An oxygen-evolving complex with a simple subunit structure - ‘a water-plastoquinone oxidoreductase” - from the thermophilic cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp.

An oxygen-evolving complex has been highly purified from the thermophilic cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. The complex, which reproducibly showed 5 major polypeptide bands of 47, 40, 35, 30 and 9 kDa on SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and contained 3.2 Mn per Q_A, had an oxygen-evolving activity of 300–400 μmol/mg chl per h in the presence of 5 mM MnCl₂; or CaCl₂. The complex most likely represents a minimum functional unit of the photosynthetic oxygen evolution.     

Zymographic demonstration of lactate and malate dehydrogenases isoenzymes in the rodent salivary glands

Summary Analysis of lactate and malate dehydrogenase zymograms of rodent salivary glands showed species and organ specific patterns.Lactate dehydrogenase isoenzyme patterns occupied the middle positions in relation to those of skeletal and heart muscle. Activities of the major salivary glands were in the order submaxillary gland>parotid>sublingual gland. Zymogram of the mouse and rat showed LDH₄ and LDH₅ high activity patterns, while that of the rabbit was the fast moving active one. Hamster salivary gland exhibited a neutral type of the former and the latter.Malate dehydrogenase isoenzyme exhibited very similar patterns for the mouse, rat and hamster. Malate dehydrogenase zymogram of rabbit showed 3 active bands, which was different from the other rodents.     

Comparative cytological study of Phasianus colchicus,Meleagris gallopavo,and Gallus domesticus

Summary Since viable intergeneric hybrids between the chicken (Gallus domesticus) and the pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) have been reported, as well as interfamilial hybrids between the chicken and the turkey (Meleagris gallopavo), the chromosome complements of the pheasant and the turkey were compared with that of the chicken. In these three species belonging to the order Galli, the Z-chromosomes appeared to be identical, while the autosomal complements of the pheasant and the turkey differed radically from that of the chicken. It was noted with some surprise that the pheasant of the family Phasianidae and the turkey of the family Meleagridae have very similar chromosome complements, at least so far as gross morphology of somatic metaphase chromosomes is concerned.This work was supported in part by grant C-5138 from the National Cancer Institute, U.S. Public Health Service, and grant C-17601 from the National Science Foundation.The authors gratefully acknowledge the generosity of Rea's Game Birds, Paramount, California, who supplied the pheasant chicks, and the McPherin Hatcheries, Sunnymead, California, who furnished the turkey chicks. The authors also appreciate the editorial assistance of'Patricia A. Ray.     

Close karyological kinship between the reptilian suborder serpentes and the class aves

Summary In contrast to the situation found in two classes of warm-blooded vertebrates, mammals and birds, the class Reptilia is not uniform with regard to total genetic content; rather, it contains two distinct categories. The close cytological kinship between snakes and birds was revealed. Both are almost identical in total genetic content, which is about 50 per cent that of placental mammals. Both have microchromosomes, as well as Z-chromosomes very similar in absolute size, comprising nearly 10 per cent of the homogametic haploid (AZ) set. This leads to the implication that snakes and birds originated from the same lineage, and that their Z-chromosomes have not changed substantially since the Jurassic period of the Mesozoic era, about 180 million years ago.Within the reptilian suborder Serpentes, the step-by-step differentiation from the primitive ZW pair to the grossly heteromorphic ZW pair could be observed. In the ancient family Boidae, the sex chromosomes were still homomorphic to each other. In the family Colubridae, the beginning of heteromorphism was manifested in two ways. In some species, a pericentric inversion on the W caused it to differ from the Z; in others, duplication of the W occurred. In the family Crotalidae, the W had apparently achieved its very specialized status; it was a distinctly smaller element.In Säo Paulo, this work was supported by Fundacão de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo e Fundo de Pesquisas do Instituto Butantan. In Duarte, this work was supported in part by grant CA-05138-05, National Cancer Institute, U. S. Public Health Service. Contribution No. 36-64, Department of Biology, City of Hope Medical Center.     

Influence of overwinteringDaphnia on spring zooplankton communities: An experimental study

To evaluate the influence of overwintering individuals of zooplankton on spring zooplankton communities, the dynamics of zooplankton communities with or without overwintering individuals were observed in experimental ponds from fall to spring. An insecticide, carbaryl, was used to regulate the overwintering individuals. In ponds which received insecticide applications in November or January, all cladoceran and rotiferan species were eliminated by the treatments and did not reappear until late March or early April, even when the chemical disappeared rapidly. The low water temperature may delayed the establishment of the populations from resting eggs. In these ponds, populations of various cladoceran and rotiferan species, which seemed to be originated from resting eggs, were built up in the spring. In control ponds,Daphnia ambigua orD. longispina overwintered as juveniles and adults and established a large spring population earlier than other cladocerans and rotifers overwintering as resting eggs. The latter zooplankters did not increase in the spring probably because their growth was suppressed by the precedingDaphnia species through competition. In nature, even if the number of overwintering individuals is small, they may have a potential to build up a large population earlier than the individuals hatching from resting eggs. As a result, the species which have overwintered as individuals seem to predominate in the spring and have a large influence on the spring zooplankton community.     

Production ecology of phyto- and zooplankton in a eutrophic pond dominated byChaoborus flavicans (Diptera: Chaobolidae)

Primary production of phytoplankton and secondary production of a daphnid and a chaoborid were studied in a small eutrophic pond. The gross primary production of phytoplankton was 290 gC m⁻² per 9 months during April–December. Regression analysis showed that the gross primary production was related to the incident solar radiation and the chlorophylla concentration and not to either total phosphorus or total inorganic nitrogen concentration. The mean chlorophylla concentration (14.2 mg m⁻³), however, was about half the expected value upon phosphorus loading of this pond. The mean zooplankton biomass was 1.60 g dry weight m⁻², of whichDaphnia rosea and cyclopoid copepods amounted to 0.69 g dry weight m⁻² and 0.61 g dry weight m⁻², respectively. The production ofD. rosea was high during May–July and October and the level for the whole 9 months was 22.6 g dry weight m⁻².Chaoborus flavicans produced 10 complete and one incomplete cohorts per year. Two consecutive cohorts overlapped during the growing season. The maximum density, the mean biomass, and the production were 19,100 m⁻², 0.81 g dry weight m⁻², and 11.7 g dry weight m⁻²yr⁻¹, respectively. As no fish was present in this pond, the emerging biomass amounted to 69% of larval production. The production ofC. flavicans larvae was high in comparison with zooplankton production during August–September, when the larvae possibly fed not only on zooplankton but also algae.     

The reaction to c-banding of c-banded constituents during mitotic cycle ofCrepis capillaris

The reaction to C-banding was investigated throughout the mitotic cycle ofCrepis capillaris (2n=6): (1) 18–22 C-bodies or C-bands were found during mid telophase and interphase to prophase and metaphase, and also 12–14 at late anaphase to early telophase in the mitotic cycle. Fewer C-bands in late anaphase to early telophase were due to the absence of minute bands; (2) large and medium sized C-bands were strongly stained by Giemsa, while small and minute bands stained palely. It is suggested that inCrepis capillaris the difference of color in C-banded segments following Giemsa staining is referable to the amount of constitutive heterochromatin rather than to the difference in the condensation and decondensation; (3) the size of C-bodies changed during telophase to interphase and prophase. It is inferred that the extent of C-bodies is regulated by both the length of DNA sequences of constitutive heterochromatin and the amount of proteins combined with C-banded DNA. It was shown that the reaction to C-banding is neither due to the differential condensation of chromatin nor to a higher concentration of DNA in the C-banded regions, in the C-banding mechanism as has been suggested so far at least.