Perinatal Steroid Treatments Alter Alloparental and Affiliative Behavior in Prairie Voles

This experiment was designed to examine the hypothesis that perinatal manipulation of gonadal or adrenal steroids can alter the subsequent expression of juvenile parental (alloparenting) and affiliative behavior in prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster). Corticosterone (PRECORT), testosterone (PRE-TP), or oil injections (PRESES) were given on Prenatal Days 12–20 or on Postnatal Days 1–6 (CORT6, TP6, or SES6, respectively). Alloparenting was reduced significantly in females in the CORT6 group and in males in the TP6 group. Sibling affiliative preferences were increased significantly in PRE-TP females and stranger preferences were increased in TP6 and CORT6 females. The results suggest timing is a critical factor determining whether hormones have a facilitative or inhibitory effect on alloparental and affiliative behavior in prairie voles. In this species, corticosterone and testosterone have similar organizational effects on affiliative behavior in females. Alloparental behavior is inhibited by postnatal corticosterone administration in females and by postnatal testosterone administration in males, whereas prenatal steroid administration had no significant effect on alloparenting in either gender.     

Computational sequence analysis of matrix metalloproteinases

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) play a cardinal role in the breakdown of extracellular matrix involved in a variety of biological and pathological processes. Research on MMPs has classified and characterized these enzymes according to their matrix substrate specificity, gene and protein domain structure, and regulation of activity and expression. However, the discovery of new MMPs has introduced a need for a more comprehensive and systematic method of classification and quantitative comparison of known and newly discovered members. This study compiles a sequence alignment, constructs a dendrogram, and calculates physical data and homology percentage assignments in order to obtain further insight into MMP structure-function relationships. Thorough analysis of MMP primary sequence domains, physical data patterns, and statistical analysis of sequence homology yields higher resolution in the similarities and differences that group MMP members.     

Zinc status does not affect aluminum deposition in tissues of rats

To examine whether zinc deficiency would increase the toxicity of dietary aluminum, weanling, male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed purified diets containing either 2 or 30 mg Zn/kg diet, with or without 500 mg Al/kg diet for 28 d. Individually pair-fed rats were fed the 30 mg Zn/kg diet with or without added aluminum to control for inanition secondary to zinc deficiency. Rats fed the 2 μg Zn/kg diet showed evidence of zinc deficiency, including anorexia, growth retardation, and depressed concentrations of zinc in tibias and livers. Zinc deficiency did not significantly increase the concentrations of aluminum in the tibias, livers, kidneys, or regions of the brain examined (cerebrum, cerebellum, midbrain, and hippocampus). Inclusion of aluminum in the diet did not alter aluminum concentrations in the various tissues. Under the conditions of this study, zinc deficiency did not result in greater sensitivity to dietary aluminum exposure.     

Spontaneous methylation of hemoglobin by S-adenosylmethionine by a specific and saturable mechanism

The methyl group from S-adenosylmethionine (AdoMet) is transferred into hemoglobin without any evident involvement of an enzyme. There are multiple sites for incorporation of the methyl group into hemoglobin, since both and chains are methylated. The methyl linkages formed in hemoglobin are stable at both alkaline and acidicpH, and the reaction occurs optimally at slightly below neutralpH. Only a small fraction (2%) of hemoglobin tetramers are methylated under the conditions tested. Acid hydrolysis of [³H-methyl]-labeled hemoglobin and determination of phenylisothiocynate derivatives yields N-methyl lysine, which accounts for about one-half of the incorporated [³H-methyl] radioactivity. Other amino acids are methylated as well, with much of the remaining radioactivity being distributed among one or more of the side chains of histidine, cysteine, and arginine. Methyl group transfer to hemoglobin from AdoMet is slow and inefficient (k _cat/K _m5×10^–2), but the reaction velocity tends toward a plateau with increasing AdoMet concentration in a manner suggesting that saturable binding of AdoMet onto hemoglobin is involved in methyl transfer. The velocity of hemoglobin methylation is inhibited by S-adenosylhomocysteine, the known end-product inhibitor of methyltransferases, a further indication that methyl group transfer involves binding and catalysis by a specific site (or sites) in the hemoglobin molecule. These observations may help to explain the known existence of methylated hemoglobins in erythrocyte.     

新疆地区小麦白粉病菌寄主范围的研究

用小麦白粉病菌11个生理小种的混合菌种,对新疆地区的小麦近缘植物的7个属22个种的47份材料进行接种,除6份免疫外,其余均接种成功.用其中6个属19个种的29份小麦近缘植物产生的白粉病菌,对小麦回接,参试的29份材料全部回接成功.小麦白粉病菌对小麦近缘植物的寄生像在小麦上一样,有明显的寄生专化性.感病的小麦近缘植物的78.0%对小麦白粉病菌的感病性,随生育期增长而急剧下降.文中并对小麦白粉病中间寄主的作用进行了讨论.     

Morphological variability of geographically distinct populations of the estuarine copepod Acartia Tonsa

Variations in the number of spines on the left and right posterior dorsal and posterior margins of the prosome as well as the length of the prosome of Acartia tonsa from three estuaries, the upper western side of the Chesapeake Bay, Montauk Bay near the eastern end of Long Island Sound and the coast of Peru were determined. The length of the prosome and number of spines in each of the four locations were used as an indication of morphological similarity between the populations.     

Amphetamine Promotes Neostriatal Ascorbate Release via a Nigro-Thalamo-Cortico-Neostriatal Loop

Abstract: In the neostriatum, amphetamine and other dopamine agonists elevate the extracellular level of ascorbate, which is known to modulate neostriatal function. Although both D₁ and D₂ receptors have been linked to neostriatal ascorbate release, ample evidence suggests it is controlled by areas outside the neostriatum. The present series of experiments used selective lesions and intracerebral drug infusions to probe the involvement of the ventromedial thalamus and substantia nigra pars reticulata. Our results implicate both of these sites in amphetamine-induced increases in the release of neostriatal ascorbate. Thus, whereas unilateral electrolytic lesions of the substantia nigra pars reticulata completely abolished the ability of systemic amphetamine (2.5 mg/kg) to increase extracellular ascorbate in ipsilateral neostriatum, intranigral infusions of this drug (10 and 30 µg/µl) elevated neostriatal ascorbate release. This infusion effect, moreover, was blocked by electrolytic lesions of the ipsilateral ventromedial thalamus, which receives input from the substantia nigra pars reticulata and projects to the cerebral cortex. These results, combined with previous evidence implicating cortical projections to neostriatum as the source of extracellular ascorbate, suggest that neostriatal ascorbate release is regulated, at least in part, by a nigro-thalamo-cortico-neostriatal pathway.     

玉米胚性愈伤组织的长期继代及其染色体分析

对５种基因型幼胚诱导的愈伤组织继代培养表明,玉米胚性愈伤组织的长期继代受基因型,培养基成分,激素,培养条件的影响。适时继代,逐代筛选对胚性保持起重要作用。适当降低培养温度（１２±２℃）有利于愈伤组织的保存和胚性保持,可以减少愈伤组织长期继代所需的物质和工作量。长期继代培养的胚性愈伤组织,胚状体发生能力和植株再生率无显著变化,但正常苗的再生频率显著下降。观察愈伤组织细胞染色体发现：（１）基因型对不同倍性细胞的比例有明显影响。（２）随着继代时间的延长,二倍体细胞下降,四倍体和非二倍体细胞增多。（３）愈伤组织中出现多种染色体结构变异,这些结构变异有可能导致非整倍体细胞的形成。