The stimulation of 2-deoxy-D-glucose transport in control and virus-transformed cells by ethidium bromide

Recently we demonstrated that ethidium bromide altered the plasma and subcellular membrane glycoproteins in control and virus transformed cells. It is reported here that ethidium bromide also stimulated the membrane associated process of sugar transport. The K_m of the virus transformed cells and the ethidium bromide treated cells is the same as that of the control cells while the maximum velocity as compared to the control cells is significantly increased. The transport of 2-deoxy-D-glucose was inhibited by glucose, cytochalasin B and neuraminidase but was unaffected by variations in cell density or pH of the incubation medium.     

Ethylene production in habituated and auxin-requiring tobacco callus cultures. Does ethylene play a role in the habituation?

Ethylene production of habituated and auxin-requiring tobacco ( Nicotiana tabacum L. cv. Xanthi) callus cultures were compared. More ethylene was produced by auxinrequiring i.e. auxin-heterotrophic cultures than by habituated ones. Treatment with 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid increased the ethylene evolution of habituated cultures over the range 10⁻⁷ to 10⁻⁴ M , which suggests that the higher ethylene production of auxin-dependent callus is caused by the 2,4-D in the medium. The IAA levels depended on the age of both types of callus cultures.     

Use of regularly structured bacterial cell envelope layers as matrix for the immobilization of macromolecules

Summary Carboxyl groups present on the outer face of the hexagonally ordered S-layer lattices from Bacillus stearothermophilus PV72 and Clostridium thermohydrosulfuricum L111-69 were activated with carbodiimide. The reaction of the activated carboxyl groups with free amino groups of low molecular weight nucleophiles was controlled by labelling with polycationized ferritin, a net positively charged topographical marker for electron microscopy, which densely binds to S-layers possessing free carboxyl groups. Carbodiimide-activated carboxyl groups were also allowed to react with amino groups of ferritin (MW 440 000) and invertase (MW 270 000). Covalent attachment of ferritin was examined by electron microscopy. Using invertase, approximately 1 mg enzyme was bound per mg S-layer protein indicating a high packing density of invertase molecules on the outer face of the S-layer lattice. The immobilized invertase retained 70% of its original activity.     

Regeneration of transgenic plants of Prunus armeniaca containing the coat protein gene of Plum Pox Virus

Summary A system was developed which allows the transfer of foreign genes into apricot cultivars. We report the transformation and regeneration of Prunus armeniaca plants with Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain LBA 4404 containing various binary plasmids, pBinGUSint, carrying the marker gene ß-glucuronidase (GUS) and pBinPPVm, carrying the coat protein gene of Plum Pox Virus (PPV). The marker gene GUS was used for optical evaluation of the efficiency of the transformation system. The coat protein gene of PPV was used to introduce coat protein mediated resistance against one of the most important pathogens of stone fruit trees in Europe and the whole Mediterranean area. This is the first report of the successful integration of a viral coat protein gene into a fruit tree species, opening a new perspective on the control of the disease.Abbreviations GUS ß-glucuronidase - PPV Plum Pox Virus - BA 6-benzylaminopurine - NPTII neomycin phosphotransferase II - CP coat protein - CaMV Cauliflower Mosaic Virus - P35S 35S promoter - MS Murashige and Skoog - PCR polymerase chain reaction - P/C/I phenol/chloroform/isoamylalcohol - RNase ribonuclease - dNTP deoxyribonucleosidetriphosphate - DMSO dimethyl sulfoxide     

Increased anthraquinone production in Galium vernum cell cultures induced by polymeric adsorbents

Anthraquinones produced by suspension cultures of Galium vernum are completely retained intracellularly. Surprisingly, in the presence of some polymeric adsorbents anthraquinones are partially released into the culture medium. The secretion and in situ removal stimulates anthraquinone production in cell cultures of Galium vernum. Best results were obtained with Wofatit ES and Amberlite XAD-2.Abbreviations DW dry weight - MS Murashige & Skoog[7]medium - NAA 1-naphthaleneacetic acid     

Principles of environmental physics

Book Review

Principles of environmental physicsJ.L. Monteith and M.H. Unsworth Second edition. London: Edward Arnold, 1990. xii + 291 pages. £30.00 (hardback), £14.95 (paperback). ISBN 0-7131-2931-X     

Gill surface area of water-breathing freshwater fish

Summary To provide a hitherto lacking review which focuses on gill surface area of freshwater fish, we collected and analysed morphometric data from the literature. The scaling exponent of gill area ranges from 0.36 to 1.13, with a mean value of 0.76. The absolute values for the largest gill areas are about 5 times as high as those of the smallest. This range resembles that of marine fish, if specially adapted steady swimmers, such as tunnies and some sharks, are excluded. Generally it appears that the gill areas of freshwater fish are smaller than those of comparable marine species. To establish whether a relationship exists between gill area and swimming activity or oxygen content of water, the activity of each species and the oxygen content of its habitat were estimated and checked against the gill area. ANOVA revealed that activity explains the presence of the smallest gill areas only, while oxygen content does not correlate with gill area at all. The morphometric variables determining gill area (total length of filaments, average lamellar density, average lamellar area) are highly correlated; total gill area correlates mainly with lamellar density and to a lesser degree with filament length; lamellar area varies independently. Different populations of the same species exhibit striking differences with respect to gill areas, total length of filaments, average lamellar density and average lamellar area. These differences point to a substantial morphological plasticity of the gill system.     

Structural and chemical characterization of S-layers of selected strains ofBacillus stearothermophilus andDesulfotomaculum nigrificans

The structures, amino acid- and neutral sugar compositions of the crystalline surface layers (S-layers) of four selected strains each ofBacillus stearothermophilus andDesulfotomaculum nigrificans were compared. Among the four strains of each species a remarkable diversity in the molecular weights of the S-layer subunits and in the geometry and constants of the S-layer lattices was apparent. The crystalline arrays included hexagonal (p6), square (p4) and oblique (p2) lattices. In vitro self-assembly of isolated S-layer subunits (or S-layer fragments) led to the formation of flat sheets or open-ended cylindrical assembly products. The amino acid composition of the S-layers exhibited great similarities and was predominantly acidic. With the exception of the S-layers of two strains ofB. stearothermophilus (where only traces of neutral sugars could be detected), all other S-layer proteins seemed to be glycosylated. Among these strains significant differences in the amount and composition of the glycan portions were found. Based on this diversity interesting questions may be asked about the biological significance of the carbohydrate units of glycoproteins in prokaryotic organisms.     

The Mouse Glutathione PeroxidaseGpx2Gene Maps to Chromosome 12; Its PseudogeneGpx2-psMaps to Chromosome 7

TheGPX2gene codes for GSHPx-GI, a glutathione peroxidase whose mRNA is readily detectable in the gastrointestinal tract. AlthoughGPX2is a single gene in humans, there are two genes in the mouse genome with homology toGPX2.By analyzing a panel of mouse interspecies DNA from the Jackson Laboratory's backcross resource, we have chromosomally mapped these two genes. One was mapped to the central region of mouse chromosome 12 betweenD12Mit4andD12Mit5,nearfosandTgfb3.This region is homologous to human 14q24.1, where humanGPX2has been mapped, and most likely represents the functional mouseGpx2gene. The otherGpx2-like gene was mapped to mouse chromosome 7 betweenPcsk3andHbb.We have isolated the latter gene from a P1 phage library. Its pseudogene nature is revealed by the sequence analysis: (a) it is intronless; (b) it has a single nucleotide deletion in the coding region; and (c) it has a poly(A) tail at its 3′-untranslated region.