Melanin granule metabolism in the iris and retinal pigment epithelium in adult tritions after completion of eye regeneration

It was concluded that the newly synthesized melanin granules were replaced in the pigmented tissues of the newt eye on the basis of redistribution of the cells of pigment epithelium of retina and iris labelled by 3H-DOPA 2.5 and 6.5 months after the isotope injection. The replacement of melanin granules and, correspondingly, melanin synthesis proceed more actively in the peripheral zones of the pigment epithelium of retina. The depigmentation of cells preceding the melanin synthesis appears to be realized with the participation of macrophages.     

Change in the concentration and intensity of synthesis of RNA in cell cultures of Chironomus thummi during metamorphosis

The content and intensity of incorporation of 3H-uridine in RNA of chromosomes, nucleoli and cytoplasm isolated by microsurgery from the salivary glands of larvae and prepupae of Chironomus thummi were studied following the incubation of salivary glands in the Cannon's medium with 3H-uridine. It was shown that during metamorphosis the content of RNA and intensity of 3H-uridine incorporation decrease in the nucleolus and cytoplasm in a prepupa, as compared with a larva, and suffer no changes in chromosomes in spite of much larger size of many puffs in a prepupa. The patterns of RNA synthesis in the salivary glands of larvae during metamorphosis are discussed.     

Activation of hibernating Coccinella septempunctata (Coleoptera) and Perilitus coccinellae (Hymenoptera) and the photoperiodic response after diapause

To measure the progress of diapause termination in December and March and the difference in diapause intensity between populations from two altitudes, Coccinella septempunctata adults were exposed to 25° and to photoperiods 18L:6D or 12L:12D and the oviposition was recorded.In early December, C. septempunctata females from 600 m had the pre-oviposition period 1/3–2/3 shorter than the population from 1500 m. It was shorter under long day and in injured coccinellids under short day than in intact insects under short day. In mid-March the pre-oviposition period was considerably shorter, both after the hibernation outdoors and under 15°, indicating thus that diapause was over in almost all females. Photoperiodic response in post-diapause insects was shown by a gradual halt of oviposition after a decrease in daylength.In contrast to pre-oviposition of C. septempunctata, the pre-pupal period of Perilitus coccinellae did not get shorter between December and March.

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Résumé En vue d'apprécier l'intensité de la diapause et son état d'avancement au cours du temps, en fonction des conditions d'hivernage, deux populations de Coccinella septempunctata sont récoltées dans le sud-ouest de la France, l'une à 600 m d'altitude, l'autre à 1512 m. Les insectes sont prélevés, d'une part, au milieu de la période d'hivernation (2 décembre), d'autre part, en fin de cette période (20 mars). Ils sont soumis à des photopériodes longues (18 L:6D) ou courtes (12 L:12D), dans des conditions de température de 25°, et on compare le délai nécessaire pour obtenir la ponte (période de pré-oviposition). Certains lots ont subi une mutilation, à titre expérimental: section des ailes postérieures.Chez les insectes prélevés début décembre, la durée de la période de pré-oviposition est de 1/3 à 2/3 plus courte pour la population de plaine hivernant à 600 m d'altitude. L'activation est plus rapide en jours longs (18h de photophase); elle est aussi plus rapide chez les coccinelles mutilées que chez des femelles indemnes, lorsqu'elles sont placées en jours courts.Chez les insectes prélevés en mi-mars la période de pré-oviposition est beaucoup plus courte; il en est de même chez des insectes prélevés en décembre mais maintenu en hibernation artificielle au laboratoire à une température de 15° et à l'obscurité. Des femelles réactivées en jours longs se révèlent sensibles dès l'achèvement de la diapause à une réduction de la photopériode qui provoque un arrêt progressif de la ponte.En contraste avec les variations observées dans la durée de la période de pré-oviposition chez les coccinelles réactivées en décembre ou en mars, la période de pré-émergence de leur parasite Perilitus reste la même et n'est pas plus courte en mars qu'en décembre.

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Dedicated to Prof. Dr. Jan de Wilde, Wageningen, on the occasion of his 60th birthday.     

Effect of antibiotics on the structure and function of the ovaries

Streptomycin, penicillin, levomycetin, florimycin, cycloserin, erythromycin, sekazin, novobiocin, tetracyclines and neomycins had a stimulating effect on the sexual organs of the tests animals during the 1st decade of their administration. With long-term use some of the drugs induced dystrophic changes in the ovary. The signs of stimulation in the ovary were evident from increased activity of the oxidation-reduction enzymes in the inner membrane of the follicles and the interstitial cells of the stroma, as well as in an increase in the number of the maturating follicles. With long-term long use of erythromycin, sekasin or novobiocin, disappearance of the primordial follicles, an increase in the number of the atretic follicles and death of the ovocytes in the mature follicles were observed in the ovary.     

The facilitated diffusion of oxygen by hemoglobin and myoglobin.

We have clarified the use of Wyman's differential equation for the facilitated oxygen flux through a slab of solution of myoglobin or hemoglobin by showing that there is a unique choice of boundary condition on the carrier concentration to be employed in conjunction with it. The singular perturbation solution of Wyman's equation, due to Murrayand Mitchell and Murray, has been extended. By means of it, the paradox of Wittenberg, that the facilitated oxygen flux per mole of heme is apparently independent of the protein carrier, has been resolved.     

Protein-nitrogen metabolism in the liver of rats intraperitoneally administered carminomycin]

It was found in the experiments with rats that in response to carminomycin administration in a single LD50 and the therapeutic doses during the treatment course the intracellular fond of the amino acids in the liver tissue increased, the autolytic processes activated, the activity of the transamination enzymes, histidine and ammonia lyases increased. The level of the residual nitrogen increased mainly at the expense of increased ammonia production and urea levels. These changes were more pronounced when the antibiotic was administered in LD50. Independent of the administration multiplicity and the antibiotic dosage they were of reversible nature and mainly disappeared by the end of the observation.     

Glycogen content and activities of phosphorylase and glucose-6-phosphatase in the fast and slow muscles of representatives of different classes of vertebrates

Studies have been made on glycogen content as well as on the activity of phosphorylase and glucose-6-phosphatase in fast and slow muscles from representatives of 6 classes of vertebrates (Lampetra fluviatilis, Cyprinus carpio, Rana temporaria, Rana ridibunda, Emys orbicularis, hen, rat). Glycogen level and glucose-6-phosphatase activity are either higher in slow muscles, or practically identical in both types of muscles (glucose-6-phosphatase is absent from the fast muscles of hens and rats). On the contrary, phosphorylase activity is higher in fast muscles, this finding being true only for higher vertebrates and lampreys.     

Effect of L-cystine on macromolecular changes during spore and parasporal crystal formation inBacillus thuringiensis var.thuringiensis

High concentration of L-cystine (0.25%) when present in a glucose-mineral salt medium inhibited sporulation-specific events like protease production, calcium uptake and dipicolinic acid synthesis inBacillus thuringiensis var.thuringiensis. In addition, the enzymes of the Krebs cycle from aconitase onwards were completely inhibited by a high concentration of cystine. At a low concentration of cystine (0.05%), none of the above mentioned macromolecular changes were affected. Lipid synthesis monitored by [1,2¹⁴ C]-acetate incorporation into lipid as well as into whole cells was completely inhibited.     

Expression of MHC antigens by mouse thymic dendritic cells.

Thymic epithelial cells express MHC antigens in several different patterns. I-A is present throughout the thymic cortex on dendritic cells. The remainder of the I region and H-2K/D are expressed on dendritic cells apparently only variably in the cortex (at least in some haplotypes). All MHC antigens tested are present in the medulla on epithelial cells; expression on medullary lymphocytes cannot be evaluated. Monoclonal anti-MHC antibodies confirm these results. The significance of these findings to T cell maturation is discussed.