Construction of improved bacteriophage phi 105 vectors for cloning by transfection in Bacillus subtilis

A series of improved phage vectors have been constructed, based on Bacillus subtilis bacteriophage phi 105, which can be used to clone genes in B. subtilis by direct transfection of protoplasts. The new vectors, designated phi 105J23, phi 105J24, phi 105J27 and phi 105J28, show frequencies of plaque formation that are equal to those of wild-type phi 105. This represents at least a 10-fold improvement over phi 105J9, the vector used in previous cloning experiments. Two of the new vectors phi 105J27 and phi 105J28 incorporate a mutation, cts-52, that renders the prophage temperature inducible. This has made it possible to devise a rapid small-scale procedure for screening progeny phage for the presence of inserted DNA. The usefulness of the new vectors is illustrated in the accompanying paper by cloning more than 20 B. subtilis sporulation genes.     

Amino acid sulfur as a source of sulfate for sulfated proteoglycans produced by Swiss mouse 3T3 cells

The uptake of sulfate by Swiss mouse 3T3 cells is blocked in the presence of 1 mM 4-isothiocyano-4'-acetamido-stilbene-2,2-disulfonic acid (SITS). In the absence of an exogenous source of sulfate, glycosaminoglycans produced by cells in the presence of the inhibitor are sulfated to the same extent as those produced by cells grown in its absence. The sulfate utilized in the absence of medium sulfate has been identified as that produced by the oxidation of the sulfur present in the amino acids cysteine and methionine. This finding indicates that, under conditions of restricted exogenous sulfate, caution is needed in the interpretation of data obtained with the use of [35S]methionine and/or [35S]cysteine as a general protein label, since both tyrosine and a variety of types of protein-linked carbohydrate chains may be modified by sulfation.     

Increase of sialyltransferase activity in the serum and liver of inflamed rates

Induction of inflammation by turpentine injection caused 1.5–2-fold increase of both sialy- and galactosyltransferase activity in liver homogenates. The effect was apparent after 12 h turpentine treatment. Serum sialytransferase activity started to increase in the inflamed rats after 18 h, reaching a maximum of 4-fold at 48 h. In contrast, galactosyltransferase activity in serum showed no significant increase. The coordinated and temporal increase of sialytransferase activity in liver and serum suggest involvement of a specific mechanism for the preferential release of this enzyme into serum.     

Estimation of population parameters and their application to the development of fishery management models in two African rivers

The dynamics of fish populations in two African rivers are being investigated with a view to developing fishery management models for tropical non-floodplain rivers. Preliminary work was carried out in the Rufiji River, East Africa, to establish growth and mortality rates along with L _∞ and K for six species in a river where fishing mortality is zero. These parameters, derived from scale-reading and length frequency analysis, also allowed the development of phased management plans for the fishery resulting from impoundment.
A subsequent investigation has begun on a West African river, the Taia in Sierra Leone, to pursue observations over four seasons, two of which are now complete. A systematic daily sampling programme is being carried out of the whole community, to accumulate similar but more extensive data to those obtained previously. In the Taia, however, fishing mortality must also be estimated from catch surveys, and analysis is carried out using the recently developed ELEFAN programs which can be compared with results obtained by other methods such as scale-reading.     

The RAINFOR database: monitoring forest biomass and dynamics

Problem: Data from over 100 permanent sample plots which have been studied for 10–20 years need a suitable system for storage which allows simple data manipulation and retrieval for analysis. Methods: A relational database linking tree records, taxonomic nomenclature and corresponding environmental data has been built in MS Access as part of the RAINFOR project. Conclusion: The database allows flexible and long‐term use of a large amount of data: more than 100 tree plots across Amazonia, incorporating over 80 000 records of individual trees and over 300 000 total records of tree diameter measurements from successive censuses. The database is designed to enable linkages to existing soil, floristic or plant‐trait databases. This database will be a useful tool for exploring the impact of environmental factors on forest structure and dynamics at local to continental scales, and long term changes in forest ecology. As an early example of its potential, we explore the impact of different methodological assumptions on estimates of tropical forest biomass and carbon storage.