The use of methane for production of bacterial protein

Single cell protein production was studied in a mixed bacterial culture grown in methane using batch and continuous culture techniques. Overall productivity was found to be higher in the continuous culture which gave a maximum productivity value p = 0.15 g/l/h. Methane and oxygen were consumed in the relation 1 : 1.7. Yield coefficients for methane, oxygen, and ammonium chloride were Y = 0.90, Y = 0.26, and Y = 0.14. The crude protein content of the biomass was 71%.     

Demonstration of an ATPase at the cell surface of intact normal and neoplastic human cells in culture

An ATPase reaction has been studied at the surface of intact normal and neoplastic human cells in culture. For this purpose a sensitive method has been developed which permits repeated monitoring of enzyme activity without interference with cellular viability. Experiments could be performed with the cells cultured in a single dish. The cells were firmly attached to the supporting medium throughout the experiment. The incubation medium could easily be separated from the cells at the end of the reaction. There was no diffusion of the surface-located ATPase into the incubation medium. Another advantage was the possibility of microscopic control of the appearance of the cells during the reaction. High ATPase activity was found in glia-like cells derived from normal adult brain cells while lines from gliomas had very low activity. One SV40 transformed glia line had an extremely low ATPase activity in contrast to the uninfected cells. Normal fibroblasts and sarcoma cells had about the same low activity as the glioma cells.     

Transformation to auxin-autotrophy and its reversibility in a mutant line of Crepis capillaris callus culture

Summary From a callus culture which was started from explants of a single plant of Crepis capillaris, a line was isolated which could grow on auxin- and kinetin-free medium (in contrast to the other lines of the culture). The calluses of this habituated line grew on hormone-free medium as teratomas. Regenerated plants were obtained from the habituated line and from other lines of the culture as control. In the secondary callus cultures which originated from these plants, the subcultures belonging to the initially transformed line no longer had the ability to grow on hormone-free medium. Since this line was also a chromosome mutant and the same mutation was present in its regenerated plants and in the secondary culture line of them, the loss of the auxin-autotrophy cannot be explained in this case on the basis of a selection of cells with karyotypes different from those of the primary culture.