Feeding Characteristics of Three Species of Intertidal Sea Anemones of the South Kuril Islands

We examined the content of the coelenteron of Oulactis orientalis, Cnidopus japonicus, and Aulactinia sp. (family Actiniidae) inhabiting the intertidal area of Shikotan and Kunashir Islands (South Kuril Islands). The feeding characteristics (food spectrum, the index of filling of the coelenteron, the index of food similarity of the species, occurrence frequency, the index of trophic importance, and the proportions of certain components in the food pellet) allowed us to determine that the examined species are euryphagous.     

ATP synthase from bovine mitochondria: sequences of imported precursors of oligomycin sensitivity conferral protein, factor 6, and adenosinetriphosphatase inhibitor protein

Oligomycin sensitivity conferral protein (OSCP), factor 6 (F6), and ATPase inhibitor protein are all components of the ATP synthase complex of bovine mitochondria. They are encoded in nuclear DNA. Complementary DNA clones encoding the precursors of these proteins have been isolated from a bovine library by using mixtures of synthetic oligonucleotides as hybridization probes, and their DNA sequences have been determined. The deduced protein sequences show that the OSCP, F6, and inhibitor proteins have N-terminal presequences of 23, 32, and 25 amino acids, respectively. These presequences are not present in the mature proteins. It is assumed that they serve to direct the proteins into the mitochondrial matrix. The cDNA clones have also been employed as hybridization probes to investigate the genetic complexity of the three proteins in cows and humans. These experiments indicate that the bovine and human inhibitor and bovine F6 proteins are encoded by single genes but suggest the possibility of the presence in both species of more than one gene (or pseudogenes) for the OSCP.     

Effect of Deficiency of Dietary Nitrogen on Cellulose Digestibility and Nitrogen-Fixing Flora Activity in Sibling Vole Microtus rossiaemeridionalis

The effect of feed composition on nitrogen-fixing activity of the symbionts living in the digestive tract of sibling vole Microtus rossiaemeridionalis was experimentally studied. In the control, the rodents were allowed to select any of three feeds: protein-rich, protein-free with low cellulose content, and protein-free with high cellulose content. The voles consumed the food in a proportion corresponding to 16% of protein and about 6% of cellulose. Exclusion of the protein-rich food considerably increased cellulose consumption (up to 12%) and digestibility (from 35 to 64%). The changes in the consumed feed composition were reflected in localization of nitrogenase activity in the digestive tract: the control level of nitrogen-fixing activity in the cecum was three times that in the proventriculus, while an inverse proportion was observed in the experimental groups. In all cases, the colon was the major locus of nitrogen fixation.     

Bacterial Communities of Regressive Spots in Ombrotrophic Bogs: Structure and Functions

Microbiology - This research analyses the structure and functions of bacterial communities of regressive spots in ombrotrophic bogs. Algal biomass was found to predominate in the biomass structure...     

Peptide Modulators of ASIC Channels of the Sea Anemone Urticina aff. coriacea (Cuvier, 1798) from the Sea of Okhotsk

Russian Journal of Marine Biology - A search for biologically active peptides has been performed in an aqueous extract of the sea anemone Urticina aff. coriacea (Cuvier, 1798) (Actiniidae) from the...     

Functional diversity of ant-associated bacterial communities

It was found that ants significantly affect the physiological activity and functional diversity of soil microbial communities, and redistribution of biophilic elements (C and N) down through the profile occurs in anthills compared to the control soil, as well as their accumulation in the underground part of the ant nests. A high urease activity was revealed in ant nests and ants. Functional dissimilarities of bacterial communities in all studied objects were determined by the multisubstrate test.     

Antitumor efficacy of combined gene and radiotherapy in animals

Antitumor efficacy of the combined suicide gene therapy and radiotherapy was studied on the model of CT26 murine colon adenocarcinoma. CMV-FCU1-IRES-mGM-CSF-pGL3 construct with PEG-PEI-TAT (FCU1–mGM/5-FC) block copolymer as a vector was used for intratumoral administration. Tumors were irradiated with a single 5 Gy dose. The efficacy was evaluated according to the grade of tumor growth inhibition (T/C) and lifespan of the animals. Pronounced antitumor activity of the combined use of FCU1–mGM/5-FC system with radiotherapy on the background of prolonged lifespan and the synergism of the applied methods was revealed.     

Oligonucleotide conjugates with minor groove ligands as probes for hybridization microarray chips

A possibility of using oligonucleotide conjugates with minor groove ligands as probes for hybridization microarray chips was studied. The oligonucleotide conjugates contain a hairpin ligand (MGB) composed of two tripyrrolcarboxamide residues with an aminocaproic acid residue as a linker and bound to the oligonucleotide duplex AT tract in a site-specific manner. We used as (5'-3') probes GACAAGAp, GACAAAAp, GACAAGA-MGB, and GACAAAA-MGB. The oligonucleotides labeled with Cy3 cyanine dye, Cy3-ACTAATTTTGTC and Cy3-ACTAATCTTGTC, were used as targets. The maximal MGB effect on the fluorescence level of microarray chip spots, which caused its fourfold increase as compared with the initial unmodified duplex, was observed for the duplex containing only AT pairs in the ligand binding site. The presence of A-C and G-T mutations in the binding site (imperfect duplexes) or a C-G pair (perfect duplex) affects the change in fluorescence level to a considerably lesser degree.