Effect of selection intensity and population size on percent oil in maize,Zea mays L

Summary The effect of selection intensity and population size on the response to selection for percent oil in the grain of maize (Zea mays L.) was evaluated in a replicated experiment over ten cycles of selection. An open-pollinated variety, Armel's Reid Yellow Dent, was divided into subpopulations of 6,10 and 50 plants. Selection proportions of 17% and 5% were imposed upon each subpopulation. Selection was based on the percentage of oil in individual kernels as determined by wide-line nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. As expected, total response to selection increased with larger population sizes and selection intensities. The concave shape of the response curves suggested that an appreciable part of the genetic variance can be attributed to additive genes at high initial frequencies, dominance genes at low initial frequencies, or to the generation of negative linkage disequilibrium due to selection. The consistently greater loss of vigor experienced by the more intensely selected populations reflects the enhancement of inbreeding due to artificial selection, an effect that increases with the intensity of selection. The results indicate that combined selection, based on kernels and using within- and amongfamily information, will be more efficient than other conventional selection procedures, including the normal combined scheme where selection is based on plants.Deceased     

Cloning of a lymphocyte homing receptor reveals a lectin domain

Lymphocytes express cell surface molecules, termed homing receptors, that mediate their selective attachment to specialized high endothelial venules found within secondary lymphoid organs. Previous work has demonstrated that the adhesive interaction between lymphocytes and the endothelium of peripheral lymph nodes appears to involve a lectin-like activity. Moreover, MEL-14, a monoclonal antibody that blocks lymphocyte-peripheral lymph node binding and presumably recognizes the homing receptor mediating this adhesive interaction, appeared to detect the lectin-like receptor. In this paper we describe the cloning of a murine cDNA that encodes the antigen recognized by the MEL-14 antibody. Characterization of the cDNA encoding the putative mouse peripheral lymph node-specific homing receptor shows that it contains a lectin domain that appears to be involved in the binding of lymphocytes to peripheral lymph node endothelium, thus defining a new type of cellular adhesion molecule. This result supports a novel mechanism for the distribution of lymphocyte populations to various lymphoid organs.     

Factors involved in multiplication and survival ofEscherichia coli in lake water

The population of a strain ofEscherichia coli that was resistant to nalidixic acid and streptomycin declined rapidly in samples of sterile and nonsterile Cayuga Lake water and reached an undetectable level in nonsterile water at 24 and 72 hours when counted on eosin-methylene blue (EMB) agar and half-strength trypticase soy agar (TSA), respectively. In sterile lake water amended with 10g amino acids per ml or 0.1 M phosphate,E. coli multiplied exponentially for more than 24 hours. The addition ofRhizobium leguminosarum biovarphaseoli to unamended sterile lake water prevented the decline ofE. coli, and its addition to amended sterile lake water preventedE. coli multiplication. The cell density of this strain ofE. coli declined in the first 8 hours after its introduction into an inorganic salts solution, but the bacterium then grew extensively. This increase in abundance was not observed in the presence ofR. phaseoli, andE. coli counts on half-strength TSA remained unchanged between 8 hours and 6 days. When counted on EMB agar, the abundance of the antibiotic-resistant strain ofE. coli and a strain not selected for resistance increased in solutions containing phosphate and amino acids but declined in the presence of high densities ofR. phaseoli. Many of the cells of the antibiotic-resistantE. coli strain failed to grow on antibiotic-amended EMB agar after introduction of the organism into nonsterile or sterile lake water or into an inorganic salts solution containingR. phaseoli, although colonies appeared on TSA. The data suggest thatE. coli cells grown on rich media suffer a shock when introduced into lake water because of low hypotonicity, the indigenous competing flora, or both. This shock is prevented by either phosphate buffer or by amino acids at low concentration. The shocked bacteria formed colonies on half-strength TSA. Depending on environmental conditions, the presence of a second organism either has no effect or results in an increase or decrease inE. coli numbers.     

Oncogene cooperation in lymphocyte transformation: malignant conversion of E mu-myc transgenic pre-B cells in vitro is enhanced by v-H-ras or v-raf but not v-abl.

Although transgenic mice bearing a c-myc gene controlled by the immunoglobulin heavy-chain enhancer (E mu) eventually develop B-lymphoid tumors, B-lineage cells from preneoplastic bone marrow express the transgene but do not grow autonomously or produce tumors in mice. To determine whether other oncogenes can cooperate with myc to transform B-lineage cells, we compared the in vitro growth and tumorigenicity of normal and E mu-myc bone marrow cells infected with retroviruses bearing the v-H-ras, v-raf, or v-abl oncogene. The v-H-ras and v-raf viruses both generated a rapid polyclonal expansion of E mu-myc pre-B bone marrow cells in liquid culture and 10- to 100-fold more pre-B lymphoid colonies than normal in soft agar. The infected transgenic cells were autonomous, cloned efficiently in agar, and grew as tumors in nude mice. While many pre-B cells from normal marrow could also be induced to proliferate by the v-raf virus, these cells required a stromal feeder layer, did not clone in agar, and were not malignant. Most normal cells stimulated to grow by v-H-ras also cloned poorly in agar, and only rare cells were tumorigenic. With the v-abl virus, no more cells were transformed from E mu-myc than normal marrow and the proportion of tumorigenic pre-B clones was not elevated. These results suggest that both v-H-ras and v-raf, but apparently not v-abl, collaborate with constitutive myc expression to promote autonomous proliferation and tumorigenicity of pre-B lymphoid cells.     

Reduction of hexavalent chromium in a reconstituted system of cytochrome P-450 and cytochrome b5

The reduction of hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI] by the monooxygenase components was studied. Both a reconstituted system of cytochrome P-450 (P-450) and cytochrome b5 (b5) with NADPH was capable of reducing Na2CrO4 (30 microM) provided anaerobic atmosphere. The rates were 1.29 nmol Cr.min-1 nmol P-450(-1) and 0.73 nmol Cr.min-1 nmol b5(-1). Using NADH instead of NADPH gave very low reducing activities, confirming the enzymic nature of the P-450 dependent Cr(VI) reductase reaction. Oxygen, 22% (air) and 0.1% gave 89% and 69% inhibition of Cr(VI) reducing activity, respectively. Carbon monoxide (100%) caused an inhibition of about 37% and 44% for P-450 and b5, respectively. Externally added flavin mononucleotide (FMN) (3 microM) or Fe-ADP (10 microM) to the complete system stimulated the enzymatic reaction about 2-fold and 3-fold, respectively.     

Continuous-Culture Responses of Candida shehatae to Shifts in Temperature and Aeration: Implications for Ethanol Inhibition

Temperature and aeration shifts were used to perturb steady-state continuous cultures to determine the effects of ethanol on xylose metabolism by Candida shehatae. The accumulation of ethanol exerted a delayed inhibitory effect on the specific rate of substrate utilization. A second effect was also observed in which the specific rate of xylitol production increased at the expense of the specific rate of ethanol production. Both effects were enhanced at higher temperature. Inhibitory effects also occurred in glucose metabolism.     

Comparison of polymerase insertion and extension kinetics of a series of O2-alkyldeoxythymidine triphosphates and O4-methyldeoxythymidine triphosphate

The effect of alkyl group size on ability to act as deoxythymidine triphosphate (dTTP) has been studied for the carcinogen products O2-methyl-, O2-ethyl-, and O2-isopropyl-dTTP by using three types of nucleic acids as template and DNA polymerase I (Pol I) or Klenow fragment as the polymerizing enzymes. Apparent Km and relative Vmax values were determined in primer extension on M13 DNA at a single defined site, in poly[d(A-T)], and in nicked DNA. These data are the basis for calculation of the relative rate of insertion opposite A, relative to dTTP. The insertion rate for any O2-alkyl-dTTP is much higher than for a mismatch between unmodified dNTPs. Unexpectedly, O2-isopropyl-dTTP is more efficiently utilized than O2-methyl-dTTP or O2-ethyl-dTTP on each of the templates. O2-isopropyl-dTTP also substitutes for dTTP over extended times of DNA synthesis at a rate only slightly lower than that of dTTP. Parallel experiments using O4-methyl-dTTP under the same conditions show that it is incorporated opposite A more frequently than is O2-methyl-dTTP. Therefore, both the ring position and the size of the alkyl group influence polymerase recognition. Once formed, all O2-alkyl-T.A termini permit elongation, as does O4-methyl-T.A. In contrast to the relative difficulty of incorporating the O-alkyl-dTTPs, formation of the following normal base pair (C.G) occurs rapidly when dGTP is present. This indicates that a single O-alkyl-T.A pair does not confer significant structural distortion recognized by Pol I.     

Bioethics and academic freedom

The author describes the events surrounding his attempts to lecture on the subject of euthanasia in West Germany in June 1989. Singer, who defends the view that active euthanasia for some newborns with handicaps may be ethically permissible, had been invited to speak to professional and academic groups. Strong public protests against Singer and his topic led to the cancellation of some of his engagements, disruptions during others, and harrassment of the German academics who had invited him to speak. These incidents and the subject of euthanasia became matters of intense national debate in West Germany, but there was little public or academic support for Singer's right to be heard. Singer argues that bioethics and bioethicists must have the freedom to challenge conventional moral beliefs, and that the events in West Germany illustrate the grave danger to that freedom from religious and political intolerance.