Biochemical investigations of retinotectal adhesive specificity

The preferential adhesion of chick neural retina cells to surfaces of intact optic tecta has been investigated biochemically. The study uses a collection assay in which single cells from either dorsal or ventral halves of neural retain adhere preferentially to ventral or dorsal halves of optic tecta respectively. The data presented support the following conclusions: (a) The adhesion of ventral retina to dorsal tecta seems to depend on proteins located on ventral retina and on terminal β-N-acetylgalactosamine residues on dorsal tecta. (b) The adhesion of dorsal retina to ventral tecta seems to depend on proteins located on ventral tecta and on terminal β- N-acetylgalactosamine residues on dorsal retina. (c) A double gradient model for retinotectal adhesion along the dorsoventral axis is consistent with the data presented. The model utilizes only two complementary molecules. The molecule suggested to be concentrated dorsally in both retina and tectum seems to require terminal β-N-acetylgalactosamine residues for adhesion. Its activity is not affected by protease. A molecule fitting these qualifications, the ganglioside GM(2), could not be detected in a gradient, but lecithin vesicles containing GM(2) adhered preferentially to ventral tectal surfaces. The second molecule, concentrated ventrally in both retina and tectum, is a protein and seems capable of binding terminal β-N- acetylgalactosamine residues. One enzyme, UDP-galactose:GM(2) galactosyltransferase, has been found to be more concentrated in ventral retina than dorsal, but only by 30 percent.     

Expression of new KDN-gangliosides in rainbow trout testis during spermatogenesis and their structural identification

The developmental expression of 2-keto-3-deoxy-D-glycero-D-galacto-nononicacid-containing glycosphingolipids (KDN-gangliosides) in rainbowtrout testis during spermatogenesis was studied using a monoclonalantibody, mAb.kdn3G, which recognizes the KDN     

The diversity of ectomycorrhizal fungi associated with introduced Pinus spp. in the Southern Hemisphere, with particular reference to Western Australia

Accepted: 15 June 1998     

Evidence for dietary essentiality of lithium in the rat

The purpose of this study was to determine the dietary essentiality of lithium (Li) in rats. In three experiments, two types of diets were fed during growth, reproduction, and lactation. In the first experiment, dams were maintained on a corn-based diet containing 2 ng or 500 ng (controls) Li/g through five successive periods of pregnancy and lactation. The offspring of dams fed the low-Li diet had significantly lower weaning weights (p=0.011), and the percent weaned was lower (p=0.094) than that of controls. In the second experiment, rats were maintained through three generations on a rice-based diet containing 0.6 ng Li/g, or the control (500 ng/g) diet. There was a significant effect of Li level on litter size (p=0.017) and litter wt at birth (p=0.006) in the third generation. The overall effect through three generations on litter wt at birth approaches statistical significance (p=0.086). In the third experiment, third-generation rats were continued on the respective rice-based diets with three levels of dietary sodium, the normal level, one-half, and four times that level. The litter size and birth wt were significantly lower (p=0.0030 and 0.0038, respectively) among the low-Li dams that consumed the normal and high-sodium levels compared to those that consumed the low-sodium diets. The interaction of Li and sodium as regards litter wt at birth approached significance (p=0.083). Various tissues of the rats in the third experiment were analyzed for Li. It seems likely that Li exerts an essential nutrient role for the rat. Contribution of the Missouri Agricultural Experiment Station, Journal Series No. 11,327.     

Assignment of anomeric configurations of pyranose sugars in oligosaccharides using a sensitive FAB-MS strategy

This paper describes a sensitive strategy employing fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry (FAB-MS) for defining the anomeric configurations of pyranose sugars in oligosaccharides. The method, which is applicable to mixtures of reduced or unreduced oligosaccharides, is based upon FAB-MS analyses of deuteroacetylated derivatives before and after oxidation with chromium trioxide. This reagent, whose potential value in carbohydrate chemistry was first recognized by Angyal and which was subsequently more fully exploited by Lindberg, oxidizes beta-pyranosides to keto-esters leaving alpha-pyranosides largely intact. In this paper we show that the products of chromium trioxide oxidation can be successfully analysed at the microgram level using FAB-MS. The molecular and fragment ions produced in the FAB experiment define the number of sites oxidized and their location in the sequence. For samples which fragment poorly we describe a mild methanolysis procedure, compatible with FAB-MS, which preferentially cleaves the esters formed during the oxidation. Incorporation of an acetolysis step prior to oxidation permits analyses of polysaccharides. This oxidation/FAB-MS strategy should prove valuable in structural analyses of a wide range of biologically important carbohydrates which cannot be isolated in sufficient quantities to permit nuclear magnetic resonance studies.