Fluctuation of algal alkaline phosphatase activity and the possible mechanisms of hydrolysis of dissolved organic phosphorus in Lake Barato

For freshwater cyanobacteria, the autofluorescence of phycocyanin is quite high while the in vivo fluorescence (IVF) yield of chlorophyll-a is relatively low, apparently because of low chlorophyll concentrations associated with photosystem II. In eucaryotic phytoplankton, even those with phycobili-protein accessory pigments (e.g. some cryptophytes), the opposite is true. Thus, an IVF ratio which relates phycocyanin to chlorophyll-a signals could be a good index of relative cyanobacterial abundance in the field. Spectrofluorometric scans of whole cells from laboratory cultures indicated that the ratio Em₆₆₀ @ Ex₆₃₀/Em₆₈₀ @ Ex₄₃₀ could be a very sensitive cyanobacterial indicator. Tandem flowthrough fluorometers were then fitted with the appropriate interference filters and their discriminatory power was evaluated with mixtures of cyanobacterial and eucaryotic phytoplankton. Although subject to many of the constraints of other IVF assays, tandem fluorometry should be particularly appropriate for real-time mapping of the relative spatial and temporal distributions of broad phytoplankton taxa in continuous vertical of horizontal profiles in lakes.     

Analysis of Slow Hyperpolarizing Potentials in Frog Taste Cells Induced by Glossopharyngeal Nerve Stimulation

Chemical Senses, 29,     

Intergenus cell fusion between L-form cells of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli

Intergenus cell fusion of prokaryotic bacteria was demonstrated for the first time; namely, fusion products doubly resistant to streptomycin and tetracycline were produced by polyethylene glycol treatment of a mixture of the streptomycin-resistant L-form of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and tetracycline-resistant L-form of Escherichia coli.     

Effects of haloperidol and sulpiride on dopamine-induced inhibition of nucleus accumbens neurons

Microiontophoretic study was performed to elucidate dopaminergic mechanism in the nucleus accumbens (Acc) of rats anesthetized with chloral hydrate. Iontophoretically applied dopamine produced an inhibition of glutamate-induced firing in 28 (62%) out of 45 Acc neurons tested. The dopamine-induced inhibition of 14 Acc neurons was clearly antagonized by simultaneous application of haloperidol, and a partial antagonism by sulpiride was observed in 3 out of 10 Acc neurons. These results indicate that dopamine produces an inhibition of the Acc neuron and that, compared to haloperidol, sulpiride is a less potent blocker of the postsynaptic dopamine receptor involved in the dopamine-induced inhibition.     

Stress-Induced Alterations in Metabolism of Γ-Aminobutyric Acid in Rat Brain

The effect of a stressful manipulation on the metabolism of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the rat brain was studied. Application of an immobilized stress to animals induced a significant increase in the striatal and hypothalamic GABA contents without affecting those in other central structures examined. It was also found that the increase in striatal GABA level preceded that in the hypothalamus. This increase in steady-state levels of GABA in the striatum and hypothalamus disappeared at 12 h after the termination of the application of stress for 3 h, which exhibited a maximal stimulatory action on the GABA contents in both central areas. The activity of L-glutamic acid decarboxylase was found to be significantly elevated in the striatum and hypothalamus following the stress application with a concomitant decrease in the content of L-glutamic acid, which is converted to GABA by the catalytic action of the latter enzyme. The in vivo turnover of GABA in the brain was estimated by taking advantages of the postmortem accumulation of GABA following decapitation and of the selective inhibitory action of a low dose of aminooxyacetic acid on the GABA degrading system, respectively. Analysis using these two different methods revealed that the cerebral turnover of GABA in vivo was not significantly altered under stressful situations despite of the increase in its steady-state level. These results suggest that central GABA system may respond to the input of painful stimuli resulting from the application of a severe physical and psychological stressor, in addition to the well-known functional alterations in catecholamine neurons. The functional significance of these alterations in the central GABA neurons is also discussed.     

Food preferences and nematode parasitism in mycophagousDrosophila

Food preferences and nematode parasitism were studied in natural populations of mycophagousDrosophila in and near Sapporo, northern Japan. Species which preferred fresh mushrooms showed species-specific responses toPleurotus mushrooms:D. pirka bred only onPleurotus cornucopiae, D. trivitata onP. cornucopiae andP. ostreatus, D. trilineata on these twoPleurotus mushrooms and some other mushrooms, whileD. sexvittata bred on a wide variety of mushrooms but seldom onPleurotus mushrooms. Species which preferred decayed mushrooms (D. quadrivittata, D. histrioides, D. testacea and species of thequinaria species-group) showed host preferences different from those of the above species. The rate of parasitism by nematodes was generally higher in species which prefer decayed mushrooms than in species which prefer fresh mushrooms. Among species which prefer fresh mushrooms, onlyD. trilineata was parasitized frequently by nematodes. It was not clear what factors determine the rate of parasitism in these mycophagousDrosophila. D. pirka, D. trivittata andD. trilineata passed through three or four generations per year and entered reproductive diapause in early September in and near Sapporo. Bionomics of Drosophilidae (Diptera) in Hokkaido, IX.     

Congenitally defective aldosterone biosynthesis in humans: the involvement of point mutations of the P-450C18 gene (CYP11B2) in CMO II deficient patients.

The gene for steroid 18-hydroxylase (P-450C18) has been recently assigned to encode corticosterone methyl oxidases Type I and Type II which were previously postulated to catalyze the final two steps in the biosynthesis of aldosterone in humans. Molecular genetic analysis of the P-450C18 gene is three patients from three different families affected with CMO II deficiency has indicated that a point mutation of CGG----TGG (181Arg----Trp) in exon 3 and one of GTG----GCG (386Val----Ala) in exon 7 occur exclusively in the gene of the patients. Analysis of PCR products by restriction enzymes (HapII and HphI) has indicated that the patients are homozygous and the unaffected parent is heterozygous for both mutations, in accordance with the established concept that CMO II deficiency is inherited in an autosomal recessive manner. These data clearly provide the molecular genetic basis for the characteristic biochemical phenotype of CMO II clinical variants.     

The primary structure of human Rieske iron-sulfur protein of mitochondrial cytochrome bc1 complex deduced from cDNA analysis

We isolated a cDNA encoding human Rieske Fe-S protein of mitochondrial cytochrome bc1 complex from a fibroblast cDNA library by colony hybridization. The cDNA contains the nucleotide sequence encoding all of the amino acids (274 residues) comprising the putative precursor to the protein. Based on the known amino acid sequence of bovine Rieske Fe-S protein, the N-terminal extension sequence is presumed to be composed of 78 amino acids with a molecular weight of 8053. The mature protein consists of the same number of amino acid residues as that of its rat and bovine counterparts, having a homology of about 92% with the latter.     

Growth of the malignant and nonmalignant human squamous cells in a protein-free defined medium

Summary A novel protein-free synthetic medium has been developed for the culture of human squamous cell carcinoma cells. This medium, designated PF86-1, supports the serial subcultivation of six out of nine human squamous cell carcinoma cell lines in a protein-free, chemically defined condition without the adapting culture from serum-containing conditions. These cell lines growing in PF86-1 exhibited nearly equal potency to grow in massive culture without noticeable changes in morphology but presented a significantly decreased level of colony forming efficiency when compared with the cells cultured in serum-containing media, suggesting the implication of some autocrine mechanism. Interestingly, this medium supported the growth of normal human squamous cells of oral mucosa and skin for more than 2 mo. in the primary explant culture in spite of high levels of calcium ion concentration, where the overgrowth of fibroblasts as contaminant was not observed. These results suggest that PF86-1 supports the growth of cells derived from epidermal tissues selectively and provides the same defined condition for growth of malignant and nonmalignant human squamous cells. It seems, therefore, that PF86-1 allows investigations on the products of squamous cell carcinoma cells or on the differences of growth mechanisms between normal and neoplastic human squamous cells.