Severely reduced recombination in females of the South American marsupial Monodelphis domestica.

The gray short-tailed opossum, Monodelphis domestica, is a model species for studying the underlying mechanisms that govern recombination. We have identified a new marker, PI (protease inhibitor), in M. domestica and demonstrate its linkage to AK1 (adenylate kinase 1). The rate of recombination in females of this species is approximately one fifth the rate in males, as might be predicted from the difference in chiasma frequency between the two sexes.     

A novel sequence polymorphism in the promoter region of the human B2-bradykinin receptor gene

The distribution of a nucleotide polymorphism in the core promoter of the human B2-bradykinin receptor gene was examined in the population of southern Germany. The allelic frequencies were 0.595 for the C allele and 0.405 for the T allele. The allelic frequencies were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. This new marker provides a valuable tool to assess the risk for putative bradykinin-associated disorders with genetic determinism. Received: 20 October 1995 / Revised: 10 December 1995     

Echinococcus granulosus: Permeability of hydatid cysts to mebendazole in mice

Mice infected with Echinococcus granulosus were given one dose of 15 mg kg^?1 of ¹⁴C-mebendazole by gavage. Blood, hydatid cyst fluid and membranes were collected and counted at varying intervals thereafter. Radioactivity in blood peaked by 16 h and declined rapidly thereafter. Activity in hydatid cyst fluid paralleled that in blood but in amounts of only 5–10%. While levels of radioactivity in hydatid cyst membranes for the most part paralleled those of blood, in several samples they remained stable or increased from 16 to 48 h while those in blood had decreased to baseline. Protoscolices lost all signs of viability by 48 h after treatment.