Effect of long-term feeding olive and sunflower oils on fatty acid composition and desaturation activities of liver microsomes

Changes in microsomal fatty acid composition, delta 9- and delta 6-desaturase activities and cholesterol and phosphorus liver content were studied in dogs fed olive and sunflower oil diets. No changes were observed in the saturated fatty acids between dietary groups. The level of monounsaturated fatty acids was more elevated in animals fed the OO diet, because of its high relative content in this diet although the in vitro delta 9-desaturase activity was similar in microsomes from the two groups. The proportion of arachidonic acid was similar in SO and OO fed animals. This similar level occurred despite a significant increase in the level of linoleic acid in membrane lipids as a result of feeding the SO supplement. The in vitro delta 6-desaturase activity in liver microsomes showed no differences between dogs fed the two diets. Thus, the higher desaturation presented in vivo by microsomes from OO group may be related to the inhibition by linoleic acid of delta 6-desaturase in dogs fed the SO diet. The polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) from the n-3 series were higher in microsomal phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine from animals fed the OO supplemented diet. The cholesterol/phosphorus molar ratio was higher in the SO group in which the unsaturation index was only slightly affected in phospholipids.     

Induction of rat kidney gluconeogenesis during acute liver intoxication by carbon tetrachloride.

1. Glucose production from L-lactate was completely inhibited 24h after carbon tetrachloride treatment in liver from 48h-starved rats. The activities of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase, fructose diphosphatase and glucose 6-phosphatase were decreased by this treatment in fed and starved rats, whereas lactate dehydrogenase activity was only decreased in fed animals. 2. The production of glucose by renal cortical slices from fed rats previously treated with carbon tetrachloride was enhanced when L-lactate, pyruvate and glutamine but not fructose were used as glucose precursors. Renal phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase activity was increased in this condition. 3. This increase was counteracted by cycloheximide or actinomycin D, suggesting that the effect was due to the synthesis de novo of the enzyme. 4. The pattern of hepatic gluconeogenic metabolites in treated animals was characterized by an increase in lactate, pyruvate, malate and citrate as well as a decrease in glucose 6-phosphate, suggesting an impairment of liver gluconeogenesis in vivo. 5. In contrast, the profile of renal metabolites suggested that gluconeogenesis was operative in the treated rats, as indicated by the marked increase in the content of phosphoenolpyruvate, 2-phosphoglycerate, 3-phosphoglycerate and glucose 6-phosphate. 6. It is postulated that renal gluconeogenesis could contribute to the maintenance of glycaemia in carbon tetrachloride-treated rats.     

Hexachlororhenate(IV) salts of organic radical cations

The ionic salts (p-rad)₂[ReCl₆] (1) and (m-rad)₂[ReCl₆] (2) (p/m-rad = 2-(4/3-N-methylpyridinium)-4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-4,5-dihydro-1H-imidazol-1-oxyl-3-N-oxide) have been prepared and their crystal structures determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The nitronyl nitroxide cations in compound 1 show a layered disposition, whereas the [ReCl₆]²⁻ units are placed between these layers. The nitronyl nitroxide cations in compound 2 adopt an hexagonal array but they do not result in layers. Bulk magnetic properties of 1 and 2 have been investigated in the temperature range 2-300 K. Both compounds show weak but significant intermolecular antiferromagnetic interactions.     

粘虫(Pseudaletia separata(Walker))生殖系统的解剖

本文内容是研究粘虫(Pseudaletia separata(Walker)生殖系统的形态构造。全文分为雄性内部生殖器、雄性外部生殖器、雌性内部生殖器及雌性外部生殖器四部分。 粘虫的雄性内生殖器中, 有睾丸一对, 左右并列, 呈扁椭圆形, 外被紫红色睾丸膜; 输精管一对, 基部膨大成二对贮精囊; 射精管分成复射精管及单射精管两部分。雄性外生殖器的构造极为复杂, 第9腹节的背、腹板分别形成马鞍状的背兜及基腹弧; 第10腹节仅有其附肢特化成钩形突、颚形突和背兜侧突等; 抱握器占雄性外生殖器中的大部分, 其顶上角具长约1毫米的端刺一枚, 此为本种特征之一, 可以此与近似种区别; 阳茎由基部球状的阳茎囊和端部柄状的阳茎端组成, 内具内阳茎及角状器:雄性外生殖器中有关器官的肌肉来源亦作了叙述。 精液是以贮存于精球的方式授入雌体, 精球分为精球体、精球柄及系带三部分。 雌性内生殖器中, 卵巢为多滋式, 一对, 各由四个卵巢管组成, 两组卵巢管再与一对侧输卵管相连, 后者通入中输卵管中, 中输卵管后端连有外生殖腔, 其外方的开口是为产卵孔; 受精囊为长形梨状物, 分成主囊及副囊两部分, 两者在顶部愈合, 并由此发出受精管与外生殖腔相通, 在主囊顶端有受精囊腺; 附腺一对, 与附腺囊相连, 后者通入附腺主囊, 并由此开口入外生殖腔。雌性外生殖器是由交配囊和产卵器组成, 前者复可分成囊导管、囊体及囊颈三部分, 其外方的开口为交配囊孔, 有导精管从囊颈连于外生殖腔; 产卵器由第8、9腹节组成, 非呈特殊构造。     

Ginger and alpha lipoic acid ameliorate age-related ultrastructural changes in rat liver

Because of the important role that oxidative stress is thought to play in the aging process, antioxidants could be candidates for preventing its related pathologies. We investigated the ameliorative effects of two antioxidant supplements, ginger and alpha lipoic acid (ALA), on hepatic ultrastructural alterations in old rats. Livers of young (4 months) and old (24 months) Wistar rats were studied using transmission electron microscopy. Livers of old rats showed sinusoidal collapse and congestion, endothelial thickening and defenestration, and inconsistent perisinusoidal extracellular matrix deposition. Aged hepatocytes were characterized by hypertrophy, cytoplasmic vacuolization and a significant increase in the volume densities of the nuclei, mitochondria and dense bodies. Lipofuscin accumulation and decreased microvilli in bile canaliculi and space of Disse also were observed. The adverse alterations were ameliorated significantly by both ginger and ALA supplementation; ALA was more effective than ginger. Ginger and ALA appear to be promising anti-aging agents based on their amelioration of ultrastructural alterations in livers of old rats.     

Algorithmic approaches to aid species' delimitation in multidimensional morphospace

Background  

The species is a fundamental unit of biological pattern and process, but its delimitation has proven a ready source of argument and disagreement. Here, we discuss four key steps that utilize statistical thresholds to describe the morphological variability within a sample and hence assess whether there is evidence for one or multiple species. Once the initial set of biologically relevant traits on comparable individuals has been identified, there is no need for the investigator to hypothesise how specimens might be divided among groups, nor the traits on which groups might be separated.     

Overexpression and lack of degradation of thaumatin in an aspergillopepsin A‐defective mutant of Aspergillus awamori containing an insertion in the pep A gene

A gene encoding the sweet-tasting protein thaumatin (tha) with optimized codon usage was expressed in Aspergillus awamori. Mutants of A. awamori with reduced proteolytic activity were isolated. One of these mutants, named lpr66, contained an insertion of about 200 bp in the pepA gene, resulting in an inactive aspergillopepsin A. In vitro thaumatin degradation tests confirmed that culture broths of mutant lpr66 showed only a small thaumatin-degrading activity. A. awamori lpr66 has been used as host strain for thaumatin expression cassettes containing the tha gene under the control of either the cahB (cephalosporin acetylhydrolase) promoter of Acremonium chrysogenum or the gdhA (glutamate dehydrogenase) promoter of Aspergillus awamori. Residual proteolytic activities were repressed by using a mixture of glucose and sucrose as carbon sources and l-asparagine as nitrogen source. Degradation of thaumatin by acidic proteases was prevented by maintaining the pH value at 6.2 in the fermentor. Expression of cassettes containing the gdhA promoter was optimal in ammonium sulfate as nitrogen source, whereas transformants expressing the tha gene from the cahB promoter yielded higher thaumatin levels using l-asparagine as nitrogen source. Under optimal fermentation conditions, yields of 105 mg thaumatin/l were obtained, thus making this fermentation a process of industrial interest. Received: 27 March 2000 / Received revision: 14 June 2000 / Accepted: 18 June 2000     

植物甜味蛋白和矫味蛋白生物技术研究开发现状和前景

与蔗糖类甜味剂比较 ,植物甜味蛋白有很多优点 ,例如 :甜度高、热卡低、不引起龋齿以及可供糖尿病人食用等。迄今已知的植物甜味蛋白和矫味蛋白有 7种 ,即 :沙马汀 (Ｔｈａｕｍａｔｉｎ)、莫乃灵 (Ｍｏｎｅｌｌｉｎ)、马宾灵 (Ｍａｂｉｎｌｉｎ)、潘塔亭 (Ｐｅｎｔａｄｉｎ)、布拉齐因(Ｂｒａｚｚｅｉｎ)、库克灵 (Ｃｕｒｃｕｌｉｎ)和神秘果素 (Ｍｉｒａｃ ｕｌｉｎ)。这些植物甜味蛋白或矫味蛋白均来自热带雨林植物的果实。热带国家的居民常用其作为食物的增甜剂。近年来 ,在生物技术学家的努力下 ,又对这些甜味蛋白和矫味蛋白进行了克隆…