Studies of Aquatic Fungi. XIII. Mycoflora of the River Czarna Hańcza and its Tributary,the River Marycha

The authors investigated the mycoflora and the environmental factors in the River Czarna Hańcza (10 stations) and its tributary River Marycha (1 station) as well as Lakes Hańcza (2 stations) and Wigry (2 stations) on the occurrence of various aquatic fungi. At the stations investigated the presence of 45 aquatic fungi species was noted. The following fungi, up to now unknown in Poland, were found: Monoblepharis hypogyna, Rozellopsis inflata, Cladolegnia eccentrica, Apostemidium guernisaci, Anguillospora gigantea, Geniculospora grandis, Clavariopsis aquatica, Lemonniera aquatica and Lemonniera terrestris.     

Occurrence of airborne Cladosporium and Alternaria spores in Southern and Central Poland in 1995–1996

The concentration of airborne spores of Cladosporium and Alternaria has been investigated at five monitoring stations situated in cities from the foot of the Tatra Mountains to central Poland along a south-north transect (Zakopane, Kraków, Ostrowiec witokrzyski, Warszawa, Pozna) i.e. from a height of 900 m to 80 m above sea level. The aerobiological monitoring of fungal spores was performed by means of five Burkard volumetric spore traps.Cladosporium spores were dominant at all the stations. The highest Cladosporium and Alternaria spore concentrations were observed at all the sites in July and August, except at Warszawa in both years and at Pozna in 1995 where the maximum of Cladosporium spores occurred in June and July, and at Ostrowiec witokrzyski in 1995 where the maximum was found in July, August and September.Fungal spore concentrations in Zakopane and Kraków were significantly lower than those in Ostrowiec witokrzyski, Warszawa and Pozna and periods of abundant Cladosporium spore occurrence were different in these two groups of monitoring stations.     

Presence of anionic phospholipids rules the membrane localization of phenothiazine type multidrug resistance modulator

Substances able to modulate multidrug resistance (MDR), including antipsychotic phenothiazine derivatives, are mainly cationic amphiphiles. The molecular mechanism of their action can involve interactions with transporter proteins as well as with membrane lipids. The interactions between anionic phospholipids and MDR modulators can be crucial for their action. In present work we study interactions of 2-trifluoromethyl-10-(4-[methanesulfonylamid]buthyl)-phenothiazine (FPhMS) with neutral (PC) and anionic lipids (PG and PS). Using microcalorimetry, steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy we show that FPhMS interacts with all lipids studied and drug location in membrane depends on lipid type. The electrostatic attraction between drug and lipid headgroups presumably keeps phenothiazine derivative molecules closer to surface of negatively charged membranes with respect to neutral ones. FPhMS effects on bilayer properties are not proportional to phosphatidylserine content in lipid mixtures. Behavior of equimolar PC:PS mixtures is similar to pure PS bilayers, while 2:1 or 1:2 (mole:mole) PC:PS mixtures resemble pure PC ones.     

Only neutral polymorphisms found in the TIGR/myocilin gene of 45 Polish patients with primary open-angle glaucoma

The aim of the study was to identify mutations of the TIGR gene in Polish patients with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) and to define possible genotype-phenotype correlations. The study included 45 patients with a verified diagnosis of POAG. The PCR amplification of all three exons of the TIGR gene and screening for the sequence changes by CSGE analysis was done for every patient. The probes with identified heteroduplexes were sequenced. Altogether 315 PCR products were obtained. The CSGE analysis detected 60 possible changes of the sequence in 28 patients. 34 heteroduplexes were chosen for sequencing, including 29 unique changes and 5 changes representative of identical heteroduplexes. Direct sequencing enabled detection of only four different changes in the TIGR gene sequence. Three of them: 5'UTR -83G-->A (in 14 patients), +227 exon 1 G-->A, Arg76Lys (in 14 patients) and +311 exon 3 T-->C, Tyr347Tyr (in 4 patients) have already been described in the literature as neutral polymorphisms of the gene. Only one change in the promoter, 5'UTR -126T-->C (in 2 patients), has not been described in the literature to date. However, this change does not alter directly the sequence of amino acids in myocilin, so it is difficult to conclude on its pathogenetic role. Thus our study showed only neutral polymorphisms of the TIGR gene. This suggests that the patients probably have mutations in other genes, so other loci that predispose to POAG must be analyzed.     

Sera of lung cancer patients affect the release of Th1, Th2 and monocyte-derived cytokines, and the expression of IL-2Ralpha by normal, stimulated mononuclear cells

We have shown that the sera of lung cancer patients affect the response of ConA-stimulated normal peripheral blood mononuclear cells by decreasing the expression of IL-2Ralpha and inhibiting the release of IL-1beta and IL-2. A tendency to enhance the release of IL-6 was also observed. We conclude that an imbalance in the Th1/Th2 cytokine response, typical for cancer patients, may at least partly be related to soluble factors circulating in the patients' blood. We discuss a putative role of serum IL-10, IL-1ra, and soluble IL-2Ralpha in the effects observed.     

Qualitative and quantitative composition of pigments in Phaeodactylum tricornutum (Bacillariophyceae) stressed by iron

The effect of Fe(III) deficiency on qualitative and quantitative changes in pigment composition in Phaeodactylum tricornutum Bohlin was demonstrated by HPLC and AAS. Maximum content of pigments showed the diatom cells incubated at the optimum iron concentration, i.e., 10 M. The contents of chlorophyll a, chlorophyll c ₁+c ₂, fucoxanthin, diadinoxanthin and ,-carotene were 109.99, 20.16, 40.39, 1.29 and 1.48 fg per cell, respectively. The results obtained showed that Fe(III) affected qualitative and quantitative pigment composition in P. tricornutum. The content of individual pigments, proportions between accompanying pigments and their ratios to chlorophyll a were important indicators of phytoplankton response to iron stress. The strong reduction in ,-carotene content, several times (2–5) increase in diadinoxanthin level as compared to ,-carotene, and high amount of diadinoxanthin in relation to chlorophyll a were observed in algae growing at very low Fe(III) concentrations, 0.001 and 0.01 M. The data suggested that phytoplankton pigments could be a potential physiological marker.