Sediments as a source for contaminants?

This review article covers the processes affecting trace metals in deposited sediments. The sediment-water system can be divided in three parts: the oxic layer, the anoxic layer and the oxic-anoxic interface. Available data show that trace metals like Cu, Zn and Cd occur as sulphides in marine and estuarine anoxic sediments. Calculations show that organic complexation is unlikely and the dominant species are sulphide and bisulphide complexes. Chromium and arsenic are probably present as adsorbed species on the sediments; their concentrations in the pore waters, therefore depend on the concentrations in the sediments. The oxic-anoxic interface plays the major role in the potential flux of trace metals from the sediments, however this interface is not well studied at present. Changes from an anoxic to an oxic environment as occurs during dredging and land disposal of contaminanted sediments may cause a remobilization of some trace metals.     

Immunochemical properties of D-amino-acid oxidase

Antiserum against homogeneous hog kidney D-amino-acid oxidase (D-amino-acid: oxygen oxidoreductase (deaminating), EC 1.4.3.3) was elicited in rabbits, and monospecific antibodies were prepared by affinity chromatography. The antibodies inhibited up to 90% of hog D-amino-acid oxidase activity, and 100% of the enzyme could be immunoprecipitated. The antibodies inhibited both holoenzyme and reconstituted apoprotein to a similar degree, indicating that they did not interfere with the FAD-binding site of the protein. The antibodies inhibited D-amino-acid oxidase activity from other mammalian species to a similar degree, while the enzyme activities from birds, amphibians, fishes and yeast were inhibited and immunoprecipitated to lower extents. In immunoblotting experiments, after SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, the antibodies recognized a single band of about 40 kDa in all the species analyzed, and the entity of the signal was inversely related to the phylogenetic distance from mammals. The antibodies did not inhibit D-alanine dehydrogenase activity from Escherichia coli, but gave positive bands in immunoblotting.     

Bovine papilloma virus plasmids replicate randomly in mouse fibroblasts throughout S phase of the cell cycle

Bovine papilloma virus (BPV) replicates as a multicopy nuclear plasmid in mouse fibroblasts. Using fluorescence activated cell sorting and mitotic selection procedures, we show that the replication of BPV occurs throughout S phase of the cell cycle and that replication is confined to S phase. After one round of chromosomal DNA replication, almost one quarter of BPV plasmids have replicated more than once, while a similar number of plasmids have not replicated at all. While multiple forms of BPV exist in the cell, all forms show the same pattern of replication. These results are consistent with a model in which BPV plasmids are chosen at random for replication throughout, and only during, S phase and support the view that the completion of S phase is a specifically activated event in the cell cycle rather than simply the end of one round of chromosomal DNA replication.     

Induction of cellulase in trichoderma reesei grown on lactose

Intracellular concentrations of ATP, cyclic AMP and glucose-6-phosphate were monitored during growth of partially catabolically derepressed strain of Trichoderma reesei CC II in medium containing lactose as the sole carbon source. The induction of cellulase synthesis occured when the concentration of lactose in the medium decreased below 7 mg/ml. The onset of cellulase synthesis was preceded by a transient peak of intracellular concentration of ATP and by the increase of the cyclic AMP contents in the mycelium whereby the intracellular level of glucose-6-phosphate was at its minimum. By keeping the lactose concentration in the medium at 2 mg/ml, it was possible to support the continuation of cellulase synthesis over the prolonged periods without appreciable growth of biomass.     

Construction of Selection Indexes with Restrictions

In this paper the problem of unistage selection with inequality constraints is formulated. If the predictor and criterion variables are all normally distributed, this problem can be written as a convex programming problem, with a linear objective function and with linear constraints and a quadratic constraint. Using the duality theory, for convex nonlinear programming it is proved, that its dual problem can be transformed into a convex minimization problem with non-negativity conditions. Good computational methods are known for solving this problem. By the help of the dual problem sufficient conditions for a solution of the original primal problem are derived and illustrated by an example of practical interest.     

Production of the mutant E strain of Rickettsia prowazekii by mutagen exposure

The possibility of obtaining the mutants of R. prowazekii, strain E, by exposing these organisms to the action of N-methyl-N-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine was studied; this substance, used in doses of 5-10 micrograms, showed a mutagenic effect on rickettsiae suspended in physiological saline, after their exposure for 10-20 minutes at 37 degrees C. The mutants thus obtained proved to be resistant to erythromycin and rifampicin and were characterized by heterogeneity in the degree and stability of their antibiotic resistance. The effectiveness of selection was increased if mutagen-treated rickettsiae were selected after the first passage in chick embryos. The induced mutants differed from the original rickettsial strain by their lower infectiosity for chick embryos.     

Analysis of antigenic types appearing in first relapse populations of clones of Trypanosoma brucei

Variant antigenic types (VATs) represented in a total of 47 first relapse populations of 6 clones of Trypanosoma brucei LUMP 227 were identified by immunofluorescent staining of living trypanosomes, using antiserum raised against purified surface antigens. The relative growth rates of these 6 clones were measured both individually and when grown together in a mixed population, and were found to be different under these two sets of conditions. A pattern emerged in the VATs represented in relapses of each clone, with some types being expressed more frequently than others and certain VATs being only very rarely expressed. It is suggested that new VATs are expressed according to a statistically definable order of priority which is different for each parent VAT, and that some VATs may be able to change to certain others only after passing through an intermediate VAT. The order of priority of appearance of VATs does not appear to correlate with growth rate measured either in individual clones or when clones are grown in a mixed population.     

Effects of dibromothymoquinone on mung bean mitochondrial electron transfer and membrane fluidity.

The effects of the quinone analog dibromothymoquinone on electron transfer in isolated mung bean mitochondria are described. Both the main, cyanide-sensitive and the alternate, cyanide-insensitive pathways are inhibited by dibromothymoquinone but in markedly different fashions. Half-maximal inhibition appeared at 40 microM and 20 microM dibromothymoquinone for the cyanide-sensitive and alternate pathways, respectively. With succinate as the electron donor, dibromothymoquinone inhibited the alternate pathway at a single site; showing a mixed, non-competitive type inhibition. On the succinate, cyanide-sensitive pathway dibromothymoquinone showed two sites of inhibition and neither coincides with the site of inhibition associated with the alternate pathway. With malate as the electron donor, two sites of inhibition by dibromothymoquinone were observed regardless of the pathway measured. Dibromothymoquinone also inhibited the rate of valinomycin-induced swelling of isolated mung bean mitochondria. Steady-state kinetics showed the inhibition to be non-competitive with respect to valinomycin. Additionally dibromothymoquinone was observed to increase the fluorescence polarization associated with the hydrophobic probe 1,6-diphenylhexatriene. The results indicated that dibromothymoquinone decreased the fluidity of the inner mitochondrial membrane and suggested that the inhibition of mitochondrial electron transfer by dibromothymoquinone may be associated with this decrease in membrane fluidity. The relationship of the multisite nature of the inhibition of electron transfer by dibromothymoquinone and the possible role of mobile electron carriers such as ubiquinone on the main and alternate respiratory pathways of higher plants is discussed.