Blood characteristics of white-tailed deer from northeastern Kansas

Blood samples were collected from 118 white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) shot on the Fort Riley Military Installation in northeastern Kansas. Values for these deer for hematocrit, glucose, alkaline phosphatase, uric acid, total protein, albumin, and calcium were within the ranges reported in previous studies for undrugged white-tailed deer. Abnormally high concentrations of serum glutamic oxaloacetate transaminase (SGOT) and lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) were attributed to general trauma and tissue damage caused by shooting the deer. Fawns had higher concentrations of alkaline phosphatase than adults and had lower concentrations in winter than at other times of the year. Serum urea nitrogen (SUN) concentrations fluctuated seasonally. Elevated concentrations of SUN in adult males killed in December were attributed to an increased catabolism of muscle protein caused by low dietary intake and high energy requirements during the rut. Cholesterol concentrations varied seasonally without regard to age or sex.     

The subcellular distribution of a membrane-bound calmodulin-stimulated protein kinase

Incubation of subcellular fractions isolated from rat cerebral cortex with [-³²P]ATP results in the phosphorylation of a number of proteins including two with apparent molecular weights of approximately 50,000 and 60,000 daltons. These phosphoproteins were shown to be the autophosphorylated subunits of a calmodulin-stimulated protein kinase by a number of physicochemical criteria, including their mobility on non-equilibrium pH gradient electrophoresis, their phosphopeptide profiles and phosphorylation characteristics. When a crude membrane fraction obtained following osmotic lysis of a P2 fraction was labeled and subsequently fractionated on sucrose density gradients, approximately 80% of the autophosphorylated kinase was associated with fractions enriched in synaptic plasma membranes. Other substrates of calmodulin kinase(s) were similarly distributed. Detergent extraction of synaptic plasma membranes to produce synaptic junctions and post-synaptic densities indicated that the majority of the autophosphorylated kinase was solubilized, apparently as a holoenzyme. The major post synaptic density protein (mPSDp) was not readily extracted by detergents and was largely unlabeled under the conditions used for phosphorylation, and yet this protein is structurally closely related to the kinase subunit. It is possible that this lack of labeling is due to the mPSDp being attached to the PSD in a different way or being present there in a different isoenzymic form from that of the readily autophosphorylated enzyme subunit. Thus, the data suggest that, in vitro at least, a number of pools of calmodulin kinase exist in neuronal membranes.A preliminary account of part of this work has been published (1).     

Visual fields of orb web and single line web spiders of the family Uloboridae (Arachnida,Araneida)

Summary In the family Uloboridae, web reduction is associated with changes in web monitoring posture and prosomal features. A spider must extend its first pair of legs directly forward to monitor the signal line of a reduced web. This posture is facilitated by shifts in prosomal musculature that cause reduced web uloborids to have a narrower anterior prosoma, a reduced or absent anterior eye row, and prominent posterior lateral eye tubercles. The eye tubercles and larger posterior eyes of these uloborids suggest that web reduction may also be accompanied by ocular changes that compensate for reduction of the anterior eyes by expanding the visual fields of the posterior eyes. A comparison of the visual fields of the eight-eyed, orb web species Octonoba octonaria and a four-eyed, reduced web Miagrammopes species was made to determine if this is true. Physical and optical measurements determined the visual angles of each species' eyes and the pattern of each species' visual surveillance. Despite loss of the anterior four eyes, the Miagrammopes species has a visual coverage similar to that of O. octonaria. This is due to (1) an increase in the visual field of each of the four remaining Miagrammopes eyes, accruing from an extension of the retina and an increase in the lens' rear radius of curvature, and (2) a ventral shift of each visual axis, associated with the development of an eye tubercle and an asymmetrical expansion of the retina. Miagrammopes monitor their simple webs from twigs or moss where they are vulnerable to predation. Therefore, maintenance of visual cover may enable them to detect predators in time to assume or maintain their characteristic, cryptic posture. It may also allow them to observe approaching prey and permit them to adjust web tension or prepare to jerk their webs when prey strikes.     

Genetic and Biophysical Study of R Plasmids Conferring Sulfonamide Resistance in Shigella Strains Isolated in 1952 and 1956

The conjugative plasmids determining sulfonamide resistance in five Shigella strains, each isolated from a different patient, have been characterized. One S. flexneri 2a strain, isolated in 1952, harbored an fi(+) plasmid of molecular weight 53 x 10(6), which specified synthesis of F-like pili and bore determinants for sulfonamide resistance (Su) and bacteriocinogeny (Col). This plasmid was compatible with plasmids of groups F(I), F(II), I(alpha), and P. A second S. flexneri 2a strain isolated in 1952 harbored an fi(-) plasmid of molecular weight 59 x 10(6), bearing the Su determinant and compatible with all plasmids tested. This strain also harbored an fi(+) group-F(II) plasmid of molecular weight 42 x 10(6), which bore the Col determinant and specified synthesis of F-like pili. Three S. dysenteriae 2 strains isolated in 1956 carried apparently identical fi(-) plasmids of molecular weight 58 x 10(6), which bore the Su determinant, could form transconjugants in Pseudomonas but not in Proteus, and were incompatible with the P-group plasmid RP4.     

Ultrastructural observations on the kinetosomes,and Golgi bodies during the asexual life cycle ofSaprolegnia

Summary At the onset of zoospore cleavage the centrioles ofSaprolegnia ferax reorientate, develop into kinetosomes and become associated with microtubular roots and a striate fibre. After cytoplasmic cleavage a flagellum, with a hitherto undescribed transition zone structure, develops from each kinetosome. Flagellum axonemes occur inside recently encysted primary spores. In vegetative hyphae and germinating cysts most recognizable Golgi bodies are characteristically associated with a cisternum of the endoplasmic reticulum and a mitochondrion but during sporogenesis they all lie adjacent to nuclei where they are apparently active in vesicle production. The structural details of these changes are described and their significance discussed. We wish to acknowledge the numerous helpful discussions with Dr. J. L. Gay. The senior author held a S.R.C. studentship during the course of this work, part of which was submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Ph. D. at the University of London.     

Purification of Staphylocidal β-Lysin from Rabbit Serum

A cationic protein of rabbit serum bactericidal for Staphylococcus aureus was purified. The specific activity per unit of protein of the purified staphylocidal preparation was approximately 37,000 times greater than that of the serum from which it was isolated. Similar techniques were used to purify serum beta-lysin active against Bacillus subtilis approximately 24,000 times. The staphylocidal activity cannot be attributed to the same beta-lysin active against B. subtilis, lysozyme, or antibody-complement systems. The concentrations of staphylocidal beta-lysin in the sera of the five mammalian species studied did not correlate with their beta-lysin activities against B. subtilis. The two beta-lysins are similar in that both were heat-stable, sensitive to trypsin digestion, had molecular weights near 6,000, and were found in higher concentrations in serum than in plasma. Furthermore, similar techniques can be used to absorb and elute both substances in highly purified forms using cellulose asbestos filter pads and ion exchange chromatography on carboxymethyl cellulose. In contrast to the beta-lysin against B. subtilis, the staphylocidal beta-lysin was not released from blood platelets, and it was inactive in the presence of heparin, sodium citrate, sodium oxalate, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, acidic phospholipids, and acid pH values. A variety of proteins, including those of normal serum, preferentially inhibited the bactericidal activity of staphylocidal beta-lysin but not the beta-lysin against B. subtilis.     

Rapid Schedules for Koh Clearing and Alizarin Red S Staining of Fetal Rat Bone

Various schedules for staining fetal rat skeleton with alizarin red S were tested to determine a procedure that would produce a completely cleared and well-stained specimen in a short period of time. A 2 day procedure is presented which can produce specimens that are satisfactory but not completely transparent. A 7 day procedure produces cleared and stained specimens which can be well visualized with a dissecting microscope (30×). Fetal rats of 21 days gestation were fixed in 10% formalin for at least 1 wk. The specimens were skinned and eviscerated and then dehydrated in 2 changes of acetone for 12 hr (8 ml per gram body weight). The specimens were then placed in 1% KOM-alizarin red S (6 mg/liter) or 3 days, followed by 10% KOH-alizarin red S for 3 days. Finally, the specimens were placed in a mixture of benzyl alcohol, ethanol, and glycerol (1:2:2) (4 ml per gram body weight) for 12 hr, and then transferred to pure glycerol for storage.     

The size heterogeneity of rat insulin-like growth factor-I mRNAs is due primarily to differences in the length of 3'-untranslated sequence

Previous studies have revealed multiple size classes of rat insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) of estimated size 7.5-7.0, 1.9-1.5, and 1.2-0.9 kilobases (kb). Available sequence information accounts for only 2.1 kb of the 7.5-7.0 kb IGF-I mRNAs. We used oligomer directed ribonuclease H (RNase H) mapping to define the extent to which the unknown sequence in the large molecular weight mRNAs lies 5' or 3' to known sequence. Rat liver polyadenylated RNAs were incubated with oligomer probes complementary to internal rat IGF-I precursor (E domain) coding sequences. RNase H was used to hydrolyze IGF-I mRNAs at the point of annealment with the oligomers. Resultant 5' and 3'-IGF-I mRNA fragments were analyzed on Northern blots. A probe specific for type 1 (class C) 5'-sequences (the most predominant of multiple 5'-sequence types found on rat IGF-I mRNAs) identifies intact IGF-I mRNAs of 7.5-7.0, 1.9-1.5 and 1.2-0.9 kb but, after oligomer directed RNase cleavage of these mRNAs, identified only a single IGF-I mRNA 5'-fragment. Major differences in the length of sequence 5' to the IGF-I coding sequence therefore, do not account for the multiple size classes of type 1 (class C) IGF-I mRNAs. The size of the 5'-fragment suggests that the extent of sequence 5' to the IGF-I coding sequence is 0.4-0.7 kb in type 1 (class C) IGF-I mRNAs. Identification of multiple 3'-fragments of IGF-I mRNAs demonstrated heterogeneity in the 3'-ends of rat IGF-I mRNAs.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Fly pupae as attractant carriers for toxic baits for red imported fire ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Eight laboratory-reared ant species were fed baits of house fly, Musca domestica L., pupae treated with hydramethylnon. Two fire ant species, Solenopsis invicta Buren and Solenopsis geminata (F.), and Pheidole morrissi (Forel) were killed; average percentage of mortality of the five other species was less than 20%. In contrast, all species that were fed the commercial fire ant bait containing hydramethylnon (Amdro) died or were adversely affected. In the field, applications of house fly pupae and eye gnat, Hippelates pusio Loew, pupae dipped in acetone solutions of fenoxycarb significantly reduced population indices of the red imported fire ant, S. invicta, compared with commercial formulations of fenoxycarb (Logic) and hydramethylnon (Amdro). Field observations showed that the pupae of either species can be carried or moved by one or two worker ants. The smooth, hard cuticle of the pupae make them easy to handle and apply with application equipment. The current cost of house fly pupae is considerably more than the cost of a granular carrier, pregel defatted corn grits. However, if mass-production methods reduce this price differential, fly pupae could become an effective and more species-specific fire ant bait carrier.