Early estrogen treatment of female zebra finches masculinizes the brain pathway for learned vocalizations

Telencephalic nucleus HVC and its two efferent targets, RA and X, play essential roles in the production of complex, learned vocalizations in the male zebra finch. Normal females do not produce these learned vocalizations; HVC, RA, and X are small in volume, and HVC and RA are not synaptically connected. We have shown that estrogen treatment during development causes females to learn and produce male-like vocalization. This article describes the neural masculinization of these E2 females, replicating and extending the work of others. Female zebra finches were treated with 17β-estradiol (E2) at hatching, at 14–22 days of age, or as adults. In adulthood, the volumes of nucleus RA and area X were measured and the efferent projections of nucleus HVC examined using the anterograde tracer PHA-L. Early, sustained E2 treatment caused the greatest increase in the volume of RA and X, the innervation of RA and X by HVC axons, and the masculinization of auditory responses of cells in RA. Treatments that lasted for a shorter period or started later in development resulted in different patterns of partial brain masculinization. E2 treatment in adulthood had no effect on the volume of RA or X or their innervation by HVC. Bilateral lesions of the tracheosyringeal nerves or of HVC had the same effects on the male-typical vocalizations produced by E2 females as they do on the vocalizations produced by males. These results demonstrate that the neural masculinization of telencephalic nuclei induced by E2 treatment sets up a functional circuit in females similar to one in males that enables the learning and production of complex vocalizations.     

Genetic transformation of apple (Malus pumila Mill.) using a disarmed Ti-binary vector

The disamed Ti-binary vector pBIN 6 in Agrobacterium tumefaciens has been used in leaf disc transfomations to produce transgenic apple (Malus pumila Mill.) plants with a nomal phenotype except for a somewhat reduced capacity to root. The presence of the genes for nopaline synthase and neomycin phosphotrans ferase (conferring kanamycin resistance), inserted into the host genome by the vector, was confirmed by Southern blot analysis, the detection of nopaline synthase activity and rooting in the presence of the antibiotic.The nopaline synthase gene continued to be expressed in glasshouse-grown plants several months after removal from in vitro growth conditions.     

Triacylglycerol fatty acid and sterol composition of sediment microorganisms from McMurdo Sound,Antarctica

Summary The triacylglycerol fatty acid and sterol profiles of microorganisms from three McMurdo Sound sediment sites, collected during the austral summer of 1984–1985, were determined using gas chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Comparison of the three sites indicated that Cape Evans contained the greatest concentration of triacylglycerol (TG) (220 nmoles/gram dry weight (gdw) of sediment), approximately six to seven times that determined for sediment microorganisms from the Cape Armitage and New Harbor sites. The relative proportion of triacylglycerolderived polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) revealed a somewhat different trend. New Harbor sediment contained the greatest relative proportion of PUFA (22% of triacylglycerol fatty acids), followed by Cape Evans (16%) and Cape Armitage (11%). The proportion of unsaturated fatty acids (poly-and monounsaturated) was relatively constant and ranged from 63% to 71% of the triacylglycerol fatty acids for the three sites. Sterol concentrations varied from 610 pmoles/gdw at Cape Evans, to 370 and 240 pmoles/gdw for Cape Armitage and New Harbor respectively, and was approximately 1% of the total determined lipid. Cholesterol was the major sterol component detected, occurring at similar relative levels (29%) for all three sites. Other sterols present in decreasing order of abundance were 22-dehydrocholesterol, brassicasterol, 24-ethylcholesterol and 24-methylcholesterol. 5-stanols were only minor components of the three sediments, indicating that in situ biohydrogenation of stenols was not a major sterol transformation process in these recent surface oxic sediments.Part 3 in the series: Microbial Ecology in Antarctic Sea-Ice and Benthic Communities     

Knockdown resistance to dichlorodiphenyl-trichloroethane and pyrethroid insecticides in the napts mutant of Drosophila melanogaster is correlated with reduced neuronal sensitivity

Resistance to pyrethroid insecticides and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) was investigated in the nap^ts (no action potential, temperature sensitive) mutant of Drosophila melanogaster. In surface contact bioassays, the nap^ts strain showed threefold resistance to deltamethrin at the LC₅₀ level when compared to susceptible Canton-S flies. Cross-resistance was also observed to DDT and the pyrethroids NRDC 157 [3-phenoxybenzyl [1R,cis]-3-(2,2-dibromovinyl)-2,2-dimethylcyclopropanecarboxylate], fenfluthrin, and MTI-800 [1-(3-phenoxy-4-fluorophenyl)-4-(4-ethoxyphenyl)-4-methylpentane]. The onset of intoxication by pyrethroids in nap^ts flies was markedly delayed, a finding that is consistent with the existence of a resistance mechanism involving reduced neuronal sensitivity. Resistance at the level of the nerve was confirmed by electrophysiological recordings of spontaneous and evoked activity in the dorsolongitudinal flight muscles of poisoned flies. Preparations from nap^ts insects treated with fenfluthrin displayed longer latencies to the appearance of spontaneous activity and also an absence or reduction in burst discharges compared to equivalent preparations from susceptible individuals. These results are discussed in light of competing hypotheses concerning the mechanism underlying knockdown resistance and reduced nerve sensitivity in insects.     

A highly polymorphic locus cloned from the breakpoint of a chromosome 11p13 deletion associated with the WAGR syndrome

Children with constitutional deletions of chromosome 11p13 suffer from aniridia, genitourinary malformations, and mental retardation and are predisposed to develop bilateral Wilms tumor (the WAGR syndrome). The critical region for these defects has been narrowed to a segment of band 11p13 between the catalase and the beta-follicle-stimulating hormone genes. In this report, we have cloned the endpoints from a WAGR patient whose large cytogenetic deletion, del(11)(p14.3::p13), does not include the catalase gene. The deletion was characterized using DNA polymorphisms and found to originate in the paternally derived chromosome 11. The distal endpoint was identified as a rearrangement of locus D11S21 in conventional Southern blots of the patient's genomic DNA, but was not detected in leukocyte DNA from either parent or in sperm DNA from the father. The proximal endpoint was isolated by cloning the junction fragment and was mapped in relation to other markers and breakpoints. It defines a new locus in 11p13-delta J, which is close to the Wilms tumor gene and the breakpoint cluster region (TCL2) of the frequent t(11;14)(p13;q11) translocation in acute T-cell leukemia. An unusual concentration of base pair substitutions was discovered at delta J, in which 9 of 44 restriction sites tested (greater than 20%) vary in the population. This property makes delta J one of the most polymorphic loci on chromosome 11 and may reflect an underlying instability that contributed to the original mutation. The breakpoint extends the genetic map of this region and provides a useful marker for linkage studies and the analysis of allelic segregation in tumor cells.     

Influence of wetland hydroperiod on diversity and abundance of metamorphosing juvenile amphibians

Numbers of successfully metamorphosing juvenile amphibians were tabulated at three wetlands in South Carolina, U.S.A. using terrestrial drift fences with pitfall traps. A relatively undisturbed Carolina bay was studied for eight years, a partially drained Carolina bay for four years, and a man-made borrow pit for three years. Annual production of juveniles at the undisturbed Carolina bay ranged from zero to 75,644 individuals of 15 species. Fewer individuals of fewer species typically metamorphosed at the borrow pit than at the undisturbed bay, with the least numbers at the partially drained Carolina bay. Both total number and species diversity of metamorphosing juveniles at each site each year showed a strong positive correlation with hydroperiod, i.e., the number of days a site contained standing water that year. Data for one common anuran species and the most common salamander species were analyzed separately by multiple regression, in addition to the community analyses. For the mole salamander, Ambystoma talpoideum, hydroperiod was a significant predictor of the number of metamorphosing juveniles, but the number of breeding females was not. For the ornate chorus frog, Pseudacris ornata, the number of breeding females was a significant predictor of the number of metamorphosing juveniles, but hydroperiod was not. Variation in the dates of wetland filling and drying interacts with other factors to determine amphibian community structure and diversity. Either increasing or decreasing the number of days a wetland holds water could increase or decrease the number and species diversity of amphibians in and around a wetland.     

Discrepancy in divergence of the mitochondrial and nuclear genomes ofDrosophila teissieri andDrosophila yakuba

Summary Restriction sites were compared in the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) molecules from representatives of two closely related species of fruit flies: nine strains ofDrosophila teissieri and eight strains ofDrosophila yakuba. Nucleotide diversities amongD. teissieri strains and amongD. yakuba strains were 0.07% and 0.03%, respectively, and the nucleotide distance between the species was 0.22%. Also determined was the nucleotide sequence of a 2305-nucleotide pari (ntp) segment of the mtDNA molecule ofD. teissieri that contains the noncoding adenine+thymine (A+T)-rich region (1091 ntp) as well as the genes for the mitochondrial small-subunit rRNA, tRNA^f-met, tRNA^gln, and tRNA^ile, and portions of the ND2 and tRNA^val genes. This sequence differs from the corresponding segment of theD. yakuba mtDNA by base substitutions at 0.1% and 0.8% of the positions in the coding and noncoding regions, respectively. The higher divergence due to base substitutions in the A+T-rich region is accompanied by a greater number of insertions/deletions than in the coding regions. From alignment of theD. teissieri A+T-rich sequence with those ofD. yakuba andDrosophila virilis, it appears that the 40% of this sequence that lies adjacent to the tRNA^ile gene has been highly conserved. Divergence between the entireD. teissieri andD. yakuba mtDNA molecules, estimated from the sequences, was 0.3%; this value is close to the value (0.22%) obtained from the restriction analysis, but 10 times lower than the value estimated from published DNA hybridization results. From consideration of the relationships of mitochondrial nucleotide distance and allozyme genetic distance found among seven species of theDrosophila melanogaster subgroup, the mitochondrial nucleotide distance observed forD. teissieri andD. yakuba is anomalously low in relation to the nuclear genetic distance.     

Neuronal Glutamine Utilization: Glutamine/Glutamate Homeostasis in Synaptosomes

The synaptosomal metabolism of glutamine was studied under in vitro conditions that simulate depolarization in vivo. With [2-15N]glutamine as precursor, the [glutamine]i was diminished in the presence of veratridine or 50 mM KCl, but the total amounts of [15N]glutamate and [15N]aspartate formed were either equal to those of control incubations (veratridine) or higher (50 mM [KCl]). This suggests that depolarization decreases glutamine uptake and independently augments glutaminase activity. Omission of sodium from the medium was associated with low internal levels of glutamine which indicates that influx occurs as a charged Na(+)-amino acid complex. It is postulated that a reduction in membrane potential and a collapse of the Na+ gradient decrease the driving forces for glutamine accumulation and thus inhibit its uptake and enhance its release under depolarizing conditions. Inorganic phosphate stimulated glutaminase activity, particularly in the presence of calcium. At 2 mM or lower [phosphate] in the medium, calcium inhibited glutamine utilization and the production of glutamate, aspartate, and ammonia from glutamine. At a high (10 mM) medium [phosphate], calcium stimulated glutamine catabolism. It is suggested that a veratridine-induced increase in intrasynaptosomal inorganic phosphate is responsible for the enhancement of flux through glutaminase; calcium affects glutaminase indirectly by modulating the level of free intramitochondrial [phosphate]. Because phosphate also lowers the Km of glutaminase for glutamine, augmentation of the amino acid breakdown may occur even when depolarization lowers [glutamine]i. Reducing the intrasynaptosomal glutamate to 26 nmol/mg of protein had little effect on glutamine catabolism, but raising the pH to 7.9 markedly increased formation of glutamate and aspartate. It is concluded that phosphate and H+ are the major physiologic regulators of glutaminase activity.