CDC17: an essential gene that prevents telomere elongation in yeast

The CDC17 gene product performs an essential stage-specific function during the Saccharomyces cerevisiae cell cycle. When cdc17-1 strains are grown at the maximum permissive temperature, recombination is induced preferentially in the genetic interval of the chromosome closest to the telomere. Telomeres are longer in cdc17 strains than in CDC17 strains at the permissive temperature because of addition of sequence near or in the poly (C1-3A) telomeric DNA and become even longer when cells are propagated at elevated temperatures. The mitotic recombination events require RAD52 function, but telomere growth does not. Long telomeres are maintained for many generations when crossed into a CDC17+ background, suggesting that telomere length is largely conserved during replication. The altered telomere length phenotype of cdc17 mutations is recessive and coreverts and cosegregates with the temperature-sensitive lethal phenotype.     

Unlikelihood that minimal phylogenies for a realistic biological study can be constructed in reasonable computational time

The problem of determining a phylogeny of maximum parsimony from a given set of protein sequences is defined. It is shown that this problem is what is called, in computer science, NP-complete. The implication of this result is that it is equivalent in difficulty to a host of other problems in combinatorial optimization which are notorious for their intractability. This implies that it is more fruitful to attempt to develop heuristic techniques (which do not guarantee maximum parsimony but which do run in reasonable computer time) than to try to develop exact algorithms for phylogeny construction     

Hyperoxia causes increased albumin permeability of cultured endothelial monolayers

The effect of phasic eye movement activity on ventilation during rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep was studied in seven healthy young adults by use of the respiratory inductive plethysmograph. Mean ventilation (VE) and ventilatory components during REM sleep were not significantly different from that seen in either stages 1-2 or 3-4 sleep. The percent of rib cage contribution to ventilation in REM sleep, 29.3 +/- 5.1%, was reduced compared with 54.4 +/- 5.8% in stage 1-2 and 52.2 +/- 4.3% in stage 3-4 sleep (P less than 0.005). When one separated breaths by the degree of associated phasic eye movement activity, it became apparent that breathing during REM sleep is very heterogeneous. Increasing eye movement activity was associated with inhibition of ventilation with a reduction in VE from 5.1 +/- 0.3 to 3.8 +/- 0.3 l/min. Tidal volume and frequency both fell, whereas inspiratory duration was unchanged. Compartmental ventilation was also affected, with the fall in the rib cage contribution from 37.8 +/- 6.4 to 15.3 +/- 5.6%. Chest wall and abdominal movement became more asynchronous as phasic-eye-movement activity increased and frank paradoxical breathing was seen.     

S-oxalylglutathione is a substrate for gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT). Implications for the role of GGT in cell proliferation

With glycylglycine or water as acceptor, bovine kidney gamma-glutamyltransferase catalyzes reactions of the known mammalian metabolite, S-oxalylglutathione, at rates comparable to those of L-gamma-glutamyl-p-nitroanilide, a known good substrate. N-Oxalyl-cysteinylglycine is the eventual product of the former reaction. Since oxalyl thiolesters are implicated as important cell proliferation inhibitors, it is proposed that this reaction plays a major role in controlling cell proliferation.     

Absorption of light in photoreceptors: Effect of waveguiding property

The effect of waveguiding property (i.e., the intensity distribution) of the photoreceptor on the number of photons absorbed in a photoreceptor has been studied. It has been found that the effect is significant only for large values of the exposure and the maximum effect is less than 11% in the case of human rod photoreceptor. In the analysis, the funnelling effect, which follows from the coupling between the interior and exterior fields, has not been considered.Work partially supported by the Department of Science and Technology (India)B. D. Gupta is associated with the School of Bioscience Studies     

In vivo experimental modelling of the infectious process caused by stable L forms of the causative agent of typhoid

To simulate the infectious process and to study the persistence of L-forms, rabbits and guinea pigs were infected with S. typhi stable L-forms. The materials presented in this work indicate that both subconjunctival and intraperitoneal infection led to the development of the clinically indistinct, but morphologically pronounced pathological process with characteristic localization and typical changes in the gastrointestinal tract. The typical features of the process were the generalized immunomorphological reaction of the lymphoid apparatus with the appearance of light-colored reticulomacrophagal elements, the signs of the activation of humoral and cell-mediated immunity and the formation of small epitheloidocellular granulomas. The results of the investigation indicate that the stable cultures of S. typhi L-forms are highly pathogenic and capable of inducing the infectious process in experimental animals.     

Isolation and analysis of monoclonal antibodies against various gangliosides

Female BALB/c mice were immunized with human melanoma (Mewo) cells containing ganglioside GD3 as a surface antigen. Immune splenocytes were fused with syngeneic P3-X63.Ag 8 myeloma cells. Antibodies produced by hybrid clones were analyzed by solid phase immunoassay. B, C, D and Q clones producing antibodies against Raja clavata brain gangliosides were obtained. Monoclonal B and C antibodies bound monosialogangliosides. Monoclonal D antibody bound a number of gangliosides but reacted predominantly with GD1a. Monoclonal Q antibody reacted selectively with GQ1c. It is assumed that ganglioside GQ1c is expressed on the melanoma cell surface and may be found only in the early stage of ontogenesis of high vertebrates.     

Variation in serotiny of three Banksia species along a climatic gradient

The degree of serotiny (i.e. the proportion of follicles remaining closed in each year's crop of cones since the last fire) was measured in Bank-sia attenuata, B. menziesii and B. prionotes at five sites along a climatic gradient extending 500 km north of Perth, Western Australia. The decrease in annual rainfall and increase in average temperature along the gradient paralleled a decrease in plant height and an increase in the degree of serotiny of all species. Extreme serotiny was recorded in the scrub-heath at the xeric end of the gradient whereas two species were essentially non-serotinous in the low woodland at the most mesic site. It is concluded that degree of serotiny is related to the fire characteristics of the site which depend on plant height. In xeric scrub-heath, the entire canopies of the Banksia spp. are consumed by fire which promotes massive release of seed. This facilitates recruitment in an otherwise unpredictable and unreliable seedbed. In mesic woodland, where cones rarely come into contact With flames, seeds are released spontaneously and site conditions are more conducive to recruitment in the inter-fire period.     

Modification of testicular and thyroid function by chronic exposure to short photoperiod: a comparison in four rodent species

Exposure of male Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) for 10 weeks to short photoperiod (SP) providing 10 hr light: 14 hr darkness (10:14 LD) produced a significant reduction in the weights of the reproductive organs, plasma thyroxine (T4) levels and free T4 index (FT4I) compared to the values of animals exposed to long photoperiod (LP, 14:10 LD). C57bl male house mice (Mus musculus) kept in SP (10:14 LD) had reproductive organ weights equivalent to those of mice kept in long days (14:10 LD) and lower T3 uptake (T3U) values. Male gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus) exposed to 13 weeks of SP (10:14 LD) had lower body weights, testes and seminal vesicle weights and higher T3U values compared to LP (14:10 LD) controls. However, no effect was seen on plasma T4 and triiodothyronine (T3) values nor the FT4I and free T3 index (FT3I). White-footed male mice (Peromyscus leucopus) exposed to SP (8:16 LD) had significantly lower testes and seminal vesicle weights while plasma T4 and T3 levels were unaffected. Snell strain house mice (Mus musculus) exposed to SP (8:16 LD) had normal reproductive organ weights compared to the values of LP-exposed (16:8 LD) control animals. However, there was a significant depression in T3 and in the FT3I in the SP animals.