Simulation of Y-chromosomal haplotype data

The non-recombining nature of the Y-chromosome determines the non-independence of alleles between loci. The evolution of short tandem repeat (STR) loci in the Y-chromosome is the result of different factors such as differential mutation rates, mutation modes, gene conversion, selection and demographic processes. The degree of correlation between loci is dependent on the magnitude of these processes. The simulation of data is a routine tool used for testing hypotheses in population and evolutionary studies. The most basic parameters hitherto used in lineage haplotype simulations are the allele frequency distributions and mutation rates, assuming either full independence or linkage between loci. In this study we introduce use of the Spearman correlation coefficient to estimate the degree of dependence between non-recombining loci. Then, both the interdependence between loci and the allele frequency distributions at multi-allelic loci are incorporated in an algorithm for simulating haplotypes. We illustrate the method using published and unpublished Y-chromosome STR data.     

Monoclonal antipeptide antibodies to the glucocorticoid receptor.

The generation of monoclonal antibodies to synthetic peptides of the glucocorticoid receptor is described. Two antibodies to sequences from the DNA binding region are IgMs. Two other antibodies to sequences in the steroid binding region and the C-terminus belong to the IgG class. The specificity of the IgG binding to the receptor in an ELISA assay is demonstrated by competition with the relevant peptides. Both IgGs are able to recognize the receptor in Western blots, but do not form stable complexes in sucrose gradients. Steroid binding to the receptor is not influenced by preincubation with antibodies. This indicates that denaturation or distortion of the receptor is necessary for the accessibility of these antibodies to their epitopes. Both antibodies can be used to stain the glucocorticoid receptor in neoplastic cells of patients suffering from chronic lymphatic leukemia.     

Mechanics of circadian pulvini movements in Phaseolus coccineus L.

The circadian movement of the lamina of primary leaves of Phaseolus coccineus L. is mediated by antagonistic changes in the length of the extensor and flexor cells of the laminar pulvinus. The cortex of the pulvinus is a concentric structure composed of hexagonal disc-like cells, arranged in longitudinal rows around the central stele. Observations with polarization optics indicate that the cellulose microfibrils are oriented in a hoop-like fashion in the longitudinal walls of the motor cells. This micellation is the structural basis of the anisotropic properties of the cells: tangential sections of the extensor and flexor placed in hypotonic mannitol solutions showed changes only in length. As a consequence a linear correlation between length and volume was found in these sections. Based on the relationship between the water potential (which is changed by different concentrations of mannitol) and the relative volume of the sections and on the osmotic pressure at 50% incipient plasmolysis, osmotic diagrams were constructed for extensor and flexor tissues (cut during night position of the pulvinus). The bulk moduli of extensibility, , were estimated from these diagrams. Under physiological conditions the values were rather low (in extensor tissue below 10 bar, in flexor tissue between 10 to 15 bar), indicating a high extensibility of the longitudinal walls of the motor cells. They are strongly dependent on the turgor pressure at the limits of the physiological pressure range.In well-watered plants, the water potentials of the extensor and flexor tissues were surprisingly low,-12 bar and-8 bar, respectively. This means that the cells in situ are by no means fully turgid. On the contrary, the cell volume in situ is similar to the volume at the point of incipient plasmolysis: the cell volumes of extensor and flexor cells in situ were only 1.01 times and 1.1 times larger, respectively, than at the point of incipient plasmolysis, whereas at full turgidity (cells in water) the corresponding factors were 1.8 and 1.5. It is suggested that the high elasticity of the longitudinal walls, the anisotropy of the cell walls, and the low water potential of the sections which is correlated with slightly stretched cell walls in situ, are favourable and effective for converting osmotic work in changes in length of the pulvinus cells, and thus for the up and down movement of the leaf.Symbols volumetric elastic modulus - _i instantaneous volumetric elastic modulus - _i stationary volumetric elastic modulus - weight-averaged stationary bulk modulus of extensibility - ₀ osmotic pressure of the vacuole of a cell at the point of incipient plasmolysis - weight-averaged osmotic pressure of the vacuoles of the tissue at 50% incipient plasmolysis - water potential     

Salinity tolerance of Mytilocypris henricae (Chapman) (Crustacea,Ostracoda)

Salinity tolerance, and the effects of temperature upon it, of the Australian ostracod Mytilocypris henricae (Chapman) was determined in direct transfer experiments using adults. Animals were subjected to a combination of 11 salinities (ranging between 0.0 g · 1^–1 and 45.0 g · 1^–1) and 4 temperatures (10, 15, 20 and 25 °C). Survival was analysed using two statistical techniques: the logit linear model and the proportional hazards model. Results show that both salinity and temperature have a significant effect on survival, but there is no significant interaction between temperature and salinity.     

Evidence that genes at two loci code for lactate dehydrogenase subunit B in Nycticebus coucang

Lactate dehydrogenase subunits B and A are produced by genes at separate loci. LDH-1, the most anodal of the five isozymes observed after gel electrophoresis, is composed of four B subunits. It has recently been shown that the LDH-1s of most primates are electrophoretically the same. N. coucang (slow loris) is one of the exceptions, possessing an LDH-1 which migrates more slowly than that common to most other primates. We have observed in some members of N. coucang a band at the site of the common primate LDH-1 in addition to the LDH-1 normally present. Since one of the animals in which this observation was made was heterozygous at the LDH B locus, we concluded that in N. coucang two gene loci coding for the B polypeptide are probably present.This investigation was supported in part by contract AF 29 (600)-5587 and NSF grant GB-7426.     

Infrared reflection-absorption of melittin interaction with phospholipid monolayers at the air/water interface.

The interaction of melittin with monolayers of 1,2-dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine and 1,2-dipalmitoylphosphatidylserine has been investigated with infrared external reflection-absorption spectroscopy. Improved instrumentation permits determination of acyl chain conformation and peptide secondary structure in situ at the air/water interface. The IR frequency of the 1,2-dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine antisymmetric acyl chain CH2 stretching vibration decreases by 1.3 cm-1 upon melittin insertion, consistent with acyl chain ordering, whereas the same vibrational mode increases by 0.5 cm-1 upon peptide interaction with the 1,2-dipalmitoylphosphatidylserine monolayer, indicative of chain disordering. Thus the peptide interacts quite differently with zwitterionic compared with negatively charged monolayer surfaces. Melittin in the monolayer adopted a secondary structure with an amide l(l') frequency (1635 cm-1) dramatically different from the alpha-helical motif (amide l frequency 1656 cm-1 in a dry or H2O hydrated environment, amide l' frequency 1645 cm-1 in an H-->D exchanged alpha-helix) assumed in bilayer or multibilayer environments. This work represents the first direct in situ spectroscopic indication that peptide secondary structure in lipid monolayers may differ from that in bilayers.     

External reflection FTIR of peptide monolayer films in situ at the air/water interface: experimental design, spectra-structure correlations, and effects of hydrogen-deuterium exchange.

A Fourier transform infrared spectrometer has been interfaced with a surface balance and a new external reflection infrared sampling accessory, which permits the acquisition of spectra from protein monolayers in situ at the air/water interface. The accessory, a sample shuttle that permits the collection of spectra in alternating fashion from sample and background troughs, reduces interference from water vapor rotation-vibration bands in the amide I and amide II regions of protein spectra (1520-1690 cm-1) by nearly an order of magnitude. Residual interference from water vapor absorbance ranges from 50 to 200 microabsorbance units. The performance of the device is demonstrated through spectra of synthetic peptides designed to adopt alpha-helical, antiparallel beta-sheet, mixed beta-sheet/beta-turn, and unordered conformations at the air/water interface. The extent of exchange on the surface can be monitored from the relative intensities of the amide II and amide I modes. Hydrogen-deuterium exchange may lower the amide I frequency by as much as 11-12 cm-1 for helical secondary structures. This shifts the vibrational mode into a region normally associated with unordered structures and leads to uncertainties in the application of algorithms commonly used for determination of secondary structure from amide I contours of proteins in D2O solution.