The Genetics of a Probable Insertional Translocation in SORDARIA BREVICOLLIS

A chromosome rearrangement has been isolated and characterized in Sordaria brevicollis. Crosses to spore color mutants on each of the seven linkage groups have enabled the breakpoints to be mapped. The simplest hypothesis to account for the results is that a piece of linkage group VI has been translocated to linkage group V and inserted 2.7 map units from its centromere. Previous reports of markers on this linkage group with centromere distances greater than 2.7 units make it unlikely that the translocation is quasiterminal.     

Genetic Recombination at the Buff Spore Color Locus in SORDARIA BREVICOLLIS. II. Analysis of Flanking Marker Behavior in Crosses between Buff Mutants

Aberrant asci containing one or more wild-type spores were selected from crosses between pairs of alleles of the buff locus in the presence of closely linked flanking markers. Data were obtained relating to the site of aberrant segregation and the position of any associated crossover giving recombination of flanking markers. Aberrant segregation at a proximal site within the buff gene may be associated with a crossover proximal to the site of aberrant segregation or, with equal frequency, with a crossover distal to the site of the second mutant present in the cross. Similarly, segregation at a distal site may be associated with a crossover distal to the site or, with lower frequency, with a crossover proximal to the site of the proximal mutant present in the cross. Crossovers between the alleles were rare. This evidence for the relationship between hybrid DNA and crossing over is discussed in terms of current models for the mechanism of recombination.     

Electron Microscopy of Ascus Development in Ascobolus

In Ascobolus viridulus Phill. and Plow. during ascospore developmenta double membrane first appears near the periphery of the ascusbut within the plasmalemma. It is apparently formed by coalescenceof vesicles budded from the nucleus. This double membrane isfirst a cap which then extends downwards as a tube enclosingall eight nuclei, later invaginating between adjacent nucleito delimit the spores. The complex wall of the mature sporedevelops between the two layers of the delimiting membrane ofthe young spore.     

Changes in the Cytokinins of Radish Roots during Maturation

The cytokinins of developing radish roots were extracted, partially purified, and separated by thin-layer chromatography into three distinct bands of activity. One band was identified chromatographically as zeatin ribonucleotide and another was indistinguishable from a mixture of zeatin and zeatin ribonucleoside. The third band was not identified, but it was not a derivative of zeatin or of isopentenyladenine. The unidentified cytokinin had physiological properties quite different from those of the zeatin derivatives. The zeatin-based cytokinins increased in radish roots with the onset of cambial activity, and reapplication of these cytokinins to cultured primary roots stimulated cambial activity. The unidentified cytokinin became abundant only after extensive secondary thickening had occurred, and it was localized almost entirely in the xylem. It did not stimulate cambial activity in cultured roots. The evidence indicates that zeatin and its derivatives regulate cambial activity in radish, and that the unidentified cytokinin may be synthesized in the roots and transported to the shoot.     

DNA Synthesis during Maturation of Starfish Oocytes

IN Xenopus, nuclear DNA is replicated at an early stage of meiosis and there is no measurable DNA synthesis during the long diplotene stage characterized by the presence of the lampbrush chromosomes^1–3; this is probably a general phenomenon in animals. But in the case of pollen formation in plants, autoradiographic data suggest that, in addition to normal replication during S phase, some chromosomal DNA is synthesized throughout meiosis⁴. Limited DNA synthesis also follows replication during the S phase in Lilium anthers⁵.     

Sleep/Wake Dynamics Changes during Maturation in Rats

Objectives

Conventional scoring of sleep provides little information about the process of transitioning between vigilance states. We applied the state space technique (SST) using frequency band ratios to follow normal maturation of different sleep/wake states, velocities of movements, and transitions between states of juvenile (postnatal day 34, P34) and young adult rats (P71).

Design

24-h sleep recordings of eight P34 and nine P71 were analyzed using conventional scoring criteria and SST one week following implantation of telemetric transmitter. SST is a non-categorical approach that allows novel quantitative and unbiased examination of vigilance-states dynamics and state transitions. In this approach, behavioral changes are described in a 2-dimensional state space that is derived from spectral characteristics of the electroencephalography.

Measurements and Results

With maturation sleep intensity declines, the duration of deep slow wave sleep (DSWS) and light slow wave sleep (LSWS) decreases and increases, respectively. Vigilance state determination, as a function of frequency, is not constant; there is a substantial shift to higher ratio 1 in all vigilance states except DSWS. Deep slow wave sleep decreases in adult relative to juvenile animals at all frequencies. P71 animals have 400% more trajectories from Wake to LSWS (p = 0.005) and vice versa (p = 0.005), and 100% more micro-arousals (p = 0.021), while trajectories from LSWS to DSWS (p = 0.047) and vice versa (p = 0.033) were reduced by 60%. In both juvenile and adult animals, no significant changes were found in sleep velocity at all regions of the 2-dimensional state space plot; suggesting that maturation has a partial effect on sleep stability.

Conclusions

Here, we present novel and original evidence that SST enables visualization of vigilance-state intensity, transitions, and velocities that were not evident by traditional scoring methods. These observations provide new perspectives in sleep state dynamics and highlight the usefulness of this technique in exploring the development of sleep-wake activity.     

Ascus development in two temperature-sensitive four-spore mutants of Neurospora crassa

Two nonallelic Four-spore mutants are known in which ascospore walls enclose the four immediate products of meiosis rather than the normal eight products of a postmeiotic mitosis. Expression depends on temperature. The Four-spore phenotype is expressed when the developing asci are subjected either to high temperatures (25-30 degrees C) for Fsp-1 or to low temperatures (15-20 degrees C) for Fsp-2. Heterozygous Fsp-1 X Fsp-1+ crosses make eight-spored asci at 15-20 degrees C but produce many four-spored asci at 25 degrees C and mostly four-spored asci at 30 degrees C. Homozygous Fsp-1 X Fsp-1 crosses respond similarly to increasing temperature but make 40-50% four-spored asci even at 20 degrees C. Heterozygous Fsp-2 X Fsp-2+ crosses produce almost exclusively four-spored asci at 15 degrees C but a mixture of four- and eight-spored asci at 20, 25, and 30 degrees C. Homozygous Fsp-2 X Fsp-2 crosses make all four-spored asci at 15 and 20 degrees C and a mixture of four- and eight-spored asci at 25 and 30 degrees C. When both Fsp-1 and Fsp-2 are present in a cross, either homozygous or heterozygous, no asci contain more than four ascospores at any temperature. Limited temperature-shift experiments with Fsp-1 and Fsp-2 show that the sensitive period for Four-spore expression is sometime after meiotic prophase, possibly at interphase II.     

Responsiveness to Retinoic Acid Changes during Chondrocyte Maturation

We previously showed that retinoic acid (RA) participates in the regulation of chondrocyte maturation during endochondral ossification, a process involving multiple developmental stages. To assess whether the responsiveness to RA treatment changes during chondrocyte maturation, immature chondrocytes were isolated from the caudal portion of Day 18-19 chick embryo sterna, a portion that remains cartilaginous through early postnatal life but ossifies with age. The immature cells were allowed to reach different stages of maturation by growth for different time in culture. Progression by the cells toward the mature phenotype during culture was confirmed by increases in average cell diameter, proteoglycan synthesis, and alkaline phosphatase (APase) activity. When developmentally immature passage 0 (PO) cultures were treated with RA (10-100 nM) for 72 h, the cells readily became fibroblastic, reduced drastically their proteoglycan synthesis, and failed to activate type X collagen gene expression. When older cultures (P1 and P2) were treated with RA, the cells acquired a characteristic epithelioid shape and increased their APase activity. Moreover, 5-10% of P1 cells and 20-25% of P2 cells activated type X collagen synthesis in response to RA. RA treatment markedly induced expression of the gene encoding the β isoform of retinoic acid receptor (RARβ) and also provoked a moderate 2.5-fold increase in RARα gene expression. A similar change in responsiveness to RA was observed during maturation in vivo. Chondrocytes were isolated from the cephalic portion of Day 10, 11, 13, and 16 chick embryo sterna, and were treated with different doses of RA (10-100 nM) for 72 h. The cells from the Day 10 sternum failed to activate type X collagen gene expression in response to RA. In contrast, with increasing age of the embryos, an increasing fraction of cells induced type X collagen gene expression in response to RA. We conclude that responsiveness to RA changes during the early stages of chondrocyte maturation and that maturation depends on interactions between exogenous retinoids and the endogenous developmental program of chondrocytes.     

人卵子体外成熟过程中组蛋白乙酰化的动态变化模式

目的：组蛋白乙酰化与有丝分裂过程中的多个染色质相关事件有关,但是它在哺乳动物减数分裂过程中的作用仍不清楚。本研究通过观察人卵子体外成熟过程中不同阶段的组蛋白H3K9乙酰化变化模式,以探讨组蛋白乙酰化在减数分裂过程中的作用。方法：我们选择在我院进行单精子显微注射（Intracytoplasmicsperminjection,ICSI）的病人,共收集用于GV期卵子25个,MI期卵子28个用于本研究。将其中一部分直接用4％多聚甲醛固定,另一部分体外培养成熟至MII期,再用4％多聚甲醛固定。采用免疫荧光染色检测不同发育时期卵子的组蛋白H3K9乙酰化状态。结果：免疫荧光染色结果显示,GV期的卵子可检测到明显的H3K9乙酰化,MI期和MII期的卵子的H3K9乙酰化程度逐渐减弱。结论：人类卵子在成熟过程中会发生组蛋白H3K9乙酰化水平的逐渐降低,可能与减数分裂过程中特定的染色体分离、基因表达的重新编程密切相关。     

Preferential Leaching of Pinitol from Soybeans during Imbibition

Sugars and cyclitols leached from soybeans (Glycine max var Sparks) during imbibition were assayed as a function of time. Pinitol leached many times faster than carbohydrates. During the initial 20 minutes of imibition, the pinitol/carbohydrate ratio was 3.4, declining to 0.29 for fully imbibed seeds. The value for dry soybeans was 0.14. Hypochlorite treatment of seeds more than doubled the rate at which carbohydrates leached out, but had little effect on pinitol. A role in development of soil microorganisms is postulated for pinitol.     

卵母细胞成熟过程中线粒体的变化

卵子成熟是一个复杂的过程,细胞核成熟和细胞质成熟必须和谐的统一在一起,才能保证卵子的正常受精和进一步的发育。作为细胞质内最重要的细胞器,线粒体的分布在卵子成熟过程中出现了显著变化。同时其产生的ATP是卵子、受精卵以及胚胎主要的能量来源。因此,对卵子成熟过程中线粒体的分布和功能变化的研究,有利于进一步了解生殖生理,并为解决辅助生育技术中所面临的难题提供新的思路。