Early food production in Africa

The study of early food production in sub-Saharan Africa is at least as challenging as it is rewarding. Problems arise in large degree from the scarcity of relevant archeological material, particularly the remains of domesticated plants from prehistoric sites. This is attributable to several factors, including poor preservation, difficulties in recovering such material, and the limited amount of work so far invested in obtaining it. But, problems notwithstanding, fresh data and new methodological approaches have revealed aspects of early African food production that are interesting in themselves, as well as in global perspective. For example, contrary to what occurred in most other parts of the world, livestock herding in Africa often predated the earliest evidence of cultivation of domesticated plants. Moreover, the initial spread of food production throughout much of sub-Saharan Africa was accompanied by iron, rather than lithic, technology. This overview of current knowledge about early African food production is aimed at highlighting developmental patterns while also exposing limitations in our understanding of these patterns. Because of Africa's vast size, uniform coverage in reasonable depth of all parts of the continent is not possible. Thus, for example, I will not explicitly cover the complex neolithic record from Africa's Mediterranean region. Instead, I will generally concentrate on bodies of data and lines of investigation that characterize distinctive features of the African version of initial steps in raising crops and animals.     

Flavonoid systematics of ten sections of Ludwigia (Onagraceae)

Data for the flavonoids of 19 species in 10 sections of Ludwigia are presented. Eight flavonoids, comprising four glycoflavones, of which vitexin and isovitexin are reported for the first time in Ludwigia, and four flavonol glycosides, based on quercetin, are present in these species. Each section treated here has either glycoflavones or flavonols; presence of only onte class is considered to be advanced in the genus as a whole, compared with the presence of both glycoflavones and flavonols in the more generalized sects Myrtocarpus Cinerascentes, and Pterocaulon, which were examined earlier. Only glycoflavones are present in sects Macrocarpon (four species), Seminuda (five species), the ditypic African sect. Africana, the monotypic African sects Brenania, Cryptosperma, and Prieurea, the monotypic east Asian sect. Nipponia, and the monotypic pantropical section Fissendocarpa. Only flavonols are present in the monotypic Old Wodd section Caryophylloidea and sect. Oligospermum, which comprises nine species widespread in the OId and New Worlds.     

Angiotensin III and IV activation of the brain AT1 receptor subtype in cardiovascular function

The present investigation determined that native angiotensins II and III (ANG II and III) were equipotent as pressor agents when ICV infused in alert rats, whereas native angiotensin IV (ANG IV) was less potent. An analogue of each of these angiotensins was prepared with a hydroxyethylamine (HEA) amide bond replacement at the N-terminus, yielding additional resistance to degradation. These three angiotensin analogues, HEA-ANG II, HEA-ANG III, and HEA-ANG IV, were equivalent with respect to maximum elevation in pressor responses when ICV infused; and each evidenced significantly extended durations of effect compared with their respective native angiotensin. Comparing analogues, HEA-ANG II had a significantly longer effect compared with HEA-ANG III, and HEA-ANG IV, whereas the latter were equivalent. Pretreatment with the AT₁ receptor subtype antagonist, Losartan (DuP753), blocked subsequent pressor responses to each of these analogues, suggesting that these responses were mediated by the AT₁ receptor subtype. Pretreatment with the specific AT₄ receptor subtype antagonist, Divalinal (HED 1291), failed to influence pressor responses induced by the subsequent infusion of these analogues. These results suggest an important role for Ang III, and perhaps ANG IV, in brain angiotensin pressor responses mediated by the AT₁ receptor subtype.     

Sample preparation and high-resolution separation of mycotoxins possessing carboxyl groups

The chromatographic analysis of carboxyl-containing mycotoxins, such as fumonisin B₁, ochratoxin A, and citrinin, presents a continual challenge. Toxins must first be extracted from foods or tissues and then cleaned up before chromatographic separation and detection. Liquid–liquid extraction efficiencies for some carboxylic mycotoxins are marginal for spiked samples and uncertain for incurred residues. Immunoaffinity columns may be useful for concentrating mycotoxins from samples before chromatography. In almost every case, more than one analytical method must be used to confirm the identification of the mycotoxin. The fumonisins are especially troublesome to analyze because they are relatively insoluble in organic solvents, they are not separated easily by gas chromatography, and they do not respond to the usual absorbance or fluorescence detectors used in liquid chromatography. Fluorescence derivatization and electrospray liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry have now made it possible to detect trace levels of mycotoxins. The purity of mycotoxin standards for toxicological studies can be determined by liquid chromatography with either an evaporative light scattering detector or electrospray mass spectrometer. New developments in capillary electrophoresis, nonporous microsphere liquid chromatography, and detection methods for low-volatility compounds show promise for improving the analysis of mycotoxins in the future.     

Some comparisons of cellulases from two different strains of aspergillus fumigatus

Michaelis-Menten kinetics for exoglucanase, endoglucanase and β-glucosidase activities from two different strains of Aspergillus fumigatus were compared in the absence and the presence of ammonium ions. Inhibitory effects, evident in only one strain, were quantified, suggesting non-competitive inhibition for endoglucanase and β-glucosidase, but competitive inhibition of exocellulase. Possible reasons are discussed.     

Comparing models and observations of shelf plankton

In a previous paper (Solow and Steele, J. Plankton Res., 17,1995), the differences between variability in zooplankton biomassand in copepod stage structure were demonstrated using datafrom the northern North Sea. Here, a model is used to describethe underlying demographic processes and the effects of interannualphysical variability. Comparison of output with observationscan test the theory and so help to reconcile the apparent contradictionbetween great variability and persistence in these populations.     

The XcpR protein of Pseudomonas aeruginosa dimerizes via its N-terminus

Extracellular protein secretion by the main terminal branch of the general secretory pathway in Pseudomonas aeruginosa requires a secretion machinery comprising the products of at least 12 genes. One of the components of this machinery, the XcpR protein, belongs to a large family of related proteins distinguished by the presence of a highly conserved nucleotide binding domain (Walker box A). The XcpR protein is essential for the process of extracellular secretion and amino acid substitutions within the Walker A sequence result in inactive XcpR. The same mutations exert a dominant negative effect on protein secretion when expressed in wild-type bacteria. Transdominance of XcpR mutants suggests that this protein is involved in interactions with other components of the secretion machinery or that it functions as a multimer. In this study, the amino-terminal portion of the cI repressor protein of phage λ was used as a reporter of dimerization in Escherichia coli following fusion to full-length as well as a truncated form of XcpR. The cI–XcpR hybrid proteins were able to dimerize, as demonstrated by the immunity of bacteria expressing them to killing by λ phage. The full-length XcpR as well as several deletion mutants of XcpR were able to disrupt the dimerization of the chimeric cI–XcpR protein. The disruption of cI–XcpR dimers using the deletion mutants of XcpR, combined with the analysis of their dominant negative effects on protein secretion, was used to map the minimal dimerization domain of XcpR, which is located within an 85 amino acid region in its N-terminal domain. Taken together, the data presented in this paper suggest that the XcpR protein dimerizes via its N-terminus and that this dimerization is essential for extracellular protein secretion.     

Translocation - A key factor limiting the efficiency of nitrogen fixation in legume nodules

A hypothesis is presented that the availability of water for export of nitrogenous products from legume nodules is a major factor limiting the efficiency of symbiotic nitrogen fixation. Water for export of solutes in the xylem probably depends largely on the import of water and reduced carbon in the phloeum, and one function of respiration may be to dispose of reduced carbon in order to increase the supply of water. A second hypothesis presented is that control of gas diffusion in soybean nodules is largely restricted to the cortex nearby the vascular bundles, thus making possible the linkage of solute balances in xylem and phloem with resistance to diffusion. These concepts are used in a re-examination of literature on manipulations of nodules and nodulated plants such as lowering of light levels, water stress, defoliation, stem girdling, and alteration of oxygen supply. The concept of translocation as a major factor limiting efficiency of symbiotic fixation is consistent with the failure of superior rhizobial isolates to improve N input significantly, and this limitation could also prevent exploitation of superior bacterial symbionts in the future     

Multiple Bacteriocin Production by Leuconostoc mesenteroidesTA33a and Other Leuconostoc/Weissella Strains

Leuconostoc (Lc.) mesenteroides TA33a produced three bacteriocins with different inhibitory activity spectra. Bacteriocins were purified by adsorption/desorption from producer cells and reverse phase high-performance liquid chromatography. Leucocin C-TA33a, a novel bacteriocin with a predicted molecular mass of 4598 Da, inhibited Listeria and other lactic acid bacteria (LAB). Leucocin B-TA33a has a predicted molecular mass of 3466 Da, with activity against Leuconostoc/Weissella (W.) strains, and appears similar to mesenterocin 52B and dextranicin 24, while leucocin A-TA33a, which also inhibited Listeria and other LAB strains, is identical to leucocin A-UAL 187. A survey of other known bacteriocin-producing Leuconostoc/Weissella strains for the presence of the three different bacteriocins revealed that production of leucocin A-, B- and C-type bacteriocins was widespread. Lc. carnosum LA54a, W. paramesenteroides LA7a, and Lc. gelidum UAL 187-22 produced all three bacteriocins, whereas W. paramesenteroides OX and Lc. carnosum TA11a produced only leucocin A- and B-type bacteriocins. Received: 11 April 1997 / Accepted: 10 June 1997