Aggregation and/or oxygenated products of arachidonic acid are not required for collagen-induced deacylation of phosphatidylcholine in human platelets.

In the present study the effects of collagen on platelet aggregation and arachidonic acid (AA) mobilization, specifically from phosphatidylcholine (PC), were investigated in the presence and absence of BW755C, a selective inhibitor of cyclo-oxygenase and lipoxygenases. The inhibition of cyclo-oxygenase and lipoxygenase(s) by BW755C (75 microM) resulted in severe impairment in collagen-induced platelet aggregation. In the presence of BW755C, the aggregation response amounted to 14, 26, 37 and 49% of the corresponding controls (without BW755C) at 10, 25, 50 and 100 micrograms of collagen respectively. On the contrary, the amount of AA released from PC, which ranged from 3.5 to 8.6 nmol/10(9) platelets, in response to the action of collagen (10-100 micrograms) remained unaffected by the presence of BW755C. Substantial amounts of non-esterified AA were detected in the free fatty acid fractions obtained from collagen-stimulated platelets in the presence as well as in the absence of BW755C. However, the presence of BW755C caused a greater accumulation of free AA (mass) and this ranged from 4 to 16 nmol, depending upon the amount of collagen. In addition, small increases in free stearic and oleic acids were observed in collagen-stimulated platelets as compared with unstimulated platelets. The amount of AA lost from PC represented 67, 80, 49 and 52% of the free AA obtained at 10, 25, 50 and 100 micrograms of collagen respectively. Our results adhesion of platelets to collagen fibres may be responsible for much of the AA release from PC Furthermore, these results demonstrate that aggregation and/or cyclo-oxygenase/lipoxygenase metabolites are not obligatory for the release of AA from PC in collagen-stimulated human platelets.     

Conformational changes in human serum albumin studied by fluorescence and absorption spectroscopy. Distance measurements as a function of pH and fatty acids.

pH- and fatty acid-induced conformational changes in human serum albumin were investigated by fluorescence-energy transfer, determining the distance between Trp-214 and bound bilirubin at 25 degrees C. This distance changes significantly with the pH, being 2.52 +/- 0.01 nm at pH 6, 2.31 +/- 0.04 nm at pH 9, 2.13 +/- 0.07 nm at pH 11.0 and 2.77 nm at pH 11.9. The influence of different fatty acids on the distance was also determined. At pH 7.4 medium-chain fatty acids seem to increase this distance, whereas long-chain fatty acids, at low concentrations, decrease the distance between the two chromophores. The contraction of the protein carrying long-chain saturated fatty acids is even more pronounced at pH 9.     

Relationship between respiratory pauses and heart rate during sleep in normal premature and full-term newborns

To investigate the relationship between central respiratory pauses and heart rate, we performed polygraphic recordings in 23 normal newborns (35 to 41 weeks conceptional age). We monitored the electroencephalogram, rapid eye movements, movements of the upper and lower limbs, chin and diaphragmatic electromyogram, electrocardiogram, thoracic and abdominal respiratory movements, air flow and transcutaneous PO2. Heart rate changes were analysed by computer measurement of R-R intervals and by cardiotachography. Respiratory pauses occurring after body movements and those not preceded by movements were studied separately. We analysed 1128 respiratory pauses greater than 3 s duration. No respiratory pause lasted more than 12 s. Independently of age, sleep state and respiratory pause duration, heart rate was significantly lower at the onset of respiratory pause, compared to control periods (selected away from the pause: 10 s before its onset and 20 s after its end). Heart rate slowed still further through the respiratory pause and reverted toward the baseline level after its end. When no movements preceded the respiratory pause, heart rate just before the pause was lower compared to control periods. These findings suggest the existence of simultaneous central commands responsible for both respiratory pause and heart rate deceleration.     

Preparation of megabase-sized tomato DNA and separation of large restriction fragments by field inversion gel electrophoresis (FIGE)

The Schwartz and Cantor technique for releasing and fractionating megabase-sized DNA from agarose-embedded cells is beginning to bridge the gap in resoluation between classical genetics and current molecular DNA techniques, particularly in mammalian systems. As yet no conditions have been described for preparing plant DNA that is of sufficient length to allow similar long-range restriction mapping experiments in plant systems. In this report, we describe the application of the Schwartz and Cantor technique for preparing high molecular weight DNA from embedded tomato leaf protoplasts, as well as conditions for generating and fractionating large restriction fragments, by field inversion gel electrophoresis (FIGE). The bulk of DNA released from lysed protoplasts was at least 2 Mb in size and amenable to restriction digestion as shown by hybridizing Southern blots with, among others, a probe for the Adh-2 gene of tomato. Restriction fragments as large as 700 kb were detected. Chloroplast DNA is isolated intact, amenable to restriction analysis and, in its native form, not mobile in FIGE.     

Continuous production of gibberellic acid in a fixed-bed reactor by immobilized mycelia of Gibberella fujikuroi in calcium alginate beads

Summary The continuous production of gibberellic acid with immobilized mycelia of Gibberella fujikuroi was maintained over a hundred days in a tubular fixed-bed reactor. Free mycelium at the beginning of the storage phase was harvested from G. fujikuroi shake-flask culture and was immobilized by ionotropic gelation in calcium alginate beads.The continuous recycle production system consisted of a fixed-bed reactor, a container in which the culture medium was heated, stirred and aerated, and valves for sample withdrawal or reactant addition during the first 1320 h (55 days). A two-phase continuous extractor was then added for the last 960 hours (40 days). Free and immobilized mycelium shake-flask cultures with the same strain used in the continuous culture system were also realized to compare growth, maintenance and production parameters. The results show about the same gibberellic acid productivity in both free and immobilized mycelium shakeflask cultures: 0.384 and 0.408 mgGA₃·gBiomass^-1 ·day^-1, respectively, whereas in the continuous system the gibberellic acid production is about twice as large for a similar biomass: 0.768 mgGA₃·gBiomass^-1·day^-1. Several factors affecting the overall productivity of the immobilized systems were found to be: the quality and the quantity of mycelia in the biocatalyst beads and the immobilization conditions.     

Changes of Escherichia coli cell cycle parameters during fast growth and throughout growth with limiting amounts of thymine

It is generally accepted that during fast growth of Escherichia coli, the time (D) between the end of a round of DNA replication and cell division is constant. This concept is not consistent with the fact that average cell mass of a culture is an exponential function of the growth rate, if it is also accepted that average cell mass per origin of DNA replication (M_i) changes with growth rate and negative exponential cell age distribution is taken into account. Data obtained from cell composition analysis of E. coli OV-2 have shown that not only (M_i) but also D varied with growth rate at generation times () between 54 and 30 min. E. coli OV-2 is a thymine auxotroph in which the replication time (C) can be lengthened, without inducing changes in , by growth with limiting amounts of thymine. This property has been used to study the relationship between cell size and division from cell composition measurements during growth with different amounts of thymine. When C increased, average cell mass at the end of a round of DNA replication also increased while D decreased, but only the time lapse (d) between the end of a replication round and cell constriction initiation appeared to be affected because the constriction period remained fairly constant. We propose that the rate at which cells proceed to constriction initiation from the end of replication is regulated by cell mass at this event, big cells having shorter d times than small cells.Abbreviations OD₄₅₀ and OD₆₃₀ Optical density at a given wavelength in nm Dedicated to Dr. John Ingraham to honor him for his many contributions to Science     

Subcellular localization of calcium in sporangiophores of Phycomyces blackesleeanus

The in situ localization of Ca²⁺ in stage I sporangiophores of the fungus Phycomyces blakesleeanus was achieved with the potassium pyroantimonate technique. Precipitates of calcium-antimonate were present in mitochondria, vacuoles, endoplasmic reticulum and adjacent cytoplasm, Golgi-like bodies, and nuclei but not cell walls. Material treated with the calcium chelator EGTA lacked these precipitates. The preferential localization of Ca²⁺ in mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum and vacuoles suggests that these organelles modulate the level of this cation in sporangiophores of P. blakesleeanus.Abbreviations EGTA ethyleneglycol-bis-(-aminoethyl ether) N,N, tetraacetic acid     

A similar protein portion for two exoglucanases secreted by Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Exoglucanase (exo-1,3-β-D-glucan glycohydrolase, EC 3.2.1.56) activity secreted by Saccharomyces cerevisiae into the culture medium was separated by ion exchange chromatography into two glycoprotein isoenzymes which contributed 10% (exoglucanase I) and 90% (exoglucanase II) towards the total activity. Analysis of the “in vitro” deglycosylated products by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis under native or denaturing conditions indicated that the protein portions of both exoglucanases exhibited identical mobility, each one consisting of two polypeptides with M _r of 47000 and 48000. The same profile was shown by the exoglucanase secreted in the presence of tunicamycin. Antibodies raised against the protein portion of exoglucanase II did react with both native exoglucanases and their deglycosylated products with a pattern indicative of immunological identity. Digestion of the “in vitro” deglycosylated products of both exoglucanases with Staphylococcus aureus V-8 protease or trypsin generated the same proteolytic fragments in each case. Only exoglucanase II was secreted by protoplasts. These and previously reported results indicate that the protein portions of both isoenzymes may be the product of the same gene (or a family of related genes), and that exoglucanase I is a product of enzyme II, modified by a process occurring beyond the permeability barrier of the cell.