ENDOGENOUS LEVELS OF NEUROTRANSMITTER CANDIDATES IN PHOTORECEPTOR CELLS OF THE TURTLE RETINA

The neurotransmitter used by vertebrate photoreceptors has not been identified, although aspartic acid, glutamic acid and acetylcholine have all been suggested as possible candidates. In the present study, we have measured the endogenous levels of these substances in isolated photoreceptors of the turtle retina. Fractions containing over 80% of identified photoreceptors were obtained by enzymatic dissociation of the retina followed by velocity sedimentation at unit gravity. The endogenous levels of free amino acids in these fractions were measured by amino acid analysis and the ACh content was measured by a radiochemical assay. In addition, identified photoreceptors were drawn into a micropipet individually under visual observation and their ACh content was determined. Our results show that while the concentrations of free aspartic acid and glutamic acid in isolated photoreceptors are similar to those found in the retina, the concentration of ACh in cone photoreceptors (0.1–0.2 mM) is 2- to 3-fold higher than that in the turtle retina. This result combined with the findings of others suggests that turtle cone photoreceptors may be cholinergic     

THE DEVELOPMENT OF VACCINIA VIRUS IN EARLE'S L STRAIN CELLS AS EXAMINED BY ELECTRON MICROSCOPY

A favorable system which is amenable to frequent and reproducible sampling, consisting of suspension cultures of strain L cells and vaccinia virus, was employed to study the animal virus-mammalian host cell relationship. The three principal aspects investigated concerned the adsorption and penetration of vaccinia into the host, the relationship between the sequence of virus development and the production of infectious particles, and the changes in the fine structure of the host cells. Experiments in which a very high multiplicity of infection was used revealed that vaccinia is phagocytized by L cells in less than 1 hour after being added to the culture, without any apparent loss of its outer limiting membranes. Regions of dense fibrous material, thought to be foci of presumptive virus multiplication, appear in the cytoplasm 2 hours after infection. A correlation between electron microscope studies and formation of infectious particles shows that although immature forms of the virus appear 4 hours after infection, infectious particles are produced 6 hours after infection of the culture, at the time when mature forms of vaccinia appear for the first time in thinly sectioned cells. Spread of the infection is gradual until eventually, after 24 hours, virus is being elaborated throughout the cytoplasm. Addition of vaccinia to monolayer cultures induced fusion of L cells and rapid formation of multinucleate giant forms. In both suspension and stationary cultures infected cells elaborate a variety of membranous structures not present in normal L cells. These take the form of tube-like lamellar and vesicular formations, or appear as complex reticular networks or as multi-laminar membranes within degenerating mitochondria.     

猪淋巴细胞表面E受体再生表达的免疫电镜观察

本文用酶标免疫电镜技术对猪外周淋巴细胞E受体在细胞表面的分布以及在细胞内合成代谢的状况进行了研究。实验结果表明:E受体在淋巴细胞表面呈点状均匀分布。胰蛋白酶处理使细胞表面E受体消失,经培养后可逐渐自发重建;正常情况下静止的淋巴细胞内E受体的合成水平很低;小牛胸腺肽制剂处理可以促进E受体在细胞质内的合成,加速其表达过程;更生霉素及嘌呤霉素等RNA合成抑制剂可抑制E受体的再生;以ConA活化的猪淋巴细胞内可见E受体活跃的合成;E受体合成部位是在粗面内质网上及散在的核蛋白体上。     

REFLECTIVE PROPERTIES OF THE STIGMA IN MALE GAMETES OF ECTOCARPUS SILICULOSUS (PHAEOPHYCEAE) STUDIED BY CONFOCAL LASER SCANNING MICROSCOPY1

The reflection properties of the stigma in male gametes of Ectocarpus siliculosus (Dillw.) Lyngbye were investigated using confocal laser scanning microscopy in the epireflection contrast mode. The complex reflection pattern obtained after optical xy (horizontal) and xz (vertical) sectioning was consistent with stigma ultrastructure as revealed by serial thin sections. The intensity and pattern of the reflection signal varied with the orientation of the cell/stigma to the incident laser light. Maximal reflection occurred only in approximately normal orientation of the stigma to the light source. Focusing of reflected light from an elongated concave depression of the stigma on the region of the flagellar swelling was observed in xy and xz sections of living and fixed gametes. The results indicate the importance of mechanisms (focusing) other than quarter-wave interference reflection in signal amplification by the eyespot of flagellate algae.     

黑麦雄性细胞发育过程中细胞器DNA动态的荧光研究

DAPI(4’,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole)是一种DNA特异结合的荧光染料,可以用于在荧光显微镜下观察和检测各种DNA,尤其是细胞内含量甚微的DNA,包括质体DNA和线粒体DNA,其灵敏性和可靠性是被公认的,并得到了越来越多的Southern杂交实验的证明,而且实验操作简便易行。近几年,DAPI荧光技术已在细胞质遗传的研究领域获得了成功的应用。     

DIATOM COLONIZATION ON ARTIFICIAL SUBSTRATA IN POOL AND RIFFLE ZONES STUDIED BY LIGHT AND SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY1

Light and scanning electron microscopy were utilized to quality diatom colonization in Oak Creek, Arizona. Aluminum SEM stubs with and without plexiglass discs were anchored into rocks. Early colonization on five stub microzones was examined at hourly intervals; weekly intervals of up to 3 wk were employed to record community development in pool find riffle. Plexiglass was more suitable for microbial colonization than aluminum. Organic matter and bacteria were important surface pre-conditioning agents while fungi were instrumental in trap/ting cells during early stages of colonization in the riffle. Diatom colonization was initialed within 1 h on the upstream side of substrata in riffles, while the tap face was colonized first in pools. Colonization moved rapidly to the perimeter in each system. Early colonization of-side microzones was considerably more asymmetric in the riffle than, pool. At Idler stages (2 wk) diatoms with their associated mucilage and algal filaments contributed to the stability of the microbial communities. Horizontally positioned species (Achnanthes, Cocconeis) were early colonizers in both systems while vertically positioned species (Gomphonema, Nitzschia) were more important in later successional stages (3 wk) in the riffle. Horizontally positioned species remained dominant throughout the 3 wk period in the pool. After 3 wk, diversity was normally greater in the pool while density was higher in the riffle. Detrital microcosms containing viable microbiol assemblages frequently collected on tin-upstream face of substrata in the riffle. The random nature by which these detrital microcoms contact downstream substrata greatly contribute to the spatial variation of periphyton in streams. These detrital microcosms expedite repeated colonization in lotic systems.     

麦冬花药绒毡层和乌氏体的细微结构

麦冬(Ophiopogon japonicus)的绒毡层发育为分泌型。在小孢子母细胞时期,绒毡层细胞达到了发育的高峰。此时,绒毡层细胞中细胞器非常丰富,具大量线粒体、高尔基体和质体,尤以肉质网含量最多;原乌氏体出现较早,在小孢子母细胞时期绒毡层细胞中就已出现;四分体时期,大量原乌氏体被排入内切向面的质膜和纤维素壁之间;到了小孢子早期,绒毡层细胞失去细胞壁,原乌氏体分布在质膜的凹陷处,孢粉素物质在其上沉积,发育为乌氏体,乌氏体有单个和复合两种类型;当花粉成熟时,绒毡层细胞完全解体。     

ELECTRON MICROSCOPY OF THE AMMONIACAL SILVER REACTION FOR HISTONES IN THE ERYTHROPOIETIC CELLS OF THE CHICK

The product of the postformalin ammoniacal silver reaction, which has been claimed to distinguish lysine-rich from arginine-rich histones with the light microscope on the basis of a color difference, was examined in developing erythroid cells of chick bone marrow with the electron microscope. Stem cells and early erythroblasts exhibit no, or little, ammoniacal silver reaction product, while small basophilic erythroblasts, polychromatophilic erythrocytes, and reticulocytes exhibit an increasing amount of reaction product as maturation proceeds. The reaction product is in the form of discrete electron-opaque particles associated with heterochromatin. The ammoniacal silver reaction in the erythroid cell series is interpreted as reflecting either the accumulation of newly synthesized arginine-rich histones or changes in the availability of reactive sites in preformed histones.     

UV照射与非UV照射FITC致敏小鼠淋巴结树突状细胞的光电镜免疫组织化学特性

本工作观察了小鼠淋巴结树突状细胞（ＤＣ）的光、电镜免疫组织化学特性,并探讨其功能。从ＦＩＴＩＣ致敏小鼠淋巴结分离的ＤＣ在体外可刺激ＦＩＴＣ特异性Ｔ－细胞株增殖。注射经ＵＶ照射、ＦＩＴＣ致敏的小鼠淋巴结细胞（ＤＬＮＣ）至受体小鼠,可导致该小鼠的免疫耐受;这些细胞在体外仍可促进ＦＩＴＣ特异性Ｔ－细胞株增殖,但明显弱于非ＵＶ照射小鼠ＤＬＮＣ的作用。免疫光镜下显示ＵＶ－ＦＩＴＣ致敏小鼠淋巴结的ＦＩＴＣ阳性ＤＣ与非ＵＶ照射ＦＩＴＣ致敏组一样也表达了ＭＡＣ－１、２、３和Ｆ４／８０等巨噬细胞标志,唯其ＦＩＴＣ阳性细胞率明显高于非照射ＦＩＴＣ致敏组动物。免疫电镜下显示这些细胞呈Ｉａ阳性和ＦＩＴＣ阳性,ＦＩＴＣ主要定位于线粒体和溶酶体结构等处。研究表明这些与ＦＩＴＣ致敏小鼠ＤＬＮＣ有关的细胞活性的差异与Ｉａ阳性ＤＣ数量减少、表面Ｉａ的表达、ＦＩＴＣ在ＤＣ内的分布变化无关。某些Ｉａ阳性ＤＣ胞质内可见Ｂｉｒｂｅｃｋ颗粒样结构,提示Ｉａ阳性ＤＣ的不同群体可迁移至ＵＶ照射小鼠的淋巴结。     

INTERFERENCE OF SEX-RELATED FACTORS IN THE RESPONSE OF LIVER CELLS TO EXPERIMENTAL MITOTIC STIMULI

Stimulation of liver cell multiplication was obtained under two different experimental conditions.

• 1 A single injection of casein solution resulted in (a) an identical synchronized mitotic wave response in 10-day old male and female rats and (b) a significantly lower response in adult male rats compared to females, a difference which was reduced by castration of males at birth but essentially maintained if animals were operated when 10 days old.
• 2 Partial hepatectomy shortly after puberty resulted in active hepatocyte multiplication occurring 3 hr earlier in females than in males. This difference was suppressed when females were ovariectomized at birth and significantly reduced when they were spayed at a later age. Hepatocytes of castrated females entered actively into S phase 2 hr later than the sham-operated controls. Unilateral ovariectomy on the other hand indicated that during compensatory and/or hyper-compensatory activity of the single ovary there was a maximum difference between the male and female rate of [³H]thymidine uptake in liver nuclei 20 hr after hepatectomy. A further kinetic study (t= 25, 30, 40, 65, 90 hr) indicated no significant sex-related difference in the number of S phases per 10,000 cells.

The DNA content of regenerating versus control livers was comparable in both sexes at t= 22 and 90 hr but higher in females at t= 40 and 65 hr. A possible early postnatal interference of certain hormonal mechanisms in the receptivity to mitotic stimuli is postulated and discussed.     

THE IN VIVO REUTILIZATION OF LYMPHOCYTIC AND SARCOMA DNA BY CELLS GROWING IN THE PERITONEAL CAVITY

An ascites tumor, Sarcoma I, was transplanted to isologous and homologous mice which had been labeled with tritiated thymidine from 1 to 24 hours previously. Radioautographic preparations revealed labeled host lymphocytes emerging to mingle with the transplanted tumor and the subsequent appearance of nuclear radioactivity in the sarcoma. Sarcoma cells cultured subcutaneously or in Millipore diffusion chambers in previously labeled mice did not demonstrate significant radioactivity. Transplantation of washed, H³-thymidine-labeled lymphocytes to non-radioactive, sarcoma-bearing mice was followed by the gradual appearance of nuclear radioactivity in the sarcoma. The label in the sarcoma was entirely removed by deoxyribonuclease but not by ribonuclease treatment prior to radioautography. Intraperitoneal injections of purified, H³-thymidine-labeled sarcoma or lymphoid DNA in normal or tumor-bearing mice were followed by radioactivity appearing in sarcoma or normal peritoneal mononuclear cells. It was concluded that reutilization of DNA and its metabolites may occur in vivo, and the conditions under which reutilization may be detected are discussed.