Endothelin induces vascular and mucosal lesions, enhances the injury by HCl/ethanol, and the antibody exerts gastroprotection.

Vascular factors play an important role in the pathogenesis and prevention of acute gastric mucosal lesions. Endothelin-3 (ET-3), a potent vasoactive peptide, was infused intra-arterially to induce gastric microvascular and hemorrhagic mucosal lesions, and to enhance the damaging effects of dilute HCl and ethanol. ET-3 antibody was injected intravenously to decrease hemorrhagic mucosal lesions induced by ethanol. Locally infused ET (0.01, 0.1, and 1.0 nmol.100 g-1.min-1 for up to 15 min) was followed in some cases by intragastric dilute ethanol or HCl, which alone caused no or only mild vascular and mucosal lesions. Monastral blue was used to visualize and quantify vascular injury. ET-3 produced dose-dependent vascular lesions that affected the walls of mucosal capillaries and venules and induced mucosal congestion and focal endothelial labeling in vessels of the gastric muscular layers. The highest dose of ET induced hemorrhagic gastric mucosal lesions, mortality, and periods of hyper- and hypotension in the rat. Medium and low doses of ET-3 caused vascular injury, and dose-dependently potentiated the vascular and hemorrhagic mucosal lesions caused by dilute HCl and ethanol. Indomethacin slightly enhanced damage induced by ET and 50% ethanol, suggesting a limited mediatory role of prostaglandins in the ET-induced mucosal lesions. Anti-ET-3 serum dose-dependently decreased but did not abolish the hemorrhagic gastric mucosal lesions induced by 75% ethanol. Thus, ET-3 causes endothelial damage in capillaries and venules of rat stomach and predisposes to mucosal damage even after exposure to dilute ethanol or HCl. ET is more potent than leukotrienes and histamine and thus may play an important role in the mechanisms of acute gastric mucosal injury and protection where the vascular network appears to be a major target.     

Detection of Cryptosporidium circulating antigens in human and calf sera.

Cryptosporidium-specific circulating antigens were detected in sera of experimentally infected calves and AIDS patients by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Antigenemia was detectable from 2 to a minimum of 22 days post-infection (d.p.i.) in calves whose feces were parasitologically positive from 2-10 d.p.i. Antigenemia was detected in AIDS patients showing no a sero-conversion to immunoglobulin (Ig) M or to IgG. The detection of circulating antigens in humans allows early diagnosis of cryptosporidiosis, even in immunosuppressed patients.     

A guinea-pig hereditary cataract contains a splice-site deletion in a crystallin gene

A congenital cataract present in guinea pigs provided a unique opportunity to study a hereditary lens diseases at the molecular level. ζ-crystallin, one of the most abundant guinea pig lens proteins, was found to be altered in the lens of cataractous animals. Several ζ-crystallin cDNA clones were isolated from a cataractous lens library and found to contain a 102-bp deletion towards the 3′ end of the coding region. The deletion does not interfere with the reading frame but results in a protein 34 amino acids shorter. Sequence analysis of a normal genomic ζ-crystallin clone revealed that the missing 102-bp fragment corresponds to an entire exon (exon 7). PCR analysis of the genomic DNA isolated from cataractous animals showed that exon 7, though missing from the mRNA, is intact in the cataractous genome. Further sequence analysis of the α-crystallin gene disclosed a dinucleotide delection of the universal AG at the acceptor splice-site of intron 6 of the mutant gene. The presence of this mutation results in the skipping of exon 7 during the mRNA processing which in turn results in the altered ζ-crystallin protein. This if the first time a genomic mutation in an enzyme/crytallin gene has been directly linked to a congenital cataract.     

Changes in soil microflora associated with control of Sclerotium Rolfsii by Furfuraldehyde

The efficacy of 2‐furfuraldehyde for control of Sclerotium rolfsii was studied in laboratory and greenhouse experiments. Mycelial growth of the fungus was reduced proportionally with concentrations of 0.1–0.5 ml furfuraldehyde l^‐1 agar medium, and viability of sclerotia diminished on exposure to 2‐furfuraldehyde vapours. Detectable populations of bacteria and fungi, including Trichoderma spp., were reduced significantly (9=0.05) when furfuraldehyde was added to the agar used for soil dilution plates of untreated soil. Repeated treatments of natural soil with the fumigant significantly increased populations of Trichoderma spp. and bacteria, but diminished numbers of actinomycetes. Increasing dosages applied to soil artificially infested with S. rolfsii caused a reduction of disease on lentil, Lens culinaris. Results indicate that the compound, when applied to field soil, changes the composition of soil microflora and has potential for integrated control of S. rolfsii.     

A Comparison of the Efficacy of Nuclear Polyhedrosis and Granulosis Viruses in Spray and Bait Formulations for the Control of Agrotis segetum (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in Maize

Agrotis segetum nuclear polyhedrosis virus (AsNPV) and granulosis virus (AsGV), propagated in laboratory cultures of A. segetum in England and A. ipsilon in Spain, respectively, were applied to plots of maize plants at the one‐ to four‐leaf stage of growth. Plots were arranged in a 6 x 6 Latin square design and infested with second‐instar A. segetum larvae (the common cutworm). Each virus was applied in separate treatments by two application methods; as an aqueous spray containing 0.1% Agral as a wetting agent, and as a bran bait. The NPV was applied at a rate of 4 X 10¹² polyhedra/ha, and the GV at 4 X 10¹³ granules/ha. Soil and plants were sampled for larvae on three occasions following virus treatment: 24 h, 4 days and 11 days. The larvae were reared on diet in the laboratory, until death or pupation, to examine the rate and level of viral infection. Infection data showed 87.5% and 91% NPV infection and 12.5% and 55% GV infection in spray and bait treatments, respectively, in larvae sampled 24 h after treatment. In larvae sampled 4 days after treatment, the results were 78% and 100% NPV infection, and 13% and 6% GV infection. A total of only six larvae were retrieved on day 11. In both treatments larvae infected with AsNPV died significantly more rapidly and at an earlier instar than those infected with AsGV, indicating that AsNPV appears to have better potential as a control agent for A. segetum.     

Effect of chronic ingestion of iodide during pregnancy and lactation on rat pup brain enzymes

The developmental pattern of several key enzymes in brain of pups born to mothers receiving high levels of iodide (1.1 mg daily intake) during pregnancy and lactation were followed up to the weaning period. We found that in the initial states of postnatal development, glutamic dehydrogenase increased above control levels, whereas succinic dehydrogenase decreased. At late stages, we observed differences in phosphofructokinase and malic enzyme activities which were all increased at 30 days. There was no change in hexokinase. Animal weight did not vary with respect to controls and we only obtained discrete increases (not statistically different) in serum thyroxine values, which led us to assume that the enzymatic modifications might be a consequence of either a very mild hormonal alteration or to the direct effect of iodide.     

Isolation and characterization of the TRM1 locus, a gene essential for the N2,N2-dimethylguanosine modification of both mitochondrial and cytoplasmic tRNA in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The trm1 mutation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a single nuclear mutation that affects a specific base modification of both cytoplasmic and mitochondrial tRNA. Transfer RNA isolated from trm1 cells lacks the modified base N2,N2-dimethylguanosine, and extracts from these cells do not have detectable N2,N2-dimethylguanosine-specific tRNA methyltransferase activity. As part of our efforts to determine how this mutation affects enzyme activities in two different cellular compartments we have isolated the TRM1 locus by genetic complementation. The TRM1 locus restores the N2,N2-dimethylguanosine modification to both cytoplasmic and mitochondrial tRNA in trm1 cells. An open reading frame in this TRM1 gene is essential for complementation of the trm1 phenotype. Expression of this open reading frame in Escherichia coli converts the organism from one that neither makes N2,N2-dimethylguanosine nor has N2,N2-dimethylguanosine-specific tRNA methyltransferase activity into one that does. This result suggests that the TRM1 locus is the structural gene for the tRNA modification enzyme and that both nuclear/cytoplasmic and mitochondrial forms of the methyltransferase are produced from the same gene.     

Suicide vector for transposon mutagenesis in Pseudomonas solanacearum.

A suicide vector was constructed by cloning the transfer genes of the wide-host-range (IncW group) plasmid R388 into the BamHI site of pBR325. This plasmid can deliver Tn5 into Pseudomonas solanacearum at frequencies ranging from 10(-6) to 10(-9) per recipient.