13/14 translocation in a man with reproductive failure

Summary An inherited (maternal origin) 13/14 translocation with the nucleolus organizer regions eliminated and one centromere was found in an oligospermic man whose wife had had two spontaneous abortions. Meiotic studies revealed all stages of spermatogenesis with a trivalent configuration in diakinesis. Possible reasons for his subfertility and his mother's normal fertility are discussed.     

The effect of quaternary ammonium compounds and amine oxides on spores of bacillus cereus

The effect of 1-dodecylpiperidine 1-oxide and N,N’-bis(dodecyldimethyl)-1,2-ethane diammonium dibromide on the spores ofBacillus cereus. particularly their binding to intact spores and spores with reduced cystine bonds, was investigated. The Langmuir type of binding is involved in both cases. Both compounds decreased the thermoresistance of spores. DPNO decreased the fraction of non-germinating spores, the effect of the drug increasing with increasing concentration. This phenomenon was associated with a faster release of dipicolinic acid to the medium. Only microgermination proceeded in the presence of BDED and dipicolinic acid was released only in substantially lower amounts. Both compounds also influenced respiration.     

Volatile and gaseous metabolites released by germinating seeds of lentil and maize cultivars with different susceptibilities to fusariosis and smut

The effect of volatile and gaseous metabolites released by germinating seeds of lentil cultivars more and less susceptible to fusariosis on the germination of spores ofMucor racemosus, Trichoderma viride, Verticillium dahliae andBotrytis cinerea was found to depend rather on the fungal genus than on the lentil cultivar. However, spores ofFusarium oxysporum reacted more sensitively during germination to the presence of exudates of both cultivars, when the more susceptible lentil displayed a stimulation, the less susceptible one an inhibition of spore germination. The greatest difference in the effect of exudates was observed in the more and less susceptible maize cultivars with respect to the germination of chlamydospores ofUstilago maydis, especially during the first hours of seed germination. Analysis of the exudates of germinating seeds showed the release of a greater amount of ethanol and methanol with acetaldehyde by the more susceptible cultivars of lentil and particularly maize.     

A 13c-n.m.r. study of 1,6:2,3- and 1,6:3,4-dianhydro-β-D-hexo-pyranoses and their O-acetyl and deoxy derivatives

¹³C-N.m.r. spectra of all possible 1,6:2,3- and 1,6:3,4-dianhydro-β-D-hexo-pyranoses and their O-acetyl and deoxy derivatives are presented. Relations between chemical shifts of certain carbon atoms and the structure of the dianhydrides are outlined, and their application in structural analysis is discussed. Inversion of configuration of the oxirane ring from the endo to the exo position is associated with typical upfield-shifts for oxirane-ring carbon atoms C-2 or C-4, respectively. Possible inter-relationships between ¹³C-chemical shifts and steric and polar interactions in the dianhydro derivatives are discussed.     

Lipids of higher fungi. III. The fatty acids and 2-hydroxy fatty acids in some species of Basidiomycetes

Total fatty acids derived from 12 species of mushrooms were separated into fatty acid and 2-hydroxy fatty acid fractions (FA and HFA), and analyzed quantitatively. The HFA content varied from 0 to 22% of total fatty acids. The major fatty acids were 16:0, 18:0, 18:1, 18:2, and the major 2-hydroxy fatty acids were h16:0, h18:0, h22:0, h24:0. The predominant HFA in the mushrooms investigated had chain-lengths greater than 20 C-atoms, and were derived from sphingolipids — ceramides and cerebrosides.     

Importance of the flux of phosphate across the inner membrane of kidney mitochondria for the activation of glutaminase and the transport of glutamine

The effect of mersalyl, an inhibitor of phosphate transport across the inner mitochondrial membrane, was investigated on the uncoupled respiration of pig kidney mitochondria in the presence of glutamine as substrate and on the activity of the phosphate-dependent glutaminase in the intact organelles. In addition, the submitochondrial location of the enzyme was reinvestigated.

1. (1) It was found that mersalyl completely inhibits uncoupled respiration of the mitochondria in the presence of glutamine as substrate, whereas respiration with glutamate was not affected. The same amount of mersalyl which inhibits coupled oxidation of glutamine also inhibits coupled oxidation of glutamate and some other substrates.

2. (2) Mersalyl strongly inhibited the activation of glutaminase in intact mitochondria only in the presence of inhibitors of electron transport or of an uncoupler. The addition of a detergent prevented or fully released the inhibition. The effect of mersalyl was observed even when the mitochondria were pre-incubated with phosphate or incubated in the phosphate-free medium. If mersalyl and carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone (CCCP) were added 3 min after pre-incubation with phosphate the same intramitochondrial concentration of the anion as in control experiments was found, whereas the activity of glutaminase was severely inhibited. These findings suggest that the activation of the enzyme by phosphate in intact nonenergized mitochondria occurs only if the activator moves across the inner mitochondrial membrane.

3. (3) Mersalyl (plus CCCP) markedly decreased [¹⁴C]glutamine- and [³²P]-phosphate-permeable mitochondrial spaces. A close correlation between the decrease of phosphate and glutamine permeable spaces and the inhibition of glutaminase activity was found.

4. (4) If the activation energy of the enzyme was determined with frozen mitochondrial preparations, a discontinuity or break in the Arrhenius plot was observed, whereas the presence of a detergent completely abolished the break. Digitonin or ultrasonic treatment of the mitochondria followed by separation of the membrane and the soluble fraction revealed that glutaminase is a membrane-bound enzyme.

On the basis of these findings it is concluded that there is an association between the transport of phosphate on one side and the transport of glutamine and glutaminase activity on the other. It is possible that the movement of phosphate across the membrane activates the enzyme which facilitates diffusion of glutamine down a concentration gradient. However, the existence of a specific glutamine-phosphate carrier is not ruled out.     

Cell cooperation in abolition of tolerance of xenogeneic tumor.

Thymectomized, lethally irradiated mice reconstituted with syngeneic bone marrow cells are tolerant to xenogeneic Yoshida ascites sarcoma (YAS). The tolerance was abolished by an injection of syngeneic normal spleen, thymus, or lymph node cells given simultaneously with YAS. Allogeneic and semiallogeneic spleen cells were ineffective. The YAS-rejecting mice produced specific anti-tumor antibodies. The serum of these mice transferred to tolerant T-cell-deficient mice protected the latter from inoculated YAS cells. These serum-protected mice were not able to resist the reinoculum of the tumor cells as the mice restored with lymphoid cells did. The latter mice rejected the YAS at the time when donor cells were practically absent in their lymphoid tissue. The low effective ratio of injected syngeneic lymphoid to tumor cells, efficiency of injected thymus cells, and other data led to the conclusion that transferred lymphoid cells did not act directly on tumor cells but through cooperation with host lymphoid cells. The cooperation of donor T- and host B-lymphocytes enabled the activation of the latter, and YAS cells were rejected.