Some new variants of serum protease inhibitors in Meishan pigs

Serum samples of Meishan (13 animals) and Meishan x Wild Boar crosses (361 animals) were analysed by means of two-dimensional electrophoresis. Some new variants in protease inhibitor systems PO1A, PO1B and PI2 are reported.     

Microphotometric determination of structure-bound oxidoreductase activities avoiding nothing-dehydrogenase artefacts: succinate dehydrogenase

 A tetrazolium-based microphotometric method has been devised for the determination of structure-bound dehydrogenase activities with correction for nothing-dehydrogenase artefacts. The method is based on the microphotometric recording of maximum reaction rates in a simple incubation chamber and consists of two successive measurements on the same section, the first in the absence and the second in the presence of the substrate. Following the first measurement, the substrate-free medium is quickly exchanged with the substrate-containing medium and a second measurement is taken. Subtraction of the first from the second reaction rate yields the enzyme activity corrected for nothing-dehydrogenase. Measurements of succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) in skeletal muscle fibres, liver, cardiac atrium and ventricle demonstrate the feasibility of the method. Measurements on the extensor digitorum longus muscle of rat reveal a range of up to fivefold differences in SDH activity within the fibre population of this muscle. Accepted: 11 April 1997     

An imported thylakoid protein accumulates in the stroma when insertion into thylakoids is inhibited

The light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b protein (LHCP) is synthesized in the cytosol as a precursor (pLHCP) that is imported into chloroplasts and assembled into thylakoid membranes. Under appropriate conditions, either pLHCP or LHCP will integrate into isolated thylakoids. We have identified two situations that inhibit integration in this assay. Ionophores and uncouplers inhibited integration up to 70%. Carboxyl-terminal truncations of pLHCP also interfered with integration. A 22-residue truncation reduced integration to about 25% of control, whereas a 93 residue truncation completely abolished it. When pLHCP was imported into chloroplasts in the presence of uncouplers or when truncated forms of pLHCP were used, significant amounts of the imported proteins failed to insert into thylakoids and instead accumulated in the aqueous stroma. Accumulation of stromal LHCP occurred at uncoupler concentrations required to dissipate the trans-thylakoid proton electrochemical gradient and was enhanced at reduced levels of ATP. The latter effect may be a secondary consequence of a reduction in ATP-dependent degradation within the stroma. These results indicate that the stroma is an intermediate location in the LHCP assembly pathway and provide the first evidence for a soluble intermediate during biogenesis of a chloroplast membrane protein.     

Proteoglycan biosynthesis in murine monocytic leukemic (M1) cells before and after differentiation

Murine monocytic leukemic (M1) cells were cultured in the presence of [3H]glucosamine and [35S]sulfate. Labeled proteoglycans were purified by anion exchange chromatography and characterized by gel filtration and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in combination with chemical and enzymatic degradation. M1 cells synthesize a single predominant species of proteoglycan which distributes almost equally between the cell and medium after 17 h labeling. The cell-associated proteoglycan has an overall size of about 135 kDa and contains three to five chondroitin sulfate chains (28-31 kDa each) attached to a chondroitinase-generated core protein of 28 kDa. The synthesis and subsequent secretion of this proteoglycan was enhanced 4-5-fold in cells induced to differentiate into macrophages. This was not a phenomenon of arrest in the G0/G1 stage of the cell cycle, since density inhibited undifferentiated cells arrested at this stage did not increase proteoglycan synthesis. The chondroitin sulfate chains contained exclusively chondroitin 4- and 6-sulfate; however, the ratio of these two disaccharides differed between the medium- and cell-associated proteoglycans, and changed during progression of the cells into a fully differentiated phenotype. Pulse-chase kinetics indicate the presence of two distinct pools of proteoglycan; one that is secreted very rapidly from the cell after a approximately 1-h lag, and a second pool that is turned over in the cell with a half-time of approximately 3.5 h. Subtle differences in the glycosylation patterns of the medium- and cell-associated species are consistent with synthesis of two pools. Papain digestion suggests that the chondroitin sulfate chains are clustered on a small protease resistant peptide. The data suggest that this proteoglycan is similar to the serglycin proteoglycan family.     

Shifting abundances of communities associated with nitrogen cycling in soils promoted by sugarcane harvest systems

Sugarcane cultivation supports Brazil as one of the largest world sugar and ethanol producer. In order to understand the impact of changing sugarcane harvest from manual to mechanized harvest, we studied the effect of machinery traffic on soil and consequently soil compaction upon soil microbial communities involved in nitrogen cycling. The impact of sugarcane harvest was dependent on soil depth and texture. At deeper soil layers, mechanized harvesting increases the abundance of nitrogen fixers and denitrifying communities (specifically nosZ clade I and II) while manual harvesting increases the abundance of ammonia oxidizers (specifically AOA) and increases denitrifying communities (nosZ clade I and II) on top and at intermediate depth. The effect of change on the harvest system is more evident on sandy soil than on clay soil, where soil indicators of compaction (bulk density and penetration resistance) were negatively correlated with soil microorganisms associated with the nitrogen cycle. Our results point to connections between soil compaction and N transformations in sugarcane fields, besides naming biological variables to be used as proxies for alterations in soil structure.