Using FTA® cards to store avian blood samples for genetic studies. Their application in sex determination

FTA® cards were used for long‐term storage of avian blood samples. Blood DNA was extracted by a simple method and used in PCR for sex identification of adult and nestling Great Grey Shrikes Lanius excubitor.     

A method for accurate analysis of intermembrane space in organelles enclosed by double envelope membranes.

Centrifugal filtration through a double layer of silicone oil was applied to determine the intermembrane space of organelles enclosed by double envelope membranes, i.e. proplastids, chloroplasts, mitochondria and amyloplasts. The organelles, capable of transporting adenylates by an adenylate translocator located in the inner envelope membrane, were incubated with increasing concentrations of adenylates while maintaining their specific radioactivities constant. Intermembrane spaces were estimated by extrapolation of radioactivities recovered after filtration of the organelles. The values estimated were compared to those obtained employing the classical method measuring the intake of [14C]-sucrose and [14C]-sorbitol which are impermeable to the inner membranes of organelles. The intermembrane space determined by the present method was shown to be uniformly smaller than the sucrose-permeable space which was always smaller than the sorbitol-permeable space.     

Potential long-acting contraceptive agents: esters of testosterone with alkoxy- and halogeno-substituted carboxylic acids

The chemical synthesis and physical data of several new esters of testosterone (17 beta-hydroxyandrost-4-en-3-one), which contain either a halogeno or an alkoxy substituent in the acid chain, are reported.     

Reactions of sugar nitro-alkenes with acetoacetic esters

3,4,5,6,7-Penta-O-acetyl-1,2-dideoxy-1-nitro-d-gluco-hept-1-enitol reacts with methyl acetoacetate in an unusual Michael reaction, giving the normal adduct (6), and a bicyclic derivative (9) that arises from quasi-dimerization of the former when a high concentration of the base is used. Acetylation of compound 9 gives the hydroxylamine O-acetate (10).From the reactions of 3,4,5,6,7-penta-O-acetyl-1,2-dideoxy-1-nitro-d-galacto-hept-1-enitol with ethyl and tert-butyl acetoacetate, the normal adducts (7 and 8) were isolated. The structures of compounds 6 to 10 were established on the basis of their spectral properties (u.v., i.r., mass, and ¹H- and ¹³C-n.m.r.)     

The steroids and fatty acids of the basidiomycete Scleroderma polyrhizum

The fruit bodies of the Basidiomycete Scleroderma polyrhizum have been shown to contain the steroids ergosta-4,6,8(14) 22-tetraen-3-one and 5α,8α-epidoxyergosta-6,22-dien-3β-ol and also palmitic and oleic acids.     

Influence of phytoplankton composition and stratification degree on gut pigment content of Ceriodaphnia sp. at dawn

Very short-term feeding activity of the cladoceran Ceriodaphniasp. was investigated in situ in a eutrophic reservoir in thesouth of Spain, using fluorimetric analysis of the gut pigmentcontent in periods when the water column was relatively mixedor strongly stratified. The results obtained in the mixed watercolumn showed a clear increase in gut pigment content at dawn,a period sampled with high frequency. The accumulation of thecladoceran at the depth of maximum concentration of phytoplankton,and the high gut pigment concentration in cladocerans at thatdepth just after dawn, suggested active feeding of Ceriodaphniaon phytoplankton at that time. During stratification, the abundanceof Ceriodaphnia was higher, but the gut pigment contents werevery low and they did not reflect any clear feeding patterns,with either time or depth. Changes in phytoplankton concentrationand composition between the relatively mixed and the stratifiedwater column suggest a shift in feeding activity from herbivorousto.