Liverwort genomes display extensive structural variations

PIKE, L. M., HU, A., RENZAGLIA, K. S. & MUSICH, P. R., 1992. Liverwort genomes display extensive structural variations. Analyses of the total genomic DNA of eight species of liverworts and two species of green algae by thermal denaturation and CsCl buoyant density gradient centrifugation reveal a high degree of structural complexity and interspecific heterogeneity. The hepatic taxa exhibit two or more DNA components of varying base composition. Average G4-C contents of total cellular DNA calculated from melting profiles are similarly variable, ranging from 38% to 53% G + C. The green alga Chara , a member of the ancestral line to land plants, shows similarities with liverworts in possessing multiple DNA components of comparable complexity, whereas Hydrodiciyon DNA displays a single component. Detailed hybridization analyses of individual density gradient fractions using α-tubulin, rRNA and ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase large subunit (rbcL) gene probes were performed to locate the low-copy number and moderately repetitive nuclear genes, and the chloroplast chromosome, respectively. The location of each gene within the density gradient is highly variable among the organisms examined; a-tubulin occurs in fractions ranging from 44–64% G + C, rDNA in 50–64% G + C fractions, and the RbcL gene is located in fractions from 30–59% G + C. For a given species, the two nuclear genes normally overlap in their distributions within the gradient. In most instances, neither gene occurs in the major DNA components, indicating that these components may contain repetitive DNAs. The observed variation in the density of the rbcL gene implies substantial reorganization of the chloroplast genome. The overall differences in the genomic components within and between taxa provide insight into the dynamics of DNA structure that have occurred during the extended evolutionary history of these organisms.     

Purification and characterization of cobyrinic acid a,c-diamide synthase from Pseudomonas denitrificans.

Cobyrinic acid a,c-diamide synthase, which catalyzes the conversion of cobyrinic acid to cobyrinic acid a,c-diamide via the intermediate formation of cobyrinic acid c-monoamide, was purified 155-fold to homogeneity from extracts of a recombinant strain of Pseudomonas denitrificans by high-performance liquid chromatography. The enzyme has an apparent molecular weight of 86,000 and consists of two identical subunits of Mr 45,000, as estimated by gel electrophoresis under denaturing conditions. Stepwise Edman degradation provided the N-terminal sequence of the first 15 amino acids. Glutamine was shown to be the preferred amino group donor (Km = 20.3 microM), but it could be replaced by ammonia (Km = 12 mM). The reaction was ATP dependent and exhibited a broad optimum pH around 7.3. Km values for (CN,aq)cobyrinic acid, (aq)2cobyrinic acid, and (CN,aq)cobyrinic acid c-monoamide were 160, greater than or equal to 250, and 71 microM, respectively. Hydrogenobyrinic acid and hydrogenobyrinic acid c-monoamide were shown to be much better substrates, with Km values of 0.41 and 0.21 microM, respectively.     

Cholesterol: free radical peroxidation and transfer into phospholipid membranes

Cholesterol, when sequestered in saturated liposomes of dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC) or dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC), undergoes peroxidation thermally initiated either by a lipid-soluble or a water-soluble azo initiator and in both cases the reaction is inhibited effectively by the water-soluble antioxidant, 6-hydroxy-2,5,7,8-tetramethylchroman-2-carboxylate (Trolox). Quantitative kinetic methods of autoxidation show that the oxidizability, kp/(2kt)1/2 (where kp and 2kt are the rate constants of radical chain propagation and termination, respectively) of cholesterol in DMPC or DPPC multilamellar liposomes, where kp/(2kt)1/2 is 3.0.10(-3) to 4.3.10(-3) M-1/2 s-1/2 at 37-45 degrees C, is similar to that measured in homogeneous solution in chlorobenzene, where kp/(2kt)1/2 is 3.32.10(-3). However, its oxidizability in smaller unilamellar vesicles of DMPC or DPPC increases by at least 3-times that measured in multilamellar systems. Autoxidation/antioxidant methods show that cholesterol partitions directly from the solid state into DMPC or DPPC liposomes by shaking and this is confirmed by 31P and 2H quadrupole NMR spectra of deuterated cholesterol when membrane bound. Analytical studies indicate that up to 21 mol% cholesterol will partition into the membranes by shaking.     

Evidence for transposition of dispersed repetitive DNA families in yeast.

Dispersed repetitive DNA sequences from yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) nuclear DNA have been isolated as molecular hybrids in lambdagt. Related S. cerevisiae strains show marked alterations in the size of the restriction fragments containing these repetitive DNAs. "Ty1" is one such family of repeated sequences in yeast and consists of a 5.6 kilobase (kb) sequence including a noninverted 0.25 kb sequence of another repetitious family, "delta", on each end. There are about 35 copies of Ty1 and at least 100 copies of delta (not always associated with Ty1) in the haploid genome. A few Ty1 elements are tandem and/or circular, but most are disperse and show (along with delta) some sequence divergence between repeat units. Sequence alterations involving Ty1 elements have been found during the continual propagation of a single yeast clone over the course of a month. One region with a large number of delta sequences (SUP4) also shows a high frequency of sequence alterations when different strains are compared. One of the differences between two such strains involves the presence or absence of a Ty1 element. The novel joint is at one inverted pair of delta sequences.     

Chemical and functional homology of myotoxin a from prairie rattlesnake venom and crotamine from South American rattlesnake venom

Myonecrosis is a serious result of rattlesnake bite and constitutes a persistent clinical problem. In the current study we have isolated crotamine from the venom of Crotalus durissus terrificus to test its ability to cause structural damage to skeletal muscle, and to make direct chemical comparisons with Myotoxin a, a myotoxic polypeptide we recently isolated from prairie rattlesnake (Crotalus viridis viridis) venom. Disc gel electrophoresis, isoelectric focusing, circular dichroic spectroscopy, and amino acid analysis, all indicated a high degree of chemical similarity. Light microscope histology revealed that crotamine caused vacuolizationof skeletal muscle fibers, qualitatively the same as the vacuolization caused by Myotoxin a. The ability of these two basic snake venom polypeptides to cause structural damage to skeletal muscle fibers has significant implications toward more complete understanding of the cause of snake venom-induced myonecrosis.     

Nurse specialist in family planning.

In an experimental clinic, run by nurse specialists in family planning, a total of 768 patients were seen in the first year. Oral contraception was dispensed for 377 patients and 187 intrauterine devices (IUCDs) were inserted; a further 204 IUCD patients attended only for follow-up visits. All side effects were adequately diagnosed by the nurse specialist.     

Inhibition of cell division in amoebae: the incorporation of tritiated precursors into Amoeba proteus after the injection of non-homologous cytoplasm.

The injection of non-homologous cytoplasm into any strain of large free-living amoebae leads to a 60% inhibition of division amongst recipient cells. When the post-microsomal supernatant fraction of Amoeba discoides was injected into A. proteus, this inhibition of division was as high as 95%. The incorporation of tritiated precursors, either [3H]uridine or 3H-amino acids, into these inhibited amoebae was studied at various times after the injection of the inhibitory material using autoradiography. When cells were grown in [3H]uridine, autoradiographs indicated that RNA synthesis had ceased 2 days after the injection of non-homologous material. However, if [3H]uridine was injected into the inhibited cells, some synthesis of RNA could be detected up to 4 days after the injection of inhibitor. These results suggested that uptake of [3H]uridine was impaired and that one site of action of the inhibitory molecules was RNA synthesis for membrane components. Experiments with a variety of 3H-amino acids suggested that protein synthesis continued for at least 9 days after the injection of non-homologous cytoplasm, and that in these cells some informational RNA molecules were long-lived. There seemed to be accumulation of material containing [3H]lysine in the nuclei of control cells taken at random from cultures, and this was seen in the nuclei of inhibited cells 1 day after injection. However, 2 days after the injection of inhibitor, no accumulation of [3H]lysine-containing material was found in the nuclei.     

Subcellular localization and properties of mouse adrenal C19-steroid 5beta-reductase.

The localization and some characteristics of mouse adrenal C19-steroid 5 beta-reductase were determined by the incubation of subcellular fractions of mouse adrenal tissue with [7 alpha-3H]androst-4-ene-3,17-dione. This enzyme was present only in the soluble fraction and was NADPH-dependent, although a small activity in the presence of NADH was also detected. The soluble fraction also contained 3alpha-, 3beta- and a small amount of 17 beta-hydroxy steroid dehydrogenase. These and other steroid-metabolizing enzymes present in the remaining subcelluar fractions are also described briefly. To measure 5 beta-androstane-3,17-dione production by the mouse adrenal soluble fraction, all 5 beta products first had to be oxidized to 5 beta-androstane-3,17-dione, and the recovery of radio-activity between the substrate androst-4-ene-3,17-dione and product 5 beta-androstane-3,17-dione of 96.1 +/-3.2% validated this technique. C19-steroid 5 beta-reductase has a pH optimum of 6.5 and at low substrate concentrations the Km and Vmax. for 5 beta reduction of [7 alpha-3H]androst-4-ene-ene-3,17-dione was 2.22 times 10(-6) "/- 0.48 times 10(-6) M and 450+/- 53 pmol/min per mg of protein respectively. At high substrate concentration, inhibition of the reaction occurred, which was shown to be due to increasing product concentration.     

库布齐沙漠南缘风沙-植被相互作用及其景观效应

干旱区尤其沙漠边缘地区的风沙与植被相互作用对塑造地表景观具有重要意义。选择库布齐沙漠南缘的油蒿灌丛地为研究区,开展了植被调查、风沙流观测和表层沉积物粒度采样测试,分析了顺风向植被盖度、风沙流结构与沉积物特征的沿程变化,探讨了风沙-植被相互作用及其对地表景观格局的影响。结果表明,风沙流与植被相互作用方式的改变使植物生长状况与地表蚀积模式发生变化,进而导致顺风向景观表现出明显的空间异质性。自上风向裸地过渡到均匀分布的新生油蒿和油蒿灌丛再至斑块状分布的灌丛沙堆,植被盖度与覆沙厚度先增大后减小,空气动力学粗糙度沿程不断增加且在过渡时其增幅最大,输沙率与沉积物粒度呈先减小后增大趋势,并在植被盖度与覆沙厚度最大处出现最小值。在沙漠边缘剥蚀高原上,起初适量风沙堆积促进油蒿定植与生长,均匀分布的油蒿灌丛进一步促进沙物质堆积,但当堆积厚度超过油蒿耐沙埋深度时发生退化,灌丛出现斑块状分布且风沙流在丘间地处侵蚀。据此,可理解为剥蚀高原风沙区景观异质性是风沙与植被相互协同与抑制作用的结果。     

黄土丘陵沟壑区典型小流域生态系统服务权衡与协同关系研究

黄土高原植被恢复状况制约生态系统服务的提升,本研究依托中国科学院水利部水土保持研究所安塞国家科学野外观测站的基础土壤、植被、气象和水文等数据,在黄土丘陵沟壑区选取纸坊沟和坊塌2个典型小流域,通过购买1998、2008和2018年遥感影像,采用InVEST(Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs)模型对生态服务(碳储量、土壤保持量、生境质量和产水量)进行评估,探究植被恢复过程中生态系统服务的协同效应和权衡关系。通过对比得知：随着植被的恢复,坊塌和纸坊沟各生态服务(碳储量、土壤保持量、生境质量和产水量)均得到了大幅度的提升,其中2008—2018年增加幅度较小,而1998—2008年增加幅度较大,主要原因在于该阶段(1998—2008年)是退耕还林还草的初始10年,林地及草地面积增长较多,而后10年为退耕的延续阶段,退耕面积增长减缓。从1998—2018年,受自然因素和人为因素的影响,坊塌和纸坊沟流域生态系统服务表现出协同和权衡关系。对于坊塌流域,2008年生态系统服务主要表现为协同关系,1998、2018年以权衡关...