Responses of the photosynthetic flagellate,Euglena gracilis,to hypergravity

Motility and orientation has been studied in the unicellular photosynthetic flagellate, Euglena gracilis, using real time image analysis capable of tracking up to 200 cells simultaneously in the slow rotating centrifuge microscope (NIZEMI) which allows one to observe the cells' swimming behavior during centrifugation accelerations between 1 g and 5 g. At 1 g the cells show a weak negative gravitaxis, which increases significantly at higher accelerations up to about 3 g. Though most cells were capable of swimming even against an acceleration of 4.5 g, the degree of gravitaxis decreased and some of the cells were passively moved downward by the acceleration force; this is true for most cells at 5 g. The velocity of cells swimming against 1 g is about 10% lower than that of cells swimming in other directions. The velocity decreases even more drastically in cells swimming against higher acceleration forces than those at 1 g. The degree of gravitactic orientation drastically decreases after short exposure to artificial UV radiation which indicates that gravitaxis may be due to an active physiological perception rather than a physical effect such as an asymmetry of the center of gravity within the cell. Offprint requests to: D.-P. Häder     

Effects of solute hydrophobicity and phospholipid composition on permeability of composite membranes containing phospholipids

Permeabilities of several solutes through the composite membranes containing phospholipids have been measured. They were inversely proportional to the content of the phospholipids in the membrane. Both the permeability of solutes and the degree of permeability change around the phase transition temperature of the phospholipids for the hydrophobic solutes such as n-butanol and salicylamide were larger than those for the hydrophilic solutes such as amino acids and pyridoxine. These results suggest thatthe permeation path of hydrophobic solutes is different from that of hydrophilic ones. The addition of phosphatidyl ethanolamine, phosphatidyl serine, or phosphatidic acid to the composite membrane influenced the solute permeability due to the introduced negative charge and/or the change in the molecular packing of phospholipid.     

Adsorption equilibrium in immuno-affinity chromatography with polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies

The effects of pH, ionic strength, anion species, and antibody concentration on the adsorption equilibrium between immobilized antibodies and antigens were studied by use of anti-BSA, anti-HSA, anti-BlgG, and monoclonal anti-HSA coupled to Sepharose 4B. The polyclonal antibodies possessed average binding affinities of the order of 10(8)M(-1), and the heterogeneity was accounted for by assuming a normal distribution of the free energy of antibody-antigen combination. The monoclonal antibody, on the other hand, showed a homogeneous affinity of the Langmuir type. Bound antigens could be eluted by lowering pH or adding a chaotropic anion, and their purity was very high. The antibody ligand was sufficiently stable for repeated use.     

Essentiality of Boron for Dinitrogen Fixation in Anabaena sp. PCC 7119

The relationship between the requirement for boron and the form of N supplied in nutrient media to cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. PCC 7119 was investigated. When cells were grown in a medium which contained nitrate or ammonium-N, boron deficiency in the nutrient media did not inhibit growth or change cell composition. However, when cells were dependent on N₂ fixation, the lack of boron inhibited growth (i.e. growth ceased after 96 hours under these conditions). Additionally, boron-deficient cells showed a significant decrease in their content of phycobiliproteins and chlorophyll and accumulated carbohydrates within 24 hours of removing boron from the nutrient media. Inhibition of photosynthetic O₂ evolution accompanied the decrease in photosynthetic pigments. Boron deficiency symptoms were relieved when either boron or combined N was added to boron-deficient cultures. The degree of recovery depended upon the age of the cultures. Assays of nitrogenase activity showed that, after 2 hours of growth, nitrogenase activity of boron-deficient cells was inhibited by 40%. After 24 hours a total inactivation of nitrogenase activity was observed in boron-deficient cells. These results strongly suggest an involvement of boron in N₂ fixation in cyanobacteria.     

Performance of hydrophobic chromatography in purification of alpha-amylase

Hydrophobic ligands were introduced onto agarose beads, and the adsorption capacity of the beads was measured. The adsorption capacity increased with increase in the carbon number of the ligand, ionic strength of the buffer solution, and temperature. Crude alpha-amylase was purified with these hydrophobic adsorbents and the breakthrough and elution curves were estimated based on the mass transfer theory. Under strongly hydrophobic conditions, impurities contained in crude feeds and the lack of uniformity of packing caused by aggregation of beads affected adsorption and elution behaviors.     

Development of three copper metalloenzymes in clover leaves

Subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum L. cv Seaton Park) was grown in solution cultures containing adequate nitrogen both with and without Cu. After Cu deficiency had developed, Cu²⁺ was added to some deficient plants and Cu content, protein content, and activities of three Cu metalloenzymes (diamine oxidase [EC1.4.3.6], ascorbate oxidase [EC1.10.3.3] and o-diphenol oxidase [EC1.10.3.1]) were assayed in young and recently matured leaf blades over 11 days during the development of the next three leaves.

Copper deficiency had little effect on protein concentrations, but markedly depressed enzyme activities and Cu concentration in all leaf blades assayed. Within 4 d of adding Cu²⁺ to Cu-deficient plants, Cu concentrations of all the leaf blades increased to adequate values. Enzyme activities only increased to control levels in leaves which had not yet emerged at the time that Cu²⁺ was added.

The results suggest that active holoenzymes of diamine oxidase, ascorbate oxidase, and o-diphenol oxidase can only be synthesized in leaf blades during very early stages of their development.

     

Functional Characterization and Partial Purification of the Ubiquinol-Cytochrome c Oxidoreductase from Higher Plant Mitochondria (Helianthus tuberosus)

The functional and thermodynamic characteristics of the ubiquinolcytochrome (Cyt) c oxidoreductase in a Cyt b/c₁-enriched fraction (defined S-1) isolated from Jerusalem artichoke mitochondria (JAM) (Helianthus tuberosus), have been analyzed. Fraction S-1, obtained through deoxycholate-KCl fractionation procedure, contained one Cyt of c type (formally c₁ with Em_7.0 of +240 millivolts), two b type Cyt with Em_7.0 values of +100 and −25 millivolts, ferredoxin-like centers presumably linked to succinic- and NADH-dehydrogenases, and a Rieske-type iron sulfur center (g_y = 1.89). The ubiquinol-dependent Cyt c reduction by fraction S-1 showed sensitivity to antimycin A, myxothiazol, and n-2-hepthyl-1-hydroxyquinoline N-oxide with I₅₀ of 12 nanomolar, 30 nanomolar, and 0.1 micromolar, respectively. Oxidation-induced extra b type reduction, a widespread phenomenon of bacterial and mitochondrial respiratory systems, has also been observed in both intact mitochondria and S-1 fraction. The data seem to blur previous experiments in which both spectral and functional differences between higher plant and mammalian mitochondria have been underlined.     

Potassium and sodium absorption kinetics in roots of two tomato species : lycopersicon esculentum and lycopersicon cheesmanii

Excised roots of the tomato species, Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. cv Walter (the commercial species) and of Lycopersicon cheesmanii ssp. minor (Hook.) C.H. Mull. (a wild species from the Galapagos Islands), were used in comparative studies of their absorption of K⁺ and Na⁺. Uptake of ⁸⁶Rb-labeled K⁺ and ²²Na-labeled Na⁺ by excised roots of `Walter' and L. cheesmanii varied as a function of genotype and tissue pretreatment with or without K<sup>+</sup>. Excised roots of `Walter' consistently absorbed more ⁸⁶Rb-labeled K⁺ than those of L. cheesmanii. Absorption of K⁺ from solutions ranging from 0.01 to 0.2 millimolar KCl showed saturation kinetics in both K⁺-pretreated and K⁺-depleted roots of `Walter,' and for K<sup>+</sup>-depleted roots of L. cheesmanii. K<sup>+</sup>-pretreated roots of L. cheesmanii had exceedingly low rates of K<sup>+</sup> uptake with strikingly different, linear kinetics. Pretreatment with K<sup>+</sup> caused a decrease in rates of K<sup>+</sup> uptake in both genotypes. Potassium depleted roots of L. cheesmanii absorbed Na<sup>+</sup> at a greater rate than those of `Walter,' whereas K⁺-pretreated roots of `Walter' absorbed Na⁺ at a greater rate than those of L. cheesmanii. The results confirm and extend previous conclusions to the effect that closely related genotypes may exhibit widely different responses to the two alkali cations, K⁺ and Na⁺.     

Constant Phycobilisome Size in Chromatically Adapted Cells of the Cyanobacterium Tolypothrix tenuis, and Variation in Nostoc sp

Phycobilisomes of Tolypothrix tenuis, a cyanobacterium capable of complete chromatic adaptation, were studied from cells grown in red and green light, and in darkness. The phycobilisome size remained constant irrespective of the light quality. The hemidiscoidal phycobilisomes had an average diameter of about 52 nanometers and height of about 33 nanometers, by negative staining. The thickness was equivalent to a phycocyanin molecule (about 10 nanometers). The molar ratio of allophycocyanin, relative to other phycobiliproteins always remained at about 1:3. Phycobilisomes from red light grown cells and cells grown heterotrophically in darkness were indistinguishable in their pigment composition, polypeptide pattern, and size. Eight polypeptides were resolved in the phycobilin region (17.5 to 23.5 kilodaltons) by isoelectric focusing followed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Half of these were invariable, while others were variable in green and red light. It is inferred that phycoerythrin synthesis in green light resulted in a one for one substitution of phycocyanin, thus retaining a constant phycobilisome size. Tolypothrix appears to be one of the best examples of phycobiliprotein regulation with wavelength. By contrast, in Nostoc sp., the decrease in phycoerythrin in red light cells was accompanied by a decrease in phycobilisome size but not a regulated substitution.