Properties and Regional Distribution of Pyruvate Dehydrogenase Kinase in Rat Brain

A method is described to measure directly in rat brain the activity of pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase (PDHa kinase; EC 2.7.1.99), which catalyzes the inactivation of pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDHC, EC 1.2.4.1, EC 2.3.1.12, and EC 1.6.4.3). The activity showed the expected dependence on added ATP and divalent cation, and the expected inhibition by dichloroacetate, pyruvate, and thiamin pyrophosphate. These results, and the properties of pyruvate dehydrogenase phosphate phosphatase (EC 3.1.3.43), indicate that the mechanisms of control of phosphorylation of PDHC seem qualitatively similar in brain to those in other tissues. Regionally, PDHa kinase is more active in cerebral cortex and hippocampus, and less active in hypothalamus, pons and medulla, and olfactory bulbs. Indeed, the PDHa kinase activity in olfactory bulbs is uniquely low, and is more sensitive to inhibition by pyruvate and dichloroacetate than that in the cerebral cortex. Thus, there are significant quantitative differences in the enzymatic apparatus for controlling PDHC activity in different parts of the brain.     

甜菊不同叶龄细胞结构及其甜菊糖甙含量分布的研究

本文报道甜菊(Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni)不同叶龄细胞结构与甜菊糖苷含量分布。应用电镜技术观察表明,现蕾期成叶细胞内具有内含物丰富的巨大液泡,这些内含物呈大小不一的颗粒或小泡。应用差速离心法,对甜菊成叶的叶肉细胞进行亚细胞分离,并对各部分进行甜菊糖苷的提取与微量测定。结果表明,甜菊糖苷主要存在于12000g的上清液(这部分主要包括液泡内含物和可溶性细胞质)。结合细胞结构和细胞化学研究结果,表明细胞质是合成UDPG的主要场所,在甜菊糖苷合成中具有重要作用。对不同叶龄叶片甜菊糖苷测定表明,现蕾期成叶的甜菊糖苷含量最高。从甜菊不同叶龄细胞结构和甜菊糖苷含量测定结果,现蕾期是甜菊叶片收割的最适时期。     

Boar sperm surface glycoproteins: Isolation,localization, and temporal expression during spermatogenesis

Boar sperm glycoprotein fractions were isolated by Lens culinaris hemagglutinin affinity chromatography of detergent-solubilized ejaculated spermatozoa, followed by preparative sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. In order to develop methods for further investigations of the sperm proteins, we proceeded with two of the isolated glycoproteins. Antibodies were raised in female rabbits against each of the two sperm glycoproteins. By a combination of immunosorbent chromatography, using the antibodies obtained, and preparative SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, highly purified sperm proteins were isolated. The sperm proteins were immobilized on Sepharose gel columns and specific immunoglobulin Fab fragments were enriched by affinity chromatography. The specificity of the Fab fragments was ascertained by immunoprecipitation analysis. The Fab fragments were used in indirect immunofluorescence analysis to localize the corresponding antigens on the surface of boar spermatozoa. Both antigens were exclusively confined to the postacrosomal region. Immunohistochemical staining of boar testis sections revealed that both antigens are expressed from the spermatid stage. This technique also revealed that one of the antigens congregated at the Golgi complex-acrosome region during spermatogenesis.     

Climate and plant distribution at global and local scales

This paper investigates, with predictive models, the utility of ecophysiological responses to climate as predictors of plant distribution. At the global scale responses to extreme minimum temperatures and to the hydrological budget effectively predict the distribution limits of the major vegetation types of the World. A minimum temperature of -15°C, for example, appears critical in controlling the poleward spread of vegetation that is dominated by evergreen broadleaved species; however, the presence or absence of more frost resistant species, such as those that are deciduous broadleaved, is not obviously explained in terms of extremes of climate. In such cases, predicting the competitive relationships between species is necessary and dependent on the climatic sensitivity of population dynamics.We are grateful to Hans de Kroon for discussions on the application of matrices to ecology.     

Aspects of the mineral nutrition of some native British plants — inter-site variation

Fifteen common native British plants were each sampled at a range of sites in Great Britain and green tissues analysed for several inorganic nutrients. Sampling criteria are discussed. The inter-site variation of each element within a species is assessed as a frequency distribution of raw data. Sample values of parameters including arithmetic mean, variance (coefficient of variation), skewness and kurtosis are presented. Their stability is assessed from nitrogen in sub-samples of Pteridium. This suggested sample sizes were adequate but some distributions had sufficient kurtosis to affect the variance. These parameters showed distinctions between macro- and micro-elements and between species. Some mean values sharply distinguished between species and may help to assess current theories of strategy and adaptation but a wider range of species is needed to clarify trends. Coefficients of variation are discussed and were relatively low for a nation-wide survey after allowing for sampling constraints. Coefficients of skewness and kurtosis showed two-thirds of the sample distributions were non-normal. Ecological aspects of the distributions are discussed and are relevant to studies along environmental gradients. Published hypotheses linking positive skewness to stress in the field are considered and two other postulates discussed. Distribution bounds such as those confining 95% of the values are discussed in relation to possible critical levels of nutrients.Nomenclature follows Clapham et al. (1981), Excursion flora of the British Isles. 3rd ed. University Press, Cambridge, except Chamaenerion.     

Implications of cytochromeb 6/f location for thylakoidal electron transport

The cytochromeb ₆/f complex of higher plant chloroplasts is uniformly distributed throughout both appressed and nonappressed thylakoids, in contrast to photosystem II and photosystem I, the other major membrane protein complexes involved in electron transport. We discuss how this distribution is likely to affect interactions of the cytochromeb ₆/f complex with other electron transport components because of the resulting local stoichiometries, and how these may affect the regulation of electron transport.     

Diffusion of a lymph-carried antigen in the fiber network of the lymph node of the rat

Summary A lymph-carried antigen is retained preferentially in those areas of the subcapsular sinus of a lymph node overlying the extrafollicular zone of the peripheral cortex. There, it becomes associated with the reticular fibers crossing these particular sinus areas. We wondered whether the antigen thereafter diffuses along the extensions of these fibers which form a peculiar network in the cortical pathways of migration of circulating lymphocytes (CPMCL), leading to the different cell populations effecting the immune responses. Fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-conjugated antigens were injected locally into rats sacrificed 0.5–24 h later. The antigens diffused along the fibers of the CPMCL. It is proposed that this diffusion constitutes one mechanism of stimulation of recruited circulating lymphocytes and of orientation of their migration towards the proper effector-cell population.This work was supported by the Medical Research Council of Canada     

Vertical community structure and resource utilization in neotropical forest cockroaches

ABSTRACT.

• 1 Patterns of vertical habitat use of ten species of cockroaches are examined. Three assemblages of cockroaches are recognized on the basis of morphology, foraging behaviour, foraging heights, and overlaps and breadths of vertical distributions.
• 2 Three apterous and brachypterous species occur near the ground and comprise one assemblage. They feed mainly on material in the leaf-litter.
• 3 Species that perch higher either migrate into the leaf-litter on a diel basis and feed on both leaf-litter and epiphyllic materials, or some are strictly arboreal and forage on algae, liverworts, lichens, spores, pollen and trichomes on the surfaces of leaves.
• 4 Trophic and behavioural correlations with perch height are described and the functions of perching are examined.
• 5 We conclude that studies of interactions among species are confounded by our lack of understanding of stage- and sex-specific interactions of coexisting species. A simplistic ‘species’approach to such interactions is inadequate because it does not recognize intraspecific variation.

     

菜蚜种群抽样理论的蒙特卡洛试验研究

北京地区秋白菜上蚜虫种群在其一定发展阶段的空间格局是可以用Pearson Ⅲ型分布拟合的。用蒙特卡洛试验研究这种分布的三个参数——平均数Ex,变异系数Cv和偏态系数Cs的估计误差同样本容量的关系是有效的途径。本文介绍了该试验的设计思想和实施步骤,并得出初步结论:以一株菜为一个样本单位计数白菜上的蚜虫头数,则在允许误差不大于5%的情况下,样本容量为50时,用矩法便可足够准确地估计Ev和Cv值了;但对于估计Cv值,则样本容量应为500左右。     

The versatility of proteolytic enzymes

The growing realization of their physiological importance has generated renewed interest in the study of proteolytic enzymes. Modern methods of protein chemistry and molecular biology have revealed new insights into the protein and gene structure of a variety of protein precursors and their processing by limited proteolysis. Examples are given in this review for transmembrane processes and the role of signal peptidases of both eukaryotic and prokaryotic origin, the processing of prohormones and precursors of growth factors, protein components of blood coagulation, fibrinolysis, and of the complement system, and a group of granulocyte proteases, including the mast cell serine proteases. The relationship of homologous domains found in many of these proteases and their zymogens to protein evolution is a recurrent theme of this discussion.