Decomposition of three halophytes in different habitats of an eastern scheldt salt marsh

Summary A 20.5-month study was undertaken to determine detrital processing of the halophytesSpartina anglica, Elytrigia pungens, andHalimione portulacoides in three different habitats of an estuarine salt marsh in the South-West Netherlands. Decomposition was measured using litter-bags of three different mesh sizes to partition the effects of different faunal groups on decomposition. From April 1980 through October 1981 litter-bags were sampled regulary from a creek, the upper marsh, and from a plant-debris belt on the higher marsh. Dry weights and nutritive values were measured and animals were counted. Mainly rates of loss are reported here. Zonal differences were significant. At first, decomposition in the creek was most rapid. After two months the processes in the creek slowed down because of the trapping of silt by the bags, which probably simulated the natural course of the decomposition process in the water. Decomposition on the marsh followed the most regular pattern, while in the plant-debris belt the pattern was very irregular. Population dynamics of microfaunal organisms supported these findings. In the plant-debris belts loss rates seem to be higher than on the marsh, because of the influence of detritivorous macrofaunal organisms. The loss rates of the three plant species differed significantly.Halimione decomposed fastest, especially in the beginning, and in the plant-debris habitat. On the upper marsh and in the plant-debris belt the loss rates ofSpartina seem to be a little higher than those ofElytrigia.Communication No. 233, Delta Institute for Hydrobiological Research, Yerseke, The Netherlands.     

The scale-up from 0.1 to 100 liter of a unit process system based on 3-mm-diameter glass spheres for the production of four strains of FMDV from BHK monolayer cells

This paper describes the scale-up from 0.1 to 100 liter of the unit process based on 3-mm-diameter glass spheres for the growth of BHK monolayer cells. The production of four strains of FMD virus at the 0.1-, 10-, and 100-liter scales was examined. Cell growth was estimated from measurements of the concentration of glucose in the growth medium, while the release of virus was inferred from measuring the concentration of LDH in the culture supernatant fluid. The yields of virus at 0.1-, 1-, and 10-liter scales were similar but that from the 100-liter version was somewhat lower. The reason for this lower yield and the method used to overcome it over outlined.     

Dynamics of lipid-protein interactions. Interaction of apolipoprotein A-II from human plasma high density lipoproteins with dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine

ApoA-II and dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC) spontaneously associate to give three different complexes whose structures are determined by the initial reactant concentration and by the reaction temperature with respect to Tc (23.9 degrees C), the gel to liquid crystalline transition temperature of DMPC. At an initial lipid to protein ratio of 45/1, a single complex (2.29 x 10(5) daltons) is quantitatively formed at all temperatures between Tc - 4 degrees C and Tc + 6 degrees C. When the 45/1 complex is mixed with DMPC liposomes there is lipid exchange but no net transfer of lipid, so that the structure of the complex remains unaltered. At an initial molar ratio of 100 to 300:1, the reaction scheme is more complex. At 24 degrees C a 240/1 complex (1.5 x 10(6) daltons) is formed from a precursor 75/1 complex (3.43 x 10(5) daltons) if excess (approximately 300 mol/mol) lipid is present. The 75/1 complex exhibits lipid exchange in the presence of added DMPC liposomes at 24 degrees C, and both the 75/1 and the 240/1 complex can be converted to smaller protein-rich complexes in the presence of added apoA-II. These results suggest that the initial lipid/protein ratio and the physical state of a lipid or lipid . protein complex determines the composition and structure of the resulting complex and support the view that lipid-protein interactions are stronger than protein-protein or lipid-lipid interactions.     

Tubulin subunit carboxyl termini determine polymerization efficiency

Cleavage of tubulin by subtilisin removes a small (Mr less than 2000) fragment from the C-terminal end of both alpha and beta subunits. The resulting protein is much reduced in negative charge. The cleaved, less acidic protein retains its competence to polymerize in a GTP-dependent and cold-, GDP-, and podophyllotoxin-sensitive manner and assembles into sheets or bundles of twisted filaments. The critical concentration for polymerization of the cleaved protein is about 50-fold lower than that for intact tubulin. It is proposed that the C termini of the subunits normally impede polymerization.     

Primary production and accumulation of nutrients by the ground layer community of cerrado vegetation of central Brazil

Summary Net aerial primary production and accumulation of nutrients by the grasses and nongrasses of the ground layer community of a cerrado vegetation in central Brazil were determined in burnt and unburnt areas. The net aerial primary production of the ground layer community was 327 gm^–2 in the unburnt area and only 242 gm^–2 in the burnt area during the first year after fire. Grasses contributed 68 to 78% of the aerial biomass of the ground layer in the unburnt area. The live biomass in the burnt and unburnt areas was comparable by the end of the first dry period after the fire. The major part of N, P and K in the aerial biomass was in the grasses. The concentration of all nutrients in the aerial biomass was generally higher in the burnt area during the first year after the fire.     

Structural localization of the sequence alpha 235-242 of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor

Two monoclonal antibodies (mAb 254 and 255) were obtained against a synthetic peptide corresponding to the sequence 235-242 of the alpha-subunit of Torpedo acetylcholine receptor. These mAbs could bind to receptor in native membrane vesicles only when these vesicles were permeabilized, suggesting that the sequence alpha 235-242 is exposed on the cytoplasmic surface of the receptor. Further evidence for the cytoplasmic localization of this sequence was partial competition for binding between these mAbs and mAbs previously demonstrated to bind to the cytoplasmic part of the receptor. A model is proposed which accounts for all the experimental data obtained thus far on the transmembrane orientation of the subunit polypeptide chains.     

Clinical importance of enteric communication with abdominal abscesses.

The dynamics of leucocytes in abdominal abscesses were studied using indium-111 autologous leucocyte scanning in 30 patients. Thirteen patients showing enteric drainage of leucocytes on delayed scans were characterised by a lack of abdominal localising signs and a low detection rate by ultrasound (25%). By contrast, 16 of 17 patients without enteric drainage had abdominal signs, and in these patients ultrasound was associated with a higher detection rate (58%). Despite the presence of an enteric route of drainage for the abscess 10 of the 13 patients needed surgical intervention. These results help explain the wide variation in clinical presentation of abdominal abscesses; suggest that 111In leucocyte scanning should be the initial investigation in those patients without focal signs; and show that formal surgical drainage is needed in patients recognised as having enteric communication with abscesses.     

Occurrence of multiple-antibiotic-resistant enteric bacteria in domestic sewage and oxidation lagoons

The coliform bacterial population in the Grand Forks, N.Dak. sewage system was examined for multiple-antibiotic-resistant organisms over a 1-year period. Multiple-antibiotic-resistant coliforms were found to be common in the sewage, and their numbers remained fairly constant relative to the total coliform population throughout the year. Resistance to kanamycin, tetracycline, and ampicillin was found to be transferable at variable rates. Transfer rates were found to be temperature sensitive and were optimal at 35 degrees C. Although 75% of the multiple-antibiotic-resistant coliforms were capable of transferring resistance at some level, only 25% were capable of transferring resistance at rates greater than 10(-3) transconjugants per initial donor.