Seasonal variation of neutral lipids in Pinus sylvestris L. sapwood and heartwood

Summary The lipid levels and fatty acid composition of three fractions (free fatty acids, triacylglycerols and sterol/triterpenoid esters) extracted from the sapwood and heartwood of three stems of Pinus sylvestris were determined to investigate both seasonal changes in sapwood and possible metabolic changes related to heartwood formation. Seasonal changes were observed only in the amount of the free fatty acids in the sapwood: the level of free fatty acids was greatest at the beginning and end of the growing season. In the January and March samples the amount of the free fatty acid fraction in the sapwood was very small. The amount of the other fractions remained at the same level throughout the study. Marked seasonal changes in the fatty acid composition occurred only in the free fatty acid fraction of the sapwood: the saturation grade increased during the winter.     

Synthesis of methyl 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-3-O-(β-d-galactopyranosyl)-α-d-galactopyranoside from a corresponding thioglycoside derivative

The title disaccharide glycoside was synthesized by halide ion-promoted glycosidation, using methanol and the disaccharide bromide derived from methyl 2-azido-3-O-(2,3,4,6-tetra-O-benzoyl--d-galactopyranosyl)-4,6-O-benzylidene-2-deoxy-1-thio--d-galactopyranoside. This derivative in turn was prepared by silver triflate-promoted condensation of monosaccharide derivatives.     

Habitat use of small mustelids in north Fennoscandian tundra: a test of the hypothesis of patchy exploitation ecosystems

The habitat use of small mustelids in a tundra area in Norwegian Lapland was studied chiefly by means of snow-tracking 1986-89 Stoats showed strong peference to a habitat complex immediately beneath the thrust line of the Scandes, with exceptional abundance of luxuriant habitats, whereas weasel activity was more evenly spread over the lowland tundra Mustelid activity on the high tundra above the thrust line was consistently low Within each subarea. stoat activity was concentrated to the most luxuriant habitats Similar preferences were shown by weasels on the lowland but not in the vicinity of the thurst cliff Daily movements of both species varied from local (c 200 m) to extensive (up to 4 km), no consistent interspecific differences in travel distances could be observed
The results largely conform to the hypothesis of patchy exploitation ecosystems (T Oksanen 1990a), according to which predator activity tends to "spill over' from luxuriant habitats, capable of supporting predator populations, to adjacent barren ones, due to despotic behavior within and between species and due to opportunistic predation by transient predators However, predator activity in barren habitats during the crash winter could not be explained by these mechanisms alone A third mechanism - breakdown of habitat preferences of predators during crash phases of a cyclic prey population - was thus introduced     

Primer protein of bacteriophage M2 exposes the RGD receptor site upon linking the first deoxynucleotide

Summary Using electroporation with the phage PRD1 genome, we set up a high-frequency DNA transfer system for a linear dsDNA molecule with 5-covalently linked terminal proteins. The transfer was saturated when more than 100 ng of PRD1 genome was used. Electroporation efficiency was about four orders of magnitude higher than that obtained with transfection. Removal of the terminal protein abolished plaque formation, which could not be rescued by supplying the terminal protein or phage DNA polymerase or both in trans.     

New derivatization and separation procedures for reducing oligosaccharides

4-Trifluoroacetamidoaniline was reacted with reducing oligosaccharides in the presence of sodium cyanoborohydride to give aminoalditol derivatives, useful for linkage to proteins or solid matrices. A mixture of reducing oligosaccharides, difficult to separate by HPLC, was treated in the same way. The resulting derivatives were easily separated by HPLC.Abbreviations TFAN 4-trifluoroacetamidoaniline - LcOse₄ lacto-N-tetraose - IV²Fuc-LcOse₄ lacto-N-fucopentaose l - III⁴Fuc-LcOse₄ lacto-N-fucopentaose II - III³Fuc-nLcOse₄ lacto-N-fucopentaose III - IV²Fuc, III⁴Fuc-LcOse₄ lacto-N-difucohexaose I - II⁶Galß1-4GlcNAc-LcOse₄ lacto-N-hexaose - II³NeuAc-Lac 3-sialyllactose - GlcNAcß1-4GlcNAcß1-4GlcNAc chitotriose - GalNac1-3|Fuc1-2|Galß1-4Glc A-tetrasaccharide     

Synthesis of methyl α-d-glucopyranosyl-(1–2)-α-d-galactopyranosyl-(1-3)-α-d-glucopyranoside and an acyclic analogue thereof for probing the carbohydrate-binding specificity of bacteriophage ϕX 174

The title trisaccharide was synthesized using methyl 1-thioglycoside building blocks. An acyclic analogue, methyl 3-O-(α-D-glycopyranosyl-oxyethyl)-α-D-glucopyranoside, which has an ethylene bridge in place of the galactosyl residue, was also synthesized.     

Adrenergic innervation of the salivary glands in the rat

Summary The adrenergic innervation of the major salivary glands in the rat has been studied by a specific histochemical method for the visualization of the adrenergic transmitter. Adrenergic varicose nerve fibres were found, located in a typical adrenergic ground plexus closely surrounding the serous acini of the submaxillary and parotid glands, but not the acini of the mainly mucous sublingual gland. The ducts were found to be completely devoid of adrenergic innervation. Arterioles and venules in the stroma of all three glands and certain very small vessels, possibly the sphincters of arterio-venous anastomoses, were also richly innervated by adrenergic vasomotor fibres. The relationship of the adrenergic nerve fibres to the different functional units of the gland parenchyma is discussed.The investigation has been supported by a research grant (B 66–257) from the Swedish Medical Research Council and by a Public Health Service Research Grant (NB 05236-01) from the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Blindness.     

Growth patterns in young adult monozygotic twin pairs discordant and concordant for obesity.

Weight discordance is very rare in monozygotic (MZ) twin pairs; when found, however, such pairs are advantageous in the search for either environmental or epigenetic causes and consequences of obesity. We analyzed the growth patterns of young adult MZ pairs discordant and concordant for obesity. Screening 5 consecutive birth cohorts (1975-1979) of 22- to 27-year-old Finnish twins (the FinnTwin16 study), we found 14 obesity discordant (Body Mass Index [BMI] difference > or = 4 kg/m2) MZ pairs out of 658. Ten pairs participated in clinical studies. Nine concordant pairs (BMI difference < or = 2 kg/m2) were examined as controls. Lifetime measured heights and weights recorded in hospitals and health centers were traced manually. Height development was similar in all the co-twins of both groups. The weight differences between the co-twins of the discordant pairs began to emerge at 18 years leading to an average discordance of 16.4 kg, 5.6 kg/m2 (p for both = .005) at 25.7 years. The heavier co-twin weighed 221 g (p = .066), 1.0 kg/m2 (p = .01) more already at birth than the leaner, but the differences waned by 6 months of age and reappeared only after adolescence. Both the leaner and the heavier co-twins of the discordant pairs weighed more than expected by the singleton reference values (Cole et al., 1998) after 8 years. The concordant co-twins, on the other hand, grew similarly and after 6 months, their mean growth was not distinguishable from the singleton patterns. Young adulthood represents a critical period of gaining weight irrespective of genetic background in this twin sample.     

Total chemical synthesis and NMR characterization of the glycopeptide tx5a, a heavily post-translationally modified conotoxin, reveals that the glycan structure is alpha-D-Gal-(1-->3)-alpha-D-GalNAc.

The 13-amino acid glycopeptide tx5a (Gla-Cys-Cys-Gla-Asp-Gly-Trp*-Cys-Cys-Thr*-Ala-Ala-Hyp-OH, where Trp* = 6-bromotryptophan and Thr* = Gal-GalNAc-threonine), isolated from Conus textile, causes hyperactivity and spasticity when injected intracerebral ventricularly into mice. It contains nine post-translationally modified residues: four cysteine residues, two gamma-carboxyglutamic acid residues, and one residue each of 6-bromotryptophan, 4-trans-hydroxyproline and glycosylated threonine. The chemical nature of each of these has been determined with the exception of the glycan linkage pattern on threonine and the stereochemistry of the 6-bromotryptophan residue. Previous investigations have demonstrated that tx5a contains a disaccharide composed of N-acetylgalactosamine (GalNAc) and galactose (Gal), but the interresidue linkage was not characterized. We hypothesized that tx5a contained the T-antigen, beta-D-Gal-(1-->3)-alpha-D-GalNAc, one of the most common O-linked glycan structures, identified previously in another Conus glycopeptide, contalukin-G. We therefore utilized the peracetylated form of this glycan attached to Fmoc-threonine in an attempted synthesis. While the result-ing synthetic peptide (Gla-Cys-Cys-Gla-Asp-Gly-Trp*-Cys-Cys-Thr*-Ala-Ala-Hyp-OH, where Trp* =6-bromotryptophan and Thr* = beta-D-Gal-(1-->3)-alpha-D-GalNAc-threonine) and the native peptide had almost identical mass spectra, a comparison of their RP-HPLC chromatograms suggested that the two forms were not identical. Two-dimensional 1H homonuclear and 13C-1H heteronuclear NMR spectroscopy of native tx5a isolated from Conus textile was then used to determine that the glycan present on tx5a indeed is not the aforementioned T-antigen, but rather alpha-D-Gal-(1-->3)-alpha-D-GalNAc.     

Complexing of glycofuranosides with calcium ion,and its effect on their acid-catalysed solvolysis

Stability constants for the calcium-ion complexes of several methyl aldo-furanosides have been determined in aqueous solution by using a potentiostatic technique with an electrode that is selective for calcium ions. The results obtained have been verified by examining the chromatographic behaviour of the compounds on a strong cation-exchange resin in the Ca²⁺ form. The rate constants for the acid-catalyzed hydrolysis and methanolysis of a few 4-chlorophenyl aldofuranosides having different complexing abilities have been determined at various concentrations of calcium chloride. The dependences of the observed salt effects on the complexing ability of the substrate are discussed.