Carotenoids: recent progress, problems and prospects

1. This is a review of the current state of research on the structure and functions of carotenoids, a common group of natural pigments. 2. Discussed in this paper are recent advances in carotenoid studies and problems that still await elucidation. 3. A new natural nomenclature is proposed to rationalize investigation of biological functions of carotenoids. 4. Data included in the paper are taken from the book, "Biological Functions of Carotenoids" (Karnaukhov, 1988).     

Elemental distribution in striated muscle and the effects of hypertonicity: Electron probe analysis of cryo sections

A method of rapid freezing in supercooled Freon 22 (monochlorodifluoromethane) followed by cryoultramicrotomy is described and shown to yield ultrathin sections in which both the cellular ultrastructure and the distribution of diffusible ions across the cell membrane are preserved and intracellular compartmentalization of diffusabler ions can be quantitated. Quantitative electron probe analysis (Shuman, H., A.V. Somlyo, and A.P. Somlyo. 1976. Ultramicros. 1:317-339.) of freeze-dried ultrathin cryto sections was found to provide a valid measure of the composition of cells and cellular organelles and was used to determine the ionic composition of the in situ terminal cisternae of the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR), the distribution of CI in skeletal muscle, and the effects of hypertonic solutions on the subcellular composition if striated muscle. There was no evidence of sequestered CI in the terminal cisternae of resting muscles, although calcium (66mmol/kg dry wt +/- 4.6 SE) was detected. The values of [C1](i) determined with small (50-100 nm) diameter probes over cytoplasm excluding organelles over nuclei or terminal cisternae were not significantly different. Mitochondria partially excluded C1, with a cytoplasmic/ mitochondrial Ci ratio of 2.4 +/- 0.88 SD. The elemental concentrations (mmol/kg dry wt +/- SD) of muscle fibers measured with 0.5-9-μm diameter electron probes in normal frog striated muscle were: P, 302 +/- 4.3; S, 189 +/- 2.9;C1, 24 +/- 1.1;K, 404 +/- 4.3, and Mg, 39 +/- 2.1. It is concluded that: (a) in normal muscle the "excess CI" measured with previous bulk chemical analyses and flux studies is not compartmentalized in the SR or in other cellular organelles, and (b) the cytoplasmic C1 in low [K](0) solutions exceeds that predicted by a passive electrochemical distribution. Hypertonic 2.2 X NaCl, 2.5 X sucrose, or 2.2 X Na isethionate produced: (a) swollen vacuoles, frequently paired, adjacent to the Z lines and containing significantly higher than cytoplasmic concentrations of Na and Cl or S (isethionate), but no detectable Ca, and (b) granules of Ca, Mg, and P = approximately (6 Ca + 1 Mg)/6P in the longitudinal SR. It is concluded that hypertonicity produces compartmentalized domains of extracellular solutes within the muscle fibers and translocates Ca into the longitudinal tubules.     

Dual-channel microfluorometer-photometer based on standard block assemblies and units

The principles of construction and methods of practical realizing of double-wave microfluorometers-photometers for investigation of molecular processes in cells and cell populations are considered.     

Plant virus infection development as affected by heavy metal stress

The work was focused on the investigation of possible dependencies between the development of viral infection in plants and the presence of high heavy metal concentrations in soil. Field experiments have been conducted in order to study the development of systemic tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) infection in Lycopersicon esculentum L. cv. Miliana plants under effect of separate salts of heavy metals Cu, Zn and Pb deposited in soil. As it is shown, simultaneous effect of viral infection and heavy metals in tenfold maximum permissible concentration leads to decrease of total chlorophyll content in experiment plants mainly due to the degradation of chlorophyll a. The reduction of chlorophyll concentration under the combined influence of both stress factors was more serious comparing to the separate effect of every single factor. Plants' treatment with toxic concentrations of lead and zinc leaded to slight delay in the development of systemic TMV infection together with more than twofold increase of virus content in plants that may be an evidence of synergism between these heavy metal's and virus' effects. Contrary, copper although decreased total chlorophyll content but showed protective properties and significantly reduced amount of virus in plants.     

Radioprotective effect of a herbal product soma

A study was undertaken to examine the functional activity of the synthetic apparatus of rat blood lymphocytes by fluorescence microspectroscopy and the metabolic indices of the animals during the use of the herbal product Soma in normalcy and in acute x-irradiation. It was shown that Soma in normalcy caused a reliable increase in the synthetic activity of the cells with respect to the reference value on the 13th and 20th days of administration. Prior use of Soma for a month with subsequent pause increased the radioresistance of the animal organism (scheme 1), whereas the use of Soma immediately after irradiation (scheme 2) had no appreciable radioprotective effect. The study showed the effect of Soma on enhancement of metabolism, which may play an important role in restoration of the homeostasis of the organism. The results obtained suggest the expediency of further investigation of the radioprotective properties of Soma using various concentrations and administration schemes.     

Microspectral studies of neuroendocrine regulation of gametogenesis in mollusks

An associated culture of nervous ganglia and gonads was used to study the gametogenesis neuroendocrine regulation in mollusks (Mytilus edulis L.). The state of oocytes was controlled by microspectral fluorescent analysis on slides stained with acridine orange. The object of investigations was Mytilus edulis L. collected in La Manch in April-May. A microspectrofluorimetrical investigation of samples was carried out in Pushchino. As a criterion of cell synthetic activity, the parameter alpha was used. Parameter alpha is the ratio of fluorescence intensities in the red (I640) and green (I530) regions of the visible spectrum: alpha = I640/I530. The results obtained showed that the nervous system realized the endocrine regulation of gametogenesis in mollusks. There was no normal development of oocytes in an isolated mantle culture. The development of oocytes in a tissue culture proceeds in a similar manner as in the gonads of the native organism in normal natural conditions only if the mantle tissue is associated either with all nervous ganglia or with the cerebral ganglion alone. It was found that the cerebral ganglion plays a key role in the neuroendocrine regulation of gametogenesis.     

Carotenoid functions--a subject for the biophysical research

Progress, problems and outlooks in studies of functions of carotenoids in cells of living beings.     

Role of biodiversity in maintaining Earth;s climate and and human civilization. Problems of geobiophysics

Factors affecting the concentration of CO2 in atmosphere were analyzed, and the conditions providing the Earth termal balance stability were considered. It was shown that the antropogenic decrease of biodiversity in climate-forming biosystems, such as swamps and tropical seas, may lead to the greenhouse disaster, resulting in the raise of the temperature on the Earth's surface up to 300 degrees C and elimination of Life on Earth. By the example of the ecological disaster caused by the introduction of the European mollusc Dreissena into fresh waters of the North America, which was predicted by us, it was shown that the main reason for the decrease in biodiversity, which can accelerate the greenhouse disaster, is the violation of one of the Darvin principles of species formation, the principle of geographical isolation of species. It is shown in terms of a new model of periodical glaciation of the Northern Hemisphere that the elevation of Earth surface temperature caused by an increase in CO2 concentration in the atmosphere can substantially accelerate the onset of a new glaciation period in the Northern Hemisphere, which may decrease the greenhouse disaster rate. The necessity of the formation of a new interdisciplinar scientific branch, geobiophysics, is considered.