Chromosomal localization of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) in the rhesus monkey and chimpanzee by fluorescence in situ hybridization.

Genes for the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) were localized by fluorescence in situ hybridization to the long arm of rhesus monkey chromosome 5. This localization contradicts previous reports, based on genetic investigation of somatic cell hybrids, that placed the MHC on chromosome 2 of this species. In the chimpanzee, the MHC loci were localized to 5p21.3, corresponding precisely to their location on human chromosome 6p21.3.     

Contest and scramble competitions inCallosobruchus maculatus (Coleoptera: Bruchidae) II. Larval competition and interference mechanisms

Competition between contest and scramble strategists was examined using two strains of Callosobruchus maculatus, the contest strain (iQ) and the scramble strain (tQ). The direct larval interference experiment within each strain showed that the contest strain performed strong direct interference throughout its larval stage against the conspecific opponent(s). The scramble strain also performed its interference, but only during the 3rd and the 4th larval stages. The inter-strain larval competition experiments inside a large and small mung bean (Vigna radiata) showed that the contest strain was, in general, superior to the scramble strain in competition, but the competition results were density- and frequency-dependent. In the large beans, the proportion of adult emergence of the contest strain increased with the increase of its own initial density but decreased as the initial density of the scramble strain increased. The shape of the proportion of adult emergence became nonlinear in the small beans. The cause of the complexity of inter-strain competition results was discussed in the light of the difference in larval interference ability between the two strains.     

Site of production of meiosis-inducing substance in ovary of starfish

The site of production of meiosis-inducing substance (MIS), produced in the ovary under the influence of gonad-stimulating substance (GSS) taken from radial nerves, was studied with the starfish, Asterina pectinifera. The rate of oocyte maturation observed in isolated oocytes with follicles kept in sea water containing GSS (100 μg/ml) was generally low when a small number of eggs per unit quantity of sea water was used. However, with increased number of oocytes per milliliter of GSS-sea water, the maturation rate increased up to 100% (10⁴ eggs/ml). The supernatant of such an incubation mixture of oocytes and GSS contained an appreciable amount of MIS. When a large number of oocytes (10⁴/ml) was used, the rate of oocyte maturation increased with the rise in concentration of GSS. Isolated follicles were found to produce MIS when incubated in sea water containing GSS, suggesting that the site of production of MIS is the follicle cells. The physiological role of the follicle cells surrounding the full grown oocytes seems to be to produce MIS just before spawning under the influence of GSS.     

Accumulation of Phenylpropanoids in the Cotyledons of Morning Glory (Pharbitis nil) Seedlings during the Induction of Flowering by Low Temperature Treatment, and the Effect of Precedent Exposure to High-Intensity Light

Extracts from the cotyledons of seedlings of Pharbitis nil strain‘Violet’ cultured at low temperature, which inducestheir flowering even in continuous light, with or without precedentexposure to high-intensity light, which shortens the periodof low temperature required for flowering, were analyzed byHPLC for substances correlating with the flower-inducing process.The content of two phenylpropanoids were found to increase duringthe low-temperature, and were identified as 3-O-feruloylquinicacid and dehydrodiconiferyl alcohol-13-O-ß-D-glucoside.The increase was more rapid in the cotyledons exposed to high-intensitylight before the low-temperature. This suggests that the accumulationof these compounds is correlated to the promotive effect ofhigh-intensity light on the flower-induction by low temperature. (Received March 7, 1994; Accepted April 2, 1994)     

Intervention of somatic mutational events in vivo by a germline defect at the adenine phosphoribosyltransferase locus

Both germline and somatic mutations are known to affect phenotypes of human cells in vivo. In previous studies, we cloned mutant peripheral blood T cells from germline heterozygous humans for adenine phosphoribosyltransferase (APRT) (EC 2.4.2.7) deficiency and found that approximately 1.3 × 10^–4 peripheral T cells had undergone in vivo somatic mutations. Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) was the major cause of the mutations at the APRT locus since approximately 80% of the mutant T cell clones exhibited loss of normal alleles. In the present study, we identified three heterozygous individuals for APRT deficiency (representing two separate families), in whom none of the somatic mutant cells exhibited LOH at the APRT locus. The germline mutant APRT alleles of these heterozygotes from two unrelated families had the same gross DNA abnormalities detectable by Southern blotting. None of the germline mutant APRT alleles so far reported had such gross DNA abnormalities. The data suggest that the germline mutation unique to these heterozygous individuals is associated with the abrogation of LOH in somatic cells. The absence of LOH at a different locus has already been reported in vitro in an established cell line but the present study describes the first such event in vivo in human individuals. Received: 10 May 1996