Biosynthesis and control of beta-lactam antibiotics: the early steps in the "classical" tripeptide pathway

The interaction between growth and secondary metabolism develops from physiological responses of the producer organism to its environment. Nutrients are channelled into primary growth processes or into secondary processes such as antibiotic biosynthesis by a variety of metabolic controls, the nature of which has been extensively studied in organisms producing beta-lactam antibiotics via the tripeptide, delta-(L-alpha-aminoadipyl)-L-cysteinyl-D-valine. In the following article we review the early stages of beta-lactam biosynthesis in fungi and actinomycetes, keeping in mind the regulation of primary pathways that provide the amino acid precursors of this group of antibiotics, as well as the regulation of the secondary pathway itself. Of special importance to organisms engaging in secondary metabolism are the control mechanisms that suppress the nonessential process during rapid growth but allow secondary metabolic genes to be expressed and resources to be diverted when environmental factors generate the appropriate biochemical signals.     

Ferric cacodylate efficiently stimulates growth of rat renal glomerular epithelial cells in vitro

Rat renal glomerular epithelial cells (SGE1 cell line) can be maintained and grown continuously in serum-free medium supplemented with insulin, iron-saturated transferrin (Tr), selenium, bovine serum albumin (BSA), linoleic acid, and epidermal growth factor (EGF). Of the growth supplements used, Tr is essential for proliferation of the cells. In the present study, we describe the use of a unique iron-chelate complex, ferric cacodylate (Fe-Cac), positively charged molecules in neutral buffer, that could almost replace Tr in serum-free culture. It even stimulated the growth of SGE1 cells more efficiently than ferric chloride (FeCl₃) and other iron-chelate complexes, such as ferric nitrilotriacetate (Fe-NTA) and ferric citrate (Fe-Cit). The growth-stimulatory activity of Fe-Cac was exerted at iron concentrations of more than 0.01 g/ml, whereas a 10-fold excess of iron concentration was required with FeCl₃, Fe-NTA and Fe-Cit. We observed that SGE1 cells grew until confluent, then formed hemicysts (domes) in serum-free medium containing Fe-Cac, suggesting that Fe-Cac did not merely permit cell growth but also supported polarization and organization of the cells into a functional epithelial architecture. Moreover, since the stimulatory activity of Fe-Cac was completely abolished by desferrioxamine, a strong iron chelator, it is suggested that iron is crucial for growth of SGE1 cells. When the cells were treated with suramin, an inhibitor of cellular pinocytosis and endocytosis of a large spectrum of ligands including receptor-bound growth factors, growth-stimulatory activity of Tr was inhibited, whereas the activity of Fe-Cac was not affected. These results, taken together, strongly suggest that the growth-stimulatory activity of Fe-Cac is associated with iron delivery into the cells through the cell membrane by diffusion, which is different from Tr receptor-mediated endocytosis. The use of Fe-Cac for investigating iron-regulated cell proliferation is suggested.     

The effect of vitamin E on lipid peroxidation in the copper-deficient rat

The present study was designed to determine whether the supplementation of vitamin E in the copper-deficient diet would ameliorate the severity of copper deficiency in fructose-fed rats. Lipid peroxidation was measured in the livers and hearts of rats fed a copper-deficient diet (0.6 microg Cu/g) containing 62% fructose with adequate vitamin E (0.1 g/kg diet) or supplemented with vitamin E (1.0 g/kg diet). Hepatic lipid peroxidation was significantly reduced by vitamin E supplementation compared with the unsupplemented adequate rats. In contrast, myocardial lipid peroxidation was unaffected by the level of vitamin E. Regardless of vitamin E supplementation, all copper-deficient rats exhibited severe signs of copper deficiency, and some of the vitamin E-supplemented rats died of this deficiency. These findings suggest that although vitamin E provided protection against peroxidation in the liver, it did not protect the animals against the severity of copper deficiency induced by fructose consumption.     

Dietary n-9, n-6, and n-3 fatty acids modify linoleic acid more than arachidonic acid levels in plasma and platelet lipids and minimally affect platelet thromboxane formation in the rabbit

We have studied the effects of semisynthetic diets containing 5% by weight (12% of the energy) of either olive oil (70% oleic acid, OA) or corn oil (58% linoleic acid), or fish oil (Max EPA, containing about 30% eicosapentaenoic, EPA C 20:5 n-3, plus docosahexaenoic, DHA C 22:6 n-3, acids, and less than 2% linoleic acid), fed to male rabbits for a period of five weeks, on plasma and platelet fatty acids and platelet thromboxane formation. Aim of the study was to quantitate the absolute changes of n-6 and n-3 fatty acid levels in plasma and platelet lipid pools after dietary manipulations and to correlate the effects on eicosanoid-precursor fatty acids with those on platelet thromboxane formation. The major differences were found when comparing the group fed fish oil and depleted linoleic acid vs the other groups. The accumulation of n-3 fatty acids in various lipid classes was associated with modifications in the distribution of linoleic acid and arachidonic acid in different lipid pools. In platelets maximal incorporation of n-3 fatty acids occurred in phosphatidyl ethanolamine, which also participated in most of the total arachidonic acid reduction occurring in platelets, and linoleic acid, more than archidonic acid, was replaced by n-3 fatty acids in various phospholipids. The archidonic acid content of phosphatidyl choline was unaffected and that of phosphatidyl inositol only marginally reduced. Thromboxane formation by thrombin stimulated platelets did not differ among the three groups, and this may be related to the minimal changes of arachidonic acid in phosphatidyl choline and phosphatidyl inositol.     

Nutritional characteristics of a neoglycoprotein, casein modified covalently by glucose

Glucose was combined covalently with the epsilon-amino groups of lysyl residues of bovine casein in the presence of sodium cyanoborohydride as a reducing reagent by reductive alkylation, forming stable secondary amine linkages. Solubility characteristics and nutritional values of the neoglycoprotein were examined. The degree of modification (%) of the glucosylated casein was 82.5. Solubility of the modified casein was increased by the attachment of glucose. The modification did not disturb the digestion of casein by pepsin or trypsin. Rat feeding experiments using 10% protein diets demonstrated that the protein efficiency ratio (PER) of the modified casein was 0.35 +/- 0.33 compared with 2.99 +/- 0.29 for the unmodified casein. When the modified casein was supplemented with L-lysine to equal the level of total lysine of unmodified casein, the PER value was increased to 2.21 +/- 0.29. Nitrogen balance experiments showed that the modified casein was digested completely. On the other hand, biological value and net protein utilization of the modified protein were shown to be considerably lower than those of the unmodified casein.     

一个描述多种产量-密度关系的经验模型

本文提出一个新的关于产量-密度关系的经验模型,该模型具有以下主要特点。(1) 能描述低密度下不存在种内干扰的产量-密度的直线关系;(2) 能描述从直线型、渐近无极限型、渐近极限型到变型抛物型等多种产量密度类型;(3)参数具有显著的生态学意义。 对温室和田间试验中种内干扰与产量密度关系的实例研究结果表明,该模型能很好地描述在不同程度的种内干扰下所产生的多种类型的产量-密度关系。     

ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS OF INDUSTRIALISED COUNTRIESA Joint Symposium of the British Ecological Society and the Ecological Society of China

The United Kingdom and the People's Republic of China have very different histories.In the United Kingdom, industrial development began early, in the 18th century, and was swept along by the tide of riches that it generated, in a way that damage to the environment was disregarded and pollutants accepted as inevitable-"where there's muck,there's monev"But all this stimulated. by degrees. an.(?)     

A PLIOCENE SPECIES OF VULPES FROM YUSHE,SHANXI

<正> The Yushe County in Shanxi Province is one of the most famous "dragon bone" localities in China. Teilhard de Chardin's monographs on the fossil mammals from Yushe made it well known internationally as well. However, the work so far done there is far from completion, especially when compared with the recent achievements in stratigraphic work on late Cenozoic     

真(鱼岁)(Phoxinus phoxinus(L.))的能量收支各组分与摄食量、体重及温度的关系

在不同的摄食水平(饥饿—最大量)及温度(5—15℃)下,对1—5g的真(鱼岁)的摄食量、排粪量、排泄量、代谢量,生长量及生化组成作了测定。真(鱼岁)的最大摄食量随体重及温度增加而增加。食物能量平均有6.5％损失于粪便中,5.1％损失于排泄物中。摄食代谢随摄食量增加而增加。在同一温度下,特定生长率与摄食量的关系是一减速增长曲线。当摄食不受限制时,生长率随温度增加而增加;当摄食受限制时,生长率随温度增加而下降。鱼体的干物质含量及能量含量随摄食量增加而增加。