Change in intracellular pH of rat liver during azo-dye carcinogenesis.

The change in intracellular pH of rat liver during 3'-methyl-4-dimethylaminoazobenzene (3'-Me-DAB) feeding was examined, contrasting with that during 2-methyl-4- dimethylaminoazobenzene (2-Me-DAB) feeding. Intracellular pH of liver was measured by the DMO method.The intracellular pH decreased markedly until the 5th week after the beginning of 3'-Me-DAB feeding, and then somewhat recovered. After 11 weeks, however, it decreased rapidly again with a lower point in the 15th week. When rats were returned to a basal diet after the dye had been fed for various periods, the pH value returned to the normal range. No significant change in rat liver pH was found during 2-Me-DAB feeding. Although it is not obvious what causes the decrease in intracellular pH of rat liver fed on the 3'-Me-DAB diet, or what role it plays in hepatocarcinogenesis, this alteration in cellular environment seems to be associated with biochemical changes accompanied by carcinogenesis.     

Changes in neutrophil functions during a 10‐month soccer season and their effects on the physical condition of professional Japanese soccer players

We examined changes in neutrophil function of soccer players over a 10‐month period and determined its effectiveness as an index for athlete physical condition. Subjects included 21 male professional Japanese soccer players. Data on body composition, myogenic enzymes and neutrophil function were obtained before and after 2 h of training at 3 investigation points: one week before opening season, at season mid‐point, and one week before the last game of the season. As a result, change ratios of myogenic enzyme levels before and after the 2‐hr training session at the third investigation point were significantly higher compared to the two other points. Reactive oxygen species production and phagocytic activity significantly increased after 2‐hr training session at point 1, although the extent of the increase became smaller over time and ROS production capability decreased significantly by point 3 assessment. Fatigue, especially muscle fatigue, chronically accumulated along with a gradual decrease in neutrophil immune function over the 10‐month season. Therefore, determination of neutrophil function can be used as a useful index to assess and understand an athlete's physical condition. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

130 "Plantae" Emended Based on the Common History of the Primary Plastid Endosymbiosis

Travertine terraces have been deposited by calcareous hot springs in Yellowstone from as early as 365,000 years to the present. Most of these porous and non-porous CaCO3 rocks (old or new) contain a 1–2 mm thick greenish band about 1–3 mm below the upper surface. These bands are composed of cyanobacteria and, sometimes, unicellular green algae. Although some moisture may be retained for much of the year, all undergo freezing in winter and desiccation in summer. DGGE (denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis), with subsequent 16S rDNA sequence analyses of bands, has shown that relatively few phylotypes of cyanobacteria are present, but some occur in travertine of very different ages, indicating secondary establishment of the communities. Clonal cultures of predominant types have also been established and sequenced. All those tested are able to survive extreme desiccation. Preliminary sequence analyses of cultures show that some strains are nearly identical to known cyanobacterial strains while others show little similarity. One sequence is 100% identical to the cyanobacterium Cyanobium gracile. This cyanobacterium is known to be distributed worldwide in lakes and brackish seas, but not in a cryptoendolithic environment. Another sequence shows 99% identity to two cyanobacteria isolated from Antarctic freshwater ponds. Both Antarctic ponds and Yellowstone travertine are environments in which adaptations for desiccation and/or freezing tolerance could be crucial. The lack of ecological similarity among some of these strains indicates that genes other than 16S rDNA must be used for differentiation. These results will be discussed along with the ecology of travertine habitats.