Glutamate synthase in rice roots. Studies on the electron donor specificity

Rice root glutamate synthase activity was assayed with various reducing systems. Ferredoxin-dependent glutamate synthase (EC 1.4.7.1) and pyridine nucleotide-dependent glutamate synthase (NADH, EC 1.4.1.14; or NADPH, EC 1.4.1.13) exhibited a strict specificity for the electron donor. The ferredoxin-dependent glutamate synthase from rice roots could accept electrons from photoreduced ferredoxin in an illuminated reconstituted spinach chloroplast system. Thioredoxin, a potent electron carrier, was not able to provide either ferredoxin-dependent or pyridine nucleotide-dependent glutamate synthase with electrons as no glutamate formation was detected in the presence of reduced thioredoxin f or m.     

Modulation of the biologic activities of IgE-binding factor. II. Physicochemical properties and cell sources of glycosylation-enhancing factor

T lymphocytes of rats treated with Bordetella pertussis vaccine (BP) formed a soluble factor that enhanced the glycosylation of IgE-binding factors during their biosynthesis, and provided the latter factors with the biologic activity to potentiate the IgE response. The present experiments demonstrated that pertussigen (leukocytosis-promoting factor) from BP induced normal rat spleen cells to form the glycosylation-enhancing factor. The same factor was obtained by incubation of normal spleen cells with 5 micrograms/ml, but not 2 micrograms/ml, concanavalin A. When normal rat mesenteric lymph node cells were incubated with the glycosylation-enhancing factor together with IgE, IgE-binding factors formed by the cells selectively potentiated the IgE response. The IgE-binding factors formed by the same cells upon incubation with IgE alone neither enhanced nor suppressed the IgE response. The glycosylation-enhancing factor changed the nature of IgE-binding factors formed by the rat-mouse T cell hybridoma, 23A4. IgE-binding factors induced by IgE alone lacked affinity for lentil lectin, whereas those induced by IgE in the presence of the glycosylation-enhancing factor had affinity for the lectin. The cell source of the glycosylation-enhancing factor appeared to be W 3/25+ Fc gamma R+ T cells. The glycosylation-enhancing factor was protein in nature and had a m.w. of about 25,000. The factor had affinity for acid-treated Sepharose and could be recovered from the beads by elution with lactose. The factor was different from interleukin 2 with respect to both its affinity for galactose and its isoelectric point.     

Reconstitution mechanism of nucleosome core particles mediated by poly(l-glutamic acid)

Poly(l-glutamic acid) has been reported to mediate in vitro nucleosome assembly (Stein, A., Whitlock, J.P., Jr. and Bina, M. (1979) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 76, 5000–5004). To study the reaction mechanism, we have reconstituted nucleosome core particles from chicken erythrocyte core DNA and core histones in the presence of poly(l-glutamic acid) and analyzed the assembly products by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Poly(l-glutamic acid), which binds and forms a large complex with core histones, is replaced with core DNA in the reconstitution process. When histone-poly(l-glutamic acid) complex and core DNA are mixed with a histone:DNA ratio of 1.0, the yield of core particles increases by prolonged reconstitution time. Two phases with a distinct time range appear in the process. In the fast phase within 30 min, 60% of the DNA is involved in products containing histones: reconstituted core particles, a larger nucleoprotein complex and aggregation. In the second phase, the remaining DNA and the DNA in the aggregation decrease, and the core particles increase slowly. The yield of core particles is approx. 60% after 24 h. The slow phase is not observed by reconstitution with a histone:DNA ratio of 2.0 in the initial mixture. The reaction scheme of the assembly process derived from these data is given. Based on the in vitro reaction scheme, the possible role of in vivo ‘nucleosome assembly factors’ is also discussed.     

Amino acid sequence of the active site of human pseudocholinesterase

The usualE ₁ ^u and atypicalE ₁ ^a human pseudocholinesterases (acylocholine acylhydrolase, EC 3.1.1.8) were purified to homogeneity. The active-site serine residue was conjugated with diisopropyl fluorophosphate and digested with trypsin. The tryptic peptide containing the active site was isolated by gel filtration followed by two-dimensional paper chromatography and electrophoresis. The amino acid sequence of the active site peptide obtained from the usualE ₁ ^u enzyme was found to be Gly-Glu-Ser-Ala-Gly-Ala-Ser-Ala-Val-Ser-Leu. A remarkable structural homology exists between the human and the horse enzymes in their active sites. From the difference in electrophoretic mobility of the active-site peptides obtained from the usual and atypical enzymes, the probable structure of the atypical human enzyme was deduced as Gly-His-Ser-Ala-Gly-Ala-Ser-Ala-Val-Ser-Leu.     

Axial changes in the nemertean egg and embryo during development and its phylogenetic significance

On the basis of the axial relationship between the larva and adult, it is possible to divide the larvae of the members of the Heteronemertea and a species of the Palaeonemertea into five types, forming a sequential series in which the adult axis of each advances by an angle of 45° from that immediately preceding it. Phylogenetic consideration of the Nemertea has been undertaken in the light of evidence provided by the axiality of the embryos and the developmental data hitherto recorded.     

Effect of Phleomycin on Polyoma Virus Synthesis in Mouse Embryo Cells

The addition of phleomycin (25 mug) to primary mouse embryo cells infected with polyoma virus was found to cause 96% inhibition of the synthesis of infectious virus. When ribonucleic acid and protein synthesis was investigated in these cells by use of isotope incorporation, it was found that neither was inhibited drastically. Immunofluorescent staining studies with the use of antibody directed to the viral structural proteins showed that proteins were synthesized in the presence of the antibiotic. However, when deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) synthesis was investigated, it was found that DNA synthesis in uninfected cells was completely inhibited within the initial 10 hr of phleomycin addition, whereas DNA synthesis in infected cells proceeded at a reduced rate. Selective DNA extraction (Hirt method) of phleomycin-treated infected cells demonstrated that synthesized viral DNA was salt-extractable, similar to that in infected control cells lacking phleomycin. This extracted DNA was further fractionated by ethidium bromide-cesium chloride density gradient equilibrium centrifugation. The phleomycin-treated preparations revealed twice as much component II (circular nicked and linear) as component I (supercoiled) DNA, whereas the DNA from normally infected control cells showed the reverse picture. It was also demonstrated that viral particles synthesized in the presence of phleomycin did not contain component I DNA. This packaged DNA was found to consist of fragments of both the host and viral types. Cells that were prelabeled with (3)H-thymidine and then treated with phleomycin demonstrated host DNA degradation. However, fragments formed from prelabeled host DNA were not encapsidated into viral particles.     

Separation of the Polypeptides of Chlamydia and Its Cell Walls by Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis

The polypeptide composition of Chlamydia was examined by acrylamide gel electrophoresis. When the polypeptide patterns of purified infectious elementary bodies (EB) of C. psittaci meningopneumonitis strain, 6BC strain, and C. trachomatis T'ang strain were compared, no significant differences were observed. The polypeptide patterns of whole EB and reticulate bodies (RB) appeared to overlap, but differences were found. In EB cell walls, nine main and several minor bands of polypeptides were observed in gels containing sodium lauryl sulfate, and the eighth main band from the top of the gel stained positive with periodic acid-Schiff reagent. On the other hand, the polypeptides in bands 3, 6, and 8 in EB cell walls were missing or minor in RB cell walls, and the ninth band was clearly stained by PAS. Band 8 was also stained slightly. Purified subunits, which occur as a lattice structure on the inside layer of EB cell walls but are largely missing in RB cell walls, contained bands 4, 6, and 8, and band 8 was PAS positive. These results indicate that significant polypeptide synthesis or reorganization in the cell walls occurs during the growth cycle.     

Dielectric properties of polyelectrolytes. V. Dielectric dispersion of heavy meromyosin

Dielectric constant and dielectric loss of heavy meromyosin (HMM) were measured with varying pH. HMM showed a broader dispersion pattern than that with a single relaxation time especially on the high-frequencey side. The dielectric increment increased sharply with pH, above p^{H 6}, whereas the mean relaxation time and whole dispersion pattern were unchanged in the same region. The values of the increment and the mean relaxation time were much larger than those of usual globular proteins. The dispersion profile, pH dependence, and values of the increment are well explained by Oosawa's counterion fluctuation theory. Other mechanisms are more or less inadequate to our results. In the low pH region below the isoelectric precipitation region, both the increment and the mean relaxation time decreased; this is probably due to partial denaturation and suppression of the dissociation of carboxyl groups. An experiment on a urea-denatured sample supports this assumption. The biological significance of the pH dependence is discussed.     

Purification and Chemical Composition of Reticulate Bodies of the Meningopneumonitis Organisms

Reticulate bodies of the meningopneumonitis (MP) microorganism were purified from L cells 18 hr after infection by the combination of differential centrifugation in 30% sucrose solution and potassium tartrate density gradient centrifugation. It was ascertained by electron microscopy that purified preparations of reticulate bodies obtained were almost entirely free of host-cell components and of infectious elementary bodies of MP microorganisms. Purified reticulate bodies were easily disrupted by mechanical agitation, and it was observed in shadowed preparation that ribosome-like particles 15 mmu in diameter were scattered from broken reticulate bodies. In shadowed preparations, reticulate bodies were found to range in size from 1.0 to 1.6 mu in diameter, but in cross-section the range was 0.5 to 1.0 mu. In these preparations, the purified reticulate bodies were irregular in shape, round or oval, and were composed of rather homogenous, amorphous, or reticulate material with moderate density. Some particles exhibited a less-dense internal structure, in which a coarse fibrous reticulum was seen. Chemical fractionation of (32)P-labeled purified reticulate bodies showed that they contained three times more ribonucleic acid (RNA) than deoxyribonucleic acid, with the RNA being composed primarily of 21S, 16S, and 4S RNA. No infectivity of purified reticulate bodies could be demonstrated.     

Pacemaker Potentials for the Periodic Burst Discharge in the Heart Ganglion of a Stomatopod, Squilla oratoria

From somata of the pacemaker neurons in the Squilla heart ganglion, pacemaker potentials for the spontaneous periodic burst discharge are recorded with intracellular electrodes. The electrical activity is composed of slow potentials and superimposed spikes, and is divided into four types, which are: (a) "mammalian heart" type, (b) "slow generator" type, (c) "slow grower" type, and (d) "slow deficient" type. Since axons which are far from the somata do not produce slow potentials, the soma and dendrites must be where the slow potentials are generated. Hyperpolarization impedes generation of the slow potential, showing that it is an electrically excitable response. Membrane impedance increases on depolarization. Brief hyperpolarizing current can abolish the plateau but brief tetanic inhibitory fiber stimulation is more effective for the abolition. A single stimulus to the axon evokes the slow potential when the stimulus is applied some time after a previous burst. Repetitive stimuli to the axon are more effective in eliciting the slow potential, but the depolarization is not maintained on continuous stimulation. Synchronization of the slow potential among neurons is achieved by: (a) the electrotonic connections, with periodic change in resistance of the soma membrane, (b) active spread of the slow potential, and (c) synchronization through spikes.