Culture Purity Assessments and Morphological Dissociation in the Pleomorphic Microorganism Bacterionema matruchotii

The inherent pleomorphism of Bacterionema matruchotii resulting from its mode of reproduction was enhanced by temporal effects of culture age and growth condition and by the more lasting effects of rough to intermediate to smooth morphological dissociation. Routine morphological observations with a single growth condition were inadequate to permit unambiguous judgements of culture purity. Multiple criteria were required. Pleomorphism and the undetected presence of contaminants in primary and successive cultures of B. matruchotii can explain the emergence of unrelated bacteria from B. matruchotii reported previously by others and ascribed to genetic instability.     

Production of somatic hybrid tissues following chemical and electrical fusion of protoplasts from albino cell suspensions ofMedicago sativa andM. borealis

Protoplasts isolated from cell suspensions of albinoMedicago borealis andM. sativa were fused chemically, using two methods, and electrically. Although a small scale method of chemical fusion gave the highest fusion frequency, electrofusion was the superior technique on the basis of throughput of green somatic hybrid cell colonies. Chlorophyll-containing tissues were confirmed as being somatic hybrid by isoenzyme and cytological analyses. This is the first report of the application of albino complementation to produce somatic hybrid cells in forage legumes.Abbreviations AC alternating current - DC direct current - 2,4-D 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid - f.wt. fresh weight - PEG polyethylene glycol - K8P and K8 Kao (1977) protoplast and cell culture media - MS Murashige and Skoog (1962) medium - UM Uchimiya and Murashige (1974) medium     

Morphine reduces pulmonary inflammation in response to influenza infection.

The present study shows that morphine reduces the pulmonary inflammatory response to intranasal influenza virus infection in rats. Rats were infected with rat-adapted influenza virus (RAIV), which is a unique infectious agent because normal rats develop an acute pulmonary inflammatory response to RAIV and rapidly clear the virus within a few days with no mortality. Male Lewis rats were implanted with 75 mg morphine pellets or placebo pellets 72 hours prior to intranasal RAIV infection. Rats were euthanized at 2, 24, 48, 72, and 96 hours after infection. Assessment of inflammation included accumulation of inflammatory cells in the lungs, lung weight, and protein and LDH content of bronchial alveolar lavage fluid (BALF). Placebo-treated rats showed a marked inflammatory response to RAIV infection, and morphine-treated rats mounted less vigorous inflammatory responses to the infection. Taken together, these data suggest that morphine treatment impairs the inflammatory response to RAIV infection in the lungs, which is consistent with prior work demonstrating that morphine is a potent anti-inflammatory agent in other areas of the body.     

The inhibition of Staphylococcus hyicus on a selective medium for staphylococci

Growth of Staphylococcus hyicus subsp. hyicus and Staph. hyicus subsp. chromogenes strains was found to be severely inhibited when broth cultures of these organisms were streaked on Schleifer and Kramer's staphylococcal (SK) medium. Of the selective agents contained in SK medium, potassium thiocyanate was found to be inhibitory towards both subspecies of Staph. hyicus and sodium azide had an additional inhibitory effect on Staph. hyicus subsp. chromogenes. Of six different media supplements examined, sheep blood and Tween 80 were found to improve the growth of both Staph. hyicus subspecies when added to SK medium. These findings were confirmed in subsequent work where the supplemented SK media were used to isolate potential enterotoxin-producing organisms from simulated raw milk (Staph. aureus, Staph. hyicus subsp. hyicus, Staph. hyicus subsp. chromogenes, Staph. intermedius ). SK medium supplemented with sheep blood proved more effective in allowing satisfactory recovery of Staph. aureus, Staph. hyicus subsp. hyicus and Staph. intermedius. However, neither supplement enabled satisfactory recovery of Staph. hyicus subsp. chromogenes to be achieved.     

Towards modelling the future risk of cyclone wave damage to the world's coral reefs

Tropical cyclones generate extreme waves that can damage coral reef communities. Recovery typically requires up to a decade, driving the trajectory of coral community structure. Coral reefs have evolved over millennia with cyclones. Increasingly, however, processes of recovery are interrupted and compromised by additional pressures (thermal stress, pollution, diseases, predators). Understanding how cyclones interact with other pressures to threaten coral reefs underpins spatial prioritization of conservation and management interventions. Models that simulate coral responses to cumulative pressures often assume that the worst cyclone wave damage occurs within ~100 km of the track. However, we show major coral loss at exposed sites up to 800 km from a cyclone that was both strong (high sustained wind speeds >=33 m/s) and big (widespread circulation >~300 km), using numerical wave models and field data from northwest Australia. We then calculate the return time of big and strong cyclones, big cyclones of any strength and strong cyclones of any size, for each of 150 coral reef ecoregions using a global data set of past cyclones from 1985 to 2015. For the coral ecoregions that regularly were exposed to cyclones during that time, we find that 75% of them were exposed to at least one cyclone that was both big and strong. Return intervals of big and strong cyclones are already less than 5 years for 13 ecoregions, primarily in the cyclone‐prone NW Pacific, and less than 10 years for an additional 14 ecoregions. We identify ecoregions likely at higher risk in future given projected changes in cyclone activity. Robust quantification of the spatial distribution of likely cyclone wave damage is vital not only for understanding past coral response to pressures, but also for predicting how this may change as the climate continues to warm and the relative frequency of the strongest cyclones rises.     

Ontogeny of con A and PHA responses of chicken blood cells in MHC-compatible lines 6(3) and 7(2)

The development of T cell responsiveness to Con A and PHA was examined in two MHC-compatible inbred chicken lines, RPRL 6(3) and 7(2), at ages 2 to 118 days posthatching. These lines are respectively resistant or susceptible to Marek's disease, a naturally occurring, virally induced T cell lymphoma. Between-line comparisons were made of optimal in vitro responses of diluted serum-free blood cells to each mitogen in two groups of chicks tested over ages 2 to 63 and 41 to 118 days. Over 2 to 63 days, Con A responses increased with age at the same rate in each line, but 7(2) responses averaged 2.3 times higher than 6(3). The increase with age was dependent on blood lymphocyte counts, which also increased with age in parallel in both lines. In contrast, the between-line difference in responsiveness was dependent on intrinsic reactivity of cells as well as lymphocyte counts. Covariance analysis was used to estimate that line 7(2) was 1.4 times higher than 6(3) in intrinsic cell reactivity, after accounting for the effect of the twofold higher blood lymphocyte counts in 7(2), and that this intrinsic difference contributed almost one-half the total difference. Over 41 to 118 days Con A responses no longer increased with age, although lymphocyte counts were still increasing, and the line difference (2.6 times) was now almost entirely contributed by a 2.3-fold superiority of 7(2) blood cells in intrinsic reactivity. The line difference in PHA responses was the reverse of the above in young chicks, with 6(3) responses greater than 7(2) in spite of lower lymphocyte counts. In additional chicks tested over 5 to 26 days, intrinsic reactivity of 6(3) cells to PHA averaged 4.5 times higher than 7(2). There was an abrupt decline in intrinsic reactivity of line 6(3) blood cells between 26 and 41 days to a level equal with 7(2). After this age, line 7(2) responses were 1.8 times greater than those of 6(3), and this difference was dependent solely on lymphocyte count differences. The results suggest that different gene systems mediate blood cell responses to PHA as compared with Con A. The pattern of developmental differences between inbred lines indicates the existence of distinct or partly overlapping T cell subsets with different reactivities to PHA or Con A, and of higher suppressor activity of adherent cells in line 6(3) blood. Both these differences may be related to line 6(3) inherited resistance to Marek's disease.