Some factors affecting spore replication of Nosema algerae (Microspora,Nosematidae) in Pieris brassicae (Lepidoptera)

The production of Nosema algerae spores was examined in Pieris brassicae. Spore replication in the insect host followed a logistic pattern of development. The factors studied which affected spore production and replication were dose level (5 × 10², 5 × 10³, and 5 × 10⁴ spores per insect), larval instar (fourth and fifth), and cool pretreatment of the insects at 20°C prior to inoculation compared with a constant temperature of 26°C. A three-way analysis showed the interactions between these factors. The logistic pattern of spore replication was used to explain the results.     

Limnological studies of the lakes and streams of the upper qu'appelle river system,Saskatchewan, Canada

Summary Physical aspects including geography, geology, climate, soils, vegetation and lake morphometry of the upper Qu'Appelle River basin have been summarized. The importance of multiple use of this area has been stressed.The lakes were studied during the 1959–1969 period. Only Katepwa Lake showed temperature stratification for any length of time. Ice cover persisted for about five months each year. Buffalo Pound Lake had the lowest mean Secchi disc transparency (0.9 m) while Katepwa Lake had the highest (2.1 m). Light transmissibility tended to be lowest during May and September when wind velocities were highest. The 1 % level of light extinction was usually between 1 and 3 meters depth. The yellow portion of the spectrum penetrated the furthest.Buffalo Pound Lake was the least saline (600–700 mg/l TDS) while Last Mountain Lake was most saline (2000–2400 mg/l TDS). Input from Lake Diefenbaker and heavy spring runoffs effected major decreases in all lakes by May 1969. All lakes except Last Mountain were considerably more saline than during the 1937–1941 period. Variations in anions and cations within and between lakes vary with the total dissolved solids. As salinity increases magnesium, sulphate and chloride increase faster proportionally than other ions. The order of concentration of major cations is Na > Mg > Ca > K while the major anions' order of concentration is SO₄ > CO₃.HCO₃ > Cl.Soluble phosphate levels tend to be lowest in Buffalo Pound Lake. Levels increased sharply in Pasqua Lake below sewage outfalls from Moose jaw and Regina. Subsequently levels decreased in each successive downstream lake. Concentrations increased during the period of study. It was estimated that 594 metric tons of orthophosphate were contributed in domestic sewage in 1966. In addition land drainage contributes considerable amounts of phosphate during spring runoff.Nitrogen-bearing compounds vary in similar patterns as soluble phosphate but with smaller fluctuations. Domestic sewage and land drainage contribute significant amounts but of greater importance may be in situ biological fixation.All lakes were basic with usual pH of 8.4–9.0.From a chemical point of view these lakes are distinctly eutrophic.

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Zusammenfassung An fünf Seen des Ober Qu'Appelle Fluszgebietes, Saskatchewan, sind seit 1959 die jahreszeitlichen Veränderungen des Planktons und auch wichtige chemische und physikalische Milieufaktoren studiert worden. In diesem Teil werden die physiographischen Faktoren diskutiert.Dauernde Temperaturschichtung kommt nur im Katepwa See vor. Die 1% Lichtstärke war meistens zwischen 1 und 3 m Tiefe gelegen.Der Salzgehalt der Ober Qu'Appelle Seen liegt zwischen 600 mg/l (Buffalo Pound See) and 2400 mg/1 (Last Mountain See). Die Kationen ordnen sich in der Reihenfolge Na > Mg > Ca > K, die Anionen: SO₄ > CO₃.HCO₃ > Cl. Der pH bleibt meistens zwischen 8.4 and 9.0.Die Phosphatkonzentration ist sehr hoch. Abwasserverunreinigung, verursacht durch die Städte Regina und Moose jaw, ist bedeutsam für Phosphatgehalt in allen Seen auszer Buffalo Pound See. Die Stickstoffkonzentration ist ebenfalls hoch aber schwankt nicht soviel wie das Phosphat.Vom chemischen Standpunkt ausgesehen sind diese Seen sehr eutrophiert.

     

A transport system for phosphoenolpyruvate, 2-phosphoglycerate, and 3-phosphoglycerate in Salmonella typhimurium.

Salmonella typhimurium strain LT-2 was found to utilize phosphoenolpyruvate, 2-phosphoglycerate, and 3-phosphoglycerate as sole sources of carbon and energy for growth, but Escherichia coli strains did not. The following evidence suggests that this growth difference was due to the presence in Salmonella cells of an inducible phosphoglycerate permease distinct from previously studied transport systems: (a) The ability of cells to take up 3-phospho[14-C]glycerate was induced by growth in the presence of phosphoenolpyruvate, 2-phosphoglycerate, or 3-phosphoglycerate, but not glycerate, alpha-glycerophosphate, or other carbon sources tested. (b) Uptake of 3-phospho[14-C]glycerate was strongly inhibited by the three nonradioactive inducers of 3-phosphoglycerate uptake, but not by glycerate or alpha-glycerophosphate. (c) Mutants which lost the ability to utilize and take up 3-phosphoglycerate simultaneously lost the ability to utilize 2-phosphoglycerate and phosphoenolpyruvate, but not other compounds tested. (d) Mutant strains which constitutively synthesized the phosphoglycerate transport system could use both phosphoglycerates and phosphoenolpyruvate as sole sources of phosphate at low substrate concentrations. (e) A strain lacking alkaline and acid phosphatases could still grow with 3-phosphoglycerate as sole carbon source. Maximal rates of 3-phospho[14-C]glycerate uptake occurred at pH 6 in the presence of an exogenous energy source. The apparent Km for 3-phosphoglycerate uptake under these conditions was about 10-minus 4 M. The maximal uptake rate (but not the Km) was dependent on potassium ions. Although synthesis of the phosphoglycerate transport system appeared to be under adenosine 3:5-monophosphate control, glucose repressed induction only slightly. The genes controlling synthesis of the phosphoglycerate transport system (pgt genes) appeared to map at about 74 min on the Salmonella chromosome.     

Kinetics and thermodynamics of lactate dehydrogenases from beef heart, beef muscle, and flounder muscle.

The eight rate constants for a four-step ordered ternary-complex mechanism have been compared for lactate dehydrogenases (EC1.1.1.27) from three sources, beef heart, beef muscle, and flounder muscle. The rate constants were determined at temperatures ranging from 5 degrees C to 50 degrees C, and the corresponding activation parameters deltaG not equal to, deltaH not equal to, and deltaS not equal to were calculated. Significant differences are noted for the values for the three types of enzyme. The relative heights of the activation barriers are much the same in all three cases, differences in kinetic behavior resulting mainly from differences in the stable binary and ternary enzyme-substrate complexes. These complexes are, in general, at lower free-energy and enthalpy levels of the beef-heart and beef-muscle enzymes than for the flounder-muscle enzyme. A high degree of compensation is found between the enthalpies and entropies of activation, resulting in relatively small differences between the free energies (and rates) for homologous steps with different enzymes. Analysis of the results, on the assumption that the compensation effect is due to weak-bonding effects, suggests that there are fewer weak bonds in the stable complexes of the muscle enzymes.     

Centrosome and spindle pole microtubules are main targets of a fluorescent taxoid inducing cell death

Microtubules offer a very large local concentration of binding sites for cytotoxic taxoids or for hypothetical endogenous regulators. Several compounds from diverse sources stabilize microtubules and arrest cell division similarly to the antitumour drug Taxol. We have investigated the subcellular location of the Taxol binding sites, employing a fluorescent taxoid (FLUTAX) that reversibly interacts with the Taxol binding sites of microtubules and induces cellular effects similar to Taxol. The specific binding of FLUTAX to a fraction of the available cellular binding sites effectively inhibits division of cultured human tumour cells at G(2)/M, and triggers apoptotic death. The loci of reversible binding, directly imaged in intact U937 cells treated with cytotoxic doses of fluorescent taxoid are the centrosomes, with a few associated microtubules in interphase cells, and the spindle pole microtubules in mitotic cells, instead of uniformly labelling the microtubule cytoskeleton. Cytoskeletal lesions induced and visualized with FLUTAX consist of microtubule bundles and abnormal mitoses, including monopolar spindles and highly fluorescent multipolar spindles. The multiple asters and monopolar spindles mark arrested U937 leukaemia and OVCAR-3 ovarian carcinoma cells on their path to apoptosis (as well as K562, HeLa, and MCF-7 cells). Depending on the FLUTAX treatment, OVCAR-3 cells died from abnormal mitosis or from a subsequent interphase with double chromatin content and lobulated nuclei (micronuclei), indicating impairment of centrosome separation. Fragmented centrosomes could be observed in FLUTAX-treated non-transformed 3T3.A31 cells, which developed micronuclei but were resistant to apoptosis. These results strongly suggest that centrosomal impairment by taxoid binding during interphase, in addition to the suppression of the kinetochore microtubule dynamics in the mitotic spindle, is a primary cause of cell cycle de-regulation and cell death.