Induced reversion of a Chinese hamster ovary triple auxotroph. Validation of the system with several mutagens

A Chinese hamster ovary triple auxotroph (CHO AUXB1) requires glycine, adenosine, and thymidine (GAT) for growth and survival due to a defect in the structural gene for folylpolyglutamate synthetase (FPGS). This auxotroph and others like it contain less than 3% of the parental amounts of FPGS activity. In order to develop a reverse mutation assay with CHO AUXB1, we determined the optimal conditions for measuring reversion and characterized some of the revertants. We also obtained quantitative mutagenicity data for several direct-acting mutagens for comparison to the parental CHO-S/HGPRT locus. Induced revertants appear in the culture immediately following 20-22 h exposures in +GAT complete medium, indicative of dominant genetic changes. They are maximally expressed after 2 population doublings and can be conveniently selected after 44-48 h of expression growth by plating 1 X 10(6) cells/100-mm dish into -GAT-deficient medium and incubating 12-13 days. Plating reconstruction experiments show that the cloning efficiencies of revertants in -GAT medium are not influenced by the presence of up to 1 X 10(6) CHO AUXB1 cells. Dose-dependent increases above the spontaneous revertant frequency (average = 5 X 10(7)) are induced with cis-Pt(NH3)2Cl2 (14-fold) (but not trans-Pt(NH3)2Cl2), PtCl4(10-fold), Pt(SO4)2 (14-fold), K2CrO4 (8-fold), EMS (10-fold), 4-NQO (53-fold), ICR-191 (60-fold), and ICR-170 (30-fold). All of the revertants that have been isolated are stable to repeated subculturing in -GAT medium; 40 out of 42 that have been analyzed are characterized by an increased 72-h growth incorporation of labeled folate and their extracts contain 5-94% as much FPGS as the original, parental CHO-S line. Spontaneous and induced reversion to the GAT+ phenotype primarily reflects mutations involving the FPGS gene locus. But the re-acquisition by most of the revertants of much less than normal amounts of FPGS activity suggests that they arise from compensatory second-site mutations within this gene. Comparison of the mutagenicity patterns of the foregoing compounds as a function of the applied concentration and the relative percent survival reveals some interesting similarities, as well as differences, between the CHO AUXB1/FPGS and CHO-S/HGPRT loci. In particular, the FPGS locus is rather insensitive to EMS (or other simple alkylating agents). However, it seems to be quite susceptible to reversion by other chemicals that are known to react selectively with guanine bases in DNA. CHO AUXBI is a useful supplemental mammalian assay system for assessing quantitatively the generally weak mutagenic activities of metal compounds.     

Improved preservation of the form and contents of wall vesicles and the golgi apparatus in freeze substituted hyphae ofSaprolegnia

Summary Secretory vesicles involved in cell wall synthesis (wall vesicles) and the Golgi apparatus have been compared in conventionally fixed and freeze substituted hyphae of the oomycete fungusSaprolegnia ferax. Wall vesicles freeze substituted in various fluids range from spherical to tubular and contain an intensely staining, phosphorous rich matrix. In contrast diverse conventional fixations cause artefactual constrictions in most tubular vesicles and loss of their intensely staining contents. These data are interpreted to show the existence of an intravesicular skeletal system, with cellular regulation, to determine vesicle morphology and intravesicular synthesis of a hypothetical phosphorylated glycolipid cell wall precursor. Whilst freeze substitution gives superior preservation of wall vesicle morphology, it does not demonstrate any preferential association between wall vesicles and microtubules thus suggesting that microtubules are only indirectly involved in wall vesicle transport. Freeze substitution is superior to conventional fixation for analysis of the Golgi apparatus because it uniquely reveals both differentiation of a specific single cisterna in each Golgi body and greater differences in membrane thicknesses throughout the endomembrane system.     

The development and ultrastructure of the testa and tracheid bar inErythrina lysistemon Hutch. (Leguminosae: Papilionoideae)

Summary The development of the testa was studied inErythrina lysistemon using both light and electron microscopy. Cells of the outer epidermis of the outer integument divide anticlinally and undergo radial elongation to form a palisade layer. The outer tangential walls are thickened at an early stage, and deposition of fluted thickenings on the radial walls occurs at maturity. Palisade cells in the hilar region differentiate from sub-funicular tissue, and at maturity the outer ends of the cells undergo extensive deposition of secondary walls and associated lignification. The light line occurs at the junction between the outer, thickened portions of the cells and the inner, less thickened portions. An electron-translucent (suberised) cap develops in the outer tangential walls of the palisade cells at a late stage. Microtubules and dictyosomes are closely associated with the developing thickenings in palisade and tracheid bar, and the microtubules run parallel to the wall microfibrils. Differentiation of the tracheid bar coincides with final secondary wall deposition and lignification in the hilar palisade. The cells of the tracheid bar are dead at maturity, but are surrounded by sheaths of elongate parenchyma.     

Characterization of a growth-inhibiting protein present in rat serum that exerts a differential effect onin vitro growth of nonmalignant rat liver cells when compared with Rous sarcoma virus-transformed rat liver cells

Summary We have previously reported the transformation by Rous sarcoma virus of a cloned epithelial cell line (BRL) established from Buffalo rat liver by H. Coon. The nontransformed (BRL) and transformed (RSV-BRL) cells grew at comparable rates in culture, whereas only the transformed cells were tumorigenic in vivo. We report here on the existence in rat and mouse sera of a growth inhibitor for the nontransformed BRL cells. The transformed BRL cells (RSV-BRL) were insensitive to this inhibitor. The inhibitory activity was not prominent in sera from other species of animals tested except for rabbit; this serum inhibited the growth of RSV-BRL cells more strongly than that of BRL cells. The growth inhibitor was partially purified from rat serum. It is a protein free of lipid and has a molecular weight of about 220 000. The inhibitor could be separated into three components of pI 4.6, 5.2 (major) and 5.6 by isoelectric electrophoresis. EDITOR'S STATEMENT Although compelling theoretical arguments sometimes can be made for the likely existence of growth-inhibitory substances of physical relevance in the control of cell proliferation, experiments aimed at identifying and studying such factors often are difficult to design and interpret, and little strong data exists to suggest that growth-inhibitory substances are important regulatorsin vivo. The information presented in this paper represents a start toward developing a useful system for studying growth-inhibitory factor. David W. Barnes     

Analysis of the Drosophila female sterile mutation fs(1) 1304 by pole cell transplantation experiments

The Drosophila melanogaster mutant fs(1)1304 is an ovary autonomous female sterile mutant that causes abnormal morphology of the egg. Vitellogenesis proceeds at an abnormally slow rate in homozygous females. We have used pole cell transplantation to construct germ line mosaics in order to determine whether the 1304 defect depends upon the genotype of the germ line cells (oocyte or nurse cells) or the somatic line (follicle cells). We have found that the germ line is the primary target tissue where the mutant gene is expressed.     

人体肝癌细胞系(SMMC-7721)的糖皮质激素受体以及糖皮质激素对酪氨酸转氨酶的诱导

本文以[~3H]Dex为配体,采用完整细胞GCR和核特异结合百分率的测定方法检测了人体肝癌细胞系(SMMC-7721)的GCR。实验表明,该细胞具有高亲和力、低容量、能与GC进行特异结合的Dex结合部位,该结合部位与[~3H]Dex结合后可向核内转位,因而具备了作为GCR的基本条件。但该细胞的GCR与正常细胞的GCR相比较亦有些差别,GC与受体结合后不能诱导TAT的生成。本文对上述改变的可能机理进行了讨论。     

水稻二九南1号雄性不育系及相应保持系一些生化性状的比较

为研究高等植物雄性不育特性的遗传本质,我们以具有野败型不育细胞质、细胞核相同的水稻二九南一号(Oryza sativasubsp.Indica)雄性不育系、保持系为材料,分析了不同生长发育阶段正、负极向过氧化物酶、β-淀粉酶、酯酶同工酶和可溶性叶蛋白,结果初报如下。一、正、负极向过氧化物酶同工酶所分析的7个组织(根、茎、叶、芽鞘、胚轴、花药、胚乳)中不育系与保持     

Isolation and structural analysis of two lipid A precursors from a KDO deficient mutant of Salmonella typhimurium differing in their hexadecanoic acid content

The extraction, purification and structural characterization of two lipid A precursors (Ia and Ib) differing only in one hexadecanoic acid are described. Both precursors were synthesized at elevated temperatures by a new mutant of Salmonella typhimurium (mutant Ts5) which is conditionally defective in synthesis of the 3-deoxy-d-manno-octulosonic acid region of lipopolysaccharides.Both precursors were purified by repeated phenol/chloroform/petroleum ether (PCP) extractions followed by thin layer chromatography. Teh precursor preparation was free of lipopolysaccharides and phospholipids and contained less than 0.1% protein. Structural analysis which included chemical degradation procedures as well as positive ion laser desorption (LDMS) mass spectroscopy of dephosphorylated lipid A precursors showed together that precursor Ia represents a diphosphorylated glucosamine disaccharide containing two ester, two amide-linked residues of 3-hydroxytetradecanoic acid and lacks the ester-linked dodecanoic, tetradecanoic and hexadecanoic acid as well as 3-deoxy-d-manno-octulosonic acid. Precursor Ib has the same basic structure as precursor Ia, but contains in addition one mol of hexadecanoic acid per mol disaccharide which is linked to the 3-hydroxy group of the amide-bound 3-hydroxy-tetradecanoic acid of the reducing, terminal glucosamine residue.The structure of precursor Ib supports the conclusion that hexadecanoic acid incorporation occurs at an early stage in lipid A biosynthesis prior to the attachment of 3-deoxy-d-manno-octulosonic acid and/or other polar substituents.Abbreviations LDMS laser desorption mass spectrometry - KDO 3-Deoxy-d-manno-octulosonic acid - Ts5 Salmonella typhimurium mutant Ts5 - PCP phenol/chloroform/petroleum ether - H₂F₂ hydrogen fluoride This work is dedicated to Prof. Dr. Drews, Freiburg, on the occasion of his 60th birthday     

Cell lines from imaginal discs ofDrosophila melanogaster

Summary New cell lines, designated as ML-DmDl≈10, were established from dissociated imaginal discs ofDrosophila melanogaster. The culture medium was prepared by mixing in a 1:1 ratio Cross and Sang’s M3(BF) medium, supplemented with 10% heat inactivated fetal bovine serum (FBS), with the supernatant of a primary embryonic cell culture made in the M3(BF) medium and supplementing this mixture with insulin. One cell line was established in the medium containing larval hemolymph instead of the primary culture supernatan, and another was established in fresh M3(BF) medium supplemented with insulin and FBS. In these mediums, imaginal disc cells first formed aggregates and cellular vesicles within a few weeks followed by the proliferation of thin-layered cells around them after about 1 mo. Ten cell lines have so far been established from two kinds of imaginal discs and disc mixtures. The ploidy of these cell lines was predominantly diploid. Population doubling time was about 50 to 70 h at 3 to 10 mo. after initiation of the culture. When the cell aggregates formed in vitro were implanted in metamorphosing larvae, they differentiated at high frequency into adult cuticular strutures in the early phase of the primary culture. This differentiation of aggregates was also observed, though at low frequency, in a culture maintained by dilution-transfer for 6 to 15 mo. in vitro.     

大鼠非致瘤四倍体细胞系的建立及细胞遗传学和酶学特征

从大鼠自然诱发的肉瘤细胞中,我们建立了一个四倍体细胞系(4n=84),命名为RC(ratcell)。它具有典型的成纤维细胞外形,能在玻璃表面贴壁生长,但不能生长在琼脂半固体培养基中。该细胞在含15％小牛血清的RPMI 1640培养基中生长良好,至今已连续繁殖112世代,细胞群体倍增时间约为15小时。染色体G-带分析表明,RC为整四倍体细胞,它的1条X染色体在第32至34区为均染区。RC细胞核仁组织者(NORs)活性显然比大鼠二倍体细胞NORs活性的加倍还高(P<0.001)。这个具有非常高NORs活性的RC细胞系对于研究细胞18S+28S rRNA基因转录活性的调控、基因表达与基因剂量关系有一定的意义。RC细胞还有异常高的磷酸酯酶活性,而且它的同工酶谱也与大鼠肌肉细胞明显不同。体内接种实验和扫描电镜的观察表明,RC是非致瘤细胞。RC细胞各号染色体的C-带图样与大鼠二倍体细胞无明显的差异。