Growth of “Seeded” Cellulolytic Enrichment Cultures on Mesquite Wood

Eleven enrichment cultures were developed by a “seeded” enrichment culture technique, and one was developed by a simple enrichment technique. The seeded enrichment, the pure “seed,” and the simple enrichment cultures were compared during growth on mesquite wood, cotton, carboxymethylcellulose, and cellobiose. All of the enrichment cultures were cellulolytic and exceeded the pure seed cultures in mesquite wood hydrolysis and/or viable cell count. Yeast extract improved, but was not essential for, growth of the seeded enrichment cultures on carboxymethylcellulose. Two of the seeded enrichment cultures, CAD5 and CAD11, grew best at 37°C and pH 7.0 on mesquite wood. A 1.0% (wt/vol) wood concentration was optimum for their growth.     

Species variation in the distribution of cholinesterases in the ovary of the plains viscacha, cat, ferret, rabbit, rat, guinea-pig and roe deer

Synopsis Sections of ovary from plains viscacha, cat, ferret, rabbit, rat, guinea-pig and roe deer have been histochemically processed to demonstrate acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE) in nervous and non-nervous tissue. The effects of different reproductive states on enzyme activity were observed in some animals. AChE-containing nerves were sparse in rabbit and rat but plentiful in cat and roe deer. Nerves containing BuChE were not detectable in ferret or guinea-pig and were rare in cat. Species variations in the activity and type of enzyme were also found in non-neuronal tissues. Some blood vessels in the ovaries of guinea-pig and viscacha contained AChE. No other species showed a reaction for AChE in non-neuronal stromal tissue but BuChE was present at this site in all animals except rat. Granulosa cells reacted for AChE only in cat and rabbit while luteal cells were reactive in cat, rabbit and roe deer. Some BuChE activity was present in granulosa and or luteal cells in all species except roe deer. In rat, BuChE activity in luteal cells increased during oregnaney and the early phase of pseudopregnancy. The difficulty of assigning a function to ovarian cholinesterases is discussed.     

Seasonal fluctuation of zooplankton populations in lower Delaware Bay

Quantitative zooplankton samples were obtained monthly or bi-monthly 15 times from June 1974 to May 1975 at three stations in lower Delaware Bay. Two 12-hour cruises were also conducted at one of the stations.Arthropods dominated the samples in terms of number of species and number of individuals. The number of zooplankton from surface samples ranged from 58/m³ in August to 21,092/ m³ in June, while bottom samples varied from 259/m³ in August to 30,395/ m³ in October. In general, larger concentrations of individuals were found in bottom samples.Only on three occasions did meroplankton exceed the holoplankton, and these occurred at the shallow water stations. Meroplankton comprised a larger percentage of the bottom samples than surface samples. Zoeae of Neopanope sayi and Uca sp. contributed mainly to the large proportion of meroplankton in July 1974, veligers of Mytilus edulis in January 1975, and nauplii of Balanus sp. in May 1975.Copepods were the largest component of the population throughout most of the year. At all stations and depths, Arctica tonsa dominated most of the summer samples. In the spring of 1975, A. tonsa was replaced by Centropages hamatus, Temora longicornis, and Pseudocalanus minutus.During the 12-hour cruises there were higher numbers of individuals in the bottom waters in the day with migration to surface waters in the afternoon and evening. Based on cluster analysis, five time-related assemblages were discerned: June, July–August, September–November, December, January–May. Comparison of Delaware Bay zooplankton with other estuarine systems indicated that the densities obtained locally were most similar to those reported in the York River, Virginia.     

Neolignans from an Aniba species

A benzene extract of the trunk of an Aniba species (Lauraceae) contained benzyl benzoate, benzyl salicylate, sitosterol and the neolignans (2S,3S,3aR)-3a-allyl-5-methoxy-3-methyl-2-piperonyl-2,3,3a,6-tetrahydro-6-oxobenzofuran (burchellin); (2S,3S,3aR)-3a-allyl-5-methoxy-3-methyl-2-veratryl-2,3,3a,6-tetrahydro-6-oxobenzofuran; (2S,3S,3aR)-3a-allyl-5,7-dimethoxy-3-methyl-2-veratryl-2,3,3a,6-tetrahydro-6-oxobenzofuran; (2S,3S,5S)-5-allyl-5-methoxy-3-methyl-2-veratryl-2,3,5,6-tetrahydro-6-oxo-benzofuran; (2R,3R)-7-methoxy-3-methyl-5-propenyl-2-veratryl-2,3-dihydrobenzofuran; rel-(1R,5R,6R,7R,8S)-1-allyl-8-hydroxy-3-methoxy-7-methyl-4-oxo-6-piperonylbicyclo[3,2,1]oct-2-ene (guianin); rel-(1S,5S,6S,7R,8R)-1-allyl-8-hydroxy-3,5-dimethoxy-7-methyl-4-oxo-6-piperonylbicyclo[3,2,1]oct-2-ene; rel-(1S,5S,6S,7R,8R)-8-acetoxy-1-allyl-3-hydroxy-5-methoxy-7-methyl-4-oxo-6-piperonyl-bicyclo[3,2,1]oct-2-ene; rel-1S,5S,6S,7R,8R)-8-acetoxy-3,5-dimethoxy-7-methyl-4-oxo-6-piperonylbicyclo[3,2,1]oct-2-ene; rel-(1R,5S,6R,7R)-1-allyl-3-methoxy-7-methyl-4,8-dioxo-6-piperonylbicyclo[3,2,1]oct-2-ene.     

Hormonal effects on diosgenin biosynthesis and growth in Dioscorea deltoidea tissue cultures

Analysis of Dioscorea deltoidea tissue cultures grown in the presence of 2,4-D, indole-3-butyric acid, isopentenyladenine, benzyladenine and GA singly and in combination showed that the medium with 2,4-D most consistently favored diosgenin production. GA and high benzyladenine concentrations were toxic.     

Relative shifts in mobility in anionic peroxidase isoenzymes between stem base and apex of flax genotrophs

Anionic peroxidase isoenzymes, separated on acrylamide gels, were examined in two flax genotrophs and in their reciprocal F₂ hybrids. Isoenzyme 1 exhibited a significant difference in R_m between stem base and apex and there was a gradient of decreasing R_m and activity between base and apex. Isoenzyme 2 displayed only the activity gradient. The parents differed significantly in the R_m's and activities of isoenzymes 1 and 2, and the F₂'s showed complete dominance of the L parent for R_m, with activities being approximately intermediate.     

Interference by unstable nucleotides in the study of enzymes that cleave N-glycoside bonds in nucleic acids

The guanylation of tRNA involves the excision of a base from within the polynucleotide chain by cleavage of the N-glycoside bond. The excised base is replaced by guanine. During studies using chemically tritiated tRNA to study the guanylation reaction, spurious radioactivity was released from tRNA. We have identified the substance released as the hypermodified compound known as Y base. Our report (i) warns workers, who are studying enzymes that excise bases at the polynucleotide level, against this pitfall; (ii) indicates how to determine if counts released from RNA or DNA are spurious; and (iii) describes methods that avoid release of spurious counts while studying enzymes that cleave N-glycoside bonds in polynucleotides.     

Insulin degradation XVIII. On the regulation of glutathione-insulin transhydrogenase in the hyperglycemic obese (ob/ob) mouse

The occureence of insulin-degrading activity in the liver of the obese hyperglycemic mouse (ob/ob) and its litter mate has been studied. The trichloroacetic acid-soluble product formed from insulin upon incubation with liver homogenate was identified as the A chain of insulin. In Ouchterlony double-diffusion experiments with antibody to purified rat liver glutathione-insulin transhydrogenase, mouse liver homogenate and the microsomal fraction each gave a single precipitation band of identity with the purified rat liver enzyme. These results indicate that the insulin-degrading activity preseny in the mouse liver is, in fact, glutathione-insulin transhydrogenase. Subcellular distribution studies of glutathione-insulin transhydrogenase and marker enzymes indicate that the transhydrogenase is located primarily in the microsomal fraction of mouse liver homogenate.The ob/ob mouse, which is a genetic mutant characterized by obesity, hyper-insulinism and resistance to the hypoglycemic action of insulin, contains hepatic glutathione-insulin transhydrogenase activity (per mg microsomal protein) markedly higher (40–60%) than its lean litter mates. However, a major portion of the increased hepatic enzyme in the ob/ob mouse occurs in a latent state; the increased amount of enzyme either is unavailable or is nonfunctional, although the ob/ob mouse still contains more of the functional form than the lean mouse. Thus, the results are consistent with the suggestion that the hepatic glutathione-insulin transhydrogenase is probably under a feedback control by circulating insulin.