Shingo Hata

A rice gene encoding a calcium-dependent protein kinase (CDPK), OsCDPK7, was induced by cold and salt stresses. To elucidate the physiological function of OsCDPK7, we generated transgenic rice plants with altered levels of the protein. The extent of tolerance to cold and salt/drought stresses of these plants correlated well with the level of OsCDPK7 expression. Therefore, OsCDPK7 was shown to be a positive regulator commonly involved in the tolerance to both stresses in rice. Over-expression of OsCDPK7 enhanced induction of some stress-responsive genes in response to salinity/drought, but not to cold. Thus, it was suggested that the downstream pathways leading to the cold and salt/drought tolerance are different from each other. It seems likely that at least two distinct pathways commonly use a single CDPK, maintaining the signalling specificity through unknown post-translational regulation mechanisms. These results demonstrate that simple manipulation of CDPK activity has great potential with regard to plant improvement.

The T cell receptor (TCR) delta protein is expressed as part of a heterodimer with TCR gamma, in association with the CD3 polypeptides on a subset of functional peripheral blood T lymphocytes, thymocytes, and certain leukemic T cell lines. A monoclonal antibody directed against TCR delta was produced that binds specifically to the surface of several TCR gamma delta cell lines and immunoprecipitates the TCR gamma delta as a heterodimer from Triton X-100 detergent lysates and also immunoprecipitates the TCR delta subunit alone after chain separation. A candidate human TCR delta complementary DNA clone (IDP2 O-240/38), reported in a companion paper, was isolated by the subtractive library approach from a TCR gamma delta cell line. This complementary DNA clone was used to direct the synthesis of a polypeptide that is specifically recognized by the monoclonal antibody to TCR delta. This complementary DNA clone thus corresponds to the gene that encodes the TCR delta subunit.