Starch phosphorylase inhibitor from sweet potato

A protein, starch phosphorylase inhibitor, was purified from the root of sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas [L.] Lam. cv Tainon 65). It had a molecular weight of 250,000 and could be composed of five identical subunits. The isoelectric point of the inhibitor was 4.63. It was a noncompetitive inhibitor toward the sweet potato enzyme with a K_i value of 1.3 × 10⁻⁶ molar when glucose-1-P was the variable substrate. Because cross-reacting materials of rabbit antiphosphorylase inhibitor of sweet potato were found in three arbitrarily selected plant materials, viz. potato tuber, spinach leaf, and rice grain, the occurrence of this protein seemed universal in higher plants. By an immunofluorescence technique, the inhibitor was located in the amyloplast and cell wall where phosphorylase was also found. This implies that they may interact in vivo, and the inhibitor may play an unknown regulatory role against the plant enzyme.     

Histopathological evidence for protective immunity induced by sonicated Salmonella vaccine

The highly susceptible inbred C3H/HeNMTV mice were vaccinated with fragments derived from sonicated Salmonella typhimurium and then infected with the pathogen. All of the vaccinated mice survived an otherwise rapidly fatal challenge of 10(5) organisms, i.e., greater than 10(3) x mean lethal dose (LD50). The vaccine also protected two-thirds of the mice infected with 10(6) bacteria and extended the survival time of the remainder in their fatal disease. Histopathological findings showed that, like the control mice, the vaccinated and infected mice developed abscesses with infiltration of polymorphonuclear leukocytes in the organs of the reticuloendothelial system during the early stage of the infection. However, unlike the primary lesions in the control mice, the lesions of the vaccinated mice tended to be discrete and self-limiting. They began to transform into granulomas after the first week of infection. Recovery and regeneration of tissues were evident 3 weeks after the infection.     

Different effects of vasopressin and angiotensin II on baroreflexes

Our data indicate that vasopressin facilitates baroreflex inhibition of lumbar sympathetic nerve activity by two mechanisms: it sensitizes baroreceptors locally and shifts the stimulus-response curve so that a lower carotid sinus pressure results in a certain level of reflex sympathetic inhibition; it also produces a corresponding shift when given i.v. and excluded from baroreceptors implicating a second, central mechanism for facilitation of baroreflexes. In contrast, angiotensin II attenuates baroreflex inhibition of peripheral sympathetic function and this is accounted for totally by a central action. Why these differences occur present challenging new questions for future investigation.     

Stimulation of proliferation ofTetrahymena pyriformis by trace rare earths

Using two Chinese strains ofTetrahymena pyriformis, S1 and BJ4, as the biological models, the effects of lighter rare earths (lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, samarium, and europium), representatives of heavier rare earths (yttrium and thulium), and mixed rare earths were studied. The stimulation of population growth ofTetrahymena in peptone-glucose media containing trace amounts of these elements have been observed. The mechanisms for the beneficial effects of rare earth elements in low concentrations remains to be discovered.     

Serological survey of T-lymphocyte differentiation antigens in wild mice

Allelic distributions of Thy-1, Ly-l, and Ly-2 antigens in wild mice are characteristic of each Mus musculus subspecies. Eastern mice (M.m.molossinus, M.mmusculus, M.m.castaneus, M.m.bactrianus) express the Thy-1.1 antigen, whereas Western mice (M.m. domesticus, M.m.brevirostris) express the Thy-1.2. All mice from wild populations examined in this survey express the Ly-1.2. The Ly-2.1 is distributed in Eastern mice and some Western mice, and the Ly-2.2 is found in the remaining Western mice. Allelic distributions of these antigens were also examined in two other species, Mus spretus and Mus spicilegus. Allelic constitutions of Thy-1 and Ly-1 in these species are similar to those of Eastern mice. Some M.spicilegus, however, express the Ly-1.1 antigen. This antigenic type is not found in M.musculus. Some Eastern mice related to M.m.castaneus react weakly to Ly-1.2-specific and Ly-2.1-specific monoclonal antibodies in both the complement-mediated cytotoxicity test and the absorption test. These results suggest that M.m.castaneus has unique alleles in the Ly-1 and Ly-2 loci.     

外源蜕皮激素对蓖麻蚕蛹发育的效应

本文报道蓖麻蚕蛹在室温28℃下的卵巢发育过程,以及外源20-羟基蜕皮酮对蚕蛹发育的影响。正常蛹在任何发育期内注射20-羟基蜕皮酮后,全部仍羽化成蛾,但蛹期延长约1至4天。无脑蛹经注射后出现蛹——蛾的变态,发育情况因剂量而不同:注射0.1微克后约有半数蛹发育成蛾;注射2微克羽化率较高,卵巢管的发育也最好;4微克或更高的注射量能使全部蛹发育成蛾,但卵巢管多少有些不正常。注射量超过5微克时,蛾体较小,颜色浅黄,没有或只有很少的鳞片。蛹的发育天数随剂量的增大而减少。经外源20-羟基蜕皮酮处理后,无论是有脑蛾或是无脑蛾的卵粒都明显地比正常蛾的卵粒大。当超过一定的注射量时,注射量越大,蚕蛾的自动蜕壳能力越差。     

菠萝叶膜脂脂肪酸组成的温度效应及其与抗寒性的关系

生长在不同季节的菠萝叶膜脂脂肪酸的配比存在着明显差异;随着大气温度的下降,18:1含量显著减少,18:2和18:3含量增加。不同品种均表现出一致的变化趋势。致害低温破坏了膜脂,使较不抗寒品种的16:0含量增加,18:2和18:3含量减少;较抗寒品种这种变化则较不显著。适当低温锻炼能改变膜脂脂肪酸的代谢过程,16:0和18:1含量减少,18:3含量增加。当处于更低温度时,除了16:0和18:1继续减少外,有一部分18:2也脱饱和而转变为18:3。因之明显地增加了膜脂中18:3的含量和脂肪酸的不饱和度,从而有利于抗寒性的提高。而品种间的抗寒性差异亦是在此低温期间表现出来。     

Anther culture of papaya (Carica papaya L.)

Papaya (Carica papaya L.) anther containing microspores in tetrad to early-binucleate stages were successfully cultured on 1/2 strength MS salts and vitamins with full strength Na-Fe-EDTA supplemented with 2 mg/l NAA, 1 mg/l BA and 6% sucrose for callus initiation and formation. Highest frequencies of callus induction were obtained when anthers at the uninucleate stage were cultured in the dark. Haploid plantlets and pollen-derived embryoids were obtained from anthers cultured at the uninucleate stage on solidified MS medium containing 3% sucrose without any growth regulators under a low light intensity (1,500 lux). Large quantities of embryoids were obtained when the original embryoids were transferred to MS medium with 3% sucrose and no growth regulators. Cytology of root tips of embryoid-derived plants confirmed the haploid chromosome number of 9 indicating that the embryoids originated from pollen.Abbreviations MS Murashige and Skoog (1962) - MAA naphthaleneacetic acid - BA 6-benzyladenine - 2,4-D 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid     

琼脂糖平板制备聚焦电泳法进一步提纯胸腺素组分五

用琼脂糖平板等电聚焦电泳法,由胸腺素组分五中分离出三种在聚焦电泳谱上是单一谱线的多肽成份——CP1、CP2和CP3,等电点分别为4.3、4.9和5.6。测定了这些多肽对脐带血中淋巴细胞形成羊红细胞玫瑰花的影响。与对照相比,CP1(2微克/0.6毫升),和CP3(0.2-2微克/毫升)分别在统计学上呈显著和非常显著差异。在相同测定条件下,这三种多肽成份的活性均高于化学合成的胸腺多肽——胸腺素α_1。     

Rearrangement of tubulin, actin, and myosin in cultured ventricular cardiomyocytes of the adult rat

Antitubulin, phalloidin, and antimyosin were used to study the distribution of microtubules, microfilaments, and myofibrils in cultured adult cardiomyocytes. These cells undergo a stereotypic sequence of morphological change in which myotypic features are lost and then reconstructed during a period of polymorphic growth. Microtubules, though rearranged during these events in culture, are always present in an organized network. Myosin and actin structures, on the other hand, initially degenerate. This initial degeneration is reversed when a cell attaches to the culture substratum. Upon attachment, new microtubules are laid down as a cortical network adjacent to the sarcolemma and, subsequently, as a network in the basal part of the cell. Actin and then myosin filament bundles appear next, in a pattern corresponding to the pattern of the microtubules. Finally, striated myofibrils are formed, first in the central part of the cell, and subsequently in the outgrowing processes of the cell. A mechanism is suggested by which the eventual polymorphic shape of a cell is related to the shape of its initial area of contact with the culture substratum. Finally, a model of myofibrillogenesis is proposed in which microtubules participate in the insertion of myosin among previously formed actin filament bundles to produce myofibrils.