Delayed effect of pinealectomy on hibernation of the golden-mantled ground squirrel

Pinealectomy or radical sham pinealectomy were performed on adult golden-mantled ground squirrels,Spermophilus (=Citellus) lateralis, approximately 1 month prior to the date of normal winter emergence. The first hibernatory period and subsequent active season were not different in either of the operated groups from intact animals. However, although the initiation of the second hibernatory period was not affected in the pinealectomized animals, this group failed to show the progressive increase in the length of heterothermic bouts that is characteristic of normal hibernation. Also, terminal arousal occurred approximately 6 weeks earlier in the second year after pinealectomy. Male squirrels showed a corresponding time compression in their annual gonadal cycle, as was assessed by testicular state.These results suggest that the pineal gland of the golden-mantled ground squirrel is involved in the expression of the annual hibernatory cycle. In the absence of the pineal gland the adult of this species is unable to sustain the normal depth and duration of hibernation in the second over-wintering period following pinealectomy.We have carried out additional experiments with young, laboratory-bornS. lateralis and with field-caught, adultS. richardsonii. The results of these studies also are described in this paper.Presented at the Ninth International Congress of Biometeorology, 23 Sept – 1 Oct 1981, Osnabrück and Hohenheim, FRG.     

Effects of isoproterenol,theophylline and carbachol on cyclic nucleotide levels and relaxation of bovine tracheal smooth muscle

The effect of theophylline and isoproterenol on bovine tracheal smooth muscle tension and cyclic AMP levels was investigated. Concentrations of isoproterenol (4 × 10^?6 M) and theophylline (10 mM) that relaxed carbachol-contracted tracheal muscle by 85–95% did not significantly elevate control levels of cyclic AMP. In the absence of carbachol, several-fold increases in cyclic AMP were caused by isoproterenol although no elevations by theophylline were measurable. However, when isoproterenol and theophylline were administered together, theophylline potentiated the rise in cyclic AMP caused by isoproterenol. Phosphodiesterase studies in tracheal muscle showed the presence of a high and a low K_m enzyme which were inhibited by theophylline. Cyclic GMP levels were elevated in muscles contracted by carbachol as well as in carbachol-contracted muscles that had been relaxed by theophylline. In non-tension studies, in which the tracheal muscle was not under isometric tension, carbachol or theophylline alone increased cyclic GMP and together they synergistically elevated cyclic GMP. Atropine blocked the elevation caused by carbachol but not that caused by theophylline. In contrast to theophylline, isoproterenol did not elevate cyclic GMP, and in carbachol-contracted muscles that had been relaxed by isoproterenol, cyclic GMP levels were no different from control. Also, in non-tension studies, isoproterenol decreased basal cyclic GMP and antagonized the increase in cyclic GMP due to carbachol.The results indicate that whole-tissue levels of cyclic AMP and cyclic GMP do not correlate with the state of tracheal smooth muscle tension. Cyclic GMP levels do not clearly correlate with either contraction or relaxation. The inhibition by carbachol of increases in cyclic AMP due to isoproterenol and the inhibition by isoproterenol of increases in cyclic GMP due to carbachol provide evidence for a reciprocal cholinergic-adrenergic antagonism of cyclic AMP and cyclic GMP levels. The antagonism did not appear to be due to either cyclic nucleotide affecting the elevation of the other since the levels of both cyclic nucleotides were depressed.     

A free-radical hypothesis for the instability and evolution of genotype and phenotypein vitro

It has been known for several decades that cultured murine cells undergo a defined series of changes, i.e., anin vitro evolution, which includes crisis, spontaneous transformation (immortalization), aneuploidy, and spontaneous neoplastic transformation. These changes have been shown to be caused by thein vitro environment rather than an inherent instability of the murine phenotype or genotype. Serum amine oxidases were recently identified as a predominant cause of crisis. These enzymes generate hydrogen peroxide from polyamine substrates that enter the extracellular milieu. This finding implicates free-radical toxicity as the underlying cause ofin vitro evolution. We propose an oxyradical hypothesis to explain each of the stages ofin vitro evolution and discuss its significance for cytotechnology and long-term cultivation of mammalian cell types.ORR, CDER, FDA Mod-1, Room 2023, 8301 Muirkirk Road, Laurel MD 20708, USA     

Seasonal cycles of reserves in relation to reproduction inSebastes

Synopsis Seasonal cycles of reserve deposition and utilization in many fishes, amphibians and reptiles alleviate temporal mismatches of energy supply and demand. Utilization of reserves can be related to maintenance during periods of reduced food supply, to reproduction, particularly during periods of poor food availability, and to migration. Published data on the seasonal cycles of reserves and reproduction inSebastes suggest that reserves are important for maintenance during wintertime periods of low food availability. Unlike many other ectothermic vertebrates, some species ofSebastes deposit fat reserves at the same time as gametogenesis, a pattern consistent with the longevity and iteroparity evident in the genus. Other species ofSebastes have similar seasonal timing of fat cycles, but since reproduction takes place later in the year, the decline in reserves during winter coincides with the main period of reproductive activity. The significance of this is not clear. Interspecific differences in amounts of reserves may be related to geographical differences in the seasonality or abundance of food. Intraspecific variation in reserves, marked most strongly by allometry of reserves with regard to fish legth, bears further study, since it may link the proces of sexual maturation and the responses of repeat spawners to variability in food supply and other environmental factors.     

Seed morphology under SEM and light microscopy in Kansas Juncus (Juncaceae)

Seed morphology was studied in 15 species of four subgenera ofJuncus occurring in Kansas, to determine if seeds provide traits useful in assessing systematic relations within the genus. In this study seed size and shape were of limited value, while surface ornamentation of the hard inner seed coat provided encouraging results. SubgenusPoiophylli showed little variation in surface ornamentation among taxa; similar ornamentation was observed in subgenusGenuini. SubgeneraGraminifolii andSeptati were separately distinct with the taxa in theSeptati forming a continuum of variation.     

SO2-catalysed prehydrolysis of coniferous wood for ethanol production

Summary This paper reports studies of large scale, 1500 kg/h, SO₂-catalysed prehydrolysis of coniferous wood chips, samples then being hydrolyzed by a wood-saccharifying enzyme system followed by fermentation to ethanol in the laboratory. Hemicellulose hydrolysis using SO₂ catalyst (prehydrolysis) was found to be more effective than steam alone (autohydrolysis). Prehydrolysis time was 2 min, with steam pressure at 1.2 to 1.7 MPa (175 to 250 psig), and SO₂ catalyst 2.0 to 2.6% on dry wood. The amount of sugars recovered upon enzyme saccharification of the prehydrolysed wood was about 70% of the weight of the wood. When these combined hemicellulose and cellulose sugars were fermented by a pentose-fermenting strain of yeast,Pichia stipitis R, 372 L ethanol/tonne of (dry) wood was obtained.