Cytokinins and fruit development in the kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa). I. Changes during fruit development

The cytokinin content in fruit tissue of the kiwifruit ( Actinidia deliciosa [A. Chev.] C. F. Liang et A. R. Ferguson var. deliciosa cv. Hayward) was monitored during fruit development to identify which cytokinins were present and if they were linked with specific stages of fruit growth. Cytokinins were isolated and purified by column chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography and quantified by radioimmunoassay. A novel HPLC step utilising an amine column was successfully introduced as a preparative step in the separation of the O - and 9-glucosides from the free bases and ribosides. The radioimmunoassay results were validated, and the different cytokinins identified, by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Cytokinins detected in fruit included the cytokinin free bases, zeatin and isopentenyladenine, their ribosides, nucleotides and both O - and 9-glucosides. Both qualitative and quantitative changes of the cytokinins occurred during fruit development. A decrease in cytokinin concentration occurred after anthesis (from 342 pmol g⁻¹ fresh weight at anthesis to 41 pmol g⁻¹ fresh weight 27 days after anthesis). A large increase in cytokinin concentration and content per fruit occurred as the fruit reached commercial maturity (to 1900 pmol g⁻¹ fresh weight). Individual cytokinins showed quite different patterns. Zeatin, in particular, showed a peak in concentration (13 pmol g⁻¹ fresh weight) 11 days after anthesis that correlated with the beginning of the cell division phase of fruit growth. The accumulation of cytokinin (mostly zeatin riboside or zeatin nucleotide) in mature fruit may be of significance for the postharvest storage of kiwifruit fruit.     

Complete sequence of a new HLA-B35 allele found in a tribe of Mapuche Indians in the south of Argentina

The nucleotide sequence data reported in this paper have been submitted to the GenBank nucleotide sequence database and have been assigned the accession number U17107. The nameB*3509 was officially assigned by the WHO Nomenclature Committee in December 1994     

A Familial Factor Independent of CAG Repeat Length Influences Age at Onset of Machado-Joseph Disease

Machado-Joseph disease (MJD) is a late-onset, progressive, neurodegenerative disorder caused by the expansion of an unstable trinucleotide (CAG) repeat sequence in a novel gene (MJD1) on chromosome 14. Previous studies showed that age at onset is negatively correlated with the number of CAG repeat units, but only part of the variation in onset age is explained by CAG repeat length. Ages at onset and CAG repeat lengths of 136 MJD patients from 23 kindreds of Portuguese descent were analyzed, to determine whether familial factors independent of CAG repeat length modulate age at onset of MJD. Correlation among sibs for onset age adjusted for CAG repeat length was .43, which indicates that an environmental or genetic factor common to sibs influences onset age. Positive correlations were also observed for avuncular (r = .22) and first-cousin pairs (r = .28), which supports the hypothesis that a genetic factor is influencing age at onset. Commingling analysis of onset ages adjusted for CAG repeat length identified three distributions in this population of affected individuals. Further studies of a much larger sample are needed to determine whether these distributions represent the influence of a genetic or environmental factor.     

Identification of two glutaminases inRhizobium etli

We present evidence thatRhizobium etli has two glutaminases differentiated by their thermostability and electrophoretic mobility. The thermostable glutaminase (B) is constitutive, in contrast with the thermolabile glutaminase (A), which is positively regulated by glutamine and negatively regulated by ammonium and by the carbon source. In distinction to glutaminase A, glutaminase B plays a minor role in the utilization of glutamine as a carbon source, but it may play a role in maintaining the balance of glutamine and glutamate. By complementation of theRhizobium etli LM16 mutant that lacks glutaminase A, we have cloned the gene that codes for this enzyme.     

Localization of mating behavior of releasedBactrocera dorsalis flies on host fruit in an orchard

Oriental fruit flies,Bactrocera dorsalis, cultured in the laboratory for six generations, were released when 12–14 days old in an orchard of nonfruiting host trees that were furnished with either food and water, nonpunctured host fruit, punctured host fruit, or no resources. Nearly all flies of both sexes, all sexual behavior of males, and all mating pairs were observed on trees with fruit. Moreover, on trees with fruit, nearly all flies of both sexes, nearly all sexual behavior of males, and nearly all mating pairs occurred on the fruit itself rather than on the foliage or branches. In a subsequent test, both sexes were found to be strongly attracted to the odor of host fruit. For a polyphagous species of a tropical tephritid, these findings are the first to show a high level of male aggregation and a high amount of male sexual behavior on the fruit of host trees. Findings are discussed in relation to current knowledge of tephritid mating behavior. An additional quality-control test for laboratory cultured males used in the sterile insect technique of fly management is recommended.     

Effect of medium composition on 1-octen-3-ol formation in submerged cultures of Pleurotus pulmonarius

The effect of nitrogen and fatty-acid-rich substrates on the production of 1-octen-3-ol by the edible fungus Pleurotus pulmonarius, during growth in both shaken flask and fermentor cultures, and in-vitro, in post-harvested mycelium, was studied. Addition of soybean flour and soybean oil to the growth medium enhanced 1-octen-3-ol production about sevenfold and doubled the fungal biomass, as compared to that obtained from P. pulmonarius cultured on a defined synthetic medium. A clear relationship between the production of 1-octen-3-ol and lipoxygenase activity was found during the growth of mushroom pellets. The highest in-vitro generation of 1-octen-3-ol was obtained upon addition of exogenous linoleic acid and pure O₂ to pellets grown with soybean fluor and soybean oil. This generation was even higher than that of fruiting bodies exposed to the same conditions. These results suggest that lipoxygenase activity and, subsequently, 1-octen-3-ol biosynthesis in P. pulmonarius are enhanced by the presence of substrates containing fatty acids in the growth medium. Correspondence to: D. Levanon     

Expression of galectins on microvessel endothelial cells and their involvement in tumour cell adhesion

Lactoside-binding lectins (galectins) with molecular weights of about 14.5 kDa (galectin-1) and 29–35 kDa (galectin-3) bind preferentially to polylactosaminoglycan-containing glycoconjugates and have been found on the surface of tumour cells and implicated in cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix adhesion and metastasis. We have demonstrated by immunoblotting that both galectin-1 and galectin-3 are present in extracts of endothelial cells cultured from bovine aorta, rat lung, mouse lung and mouse brain microvessels, whereas mouse hepatic sinusoidal endothelial cells expressed primarily galectin-1. These galectins were also localized by indirect immunofluorescent labelling on the surface of the different endothelial cells in culture and by immunohistochemical staining in human tissuesin vivo. Anti-galectin-1 antibodies inhibited the adhesion of liver-preferring murine RAW117-H10 large-cell lymphoma cells to hepatic sinusoidal endothelial cells or lung microvessel endothelial cellsin vitro. The data indicate that galectin-1 is expressed on the extracellular surface of endothelial cells and can mediate in part the adhesion of RAW117-H10 cells to liver microvessel endothelial cells.     

Modelling the effect of treatment and behavioral change in HIV transmission dynamics

In this paper we analyze a model for the HIV-infection transmission in a male homosexual population. In the model we consider two types of infected individuals. Those that are infected but do not know their serological status and/or are not under any sort of clinical /therapeutical treatment, and those who are. The two groups of infectives differ in their incubation time, contact rate with susceptible individuals, and probability of disease transmission. The aim of this article is to study the roles played by detection and changes in sexual behavior in the incidence and prevalence of HIV. The analytical results show that there exists a unique endemic equilibrium which is globally asymptotically stable under a range of parameter values whenever a detection /treatment rate and an indirect measure of the level of infection risk are sufficiently large. However, any level of detection/ treatment rate coupled with a decrease of the transmission probability lowers the incidence rate and prevalence level in the population. In general, only significant reductions in the transmission probability (achieved through, for example, the adoption of safe sexual practices) can contain effectively the spread of the disease.     

Genome origins of Triticum cylindricum,Triticum triunciale,and Triticum ventricosum (Poaceae) inferred from variation in restriction patterns of repeated nucleotide sequences: a methodological study

Three methods of phylogenetic inferences on polyploid plants employing variation in restriction sites in repeated nucleotide sequences were compared. Allotetraploid Triticum species of well-established origin were used as a model. Methods based on determination of the proportion of restriction fragments shared between a polyploid and its diploid relatives generated biased results because of uneven numbers of restriction fragments among diploid species and presence of common bands in phylogenetically related diploid species. A method employing restriction fragments unique to a diploid species (marker bands) was not affected by either factor and generated results consistent with cytogenetic inferences. It is shown that the latter method can be used to investigate the origin of a polyploid species even when one of its progenitors is extinct or when the polyploid and its diploid progenitors have diverged.     

Protein Kinase C Activation Attenuates N-Methyl-d-Aspartate-Induced Increases in Intracellular Calcium in Cerebellar Granule Cells

Abstract: Activation of the N-methyl-d -aspartate (NMDA) subtype of glutamate receptor increases levels of intracellular calcium and can lead to stimulation of protein kinase C activity. Several reports have demonstrated that stimulation of protein kinase C can, in turn, increase electrophysiological responses to NMDA in certain cells or in oocytes expressing certain NMDA receptor subunits. In the present study, the effects of protein kinase C activation on NMDA receptor-mediated increases in intracellular Ca²⁺ levels were investigated in primary cultures of rat cerebellar granule cells using fura-2 fluorescence spectroscopy. Pretreatment of the cells with the protein kinase C activator phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA), but not the inactive analogue 4α-phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate, inhibited NMDA-induced increases in intracellular Ca²⁺ levels. Coincubation of cells with PMA and the kinase inhibitor staurosporine or calphostin C blocked the PMA effect. The potency of NMDA was reduced twofold, and the potency of the NMDA receptor coagonist, glycine, to enhance the response to NMDA was decreased fourfold by pretreatment of cells with PMA. The effect on glycine was mimicked by pretreatment with okadaic acid, a protein phosphatase inhibitor. PMA treatment did not significantly alter Mg²⁺ inhibition of the NMDA response but decreased the potency of the competitive antagonist CGS-19755. These data suggest that, in cerebellar granule cells, the function of the NMDA receptor may be subject to feedback inhibition by protein kinase C stimulation. Under physiological conditions, this inhibition may result from a decreased effectiveness of the endogenous coagonists, glutamate and glycine.