The effect of starvation on the ultrastructure of the red and white myotomal muscles of the crucian carp (Carassius carassius)

Summary The effect of 16 weeks total starvation on the ultrastructure of the red and white myotomal muscles of the crucian carp (Carassius Carassius) has been investigated. In the white fibres the amount of myofibrillar material fell from 89.6% to 70.7% of the total fibre volume whilst in the red fibres the fall was from 72.2% to 70.3%. The sarcoplasmic reticulum appeared to have become swollen during starvation in both fibre types. In the white fibres the terminal cisternae of some triads seem to have fused. The volume of the red fibres occupied by mitochondria was reduced from 16.2 % to 5.9 %. The concentration of mitochondria in the white fibres was too low to detect any quantitative changes. A marked reduction in the amount of euchromatin material was observed in most white fibre nuclei and many red fibre nuclei. Many of the ultrastructural changes noted in the present study can be correlated with biochemical changes known to occur in the red and white myotomal muscles of fish during starvation. This work was supported by a grant from the Natural Environmental Research Council.     

Simple estimate of ureides in soybean tissue

Extracts of soybean tissue are treated with an acidic cation-exchange resin to remove amino acids. The sample is treated with hypochlorite, pH 4.0, to convert the amide from allantoic acid or allantoin to products that react with alkaline phenol to form indophenol. The procedure is inexpensive, sensitive, and rapid. The method may be adapted for automated analysis with the Technicon autoanalyzer.     

Dbp73D, a Drosophila gene expressed in ovary, encodes a novel D-E-A-D box protein.

Proteins of the D-E-A-D family of putative ATP-dependent RNA helicases have been implicated in translation initiation and RNA splicing in a variety of organisms from E. coli to man. The Drosophila vasa protein, a member of this family, is required in the female germ line for fertility and for specification of germ line and posterior positional information in progeny embryos. We report the isolation of another D-E-A-D gene from Drosophila, which, like vasa, is expressed in germ line tissue. The predicted amino acid sequence of this new gene, Dbp73D, contains all of the highly conserved helicase motifs, but is otherwise the farthest-diverged member of the family so far identified.     

On the Organization and Affinities of the Amoeba,Pompholyxophrys punicea Archer,Based on Ultrastructural Examination of Individual Cells from Wild Material1

The genus Pompholyxophrys includes amoebae which have a spherical body, fine radiating pseudopodia, and a layer of adhering siliceous “perles.” These organisms are normally regarded as a type of heliozoon. Ultrastructural examination of P. punicea reveals that those characters associated with well characterized heliozoa, such as microtubular axonemes and extrusomes, are lacking. The species has much in common with nucleariid filose amoebae with which it, and the related genus Pinaciophora, are regarded as having affinities. The species P. punicea is rare, and this study was made possible by the application of techniques developed for the ultrastructural examination of single cells. The assessment of protistan diversity and interrelationships relies heavily on the use of ultrastructural characters. Although techniques that are based on the examination of a small number of individual cells have limitations, they do allow rare organisms to be included in the re-evaluation of protistan systematics.