satellites, the Advanced Himawari Imager (AHI) onboard the geostationary satellite Himawari-8 and the Geostationary Ocean Color imager (GOCI) onboard the geostationary satellite COMS, to evaluate a unique regional aerosol-transport model coupled to a non-hydrostatic icosahedral atmospheric model (NICAM) at a high resolution without any nesting technique and boundary conditions of the aerosols. Taking advantage of the unique capability of these geostationary satellites to measure aerosols with unprecedentedly high temporal resolution, we focus on a target area (115°E-155°E, 20°N-50°N) in East Asia in May 2016, which featured the periodic transport of industrial aerosols and a very heavy aerosol plume from Siberian wildfires. The aerosol optical thickness (AOT) fields are compared among the AHI, GOCI, MODIS, AERONET and NICAM data. The results show that both AHI- and GOCI-retrieved AOTs were generally comparable to the AERONET-retrieved ones, with high correlation coefficients of approximately 0.7 in May 2016. They also show that NICAM successfully captured the detailed horizontal distribution of AOT transported from Siberia to Japan on the most polluted day (18 May 2016). The monthly statistical metrics, including correlation between the model and either AHI or GOCI, are estimated to be >0.4 in 42–49% of the target area. With the aid of sensitivity model experiments with and without Siberian wildfires, it was found that a long-range transport of aerosols from Siberian wildfires (from as far as 3000 km) to Japan influenced the monthly mean aerosol levels, accounting for 7–35% of the AOT, 26–49% of the surface PM2.5 concentrations, and 25–66% of the aerosol extinction above 3 km in height over Japan. Therefore, the air pollutants from Siberian wildfire cannot be ignored for the spring over Japan.

We developed a new aerosol retrieval algorithm combining a numerical aerosol forecast. In the retrieval algorithm, the short-term forecast from an aerosol data assimilation system was used for a priori estimate instead of spatially and temporally constant values. This method was demonstrated using the Advanced Himawari Imager onboard the Japan Meteorological Agency’s geostationary satellite Himawari-8, and the results showed spatially finer distributions than the model forecast and less noisy distributions than the original algorithm. We validated the new algorithm using ground observation data and found that the aerosol parameters detectable by satellite sensors were retrieved more accurately than a priori model forecast by adding satellite information. Moreover, the retrieval accuracy was improved by using the model forecast as compared with using constant a priori estimates. By using the assimilated forecast for a priori estimate, information from previous observations can be propagated to future retrievals, thereby leading to better retrieval accuracy. Observational information from the satellite and aerosol transport by the model is incorporated cyclically to effectively estimate the optimum field of aerosol.

Objective To investigate the basal amino acid metabolism and impact of growth hormone (GH) therapy in short-stature children born small for gestational age (short SGA children). Methods In this age-matched case-control study, the basal blood levels of amino acids, asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), and nitrite/nitrate (NOx) were compared between 24 short SGA children and 25 age-matched normal children. Changes in these parameters were assessed for 12 months in 12 short SGA children initiating GH therapy (Group A) and 12 age-matched short SGA children without GH therapy (Group B). Results The arginine levels were significantly lower in the short SGA than in normal children. The ADMA levels were significantly higher and NOx levels were significantly lower in the short SGA than normal children. In Group A, the ADMA level was significantly lower and NOx level was significantly higher at 6 months than at baseline. At 12 months, the ADMA level in Group A began to increase, but the NOx level remained the same. Group B showed no significant changes. Conclusions This study is the first to show that ADMA is promoted and nitric oxide is suppressed in short SGA children and that GH therapy affects the production of ADMA and nitric oxide.

形態: カラー図版あり, Physical characteristics: Original contains color illustrations, 資料番号: PA1910017000

形態: カラー図版あり, Physical characteristics: Original contains color illustrations, 資料番号: PA1810011000

To prevent worsening of diabetes mellitus, we conducted a developmental research of personal health record (PHR), whereby affected individuals, medical staff and an insurer cooperate and manage effective treatment. Medical expenses can be suppressed by preventing the onset of lifestyle-related diseases. Companies can benefit from improved employee productivity by promoting healthy and efficient working styles. We conducted a health and medical consciousness survey to examine PHR models that are attractive for both employers and employees.

The next-generation geostationary satellite Himawari-8 has a much higher observation frequency of the aerosol field than polar-orbiting satellites. Aerosol analyses with a geostationary satellite can advance our understanding of the rapid spatiotemporal evolution of aerosols, which is especially critical for studies of air pollution and its mechanisms. We present a one-monthlong hourly aerosol analysis using an aerosol data assimilation based on the local ensemble Kalman filter (LETKF), Himawari-8-retrieved hourly aerosol optical thicknesses (AOTs), and a global model named Non-hydrostatic Icosahedral Atmospheric Model coupled with an aerosol model named Spectral Radiation Transport Model for Aerosol Species (NICAM-SPRINTARS). To assimilate asynchronous observations and avoid frequent switching between the assimilation and ensemble aerosol forecasts, the LETKF is also extended to the four-dimensional LETKF (4D-LETKF). The hourly aerosol analyses are evaluated with both the assimilated Himawari-8 AOTs and independent Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)- and AErosol RObotic NETwork (AERONET)-retrieved AOTs. All evaluations show that the assimilations positively affect the model performances and produce simulated AOTs that are closer to the observations. The analyses correctly reduce the significantly positive biases and root-mean-square errors of the control experiment, especially over East China and Australia. Our results also show that hourly aerosol analyses with more frequent Himawari-8 observations are superior to those using the polar satellite MODIS observations. The performances among the LETKF and 4D-LETKF experiments are generally not so different, but the computational load of the 4D-LETKF is much lighter than that of the LETKF.

Aerosol optical depths (AODs) from the new Himawari-8 satellite instrument have been assimilated in a dust simulation model over East Asia. This advanced geostationary instrument is capable of monitoring the East Asian dust storms which usually have great spatial and temporal variability. The quality of the data has been verified through a comparison with AErosol RObotic NETwork AODs. This study focuses on extreme dust events only when dust aerosols are dominant; promising results are obtained in AOD assimilation experiments during a case in May 2017. The dust emission fields that drive the simulation model are strongly improved by the inverse modeling, and consequently, the simulated dust concentrations are in better agreements with the observed AOD as well as ground-based observations of PM 10 . However, some satellite AODs show significant inconsistence with the simulations and the PM 10 and AErosol RObotic NETwork observations, which might arise from retrieval errors over a partially clouded scene. The data assimilation procedure therefore includes a screening method to exclude these observations in order to avoid unrealistic results. A dust mask screening method is designed, which is based on selecting only those observations where the deterministic model produces a substantial amount of dust. This screen algorithm is tested to give more accurate result compared to the traditional method based on background covariance in the case study. Note that our screen method would exclude valuable information in case the model is not able to simulate the dust plume shape correctly; hence, applications in related studies require inspections of simulations and observations by user.

The 5′ splice site mutation (IVS20+6T>C) of theinhibitor of κ light polypeptide gene enhancer in B cells, kinase complex-associated protein(IKBKAP) gene in familial dysautonomia (FD) is at the sixth intronic nucleotide of the 5′ splice site. It is known to weaken U1 snRNP recognition and result in an aberrantly spliced mRNA product in neuronal tissue, but normally spliced mRNA in other tissues. Aberrantly splicedIKBKAPmRNA abrogates IKK complex-associated protein (IKAP)/elongator protein 1 (ELP1) expression and results in a defect of neuronal cell development in FD. To elucidate the tissue-dependent regulatory mechanism, we screened an expression library of major RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) with our mammalian dual-color splicing reporter system and identified RBM24 as a regulator. RBM24 functioned as a cryptic intronic splicing enhancer binding to an element (IVS20+13–29) downstream from the intronic 5′ splice site mutation in theIKBKAPgene and promoted U1 snRNP recognition only to the mutated 5′ splice site (and not the wild-type 5′ splice site). Our results show that tissue-specific expression of RBM24 can explain the neuron-specific aberrant splicing ofIKBKAPexon 20 in familial dysautonomia, and that ectopic expression of RBM24 in neuronal tissue could be a novel therapeutic target of the disease.

The behavior of cyphenothrin (1) [(RS)-α-cyano-3-phenoxybenzyl (1RS)-cis-trans-2,2-dimethyl-3-(2-methylprop-1-enyl)cyclopropanecarboxylate] in an aquatic environment was investigated by using the 14C-labeled trans and cis isomers. In parallel with the rapid partition from water phase to bottom sediment, 1 was degraded with the first-order half-lives of 2.0 (trans-1) and 7.3 days (cis-1) in the water-sediment system under dark conditions. 1 underwent extensive microbial degradation via ester cleavage to form 3-phenoxybenzoic acid, finally forming bound residues and mineralizing to CO2. Aqueous photolysis significantly accelerated the degradation of 1 with a half-life of

Biogenic amines are common biologically active substances extended within the whole animal kingdom where they play vital roles as signal transducer as well as regulator of cell functions. One of these biogenic amines called octopamine (OA) is synthesized from tyramine (TA) by the catalysis of tyramine-β-hydroxylase (TβH) originated in the insect nervous system. Both TA and OA act as neurotransmitters, neurohormones and neuromodulators in the arthropod nervous system. Herein, the inhibitory activity of 1-arylimidazole-2(3 H )-thiones (AITs) was tested on cloned Drosophila tyramine-β-hydroxylase (DmTβH) expressed in Bombyx mori strain. Radiolabelled 3 H-TA was used to analyze the activity of AITs exhibited inhibitory effects on DmTβH, whose ID 50 values range from 0.02 to 2511 nM where DmTβH was inhibited in a dose-dependent manner at pH 7.6 and 25 °C during a 30 min of incubation. To understand the catalytic role of the TβH, a three dimensional structure of the TβH from Drosophila melanogaster was constructed by homology modeling using the Phyre2 web server with 100% confidence. The modeled three-dimensional structure of TβH was used to perform the docking study with AITs. This may give more insights to precise design of inhibitors for TβH to control insect’s population.

The insect nervous system contains biogenic amines such octopamine (OA), which is synthesized from tyramine (TA) by catalysis of tyramine-β-hydroxylase (TβH). In this study, the Drosophila 70 kDa tyramine-β-hydroxylase (DmTβH) protein was purified after the recombinant nucleopolyhedrovirus isolated from Bombyx mori (BmNPV) containing the TβH gene was injected into the hemocoel of the fifth instar larvae from the d17 B. mori strain. Western blot analysis revealed an immunoreactive band with a molecular mass of 70 kDa. The products formed by incubating the enzyme reaction mixture were separated and detected by reverse phase high-performance liquid chromatography. The optimum pH, temperature, and incubation time for the conversion of TA to OA were 7.6, 25 °C, and 30 min, respectively. The inhibitory experiments using various concentrations of 1-(2-methoxy-5-methylphenyl) imidazole-2(3 H )-thione (MMIT) showed that MMIT inhibited DmTβH dose-dependently and that this method can be applied for screening DmTβH inhibitors.

EFdA (4'-ethynyl-2-fluoro-2'-deoxyadenosine), a nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor with extremely potent anti-HIV activity, was concisely synthesized from (R)-glyceraldehyde acetonide in an 18% overall yield by a 12-step sequence involving highly diastereoselective ethynylation of an α-alkoxy ketone intermediate. The present synthesis is superior, both in overall yield and in the number of steps, to the previous one which required 18 steps from an expensive starting material and resulted in a modest overall yield of 2.5%.

A 70-year-old Japanese man with chronic kidney disease under treatment with oral prednisolone for organizing pneumonia developed pulmonary aspergilloma. The patient was started on micafungin (MCFG), with no addition of any other new drug. About 5 weeks later, aggravation of his normocytic anemia associated with a low reticulocyte count was observed. Bone marrow puncture and biopsy revealed intense hypoplasia of the erythroblasts. As there was no evidence of malignancy, human parvovirus B19 infection, autoimmune diseases or hemorrhage, the patient was diagnosed as having acquired pure red cell aplasia (PRCA). The anemia improved along with an increase of the reticulocyte count to the normal level within 12 weeks of discontinuation of the MCFG therapy. The patient showed no evidence subsequently of any recurrence of the normocytic normochromic anemia or relapse of the PRCA. This is the first reported case of PRCA associated with MCFG.

Human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) glycoprotein Q1 (gQ1), a unique gene in HHV-6, forms a complex with glycoproteinH (gH) and gL, which is the viral ligand for its cellular receptor, CD46. However, whether gQ1 is essential for virus growth is unknown, because a system is lacking for making gene knockouts for HHV-6. Recently, bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) and E. coli mutagenesis techniques have been applied to herpesvirus investigation. Here we successfully inserted the HHV-6A genome into a BAC, and obtained reconstituted infectious virus from the HHV-6A-containing BAC DNA. Using this system, we generated a gQ1 mutant virus genome, which failed to yield reconstituted infectious virus, whereas its revertant virus could be produced, indicating that the HHV-6 gQ1 gene is essential for virus growth. Therefore, we successfully applied BAC and E. coli mutagenesis techniques to the study of HHV-6, and discovered that HHV-6 gQ1 is an essential gene for virus growth.

The storage glucans of Cyanidioschyzon merolae [clade L-1 (cyanidian algae), order Porphyridiales, subclass Bangiophycidae], which is considered to be one of the most primitive rhodophytes, were analyzed to understand the early evolution of the glucan structure in the Rhodophyta. Chain-length distribution analysis of the glucans of cyanidian algae demonstrated that while the glucans of Cyanidium caldarium and Galdieria sulphuraria are of the glycogen type, those of C. merolae are of the semiamylopectin type, as in other lineages of the Rhodophyta. Gel permeation chromatography, however, showed that the glucans of C. merolae do not include amylose, being different from those of other Bangiophycidae species. Identifi cation by MALDI–TOF-MS and enzyme assaying of glucan granulebound proteins indicated that phosphorylase, but not starch synthase, is included. Thus, C. merolae has an unusual glucan and bound-protein composition for the Bangiophycidae, appearing to be a member of the Florideophycidae. The fi nding that the alga does not contain amylose or the related enzyme, granule-bound starch synthase, is, however, consistent with previously reported results of molecular phylogenetic analysis of starch synthases. Our results support an evolutionary scenario defi ned by the loss of starch and reversion to glycogen synthesis during the evolution of cyanidian algae, and suggest the possibility that a C. merolae like primitive rhodophyte might have evolved into the Florideophycidae.

Purpose Differentiation of endometrial stromal cells into decidual cells occurs during embryo implantation and pregnancy. Recently, it has been reported that relaxin affects the decidualization of cultured human endometrial cells in vitro; however, there has been no study on the decidualization of the Mongolian gerbil (Meriones unguiculatus). The authors demonstrated artificially induced decidualization, and the effect of relaxin on decidualization in gerbils.

Rice (Oryza sativa) allelic sugary1 (sug1) mutants defective in isoamylase 1 (ISA1) accumulate varying levels of starch and phytoglycogen in their endosperm, and the activity of a pullulanase-type of a debranching enzyme (PUL) was found to correlate closely with the severity of the sug1 phenotype. Thus, three PUL-deficient mutants were generated to investigate the function of PUL in starch biosynthesis. The reduction of PUL activity had no pleiotropic effects on the other enzymes involved in starch biosynthesis. The short chains (DP < or = 13) of amylopectin in PUL mutants were increased compared with that of the wild type, but the extent of the changes was much smaller than that of sug1 mutants. The alpha-glucan composition [amylose, amylopectin, water-soluble polysaccharide (WSP)] and the structure of the starch components (amylose and amylopectin) of the PUL mutants were essentially the same, although the average chain length of the B(2-3) chains of amylopectin in the PUL mutant was approximately 3 residues longer than that of the wild type. The double mutants between the PUL-null and mild sug1 mutants still retained starch in the outer layer of endosperm tissue, while the amounts of WSP and short chains (DP < or = 7) of amylopectin were higher than those of the sug1 mutant; this indicates that the PUL function partially overlaps with that of ISA1 and its deficiency has a much smaller effect on the synthesis of amylopectin than ISA1 deficiency and the variation of the sug1 phenotype is not significantly dependent on the PUL activities.

Both relaxin and insulin-like growth factor (IGF) are members of the insulin super family. This study aimed to investigate the effect of relaxin and IGF-I on the pre-implantation of Mongolian gerbil of blastocyst development in vitro. Blastocysts and eight-cell stage embryos were collected from female gerbils. Eight-cell embryos and blastocysts were cultured in mM16 medium supplemented with or without relaxin or IGF-I for 24 h. Blastocysts were counted for total, inner cell mass (ICM) and trophectoderm (TE) cell numbers, and assessed apoptosis incidence. In addition, to measure incorporation of 3H-methionine, blastocysts were cultured for 3 h with relaxin or IGF-I, washed with trichloroacetic acid and measured by liquid scintiration counter. Relaxin (200 ng/ml) increased total, TE and ICM cell numbers of blastocyst (P

A reliable quantitative assay method for starch branching enzyme (BE) remains to be established whereas it has been required to characterize BE towards understanding the regulatory mechanism for the synthesis of starch in plant tissues. We describe a new quantitative assay method for BE activities with malto-oligosaccharides, amylose and amylopectin as substrates by using bicinchoninic acid (BCA) for measuring directly the reducing terminals of linear glucans formed after debranching the reaction products. The BCA method not only can be performed by simple procedures and easy handling with the use of cheap toxic-free reagents, but also shows highly color-stable properties after the treatment of the reaction mixture with the color-yielding reagents compared with the modified Park-Johnson method (Carbohydr. Res., 94, 205-213(1981)). The intensity and the spectrum of the purple color generated in the treated assay mixture are maintained in sugars and glucans in the range of glucose and amylose with degree of polymerization up to at least 1658. The BCA method can be also applied for characterization of BE when amylopectin is used as glucan substrate. In this paper we report this efficient, reproducible and quantitative BCA method by showing some experimental results obtained in an attempt to determine the kinetic parameters of BEIIb from rice endosperm.

SSI accounts for 60% of the total SS activity in the soluble fraction in the developing rice en- dosperm. Rice SSI-deficient mutants were identified by using reverse genetics, and the chain-length analysis of the endosperm starch showed that SSI distinctly synthesizes DP 8―12 chains from short DP 6―7 chains emerg- ing from the A chains and the branch points in the B1 chains of amylopectin. 1) In this study, to evaluate by in vitro study the function of recombinant SSI of rice (rSSI), the change in the chain-length distribution of glyco- gen or amylopectin in the activity band after rSSI enzymatic reactions in native-PAGE gel was examined. When glycogen was used as the substrate, the -glucan produced in the rSSI activity band on the native- PAGE gel had specifically fewer DP 6 chains and more DP 8 chains than unmodified glycogen did. When rice amylopectin was used as the substrate, the -glucan produced in the rSSI activity band showed the oscillation of a short turn in the range of DP 20 compared with the unmodified amylopectin; the chains with DP 6, 7, 10, 11, 13 and 17 decreased, while the extent of decrease was reduced in the chains with DP 8, 12 and 15. These results suggest that rSSI preferentially elongates the chains up to DP 8 from the short and long B1 and B2 chains with DP 6 or 7 from branch points to the non-reduced end as well as the A chains with DP 6 or 7 by adding one or two glucose moieties.

The general transcription factor TFII-I, with the corresponding gene name GTF2I, is an unusual transcriptional regulator that associates with both basal and signal-induced transcription factors. TFII-I consists of six GTF2I repeat domains, called I-repeats R1-R6. The structure and function of the GTF2I domain are not clearly understood, even though it contains a helix-loop-helix motif, which is considered to be the protein-protein interaction area, based on biochemical analyses. Here, we report the solution structure of the fifth repeat of the six GTF2I repeat domains from murine TFII-I, which was determined by heteronuclear multidimensional NMR spectroscopy (PDB code 1Q60). The three-dimensional structure of the GTF2I domain is classified as a new fold, consisting of four helices (residues 8-24, 34-39, 63-71, and 83-91), two antiparallel beta strands (residues 44-47 and 77-80), and a well-defined loop containing two beta-turns between sheet 1 and helix 3. All of the repeats probably have similar folds to that of repeat 5, because the conserved residues in the GTF2I repeat domains are assembled on the hydrophobic core, turns, and secondary structure elements, as revealed by a comparison of the sequences of the first through the sixth GTF2I repeats in TFII-I.