Effect of auto-oxidized phospholipids on oxidative enzyme assays based on tetrazolium salt reduction

The influence of auto-oxidized phospholipids on the reduction of the tetrazolium salt MTT coupled to the NAD+-dependent lactate dehydrogenase reaction was studied. The following results were obtained: (1) peroxidized phosphatidylcholine interfered in the time-course of the lactate dehydrogenase-mediated MTT reduction; (2) there was a time-dependent decrease in the hydroperoxide content of phosphatidylcholine vesicles during the incubation; (3) the diminution of phosphatidylcholine hydroperoxides required the presence of all the components of the system except MTT; (4) hydroperoxide diminution and MTT reduction were mediated by the superoxide radical O2-, since both processes were inhibited by superoxide dismutase; (5) EDTA inhibited the hydroperoxide decrease and abolished the interference of peroxidized phosphatidylcholine with MTT reduction. It was concluded that hydroperoxides compete with MTT for the electrons coming from substrate oxidation. The superoxide radical O2- and traces of some contaminating metal ion are involved in the process. This is a potential complication in the study of the effect of lipids on enzymatic activities assayed by the tetrazolium salt method.     

Sex-related differences in the diet of the mink Mustela vison

The diets of free-ranging male and female mink were sampled by analysing faeces collected from radio-tagged individuals. Significant sex differences were apparent in the predation upon three of the five principal prey groups. The larger males preyed much more heavily upon lagomorphs, the largest prey taken, while females preyed more upon fish and crustaceans than did males. These differences were consistent in each season except the autumn (September to November), when males preyed more heavily upon fish and crustacea than did females. Due to their large size, adult lagomorphs are felt to be relatively unavailable to female mink. Male mink are apparently large enough to specialize on lagomorphs, and male mink niche breadth was consistently lower than that of females. Dietary overlap approximated to 40% in all seasons except summer (68%), when female predation upon lagomorphs reached a peak. This reduction in intraspecific feeding competition was felt to be a valuable side-effect of body-size dimorphism.     

Temperature-shift analysis of conidial development in Aspergillus nidulans

Temperature-shift experiments have been performed on spore-originated colonies of 11 thermosensitive aconidial mutants of Aspergillus nidulans in order to determine the latest time of shift to the restrictive temperature that prevents the initiation of conidiation. This time defines the beginning of the thermosensitive period (TSP) of the mutant. Eight of the mutants have TSPs that begin in the 7-hour period (32–39 hr) just prior to the first appearance of conidia-bearing structures, while 3 of the mutants have TSPs that begin later and very close to the time of onset of conidiation (45 hr). Thus no mutant of the set has a TSP that begins during the first 32 hr of vegetative growth of spore-originated colonies. For all mutants, an upshift performed after the beginning of the TSP allows initiation of conidiation at close to the normal time and at the normal rate, but results in an abrupt cessation of conidiation at some fixed time after upshift, characteristic of the mutant. The mutant whose TSP begins the earliest (aco-49) is exceptional in that, if conidiation is suppressed by growth of colonies in submerged culture, this mutant becomes thermoinsensitive during vegetative submerged growth; in contrast, the remaining 10 mutants become thermoinsensitive only after the suppressive condition has been relieved. We discuss the possibility that this exceptional mutant is defective in a function required for initiation of the process that ultimately results in the formation of conidia.     

Determination of Staphylococcus species-specific antigens by using erythrocyte reagents

Species-specific (Staphylococcus aureus and S. epidermidis) antigenic and antibody erythrocyte diagnosticums have been prepared. Various tests made with the use of these diagnosticums have demonstrated that the activity of specific antigens is higher in hydrochloric acid extracts than in trichloroacetic and phenolic ones; this activity is linked with undialyzed components and depends on the peculiar features of the strain.     

Satiation and the functional response: a test of a new model

Abstract. 1. A model of the functional response to prey density is derived to include the reduction in time available for search, T_s , resulting from predator satiation.
2. For larger prey items predator satiation occurs at each prey capture and T_s is reduced by the attack time and digestive pause of a series of attack cycles. For small prey items predator foraging is continuous at low densities with T_s reduced solely by attack time. At higher densities predator satiation occurs after the capture of several small prey items and T_s is reduced by the attack time and digestive pause of a series of foraging cycles.
3. A comparison of the predicted asymptotic level of prey capture using experimentally estimated parameter values, with the maximum consumption of aphids by larval and adult coccinellids provides a test of the satiation model.
4. The limitation of prey capture by predator satiation is discussed with reference to handling time and the success of coccinellids in biological control.     

Bacteriolytic enzymes produced by actinomycetes. II. Biosynthesis and areas of practical application

The data on physiological conditions of the bacteriolytic enzyme formulation of actinomycetes, the population structure of producing cultures, the search of producers of enzymes able to hydrolyze the peptidoglycan of cellular walls of bacteria are reviewed. The fields of application of lytic enzymes in fundamental and applied microbiological investigations are pointed out. These enzymes are of considerable interest as potentially useful chemotherapeutics and food preservatives. They may be successfully used in biochemical and genetic investigation, in the study of peptidoglycan structure. The ability of bacteriolytic enzymes to cause the lysis of microorganisms resistant to the lysozyme action is of special importance. The application of these enzymes allows to work out gentle methods of lysis of bacterial cells used in various fields of microbiology.