The development of epidermal feet in preparation for metamorphosis in an insect

Insect epidermal cell surfaces can be seen by scanning electron microscopy after removal of the basal lamina. This let us study surface changes in the 5th larval stage of Calpodes ethlius (Lepidoptera, Hesperiidae) in preparation for metamorphosis at the end of the stadium, in particular changes in the basal cell processes or feet, intercellular lymph spaces, filopodia and hemidesmosomes. The feet develop in three phases, initiation, elongation and contraction. Initial growth begins immediately after ecdysis and continues until commitment to pupation 66 hr later. During this phase the feet are randomly oriented. Elongation and orientation begin after commitment to pupation. Orientation is probably achieved by selective survival and growth of those feet that are axially oriented rather than by reorientation. As the larva shortens to the pupal form late in the stadium, contraction of the feet occurs and the cells become columnar. The feet finally disappear as the cells rearrange themselves into new positions in the pupal epidermis. The lateral margins of the feet are united by adhesions even when their interdigitations are most complex. The adhesions separate an intercellular lymph space from the haemolymph. The lymph space remains small through most of the stadium, but enlarges with the loss of lateral junctions as the feet contract and eventually extends along most of the length of the columnar cells. Filopodia then form and span the gaps between the cells as though they have been induced by the separation and loss of lateral cell to cell contact. Scanning electron microscopy also shows that hemidesmosomes reflect the axial alignment of the cells even before the orientation of the feet. The hemidesmosome plaques are linear structures having a constant width of 0.15 - 0.2 mum and variable length. They arise in short sections and lengthen by the linear addition of more sections with the same width. Late in the stadium they lose their axial alignment and may become branched.     

Paired cytoskeletal patterns in an epithelium of siamese twin cells.

The epidermis of some insects is a sheet of siamese twin cells which are formed by conserving the midbody between siblings after cell division. We have found that for about 36 h after ecdysis to the 5th stage, the cells of Calpodes caterpillars contain one to five or more actin bundles. The variation in number of bundles occurs in an epithelium that is presumed to be otherwise genetically and developmentally homogeneous. The number of bundles is paired in adjacent cells (P less than 0.005, n = 617). Confocal microscopy shows midbodies between paired but not between unpaired cells. The pairing is reminiscent of the paired nucleolar patterns in these siamese twin cells (Locke, M., H. Leung, Tissue and Cell 17, 573-588 (1985)) or the mirrored patterns of stress fibers in newly divided 3T3 cells (Albrecht-Buehler, G., J. Cell Biol. 72, 595-603 (1977)). The pairing provides further evidence for the operation of transiently heritable factors as determinants for cell pattern.     

Presence of chromosomal mosaicism in abnormal preimplantation embryos detected by fluorescence in situ hybridisation

The extent of chromosomal mosaicism in human preimplantation embryos was examined using an improved procedure for the preparation and spreading of interphase nuclei for use in fluorescence in situ hybridisation, allowing the analysis of every nucleus within an embryo. One cell showed no hybridisation signals in only three of the 38 embryos that were included in this study, i.e. the hybridisation efficiency per successfully spread nucleus was 99% (197/200). Double-target in situ hybridisation analyses with X- and Y-chromosome-specific probes was performed to analyse nine embryos resulting from normal fertilisation, 22 polypronucleate embryos and seven cleavage-stage embryos where no (apronucleate) or only one pronucleus (monopronucleate) was observed. We also analysed autosomes 1 and 7 by double-target in situ hybridisation in the nuclei of two apronucleate, one monopronucleate and four polypronucleate embryos. All nine embryos that resulted from normal fertilisation were uniformly XY or XX. None of the apronucleate or monopronucleate embryos was haploid: three were diploid, one was triploid and three were mosaic. Fertilisation was detected by the presence of a Y-specific signal in four of these embryos. Of the polypronucleate embryos, two were diploid, two were triploid and 18 were mosaic for the sex chromosomes and/or autosomes 1 and 7. These results demonstrate that fertilisation sometimes occurs in monopronucleate embryos and that chromosomal mosaicism can be detected with high efficiency in apronucleate, monopronucleate and polypronucleate human embryos using fluorescence in situ hybridisation.     

Variation in heat shock proteins within tropical and desert species of poeciliid fishes

The 70-kilodalton heat shock protein (hsp70) family of molecular chaperones, which contains both stress-inducible and normally abundant constitutive members, is highly conserved across distantly related taxa. Analysis of this protein family in individuals from an outbred population of tropical topminnows, Poeciliopsis gracilis, showed that while constitutive hsp70 family members showed no variation in protein isoforms, inducibly synthesized hsp70 was polymorphic. Several species of Poeciliopsis adapted to desert environments exhibited lower levels of inducible hsp70 polymorphism than the tropical species, but constitutive forms were identical to those in P. gracilis, as they were in the confamilial species Gambusia affinis. These differences suggest that inducible and constitutive members of this family are under different evolutionary constraints and may indicate differences in their function within the cell. Also, northern desert species of Poeciliopsis synthesize a subset of the inducible hsp70 isoforms seen in tropical species. This distribution supports the theory that ancestral tropical fish migrated northward and colonized desert streams; the subsequent decrease in variation of inducible hsp70 may have been due to genetic drift or a consequence of adaptation to the desert environment. Higher levels of variability were found when the 30- kilodalton heat shock protein (hsp30) family was analyzed within different strains of two desert species of Poeciliopsis and also in wild-caught individuals of Gambusia affinis. In both cases the distribution of hsp30 isoform diversity was similar to that seen previously with allozyme polymorphisms.      

Control of cell volume in the J774 macrophage by microtubule disassembly and cyclic AMP

We have explored the possibilities that cell volume is regulated by the status of microtubule assembly and cyclic AMP metabolism and may be coordinated with shape change. Treatment of J774.2 mouse macrophages with colchicine caused rapid microtubule disassembly and was associated with a striking increase (from 15-20 to more than 90 percent) in the proportion of cells with a large protuberance at one pole. This provided a simple experimental system in which shape changes occurred in virtually an entire cell population in suspension. Parallel changes in cell volume could then be quantified by isotope dilution techniques. We found that the shape change caused by colchicine was accompanied by a decrease in cell volume of approximately 20 percent. Nocodozole, but not lumicolchicine, caused identical changes in both cell shape and cell volume. The volume loss was not due to cell lysis nor to inhibition of pinocytosis. The mechanism of volume loss was also examined. Colchicine induced a small but reproducible increase in activity of the ouabain-sensitive Na(+), K(+)-dependent ATPase. However, inhibition of this enzyme/transport system by ouabain did not change cell volume nor did it block the colchicines-induced decrease in volume. One the other hand, SITS (4’acetamido, 4-isothiocyano 2,2’ disulfonic acid stilbene), an inhibitor of anion transport, inhibited the effects of colchicines, thus suggesting a role for an anion transport system in cell volume regulation. Because colchicine is known to activate adenylate cyclase in several systems and because cell shape changes are often induced by hormones that elevate cyclic AMP, we also examined the effects of cyclic AMP on cell volume. Agents that act to increase syclic AMP (cholera toxin, which activates adenylate cyclase; IBMX, and inhibitor of phosphodiesterase; and dibutyryl cyclic AMP) all caused a volume decrease comparable to that of colchicine. To define the effective metabolic pathway, we studied two mutants of J774.2, one deficient in adenylate cyclase and the other exhibiting markedly reduced activity of cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase. Cholera toxin did not produce a volume change in either mutant. Cyclic AMP produced a decrease in the cyclase-deficient line comparable to that in wild type, but did not cause a volume change in the kinase- deficient line. This analysis established separate roles for cyclic AMP and colchicine. The volume decrease induced by cyclic AMP requires the action of a cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase. Colchicine, on the other hand, induced a comparable volume change in both mutants and wild type, and thus does not require the kinase.     

A second gene at the tomato Cf-4 locus confers resistance to cladosporium fulvum through recognition of a novel avirulence determinant

The tomato Cf-4 and Cf-9 genes confer resistance to the leaf mould pathogen Cladosporium fulvum and map at a complex locus on the short arm of chromosome 1. It was previously shown that the gene encoding Cf-4, which recognizes the Avr4 avirulence determinant, is one of five tandemly duplicated homologous genes (Hcr9-4s) at this locus. Cf-4 was identified by molecular analysis of rare Cf-4/Cf-9 disease-sensitive recombinants and by complementation analysis. The analysis did not exclude the possibility that an additional gene(s) located distal to Cf-4 may also confer resistance to C. fulvum. We demonstrate that a number of Dissociation-tagged Cf-4 mutants, identified on the basis of their insensitivity to Avr4, are still resistant to infection by C. fulvum race 5. Molecular analysis of 16 Cf-4 mutants, most of which have small chromosomal deletions in this region, suggested the additional resistance specificity is encoded by Hcr9-4E. Hcr9-4E recognizes a novel C. fulvum avirulence determinant that we have designated Avr4E.     

The cover of living and dead corals from airborne remote sensing

Trends in coral cover are widely used to indicate the health of coral reefs but are costly to obtain from field survey over large areas. In situ studies of reflected spectra at the coral surface show that living and recently dead colonies can be distinguished. Here, we investigate whether such spectral differences can be detected using an airborne remote sensing instrument. The Compact Airborne Spectrographic Imager (Itres Research Ltd, Canada) was flown in two configurations: 10 spectral bands with 1-m² pixels and 6 spectral bands with 0.25-m² pixels. First, we show that an instrument with 10 spectral bands possesses adequate spectral resolution to distinguish living Porites, living Pocillopora spp., partially dead Porites, recently dead Porites (total colony mortality within 6 months), old dead (>6 months) Porites, Halimeda spp., and coralline red algae when there is no water column to confuse spectra. All substrata were distinguished using fourth-order spectral derivatives around 538 nm and 562 nm. Then, at a shallow site (Tivaru) at Rangiroa Atoll, Tuamotu Archipelago (French Polynesia), we show that live and dead coral can be distinguished from the air to a depth of at least 4 m using first- and fourth-order spectral derivatives between 562–580 nm. However, partially dead and recently dead Porites colonies could not be distinguished from an airborne platform. Spectral differences among substrata are then exploited to predict the cover of reef substrata in ten 25-m² plots at nearby Motu Nuhi (max depth 8 m). The actual cover in these plots was determined in situ using quadrats with a 0.01-m² grid. Considerable disparity occurred between field and image-based measures of substrate cover within individual 25-m² quadrats. At this small scale, disparity, measured as the absolute difference in cover between field and remote-sensing methods, reached 25% in some substrata but was always less than 10% for living coral (99% of which consisted of Porites spp.). At the scale of the reef (all ten 25-m² quadrats), however, disparities in percent cover between imagery and field data were less than 10% for all substrata and extremely low for some classes (e.g. <3% for living Porites, recently dead Porites and Halimeda). The least accurately estimated substrata were sand and coralline red algae, which were overestimated by absolute values 7.9% and 6.6%, respectively. The precision of sampling was similar for field and remote-sensing methods: field methods required 19 plots to detect a 10% difference in coral cover among three reefs with a statistical power of 95%. Remote-sensing methods required 21 plots. However, it took 1 h to acquire imagery over 92,500 m² of reef, which represents 3,700 plots of 25 m² each, compared with 3 days to survey 10 such plots underwater. There were no significant differences in accuracy between 1-m² and 0.25-m² image resolutions, suggesting that the advantage of using smaller pixels is offset by reduced spectral information and an increase in noise (noise was observed to be 1.6–1.8 times greater in 0.25-m² pixels). We show that airborne remote sensing can be used to monitor coral and algal cover over large areas, providing that water is shallow and clear, and that brown fleshy macroalgae are scarce, that depth is known independently (e.g. from sonar survey).     

Regulation of the acid-labile subunit in sustained endotoxemia

The effect of sustained endotoxemia on expression of the acid-labile subunit (ALS) in relation to hepatic markers of altered GH and insulin sensitivity was examined. Juvenile rats were injected with endotoxin twice daily for 48 h, causing reduced food intake and attenuated growth. In pair-fed controls, food restriction caused marked suppression of ALS gene expression and circulating levels within 12 h, and endotoxemia augmented this effect. This acute effect of endotoxin corresponded temporally with transient induction of suppressor of cytokine signaling (SOCS)-3, cytokine-inducible SH2-containing protein (CIS), phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK), and insulin-like growth factor-binding protein (IGFBP)-1 and suppression of GH receptor (GHR). During the subsequent 36 h of sustained endotoxin treatment, expression of ALS recovered to, and then rose above, that of their pair-fed controls. This effect was paralleled by other ternary complex components. The inductive effect of sustained endotoxemia relative to pair-fed controls could not be explained by differences in expression of GHR, SOCS-3, or CIS but coincided with normalized PEPCK and IGFBP-1 levels, suggesting better hepatic insulin sensitivity in these animals. These data may indicate that, in sustained endotoxemia, ALS levels are regulated through modulation of hepatic insulin sensitivity.