Is the Khanka Sawbelly <Emphasis Type="Italic">Hemiculter lucidus</Emphasis> (Cyprinidae) able to reproduce by gynogenesis?

The Khanka Sawbelly Hemiculter lucidus is characterized by a significant prevalence of females in catches of mature fish. By means of RAPD-analysis using 12 primers and karyological investigations, the assumption on the presence of a unisexual gynogenetic form in this species was checked. With consideration of the obtained data, the assumption on gynogenetic reproduction is rejected. Other causes of the shift in sex ratio towards females are discussed.     

The protein concentration of crude cell and tissue extracts as estimated by the method of dye binding: comparison with the Lowry method.

This paper describes a new, inexpensive, and highly sensitive voltammetric assay for aromatic l-amino acid decarboxylase (AADC) activity in rat and human brains by highperformance liquid chromatography (hplc). l-Dopa was used as substrate and d-dopa for the blank. After isolating dopamine formed enzymatically from l-dopa on a small Amberlite CG-50 column, the dopamine in the column eluate was assayed by hplc with a voltammetric detector. Dihydroxybenzylamine was added to each incubation mixture as an internal standard and therefore this assay was highly reproducible. The peak height in hplc was linear from 100 fmol to 100 pmol of dopamine. The values obtained by this method agreed with those by radioassay using [1-¹⁴C]dopa. The enzyme activity in rat cerebral cortex and in Parkinsonian caudate nucleus, in which the activity was too low to be measured even with the radioassay, could be measured accurately.     

The role of ombrophilic dissipotrophic bacteria in wood decomposition

The summarized experimental data on ombrophilic bacteria isolated from dystrophic waters formed by a mycobacterial community during the process of spruce wood decomposition are presented. It was demonstrated that the ombrophilic microbial community was characterized by wide phylogenetic diversity at the initial stage of spruce wood decomposition by xylotrophic fungi under low mineralization conditions. It was noted that bacteria were able to grow under acidic and ultrafresh conditions and most of them were referred to oligotrophs. It was determined that all isolated ombrophilic bacteria divided into three groups depending on the substrate specifity: saccharolytic, acidotrophic bacteria, and bacteria, which used C1-compounds as the substrate. The position of the ombrophilic bacteria in the trophic chain was determined.     

A new role for PGRP-S (Tag7) in immune defense: lymphocyte migration is induced by a chemoattractant complex of Tag7 with Mts1

PGRP-S (Tag7) is an innate immunity protein involved in the antimicrobial defense systems, both in insects and in mammals. We have previously shown that Tag7 specifically interacts with several proteins, including Hsp70 and the calcium binding protein S100A4 (Mts1), providing a number of novel cellular functions. Here we show that Tag7–Mts1 complex causes chemotactic migration of lymphocytes, with NK cells being a preferred target. Cells of either innate immunity (neutrophils and monocytes) or acquired immunity (CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ lymphocytes) can produce this complex, which confirms the close connection between components of the 2 branches of immune response.     

Activation of lipid peroxidation and changes in vitamin E contents in the lungs under oxidative stress]

The lipid peroxidation (LPO) of the lung tissue and the bronchoalveolar lavage in rats under the influence of immobilization has been investigated. The effects accompanying the development of oxidative stress in animals--an increase in the content of conjugated dienes and fluorescent LPO products in biological objects and a strong decrease in the content of vitamin E in the lung tissue were registered.