Activation of tyrosine aminotransferase expression in fetal liver by 5-azacytidine

Rat fetuses of 20 days gestational age were treated in utero with the inhibitor of DNA methylation, 5-azacytidine. The liver enzyme tyrosine aminotransferase, normally expressed at very low levels until several hours after birth, was increased by the drug in the fetal livers after a lag period of about 9 hours, reaching a level 70-fold above control levels 18 hours after treatment. The high levels attained after 5-azacytidine treatment are comparable to those of glucocorticoid-treated adult livers, and were not further increased by administration of hydrocortisone to dams carrying treated fetuses. Cytidine and two other analogs, cytosine arabinoside and 6-azacytidine, were essentially without effect.     

Evidence for an active site arginine in UDP-glucuronyltransferase

2,3-Butanedione inactivates the pure form of UDP-glucuronyltransferase used in these experiments (GT2P) (EC 2.4.1.17) purified from pig liver microsomes. The kinetics of the reaction indicates that 2,3-butanedione reacts with two amino acids that affect activity. A rapid, partial inactivation is followed by a slower rate of inactivation that leads eventually to completely inactive enzyme. UDP-glucuronic acid and glucuronic acid, as compared with UDP, are effective as protectors against the slow, secondary phase of inactivation; no ligand tested protected against the rapid phase of inactivation. The lipid environment of GT2P was a determinant of the pseudo-first order rate constant for the slow phase of inactivation, but did not affect the rate of the rapid phase of inactivation. The data suggest that GT2P contains an active site arginine that interacts with the -COO- at C-6 of the glucuronic acid moiety of UDP-glucuronic acid.     

Translation of poly(U) on ribosomes from Streptomyces aureofaciens

Slowly cooled cells of Streptomyces aureofaciens contained mainly tight-couple ribosomes. Maximum rate of polyphenylalanine synthesis on ribosomes of S. aureofaciens was observed at 40°C, while cultures grew optimally at 28°C. Ribosomes of S. aureofaciens differed from those of E. coli in the amount of poly(U) required for maximum synthetic activity. The polyphenylalanine-synthesizing activity of E. coli ribosomes was about 3-times higher than that of S. aureofaciens ribosomes. The addition of protein S1 of E. coli or the homologous protein from S. aureofaciens had no stimulatory effect on the translation of poly(U). In order to localize alteration(s) of S. aureofaciens ribosomes in the elongation step of polypeptide synthesis we developed an in vitro system derived from purified elongation factors and ribosomal subunits. The enzymatic binding of Phe-tRNA to ribosomes of S. aureofaciens was significantly lower than the binding to ribosomes of E. coli. This alteration was mainly connected with the function of S. aureofaciens 50 S subunits. These subunits were not deficient in their ability to associate with 30 S subunits or with protein SL5 which is homologous to L7/L12 of E. coli.     

Contribution to the study on the reparative effect of exogenous DNA in the irradiated meristem ofVicia faba

The present report is focused on the study of participation of exogenous DNA in the process of postirradiation reparation of meristematic cells ofVicia faba primary roots. It is aimed at comparison of the positive reparative effect of isologous DNA with postirradiation action of heterologous DNA in its native, thermally denatured and DNAase-degraded forms, or DNA degraded by ultrasound, and with the effect of other biologically important macromolecules (RNA, histone, heparin, and dextran sulphate). For this purpose, the roots ofVicia faba irradiated by 150 r exposure were cultivated in solutions containing the above substances for an appropriate time interval. In squash slides both mitotic activity of the investigated cell population and frequency of postmetaphase chromosomal aberrations induced by radiation were evaluated. It was shown that a stimulation of cell division and reparation of chromosome damages were supported exclusively by isologous DNA. On the contrary, exogenously applied heterologous DNA increased postirradiation frequency of aberrations; maintenance of native structure of applied DNA was an essential condition for the above effect. Other macromolecules investigated on the course of postirradiation reparation ofVicia faba meristematic cells were without effect.     

Influence of light and darkness on the concentration of lactic,glycolic, succinic,malic and citric acid in pea plants

Chromatographic separation of an extract of organic acids on a Dowex-l column in the formiate cycle was used to study the content of several organic acids in pea plants, cultivated either in light or in darkness. Concentration changes of the individual acids in the course of growth indicate that the citrate cycle is blocked in the cotyledons of plants grown in light in the period around the 15th day of growth, probably at the site of succinic dehydrogenase (succinic and lactic acids accumulate and the content of citric and malic acids is exhausted). There is no inhibition in the cotyledons of etiolated plants. In vegetative organs, the concentration of the majority of the acids studied is lower than in cotyledons, probably because synthetic processes prevail over degradation processes in these organs. It seems that other processes besides the citrate cycle participate in malate synthesis in pea plants.     

Occurrence of ethanol in pea plants in the course of growth under normal and anaerobic conditions

1. At a so-called natural anaerobiosis during the first 48 hours of germination the concentration of ethanol in pea tissues increases (according to the cultivation conditions) up to 40 μmol per gram fresh weight.
2. In a nitrogen atmosphere the content of ethanol in pea seedlings increases as well, and after a 90 hour incubation in N₂ it can reach even 100 μmol ethanol per gram fresh weight. In older plants the content increases the most markedly in cotyledons, but considerable amounts were revealed also in stems and roots. Its increase in vegetative organs of plants cultivated both in light and darkness is more or less identical. Ethylalcohol can be formed by the vegetative organs themselves, as proved by the increase of this metabolite in plants deprived of reserve organs; in addition, however, it is evidently transported into them from reserve parts. Ethanol formed under anaerobiosis is catabolyzed after transferring plants to the air.

     

Influence of exogenous DNA on Ypenyl-treated chromosomes ofVicia faba L.

This paper is a study of the effect of exogenous DNA of different genetic origins on the repair of meristematic cells of primary roots ofVicia faba, damaged by 24 hour treatment with 0·01mm solution of Ypenyl. Both kinds of DNA,i.e. isologous and heterologous, stimulated cell proliferation which was decreased by the action of the radiomimetic and influenced both dynamics of production of chromosome aberrations and the interchromosomal distribution of induced damage. While heterologous DNA increased the frequency of aberrations after all recovery periods studied, isologous DNA significantly decreased the number of chromosomal aberrations. Heterologous DNA increased at the same time the relative number of breaks in the group of small chromosomes, while by the action of isologous DNA the number of aberrations related to this group of chromosomes was relatively decreased.     

Chromosome aberrations caused by the effect of ultrasound in the meristematic cells ofvicia faba

In our present work the formation of chromosome aberrations has been studied in dependence on the tima interval between sonication and fixation of the primary root tips of Vicia faba. Maximum occurrence of aberrations was recorded immediately after sonication. The results of our experiments pointed to the fact that the frequency of the induced changes was independent on the sonic waves intensity within the range of 0-2—3-0 W/cm² and on ultrasond treatment duration within the range of 1—20 min. Studies of the distribution of chromosome abnormalities caused by ultrasound between the large and small chromosomes of theVicia faba meristematic cells in various time intervals showed that the frequency of the aberrations in both chromosome groups was proportional to its total metaphase lengths. Analysis of the type of aberrations observed in various time intervals after sonication indicated the simultaneous formation of chromosome and chromatide abnormalities.