Biochemical and cellular changes occuring during conjugation in Hansenula wingei

Brock, Thomas D. (Indiana University, Bloomington). Biochemical and cellular changes occurring during conjugation in Hansenula wingei. J. Bacteriol. 90:1019-1025. 1954.-A technique has been devised for deagglutinating mixed populations of conjugating cells so as to be able to visualize microscopically early stages of the conjugation process. A cell can form a conjugation tube only when in contact with a cell of opposite mating type, but may do so even if the mate is unresponsive or ultraviolet-inactivated. Cell fusion occurs, however, only when both cells are able to form conjugation tubes in a region of contact. Fusion begins almost as soon as the two cells begin to form protuberances, and long before any dissolution of cell-wall material between the cells occurs. A cell which has conjugated in one region of its cell wall is still able to conjugate with another cell in another region, so that triply and quadruply conjugated cells are occasionally formed. There is no significant net increase in deoxyribonucleic acid, ribonucleic acid, protein, or carbohydrate which might be related to the conjugation process, because any minor changes that occur in these components are also detected when cells of only one mating type are incubated or when the conjugation process is inhibited with the antibiotic cycloheximide. Changes in activity of beta-1,3-glucanase (with laminarin as substrate) and beta-1,6-glucanase (with pustulan as substrate) have been measured during the conjugation process, in addition to changes in the activity of several control enzymes which would not be expected to be related to the conjugation process. Significant increases in invertase (sucrase), laminarinase, and pustulanase were detected, and minimal increases occurred in beta-glucosidase and acid phosphatase. However, these same increases were also observed in controls involving only one mating type; thus, these increases are probably not related to the conjugation process, but may be a result of other processes which probably occur during incubation in the conjugation medium.     

Persistence versus escape: Aspergillus terreus and Aspergillus fumigatus employ different strategies during interactions with macrophages

Invasive bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (IBPA) is a life-threatening disease in immunocompromised patients. Although Aspergillus terreus is frequently found in the environment, A. fumigatus is by far the main cause of IBPA. However, once A. terreus establishes infection in the host, disease is as fatal as A. fumigatus infections. Thus, we hypothesized that the initial steps of disease establishment might be fundamentally different between these two species. Since alveolar macrophages represent one of the first phagocytes facing inhaled conidia, we compared the interaction of A. terreus and A. fumigatus conidia with alveolar macrophages. A. terreus conidia were phagocytosed more rapidly than A. fumigatus conidia, possibly due to higher exposure of β-1,3-glucan and galactomannan on the surface. In agreement, blocking of dectin-1 and mannose receptors significantly reduced phagocytosis of A. terreus, but had only a moderate effect on phagocytosis of A. fumigatus. Once phagocytosed, and in contrast to A. fumigatus, A. terreus did not inhibit acidification of phagolysosomes, but remained viable without signs of germination both in vitro and in immunocompetent mice. The inability of A. terreus to germinate and pierce macrophages resulted in significantly lower cytotoxicity compared to A. fumigatus. Blocking phagolysosome acidification by the v-ATPase inhibitor bafilomycin increased A. terreus germination rates and cytotoxicity. Recombinant expression of the A. nidulans wA naphthopyrone synthase, a homologue of A. fumigatus PksP, inhibited phagolysosome acidification and resulted in increased germination, macrophage damage and virulence in corticosteroid-treated mice. In summary, we show that A. terreus and A. fumigatus have evolved significantly different strategies to survive the attack of host immune cells. While A. fumigatus prevents phagocytosis and phagolysosome acidification and escapes from macrophages by germination, A. terreus is rapidly phagocytosed, but conidia show long-term persistence in macrophages even in immunocompetent hosts.     

Maternal environmental effects of competition influence evolutionary potential in rapeseed (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Brassica</Emphasis><Emphasis Type="Italic">rapa</Emphasis>)

Maternal environmental effects reflect the contribution of the maternal environment to the offspring phenotype. Maternal effects are prevalent in plants and animals and may undergo adaptive evolution and affect patterns of natural selection within and across generations. Here, we raise two generations of a rapeseed (Brassica rapa) population derived from a cross between a rapid-cycling and an oilseed genotype in competitive and noncompetitive settings. Maternal environment had little effect on average offspring phenotypes. Maternal genotypes, however, differed in the sensitivity of almost all offspring phenotypes to the maternal environment, demonstrating genetic variation in maternal effects for traits expressed throughout ontogeny. Maternal environment did not significantly affect progeny seed production, and maternal genotypes were not variable for this trait, indicating no evidence for direct maternal effects on offspring fitness. Maternal environment influenced natural selection in the progeny generation; disruptive selection acted on seed mass among seeds matured in the noncompetitive maternal environment versus no significant selection on this trait for seeds matured in the competitive maternal environment. Although maternal effects did not directly increase fitness, they did affect evolutionary potential and selection in the progeny generation. These results suggest that diverse phenotypes of both wild and cultivated B. rapa genotypes will depend on the maternal environment in which the seeds are matured.     

Das Verhalten des Einsiedlerkrebses Pagurus arrosor Herbst während des Aufsuchens,Ablösens und Aufpflanzens seiner Seerose Sagartia parasitica Gosse

Ohne ZusammenfassungHerr C.Vrieslander zeichnete in uneigennütziger Weise alle Abbildungen dieser Arbeit, welche durch Herrn Dr.Schulz von der Kulturabteilung der Universum-Filmgesellschaft nach meinen Angaben kinematographiert worden waren.