Fatty-acid synthesis in lactating-goat mammary gland. 1. Medium-chain fatty-acid synthesis.

Tissue slices from lactating goat-mammary gland synthesized short (C4:0 and C6:0), medium (C8:0 and C10:0) and long-chain (C12:0 to C16:0) fatty acids in proportions similar to that found in goat milk fat. In contrast, the particle-free supernatant fraction and the purified fatty acid synthetase from this tissue synthesized predominantly short-chain and long-chain fatty acids. Terminating acyl-thioesterases of low molecular weight could not be detected in the particle-free supernatant. Addition of the microsomal fraction to the particle-free supernatant induced the synthesis of medium-chain fatty acids in proportions which were similar to those found in goat milk fat.     

Histone synthesis in Rhynchosciara salivary glands. I. Site and timing of synthesis.

The site of histone synthesis was studied in polytene cells of the salivary glands of the Rhynchosciara americana (Diptera). It was found that, as is the case in non-polytene systems, these proteins are synthesized in the cytoplasm in a class of light polysomes which contain 3-4 ribosomes. This class of polyribosomes is most active at about 5 days before pupation when the nuclei are most active in DNA synthesis and the chromosomes of the gland show many open 'DNA puffs'.     

Glucan synthesis in Pneumocystis carinii.

Rat-derived Pneumocystis carinii lysed with sodium deoxycholate catalysed the incorporation of uridine diphosphoglucose into an insoluble polymer. This enzyme activity was present in both the pellet and the supernatant when the P. carinii preparations were centrifuged. The polymer whose production was catalysed by the supernatant was examined by mass spectrometry and found to be an alpha 1----4 glucan, which is either unbranched or has relatively few branches. Polymer formation was completely inhibited by the addition of alpha amyloglucohydrolase to the supernatant. Polymer formation in the pellet of deoxycholate P. carinii preparations, unlike that in the supernatant, was partially resistant to alpha amyloglucohydrolase. The soluble glucan synthase activity in the supernatant was stable for more than 30 h at room temperature and was approximately 50 times more active on a cell-to-cell basis than the supernatant from deoxycholate preparations of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisae.     

Light-dependent ATP synthesis in mitochondria.

Light-dependent ATP synthesis was studied in an illuminated suspension of rat liver mitochondria. The action of light was shown to lead to an increase in the ATP content in the absence of oxidisable substrates and in the presence of high (hundreds of microM) ADP concentrations in the medium. At a relatively low (50 microM) ADP concentration, efficient light-dependent phosphorylation was observed in the presence of alpha-ketoglutarate. Prolonged illumination stimulated ATP hydrolysis. Rotenone, antimycin, azide, dicyclohexylcarbodiimide, and oligomycin inhibited the light-dependent phosphorylation almost completely. The level of ATP decreased under the action of 2,4-dinitrophenol in the dark but was restored by high light intensities. Blue light, 436 nm, was most efficient to produce light-dependent phosphorylation. It is assumed that quanta of vibrational excitation formed in the course of vibrational relaxation and the internal conversion of photoexcited flavoproteins and cytochromes are transferred to the ATP-synthetase and "eject" ATP from the active center, thus shifting the enzymatic reaction to ATP production.     

Haemoglobin synthesis in fused cells.

When primitive erythroid cells from 5-day-old chick embryos are exposed to inactivated Sendai virus they do not undergo haemolysis but fuse with other cells by the normal process of cytoplasmic coalescence. In this way cells actively engaged in the synthesis of haemoglobin may be fused with others that are not. In heterokaryons formed by the fusion of such erythroid cells with cells from established mouse or hamster lines, haemoglobin synthesis initially continues at a high level, but then declines and ceases altogether within a period of about 60 h. This decline affects the synthesis of both haem and globin and reflects the activity of specific regulatory mechanism, for under these conditions other chick proteins continue to be synthesized. The haemoglobin synthesized in the heterokaryons is entirely chick, and not mouse or hamster, haemoglobin.     

Beta-alanine synthesis in Escherichia coli.

The enzyme, aspartate 1-decarboxylase (L-aspartate 1-carboxy-lyase; EC 4.1.1.15), that catalyzes the reaction aspartate leads to beta-alanine + CO2 was found in extracts of Escherichia coli. panD mutants of E. coli are defective in beta-alanine biosynthesis and lack aspartate 1-decarboxylase. Therefore, the enzyme functions in the biosynthesis of the beta-alanine moiety of pantothenate. The genetic lesion in these mutants is closely linked to the other pantothenate (pan) loci of E. coli K-12.     

Glutamate synthesis in Streptomyces coelicolor.

Both glutamate synthase (GOGAT) and glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) are involved in glutamate synthesis in Streptomyces coelicolor. The highest levels of GDH were seen in extracts of cells grown with high levels of ammonium as the nitrogen source. GOGAT activity was reduced two- to threefold in extracts of cells grown with good sources of glutamate. S. coelicolor mutants deficient in GOGAT (Glt-) required glutamate for growth with L-alanine, asparagine, arginine, or histidine as the nitrogen source but grew like wild-type cells when ammonium, glutamine, or aspartate was the nitrogen source. The glt mutations were tightly linked to hisA1. Mutants deficient in both GOGAT and GDH (Gdh-) required glutamate for growth in all media. The gdh-5 mutation was mapped to the left region of the S. coelicolor chromosomal map, between proA1 and uraA1.     

Studies in prebiotic synthesis. VII

Summary The purine nucleosides (adenosine, guanosine, inosine, xanthosine) are formed when the corresponding purine bases and D-ribose are heated together in the presence of certain salts and minerals. The salts remaining after the evaporation of seawater are particularly effective in these syntheses. The relevance of these reactions for prebiological evolution is discussed.     

Lipase synthesis in hydrocarbon fermentation.

A study was undertaken to establish conditions and relationships for the production of lipases during hydrocarbon fermentation. A culture of Candida lipolytica was isolated by a kerosene enrichment technique from oil-soaked soil and this microbe was used to study the production of lipase on a kerosene-mineral salts medium. The optimum pH, medium, and temperature for lipase synthesis were established and the properties of the isolated enzyme in terms of its activity and lipid specificity were studied.