Familiäre 2/C-Translokation: 46,XY t (2p-; Cp+) und 46,XX Cp+

Zusammenfassung Bei einem Patienten mit multiplen Mißbildungen wurde eine Duplikation für die distale Hälfte vom kurzen Arm des Chromosoms 2 und eine Defizienz an einem C-Chromosom gefunden. In der Literatur sind vier Fälle mit ähnlicher Duplikation, jedoch jeweils einer klein n Defizienz am Chromosom 3 beschrieben worden. Ein Vergleich der klinischen Merkmale bei den fünf Patienten zeigt weitgehende Übereinstimmungen. Es wird gefolgert, daß die gleichartige Duplikation für das einheitliche klinische Bild der Patienten verantwortlich ist. Es wurden Chromosomenmessungen, Analysen der Replikationsmuster und Meioseuntersuchungen durchgeführt. Die Genloci für das Ss- und das Rh-System konnten von einer Lokalisierung auf dem duplizierten Segment ausgeschlossen werden.

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2/C translocation in father and daughter: 46,XY t (2p-;Cp+) and 46,XX Cp+

Summary In a patient with multiple anomalies, a duplication comprising the distal half of the short arm of chromosome 2 and a small deficiency of a C-chromosome was found. Four other cases from the literature exhibit a similar duplication combined with a small deficiency each of chromosome 3. Comparison of the clinical pictures of the five patients revealed a conformity in the major features. It is concluded that the duplication is responsible for the uniform appearance of these patients. The studies performed include chromosome measurements, examination of replication patterns and meiosis. The gene loci for the Ss and Rh systems could be excluded from localization on the duplicated segment.

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Mit Unterstützung durch die Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.     

Variation in the skull of the Long-tailed field-mouse, Apodemus sylvaticus in mainland Britain

Nine skull measurements and a measure of age have been made on each of 613 specimens of Apodemus sylvaticus (L.). The mice were collected from 12 mainland and three island localities. From five of the localities they were obtained in more than one year; each year's collection was kept separate in the subsequent analysis.
Unadjusted and adjusted (for age) means have been calculated for each character. Differences in both space and time are small for the mainland populations. A discriminant function analysis was undertaken with a view to accounting for the larger part of the variation using a limited number of linear combinations of the adjusted measurements. It was found that the greater part of the variation was contained in the first two canonical variates. Finally, the generalized distances were obtained.
The multivariate analyses suggest that one island population (St Mary's) is quite distinct, the other two (Tresco, Mull) less so, that there is in any one locality little variation from year to year, that the Scottish mainland populations as a group display a small statistical divergence from the English mainland populations and that the former differ rather more from each other than do the latter.     

Gene-Enzyme Relationships in Histidine Biosynthesis in Bacillus subtilis

Mutants for 9 of the 10 steps in histidine biosynthesis have been isolated and identified by enzyme assay. Each locus has been mapped in relation to the aro cluster and to other histidine loci by deoxyribonucleic acid-mediated transformation. The genes which code for enzymes 3, 6, and 8 of the pathway are linked to the aro cluster. A major histidine linkage group is composed of the genes which specify enzymes 1, 2, 5, 7, and 10. The locus which codes for step 9 of the pathway is unlinked to any other identified his loci. The major histidine cluster is loosely linked to cysB and is unlinked to any of the loci concerned with aromatic amino acid biosynthesis.     

Temperature dependence of inorganic nitrogen uptake and assimilation in Antarctic sea-ice microalgae

Summary The influence of temperature on NO ₃ ^- and NH ₄ ⁺ uptake, and the activity of the assimilatory enzyme NO ₃ ^- reductase (NR) was compared to inorganic C uptake (photosynthesis) in natural assemblages of Antarctic sea-ice microalgae. NO ₃ ^- and NH ₄ ⁺ uptake reached a maximum between 0.5°–2.0°C and 2.0°–3.0°C, respectively, which was close to that for photosynthesis (2.5°–3.0°C). NR showed a distinctly higher temperature maximum (10.0°–12.0°C) and a lower Q₁₀ value than inorganic N and C transport. Our data imply that, owing to differential temperature characteristics between N transport and N assimilation at in situ temperature (-1.9°C), the incorporation of extracellular NO ₃ ^- into cellular macromolecules, may be limited by transport of NO ₃ ^- into the cell rather than the intracellular reduction of NO ₃ ^- to NH ₄ ⁺ . Despite differences in temperature maxima between N transport and N assimilation, the overall low temperature maxima of inorganic N metabolism characterizes Antarctic sea-ice microalgae as psychrophilic. Our study is the first to examine the temperature dependence of inorganic N uptake and assimilation in sea-ice microbial communities.     

Expression of the gap junction protein connexin43 in embryonic chick lens: Molecular cloning,ultrastructural localization,and post-translational phosphorylation

Summary Lens epithelial cells are physiologically coupled to each other and to the lens fibers by an extensive network of intercellular gap junctions. In the rat, the epithelial-epithelial junctions appear to contain connexin43, a member of the connexin family of gap junction proteins. Limitations on the use of rodent lenses for the study of gap junction formation and regulation led us to examine the expression of connexin43 in embryonic chick lenses. We report here that chick connexin43 is remarkably similar to its rat counterpart in primary amino acid sequence and in several key structural features as deduced by molecular cDNA cloning. The cross-reactivity of an anti-rat connexin43 serum with chick connexin43 permitted definitive immunocytochemical localization of chick connexin43 to lens epithelial gap junctional plaques and examination of the biosynthesis of connexin43 by metabolic radiolabeling and immunoprecipitation. We show that chick lens cells synthesize connexin43 as a single, 42-kD species that is efficiently posttranslationally converted to a 45-kD form. Metabolic labeling of connexin43 with³²P-orthophosphate combined with dephosphorylation experiments reveals that this shift in apparent molecular weight is due solely to phosphorylation. These results indicate that embryonic chick lens is an appropriate system for the study of connexin43 biosynthesis and demonstrate for the first time that connexin43 is a phosphoprotein.     

Age differences in responsiveness of brainstem chemosensitive neurons to extracellular pH changes

The sensitivity of neurons in the caudal chemosensitive area on the ventrolateral surface of the medulla oblongata (VMS) to extracellular pH changes was examined in newborn and young developing kittens and compared to that of adult cats. The pH was varied by superfusion of the VMS with mock cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of pH 7.4 (control), 7.0 (acid) and 7.8 (alkaline). A total of 97 neuronal units in the three age groups changed their firing rates inversely in response to extracellular fluid (ECF) pH changes. The greatest sensitivity was found in the adult group where acid superfusion caused an increase in neuronal activity. The least sensitivity was observed in the newborn group (1-6 days old), whereas the young kitten group (4-6 weeks old) exhibited an intermediate sensitivity. Neurons of kittens older than 7 weeks of age demonstrated a response pattern characteristic of the adult group. Neurons of neonates older than seven days, exhibited a response pattern characteristic of the young kitten group.     

Down''s Syndrome Individuals Begin Life with Normal Levels of Brain Cholinergic Markers

We measured the activities of the cholinergic marker enzymes choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) in autopsied brains of seven infants (age range 3 months to 1 year) with Down's syndrome (DS), a disorder in which virtually all individuals will develop by middle age the neuropathological changes of Alzheimer's disease accompanied by a marked brain cholinergic reduction. When compared with age-matched controls cholinergic enzyme activity was normal in all brain regions of the individuals with infant DS with the exception of above-normal activity in the putamen (ChAT) and the occipital cortex (AChE). Our neurochemical observations suggest that DS individuals begin life with a normal complement of brain cholinergic neurons. This opens the possibility of early therapeutic intervention to prevent the development of brain cholinergic changes in patients with DS.     

Confirmation of the Cholinergic Specificity of the Chol-1 Gangliosides in Mammalian Brain Using Affinity-Purified Antisera and Lesions Affecting the Cholinergic Input to the Hippocampus

An antiserum raised to Torpedo electromotor synaptosomal membranes (anti-TSM antiserum) induces a cholinergic-specific immune lysis of mammalian brain synaptosomes and recognizes a group of minor gangliosides appeared, therefore, to be specific to the cholinergic neuron and were designated Chol-1. To confirm the cholinergic specificity of the Chol-1 gangliosidic antigens, we have shown that not only does a mammalian ganglioside fraction that is enriched with respect to the Chol-1 gangliosides inhibit the cholinergic-specific immune lysis induced by the anti-TSM antiserum, but also it can be used to affinity-purify a subpopulation of immunoglobulins from the anti-TSM antiserum that also induce a cholinergic-specific lysis. Furthermore, we have demonstrated that fimbrial lesions, which cause a massive degeneration of cholinergic terminals in the ipsilateral hippocampus, lead to a loss of the Chol-1 gangliosides concomitant with that shown by choline acetyltransferase activity and that lesions to the entorhinal cortex, which cause a loss of mainly glutamergic synapses in the ipsilateral dentate gyrus leading to cholinergic sprouting from adjacent hippocampal areas and an increase in cholinergic markers in the dentate gyrus, produce concomitant increases in choline acetyltransferase activity and Chol-1 content. These results provide strong evidence in favour of the cholinergic specificity of the Chol-1 gangliosides.     

Effect of cystine loading and cystine dimethylester on renal brushborder membrane transport

The effect of loading renal tubule cells with cystine was studied by incubating them with cystine dimethylester. Proline uptake into brushborder membrane vesicles isolated from the cystine loaded cells was not different from that observed into brushborder vesicles isolated from tubules incubated in buffer alone. Incubating brushborder membranes with 2 mM cystine dimethylester for 10 minutes reduced the uptake of proline by 27% after 15 seconds of incubation and by 21% after 60 seconds of incubation. There was no effect after 20 minutes of incubation. Pre-incubating brushborder membrane vesicles with cystine dimethylester had no statistically significant effect on the affinity of priline for the carrier, but did reduce the maximal rate of proline uptake by 49%.