The association of Nef with a cellular serine/threonine kinase and its enhancement of infectivity are viral isolate dependent.

The nef genes of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) encode a 27- to 34-kDa myristoylated protein which induces downregulation of CD4 surface levels and enhances virus infectivity. In adult macaques, Nef has been implicated in pathogenesis and disease progression. Both HIV-1 SF2 Nef and SIVmac239 Nef have been shown to associate with a cellular serine/threonine kinase. We tested five functional Nef isolates to examine whether this kinase association is a property conserved among different isolates. HIV-1 SF2 and 248 and SIVmac239 Nef proteins were found associated with the kinase. HIV-1 NL4-3 and 233 Nef proteins were found weakly associated or not associated with the kinase. All five Nef isolates efficiently downregulated CD4 cell surface expression, suggesting that the association with this cellular kinase is not required for Nef to downregulate CD4. Comparison of the SF2 and NL4-3 isolates shows a differential ability of Nef to enhance infectivity that suggests a possible correlation between kinase association and enhancement of infectivity.     

Characterization of inhibition of M2 ion channel activity by BL-1743, an inhibitor of influenza A virus.

The influenza A virus M2 integral membrane protein has ion channel activity that can be inhibited by the antiviral drug amantadine. Recently, a spirene-containing compound, BL-1743 (2-[3-azaspiro (5,5)undecanol]-2-imidazoline), that inhibits influenza virus growth was identified (S. Kurtz, G. Lao, K. M. Hahnenberger, C. Brooks, O. Gecha, K. Ingalls, K.-I. Numata, and M. Krystal, Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 39:2204-2209, 1995). We have examined the ability of BL-1743 to inhibit the M2 ion channel when expressed in oocytes of Xenopus laevis. BL-1743 inhibition is complete as far as can be measured by electrophysiological methods and is reversible, with a reverse reaction rate constant of 4.0 x 10(-3) s(-1). In contrast, amantadine inhibition is irreversible within the time frame of the experiment. However, BL-1743 inhibition and amantadine inhibition have similar properties. The majority of isolated influenza viruses resistant to BL-1743 are also amantadine resistant. In addition, all known amino acid changes which result in amantadine resistance also confer BL-1743 resistance. However, one BL-1743-resistant virus isolated, designated M2-I35T, contained the change Ile-35-->Thr. This virus is >70-fold more resistant to BL-1743 and only 10-fold more resistant to amantadine than the wild-type virus. When the ion channel activity of M2-I35T was examined in oocytes, it was found that M2-I35T is BL-1743 resistant but is reversibly inhibited by amantadine. These findings suggest that these two drugs interact differently with the M2 protein transmembrane pore region.     

Genetic mapping indicates that VP4 is the rotavirus cell attachment protein in vitro and in vivo.

To identify the rotavirus protein which mediates attachment to cells in culture, viral reassortants between the simian rotavirus strain RRV and the murine strains EHP and EW or between the simian strain SA-11 and the human strain DS-1 were isolated. These parental strains differ in the requirement for sialic acid to bind and infect cells in culture. Infectivity and binding assays with the parental and reassortant rotaviruses indicate that gene 4 encodes the rotavirus protein which mediates attachment to cells in culture for both sialic acid-dependent and -independent strains. Using ligated intestinal segments of newborn mice and reassortants obtained between the murine strain EW and RRV, we developed an in vivo infectivity assay. In this system, the infectivity of EW was not affected by prior treatment of the enterocytes with neuraminidase, while neuraminidase treatment reduced the infectivity of a reassortant carrying gene 4 from RRV on an EW background more than 80% relative to the controls. Thus, VP4 appears to function as the cell attachment protein in vivo as well as in vitro.     

The use of isotope tracers for identifying populations of migratory birds

 To determine whether stable isotopes can be used for identifying the geographic origins of migratory bird populations, we examined the isotopic composition of hydrogen (deuterium, δD), carbon (δ¹³C), and strontium (δ⁸⁷Sr) in tissues of a migratory passerine, the black-throated blue warbler (Dendroica caerulescens), throughout its breeding range in eastern North America. δD and δ¹³C values in feathers, which are grown in the breeding area, varied systematically along a latitudinal gradient, being highest in samples from the southern end of the species’ breeding range in Georgia and lowest in southern Canada. In addition, δD decreased from east to west across the northern part of the breeding range, from New Brunswick to Michigan. δ⁸⁷Sr ratios were highest in the Appalachian Mountains, and decreased towards the west. These patterns are consistent with geographical variation in the isotopic composition of the natural environment, i.e., with that of precipitation, plants, and soils for δD, δ¹³C, and δ⁸⁷Sr, respectively. Preliminary analyses of the δD and δ¹³C composition of feathers collected from warblers in their Caribbean winter grounds indicate that these individuals were mostly from northern breeding populations. Furthermore, variances in isotope ratios in samples from local areas in winter tended to be larger than those in summer, suggesting that individuals from different breeding localities may mix in winter habitats. These isotope markers, therefore, have the potential for locating the breeding origins of migratory species on their winter areas, for quantifying the degree of mixing of breeding populations on migratory and wintering sites, and for documenting other aspects of the population structure migratory animals – information needed for studies of year-round ecology of these species as well as for their conservation. Combining information from several stable isotopes will help to increase the resolution for determining the geographic origins of individuals in such highly vagile populations. Received: 24 April 1995 / Accepted: 2 June 1996     

Effects of sound direction on the processing of amplitude-modulated signals in the frog inferior colliculus

Single-unit recordings were made from 143 neurons in the frog (Rana p. pipiens) inferior colliculus (IC) to investigate how free-field sound direction influenced neural responses to sinusoidal-amplitude-modulated (SAM) tone and/or noise. Modulation transfer functions (MTFs) were derived from 3 to 5 sound directions within 180° of frontal field. Five classes of MTF were observed: low-pass, high-pass, band-pass, multi-pass, and all-pass. For 64% of IC neurons, the MTF class remained unchanged when sound direction was shifted from contralateral 90° to ipsilateral 90°. However, the MTFs of more than half of these neurons exhibited narrower bandwidths when the loudspeaker was shifted to ipsilateral azimuths. There was a decrease in the cut-off frequency for neurons possessing low-pass MTFs, an increase in cut-off frequency for neurons showing high-pass MTFs, or a reduction in the pass-band for neurons displaying bandpass MTFs. These results suggest that sound direction can influence amplitude modulation (AM) frequency tuning of single IC neurons.Since changes in periodicity of SAM tones alter both the temporal parameters of sounds as well as the sound spectrum, we examined whether directional effects on spectral selectivity play a role in shaping the observed direction-dependent AM selectivity. The directional influence on AM selectivity to both SAM tone and SAM noise was measured in 62 neurons in an attempt to gain some insight into the mechanisms that underlie directionally-induced changes in AM selectivity. Direction-dependent changes in the shapes of the tone and noise derived MTFs were different for the majority of IC neurons (55/62) tested. These data indicate that a spectrally-based and a temporally-based mechanism may be responsible for the observed results.Abbreviations AM amplitude modulation - CF characteristic frequency - DI direction index - FR isointensity frequency response - GABA gamma-aminobutyric acid - IC inferior colliculus - ICc central nucleus of the inferior colliculus - ITD interaural time difference - MTF modulation transfer function - PSTH peri-stimulus time histogram - SAM sinusoidal-amplitude-modulated - SC synchronization coefficient - CN cochlear nucleus     

新疆贝母属的订正

本文根据所收集到的标本和有关文献资料,对新疆贝母属进行了整理。归并9种和21变种。确认新疆贝母属有7种,包括一新分布种,裕民贝母F．stenanthera。     

华北棉区夏播棉田害虫发生特点分析

分析和比较了华北棉区夏季播种与春季播种的棉田主要害虫（棉铃虫与棉蚜）的发生特点,探讨了它们的管理对策。     

以异源四倍体体细胞杂种为父本杂交培育三倍体柑桔植株的研究

以 3个柑桔原生质体融合而来的四倍体体细胞杂种为父本 ,与二倍体单胚性种柚子 (Citrusgrandis)以及单多胚混合型品种“华农本地早”桔 (C.reticulata)有性杂交 ,授粉后 90 d,发现种子干瘪 ,大部分种子的胚败育。将干瘪种子在 MT附加 1mg/L GA3 或 50 0 mg/L麦芽浸出物的培养基中 ,经培养抢救 ,有 2 5.6%的种子萌发成苗或继续进行胚的生长 ,后者进一步诱导能形成丛芽 ,经试管嫁接或诱导生根形成完整植株。共获得 6个组合 73棵完整植株 ,染色体数检查表明 ,2 0株为三倍体 (2 n=3x=2 7) ,32株为二倍体 (2 n=2 x=18) ,8株为非整倍体 ,其它 13株还有待于进一步检查。     

菠菜BADH单抗细胞株及其应用初探

用菠菜甜菜碱醛脱氢酶 ( BADH)免疫巴比西 ( BALB/c)小鼠 ,将其脾细胞与骨髓瘤细胞 SP2 /O-Ag1 4融合 ,在 1 92孔中 ,有约 1 4 %孔生长的杂交瘤细胞 ,用间接酶联免疫方法 ( ELISA)检测表现为阳性。选择其中 2 G3和 2 D10 细胞系 ,用有限稀释法进行克隆化培养 ,约 2 0 %克隆化细胞为强阳性。选择其中 2 G3- H3细胞株注射到 BALB/c小鼠腹腔中诱导腹水 ,腹水的单抗效价为 1∶ 1 0 3。应用 BADH单抗检查了大麦、水稻、高粱、小麦幼苗的叶片和根的粗提物 ,均呈阳性反应 ,表明 BADH除在光合组织中存在外 ,在非光合组织中也可能存在。讨论了非光合组织 BADH的意义