Effects of antibacterial drugs on the total cholesterol balance of cholesterol-fed mice

Mice were fed a diet containing 1.5% cholesterol, and the total cholesterol balance and the distribution of the consumed sterol among excreta, liver, and carcass were determined, using experimental periods of 9–14 days. It was observed that an average of approximately 12% of the cholesterol was either destroyed or chemically modified. When, however, 1% sulfasuxidine and 0.04% streptomycin were added to the diet, all the sterol “put in” was recovered, within the limits of error of the method. These results were tentatively interpreted to indicate that under the conditions of these experiments, microorganisms of the intestine were primarily responsible for the destruction or modification of the consumed sterol, as observed in the absence of antibacterial drugs.     

Über den Gehalt an auxin- und gibberellinähnlichen Stoffen bei jarowisierten und nicht jarowisierten Embryonen von Sommer- und Winterweizen

V jarovisovaných a nejarovisovaných obilkách jedné ozimé a jedné jarní odr?dy p?enice byly chromatograficky stanoveny látky typu auxin? a giberelin?. Chromatogramy byly vyhodnoceny pomocí biologických test?. U ozimé odr?dy jsme nena?li rozdíly v rozlo?ení r?stových látek mezi jarovisovanou a nejarovisovanou variantou. U jarní odr?dy jsme rozdíly na?li. Na základě výsledk? soudíme, ?e rozdíly mezi oběma variantami jarní odr?dy byly zp?sobeny nespecifickým p?sobením nízké teploty a ?e proces jarovisace není kausálně spjat se změnami hladiny r?stových látek.     

Effect of the phase state of lipids on their interaction with cobra cytotoxin

Interaction between cytotoxin of the Central Asia cobra venom and dimiristoylphosphatidylcholine bilayer depending on its phase state was studied by ESR with spin label. A conclusion can be drawn that the efficiency of cytotoxin effect on the membranes depends on their phase state. Cytotoxin molecules are incorporated into myophile region of the bilayer, only if the latter is in the liquid crystal state. The interaction between cytotoxins and lipids of the bilayer in a gel state is in the main conditioned by electrostatic forces.     

The Biological Clock in Chlamydomonas reinhardi

SYNOPSIS. Chlamydomonas reinhardi has a biological clock regulating phototaxis in dividing and non-dividing cultures; it also can exert some control on growth of continuous cultures. The period length is ∼ 24 hr; it is temperature-compensated and not dependent on the average growth rate. The rhythm can be entrained or phased by light-dark conditions. In dividing cultures a periodic fluctuation in cell number and total protein persists in continuous light.     

Mordanting Plant Tissues

Selected current ideas on the mordanting of plant tissues are presented in the hope that they will be of practical assistance, especially to the beginner. The nature of the mordanting process and the results which may be expected following mordanting are briefly described. Specific technics are presented for the mordanting of natural dyes, synthetic dyes generally, the basic synthetic dyes and the acid synthetic dyes.     

Calcium-stimulated myofibrillar ATPase activity correlates with shortening velocity of muscle fibres in Xenopus laevis

Summary The iliofibularis muscle ofXenopus laevis is reported to contain five types of fibres which have different force—velocity relationships. Ten fibres of each type were selected on the basis of succinate dehydrogenase activity, cross-sectional area and location in the muscle, in order to assess the validity of the fibre type classification.Maximum calcium-stimulated myofibrillar ATPase activity (V _max) and apparent Michaelis constant (K _m) for ATP were determined for these 50 fibres from serial sections. The values obtained varied according to the type of fibre. Type 1 had the highest and type 5 the lowest values forK _m andV _max.In a separate experiment, single freeze-dried fibres were used to determine the relationship between their ATP content and apparentK _m for ATP. There was a tendency for high ATP concentrations in fibres with highK _m values.When myofibrillar ATPase activity was related to the maximum velocity of shortening of the five fibre types, a significant correlation was found. It is concluded that calcium-stimulated myofibrillar ATPase histochemistry allows an estimate of the maximum shortening velocity of muscle fibres fromXenopus laevis.