Arginine Vasotocin: Structure-Activity Relationships and Influence on Gonadal Growth and Function

When AVT (arginine vasotocin) was given neonatally during theperiod when the brain is undergoing sexual differentiation,increased growth of the reproductive organs was observed inadulthood. Injection of AVT after this neonatal period in immatureanimals led to diminished growth of the accessory organs andin some cases the gonads themselves. The hypertrophic responseof the in situ ovary in adult mice following unilateral ovariectomy(UO) was inhibited in a dose-related manner by a single intraperitonealinjection of freshly prepared AVT. Much less AVT was requiredfor this response when injected into the third ventricle. Afterintraperitoneal injection, arginine vasopressin (AVP), lysinevasopressin (LVP), and 4-leucine vasotocin (4-leu-AVT) alsoinhibited compensatory ovarian hypertrophy whereas oxytocindid not. The commonality in die structure of these antigonadotrophicpeptides include a closed ring and a basic amino acid in position8. After opening the disulfide bond of these nonapeptides withmercaptoethanol, a single injection of the reduced AVT, AVP,LVP, or 4-leu-AVT into UO mice causes exaggerated hypertrophyof the remaining ovary. When added with leuteinizing hormone-releasinghormone (LRH) to culture medium containing hemipituitaries fromcastrated estrogen-progesterone primed female rats, AVT significantlyincreased the release of radioimmunoassayable LH above thatdue to LRH alone. AVT might interact at all levels of the hypothalamo-hypophysealgonadalaxis.     

The control of fungal seed–borne diseases by means of a thiram seed soak

A method of soaking seeds in an 0·2% aqueous suspension of thiram for 24 h at 30 °C, which had previously been shown to eradicate infection by several fungi, was tested against a further thirteen seed-borne pathogens. Eleven of these were completely controlled, one was almost completely controlled and one was not adequately controlled by the treatment. The thiram soak treatment was much more effective than dust treatments with fungicides for the control of many internal fungal pathogens. It was also generally more effective and less damaging than hot-water treatment. The ways of applying the method commercially have been investigated and it is being adopted for the treatment of celery, brassicas and red beet.     

CRETACEOUS PLANKTONIC FORAMINIFERA FROM BORNHOLM AND THEIR ZOOGEOGRAPHIC SIGNIFICANCE

Late Cretaceous formations exposed along the south coast of Bornholm Island, Denmark, contain well preserved assemblages of planktonic foraminifera, which are described and illustrated. Two taxa, Whiteinella baltica and Hedbergella bornholmensis , are described as new. The oldest assemblage, Middle to early Upper Cenomanian in age, is essentially monospecific and indicative of a restricted pelagic environment. The overlying Lower Senonian faunules are diverse, contain large populations which are associated with other pelagic microfossils, and provide a more typical example of Boreal planktonic foraminiferal associations. Taxonomically the assemblages are largely composed of species of Hedbergella, Whiteinella, Archaeoglobigerina, Globigerinelloides , and Heterohelix and double-keeled species of Globotruncana , particularly G. marginata. These species are widely distributed in space and time. Thus Bornholm assemblages have a cosmopolitan aspect, which can be identified in microfaunas from the Western Interior of North America and Alaska. Because of the lower diversity, lack of restricted stratigraphic markers, Lower Senonian correlations between Bornholm, and probably Boreal pelagic microfaunas generally, coeval Tethyan assemblages are less precise than within the Tethys.     

Vairimorpha invictae N. Sp. (Microspora: Microsporida), a Parasite of the Red Imported Fire Ant,Solenopsis invicta Buren (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)12

ABSTRACT. Vairimorpha invictae n. sp. infects the red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta Buren, in Brazil. The parasite is dimorphic, producing two morphologically distinct types of spores, which develop sequentially in the same fat cells or oenocytes in the fat body. The binucleate free spores develop from disporous sporonts; the uninucleate octospores develop from multinucleate sporonts within a sporophorous vesicle. Infected cells are transformed into large sacs which contain both types of spores in mature adult hosts. Mature free spores are often present by the time the larvae pupate, but mature octospores are found only in adult hosts. Masses of spores may be seen through the intact cuticle by low power phase-contrast microscopy; there are no other physical signs and no behavioral signs of infection. Attempts to transmit the infection in the laboratory failed.     

Encystation of Entamoeba invadens IP-1 Is Induced by Lowering the Osmotic Pressure and Depletion of Nutrients from the Medium1

ABSTRACT. Trophozoites of Entamoeba invadens IP-1 can be induced to encyst in simple solutions composed of semipermeable constituents (buffer, salts, or sugars) provided that their osmotic pressure is in the range of 60–160 mosmol/kg. Optimal yield of mature cysts was obtained when the osmotic pressure of the medium was 110 mosmol/kg. Encystation could be obtained in the absence of serum although higher yields were obtained in its presence. No difference in the yield of mature cysts was found when either dialyzed or full serum was used. High yields of encystation were obtained (>70%) in the presence of 5% serum in solutions of NaCl, KCl, or MgSO₄, suggesting that the mechanism of encystation is not induced via sodium or potassium channels. Cysts were obtained in the presence of 72 mM glucose, indicating that depletion of a carbon source is not the only requirement for encystation. A rapid change in the density of the Entamoeba cells was observed upon transfer of trophozoites (density 1.061–1.073 g/ml) from growth medium to the low osmotic pressure encystation solutions. Within the first 2 min their density decreased (to 1.050 g/ml), but it soon increased, reaching within 30 min a density higher than 1.120 g/ml. As the encystation process continued to completion, the density of the cells gradually decreased, the mature cysts reaching a density of 1.049–1.061 g/ml.     

The Ultrastructure of Spores (Protozoa: Microsporida) from Lophius americanus,the Angler Fish1

ABSTRACT. Spinal and cranial ganglia of American angler fish, Lophius americanus, are often infected with microsporidia. This protozoon elicits the formation of large, spore-filled, hypertrophied host cells, cysts. Previous reports of microsporidia in European lophiids identify the parasite as Spraguea lophii, a genus which has recently been shown to be dimorphic. The spores from L. americanus are monomorphic (2.8 × 1.5 μm) and uninucleate. Each spore contains a polar tube that forms six to nine coils. Spraguea lophii differs from the microsporidium described in L. americanus in several ways. Spraguea lophii has two spore types: a large spore (4.0 × 1.25 μm) containing a diplokaryon and three to four polar tube coils and a smaller uninucleate spore (3.5 × 1.5 μm) with five to six polar tube coils. Because of these major differences, the microsporidium from L. americanus is removed from the genus Spraguea and returned to its original genus, Glugea, as a new species, G. americanus n. sp. Other ultrastructural characteristics of G. americanus are included: the posterior vacuole encloses two distinct membranous structures; one is tubular and resembles a “glomerular tuft” and the second is lamellar and composed of concentric membrane whorls, additionally, the straight or manubroid portion of the polar tube proceeds beyond the posterior vacuole before it turns anteriorly and begins to coil.     

Methods for quantitative determination of ethylene in aqueous solutions for biological studies

Abstract. In many plant physiological studies, quantitative determination of ethylene in aqueous solutions is necessary. We describe two methods for such measurements based on vacuum extraction, or on stripping ethylene from solution with the carrier gas of a gas chromatograph. The gas-stripping technique is limited by the small sample volumes that can be used, whereas the vacuum extraction technique can accommodate much larger volumes and is useful when the ethylene concentration in the solution is very low. The use of these techniques will facilitate the treatment of submerged plant tissues with known amounts of ethylene, and also the quantitative determination of ethylene from tissues grown in either static or continuous flow liquid cultures.     

Translation of Two Messenger RNAs from Lens in a Cell Free System from Krebs II Ascites Cells

SPECIALIZED tissues which synthesize only a small number of different proteins offer obvious advantages as sources of specific and pure messenger RNAs (mRNAs). Presumptive mRNAs have been isolated and partially characterized from reticulocytes^1,2, muscle³, myelomas⁴ and eye lens⁵. The messenger role of 9S RNA from reticulocytes has been established by its ability to direct the synthesis of haemoglobin in cell-free systems from reticulocytes² and Krebs 11 ascites tumour cells⁶ and in Xenopus oocytes⁷. We show here that 10S and 14S RNA fractions from calf lens direct the synthesis of different polypeptide components of lens crystallin in the ascites cell-free system. These results complement and extend the demonstration, in the accompanying article⁸, that 14S lens RNA is translated in the reticulocyte lysate.     

Properties of Mitochondria Prepared by Two Different Isolation Procedures From the Cotyledons of Germinating Bean Seedlings

Mitochondria from 1-day-old bean cotyledons were isolated bya ‘slow’ isolation procedure involving a wash andby a ‘rapid’ procedure. The mitochondria isolatedby the ‘rapid’ procedure were more tightly coupledthan those isolated by the ‘slow’ procedure. Anexogenous supply of cytochrome c or NAD was shown to improvethe activity of mitochondria isolated by the ‘slow’procedure, but not those isolated by the ‘rapid’procedure. The phosphorylative abilities of the latter weremuch greater than the former and were retained for longer periods.It was found that there was a leakage of NAD out of the mitochondria.