New markers and map sequences inNeurospora crassa,with a description of mapping by duplication coverage,and of multiple translocation stocks for testing linkage

Thirty previously unmapped markers have been located; 13 are at newly designated loci. Numerous sequences for previously mapped genes have also been determined. A revised map of linkage group I is presented. The order from conventional mapping has been confirmed by testing recessive markers in IL for coverage by duplications. Assignment of new mutants to linkage groups is greatly facilitated by using gene-tagged multiple translocation strains for linkage detection; these “alcoy” tester strains and procedures for using them are described. Recent mapping data of other workers are compiled. Distal markers are now known for all but one of the 14 chromosome arms, but extensive map segments are still devoid of markers.     

Immunological cross-reactions among gadidae parvalbumins

Antisera raised against apparently homogeneous whiting parvalbumin III have been found to recognize two non cross-reacting molecular species of parvalbumins. Aliquots of these antisera have been separately absorbed with two distinct parvalbumins from a near-related fish species, namely haddock parvalbumins II and III, and also with the homologous antigen. The immunochemical reactivities of absorbed and non-absorbed antisera toward parvalbumins from nine Gadidae species have been systematically explored by immunoelectrophoresis. The observed cross-reactions lead to distinguish two groups among Gadidae parvalbumins. So far this discrimination can be correlated with differences in amino-acid compositions, peptide maps and sequences which are known to characterize several protein members from each of the two groups. Using the same anti-whiting antisera, a tenuous common antigenic reactivity is shown between Gadidae and some Cyprinidae parvalbumins.     

Positive regulation of normal and tumoral mammary epithelial cell proliferation by fibroblasts in coculture

Summary In the mammary gland, mesenchymal-epithelial interactions are of paramount importance during normal and tumoral developments. We have studied the paracrine growth regulation of a variety of breast epithelial cells in coculture with normal or pathological breast fibroblasts. Two models of coculture were used in which the two cell types were seeded and grown, either together in microchamber slides or separated by a microporous membrane. Under these two conditions, all fibroblasts were shown to stimulate the proliferation of the hormono-responsive breast carcinoma MCF-7 cell line, suggesting that cell contacts were not indispensable for the paracrine stimulation of MCF-7 cell growth by fibroblasts. Moreover, in the Transwell coculture system, the proliferation of a variety of other breast carcinoma cells (MDA-MB231, T47D, and BT-20) was also stimulated by fibroblasts. However, the amplitude of the proliferative response seemed to be dependent on the carcinoma cell line considered. Moreover, the proliferative response of normal mammary epithelial cells to the presence of fibroblasts was shown to be significantly higher than the tumor cell response. The nature of the tissue of fibroblast origin, normal or pathological, did not influence the growth response of the epithelial cells. In this study, we thus demonstrate that fibroblasts are able to stimulate the proliferation of normal and carcinoma cells through paracrine exchange mechanisms. We also conclude that the target epithelial cell phenotype will essentially determine the extent of the proliferative response.     

Exercise ECG changes in normal women

Submaximal and/or maximal exercise was carried out by 357 women without a history of cardiovascular disease, using a bicycle ergometer and/or treadmill while monitored by a bipolar ECG lead CM₅. In 40- to 60-year-old women the incidence of an ischemic ECG pattern during or after exercise ranged from 20 to 50%. Because clinical coronary disease can be expected in less than 10% of normal women followed for 16 years, most of these ECG changes were not considered to be due to occult coronary disease. At the present time exercise ECG changes in women cannot be used with any reliability as an aid in the diagnosis of chest pain or in screening normal female populations for coronary heart disease.     

Description and Model of the Architecture of Four Genotypes of Determinate Autumn-sown White Lupin (Lupinus albus L.) as Influenced by Location, Sowing Date and Density

The structure of four new autumn-sown determine genotypes ofwhite lupin, grown with a combination of sowing dates and plantdensities at four locations in France was studied in 1990/91and 1991/92. Plant architecture was characterized in terms ofthe number of first-order branches produced and the distributionof leaves on these branches and how they varied with the numberof mainstem leaves and the position of the branch on the mainstem. The variation in the number of mainstem leaves on determinegenotypes was satisfactorily described by an earlier model developedfor indeterminate genotypes using the intensity of vernalizationrelative to accumulated temperature above 3°C as input.However the architecture of the first-order branches, definedby their number and the total number of leaves per branch ateach subtending position on the mainstem, differed and was influencedby genotype, location and sowing date. In four determinate genotypes,these two characters were positively correlated, and correlatedwith the number of leaves on the mainstem. Increasing densityfrom 10 to 40 plants m^-2 reduced the number of branches andtheir total number of leaves. Pruning 15 leaves from the mainstemat the beginning of stem elongation did not influence the developmentof the first-order branches. There appeared to be a functionalrelationship between the number of leaves on the mainstem andthe number of branches established very early in the growingseason. The profiles of number of leaves on the first-order brancheson the mainstem with branch position were modelled using twosub-models, one describing the mean number of leaves on thebranches actually present, and the second describing the frequentlyof occurrence of a branch at a particular position on the mainstem.Of the five model parameters, one, representing the minimalnumber of branches present on the plant, was correlated withthe number of first-order branches. Genotype, location, sowingdate and density affected the shape of the profiles.Copyright1993, 1999 Academic Press While lupin, Lupinus albus L., determine growth, architecture, model, branch