Temporal behavioral variation and division of labor among workers in the primitively eusocial wasp,Polistes jadwigae Dalla Torre

The behavior of workers on 2 nests of the Japanese paper wasp,Polistes jadwigae, was recorded on video tape. Young workers performed pulp collection more frequently than middle-aged and old workers, while foraging of flesh (prey) was done mainly by middle-aged workers. Of the 26 behavioral categories, 7 showed negative, 2 concave, and 1 convex relationship to the workers age. Using behavioral profiles, workers could be classified into 3 age groups: 1) young workers (younger than 10 days old, active intranidal workers), 2) middle-aged workers (11–25 days old, extranidal workers) and 3) old workers (older than 26 days old, ‘idlers’). Idlers engaged in foraging and larval feeding significantly less frequency than the young and middle-aged workers, but they performed alerting toward many alien objects. Task specialization among workers irrespective of age polyethism was also suggested.     

Hemostatic effect of a heat-treated factor VIII concentrate (Haemate P) in von Willebrand's disease

A heat-treated factor VIII (F VIII) concentrate (Haemate P) has been administered to patients with various types of von Willebrand's disease (vWD). The 4 activities of F VIII/vWF as well as change in the multimeric structure of vWF were then studied. In 4 patients with type I vWF who were given a Ristocetin cofactor (Rcof) dose of 42-78 U/kg, there was a clear reduction of the bleeding time and an increase of F VIII: C, F VIII: Ag, Rcof and vWF: Ag for several hours. The recovery of Rcof. after 1 h was 50-75%. Although the multimeric composition of vWF in these patients was similar to that of normal plasma, the density of each multimer band was very low. After infusion, however, the density of all multimer bands increased for several hours, to decrease again after 24 h. In 4 patients with type II A vWD who received a dose of Rcof of 55-76 U/kg, the 4 activities of F VIII/vWF increased similarly as was the case in type I. All patients had only 3-4 smaller multimer bands. New larger and intermediate multimers appeared for several hours after infusion of the preparation. Two patients with type III vWD who received doses of Rcof of 52 and 65 U/kg showed also a similar increase in the 4 activities of F VIII/vWF after infusion. All the multimers lacking in these patients appeared for several hours after infusion.     

Covalent binding of 4-nitrobenzyl mercaptan S-sulfate to the sulfhydryl groups of hepatic cytosolic proteins and bovine serum albumin with mixed disulfide bond formation

4-Nitrobenzyl [35S]mercaptan S-sulfonic acid ([35S]NBM S-sulfate), a new type of reactive metabolite of the thiol [35S]NBM in rat liver cytosol fortified with 3'-phosphoadenosine 5'-phosphosulfate, bound rapidly and covalently at pH 7.4 and 37 degrees C to the sulfhydryl groups of rat liver cytosolic proteins with formation of disulfide bonds. From the radioactive proteins was isolated and identified the sole amino acid adduct, S-([35S]NBM)cysteine, after their acid hydrolysis under the anaerobic conditions. Bovine serum albumin (BSA), a model protein with a single SH group, also reacted readily with radioactive NBM S-sulfate to form a disulfide bond in stoichiometric manner. S-([35S]NBM)-cysteine was also isolated and identified as the sole amino acid adduct from the well-washed, radioactive BSA after the same anaerobic acid hydrolysis. A normal hepatic level of GSH not only retarded the BSA-NBM adduct formation completely, but also detached the radioactivity from BSA by the reduction of the disulfide bond with formation of [35S]NBM and its disulfide. Of twenty-one amino acids examined at pH 7.4 and 37 degrees C, only cysteine reacted with NBM S-sulfate and afforded S-(NBM)cysteine with concomitant formations of S-sulfocysteine, cystine, NBM, and its disulfide.     

The complete amino acid sequence of the A-chain of human plasma alpha 2HS-glycoprotein

Normal human plasma alpha 2HS-glycoprotein has earlier been shown to be comprised of two polypeptide chains. Recently, the amino acid and carbohydrate sequences of the short chain were elucidated (Gejyo, F., Chang, J.-L., Bürgi, W., Schmid, K., Offner, G. D., Troxler, R.F., van Halbeck, H., Dorland, L., Gerwig, G. J., and Vliegenthart, J.F.G. (1983) J. Biol. Chem. 258, 4966-4971). In the present study, the amino acid sequence of the long chain of this protein, designated A-chain, was determined and found to consist of 282 amino acid residues. Twenty-four amino acid doublets were found; the most abundant of these are Pro-Pro and Ala-Ala which each occur five times. Of particular interest is the presence of three Gly-X-Pro and one Gly-Pro-X sequences that are characteristic of the repeating sequences of collagens. Chou-Fasman evaluation of the secondary structure suggested that the A-chain contains 29% alpha-helix, 24% beta-pleated sheet, and 26% reverse turns and, thus, approximately 80% of the polypeptide chain may display ordered structure. Four glycosylation sites were identified. The two N-glycosidic oligosaccharides were found in the center region (residues 138 and 158), whereas the two O-glycosidic heterosaccharides, both linked to threonine (residues 238 and 252), occur within the carboxyl-terminal region. The N-glycans are linked to Asn residues in beta-turns, while the O-glycans are located in short random segments. Comparison of the sequence of the amino- and carboxyl-terminal 30 residues with protein sequences in a data bank demonstrated that the A-chain is not significantly related to any known proteins. However, the proline-rich carboxyl-terminal region of the A-chain displays some sequence similarity to collagens and the collagen-like domains of complement subcomponent C1q.     

Effect of temperature and cell density on cellular protein content in temperature-sensitive mutants of rat 3Y1 diploid fibroblasts

Summary We examined cellular protein content in four temperature-sensitive (ts) mutants of rat 3Y1 fibroblasts (3Y1tsD123, 3Y1tsF121, 3Y1tsG125, and 3Y1tsH203) under various conditions of culture that affect cell proliferation. When proliferation of the ts mutants was inhibited at a nonpermissive temperature (39.8°C) in the G₁ phase, prominent accumulation of cellular protein occurred in three mutants (3Y1tsF121, 3Y1tsG125, and 3Y1tsH203) but not in 3Y1tsD123. The over-accumulation of protein at 39.8°C in the former three mutants was inhibited at high cell densities. At low cell densities there was an upper limit in the protein accumulation at 39.8°C. When the three mutants, proliferation-arrested at high cell densities at 33.8°C, were replated sparsely in fresh medium and shifted to 39.8°C, proliferation was completely inhibited whereas over-accumulation of protein occurred. These results indicating dissociation of protein accumulation and cell proliferation suggest that the two events are regulated by different mechanisms. This work was supported in part by a Grant-in-Aid for Encouragement of Young Scientists (1984) to K. Y. from the Ministry of Education, Science, and Culture, Japan.     

Three-dimensional and surface structures of rat filiform papillae

The three-dimensional and surface structures of the simple conical papillae of the rat tongue have been demonstrated with scanning electron microscopy. The papillary projection was organized into the anterior, posterior and central core cell populations, whereas the basal region of the papilla which consisted of circularly arranged cells showed no differentiation into three autonomic cell populations. It is considered that the anterior and posterior cell populations around the central core tend to be mutually attached at the bilateral sides, and that the posterior and core cell contacts are rather close than the anterior one. The anterior papillary cells showed relatively smooth surface with little micropits and without microridges. The reticular microridges on the basal cell surface of the posterior papillary cells appear to later develop the micropits and linear microridges on the tip cell surface. These suggest that the anterior cell surface is more highly keratinized than the posterior one. The microridges or micropits on the outer cell surface and the microprojections on the inner cell surface organizing filiform papilla are considered to be the structures for the purpose of cell adhesion.     

Analysis of nephritogenic antigens in human glomerular basement membrane by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis

Collagenase digests of GBM were partially purified by column chromatography and analyzed by 2-D gel electrophoresis. Silver staining of 2-D gels showed charge- and size-related heterogeneity of proteins in the 45 to 50 kDa and 25 to 27 kDa regions. These components were transferred to nitrocellulose sheets and reacted with 10 human anti-GBM autoantibodies. Detection of bound anti-GBM autoantibodies to blotted proteins was carried out with peroxidase-labeled goat anti-human IgG and revealed binding predominantly to the cationic (pI 8 to 9.0) 45 to 50 kDa and 25 to 27 kDa components. Positive-staining patterns of blotted proteins were similar with all anti-GBM autoantibodies except that three sera additionally identified neutral (pI 5.5 to 6.5) protein components. One anti-GBM autoantibody, which developed following renal transplantation, lacked reactivity with the most cationic components in the 25 to 27 kDa region. These findings suggest heterogeneity of nephritogenic GBM antigens. The cationic 45 to 50 kDa components were sensitive to reduction, while one neutral 45 to 50 kDa component was resistant; a complex array of 25 to 30 kDa proteins (pI 5.5 to 7.5) were observed by silver staining postreduction. None of the reduced protein components reacted with anti-GBM antibodies, suggesting that epitopes on nephritogenic GBM antigens may be related to disulfide-bonded regions. Although there is variable immunohistochemical reactivity of anti-GBM autoantibodies with the GBM of infant kidneys, 2-D gels of collagenase-digested human infant GBM blotted and reacted with anti-GBM autoantibodies and showed staining patterns similar to that of adult GBM. These studies demonstrate the presence of nephritogenic antigens in the GBM of immature human kidney which are not detectable by immunohistochemical analysis.     

The Effect of Ageing on Bud Differentiation in the Moss, Physcomitrium sphaericum

In the moss Physcomitrium sphaericum, we examined the numberof buds per filament, the position of buds, and the ratio ofbud-differentiated filaments when treated with cytokinin, inrelation to the increase in the number of cells per filament. When filaments of a young protonema were treated with cytokinin,many filaments did not differentiate buds. As the number ofcells in a filament increased, both the mean number of budsper filament and the ratio of bud-differentiated filaments increased.However, the position of bud differentiation was unaffectedby application of cytokinin. A higher concentration of cytokininincreased the mean number of buds per filament and the ratioof bud-differentiated filaments. The relationship between cytokinin, ageing of filaments andthe ability to differentiate buds is discussed. (Received June 17, 1985; Accepted September 9, 1985)     

Reduction of Aluminum Toxicity by Addition of a Conditioned Medium from Aluminum-Tolerant Cells of Carrot

The toxic effect of aluminum (Al) on the growth of Carrot cells(SO-l) decreased to a greater degree with addition of a mediumconditioned by Al-tolerant carrot cells (TA-l) than with a mediumconditioned by SO-l cells. The toxic effect of Al was reducedgreatly by adding an acidic fraction of the conditioned media,but little or not at all by a neutral or basic fraction. Offour organic acids detected in the acidic fraction, the majorone was citric acid which was present in a much greater amountin the conditioned medium of TA-l cells than in that of SO-lcells. The toxic effect of Al was reduced by adding citric or malicacid instead of the conditioned medium, but not by succinicor fumaric acid. Chelating abilities of the organic acids wereevaluated by shifts in their titration curves, and were foundto be closely correlated with the detoxification effects. Thus,the Al tolerance of TA-l cells may in fact be due to the chelatingeffect of citric acid which is abundantly released into themedium by the Al-tolerant carrot cells. (Received July 9, 1984; Accepted November 22, 1984)     

Inactivation and sedimentation of mercury from organomercurials by Klebsiella pneumoniae

Abstract A susceptibility of 63 clinical isolates of Klebsiella pneumoniae to inorganic and organic mercuric compounds was determined. 18 of them were found to be resistant to fluorescein mercuric acetate (FMA) and merbromin (MB). Moreover, all the resistant strains inactivate the antibacterial effect of FMA. The changes in the amount of organic mercury at the time of inactivation of the drug and the structures of the end products were examined in detail with the plasmid-bearing strain JK9 and its transconjugants of Escherichia coli .
The results showed that FMA was inactivated by an intracellular enzyme produced inducively and was degraded to fluorescein (sodium salt, uranine), which led to the sedimentation of metallic mercury. The discovery of the genes conferring inducible organic mercury-inactivating enzymes determined by plasmids was the next step and their application in the recovery of metallic mercury from organomercurials is now imminent.