Decolorization of Several Polymeric Dyes by the Lignin-Degrading Basidiomycete Phanerochaete chrysosporium

The polymeric dyes Poly B-411, Poly R-481, and Poly Y-606 were examined as possible alternatives to the radiolabeled lignin previously used as a substrate in lignin biodegradation assays. Like lignin degradation, the decolorization of these dyes by the white rot basidiomycete Phanerochaete chrysosporium occurred during secondary metabolism, was suppressed in cultures grown in the presence of high levels of nitrogen, and was strongly dependent on the oxygen concentration in the cultures. A variety of inhibitors of lignin degradation, including thiourea, azide, and 4′-O-methylisoeugenol, also inhibited dye decolorization. A pleiotropic mutant of P. chrysosporium, 104-2, lacking phenol oxidase and ligninolytic activity was also not able to decolorize the polymeric dyes, whereas a phenotypic revertant strain, 424-2, regained this capacity. All of these results suggest that the ligninolytic degradation activity of the fungus was responsible for the decolorization of these dyes.     

Purification and characterization of maize ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase

The ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase purified from maize (a C₄ monocot) to homogeneity has a MW of532 000 and sedimentation coeffici     

Calcium uptake by isolated rat intestinal cells

Intestinal cells were isolated by a combination of mechanical and enzymatic means, and their calcium uptake was assayed by a rapid filtration procedure. Calcium uptake was a time- and concentration-dependent process that was markedly elevated at 25 and 37°C, as compared to 0°C. Cells isolated from rat duodenum exhibited higher uptakes than cells from jejunum, which in turn took up more calcium than cells from the ileurn. Duodenal cells from vitamin D-deficient animals took up less calcium than cells from vitamin D-replete cells. In vivo vitamin D repletion with 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D₃ raised calcium uptake by duodenal cells from treated animals toward that of cells from replete rats. Furthermore, calcium uptake by duodenal cells from vitamin D-deficient animals approximated that of ileal cells from replete rats. These findings with isolated cells parallel prior findings of tissue calcium transport and suggest that cellular calcium uptake may be related to the saturable component of intestinal calcium absorption. Isolated intestinal cells may therefore constitute one experimental model for the study of transcellular calcium transport.     

Membrane potentials associated with Ca-induced K conductance in human red blood cells: Studies with a fluorescent oxonol dye,WW 781

Summary A divalent anionic dye, bis-[3-methyl-1-p-sulfophenyl-5-pyrazolone-(4)]-pentamethine oxonol (WW 781) is a rapidly responding fluorescent indicator of KCl diffusion potentials induced in human red blood cells with valinomycin, gramicidin, and with the Ca ionophore A 23187 in the presence of external Ca. WW 781 has a sensitivity of 0.13% F/mV, a detection limit of 10 mV, a response time of less than 1 sec, and exhibits a decrease in fluorescence intensity upon hyperpolarization without detectable shifts in absorption or emission peaks. This dye does not perturb the normal resting potential, and unlike the slow permeant cyanine dyes, does not inhibit Ca-induced K conductance in human red blood cells. However, WW 781 does stimulate Ca-induced unidirectional Rb efflux. With Ca plus A 23187, the initial rapid change in dye fluorescence is sensitive to [Ca] _o and to [A 23187], is reversible with excess EGTA, and is inhibited by quinine, oligomycin, and by trifluoperazine. A biphasic dependence of hyperpolarization on K _o is evident at pH 6, where the ionic selectivity of activation is K, Rb>Cs>Na and that of conductance is K, Rb>Cs. Conditions were defined which permitted continuous monitoring ofE _m for at least 10 min, and the time dependence of the Ca-induced potentials was characterized. Since the properties of the Ca-induced changes in dye fluorescence correlate well with the known characteristics of Ca-induced K permeability, we conclude that WW 781 is a useful indicator of changes inE _m, provided that sufficient controls are employed to separate direct effects of Ca on dye fluorescence from the effects ofE _m on fluorescence.     

Evolution of epitopes on human and nonhuman primate lymphocyte cell surface antigens

The T- and B-cell surface polypeptides detected by an international workshop panel of 100 mouse monoclonal antibodies (M.Ab) were biochemically defined by radioimmunoprecipitation. Eight T-cell-associated molecules and eight B-cell-associated molecules were identified by multiple antibodies in the panel. Clusters of antibodies specific for the same polypeptide were then compared for their reactivity against peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from 11 nonhuman primate species. All the major T- and B-cell antigens present in humans were also expressed in some nonhuman primates. M.Ab to the same antigen were found to react with distinct epitope groups that differed in their phylogenetic distribution. Some epitopes were highly conserved, while other epitopes on the same molecule were only expressed in hominoids and were not detected in old world and new world monkeys. Our detailed analysis of the phylogeny of 37 T-cell antigen epitopes on ten different molecules revealed there was no clear correspondence between the number of epitopes shared and evolutionary distance. Rather the data suggest that parallelism with back mutation may be a common mechanism in the evolution of T-cell antigens. The data also show that the tissue distribution of T-cell antigens can differ between primate species; for example, M.Ab to human Tp45 Tla-Qa-like antigens that did not react with human PBMC did react with PBMC from new world monkeys.     

Nucleotide homologies between the glycosylated seed storage proteins ofGlycine max andPhaseolus vulgaris

We have compared the partial nucleotide and derived amino acid sequences of a phaseolin seed storage protein gene ofPhaseolus vulgaris (1) and a conglycinin storage protein gene ofGlycine max (2). Although these proteins are not antigenically related to one another, the architecture of the genes is similar throughout the sequences compared here. Intervening sequences interrupt the same amino acid positions in both genes. Within the 28% of theG. max gene and the 38% of theP. vulgaris gene represented in this comparison, 73% of the nucleotides in the coding and intervening sequences are identical, excluding the insertions and deletions. The nucleotide mismatches found in the coding sequences are distributed throughout the three codon positions with little bias towards the third codon position. In addition to the single nucleotide differences, six insertions or deletions, ranging from three to twenty-seven nucleotides in length, occur in this portion of the coding region and these are partially responsible for the molecular weight differences of the conglycinin α′-subunit and the phaseolin subunit.     

Linkage group VI of fish of the genus Xiphophorus (Poeciliidae): Assignment of genes coding for glutamine synthetase,uridine monophosphate kinase,and transferrin

Electrophoretic variation ascribable to three protein-coding loci, coding for glutamine synthetase (GS), uridine monophosphate kinase (UMPK), and transferrin (Tf), was observed in three species of fish of the genus Xiphophorus. Electrophoretic patterns in interspecific F1 hybrid heterozygotes suggested monomeric subunit structures of UMPK and Tf and a multimeric structure of undetermined subunit number of GS. Linkage analyses in backcross hybrids indicated a recombination map of GS-0%-Tf-10.8%-UMPK. This group (designated Xiphophorus linkage group VI) was shown to assort independently from the 14 enzyme loci assigned to linkage groups I-V and from 19 other informative markers within the limits of the data.     

Biochemical heterogeneity of the Sanfilippo syndrome: preliminary characterization of two deficient factors

Fibroblasts cultured from the skin of Sanfilippo patients show excessive accumulation and prolonged turnover time of sulfated mucopolysaccharide. This abnormality can be corrected by a macromolecular factor contained in the secretions of fibroblasts of differing genotype, as well as in normal human urine. By cross-correction tests, the Sanfilippo fibroblasts can be subdivided into two groups, each deficient in a different factor. Analytical polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis shows the two factors, which are probably proteins, to have a similar molecular weight (ca. 200,000) but to differ in charge at pH 8.5.