Efficient DNA transformation of Bradyrhizobium japonicum by electroporation.

Intact cells of Bradyrhizobium japonicum USDA 110 were transformed with a 30-kilobase plasmid to efficiencies of 10(6) to 10(7) transformants per microgram by high-voltage electroporation. The technique was reliable and simple, with single colonies arising from transformed cells within 5 days of antibiotic selection. Plasmid DNA from B. japonicum transformed the Bradyrhizobium (Arachis) sp. with high efficiency, while the same plasmid extracted from Escherichia coli transformed B. japonicum at very low efficiency. The electrical conditions that resulted in the highest efficiencies were high voltage (10.5 to 12.5 kV/cm) and short pulse length (6 to 7 ms). A linear increase in the number of transformants was observed as DNA concentration was increased over 4 orders of magnitude; saturation appeared to begin between 120 ng/ml and 1.2 micrograms/ml. This novel method of transformation should enhance B. japonicum genetic research by providing a valuable alternative to conjugal mating, which is currently the only efficient, widely used means of introducing DNA into this organism.     

Efficient DNA transformation of Bradyrhizobium japonicum by electroporation

Intact cells of Bradyrhizobium japonicum USDA 110 were transformed with a 30-kilobase plasmid to efficiencies of 10(6) to 10(7) transformants per microgram by high-voltage electroporation. The technique was reliable and simple, with single colonies arising from transformed cells within 5 days of antibiotic selection. Plasmid DNA from B. japonicum transformed the Bradyrhizobium (Arachis) sp. with high efficiency, while the same plasmid extracted from Escherichia coli transformed B. japonicum at very low efficiency. The electrical conditions that resulted in the highest efficiencies were high voltage (10.5 to 12.5 kV/cm) and short pulse length (6 to 7 ms). A linear increase in the number of transformants was observed as DNA concentration was increased over 4 orders of magnitude; saturation appeared to begin between 120 ng/ml and 1.2 micrograms/ml. This novel method of transformation should enhance B. japonicum genetic research by providing a valuable alternative to conjugal mating, which is currently the only efficient, widely used means of introducing DNA into this organism.     

Effect of dimethyl sulphoxide and some antibiotics on cultured human T-lymphoma cells as measured by microcalorimetry

The influence of dimethyl sulphoxide (I), penicillin/streptomycin (II), gentamicin (III), and amphotericin B (IV) on growing human T-lymphoma cells was measured by microcalorimetry. There was a dose-dependent decrease in the heat production rate of the cells after 24 h of incubation with I in concentrations ranging from 0-2% (v/v). At 3.6%, about half of the cells died. II and III had no effect on the cells after incubation for 6 days, at concentrations from 1 to 10 times that of the normal (50-500 IU/ml; 50-500 micrograms/ml). IV was used in combination with II (50 IU/ml; 50 micrograms/ml) and III (50 micrograms/ml), respectively, at concentrations between 0.25 and 7.5 micrograms/ml. After 6 days of incubation, the results were similar to those obtained with II and III separately.     

The effect of pregnant mare's serum and chorionic gonadotropic hormone on the capacity of bovine oocytes, matured in vitro, for parthenogenetic activation by cycloheximide]

The effect of chorionic gonadotropic hormone (HG) and pregnant mare serum (PMS) on the capacity of cattle oocytes for spontaneous maturation and parthenogenetic formation of the female pronucleus was studied in situ and in vitro. HG added to the culture medium had no effect, irrespective of the dosage. However, perfusion of cow ovaries with HG at a dose of 2 micrograms/ml for 1 h abolished the block of meiosis I in 80% oocytes. About 25% oocytes reached metaphase II (MII) and telophase II (TII); 30% oocytes acquired the capacity to form female pronucleus upon the action of cycloheximide (25 Mg/ml). Perfusion of cow ovaries with PMS at a dose of 5 MU/ml for 1 h resulted in elimination of the block of meiosis I in 95% oocytes; 26% oocytes reached MII and TII, and about 17% oocytes acquired the capacity to form female pronucleus.     

Trichlorfon predisposes to aneuploidy and interferes with spindle formation in in vitro maturing mouse oocytes

The pesticide trichlorfon (TCF) has been implicated in human trisomy 21, and in errors in chromosome segregation at male meiosis II in the mouse. We previously provided evidence that TCF interferes with spindle integrity and cell-cycle control during murine oogenesis. To assess the aneugenic activity of TCF in oogenesis, we presently analysed maturation, spindle assembly, and chromosome constitution in mouse oocytes maturing in vitro in the presence of 50 or 100 microg/ml TCF for 16 h or in pulse-chase experiments. TCF stimulated maturation to meiosis II at 50 microg/ml, but arrested meiosis in some oocytes at 100 microg/ml. TCF at 100 microg/ml was aneugenic causing non-disjunction of homologous chromosomes at meiosis I, a significant increase of the hyperploidy rate at metaphase II, and a significant rise in the numbers of oocytes that contained a 'diploid' set of metaphase II chromosomes (dyads). TCF elevated the rate of precocious chromatid segregation (predivision) at 50 and 100 microg/ml. Pulse-chase experiments with 100 microg/ml TCF present during the first 7 h or the last 9 h of maturation in vitro did not affect meiotic progression and induced intermediate levels of hyperploidy at metaphase II. Exposure to > or =50 microg/ml TCF throughout maturation in vitro induced severe spindle aberrations at metaphase II, and over one-third of the oocytes failed to align all chromosomes at the spindle equator (congression failure). These observations suggest that exposure to high concentrations of TCF induces non-disjunction at meiosis I of oogenesis, while lower doses may preferentially cause errors in chromosome segregation at meiosis II due to disturbances in spindle function, and chromosome congression as well as precocious separation of chromatids prior to anaphase II. The data support evidence from other studies that TCF has to be regarded as a germ cell aneugen.     

Effects of Prolactin in Different Culture Systems on the Maturation of Bovine Oocytes and Their Capacity for Subsequent Development

We studied the influence of bovine prolactin on the maturation of cumulus-enclosed bovine oocytes in different culture systems as well as on their capacity for subsequent development after in vitrofertilization. The prolactin effect on chromosome transformations in oocytes depended on the hormone concentration in the medium with fetal calf serum. Prolactin at 50 ng/ml proved to stimulate nuclear maturation of the oocytes. This concentration was used to compare various systems of oocytes cultivation. The prolactin effect on bovine oocytes maturation and their capacity for subsequent development depended on the composition of the cultivation medium. The introduction of prolactin into the medium with fetal calf serum, estradiol, and a follicle-stimulating hormone had no effect on the reinitiation of meiosis in the oocytes but stimulated its completion, which increased the proportion of the oocytes at telophase I and metaphase II stages as well as the proportion of the eggs cleft after fertilization. Prolactin affected neither the nuclear maturation nor the capacity for further development of the oocytes cultivated in the medium with the serum of estrous cows. The addition of prolactin to the medium with calf serum where the oocytes and granulosa cells were cocultured increased the subsequent yield of the embryos developed to the morula and blastocyst stages. In this culture system, the hormone did not affect the rate of oocytes that reached the final stages of meiosis but inhibited their transition from telophase I to metaphase II. We propose that prolactin may favor the completion of cytoplasmic modifications going into the maturing oocyte.     

Progression throughout All Stages of Meiosis from the Early Prophase of Newt Primary Spermatocytes in vitro

Stages of prophase of living primary spermatocytes were determined by use of Rose culture chambers (1). Dissociated primary spermatocytes were cultured at low cell-density in a collagen matrix at 22°C or 27°C and the percentages of cells which had progressed from various stages in prophase through meiosis to various advanced stages were measured. In a standard medium (Leibovitz-15 + 10% fetal bovine serum), more than 70% of the primary spermatocytes at stages beyond the pachytene stage could advance to round spermatids with flagella within a few days at 22°C. The percentages of cells that progressed from stages before the late zygotene stage were less, but at least 13 % of leptotene cells reached metaphase I within a week at 22°C. The percentage of cells that progressed was slightly lower at 27°C than at 22°C: 6.3 and 4.3 days were required for progress from leptotene to metaphase I at 22°C and 27C, respectively. Fetal bovine serum was not indispensable for progression through meiosis. Moreover, 0.5–5.0 μg/ml ovine follicle stimulating hormone (NIAMDD-o-FSH-13), 0.01–1.0 μg/ml 5α-dihydrotestosterone and 1.0 μg/ml testosterone propionate had no significant effect in increasing the percentage of cell progression at 22°C.     

Induction and inhibition of meiotic maturation of follicle-enclosed porcine oocytes in vitro

Isolated porcine Graafian follicles which were explanted in vitro and maintained in organ culture were used as a test-system for the meiosis-inducing action of PMSG and hCG. The addition of either PMSG or hCG alone (10 or 20 IU/ml, respectively) to the culture medium was not effective, whereas the simultaneous administration of these hormones ($\text{15}\text{15}\text{IU/ml}$) induced resumption of meiosis in 90.3% ($\text{37}\text{41}$). The same hormone concentrations were used in a second series of experiments in which the inhibition and induction of meiosis of isolated oocytes were tested by transferring them into host follicles. In host follicles containing up to 12 foreign eggs, which were cultured in control media, meiosis was prevented in 86.0% of all oocytes ($\text{104}\text{121}$). By adding PMSG (15 IU/ml) simultaneously with hCG (15 IU/ml) to the medium, meiosis was induced in 95.0% of all oocytes ($\text{133}\text{140}$).The assumption is made that the signal initiating resumption of meiosis of the isolated and transferred oocytes is mediated by the follicular fluid, since intimate contact with the membrana granulosa of the host follicle was prevented by using a roller technique.     

Complexation of the fungal metabolite tenuazonic acid with copper (II), iron (III), nickel (II), and magnesium (II) ions

Tenuazonic acid (TA) is a phytotoxin produced by a fungal pathogen of rice, Pyricularia oryzae. We have synthesized and characterized the metal complexes of TA with copper (II), iron (III), nickel (II), and magnesium (II). The stoichiometry of the complexes determined by microanalysis and mass spectroscopy (D/CI) are Cu(II)TA2, Fe(III)TA3, Ni(II)TA2, and Mg(TA)2. Voltammograms of Fe(III)TA3, and Cu(II)TA2 in methanolic solutions confirmed this stoichiometry. Ni(II)TA2 paramagnetism and visible absorption data suggest an octahedral geometry. Fe(III)TA3 showed a characteristic visible absorption at 450 nm. Addition of Fe(III)Cl3 and Mg(II)Cl2 did not reverse the toxicity of NaTA to rice and bacterial cells, showing that this toxicity is not due to the privation of the cells of these metals essential for cell growth.     

The temporal and spatial distribution of the proliferation associated Ki-67 protein during female and male meiosis

We used immunolocalization in tissue sections and cytogenetic preparations of female and male gonads to study the distribution of the proliferation marker pKi-67 during meiotic cell cycles of the house mouse, Mus musculus. During male meiosis, pKi-67 was continuously present in nuclei of all stages from the spermatogonium through spermatocytes I and II up to the earliest spermatid stage (early round spermatids) when it appeared to fade out. It was not detected in later spermatid stages or sperm. During female meiosis, pKi-67 was present in prophase I oocytes of fetal ovaries. It was absent in oocytes from newborn mice and most oocytes of primordial follicles from adults. The Ki-67 protein reappeared in oocytes of growing follicles and was continuously present up to metaphase II. Thus, pKi-67 was present in all stages of cell growth and cell division while it was absent from resting oocytes and during the main stages of spermiocytogenesis. Progression through the meiotic cell cycle was associated with extensive intranuclear relocation of pKi-67. In the zygotene and pachytene stages, most of the pKi-67 colocalized with centromeric (centric and pericentric) heterochromatin and adjacent nucleoli; the heterochromatic XY body in male pachytene, however, was free of pKi-67. At early diplotene, pKi-67 was mainly associated with nucleoli. At late diplotene, diakinesis, metaphase I and metaphase II of meiosis, pKi-67 preferentially bound to the perichromosomal layer and was almost absent from the heterochromatic centromeric regions of the chromosomes. After the second division of male meiosis, the protein reappeared at the centromeric heterochromatin and an adjacent region in the earliest spermatid stage and then faded out. The general patterns of pKi-67 distribution were comparable to those in mitotic cell cycles. With respect to the timing, it is interesting to note that relocation from the nucleolus to the perichromosomal layer takes place at the G2/M-phase transition in the mitotic cell cycle but at late diplotene of prophase I in meiosis, suggesting physiological similarity of these stages.     

Developmental regulation of a sporulation-specific enzyme activity in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

An alpha-glucosidase activity (SAG) occurs in a/alpha Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells beginning at about 8 to 10 h after the initiation of sporulation. This enzyme is responsible for the rapid degradation of intracellular glycogen which follows the completion of meiosis in these cells. SAG differs from similar activities present in vegetative cells and appears to be a sporulation-specific enzyme. Cells arrested at various stages in sporulation (DNA replication, recombination, meiosis I, and meiosis II) were examined for SAG activity; the results show that SAG appearance depends on DNA synthesis and some recombination events but not on the meiotic divisions.     

Overall changes in chromatin sensitivity to DNase I during differentiation

The DNase I sensitivity of total chromatin was studied in fixed cells and nuclei isolated from proliferating and terminally differentiated cells, by measuring the incorporation of labelled nucleotides into DNase-sensitive sites, and electrophoresis of DNA isolated from DNase-treated nuclei. The unfixed nuclei were sensitive to digestion at around 10 micrograms/ml, the fixed cells at 30 ng/ml DNase I concentration. Proliferating Rauscher leukemia cells were more digestible than normal spleen cells. The DNase I sensitivity of the human HL60 leukemia line decreased upon DMSO-induced differentiation but still exceeded the digestibility of nuclei from normal human peripheral blood. A novel flow-cytometric technique was developed to study DNase sensitivity at the cell level. It confirmed the relative resistance of differentiated cells to DNase I and ruled out the possibility that this could be due to an altered distribution of cell cycle phases. The overall DNase I sensitivity of chromatin was compared with the sensitivity of the c-myc gene and the myc-associated hypersensitive sites. The latter sites were detected at 1 microgram/ml DNase I in HL60 nuclei. They disappeared partially upon DMSO-induced differentiation. At 10 micrograms/ml, myc was degraded in both growing and differentiating HL60, but not in HPB cells. These data suggest that a progressive condensation of the chromatin occurs during terminal differentiation which gradually involves specific genes that need to be inactivated.     

Mutagenesis in multinucleate cells: the effects of N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine on Phycomyces spores

Multinucleate cells, such as the spores of the fungus Phycomyces, are unsuitable for the isolation of recessive mutants. Nuclear killing by N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (henceforth nitrosoguanidine) eliminates all but one of the nuclei in some of the cells and allows the expression of recessive mutations. Even in the best conditions, only about 35% of the survivors have a single functional nucleus. Functionally uninucleate cells can be positively selected. This involves the exposure to nitrosoguanidine of the spores of a heterokaryon and selection for a recessive marker present in a small fraction of its nuclei. The optimal conditions for nitrosoguanidine mutagenesis in Phycomyces differ from those for bacteria and yeast. Buffer composition and pH are less important than in other organisms. Survival is an exponential function and mutation induction a linear function of the dose of the mutagen (concentration X time). Spore germination leads to an immediate increase in the number of gene copies per cell, thus further hindering the expression of recessive mutations; dominant mutations are then nearly always isolated in heterokaryotic form.     

洋葱小孢子母细胞减数分裂过程中微管分布变化

应用间接免疫荧光标记技术和激光共聚焦扫描显微镜成像技术观察洋葱小孢子母细胞减数分裂过程中微管分布变化。减数分裂之前,小孢子母细胞中的微管较短,呈辐射状,由细胞核表面向四周扩散。减数分裂开始后,细胞质中的一部分微管蛋白聚集成纺锤体微管,控制染色体的分布。进入减数分裂I后期,纺锤体微管变为牵引染色体移向两极的着丝粒微管和连接纺锤体两极的极丝微管。之后,所有微管集中在两个核之间,构成成膜体。然后,微管解聚成微管蛋白弥散在细胞质中。减数分裂I完成后,二分体2个子细胞中的微管蛋白又聚集成2个纺锤体微管,开始减数分裂II过程。经过减数分裂II中期,2个二分体细胞中的微管再次集中在2个细胞核之间形成成膜体,隔离2个细胞核。此后,微管蛋白解聚,弥散分布在小孢子细胞质中。     

Effect of prolactin in different culture systems on maturation of bovine oocytes and their ability for further development]

We studied the influence of bovine prolactin on the maturation of cumulus-enclosed bovine oocytes in different culture systems as well as on their capacity for subsequent development after in vitro fertilization. The prolactin effect on chromosome transformations in oocytes depended on the hormone concentration in the medium with fetal calf serum. Prolactin at 50 ng/ml proved to stimulate nuclear maturation of the oocytes. This concentration was used to compare various systems of oocytes cultivation. The prolactin effect on bovine oocytes maturation and their capacity for subsequent development depended on the composition of the cultivation medium. The introduction of prolactin into the medium with fetal calf serum, estradiol, and follicle-stimulating hormone had no effect on the reinitiation of meiosis in the oocytes but stimulated its completion, which increased the proportion of the oocytes at the telophase I and metaphase II stages as well as the proportion of the eggs cleft after fertilization. Prolactin affected neither the nuclear maturation nor the capacity for further development of the oocytes cultivated in the medium with serum of estrous cows. The addition of prolactin to the medium with calf serum where the oocytes and granulosa cells were cocultured increased the subsequent yield of the embryos developed to the morula and blastocyst stages. In this culture system, the hormone did not affect the rate of oocytes that reached the final stages of meiosis but inhibited their transition from telophase I to metaphase II. We propose that prolactin may favor the completion of cytoplasmic modifications going into the maturing oocyte.     

Staining the nuclei in cells and protoplasts of living yeasts,moulds and green algae with the antibiotic lomofungin

Lomofungin, an antibiotic active against yeasts, mycelial fungi and bacteria imparts a red colour to living yeast, fungal and algal nuclei when it is present in the culture medium at concentration of 20–100 g/ml. Staining is equally distinct at all stages of the cell cycle, including mitosis and meiosis. The coloured nuclei are plainly visible in the light microscope and the presence in them of lomofungin has been confirmed by electron microscopy.Non-Common Abbreviations YNBG yeast nitrogen base glucose medium - DMSO dimethylsulfoxyde     

Mouse spleen cell nuclear protein kinases and the stimulating effect of dsDNA on NHP phosphorylation by cyclic AMP-independent protein kinase in vitro

cAMP-dependent (designated as enzyme I, about 68,000 daltons) and cAMP-independent protein kinase (designated as enzyme II, about 45,000 daltons) have been partially purified from the nuclei of mouse spleen cells. Both kinases phosphorylated calf thymus histones as well as non-histone proteins (NHP) and required Mg2+ (8 mM) or Mn2+ (2 mM) for maximal activity. NEM (0.5 mM), which is an inhibitor of SH-enzymes, inhibited the histone phosphorylating activity of enzyme II by more than 90%, whereas it inhibited the activity of enzyme I by less than 10%. Moreover, the activity of enzyme II was more sensitive to high temperature than that of enzyme I. Non-histone protein (CM-III protein) served as a more effective substrate for enzyme II than histones; the Km value for CM-III protein was 34.4 micrograms/ml whereas that for histone H2a (14,300 daltons) was 155 micrograms/ml (1.08 x 10(-5) M). CM-III protein phosphorylation by enzyme II in vitro was greatly stimulated by the addition of dsDNA, but not by single-stranded DNA or bacterial ribosomal RNA. However, the phosphorylation of CM-III protein by enzyme I was less than 50% of that of histones, and there was no stimulatory effect. SDS-gel electrophoresis showed that two distinct NHPs (about 13,000 and 19,000 daltons) prepared from calf thymus chromatin were preferentially phosphorylated by enzyme II in vitro in the presence of dsDNA. This finding suggests that these two NHPs may be specific phosphate acceptors of cAMP-independent protein kinase (enzyme II) in the nuclei of mouse spleen cells.