Positional clonging (map-based cloning) of mutations or genetic variations has been served as an invaluable tool to understand in-vivo functions of genes and to identify molecular components underlying phenotypes of interest. Mice homozygous for the cerebellar deficient folia (cdf) mutation are ataxic, with cerebellar hypoplasia and abnormal lobulation of the cerebellum. In the cdf mutant cerebellum approximately 40% of Purkinje cells are ectopically located within the white matter and the inner granule cell layer (IGL). To identify the cdf gene, a high-resolution genetic map for the cdf-gene-encompassing region was constructed using 1997 F2 mice generated from C3H/HeSnJ-cdf/cdf and CAST/Ei intercross. The cdf gene showed complete linkage disequilibrium with three tightly linked markers D6Mit208, D6Mit359, and D6Mit225. A contig using YAC, BAC, and P1 clones was constructed for the cdf critical region to identify the gene. A deletion in the cdf critical region on chromosome 6 that removes approximately 150 kb of DNA selection. cdf mutant mice with the transgenic copy of the identified gene restored the brain abnormalities of the mutant mice. The positional cloning of cdf gene provides a good example showing the identification of a gene could lead to finding a new component of important molecular pathways.

Jae-Ick Park. 2000. Typology of the Minimal Word. Studies in Modern Grammar 20, 111-132. This paper presents the typology of the minimal word. It first gives the definition of the minimal word as minimal prosodic restrictions on the size of the well-formed words in language. It then categorizes languages depending on the grammatical categories concerned with the minimal word. Some languages requires their whole lexicon to have the minimal size, others require the minimality only for content words, and still others have to have the minimal size in their limited sets of lexicon. The paper then divides the minimality into two major satisfaction types: passive vs. active. The passive satisfaction types normally blocks the application of deletion or truncation of segments if the output would be smaller than the required size in the language. The active satisfaction types expand a form under the minimal size by adding some elements to it. This paper further investigates the effects of the minimal word in language and the possibility of application of the recent constraint theory. It finally mentions the perspectives of the minimal word by viewing dialectal variations in a language.

Developmental changes of chlorophyll-protein complexes (CPs) and plastid membrane proteins in greening mung bean cotyledons and the effect of spermine thereon were examined by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The changes in the amounts of CPs became larger with the progress of greening and light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b protein (LHCP) was the main CP in the early greening stage up to 48 h. As the greening proceeded, chlorophyll-protein of the photosystem I (CPI) accumulated. Application of spermine were effective in accumulating CPs of the thylakoid membrane in the early phase of greening. In the profiles of the plastid membrane proteins, quantitative and qualitative changes were observed with the onset of greening up to 72 h. 56 kD protein of major intensity was observed in all greened chloroplasts and 24 kD protein increased remarkablly in both control and spermine-treated cotyledons. The thylakoids from spermine-treated cotyledons showed higher amounts of thylakoid proteins as compared to the controls. The results suggest that spermine may play a role in the regulation of plastid development and stabilizes the membrane function during greening.