M?ssbauer effect studies on some bioinorganic complexes of europium.

The bioinorganic complexes of europium with N-acetyl-DL-alanine, N-acetyl-DL-valine, and DL-alanyl-DL-alanine have been synthesized and the M?ssbauer spectra at room temperature have been measured for these solid state complexes. The M?ssbauer parameters indicate that the water molecules in these complexes are not directly linked to the central europium ion and are outside the coordination sphere of europium and biological ligands, and that the chemical bond between the europium ion and the ligands may be predominantly ionic in character, with the possibility of partial covalent contribution.     

CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN PHYLOGENY AND MORPHOLOGY OF SNOWELLA SPP. AND WORONICHINIA NAEGELIANA,CYANOBACTERIA COMMONLY OCCURRING IN LAKES1

In this study, the first reported isolates of the genera Snowella and Woronichinia were characterized by 16S rRNA gene sequencing and morphological analysis. Phylogenetic studies and sequences for these genera were not available previously. By botanical criteria, the five isolated strains were identified as Snowella litoralis (Häyrén) Komárek et Hindák Snowella rosea (Snow) Elenkin and Woronichinia naegeliana (Unger) Elenkin. This study underlines the identification of freshly isolated cultures, since the Snowella strains lost the colony structure and were not identifiable after extended laboratory cultivation. In the 16S rRNA gene analysis, the Snowella strains formed a monophyletic cluster, which was most closely related to the Woronichinia strain. Thus, our results show that the morphology of the genera Snowella and Woronichinia was in congruence with their phylogeny, and their phylogeny seems to support the traditional botanical classification of these genera. Furthermore, the genera Snowella and Woronichinia occurred commonly and might occasionally be the most abundant cyanobacterial taxa in mainly oligotrophic and mesotrophic Finnish lakes. Woronichinia occurred frequently and also formed blooms in eutrophic Czech reservoirs.     

Reaction mechanism of surfactant‐sensitized chemiluminescence of bis(2,4,6‐trichlorophyenyl) oxalate and hydrogen peroxide induced by gold nanoparticles

The chemiluminescence (CL) of bis(2,4,6‐trichlorophyenyl) oxalate with hydrogen peroxide in the present of cationic surfactant and gold nanoparticles was studied. The CL emission was obviously enhanced in the presence of surfactant at a suitable concentration, with a synergetic catalysis effect exhibited. Different sizes of gold nanoparticles (15 and 50 nm) showed different effects on CL intensity. Mechanisms of the CL reaction and sensitization effect are discussed. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An isothermal titration calorimetric method to determine the kinetic parameters of enzyme catalytic reaction by employing the product inhibition as probe.

An isothermal titration calorimetric (ITC) method was developed to measure the kinetic parameters of ribonuclease A catalytic hydrolysis of cytidine 2',3'-cyclic monophosphate. Employing the inhibition of product as a probe, the K(m), K(i), k(c), and DeltaH(m) can be determined by two simple calorimetric measurements. First, the substrate was titrated into the cell containing high concentration of enzyme. The molar reaction heat was calculated from the titration peak area divided by substrate moles per titration, and the initial catalytic reaction rate in the presence of various concentrations of product can be calculated from the peak height and the molar reaction heat. From Michaelis-Menten function in the presence of inhibitors, the relationship between K(m) and K(i) can be obtained. Then, the dissociation constant, which is equal to K(i), was measured by a regular ITC experiment. Thus, K(m) and k(c) can be calculated. The method developed here can be applied in other enzyme catalytic systems with inhibitive products.     

Selected contribution: effects of ischemia-reperfusion on vascular contractility and alpha(1)-adrenergic-receptor signaling in the rat tail artery.

To determine the effects of ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) on alpha(1)-adrenergic-receptor (alpha(1)-AR) functions, alpha(1)-AR-mediated contraction, inositol phosphate (IP) accumulation, and alpha(1)-AR-G protein coupling were examined in the tail arteries of anesthetized rats after 60 min of ischemia and 60 min of reperfusion. The contractile response to norepinephrine (NE) was significantly increased after I/R, whereas the contractile response to KCl remained unchanged. This was accompanied by a 69% increase in NE-stimulated IP accumulation. Furthermore, receptor-stimulated coupling of alpha(1a)-AR to G alpha(q/11) proteins was increased, whereas the coupling of alpha(1b)-AR or alpha(1d)-AR to their G proteins was not altered by I/R. These changes in vascular alpha(1)-AR function occurred without concurrent alteration in expression levels of membrane alpha(1)-AR subtypes or in the associated G proteins. These data demonstrate that I/R increases alpha(1a)-AR-G(q/11) protein coupling and alpha(1)-AR-stimulated IP accumulation in the tail artery. The alterations in alpha(1)-AR signaling are associated with and may underlie the enhanced contractile response of the tail artery to adrenergic stimulation after I/R.     

Pre‐copulation intervals,copulation frequencies,and initial progeny sex ratios in two biotypes of whitefly,Bemisia tabaci

The whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae) is a species complex, and its systematic classification requires controlled crossing experiments among its genetic groups. Accurate information on pre‐copulation intervals, copulation frequencies, and initial frequency of egg fertilization of newly emerged adults is critical for designing procedures for collecting the virgin adults necessary for these experiments. In the literature, considerable variation is reported between B. tabaci populations, with respect to the length of the pre‐copulation interval and the initial frequency of egg fertilization. Here, we used a video‐recording method to observe continuously the copulation behaviour of the Mediterranean/Asia Minor/Africa (B biotype) and the Asia II (ZHJ1 biotype) groups of B. tabaci. We also recorded the initial frequency of egg fertilization, as determined by the sex of the progeny. When adults were caged in female–male pairs on leaves of cotton plants, the earliest copulation events occurred 2–6 h after emergence; at 12 h after emergence 56–84% of the females had copulated at least once, and nearly all (92–100%) had copulated at least once by 36 h after emergence. Both females and males copulated repeatedly. Approximately 80 and 20% of copulation events occurred during the photophase and scotophase, respectively. By 72 h post‐emergence, the females of the B and ZHJ1 biotypes had copulated on average 6.1 and 3.9 times, respectively. When adults were caged in groups on plants 1–13 h after emergence, 30–35% of the eggs deposited during this period were fertilized, and approximately 90% of females were fertilized by the end of the 13 h. Although timing of copulation differed in detail between the two genetic groups, the results demonstrate that B. tabaci adults can start to copulate as early as 2–6 h post‐emergence and the majority of females can become fertilized on the day that they emerge.     

Beta-thalassemia mutations in Indonesia and their linkage to beta haplotypes.

A total of 72 chromosomes from 36 Indonesian patients, 23 with beta-thalassemia major and 13 with Hb E-beta-thalassemia, were analyzed by specific oligonucleotide hybridization after DNA amplification. Thirteen had the beta E mutation (codon 26 GAG----AAG). Of the 59-beta-thalassemic chromosomes, 32 were of the variant IVS-1 nt5 (G----C). Seven had the mutation IVS-2 nt654 (C----T), one had the mutation codon 41/42 (deletion CTTT), and one had the mutation codon 17 (AAG----TAG). Another six with the mutation IVS-1 nt1 (G----T), one with the mutation IVS-1 nt1 (G----A), four with the mutation codon 15 (TGG----TAG), one with a mutation codon 30 (AGG----ACG), and one with a mutation codon 35 (deletion C) were first identified by direct sequencing of a patient's genomic DNA followed by further hybridizing other patients' DNA with the appropriate oligonucleotide probes. Five did not carry the common mutations previously described in Asian populations. The four most prevalent mutations encountered made up 83% of the total number of beta-thalassemic chromosomes studied. The most common mutation, IVS-1 nt5 (G----C), was mostly associated with two different haplotypes.