Modification of Maize Leaf Phosphoenolpyruvate Carboxylase with Fluorescein Isothiocyanate

Fluorescein isothiocyanate inactivates phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylasefrom maize leaves, presumably by reacting with lysyl groups.The reaction appears to involve at least two groups of lysineson the enzyme. The more rapid reaction is with groups whichare protected by the substratemagnesium phosphoenolpyruvateand thus probably are located in the active site. In addition,fluorescein isothiocyanate apparently binds more slowly at asite which desensitizes the enzyme to activation by glucose-6-phosphate. Using the fluorescence of the complex of fluorescein isothiocyanatewith phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase it was shown that bothmagnesium phosphoenolpyruvate and glucoses-6-phosphate causechanges in the conformation of the enzyme and influence thebinding of fluorescein isothiocyanate as well. Light scattering measurements showed that fluorescein isothiocyanateinduced disaggregation of the enzyme, while glucose-6-phosphatecaused aggregation, although less when fluorescein isothiocyanatewas present. ¹Supported in part by National Science Foundation grant no.DMB 88-12484.     

荧光素标记JH12.6探针进行的人DNA指纹图分析

采用荧光素标记和鲁米诺化学发光技术,建立了ＤＮＡ指纹图的分析方法。用该方法标记ＪＨ１２．６探针获得了清晰易读、分辨率高的人ＤＮＡ指纹图。经对云南省７８名无关个体进行ＤＮＡ指纹图分析,计算出无关个体的相关机率为７．４×１０（－１１）,平均等位基因频率为０．０９。比较同位素（３２）Ｐ标记方法表明,用荧光素标记ＪＨ１２．６探针进行人ＤＮＡ指纹图分析,具有简便、快速、安全、经济的特点,可在法医学鉴定及其它领域里推广应用。     

A Conjugate of Cellulase with Fluorescein Isothiocyanate: A Specific Stain for Cellulose

A fluorescent technique has been developed for in situ staining of cellulose. The staining agent is a conjugate of cellulase and fluorescein isothiocyanatc (FITC). Application of this agent does not disturb intercellular or intracellular substances. The technique depends on the specific binding of the fluorescent labeled enzyme to its substrate. The stain has been tested on cell-free noncellulose polysaccharides similar to cellulose and does not stain them. The technique has been used to localize cellulose during the life cycle of Dictyostelium discoideum with results that correspond to previous work using other methods.     

二次谐波结合双光子荧光成像方法观察人源胶原蛋白透皮吸收情况

目的:用二次谐波成像结合双光子荧光成像的方法观察人源胶原蛋白透皮吸收的情况。方法:将荧光标记的人源胶原蛋白(1 mg/mL)涂抹于小鼠表皮层经皮肤吸收1 h后用背向二次谐波观察皮肤内胶原纤维作为真皮层定位标志,用双光子扫描共聚焦显微镜观察人源胶原蛋白透皮吸收深度,吸收方式。结果:二次谐波成像结合双光子荧光成像表明人源胶原蛋白透皮吸收1 h后可观察到荧光信号沿着毛囊聚集,并有部分荧光分子由毛囊扩散至真皮层。结论:二次谐波可以更快速,更灵敏地检测皮肤中的胶原纤维,以此作为检测物质透皮吸收深度的定位标志,具有不受荧光信号干扰的优点。人源胶原蛋白可以沿着毛囊进入真皮层,并从毛囊中扩散至胶原纤维层从而补充皮肤中的胶原纤维。     

Conjugates of Chitinase with Fluorescein Isothiocyanate or Lissamine Rhodamine as Specific Stains for Chitin In Sztu

The fluorescent chitinase technique is based on the specific affinity of the enzyme for its substrate and applicable when an enzyme can be coupled with a fluorescent dye. Fluorescent chitinase specifically stained chitinous structures in several fungi and an insect, but failed to stain other polysaccharides in bacterial and algal cell walls. Freezing-microtome sections of Drosophila and fungal mycelia 6 μ thick were fixed in acetone for 5 min, then stained and mounted in fluorescent chitinase. Staining of smears of unsectioned fungal material required 5 min in absolute acetone, 5 min in 95% ethanol-1 N aqueous acetic acid (1:1), 10 min in 0.2 M phosphate buffer, PH 5.7, 1 sec in enzyme-dye conjugate, and 10 min in carbonate-bicarbonate buffer (0.2 M, pH 10.7, for chitinase-FITC; pH 7.6, for chitinase-LRBC). Preparations are viewed microscopically with ultraviolet light.     

Protein-protein Interactions Visualized by Bimolecular Fluorescence Complementation in Tobacco Protoplasts and Leaves

Many proteins interact transiently with other proteins or are integrated into multi-protein complexes to perform their biological function. Bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) is an in vivo method to monitor such interactions in plant cells. In the presented protocol the investigated candidate proteins are fused to complementary halves of fluorescent proteins and the respective constructs are introduced into plant cells via agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Subsequently, the proteins are transiently expressed in tobacco leaves and the restored fluorescent signals can be detected with a confocal laser scanning microscope in the intact cells. This allows not only visualization of the interaction itself, but also the subcellular localization of the protein complexes can be determined. For this purpose, marker genes containing a fluorescent tag can be coexpressed along with the BiFC constructs, thus visualizing cellular structures such as the endoplasmic reticulum, mitochondria, the Golgi apparatus or the plasma membrane. The fluorescent signal can be monitored either directly in epidermal leaf cells or in single protoplasts, which can be easily isolated from the transformed tobacco leaves. BiFC is ideally suited to study protein-protein interactions in their natural surroundings within the living cell. However, it has to be considered that the expression has to be driven by strong promoters and that the interaction partners are modified due to fusion of the relatively large fluorescence tags, which might interfere with the interaction mechanism. Nevertheless, BiFC is an excellent complementary approach to other commonly applied methods investigating protein-protein interactions, such as coimmunoprecipitation, in vitro pull-down assays or yeast-two-hybrid experiments.     

Labelling of Histone H5 and Its Interaction with DNA. 1. Histone H5 Labelling with Fluorescein Isothiocyanate

Abstract

Histone H5 has been labelled with fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) with particular attention to the reaction conditions (pH, reaction time and input FITC/H5 molar ratio) and to the complete elimination of non-covalently bound dye. We preferred to use reaction conditions which yielded non-specific uniform labelling rather than specific α-NH₂ terminal labelling, in order to obtain higher sensitivity in further studies dealing with the detection of perturbation at the binding sites of H5 on DNA.

FTTC-labelled H5 was further characterized by absorption and circular dichroism spectroscopy, and the fluorescein probe titrated in the 4–8 pH range. The structural integrity of H5 was found to be preserved after labelling. The positive electrostatic potential of the environment in which the FITC probe is embedded in the arginine/lysine-rich tails of H5 is believed to be responsible for the drop of pK of 1 unit found for H5-FITC as compared to free FITC. For the globular part of H5, the pK of covalently-bound UTC was only slightly lowered; this is a consequence of the much lower content in positively-charged amino-acid side chains in this region.     

Simultaneous Correlative Scanning Electron and High-NA Fluorescence Microscopy

Correlative light and electron microscopy (CLEM) is a unique method for investigating biological structure-function relations. With CLEM protein distributions visualized in fluorescence can be mapped onto the cellular ultrastructure measured with electron microscopy. Widespread application of correlative microscopy is hampered by elaborate experimental procedures related foremost to retrieving regions of interest in both modalities and/or compromises in integrated approaches. We present a novel approach to correlative microscopy, in which a high numerical aperture epi-fluorescence microscope and a scanning electron microscope illuminate the same area of a sample at the same time. This removes the need for retrieval of regions of interest leading to a drastic reduction of inspection times and the possibility for quantitative investigations of large areas and datasets with correlative microscopy. We demonstrate Simultaneous CLEM (SCLEM) analyzing cell-cell connections and membrane protrusions in whole uncoated colon adenocarcinoma cell line cells stained for actin and cortactin with AlexaFluor488. SCLEM imaging of coverglass-mounted tissue sections with both electron-dense and fluorescence staining is also shown.     

Fluorescence Microscopic Observations on Actin Filament Distribution in Corn Pollen and Gladiolus Pollen Protoplasts

Actin filament (AF) distribution in Zea mays pollen and Gladiolus gandavensis pollen protoplasts was localized by FITC conjugated phalloidin fluorescence microprobe. The pollen was incubated in Brewbaker and Kwack (BK) medium, and the pollen protoplasts were isolated enzymatically and cultured in K3 medium containing various supplements by a previously reported method. Samples were fixed for 30 min with 1.5% paraformaldehyde dissolved in 0.1 mol/1 phosphate buffer (pH 7), half strength of BK elements, 1 mol/1 EGTA and sucrose, stained for 30–60 min with 1 μg/ml FITC-phalloidin in the buffer solution, and observed by a fluorescence microscopy. In hydrated corn pollen grains, the AFs constituted an irregular network. Prior to germination a part of the pollen grains showed polarized pattern of Afs. At the opposite pole to the germ pore, there was a center from which AF bundles radiated and converged toward the pore, often making a spindle-shaped configuration. In just isolated gladiolus pollen protoplasts, the AFs appeared as irregular fine network. After 4–7h of culture, the AF distribution coincided in some cases with the unevenly regenerated new wall area as exhibited by FITC-phalloidin and Calcofluor White ST double staining, indicating a possible involvement of AF in wall synthesis. After 17–18 h of culture, a part of the pollen protoplasts went on germination. The AFs became polarized in such protoplasts and converged into the tubes produced, and ran longitudinally along the tubes just like in the tubes germinated from pollen grains. However, in ungerminated pollen protoplasts, the AFs behaved abnormalty, showing various irregular arrangements. When protoplasts bursted, the actin aggregates often located at the protrusion site from which the protoplasts would burst, and were discharged into the medium. In neither corn pollen nor gladiolus pollen protoplasts AFs were observed within the generative or sperm cells.     

FDA-PI荧光双色法快速评价小鼠桑椹胚活力

胚胎移植成功与否关键取决于胚胎的存活力和发育能力,但是胚胎的存活力很难预知.本实验以小鼠桑椹胚为材料,研究荧光物质二乙酰荧光素(Fluorescein diacetate,FDA)-碘化丙啶(Propidium iodide,PI)在胚胎活力检测上的应用,同时检测两种荧光物质FDA和PI对小鼠桑椹胚的毒负作用,再通过胚胎移植来最终证明荧光标记的可靠性.实验结果表明,荧光物质FDA和PI能分别标记强活力胚胎、弱活力胚胎和死胚胎,且FDA对胚胎无毒负作用,PI对透明带完整的胚胎也无毒负作用,所以FDA-PI荧光双色法是一种简捷、安全而有效的的小鼠胚胎活力评价方法.     

光敏生物素标记总DNA探针对大豆根瘤菌的检测

以光敏生物素标记慢生型大豆根瘤菌(Bradyrhizobium japonicum)USDA110总DNA作为探针,与快生型大豆根瘤菌杂交时,没有杂交斑点形成,而与慢生型大豆根瘤菌中的部分菌株能形成杂交斑点,表明该探针具有种和部分菌株特异性,用该探针与压碎的根瘤汁液进行DNA杂交,检测USDA110在不灭菌的盆栽土壤中的竞争结瘤能力,发现USDA110在大豆不同生育期的占瘤率为70%～90%。     

Identification of a Rapidly Labelled 350K Histidine-Rich Protein in Neonatal Mouse Epidermis

Abstract. The major histidine-rich protein (HRP) found in the stratum corneum of neonatal mouse epidermis (band 2 protein, molecular weight 27,000) is a relatively late product of epidermal differentiation and incorporates labelled amino acids in vivo only after a 6–9 h lag period. A number of putative precursor HRPs in the 70–300 K molecular weight range were initially identified using short pulse labelling times and our previously described methods for isolation of epidermis and extraction of proteins. However, when steps were taken to minimise proteolysis during preparation, a single species of approximately 350 K molecular weight was the most strongly labelled protein following a 1 h in vivo pulse of [³H]-histidine. This protein was stable in sodium dodecyl sulphate dithiothreitol at 100°C and in 4 M urea, suggesting a single covalently linked polypeptide. The kinetics of labelling and the localisation of the 350 K HRP in the lower granular layers suggest that it is a precursor of the stratum corneum HRP. The processing of the 350 K HRP to the stratum corneum species appears to involve a complex series of specific cleavage steps which give rise to a number of HRPs of intermediate molecular weight.     

Evaluation of Fluorescein Isothiocyanate-labeled Whole Antiserum in the Immunofluorescent Identification of Microorganisms

Portions of a whole antiserum to Histoplasma capsulatum were reacted with amounts of fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) that ranged from 50 to 400 mug/mg of protein. Portions of the globulin from the same antiserum were reacted with amounts of FITC that ranged from 12.5 to 50 mug of FITC per mg of protein. The globulin conjugates (postlabeled globulins), the whole serum conjugates, and the globulins from the whole serum conjugates (prelabeled globulins) were compared with respect to their fluorescein-protein (F:P) ratios and fluorescent-antibody (FA) activities. The whole serum sample treated with 50 mug of FITC per mg of protein was least reactive in FA tests, and its globulin had the lowest F:P. All other conjugates had globulins with F:P ratios that were considered to be adequate for high FA activity. It was found, however, that the prelabeled globulins were considerably less reactive than the postlabeled globulins or the whole serum conjugates. A larger amount of brightly staining reagent per milliliter of original serum could be obtained from labeled whole serum than from postlabeled globulin. Lissamine-rhodamine conjugated to bovine serum albumin (LRBSA) was evaluated as a counterstain to be used in conjunction with FITC-labeled whole antisera. The counterstain was effective in masking nonspecific FITC fluorescence in Formalin-fixed tissues and in culture smears of fungi. Masking was incomplete in culture smears of a bacterium and in blood smears containing a protozoan.     

Flow Cytometric Fluorescence Anisotropy of Lipophilic Probes in Epidermal and Mesophyll Protoplasts from Water-Stressed Lupinus albus L

The blue emission anisotropy, r, of two lipophilic probes, diphenylhexatriene (DPH) and its trimethyl-ammonium derivative (TMA-DPH), has been measured in foliar Lupinus albus L. protoplasts for the first time by flow cytometry. Distinctive values have been obtained for protoplasts of epidermal and mesophyll origin, identified by their intensities of chlorophyll fluorescence. Fluorescence microscopy confirmed that TMA-DPH remained in the plasma membrane while DPH penetrated into intracellular lipid domains. Typical emission anisotropy values at 22°C for mesophyll and epidermal protoplasts, respectively, were 0.225 and 0.312 with TMA-DPH, and 0.083 and 0.104 with DPH. This indicates that epidermal cells—and notably their plasma membranes (TMA-DPH)—have higher lipid microviscosity and/or more ordered lipid structure. Two lupin genotypes characterized as resistant or susceptible to drought were analyzed with or without 9 days of water stress shown to increase ion leakage from foliar discs. Water stress greatly increased the apparent fluidity, and more so in the susceptible genotype; the effect was more pronounced in the chlorophyll-containing mesophyll cells than in the epidermal cells.     

Computer-Assisted Identification of Protoplasts Responsible for Rare Division Events Reveals Guard-Cell Totipotency

With the use of a computer-controlled microscope system to assist in the positioning and rapid relocation of large numbers of cultured cells, we were able to identify those protoplasts with the capacity to divide within a highly recalcitrant culture in which only a tiny fraction of the total population proceeds to produce viable microcalli. In the cultures used, comprising Beta vulgaris L. (sugar beet) leaf protoplasts, it was confirmed that these cells can be recognized solely on the basis of morphological characters. Therefore, a direct link exists between competence for cell division in vitro and cell type. Divergent callus morphologies and totipotent potential could also be ascribed to distinct protoplast types and hence to cells with a specific origin. The progenitors of the totipotent protoplasts in these cultures have been confirmed as being stomatal guard cells. Consequently, in plants even the most highly adapted living cells clearly retain and can reactivate all of the functional genetic information necessary to recreate the whole organism; an extreme degree of cytodifferentiation is, therefore, no hindrance to expressing totipotent potential. In addition to the considerable practical value of these findings, their implications concerning our understanding of both the control of gene expression and plant cell differentiation and its reversibility are of fundamental significance.     

Eutrema Wasabi中异硫氰酸酯提取、含量测定及其影响因素

为弄清EutremaWasabi中各部分的异硫氰酸酯的含量,分别对Wasabi种子、叶、须根、根茎打浆水解后,采用高温蒸馏法和常温乙醚萃取,分别提取不同部位中的异硫氰酸酯,并用六氢吡啶法对各部分所提取的异硫氰酸酯进行测定,研究结果表明,在反应时间为45min、水解pH4.2的最佳条件下,Wasabi的根茎中异硫氰酸酯的含量最高,为0.841%;须根中为次之,为0.575%;叶中最少为0.309%。种子仅在反应65min的时候,异硫氰酸酯的含量最高为0.309%。当提取异硫氰酸酯时pH<4或pH>7且六氢吡啶与异硫氰酸酯反应时间低于35min,高于75min时所测定的异硫氰酸酯含量均低于作者实验结果。这为进一步开发利用Wasabi植物提供了理论依据。     

Colonial Morphology and Fluorescent Labelled Antibody Staining in the Identification of Species of the Genus Clostridium

The morphological and colonial appearances of a number of species of Clostridium are described and illustrated. The advantages of surface culture on appropriately supplemented media on stiff agar plates for the isolation and purification of anaerobic organisms are given. The use of fluorescent labelled antibody technique in the diagnosis of anaerobic disease is discussed.     

Simultaneous Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization of mRNA and rRNA in Environmental Bacteria

We developed for Bacteria in environmental samples a sensitive and reliable mRNA fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) protocol that allows for simultaneous cell identification by rRNA FISH. Samples were carbethoxylated with diethylpyrocarbonate to inactivate intracellular RNases and pretreated with lysozyme and/or proteinase K at different concentrations. Optimizing the permeabilization of each type of sample proved to be a critical step in avoiding false-negative or false-positive results. The quality of probes as well as a stringent hybridization temperature were determined with expression clones. To increase the sensitivity of mRNA FISH, long ribonucleotide probes were labeled at a high density with cis-platinum-linked digoxigenin (DIG). The hybrid was immunocytochemically detected with an anti-DIG antibody labeled with horseradish peroxidase (HRP). Subsequently, the hybridization signal was amplified by catalyzed reporter deposition with fluorochrome-labeled tyramides. p-Iodophenylboronic acid and high concentrations of NaCl substantially enhanced the deposition of tyramides and thus increased the sensitivity of our approach. After inactivation of the antibody-delivered HRP, rRNA FISH was performed by following routine protocols. To show the broad applicability of our approach, mRNA of a key enzyme of aerobic methane oxidation, particulate methane monooxygenase (subunit A), was hybridized with different types of samples: pure cultures, symbionts of a hydrothermal vent bivalve, and even sediment, one of the most difficult sample types with which to perform successful FISH. By simultaneous mRNA FISH and rRNA FISH, single cells are identified and shown to express a particular gene. Our protocol is transferable to many different types of samples with the need for only minor modifications of fixation and permeabilization procedures.