The role of glutamine synthetase in the regulation of nitrogenase activity (“switch off” effect) in Rhodospirillum rubrum

We have studied the changes in the activities of both nitrogenase (switch off) and glutamine synthetase in Rhodospirillum rubrum upon addition of ammonium ions or glutamine to nitrogen fixing cultures. Both activities decrease drastically and return in a parallel manner when added ammonia is metabolized. The decrease in glutamine synthetase activity does not seem to be primarily due to adenylylation of the enzyme. Addition of glutamine to cells starved for nitrogen results in inactivation of glutamine synthetase but nitrogenase is only partially switched off.Abbreviations CeMe₃NBr Cetyltrimethylammonium bromide - Hepes N-2-hydroxyethyl-piperazine-N-2 sulfonic acid - MSO methionine-D,L-sulfoximine - Tea-Dmg triethanol amine-3,3-dimethylglutaric acid     

The Thyrotropic Cell in the Atlantic Salmon,Salmo salar

The thyrotropin (TSH) producing cells are distributed in the rostral and proximal pars distalis. This cell type is the smallest and most infrequent cell of the adenohypophysis. Its cytology is similar to the smallest gonadotropic (GTH) cells although the two cell types can be separated by the size of the small secretory granules (diameter less than 200 nm) in the TSH cells. In presmolts and smolts the cells are more numerous than in parr and adult salmon and have cytological features indicating an increased activity. This was also the case after intraperitoneal injections of synthetic TRH. Antisera to carp GTH and salmon GTH cross-reacted with both the GTH and the TSH cells. Anti-human TSH cross-reacted only with the TSH cells which confirms the assumption of antigenic similarity between human and fish TSH.     

Solubilization and spectral characteristics of chlorophyll-protein complexes isolated from the thermophilic blue-green alga Synechococcus lividus

The thermophilic blue-green alga Synechococcus lividus was grown at 38 and 55°C. The reaction center chlorophyll-protein complexes (CP) of Photosystem (PS I) and PS II, CP a_I and CP a_II, were isolated by sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis at 4°C. SDS solubilization of thylakoids was performed in the temperature range 0–65°C. The low-temperature absorption and fluorescence emission spectral properties of the isolated chlorophyll-protein complexes were analyzed. Only traces of CP a_I were solubilized at temperatures below the lipid phase transition temperature. Instead, a minor PS I component, CP a′_I, was obtained that had absorption and fluorescence characteristics similar to those of CP a_I. CP a′_I had a slightly lower mobility than CP a_I in SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The amount of CP a_I in the gel scan profile increased dramatically when solubilization was carried out above the phase transition temperatures, but started to decrease above 60°C. CP a_II, on the other hand, could be efficiently extracted even at 0°C and was stable in the scan profile up to extraction temperatures of 30–40°C. Low-temperature absorption and fluorescence emission spectra were typical for CP a_I and CP a_II and no specific effects of the two growth temperatures on these properties were observed. The phase transition temperature was considered to be critical for the solubilization of CP a_I, either because of the difficulties of SDS (especially as it forms micelles at low temperatures) in penetrating the solidified membrane lipids at temperatures below that of the phase transition or because the CP a_I monomers of the PS I antennae are so strongly bound to each other that they cannot be dissociated by SDS before thermal agitation has reached a certain level that is achieved above the phase transition temperature. We consider both the difficulties in solubilizing CP a_I at sub-transition temperatures and the heat stability of the two complexes as adaptations which enable Synechococcus to grow under extreme high-temperature regimes.     

Parasites recovered from pupae ofLymantria dispar [Lep.: Lymantriidae] in Romania, 1978

In a survey at 5 sites in southern Romania for parasites of pupalLymantric dispar (L.), 8 species were recovered: 3Tachinidae (Dip.); Blepharipa pratensis (Meigen),Parasetigena silvestris (Robineau-Desvoidy), andExorista larvarum (L.); 1Chalcididae (Hym.); Brachymeria intermedia (Nees); 4Ichneumonidae (Hym.); Theronia atalantae atalantae (Poda),Coccygomimus instigator (F.),C. turionellae turionellae (L.), andEphialtes compunctor compunctor (L.). This was the 1 st reported recovery ofE. c. compunctor from L.dispar. Overall parasitism was low, and it is unlikely that additional surveys in this area will yield new parasites for introduction into the U.S.

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Résumé Cinq localités dans le sud de la Roumanie ont été prospectées pour recenser les parasites des nymphes deLymantria dispar (L.). Huit espèces de parasites ont été obtenues:Blepharipa pratensis (Meigen),Parasetigena silvestris (Robineau-Desvoidy),Exorista larvarum (L.),Brachymeria intermedia (Nees),Theronia atalantae atalantae (Poda),Coccygomimus instigator (F.),C. turionellae turionellae (L.), etEphialtes compunctor compunctor. Cette dernière espèce étant nouvelle surL. dispar. Le parasitisme total étant très bas, les auteurs en déduisent que des prospections supplémentaires dans cette région ont peu de chance d'être valables en vue de l'introduction aux états-Unis de nouvelles espèces contreL. dispar.

     

Fractionation of Soluble Copper- and Zinc-Binding Proteins From Cattle Liver

The distribution of copper and zinc among soluble proteins in liver from normal slaughter cattle was examined after gel filtration of the proteins. Gopper- and zinc-binding proteins were mainly separated into three fractions. Varying amounts of zinc were eluted in a fourth fraction of molecular weight less than 2,000. A clear relationship was noted between the amount of copper bound to the low molecular weight fraction (m.w. ~ 10,000) and the total liver zinc concentration. The high molecular weight protein fraction (m.w. > 65,000) dominated in liver with zinc concentrations below 40 µg/g wet weight and total copper concentrations from 16 to 240 µg/g, while in liver with zinc concentrations above 40 µg/g and copper concentrations ranging from 20 to 107 µg/g, the low molecular weight metallothionein-like fraction dominated.     

The binding of azide to human methemoglobin A0. Error analysis for the interpolative and noninterpolative methods.

The binding azide to human methemoglobin A0 has been studied at 6 degrees, pH 7, and I = 0.2 by three spectroscopic methods: (1) the conventional interpolative method, (2) an interpolative dialysis technique, and (3) a noninterpolative method. The interpolative methods assume that the fractional spectral change equals the fraction of heme sites bound by ligand, while the noninterpolative method measures the extent of binding directly, i.e., without the interpolative assumption. Both experiment and error analysis show that method 1 has low precision, and consequently, gives an inherently unreliable binding isotherm. Method 2 achieves high experimental and intrinsic precision. However, method 3, which also has high precision, clearly proves that the interpolative assumption of method 2 is incorrect. That is, the true fractional extent of binding becomes equal to the fractional spectral change only after about 97% of heme sites have been bound with ligands.     

SEQ-ED: an interactive computer program for editing, analysis and storage of long DNA sequences

The rapidly growing body of sequenced DNA demands efficientcomputer programs for its analysis and storage. The programdescribed in this paper, SEQ-ED, has been designed to handlea large number of DNA sequences up to 200 kilobases [kb] longstored in a sequence library. In order to minimize the requiredstorage space, the sequences are stored in a compressed formatusing three binary digits per base. In the development of thisprogram, special care has been given to make it easy to usefor molecular biologists without any previous computer experience. Received on September 10, 1984; accepted on October 30, 1984