Daughters from daughterless mothers — Rescuing a female-lethal maternal effect by cytoplasmic transplantation inDrosophila embryos

Summary Daughterless is a temperature-sensitive, maternal effect mutation ofDrosophila melanogaster. Homozygousdaughterless females raised at temperatures above 22°C do not produce any female progeny. It was possible to rescue these female embryos by injecting cytoplasm from non-mutant unfertilized eggs into embryos fromdaughterless mothers. Cytoplasm from unfertilized eggs laid by homozygousdaughterless mothers was ineffective. Surprisingly, the cytoplasm from developing embryos with either wild-type ordaughterless mothers could also effect rescue. Based upon this data, we suggest that male and female embryos ofdaughterless mothers differ in their ability to initiate the synthesis of a product during the nuclear multiplication (cleavage) stage of embroniic development in the absence of a putativeda ⁺ maternally-synthesized factor, and that this is the basis for the sex-specific action of theda maternal effect.     

An imported thylakoid protein accumulates in the stroma when insertion into thylakoids is inhibited

The light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b protein (LHCP) is synthesized in the cytosol as a precursor (pLHCP) that is imported into chloroplasts and assembled into thylakoid membranes. Under appropriate conditions, either pLHCP or LHCP will integrate into isolated thylakoids. We have identified two situations that inhibit integration in this assay. Ionophores and uncouplers inhibited integration up to 70%. Carboxyl-terminal truncations of pLHCP also interfered with integration. A 22-residue truncation reduced integration to about 25% of control, whereas a 93 residue truncation completely abolished it. When pLHCP was imported into chloroplasts in the presence of uncouplers or when truncated forms of pLHCP were used, significant amounts of the imported proteins failed to insert into thylakoids and instead accumulated in the aqueous stroma. Accumulation of stromal LHCP occurred at uncoupler concentrations required to dissipate the trans-thylakoid proton electrochemical gradient and was enhanced at reduced levels of ATP. The latter effect may be a secondary consequence of a reduction in ATP-dependent degradation within the stroma. These results indicate that the stroma is an intermediate location in the LHCP assembly pathway and provide the first evidence for a soluble intermediate during biogenesis of a chloroplast membrane protein.     

Molecular phylogeny and host-plant use (Lamiaceae) of the Thymogethes pollen beetles (Coleoptera)

The 24 members of the Euro-Asiatic genus Thymogethes are highly specialized pollen beetles associated as larvae with flowers of Lamiaceae Nepetoideae. All members of the genus were analysed in within the framework of an integrative taxonomy approach, which was aimed to reconstruct the phylogenetic relationships, as well as the possible pattern of evolution of their larval-host-plant association. Evidence from multiple molecular markers [COI; 16S; H3], combined with an estimation of divergence times using an average rate of 0.0177 substitutions/site/My among branches, placed the origin of the genus at a minimum of 9–10 Mya. This date of origin approximates the known evolution of the host plants in Euro-Mediterranean areas. Evidence from combined molecular and cladistic morphological analyses resulted in suitable agreement with the previously established morphology-based systematics of the genus, although members of the exilis species-group were split into three clades. The only disagreement between results of this new combined phylogeny and previous classification is in the exclusion of “Thymogethes” grenieri. This species is herein positioned outside the genus, based on molecular evidence. Our analysis depicts several Thymogethes species differentiating in the last few Mys, specifically those included in the T. lugubris species-group. Combined evidence from DNA, morphology and ancestral state parsimony reconstruction of larval-host-plant associations suggests that subtribe Menthinae likely represents the ancestral host plants, with a series of independent host shifts during the radiation of the clade, in association first with Menthinae and subsequently with Lavandulinae and Nepetinae. Steno-oligophagy is the most frequent (86%) condition, while strictly monophagous species are less numerous (14%).     

Organ interactions in the regulation of hematopoiesis: in vitro interactions of bone, thymus, and spleen with bone marrow stem cells in normal, Sl/Sld and W/Wv mice.

Hematopoietic cell differentiation is influenced by organ-dependent microenvironmental factors as well as humoral regulators. A technique is described for examining certain aspects of the hemopoietic inductive microenvironment in vitro. Suspension and agar cultures of mouse bone marrow were used to study the effects of organ stromal factors on cellular proliferation and differentiation. Bone, spleen, and thymus fragments from irradiated mice were placed in direct contact with or separated by a Nuclepore membrane from syngeneic marrow cells growing in suspension cultures. Normal adult mouse bone and spleen influenced granulocytic differentiation as well as cell proliferation. In this system, bone marrow and organ fragments from W/Wv and SlSld mice behaved like those of their non-anemic littermates. The most prominent difference between W/Wv and Sl/Sla mice and their normal counterparts was observed in the inductionof CFU-C from splenic precursors un-er the influence of CSA. In both types of anemic mice, in vitro generation of CFU-C from spleen was abnormal in young animals but was corrected by four months of age.     

Concepts and terminology of apical dominance

Apical dominance is the control exerted by the shoot apex over lateral bud outgrowth. The concepts and terminology associated with apical dominance as used by various plant scientists sometimes differ, which may lead to significant misconceptions. Apical dominance and its release may be divided into four developmental stages: (I) lateral bud formation, (II) imposition of inhibition on lateral bud growth, (III) release of apical dominance following decapitation, and (IV) branch shoot development. Particular emphasis is given to discriminating between Stage III, which is accompanied by initial bud outgrowth during the first few hours of release and may be promoted by cytokinin and inhibited by auxin, and Stage IV, which is accompanied by subsequent bud outgrowth occurring days or weeks after decapitation and which may be promoted by auxin and gibberellin. The importance of not interpreting data measured in Stage IV on the basis of conditions and processes occurring in Stage III is discussed as well as the correlation between degree of branching and endogenous auxin content, branching mutants, the quantification of apical dominance in various species (including Arabidopsis ), and apical control in trees.     

Shoot inversion-induced ethylene in pharbitis nil induces the release of apical dominance by restricting shoot elongation

Shoot inversion induces outgrowth of the highest lateral bud (HLB) adjacent to the bend in the stem in Pharbitis nil. In order to determine whether or not ethylene produced by shoot inversion plays a direct role in promoting or inhibiting bud outgrowth, comparisons were made of endogenous levels of ethylene in the HLB and HLB node of plants with and without inverted shoots. That no changes were found suggests that the control of apical dominance does not involve the direct action of ethylene. This conclusion is further supported by evidence that the direct application of ethylene inhibitors or ethrel to inactive or induced lateral buds has no significant effect on bud outgrowth. The hypothesis that ethylene evolved during shoot inversion indirectly promotes the outgrowth of the highest lateral bud (HLB) by restricting terminal bud (TB) growth is found to be supported by the following observations: (1) the restriction of TB growth appears to occur before the beginning of HLB outgrowth; (2) the treatment of the inverted portion of the shoot with AgNO₃, an inhibitor of ethylene action, dramatically eliminates both the restriction of TB growth and the promotion of HLB outgrowth which usually accompany shoot inversion; and (3) the treatment of the upper shoot of an upright plant with ethrel mimics shoot inversion by retarding upper shoot growth and inducing outgrowth of the lateral bud basipetal to the treated region.     

Separation of Treponema pallidum from Tissue Substances by Continuous-Flow Zonal Centrifugation

The zonal ultracentrifuge was used for separation of Treponema pallidum from large volumes of rabbit testicular syphiloma extracts by continuous-flow centrifugation in a cesium chloride density gradient. The gradient was linear with radius from a density of 1.05 to 1.36 g/ml. Operating speeds were 15,000 rev/min for the continuous-flow phase and 25,000 rev/min for a 30-min banding period. A total of 9 x 10(9) (24.3%) treponemes were recovered from the original extract. Of the treponemes recovered, 88% formed a band at a density of 1.170 to 1.211 g/ml. Within the limits of present methods of assay, these fractions were relatively free from testicular particulates and protein when compared with treponemes recovered after differential centrifugation. Observations of the isolated fractions by dark-field and electron microscopy indicated a lack of gross morphological damage to T. pallidum. Their antigenic characteristics were also retained, as evidenced by their ability to react with syphilitic sera in the indirect fluorescent-antibody procedure.     

Cultivation of Mycoplasmas on Glass

Eight Mycoplasma species of human origin were successfully cultivated on glass. Complement-fixing (CF) antigens prepared from glass-adherent mycoplasmas were potent, specific, and free from anticomplementary activity. PPLO broth medium supplemented with 1 to 5% PPLO serum fraction (bovine), 2.5% fresh yeast extract, and 1% glucose (glycolytic species) or 1% arginine (arginine-utilizing species) supported moderate to luxuriant growth of mycoplasmas on glass. The potency of CF antigens prepared from glass-adherent mycoplasmas varied with the species of Mycoplasma tested and the duration of incubation. When the potency of CF antigens prepared from glass-adherent mycoplasmas was compared with that material sedimented from the broth phase of the same culture, three patterns of growth were observed: M. hominis and M. orale type 2 grew preferentially in the broth phase; M. salivarium, M. orale types 1 and 3, M. pneumoniae, and M. lipophilum preferentially adhered to the glass; and M. fermentans was biphasic. The growth of mycoplasmas on glass provides a simple means of concentrating and purifying such organisms for immunological and biochemical studies.