FOETAL ERYTHROPOIESIS IN GENETICALLY ANAEMIC, FLEXED-TAILED (f/f) MICE

This paper presents measurements of foetal weights, haemoglobin concentrations, red cell counts, blood volumes, erythroblast thymidine labelling indices and cell cycle parameters in genetically anaemic, flexed-tailed ( f/f ) and haematologically normal ( f/+ ) foetuses.
The production of red blood cells from the livers of ( f/f ) foetal mice lags behind that of heterozygote ( f/+ ) foetuses, and the cells that are produced are small and poorly haemoglobinized. The anaemia is not due to an abnormal cell cycle in f/f erythroblasts, which appear to be capable of responding to the anaemia by a small increase in their rates of proliferation. The number of red cells in the foetal circulation can be calculated from the cell cycle time and number of hepatic erythroblasts; the calculated number agrees quite well with the measured number in both f/f and f/+ foetuses. Many characteristics of the anaemia of the f/f foetus can be accounted for if it is assumed that there is a deficiency in the production or activity of an enzyme involved early in the haem synthetic pathway.     

Studies of Raman Spectra of Water Solutions of Adenosine Tri-, Di-, and Monophosphate and Some Related Compounds

Using a He-Ne CW laser source together with a digital photon counting system, we have obtained well resolved Raman spectra for adenosine mono-, di-, and triphosphate (AMP, ADP, ATP) in aqueous solution. Spectra of these compounds were studied as a function of pH from pH = 0.5 to 13.5 and between 550 and 1700 cm(-1). It was found possible to distinguish spectroscopically between the three phosphates over the pH range studied. A qualitative analysis of vibrational modes responsible for various spectral lines is given. Lines at about 960 and 1100 cm(-1) were found to be good indications of the degree of ionization of the terminal phosphate group.     

Cell Walls and Lysis of Mortierella parvispora Hyphae

Walls of Mortierella parvispora, Pullularia pullulans, Absidia repens, Fusarium oxysporum, and of several Penicillium species varied in their susceptibilities to digestion by glucanase and chitinase. Polysaccharides were present in the residues remaining after enzymatic digestion. Acid hydrolysates of the walls contained glucose, glucosamine, and a small amount of galactose. The walls of M. parvispora, which also contained fucose, were the least digested by these two enzymes. Much of the M. parvispora wall material was resistant to decomposition by a heterogeneous soil community, and viable hyphae were not lysed by a glucanase-chitinase mixture. Walls of this fungus were fractionated, and the chemical composition of the fractions was determined. The chitin which was abundant in one of the fractions was apparently largely shielded from chitinase hydrolysis by a glucan. The ecological significance of these findings is discussed.