大布苏的细石器

本文记述了发现于吉林省西部大布苏泡子东岸二级阶地前缘原生黄土状地层中的486件石制品,其中包括8件石器及100多件细石叶。大布苏地点的细石器材料,类型简单,成型的石器少,分布范围有限,可能是一个临时石器加工点。其时代初步定为旧石器时代末期。     

A comparative study of bark lectins from three elderberry (Sambucus) species

Three elderberry lectins isolated from the bark of three different species of the genus Sambucus which are native to Europe (S. nigra), North America (S. canadensis), and Japan (S. sieboldiana) were studied comparatively with regard to their carbohydrate binding properties and some structural features. All three lectins contained two identical carbohydrate binding sites per molecule and showed a very high specificity for the Neu5Ac(alpha 2-6)-Gal/GalNAc sequence. However, relative affinities for various oligosaccharides were significantly different among them, suggesting differences in the detailed structure of the carbohydrate binding sites of these lectins. The three lectins were immunologically related, but not identical, and all were composed of hydrophobic and hydrophilic subunit regions, although the molecular sizes of these subunits were slightly different among the three lectins. N-terminal sequence analysis of the subunits of these lectins suggested that they have a very similar structure in this region but also indicated the occurrence of N-terminal processing such as the deletion of several amino acid residues at the N-termini for both hydrophobic and hydrophilic subunits of all three lectins. Tryptic peptide mapping of the three lectins showed a similar pattern for all of them but also showed the presence of some unique peptides for each lectin.     

Induction of rat hepatic N-nitrosodimethylamine demethylase by acetone is due to protein stabilization

The N-nitrosodimethylamine demethylase (P450I-IE1) is induced severalfold in liver by giving rats ethanol, acetone, pyrazole, and other related small molecular weight compounds. This induction is not the result of an increase in IIE1 mRNA, but could be due to either an increase in translation rate or a decrease in protein degradation. To determine the mechanism of induction, we measured IIE1 synthesis and degradation rates in untreated and acetone-treated rats. This was accomplished by immunopurification of radiolabeled IIE1 protein using a specific monoclonal antibody subsequent to in vivo labeling of total cellular protein with either NaH14CO3 or [3H]leucine. We found that in rats fed acetone, the rate of IIE1 synthesis was not changed; however, IIE1 degradation was markedly altered. In untreated rats, IIE1 protein was degraded via a biphasic pathway consisting of both a rapid and slow component with approximate half-lives of 7 and 37 h, respectively. However, in acetone-treated rats, only a monophasic curve with a half-life of 37 h was observed. The abolition of the rapid degradation component of the IIE1 turnover cycle indicates that induction of IIE1 by acetone is primarily due to specific stabilization of IIE1 protein. Since acetone is also metabolized by IIE1, we believe that this may be a substrate-induced enzyme stabilization.     

A differential molecualr topography of the Pr and Pfr forms of native oat phytochrome as probed by fluoresence quenching

Tryptophan (Trp) surface topography of the red- and far-red-absorbing forms of phytochrome (Pr, Pfr) ofAvena sativa L. has been investigated by analyzing quenching of the two components of Trp fluorescence decay, in order to understand the differences in the two forms at the molecular level. Stern-Volmer kinetic analysis of the quenching data for two cationic surface quenchers, Cs⁺ and Tl⁺, showed strong quenching of the short component of the Pr fluorescence (Stern-Volmer constants,K _sv , 27.2 and 21.4 M⁻¹, respectively) relative to that of Pfr fluorescenceK _sv , 10.4 and 12.3 M⁻¹, respectively). The long component of the Trp fluorescence was quenched differentially by Cs⁺ and Tl⁺, withK _sv of 9.0 and 19.8 M⁻¹, respectively, for the Pr fluorescence andK _sv of 13.7 and 8.7 M⁻¹, respectively, for the Pfr fluorescence. The results indicate that the phytochrome Trp residues with short fluorescence lifetime are more accessible to the cationic surface quenchers than those with long fluorescence lifetime. The data, taken together with our earlier study (Singh et al. 1988, Biochim, Biophys. Acta936, 395–405), indicate that most, if not all the ten Trp residues of phytochrome, are fluorescent and exist in distinct groups differing in their topography and microenvironment, and the peptide segment containing Trp-774 and Trp-778 within the 55-kilodalton C-terminal domain of phytochrome also undergoes a subtle alteration in its surface topography during Pr→Pfr phototransformation. This paper is dedicated to Professor Hans Mohr in commemoration of his 60th birthday     

Brassica taxonomy based on nuclear restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs)

Summary RFLPs were used to study genome evolution and phylogeny in Brassica and related genera. Thirtyeight accessions, including 10 accessions of B. rapa (syn. campestris), 9 cultivated types of B. oleracea, 13 nine-chromosome wild brassicas related to B. oleracea, and 6 other species in Brassica and allied genera, were examined with more then 30 random genomic DNA probes, which identified RFLPs mapping to nine different linkage groups of the B. rapa genome. Based on the RFLP data, phylogenetic trees were constructed using the PAUP microcomputer program. Within B. rapa, accessions of pak choi, narinosa, and Chinese cabbage from East Asia constituted a group distinct from turnip and wild European populations, consistent with the hypothesis that B. rapa had two centers of domestication. A wild B. rapa accession from India was positioned in the tree between European types and East Asian types, suggesting an evolutionary pathway from Europe to India, then to South China. Cultivated B. oleracea morphotypes showed monophyletic origin with wild B. oleracea or B. alboglabra as possible ancestors. Various kales constitute a highly diverse group, and represent the primitive morphotypes of cultivated B. oleracea from which cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, etc. probably have evolved. Cauliflower was found to be closely related to broccoli, whereas cabbage was closely related to leafy kales. A great diversity existed among the 13 collections of nine-chromosome wild brassicas related to B. oleracea, representing various taxonomic states from subspecies to species. Results from these studies suggested that two basic evolutionary pathways exist for the diploid species examined. One pathway gave rise to B. fruticulosa, B. nigra, and Sinapis arvensis, with B. adpressa or a close relative as the initial ancestor. Another pathway gave rise to B. oleracea and B. rapa, with Diplotaxis erucoides or a close relative as the initial ancestor. Raphanus sativus and Eruca sativus represented intermediate types between the two lineages, and might have been derived from introgression or hybridization between species belonging to different lineages. Molecular evidence for an ascending order of chromosome numbers in the evolution of Brassica and allied genera was obtained on the basis of RFLP data and phylogenetic analysis.     

Pre-translational induction of pentoxyresorufin O-depentylase by pyridine.

Pentoxyresorufin O-depentylase activity, mainly associated with phenobarbital-inducible cytochrome P450IIB1 (designated CYP2B1), was increased after a single treatment of pyridine (250 mg/kg, i.p.), and further increased by repeated treatments for 5 days. The catalytic activity and immunoreactive protein of CYP2B recognized by polyclonal antibodies were significantly induced by a relatively high dose of pyridine (250 mg/kg, i.p.) while ethanol-inducible cytochrome P450IIE1 (CYP2E1) could be induced by a low dosage (25 mg/kg, i.p.). Unlike CYP2E1 induction without changing its mRNA level, the induction of CYP2B by pyridine was accompanied by an elevation of its mRNA, indicating a pre-translational activation of this enzyme. These results indicate that pyridine induces various isozymes of cytochromes P450 by different induction mechanisms.     

Increased shikonin production inLithospermum erythrorhizon suspension cultures within situ extraction and fungal cell treatment (elicitor)

Summary The effect ofin situ extraction and elicitor treatment on shikonin production was studied with the suspension cultures ofLithospermum erythrorhizon. Shikonin concentration of 60 mg/L was achieved by the use of both techniques which was 24 times higher than that of control culture, and 65 times higher in terms of shikonin productivity. The host-pathogen effect of elicitor treatment andin situ extraction for product removal were effective for shikonin production.     

Comparison of DMO and flow cytometric methods for measuring intracellular pH and the effect of hyperthermia on the transmembrane pH gradient

Intracellular pH (pHi) was measured in both unheated and heated cells by the distribution of the weak acid, 5,5-dimethyl-2,4-oxazolidinedione-2-14C (14C-DMO), and by the fluorescence intensity ratio (I530/I630) of the pH sensitive fluorescent dye, 2',7'-bis(carboxyethyl)-5,6-carboxy-fluorescein (BCECF), analyzed by flow cytometry (FCM). BCECF-loaded Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells were analyzed by FCM after they had incubated in fresh medium at 37 degrees C for 90 min, during which time a decrease in fluorescence ratio stabilized. After stabilization, the pHi determined for CHO cells by the FCM method at pHe values of 6.0-8.1 agreed-within 0.1 pH units with that determined by the 14C-DMO method. There is a pH gradient across the plasma membrane that is not affected by heat. In CHO cells, the gradient, determined by DMO and FCM, is less or greater than pHe by 0.30 and 0.15 pH units at pHe 7.4 and 6.3, respectively, and in NG108-15 cells, the gradient determined by DMO increases to 0.50 pH units at pHe 6.3. Both cells maintained their pH gradients for at least 4 h after heating, although 99.9% of the cells were reproductively dead (survival of 10(-3)) after heating at 45.5 degrees C either at the normal pHe of 7.4 or at a low pHe of 6.4-6.7.