Comparative study of the sterol composition of the digestive gland and the gonad of Sepia officinalis L. (mollusca,cephalopoda)

• 1.1. The sterol composition of the digestive gland and the gonad of Sepia officinalis L. was investigated by GC and GC-MS.
• 2.2. The same sterols were recognized in both organs, cholesterol being the major component of the sterol mixtures. However, quantitative differences appeared between the sterol composition of the digestive gland and the gonad.
• 3.3. The sterol mixtures of the digestive gland and the gonad of immature and mature females and males of various origins were compared. Quantitative changes in the sterol composition of the gonad were related to sexual maturity whereas the sterol composition of the digestive gland appeared linked to the diet.

     

Sterol composition of marine bivalves from the genus Macoma

• 1.1. Four members of the genus Macoma: M. Balthica, M. irus, M.;incongrua; and M. contabulata from the Japan Sea were investigated for their sterol composition.
• 2.2. Cholest-5-en-3β-ol was the most abundant sterol in all investigated animals; the other major sterols were common constituents of bivalves.
• 3.3. The observed similarity in sterol composition of the studied clams seems to be an indication of greater influence of ecological than genetic factors on sterol composition.

     

Sterol composition of two actiniaria

• 1.1. The sterol composition of Condylactis aurantiaca and Cereus pedunculatus (phylum Coelenterata, class Anthozoa, order Actiniaria) was investigated by silver nitrate-silica gel column chromatography, combined gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and NMR.
• 2.2. Sea anemones contained Δ³-sterols accompanied by small amounts of Δ^5.7-sterols and ring saturated sterols.
• 3.3. Sterols with 27 carbon atoms are predominant and cholesterol is the principal sterol, followed by 24-methylenecholesterol.
• 4.4. A 4-methyl ring saturated sterol, identified as 4,24-dimethyl-5α-cholest-24(28)-en-3β-ol, occurs in small amount in Actiniaria, accompanied by the corresponding 4-demethylstanol.

     

Fatty acid composition of five zoantharia from the senegalese coast: Palythoa Dartevellei pax,P. monodi Pax,P. Variabilis duerden,P. Senegalensis pax and their associated zooxanthellae and P. senegambiensis carter and its commensal,the decapoda diogenes ovatus miers

• 1.1. The quantitative and qualitative fatty acid composition of five Palythoa from the Senegalese coast and their associated organisms: Zooxanthellae symbiont or decapoda commensal have been determined by capillary G.C.
• 2.2. The fatty acid compositiion of each associated organism, host and symbiont or commensal, presents enough characteristic differences to think that each of them synthesizes de novo its own fatty acids.
• 3.3. These results suggest to us that the fatty acid composition of Palythoa and of Zooxanthellae might be a better and more useful tool for the taxonomic classification of these two families than sterol composition.

     

Sterols from black sea invertebrates—I. Sterols from Scyphozoa and Anthozoa (Coelenterata)

• 1.1. Rhizostoma pulmo, Aurelia aurita and Actinia equina, the most widespread representatives of Coelenterata in Black Sea have been analysed and the occurrence of 20 sterols has been found.
• 2.2. Dinosterol and demethyldinosterol as well as a number of short side chain sterols have been found in Scyphozoa for the first time.
• 3.3. The occurrence of coprostanol in marine invertebrates has been shown for the first time.
• 4.4. Five groups of sterol esters were found, containing fatty acids with different polarity.

     

Sterol composition of some gorgonians from the Senegalese coast

• 1.1. The sterol composition of nine gorgonians from the Senegalese coast was investigated by capillary GC and GC/MS.
• 2.2. Fourteen sterols were identified with cholesterol, brassicasterol, 22(E)-dehydrocholesterol and 24-methylenecholesterol as major components.

     

Steroids from aquatic organisms—XII. Sterols from the antarctic sponge Homaxinella balfourensis (Ridley and Dendy)

• 1.1. The sterol composition of the sponge Homaxinella balfourensis (Ridley and Dendy) has been analysed and seven components detected.
• 2.2. These were separated by argentic column chromatography and studied by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and by proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy.
• 3.3. It was established that the components were C₂₇, C₂₈ and C₂₉ fully saturated or side chain unsaturated stanols and colest-5-en-3β-ol as traces.

     

Sterol composition of three marine sponge species from the genus Cinachyrella

• 1.1. The hitherto undescribed sterol compositions of three marine sponge species belonging to the genus Cinachyrella are reported: C. alloclada and C. kükenthali from the Senegalese coast, at two different depths, and C. aff. schulzei from the lagoon of Nouméa, New Caledonia.
• 2.2. Fourteen free sterols have been identified by GC and GC/MS studies, including the 23,24ξ-dimethylcholesta-5,22-dien-3β-ol (10) and the rare 24-norcholesta-5,22-dien-3β-ol (1).
• 3.3. The first compound (10) is reported for the second time in a marine sponge and it was found only in Senegalese sponges collected in shallow waters.
• 4.4. Sterol (10) has been isolated by HPLC and identified by NMR techniques.
• 5.5. Significant amounts of cholest-7-en-3β-ol (7) were also found in the Senegalese sponge species.
• 6.6. Apart from these two compounds, the three sponge sterol compositions are found to be very similar.

     

Sterol composition of the “living fossil” crinoid Gymnocrinus richeri

• 1.1. The composition of sterol mixture from the “living fossil” crinoid Gymnocrinus richeri collected off Nouméa (New Caledonia) was investigated.
• 2.2. The free 3β-OH sterol mixture was found to contain 14 components, Δ⁵ and ring saturated stanols, identified by GC-MS.
• 3.3. Cholest-4-en-3-one, cholesta-1, 4-dien-3-one (this latter firstly isolated from a marine source), 5α-8α-epidioxy sterols, and 5α-ergosta-7,22-diene-3β,5,6β-triol were also present, their characterization being accomplished by EI-MS and ¹H-NMR. The methanol extract also contained sterol sulphates, which were identified by GC-MS after solvolysis to remove the sulphate group.

     

The purification of kallikrein from human whole saliva

• 1.1. A quick and simple procedure is described for purifying kallikrein from human whole saliva. The enzyme has been purified about 2700-fold with a yield of approx. 30%.
• 2.2. The procedure is based on the immediate fractionation of saliva by ion exchange chromatography. This is followed by a combination of affinity and high performance liquid chromatography.
• 3.3. The results indicate that another protein component binds to the enzyme at pH 8.0.
• 4.4. The homogeneity of the enzyme has been demonstrated by gel electrophoresis in the absence as well as in the presence of sodium dodecylsulfate.
• 5.5. A mol. wt of 40,100±1800 has been calculated from gel electrophores is experiments.
• 6.6. Sedimentation equilibrium in an analytical ultracentrifuge gave a mol. wt of 39,700.
• 7.7. The amino acid composition has been determined and it confirms that the enzyme has a low isoelectric point.
• 8.8. The presence of tryptophan has been demonstrated by absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy.

     

The influence of stigmasterol concentration on the growth and lipid composition of wild-type and barium a strains of Paramecium tetraurelia

• 1.1. The ciliary membrane lipid composition and electrophysiology of the behavioral mutant of Paramecium tetraurelia, barium A (d4–592), were previously shown to differ from those of wild-type 51S when both strains were grown in low sterol medium.
• 2.2. In this study, the phospholipid fatty acid composition of the two strains was shown to differ regardless of the level of sterol supplementation or culture age (growth phase).
• 3.3. The ratio of linoleic to γ-linolenic acid, 18:2(9,12)/18:3(6,9,12), was consistently higher in baA compared to wild-type phospholipids, largely because of a dramatic shift in the ratio of these two fatty acids esterified at the 2 position of 1-alkyl-2-acyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphorylcholine (GPC).
• 4.4. These data support the hypothesis that a specific Δ6 fatty-acyl desaturase, which directly desaturates phospholipid and shows a preference for GPC as its substrate, is impaired as a result of the barium A mutation.

     

Effects of Echinostoma trivolvis (Trematoda) infection on neutral lipids,sterols, and carotenoids in Helisoma trivolvis (Gastropoda)

• 1.1. Histochemical, thin layer and gas-liquid chromatographic studies were done on neutral lipids, sterols and carotenes in the digestive gland-gonad (DGG) complex of Helisoma trivolvis infected with Echinostoma trivolvis vs uninfected DGG.
• 2.2. Hitochemical Oil Red O staining showed the presence of neutral lipids in the redial body wall and in the digestive cells of the DGG.
• 3.3. TLC showed that free sterols and triacylglycerols were major neutral lipid fractions along with lesser amounts of steryl esters and free fatty acids in the DGG of both populations. The percentage composition of all neutral lipid fractions was greater in infected than uninfected DGG.
• 4.4. Infected DGG contained more carotenoid fractions than uninfected DGG, but only beta-carotene was identified from both.
• 5.5. GLC studies showed that the major sterol present in snail DGG was cholesterol (about 70%) along with lesser amounts of stigmasterol, campesterol, beta-sitosterol and desmosterol. No clear cut distinction was seen in sterols from infected vs uninfected DGG.

     

Sterols from the main black sea molluscs

• 1.1. The wide-spread Black Sea mussels Mytilus galloprovincialis, Donax julianae, Cardium edule, Venus gallina, Mya arenaria and Tapes rugatus (Pelecypoda) as well as the snails Rapana thomasiana, Gibulla divaricata and Tritia reticulata (Gastropoda) were investigated for the presence of free sterols, sterol esters and epidioxisterols.
• 2.2. The influence of some ecological factors upon the sterol composition, as well as some food-chains were studied.

     

A comparative study of the basic nuclear proteins from sperm of bivalve molluscs

• 1.1. Basic nuclear proteins from spermatozoa of the three mollusc species belonging to the class Bivalvia have been analyzed using one- and two-dimensional electrophoresis.
• 2.2. Four nuclear basic proteins have been purified and their amino acid compositions determined.
• 3.3. In these spermatozoa histone-type proteins coexist with protamine-like proteins.
• 4.4. The protamine-like proteins that have been studied show different electrophoretic behavior but in general are similar, with a high content of lysine, arginine, alanine and serine.
• 5.5. Interspecific variability has been found for the H1-like histone.

     

Breast,hips, and buttocks revisited: Honest fatness for honest fitness

This paper comments on: Low, B. S., Alexander, R. D., and Noonan, K.M. Human hips, breast, and buttocks: Is fat deceptive? Ethology and Sociobiology 8: 249-247, 1987. In it I argue that:

• 1.1. Sexual selection has probably not been the most important selection pressure on
• 2.female human body shape.
• 3.2. Male humans in different cultures find different aspects of the female body attractive
• 4.and therefore are unlikely to have exerted consistent directional sexual selection on
• 5.the female body.
• 6.3. Breast size is not correlated with lactation success.
• 7.4. Visible hip width is not correlated with parturition success.
• 8.5. Women would lower their fitness if they tried to deceive men about their internal
• 9.pelvic dimensions.
• 10.6. There are many alternative hypothesis to explain the existence of fat onwomen's
• 11.breast, hips, and buttocks.

     

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Neurohypophysial hormones as molecular evolutionary tracers: investigations on the sturgeons Acipenser stellatus and Acipenser guldenstadti

• 1.1. Neurohypophysial hormones of two sturgeon species, Acipenser stellatus and Acipenser guldenstadti, have been purified through molecular sieving on Bio-Gel P4 and reverse-phase high pressure liquid chromatography on Nucleosil C18 columns.
• 2.2. Arginine vasotocin has been identified in both species by its retention time in partition chromatography, amino acid composition and, in the case of A. stellatus, by amino acid sequencing.
• 3.3. A second peptide has been purified and could be α-deamidated vasotocin.
• 4.4. Another peptide with oxytocic activity, distinct from the known oxytocin-like peptides, seems to be present in very small amounts.

     

Amino acid composition and the protein form of procarboxypeptidase a purified from the pancreas of the sei whale Balaenoptera bolealis

• 1.1. Procarboxypeptidase (W-PCPA) was purified from the pancreas of the sei whale Balaenoptera bolealis.
• 2.2. W-PCPA was obtained as a homogeneous protein in polyacylamide gel disc electrophoresis.
• 3.3. W-PCPA has a molecular weight of 75,000.
• 4.4. Amino acid composition of W-PCPA was compared with that of bovine procarboxypeptidase as A S5 (PCPA-S5).
• 5.5. W-PCPA may be two subunits, and the aggregate form may resemble PCPA-S5.

     

Troponin C of the Antarctic icefish (Champsocephalus gunnari) white muscle

• 1.1. The troponin C (TN-C) from the Antarctic icefish (_{Champsocephalus gunnari}) has been isolated to homogeneity by a procedure involving extraction from acetone powder, DEAE-Sepharose 4B and AcA 54 column chromatography.
• 2.2. The calcium-induced conformational changes of apo TN-C have been studied by absorption difference spectroscopy, circular dichroism and intrinsic fluorescence.
• 3.3. The results indicate that the overall characteristics of icefish TN-C (such as amino acid composition, modifications of helix content and of the microenvironment of aromatic residues as a function of calcium binding) are quite similar to those of rabbit TN-C.
• 4.4. The intrinsic fluorescence properties are close to those reported for pike and carp TN-C.

     

Identification of the major annexins in Ehrlich ascites tumor cells

• 1.1. Three calcium-binding proteins have been purified from Ehrlich ascites tumor cells.
• 2.2. They were identified by amino acid sequence analysis on selected fragments obtained by tryptic digestion.
• 3.3. The proteins belong to the annexin family and were identified as annexins II, III and V.
• 4.4. Antibodies raised against the proteins were used to examine for their presence in a number of murine tissues.
• 5.5. The occurrence was found to be in reasonable accordance with earlier reports.