The Gene Encoding Flavanone 3-Hydroxylase is Expressed Normally in the Pale Yellow Flowers of the Japanese Morning Glory Carrying the speckled Mutation Which Produce Neither Flavonol nor Anthocyanin but Accumulate Chalcone, Aurone and Flavanone

The Japanese morning glory carrying the recessive mutable speckledallele with the dominant speckled-activator bears colorlessflowers with fine and round colored spots distributed over thecorolla whereas the plant without the speckled-activator producespale yellow flowers. Previous chemical analysis has indicatedthat a mutation in the gene for flavanone 3-hydroxylase (F3H)is a likely candidate for the speckled allele. However, theF3HmRNA without sequence alteration accumulates normally inthe pale yellow flowers, indicating that the speckled alleleis neither the F3H gene nor a regulatory gene acting on theF3H gene expression. (Received April 4, 1997; Accepted June 2, 1997)     

Evolution of green lacewings (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae): a molecular supermatrix approach

We present a time‐calibrated phylogeny of the charismatic green lacewings (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae). Previous phylogenetic studies on the family using DNA sequences have suffered from sparse taxon sampling and/or limited amounts of data. Here we combine all available previously published DNA sequence data and add to it new DNA sequences generated for this study. We analysed these data in a supermatrix using Bayesian and maximum likelihood methods and provide a phylogenetic hypothesis for the family that recovers strong support for the monophyly of all subfamilies and resolves relationships among a large proportion of chrysopine genera. Chrysopinae tribes Leucochrysini and Belonopterygini were recovered as monophyletic sister clades, while the species‐rich tribe Chrysopini was rendered paraphyletic by Ankylopterygini. Relationships among the subfamilies were resolved, although with relatively low statistical support, and the topology varied based on the method of analysis. Greatest support was found for Apochrysinae as sister to Nothochrysinae and Chrysopinae, which is in contrast to traditional concepts that place Nothochrysinae as sister to the rest of the family. Divergence estimates suggest that the stem groups to the various subfamilies diverged during the Triassic‐Jurassic, and that stem groups of the chrysopine tribes diverged during the Cretaceous.     

Determinants of Slow Walking Speed in Ambulatory Patients Undergoing Maintenance Hemodialysis

Walking ability is significantly lower in hemodialysis patients compared to healthy people. Decreased walking ability characterized by slow walking speed is associated with adverse clinical events, but determinants of decreased walking speed in hemodialysis patients are unknown. The purpose of this study was to identify factors associated with slow walking speed in ambulatory hemodialysis patients. Subjects were 122 outpatients (64 men, 58 women; mean age, 68 years) undergoing hemodialysis. Clinical characteristics including comorbidities, motor function (strength, flexibility, and balance), and maximum walking speed (MWS) were measured and compared across sex-specific tertiles of MWS. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to examine whether clinical characteristics and motor function could discriminate between the lowest, middle, and highest tertiles of MWS. Significant and common factors that discriminated the lowest and highest tertiles of MWS from other categories were presence of cardiac disease (lowest: odds ratio [OR] = 3.33, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.26–8.83, P<0.05; highest: OR = 2.84, 95% CI = 1.18–6.84, P<0.05), leg strength (OR = 0.62, 95% CI = 0.40–0.95, P<0.05; OR = 0.57, 95% CI = 0.39–0.82, P<0.01), and standing balance (OR = 0.76, 95% CI = 0.63–0.92, P<0.01; OR = 0.81, 95% CI = 0.68–0.97, P<0.05). History of fracture (OR = 3.35, 95% CI = 1.08–10.38; P<0.05) was a significant factor only in the lowest tertile. Cardiac disease, history of fracture, decreased leg strength, and poor standing balance were independently associated with slow walking speed in ambulatory hemodialysis patients. These findings provide useful data for planning effective therapeutic regimens to prevent decreases in walking ability in ambulatory hemodialysis patients.     

The augmentation of tumor-specific immunity using haptenic muramyl dipeptide (MDP) derivatives

Summary A new haptenic compound, a muramyl dipeptide (MDP) derivative (designated as L4-MDP-ONB) cross-reactive with Bacillus Calmette Guerin (BCG) was synthesized. The cross-reactivity of L4-MDP hapten to BCG was demonstrated from the following evidence; (a) lymph node cells from BCG-primed C3H/HeN mice exhibited appreciable L4-MDP-specific proliferative responses to the in vitro stimulation of L4-MDP-modified syngeneic cells (L4-MDP-self); (b) inoculation of L4-MDP-self into footpads of BCG-primed C3H/HeN mice elicited ample delayed type-hypersensitivity (DTH) responses in vivo as measured by footpad swelling; and (c) BCG-primed mice contained L4-MDP-reactive helper T cell activity which functions to augment the generation of effector T cell responses to cell surface antigens. This crossreactivity between L4-MDP hapten and BCG as measured by the helper T cell activity was applied to enhanced induction of tumor-specific immunity. When BCG-primed C3H/HeN mice were immunized with L4-MDP-modified syngeneic X5563 tumor cells, these mice could generate augmented tumor-specific in vivo protective (tumor neutralizing) immunity as well as in vitro cytotoxic T cell responses. These results indicate the effectiveness of L4-MDP hapten in augmenting tumor-specific immunity. The present approach is discussed in the context of potential advantages of this new hapten for its future application to clinical tumor systems.     

Measurement of Serine Acetyltransferase Activity in Crude Plant Extracts by a Coupled Assay System Using Cysteine Synthase

Serine acetyltransferase (SATase) (EC 2.3.1.30 [EC] ) catalyzes theformation of Oacetyl-L-serine (OAS) from L-serine in the presenceof acetyl-CoA. A novel assay method was developed for measuringthis enzyme activity in extracts from plant tissues. The assayconsists of a coupled system in which the OAS formed is convertedto cysteine by the addition of cysteine synthase (CSase) (EC4.2.99.8 [EC] ). Cysteine thus formed is determined colorimetricallyand serves as a measure for SATase activity. This method israpid, simple and sensitive, and can be readily adapted formeasurement of SATase activity in crude tissue extracts or homogenates. (Received January 14, 1987; Accepted April 27, 1987)     

Common signal transduction system shared by STE2 and STE3 in haploid cells of Saccharomyces cerevisiae: autocrine cell-cycle arrest results from forced expression of STE2

Induction of STE2 expression using the GAL1 promoter both in a wild-type MATalpha strain and in a MATalpha ste3 strain caused transient cell-cycle arrest and changes in morphology ('shmoo'-like phenotype) in a manner similar to alpha cells responding to alpha-factor. In addition, STE2 expressed in a MATalp[ha ste3 mutant allowed the cell to conjugate with alpha cells but at an efficiency lower than that of wil-type alpha cells. This result indicates that signal(s) generated by alpha-factor in alpha cells can be substituted by signal(s) generated by the interaction of alpha-factor with the expressed STE2 product. When STE2 or STE3 was expressed in a matalpha1 strain (insensitive to both alpha- and a-factors), the cell became sensitive to alpha- or a-factor, respectively, and resulted in morphological changes. These results suggest that STE2 and STE3 are the sole determinants for alpha-factor and a-factor sensitivity, respectively, in this strain. On the other hand, expression of STE2 in an a/alpha diploid cell did not affect the alpha-factor insensitive phenotype. Haploid-specific components may be necessary to transduce the alpha-factor signal. These results are consistent with the idea that STE2 encodes an alpha-factor receptor and STE3 encodes an a-factor receptor, and suggest that both alpha- and a-factors may generate an exchangeable signal(s) within haploid cells.     

B cell growth-promoting activity of recombinant human interleukin 4

Human interleukin 4 (IL-4), also known as B cell stimulatory factor 1, is a T cell-derived glycoprotein consisting of 129 amino acids for which a cDNA has been recently isolated. IL-4 displays little or no B cell growth factor (BCGF) activity in the standard anti-IgM costimulatory assay using suboptimal concentrations of soluble anti-IgM antibody whereas the low m.w. BCGF is very active. When insolubilized anti-IgM was used as the costimulating agent, both IL-4 and the low m.w. BCGF were found to promote B cell proliferation. Human IL-4 is able to induce the proliferation of B lymphocytes preactivated for either 1 day with insolubilized anti-IgM antibody or for 3 days with Staphylococcus aureus strain Cowan I. However, IL-4 is poorly mitogenic for B cells preactivated for 1 day with the Staphylococcus strain whereas the low m.w. BCGF strongly enhances the proliferation of these B cells. These two findings demonstrate that the preactivation signal necessary to induce human B cells to proliferate in response to IL-4 is critical. The increased tritiated thymidine ([3H]dThd) uptake in preactivated B cell cultures with IL-4 reflects cel proliferation because cell cycle analysis demonstrates that IL-4 induces activated B cells to enter the S and G2/M phases of the cell cycle and the addition of IL-4 to preactivated B cell cultures permits the recovery of three- to fourfold more B cells after 4 days of culture. IL-4 and the low m.w. BCGF act in concert to induce the proliferation of anti-IgM-preactivated B cells as demonstrated by [3H]dThd uptake and cell cycle analysis. In striking contrast to the demonstrated antagonistic effect of interferon-gamma on the IL-4-induced expression of the low affinity receptor for IgE (Fc epsilon RL/CD23), on B cells, it was found that interferon-gamma enhanced the IL-4-induced proliferation of anti-IgM-preactivated B cells. Finally, it was found that IL-4 had to be present continuously during the culture period to exert an optimal growth-promoting effect on B cell blasts. As a conclusion, IL-4 is able to induce the proliferation of an appropriately activated subpopulation of human B cells.