Intramembranous particles and chlorophyll complexes in chloroplasts.

The size and population density of large and small particles from freeze-fractured chloroplasts of three wild-type algae and of normal spinach were determined. Computer analyses of low-temperature absorption spectra of chloroplast preparations from these species were performed, and a possible correlation between the occurrence of seven chlorophyll complexes and the aforementioned properties of the intramembranous particles was studies. It was found that only single-sized particles occur in a species containing neither chlorophyll b nor chlorophyll a-685 complexes. The three remaining species carry particles of two sizes, termed large and small particles. However, from quantitative considerations it is concluded that the chlorophyll content of none of the various pigment complexes is related to the size and the population density of the studied particles. If such a relationship exists, it seems likely to be due to the carrier moiety of the chorophyll b-chlorophyll a-685 complex.     

Chloroplast structure of diatoms of different classes

The diversity of chloroplast forms, and their number and cellular location, as well as pyrenoid structure, distinguishes diatoms from other groups of heterokont algae. The fine chloroplast structure is considered to be informative for taxonomic and phylogenetic studies of diatoms. Six species of diatoms belonging to different classes have been examined with transmission electron microscopy. New data on the chloroplast structure have been obtained. Characteristics of the pyrenoid ultrastructure of diatoms belonging to various phylogenetic clades have been defined more precisely. The results specify the ultrastructure of pyrenoids for different phylogenetic clades of diatoms and contribute to the previously obtained data.     

Distribution of blood-borne particles of two different sizes in rat spleens

Polystyrene microspheres 5 micron in diameter and Indian ink, consisting of particles 0.03 micron in diameter, were injected into the splenic artery in rats. The distribution of the polystyrene microspheres and the ink particles in the spleen were examined microscopically and morphometrically. The polystyrene microspheres appeared mainly in the red pulp, and the Indian ink particles mostly in the marginal zone, which functions as an immunological filter. (No arteries opened into the lymphoid follicles.)     

Chloroplast membrane biogenesis in chlamydomonas: Correlation between the formation of membrane components and membrane structure

The y-1 mutant of Chlamydomonas reinhardi, when allowed to green in the presence of chloramphenicol (CAP), an inhibitor of protein synthesis on 70s ribosomes, form photosynthetic membranes which contain somewhat less chlorophyll than those of cells greened in the absence of the drug. Photosystem I and II activities are drastically reduced in the CAP-greened cells, and specific alterations in the polypeptide composition of the thylakoid membranes are also observed. We have examined the internal structure of the thylakoid membranes from cells greened in the presence and absence of CAP, and have found that the large particles observed on the exoplasmic fracture face (EF) are substantially reduced in size and number in the CAP-greened cells. This structural defect seems related to the absence of significant photosystem activities in the CAP-greened cells, despite the presence, of most major membrane polypeptides. We suggest that CAP treatment results in a failure of the cell to organize functional reaction complexes, and is structurally reflected in the absence of large (EF) particles in such membranes. This defect can be repaired by allowing the affected cells to re-green in the absence of the drug, and the large particles reappear, paralleling an increase in photosynthetic activity.     

不同粒径红壤胶体颗粒对DNA的吸附特性

采用平衡法研究了含有机质粗粘粒、去有机质粗粘粒、含有机质细粘粒和去有机质细粘粒4种红壤胶粒对DNA的吸附特征及其热力学特性.结果表明: 4种红壤胶粒对DNA的吸附是快反应过程,Langmuir吸附方程可较好地描述4种红壤胶体对DNA的等温吸附,相应拟合的相关系数r²分别为0.974、0.991、0.958和0.975.最大吸附量表现为含有机质细粘粒>去有机质细粘粒>含有机质粗粘粒>去有机质粗粘粒.电解质浓度和种类及吸附体系pH是影响红壤胶体对DNA吸附的重要因子,一定电解质浓度范围(NaCl<60 mmol·L^-1,CaCl₂<10 mmol·L^-1)内,DNA在红壤胶体表面的吸附量随电解质浓度的增大而显著增加,其中钙离子的促进作用大于钠离子,但随着吸附体系pH的上升而显著降低.含有机质胶粒对DNA的吸附过程是吸热反应,而去有机质胶粒对DNA的吸附过程是放热反应,红壤胶粒对DNA的吸附反应过程是一个熵增过程.     

Intramembranous particles in the form of ridges,bracelets or assemblies in arthropod tissues

Non-junctional intramembranous particle arrays in the form of ridges, bracelets or rectilinear assemblies have been found by freeze-fracturingin the cytoplasmic half or P face of the plasma membrane in a variety of arthropod tissues. These tissues include both excitable cells, nerve and muscle, and such other cells as those from the intestinal tract, the tracheal system and the connective tissue. The intramembranous ridges are short rows of fused particles about 10 nm in diameter; comparable particles comprise the bracelets and the rectilinear aggregates, although the former are of lower profile. In cells sending out cytoplasmic projections during migration and development, for example, axons in embryonic, newly hatched or pupal tissues, tracheoles or fibroblasts, the intramembranous ridges are always aligned parallel to the longitudinal axis of the cellular process. The physiological significance of these may be that they play some role in recognition during development, perhaps by contact guidance. The ridges and rectilinear arrays found in the gut could also be involved in recognition and/or adhesion. In muscle, bead-like ridges are intimately associated with the transverse tubular system and may have a receptor function. Irregular and circular low-profile ridges occur in the tissues of the horseshoe crab, Limulus, and ‘bracelet’ forms are found in the inner membrane of insect pupal tracheae. The latter may play a part in the initiation and development of small tracheoles.     

Labelling of membrane glycoproteins on rat spermatozoa collected from different regions of the epididymis.

1. Charge-shift electrophoresis showed that cholera toxin and its subunits have no hydrophobic surfaces. 2. Amino-acid composition and sequence data suggested that the proteins have no masked hydrophobic regions. 3. The A subunit of cholera toxin may interact with polar molecules in the membrane to exert its effect inside the cell. 4. The only hydrophobic part of tetanus toxin was the H-chain.     

The etiological structure of acute bacterial meningitis in different regions]

In 1985-1989 the etiological structure of acute bacterial meningitides (ABM) in children was studied in 4 largest industrial cities in different regions of the European part of the former USSR, as well as in 2 industrial cities of western Siberia. Due to the common methodological approach used in all investigations, comparable data were obtained in all cities. These investigations revealed that meningococci caused 53.0-86.7% of all cases of ABM in children, which corresponded to moderately increased morbidity rate in meningococcal infection (3.9-11.0 cases per 100,000 of the population, mostly 5.0-7.0 cases) in these cities with its progressive decrease during 3-4 years of observation. The gradual change of meningococci from group A, prevailing in the '70s and early '80s, to group B and in some cases the appearance of group C meningococci, accompanied by a decrease in morbidity rate, were noted. In St. Petersburg the indices of ABM morbidity in children aged up to 5 years for 1987 and 1988, caused by Haemophilus influenzae (0.74 and 4.13) and pneumococci (3.23 and 4.86), could be calculated. A great number of ABM cases of unclear etiology (15.9-33.3%) suggests that the number of ABM cases caused by these two infective agents was underestimated.     

Chloroplast membrane sidedness. Location of plastocyanin determined by chemical modifiers

Intact grana and stroma membranes (outer membrane absent) and detergent or sonication disrupted thylakoid membranes were treated with the hydrophilic covalent chemical modifiers [³⁵S]diazonium benzene sulfonic acid ([³⁵S]DABS) and [¹⁴C]glycine ethylester plus 1-cyclohexyl-3-(2-morpholinoethyl)-carbodiimide metho-p-toluenesulfonate (CDIS). Plastocyanin was purified using column chromatography followed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and the incorporation of [³⁵S]DABS and [¹⁴C]glycine ethylester into plastocyanin was determined by slicing the gels and counting the radioactivity in the plastocyanin band. Plastocyanin isolated from thylakoids disrupted prior to chemical modification binds two to four times as much of either modifier than the plastocyanin isolated from intact chloroplasts. This ratio is five to ten times lower than the ratio expected for a component buried behind the permeability barrier of a membrane. The data suggest that plastocyanin is partially exposed at the external surface of the thylakoid membrane rather than being completely buried in, or behind, the lipo-protein membrane.     

Effect of bovine manure on fecal coliform attachment to soil and soil particles of different sizes

Manure-borne bacteria can be transported in runoff as free cells, cells attached to soil particles, and cells attached to manure particles. The objectives of this work were to compare the attachment of fecal coliforms (FC) to different soils and soil fractions and to assess the effect of bovine manure on FC attachment to soil and soil fractions. Three sand fractions of different sizes, the silt fraction, and the clay fraction of loam and sandy clay loam soils were separated and used along with soil samples in batch attachment experiments with water-FC suspensions and water-manure-FC suspensions. In the absence of manure colloids, bacterial attachment to soil, silt, and clay particles was much higher than the attachment to sand particles having no organic coating. The attachment to the coated sand particles was similar to the attachment to silt and clay. Manure colloids in suspensions decreased bacterial attachment to soils, clay and silt fractions, and coated sand fractions, but did not decrease the attachment to sand fractions without the coating. The low attachment of bacteria to silt and clay particles in the presence of manure colloids may cause predominantly free-cell transport of manure-borne FC in runoff.     

Affinity of two different regions of the chromosome to the outer membrane of Escherichia coli.

It was found that DNA associated with the outer membrane of Escherichia coli K-12 is enriched for two different regions of the chromosome, which are both on the 5.9-megadalton EcoRI fragment containing the replication origin, oriC. One region overlaps oriC, whereas the other region was found to be associated with a 1-megadalton EcoRI-BamHI fragment located within the atp operon.