Formamidines interact withDrosophila octopamine receptors,alter the flies' behavior and reduce their learning ability

Summary We have studied the effect of formamidines onDrosophila melanogaster. Low concentrations of formamidines are toxic to adultDrosophila. A mutant with reduced cAMP synthesis displays increased resistance to the toxin. Formamidines also reduce viability ofDrosophila eggs and retard imago eclosion. At sublethal concentrations, formamidines markedly affect the flies' behavior. Upon injection, the compounds increase muscle activity. Upon feeding, formamidines induce motor excitation, reduce phototaxis and impair olfactory learning without affecting the ability to recognize an olfactory cue. In vitro, two formamidines were found to inhibit octopamine-stimulated adenylate cyclase without affecting the basal activity of the enzyme, while a third one was found to stimulate adenylate cyclase; this stimulation was blocked by phentolamine and to a lesser degree by propranolol, thus resembling the effect of octopamine. The binding of [³H]octopamine toDrosophila head membranes was also inhibited. Taken together, our results indicate that formamidines interact with octopaminergic systems inDrosophila, exert both peripheral and central effects in the fly, and could be used to dissect the roles of octopamine in development and behavior, including behavioral plasticity. The results also suggest that formamidines could be used to select mutants in aminergic transmission and in the cAMP cascade.Abbreviations CDMF chlordimeform - DMPF N,N-dimethyl-N2-(2,4-dimethylphenyl) formamidine     

Electrolocation in the presence of jamming signals: behavior

Electrolocation behavior of Apteronotus leptorhynchus was studied by monitoring the animal's ability to maintain orientation to a variety of moving electrolocation targets. The primary goal of this study was to determine the relative effectiveness of various types of electrical 'jamming signals' in disrupting electrolocation performance. 1. Two measures of electrolocation performance were used: The latency between the electrolocation target motion and the fish's following response, and the minimum distance separating the fish from the target during the target movement sequence. Latency increased and minimum fish-target distance decreased as target size was decreased, and when large diameter ceramic targets were used as control stimuli the fish were less able to avoid, and frequently collided with, these 'electrically transparent' objects. 2. Four types of jamming signals were used in attempts to mask the electrosensory input used for electrolocation. Broad-band noise and sinusoidal signals, different in frequency by a few Hz from the animal's personal electric organ discharge (DF stimuli), were used to jam the tuberous electroreceptors. Five Hz and 50 Hz sinusoidal signals were used to jam the low-frequency or ampullary receptor system. Both the noise and the DF stimuli were effective in reducing electrolocation performance, and the threshold intensity for behavior deterioration was about three-fold lower for DF stimuli as compared to the noise. The rate of change of response deterioration as a function of increasing jamming intensity was, however, not different for these two types of stimuli. Neither the 50 Hz nor the 5 Hz jamming signals caused electrolocation deterioration when presented alone. However, 5 Hz jamming, when added to either the noise or DF jamming, did result in significant increments in response deterioration. This suggests that the ampullary receptors can provide supplementary information for electrolocation. 3. Electrolocation performance deterioration was also studied with various difference frequencies between an animal's EOD and the sinusoidal jamming stimulus. Increasing DF results in decreased electrolocation deterioration, but even at the highest DF frequencies used (128 Hz) significant response degradation was observed. 4. The apparent differences in the effectiveness of noise and DF stimulation in reducing electrolocation performance are largely accounted for by the differential effects of the tuberous electroreceptor filter characteristics on these two types of signals.     

Isolation ofAcholeplasma oculi from human amniotic fluid in early pregnancy

Acholeplasmas have been isolated from a variety of animals, insects, and plants, but onlyAcholeplasma laidlawii has previously been found in humans. We have isolatedAcholeplasma oculi in pure culture from the amniotic fluid of a woman at 19 weeks of gestation. The organism was positively identified by growth inhibition, epi-immunofluorescence, and arbutin hydrolysis. Demonstration of organisms directly in amniotic fluid by DNA fluorochrome and immunofluorescence staining provided additional evidence that the isolate was genuine and not a medium contaminant. The remainder of the pregnancy was unremarkable, and a full-term male infant was delivered without complications. Even though there is some evidence possibly associatingA. oculi with various diseases in livestock, the prevalence and significance ofA. oculi in humans has not been determined.     

Mutational analysis of the Bradyrhizobium japonicum common nod genes and further nod box-linked genomic DNA regions

Summary By insertional and deletional marker replacement mutagenesis the common nod region of Bradyrhizobium japonicum was examined for the presence of additional, essential nodulation genes. An open reading frame located in the 800 bp large intergenic region between nodD1 and nodA did not appear to be essential for nodulation of soybean. Furthermore, a strain with a deletion of the nodI- and nodJ-like genes downstream of nodC had a Nod⁺ phenotype. A mutant with a 1.7 kb deletion immediately downstream of nodD1 considerably delayed the onset of nodulation. This region carried a second copy of nodD (nodD2). A nodD1-nodD2 double mutant had a similar phenotype to the nodD2 mutant. Using a 22-mer oligonucleotide probe partially identical to the nod box sequence, a total of six hybridizing regions were identified in B. japonicum genomic DNA and isolated from a cosmid library. Sequencing of the hybridizing regions revealed that at least three of them represented true nod box sequences whereas the others showed considerable deviations from the consensus sequence. One of the three nod box sequences was the one known to be associated with nodA, whereas the other two were located 60 to 70 kb away from nif cluster I. A deletion of one of these two sequences plus adjacent DNA material mmutant 308) led to a reduced nodulation on Vigna radiata but not on soybean. Thus, this region is probably involved in the determination of host specificity.Dedicated to Prof. Giorgio Semenza on the occasion of his 60th birthday     

A new mutant class of soybean lacks urease in leaves but not in leaf-derived callus or in roots

Summary We reported earlier the recovery of two classes of soybean urease mutants in soybean (Glycine max L. Merr. cv. Williams). Class I mutants lack the embryo-specific urease while class II mutants lack the activities of both urease isozymes, the embryo-specific and the ubiquitous urease, the latter found in all tissues examined. We report here the recovery of a true-breeding mutant, aj3, which represents the third phenotypic class: normal levels of embryo-specific urease and little or no ubiquitous urease. Unlike class II mutant plants which lack urease in all tissue, aj3 lacks urease activity only in leaves (ca. 2% normal activity); its roots have near normal urease activity. Callus derived from leaves of aj3 has 14% to 40% the urease activity of Williams 82 callus. This partial reduction in urease activity in aj3 callus is sufficient to reduce growth with urea as sole nitrogen source and to confer resistance to 50 mM urea added to callus maintenance medium. Leaves of aj3 produce more than 40 times the urease antigen expected from their urease activity. The aj3 trait is due to a single recessive lesion which is not allelic with lesions at theEu2, Eu3 (class II) orEu1 (class I) loci. We designate the aj3 genotype aseu4/eu4.     

Temporal mechanisms influencing gender expression and pollen flow within a self-incompatible perennial,Amianthium muscaetoxicum (Liliaceae)

Summary Temporal mechanisms that influence the synchrony of gender expression and the patterns of withinplant pollen flow were examined in Amianthium muscatoxicum. In this species self-incompatible pollinations can clog stigmas, interfere with the growth of outcrossed pollen tubes, and reduce fecundity. The majority of flowers have partial dichogamy: a two-day period of pollen dehiscence and a four-day period of pollen viability are nested in a six-day period of pistil viability. An indeterminate flowering sequence among flowers on the same plant and partial dichogamy within flowers help reduce pollen flow within the whole plant. The combined effects at both of these levels should reduce pollen wastage and lower the incidence of stigma clogging by incompatible self pollen.     

An assessment of the behavioral toxicity of high-energy iron particles compared to other qualities of radiation

Conditioned taste aversion was used to evaluate the behavioral toxicity of exposure to high-energy iron particles (56Fe, 600 MeV/amu) in comparison to that of gamma photons (60Co), high-energy electrons, or fission neutrons. Exposure to high-energy iron particles (5-500 cGy) produced a dose-dependent taste aversion with a maximal effect achieved with a dose of 30 cGy. Gamma photons and electrons were the least effective stimuli for producing a conditioned taste aversion, with a maximal aversion obtained only after exposure to 500 cGy, while the effectiveness of fission neutrons was intermediate to that of photons and iron particles, and a maximal aversion was obtained with a dose of 100 cGy. In the second experiment, rats with lesions of the area postrema were exposed to iron particles (30 cGy), but failed to acquire a taste aversion. The results indicate that (1) high-energy iron particles are more toxic than other qualities of radiation and (2) similar mechanisms mediate the behavioral toxicity of gamma photons and high-energy iron particles.     

Mitochondrial acetyl-CoA carboxylase. Time course of mobilization/activation in liver of refed rats.

Fasted (48 h) rats were killed at 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 16, 20 and 24 h after they were refed on a high-carbohydrate diet. An increase in the maximal activity and quantity of cystolic acetyl-CoA carboxylase was found in liver of refed rats after a lag time of about 8 h. The increased quantity of cytosolic enzyme was attributable primarily to mobilization of mitochondrial storage forms and not to substantial increase in the rate of synthesis of acetyl-CoA carboxylase.