Hemorrhagic enteritis in captive American kestrels (Falco sparverius)

Hemorrhagic enteritis and hepatitis of suspected adenovirus etiology were the apparent cause of death of nine captive American kestrels. Cloacal hemorrhage was the only prominent gross lesion: disseminated hepatocellular necrosis, and intranuclear inclusion bodies were evident microscopically. Electron microscopy revealed numerous adenovirus-like particles associated with the hepatic lesions. Attempts to serologically identify the agent were unsuccessful.     

Fatty acid composition of the lipids of Puffinus tenuirostris (Temminck) in relation to its diet

The fatty acid composition of lipids isolated from the depot fat, stomach contents, and proventricular oil of adult and chick Puffinus tenuirostris (Temminck) has been analysed. The diet of both adults and chicks is almost exclusively derived from the euphausiid Nyctiphanes australis Sars, and an attempt was made to determine whether dietary lipid affects the composition of depot fat, and whether individual fatty acids in the stomachs and proventricular oil can be used as markers for the origin of the diet. An apparent selectivity in the deposition of fatty acids in the fat depots can be explained by the conversion of fatty alcohols, derived from the euphausiid wax ester, into fatty acids of equivalent chain length and unsaturation. Hexadecadienoic acid appeared to be the only possible marker fatty acid from the euphausiid, but wide variations in its level limits its usefulness as a reliable index of the diet of Puffinus tenuirostris.     

Virus particle packaging in baculovirus and cytoplasmic polyhedrosis virus inclusion bodies

The structure of the inclusion bodies (IBs) of three multiply enveloped nuclear polyhedrosis viruses (MNPVs), one singly enveloped NPV (SNPV), two granulosis viruses (GVs) and one cytoplasmic polyhedrosis virus (CPV) were compared. A method was devised to calculate the numbers of virus particles and nucleocapsids in IBs using data from light microscopy and thin sections. The three MNPVs, from Agrotis segetum (English and Polish virus isolates) and Mamestra brassicae had similar concentrations of virus particles ranging from 17.3 to 19.6 per μm³ of IB. Plusia gamma SNPV had a higher density of 59.6 virus particles per μm³ of IB, which partly compensated for its having smaller IBs (mean volume 0.65 μm³) than the MNPVs (2.60–9.71 μm³). The English A. segetum MNPV isolate had the most nucleocapsids in each virus particle (mean, 4.04) and the largest IBs (mean volume, 9.71 μm³), giving 674 nucleocapsids per IB on average. The GVs, from A. segetum and Pieris brassicae, mainly contained one nucleocapsid per IB. P. gamma CPV IBs had a much higher density of virus particles than the baculoviruses (260 per μm³ compared with 17–60 per μm³). These data are discussed in relation to the biological properties of these viruses, and possible adaptational advantages of alternative IB designs are considered.     

Effects of various degrees of supercooling and nucleation temperatures on fertility of frozen turkey spermatozoa

The relative roles of the degree of supercooling and nucleation temperatures on turkey sperm cell survival and fertilizing capacity during a freeze-thaw cycle were investigated. Basically, the higher the degree of supercooling, which produced lower spontaneous nucleation temperatures during the freezing process, the worse the sperm cells survived, in the present study. When induced nucleation was applied, which eliminated the high degree of supercooling, an improvement in sperm cell survival was noted. During the fertility trial, it was shown that in treatment 3 (induced nucleation) the fertility was higher (P less than 0.05) than in treatment 2 (spontaneous nucleation). In general, the degree of supercooling prior to freezing is an important variable and should be considered very seriously during the overall freezing process.     

Reductive alkylation of ribosomes as a probe to the topography of ribosomal proteins

Escherichia coli ribosomes were treated with a number of different aldehydes of various sizes in the presence of NaBH(4). After incorporation of either (3)H or (14)C, the ribosomal proteins were separated by two-dimensional polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis and the extent of alkylation of the lysine residues in each protein was measured. The same pattern of alkylation was observed with the four reagents used, namely formaldehyde, acetone, benzaldehyde and 3,4,5-trimethoxybenzaldehyde. Every protein in 30S and 50S subunits was modified, although there was considerable variation in the degree of alkylation of individual proteins. A topographical classification of ribosomal proteins is presented, based on the degree of exposure of lysine residues. The data indicate that every protein of the ribosome has at least one lysine residue exposed at or near the surface of the ribonucleo-protein complex.     

Pig liver pyruvate carboxylase. Purification, properties and cation specificity

1. Pyruvate carboxylase was purified to apparent homogeneity from pig liver mitochondria and shown to be free of all kinetically contaminating enzymes. 2. The enzyme has a mol. wt. of 520000 and is composed of four subunits, each with a mol. wt. of 130000. 3. The enzyme can exist as the active tetramer, dimer and monomer, although the tetramer appears to be the form in which the enzyme is normally assayed. 4. For every 520000g of the enzyme there are 4mol of biotin, 3mol of zinc and 1mol of magnesium. No significant concentrations of manganese were detected. 5. Analysis by sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis indicates three polypeptide chains per monomer unit, each with a mol. wt. of 47000. 6. The amino acid analysis, stoicheiometry of the reaction and the activity of the enzyme as a function of pH are also presented. 7. The enzyme is activated by a variety of univalent cations but not by Tris(+) or triethanolamine(+). 8. The activity of the enzyme is dependent on the presence of acetyl-CoA; the low rate in the absence of added acetyl-CoA is not due to an enzyme-bound acyl-CoA. The dissociation constant for enzyme-bound acetyl-CoA is a marked function of pH.     

Pig liver pyruvate carboxylase. The reaction pathway for the carboxylation of pyruvate

1. The reaction pathway for the carboxylation of pyruvate, catalysed by pig liver pyruvate carboxylase, was studied in the presence of saturating concentrations of K(+) and acetyl-CoA. 2. Free Mg(2+) binds to the enzyme in an equilibrium fashion and remains bound during all further catalytic cycles. MgATP(2-) binds next, followed by HCO(3) (-) and then pyruvate. Oxaloacetate is released before the random release, at equilibrium, of P(i) and MgADP(-). 3. This reaction pathway is compared with the double displacement (Ping Pong) mechanisms that have previously been described for pyruvate carboxylases from other sources. The reaction pathway proposed for the pig liver enzyme is superior in that it shows no kinetic inconsistencies and satisfactorily explains the low rate of the ATP[unk][(32)P]P(i) equilibrium exchange reaction. 4. Values are presented for the stability constants of the magnesium complexes of ATP, ADP, acetyl-CoA, P(i), pyruvate and oxaloacetate.