Vacuolar protein in apical and flower-petal cells

Summary Vegetative apices, floral apices and flower petals of five Solanaceae (potato, tomato, tobacco, petunia and nightshade) and of corn and Nigella were examined with an electron microscope for the presence of protein bodies in the cell vacuoles. Electron-dense bodies were found in vacuoles of all plants investigated but not in every tissue examined. The bodies observed in the apices are similar to the protein bodies previously found in tomato leaves where they appear to be related to the presence of chymotrypsin inhibitor I protein (Shumway et al., 1970). The bodies appeared in very young cells in small vacuoles, disappearing as the cell matured. They are apparently related to the growth and development of the new cells. The results suggest that plants may regulate specific proteins within the apical region through selective synthesis and degradation of proteins accompanied by compartmentalization in the vacuole.Scientific Paper No. 3822, College of Agriculture, Washington State University, Pullman, Project 1791. This investigation was supported in part by the State of Washington Initiative Measure 171 funds, the Graduate School Research funds, by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative State Research Service Grant 915-15-29, and U.S. Public Health Service Grant 2K3-GM-17059.Program in Genetics and Department of Botany.Program in Genetics.     

Vacuolar protein bodies in tomato leaf cells and their relationship to storage of chymotrypsin inhibitor I protein

Summary Electron microscopy of leaves of tomato has shown that tissue containing chymotrypsin inhibitor I protein has protein in the cell vacuoles. The vacuolar protein was found either as many small bodies or as few large bodies. The data indicate that the vacuole is a temporary storage site for protein which may play an important role in growth and development of the plant. This strongly suggests that the plant-cell vacuole is something more than a site for terminal deposition of waste products. The system offers an unusual opportunity to study the biochemistry and ultrastructure of synthesis, vacuolar deposition, and recall of a well-characterized plant protein.This work was supported in part by Washington State Medical and Biological funds, U.S. Public Health Service Grants 2K3GM17059 and GM12505, and by U.S.D.A. C.S.R.S. Grant No. 915-15-29. College of Agriculture scientific paper 3442, Projects 1791 and 1996.Program in Genetics and Department of Botany.Department of Agricultural Chemistry.Department of Agricultural Chemistry. Research Career Development Awardee of the U.S. Public Health Service.     

Nucleohistone content during aging in tissue culture

Summary Nucleohistone was extracted from chick embryo cells at intervals during their in vitro life span. Results showed no significant quantitative change in histone-DNA ratios between old and young cells. Young cells exhibited a cyclic variation in histone-DNA ratio that was not detected in aged cells. Histone-DNA values throught the growth cycle for aged cells were similar to those obtained for young cells in stationary phase. This finding suggests that aged cells resemble young cells in stationary phase with respect to histone-DNA ratio. This study was supported, in part, by the Office of Naval Research, Grant N00014-68-C-0226, and the United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Station, Contract 12-14-140-2094-94. It was taken in part from a dissertation submitted by Jon Ryan in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.     

Hypoxylon cohaerens: Cytology of the ascus

The haploid chromosome number ofHypoxylon cohaerens apparently is 5, based on counts made at meiotic prophase and meiotic and mitotic metaphases. Newly formed ascospores are at first uninucleate, becoming binucleate following mitosis in the ascospore. Subsequently, one of the two nuclei disappears. Maturing ascospores are uninucleate.Scientific Paper No. 3732 Washington State University. College of Agriculture, Project 1767. This study was supported in part by National Science Foundation Grant GB-19924.     

Hypoxylon deustum: The chromosome number

Summary The haploid chromosome number ofHypoxylon deustum is 4. Ascospores are uninucleate when formed, becoming binucleate shortly thereafter. One of the two nuclei disappears in maturing ascospores. Mature ascospores are apparently uninucleate. The significance of these and other findings to the taxonomy of the fungus is discussed.Scientific Paper No. 3008. College of Agriculture, Washington State University. Project 3767.This study was supported in part by National Science Foundation Grant GB-5219.     

Q & A. [interview

Elaine and Gary Ostrander spent their youth in New Jersey and New York before heading to Nebraska for their teen years and eventually Washington State for High School and college, as their father moved around in library administration. Elaine was an undergraduate at the University of Washington, a graduate student at the Oregon Health Sciences University and a postdoc with James Wang at Harvard, studying DNA supercoiling. She next went to Berkeley, where she began the canine genome project, initiating the meiotic linkage map and working on human chromosome 21 at the Lawrence Berkeley National Labs. In 1993 she moved to the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center where she is now a Member of the Divisions of Clinical Research and Human Biology. She is also an Affiliate Professor of Genome Sciences and Biology at the University of Washington, and heads the Program in Genetics at the Hutchinson Center. Gary completed his undergraduate degree in Biology at Seattle University, a M.S. degree at Illinois State University and a Ph.D at the University of Washington in Ocean and Fisheries Science. He went on to be a postdoc in the Department of Pathology at the University of Washington Medical School while being mentored by Senitroh Hakomori of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Eric Holmes of the Pacific Northwest Research Foundation. His work focused on using novel aspects of the biology of fishes to address fundamental questions about cancer. He subsequently held both faculty and administrative positions at Oklahoma State University. Since 1996, he has been at the Johns Hopkins University, where he currently holds academic appointments in the Departments of Biology and Comparative Medicine and is the Associate Provost for Research.     

Electrophoretic variability in island populations of Drosophila simulans and Drosophila immigrans

Genetic structure and variability were investigated in several Hawaiian populations of D. simulans and D. immigrans. Genetic variability is lower in Hawaiian populations of D. simulans than in Texas populations, and allelic differences exist as well. For D. immigrans, Hawaiian and Korean populations are similar in variability, allelic content, and gene frequencies. Several hypothesis are advanced to account for the patterns in gene variation observed between island and continental populations of these two colonizing species.This research was supported by Grant GB-23230 to the Hawaii Subprogram of the International Biology Program, by Grant GB-27586 to Dr. H. L. Carson, and by the Research Board of the School of Life Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois.Technical Report No. 57 of the U.S. IBP, Hawaii Integrated Research Program.     

Antigenicity of nitrate reductase-deficient mutants in Hordeum vulgare L.

Summary Ten nitrate reductase (NR)-deficient mutants have been characterized for their cross-reactivity against specific barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) nitrate reductase antibodies. The rabbit antibodies raised against the purified barley wild type (cv. Steptoe) enzyme quantitatively inactivate nitrate reductase in crude extracts. All nitrate-grown (induced) mutants show positive precipitin reaction against the antiserum by Ouchterlony double diffusion test and all have the ability to neutralize antisera in a NR protection assay. Under induced growth conditions, mutants Az 12, Az 23, Az 29 and Az 30 which have low NR associated catalytic activities also have the lowest level of antigenicity; mutants Az 13, Az 31, Az 33 and Az 34 have intermediate level of both NR associated catalytic activities and antigenicity, while mutants Az 28 and Az 32 have the highest level of both NR associated catalytic activities and antigenicity. Under noninduced growth conditions, all mutants except Az 12 contain detectable but very low levels of NR antigenicity. These results support the concept that these NR-deficient mutants with various levels of NR associated catalytic activities represent different mutation events at the loci coding the NR structural components.Abbreviations NR nitrate reductase - DTT dithiothreitol - FAD flavin adenine dinucleotide - BSA bovine serum albumin - NRCRM nitrate reductase cross-reacting materials Scientific Paper No. 5765. College of Agriculture Research Center, Washington State University, Pullman, Project Nos. 0233 and 0430. Supported in part by National Science Foundation Grant #PCM7807649, and U.S. Department of Agriculture CRGO Grant #7900536     

An analysis of the kinematics of swarming ofAnarete pritchardi kim (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae)

Summary Movies of swarming of a cecidomyiid midgeAnarete pritchardi Kim, are analysed to provide kinematic data for swarming. Statistical characteristics calculated from the basic data are the mean, variance, standard deviation, skewness, and kurtosis of the insect coordinates; insect number-density distribution in space, frequency distribution of insect velocities; velocity autocorrelation coefficients; effective advective velocity and diffusivity for swarming, among others. Analyses show that the motion inside the swarm is more or less random although we occasionally notice some kind of interaction between individuals. An inward velocity is detected for insects flying at the edge of the swarm. Mathematical models based on a combined process of diffusion and of nondiffusion are compared with the kinetic data to evaluate the parameters involved in the model. The result indicates that the mathematical model is realistic and useful. A few features of midge behavior in swarming flight are also noted. The result obtained for midge kinetics should be applicable to swarms of some other insects and animals. Contribution No. 211 from Chesapeake Bay Institute, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, The Johns Hopkins University, and Paper No. 8791 Scientific Journal Series, Agricultural Experimental Station, University of Minnesota. Supported by the Office of Naval Research under research contract N00014-67-A-0163-0006, Research Project NR083-016, and National Science Foundation Grant, GA-16603 to The Johns Hopkins University, and National Science Foundation Grant GB-1755 to the University of Minnesota.     

Fish cell lines: Establishment and characterization of nine cell lines from salmonids

Summary Nine permanent cell lines have been established from five species of salmonids native to America's Pacific Northwest. With the exception of a hepatoma from an adult trout, the lines were derived from normal tissues of embryonic or juvenile fish. Cells were routinely grown in Eagle's minimum essential medium with 10% fetal bovine serum. Optimum growth temperatures for these lines ranged from 21 to 24°C. All survived storage for at least 1 yr at −65°C and at least 5 yr in liquid nitrogen. Six of the lines were demonstrably free of any microbial contamination but mycoplasmas were found in three. Eight of the lines were heteroploid. The morphology of only one was fibroblastic. All the lines effectively replicated one or more of the common salmonid viruses. Isozyme patterns were consistent with those of the species of origin. These cell lines have significant application in fish virology. This work is a result of research sponsored in part by the Oregon State University Sea Grant College Program supported by NOAA Office of Sea Grant, U.S. Department of Commerce, under Grant NA79AA-D-0016 and by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife under PL-89304 Anadromous Fish Act and is Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station Technical Paper 6857.     

A centrifugation technique for separating ascospores from soil

Summary A centrifugation technique employing sucrose density gradient columns has been developed for separating fungus spores from soil mineral particles. Four pyrenomycetes plus a number of sterile isolates have been obtained by the use of this technique. The technique may be applicable to other types of fungi producing large, readily identifiable spores.Contribution from the Soil and Water Conservation Research Division, Agricultural Research Service, USDA, in cooperation with the Washington Agricultural Experiment Station. Scientific Paper 2830, Washington State University, College of Agriculture.     

Hypoxylon rubiginosum: Cytology of the ascus and surface morphology of the ascospore

Summary The haploid chromosome number ofHypoxylon rubiginosum is 5. The ascospore is uninucleate when formed, becoming binucleate following a mitosis. One of the nuclei subsequently disintegrates. Maturing ascospores are uninucleate.The morphology of the ascospore, as revealed by the scanning electron microscope, is described. The outer wall layer — the perisporium — shows heretofore undescribed surface fibrils. The possible significance of the fibrils is discussed.Paper No. 3205. Washington State University College of Agriculture Project 1767. This study was supported in part by National Science Foundation Grants GB-5219 and GB-8004.     

Fish cell lines: Establishment and characterization of three new cell lines from grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella)

Summary Three new cell lines were established from tissues of the grass carp,Ctenopharyngodon idella. Derived from the fin, snout, and swim bladder of two apparently healthy diploid fry, these cell lines have been designated GCF, GCS-2, and GCSB, respectively. The cells grew at temperatures between 24° and 36° C with optimal growth at 32° C and have been subcultured more than 50 times since their initiation in August 1986. Two of the lines remained diploid or pseudodiploid after 38 passages. The cells were tested for microbial contamination, and plating efficiencies were determined. The three cell lines were sensitive toRhabdovirus carpio (RVC), infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV), golden shiner virus (GSV), chum salmon virus (CSV), and infectious pancreatic necrosis virus serotype VR299 IPNV). They were refractory to channel catfish virus (CCV), channel catfish reovirus (CRV), chinook salmon paramyxovirus (CSP), and an Ab serotype of IPNV. This work is a result of research sponsored by the Oregon State University Sea Grant College Program supported by NOAA Office of Sea Grant, U.S. Department of Commerce, under grant NA85AA-D-5G-095, and was undertaken while the first author was on leave from the Department of Fisheries, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China. Salary support was provided by the People's Republic of China. Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station Technical Paper 8952.     

The pineal body: Site of extraocular perception of celestial cues for orientation in the tiger salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum)

Summary Tiger salamanders (Ambystoma tigrinum) trained to orient in a particular compass direction under the sun fail to orient in the trained direction if they are (i) eyeless and simultaneously have the brain covered with opaque plastic or are (ii) eyeless and pinealectomized (Fig. 1–2, Table 1). Salamanders with either the eyes or the pineal intact and unobstructed continue to orient in the trained direction. These data strongly support the hypothesis that the pineal body is an effective extraocular photoreceptor (EOP) for compass orientation in tiger salamanders.We thank M.P. Farrell for developing computer programs for data analysis. B. Bailey and R. Walton helped conduct tests. Financial support was provided for separate phases of this research by a Biomedical Science Support Grant (NIH FR 07033-05) and NSFgrants GB-30647 and BMS 75-18693 to K. Adler and an Indiana Academy of Science Research Grant, a postdoctoral fellowship (NSF GU-2058), a Miami University Research Grant and an NSF grant (GB-41102) to D.H. Taylor.     

Guidelines for measuring and reporting environmental conditions in controlled-environment studies

Guidelines for measuring and reporting environmental conditions in plant growth chambers are presented in tabular form. These guidelines are recommended by the North Central Region (NCR-101) Technical Committee on Growth Chamber Use, a committee formed under the Cooperative Research Program of the State Agricultural Experiment Stations (SAES) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Recommendations on location and frequency of measurements as well as suggested format and units of measurement are listed for each environmental parameter. The adoption of these standardized guidelines should greatly improve the uniformity of research conducted in controlled environments and facilitate comparison of experimental results obtained in studies conducted in different laboratories on a world-wide basis.     

Rhythmic settling induced by temperature cycles in continuously-stirred autotrophic cultures of Euglena gracilis (Z strain)

Summary Temperature cycles which produced synchrony of cell division in autotrophic Euglena (preceding paper, Terry and Edmunds, 1970) usually also evoked a cellular settling rhythm. The rhythm was expressed as a recurrent cycle of cell attachment to culture-vessel surfaces, with nearly the same phase angle to each of the different temperature cycles. Attachment occurred in cultures stirred rapidly enough for thorough mixing of the cell suspension, but it was possible to prevent attachment by increased agitation. The settling rhythm was entrained by temperature cycles with periods shorter than the minimum period length required to phase cell division, but the rhythm also persisted with a circadian period at constant temperature in continuous light following entrainment by 12,12 hr temperature cycles. The rhythm appeared in stationary-phase cultures exposed to either cold-synchronizing or heat-synchronizing temperature cycles, and also in growth-phase cultures exposed to cold-synchronizing cycles. The settling rhythm was generally not observable in heat-synchronized growth-phase cultures although it often appeared in the same cultures as they approached the stationary phase.This work is derived from a dissertation submitted to the Department of Biological Sciences of the State University of New York at Stony Brook by OzTerry in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. It was supported in part by a National Science Foundation Cooperative Graduate Fellowship to 0. Terry and in part by National Science Foundation research grants GB-4140 and GB-6892 and by State University of New York Research Foundation Grant-in-Aid 31-7150A to L. Edmunds.     

Prevalence and development of storage fungi in peanut Arachis hypogaea seed

Summary A batch of peanutArachis hypogaea seed were divided into 4 2-kilogram portions and stored 6 months at 22–28° C. One portion was stored with the moisture content slowly increasing from 4 to 28 %; the other portions were maintained at approximately 4.5, 8.9 and 11.5 %. After 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 months storage, 100 seed of each treatment were cultured on malt-10 % NaCl agar and the fungi isolated identified. The storage fungi present after intervals of storage were compared with those initially present. In seed stored at 4.4 % moisture,Aspergillus species remained about the same andPenicillium decreased. At 8.9 % moistureA. flavus, A. repens andPenicillium were reduced, andA. amstelodami andA. ruber increased. At 11.5 % moisture, 100% of the seed yieldedA. ruber after 4 months storage and the other storage fungi decreased to 0–2 %. The moisture content of seed stored at 99 % R. H. increased slowly to 28 % and resulted in monthly changes in the dominant fungi. Under such a circumstance with competition between these storage fungi,A. ruber grew best at 12–15 %,A. repens at 18.5 %,A. flavus andPenicillium at 20 %, andA. amstelodami between 20–28 %.Fusarium increased very rapidly as moisture content increased above 18 %.This investigation was supported by Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Contract No. 12-14-100-8179 (34), administered by the Crops Research Division, Beltsville, Maryland.Former Research Associate, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, N. C., currently Research Plant Pathologist, Market Quality Research Division, Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture; and Professor, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, N.C.Paper number 2489 of the Journal Series of the North Carolina State University Agricultural Experiment Station, Raleigh, North Carolina.     

Histochemical activation of rat-liver lysosomes by dimethyl sulfoxide

Summary The Gomori reaction for acid phosphatase was enhanced by inclusion of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) in reaction media for incubation of cryostat sections of unfixed rat-liver tissue. The reaction was also detectably increased by DMSO in formol-calcium fixed tissue. Enhancment of the Gomori reaction for acid phosphatase by DMSO was reversible.Supported by Grant GB-3817 from the National Science Foundation and by the University Research Coucil and the Cancer Institutional Grant Committee of the University of North Carolina     

Linkage relationships of biochemical markers to Q- and C-band variants in a large black kindred

Summary Lod scores are reported for 86 biochemical to cytogenetic marker comparisons in a Black kindred. Analysis with unconfirmed locus assignments resulted in 12 exclusions of close linkage.This paper is based on a thesis submitted by the senior author in partial fulfillment of the Ph.D. degree at North Carolina State University, Raleigh.Research supported by the National Heart and Lung Institute Grant HLO-3341, National Institute of Mental Health Grant MH 26621, and National Institute of General Medical Sciences Grant GN 16697; paper number 6281 of the Journal Series of the North Carolina Agricultural Research Service, Raleigh, North Carolina.     

Scanning electron microscopy of fused mouse placentas and associated uterine bed

Summary The decidual surface of two fused placentas and the associated uterine bed were examined by scanning electron microscopy. The compact decidua basalis fits into a uterine depression filled with coarse fibers which is surrounded by a smooth area that gradually becomes folded. Placental fusion due to twinning or crowding is discussed.Financial support was provided by an NIH Biomedical Research Support Grant 5 S07-RR05794-02 and by the Department of Anatomy, Wright State University. Technical assistance of Robert Principato is gratefully acknowledged