Lipid ordering and enzymic activities in chromaffin granule membranes.

1. The interaction of a variety of fluorescent probes with the membranes of adrenal medullary chromaffin granules is described. 2. Changes in the motional properties of the bound probes with temperature were investigated and evidence is presented which indicates that ordering of the membrane lipids occurs below 33 degrees C. 3. The ordering is characteristics of the membrane lipids and is retained by sonicated aqueous dispersions of the total lipid extracted from chromaffin granule membranes. 4. The ATPase and NADH:acceptor oxidoreductase activities of the chromaffin granule membrane have discontinuous Arrhenius temperature versus activity relationships with 'transitions' at 33 degrees C. 5. The ATPase has a second transition at 36.5 degrees C. 6. The 33 degrees C 'transition' for the NADH:acceptor oxidoreductase is removed by treatment with the detergent Triton X-100. 7. The correlation between the onset of lipid ordering and the change in activation energy of the membrane-bound enzyme activities is discussed in terms of the co-operative interactions of the different membrane components. The possible role of lipid ordering in exocytosis is discussed.     

A spin-label study of the chromaffin granule membrane.

The structure of the chromaffin granule membrane has been probed using a number of different spin labels. Both the effect of temperature and high levels of calcium have been studied. 1. The results from three positional isomers of the stearic acid spin label demonstrate that a substantial part of the membrane lipid (that is sensed by the probe) is in a bilayer structure which undergoes a structural transition at 32-36 degrees C, characterized by an increase in the population of gauche isomers in the lipid chains. A possible mechanism for this transition would be the preferential segregation of cholesterol. 2. The covalently bound iodoacetamide spin label reveals a transition within the protein component of the membrane or its immediate lipid environment at 32 degrees C. This transition corresponds to an increased degree of motional freedom of the spin label above the transition temperature. 3. The lipid-soluble spin label 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-piperidine-1-oxyl exhibits a break at 34 degrees C in the temperature-dependence of its partitioning into the membrane. This could correspond to the onset of a lateral separation in the membrane lipid, again possible involving a re-distribution of cholesterol. 4. Calcium abolishes, diminishes or shifts the transition observed by the spin label and decreases the amplitude of motion of the stearic acid spin labels, again possibly involving a redistribution of cholesterol and also lysolecithin. The temperatures of the structural transition agree well with the changes in the enzymic activity of the membrane ATPase and NADH oxidase functions and also with the results from fluorescent probes [Bashford et al., Eur. J. Biochem. 67, 105-114(1976)]. It is possible that triggering of the transition either by calcium or some other stimulus may play a role in catecholamine release and membrane fusion.     

Molecular weight and amino acid composition of purified spinach beet phenolase

The purification of spinach beet phenolase has been modified to include equilibration of the crude macerate with 0.5% cetyl-trimethylammonium bromide a     

β-Diketones in Rhododendron waxes

Chromatographic, mass spectrometric and spectroscopic evidence has been obtained for four β-diketones occurring in the leaf waxes of some members of     

CHROMOSOME NUMBERS IN UMBELLIFERAE. V.

Chromosome numbers are reported for nearly 300 collections of Umbelliferae. Of these, 150 representing “new” or variant counts are figured. Karyotypes of fifteen of the genera included have apparently not been documented before.     

Sexual selection and population divergence III: Interspecific and intraspecific variation in mating signals

A major challenge for studying the role of sexual selection in divergence and speciation is understanding the relative influence of different sexually selected signals on those processes in both intra‐ and interspecific contexts. Different signals may be more or less susceptible to co‐option for species identification depending on the balance of sexual and ecological selection acting upon them. To examine this, we tested three predictions to explain geographic variation in long‐ versus short‐range sexual signals across a 3,500 + km transect of two related Australian field cricket species (Teleogryllus spp.): (a) selection for species recognition, (b) environmental adaptation and (c) stochastic divergence. We measured male calling song and male and female cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) in offspring derived from wild populations, reared under common garden conditions. Song clearly differentiated the species, and no hybrids were observed suggesting that hybridization is rare or absent. Spatial variation in song was not predicted by geography, genetics or climatic factors in either species. In contrast, CHC divergence was strongly associated with an environmental gradient supporting the idea that the climatic environment selects more directly upon these chemical signals. In light of recently advocated models of diversification via ecological selection on secondary sexual traits, the different environmental associations we found for song and CHCs suggest that the impact of ecological selection on population divergence, and how that influences speciation, might be different for acoustic versus chemical signals.