Johannes Gutenberg University

3 ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN JoVE

Immunology and Infection

In vitro tRNA Methylation Assay with the Entamoeba histolytica DNA and tRNA Methyltransferase Dnmt2 (Ehmeth) Enzyme

Ayala Tovy¹, Benjamin Hofmann², Mark Helm², Serge Ankri¹

¹Faculty of Medicine, Rappaport Institute, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, ²The Pharmacy and Biochemistry Institute, Johannes Gutenberg University

This protocol describes the preparation of a synthetic tRNA substrate for the Entamoeba histolytica DNA/tRNA methyltransferase 2 (Dnmt2) homolog Ehmeth and the measure of its methyltransferase activity. This experimental approach can be used for investigating the activity of other Dnmt2 proteins.

Chemistry

Microfluidic Preparation of Liquid Crystalline Elastomer Actuators

Tristan Hessberger^*1, Lukas B. Braun^*1, Christophe A. Serra², Rudolf Zentel¹

¹Department of Organic Chemistry, Johannes Gutenberg University, ²CNRS, ICS UPR 22, Université de Strasbourg

This article describes the microfluidic process and parameters to prepare actuating particles from liquid crystalline elastomers. This process allows the preparation of actuating particles and the variation of their size and shape (from oblate to strongly prolate, core-shell, and Janus morphologies) as well as the magnitude of actuation.

Biology

Transposon-insertion Sequencing as a Tool to Elucidate Bacterial Colonization Factors in a Burkholderia gladioli Symbiont of Lagria villosa Beetles

Ramya Ganesan¹, Martin Kaltenpoth^1,2, Laura V. Flórez^1,3

¹Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution, Johannes Gutenberg University, ²Department of Insect Symbiosis, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, ³Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Section for Organismal Biology, University of Copenhagen

This is an adapted method for identifying candidate insect colonization factors in a Burkholderia beneficial symbiont. The beetle host is infected with a random mutant library generated via transposon mutagenesis, and library complexity after colonization is compared to a control grown in vitro.