Membrane proteins of synaptic vesicles and cytoskeletal specializations at the node of Ranvier in electric ray and rat

Summary Binding sites for antibodies against membrane proteins of synaptic vesicles have been shown to be enhanced at nodes of Ranvier in electromotor axons of the electric ray Torpedo marmorata and sciatic nerve axons of the rat, using indirect immunofluorescence and monoclonal antibodies against the synaptic vesicle transmembrane proteins SV2 and synaptophysin (rat) or SV2 (Torpedo). In the electric lobe of Torpedo, vesicle-membrane constituents occurred at higher density in the proximal axon segments covered by oligodendroglia cells than in the distal axon segments where myelin is formed by Schwann cells. Antibody binding sites were enhanced at nodes forming the borderline of the central and peripheral nervous systems. Filamentous actin was present in the Schwann-cell processes covering both the nodal and the paranodal axon segments as suggested by the pattern of phalloidin labelling. Furthermore, in rat sciatic nerve, Schmidt-Lanterman incisures were intensely labelled by phalloidin. A similar nodal distribution was found for binding sites of antibodies against actin and myosin. Binding of antibodies to tubulin was enhanced at nodes in Torpedo electromotor axons. The apparent nodal accumulation of constituents of synaptic vesicle membranes and the presence of filamentous actin and of myosin are discussed in relation to the substantial constriction of the axoplasm at nodes of Ranvier.     

Prey use of the fishing spider Dolomedes triton (Pisauridae,Araneae): an important predator of the neuston community

Summary Prey of feeding juvenile and adult Dolomedes triton (Walckenaer 1837) were sampled over two seasons on three small ponds in central Alberta, Canada. Prey were mainly insects active at the water surface with truly aquatic species making up about 14% of the diet. Throughout the season aquatic and semi-aquatic Heteroptera represented about 30% of the prey. Diptera and adult Odonata were also important prey items but their abundance in the diet was more variable seasonally. Of the 625 prey items recorded nearly 50% were represented by taxa taken no more than once by spiders in one of the five size classes (adult females, adult males, large, intermediate and small juveniles). Large spiders did not take the smallest prey available, although small and intermediate-sized spiders fed on nearly the full size range taken by larger spiders. Cannibalism was common, accounting for 5% of the observations, with females and large juveniles as the most frequently observed cannibals. We hypothesize that intraguild predation (including cannibalism) could be an important coevolutionary force structuring phenology, population dynamics and microhabitat use of the predatory guild of the neuston community.     

Sequence analysis of the upstream regions of Xenopus laevis β-globin genes and arrangement of repetitive elements within the globin gene clusters

The globin gene clusters of Xenopus laevis are interspersed by various different repetitive DNA elements. A specific repeat, the JH12 element, has been mapped by Southern analysis and some of its locations have been subsequently confirmed by nucleotide sequencing. JH12 family members seem to represent mobile genetic elements and display a high degree of divergence. The nucleotide sequences upstream to the adult _I-globin gene and to the two coordinately expressed larval _I- and _II genes have been determined and compared to those of the adult -genes. Besides some repetitive DNA elements and a short sequence of rather weak homology we have found no characteristic sequence motifs to be common to the adult - and -genes. The two larval -genes share one short sequence element being absent from the adult genes. This might reflect completely different sequence requirements for protein interactions and for the regulation of adult and larval globin gene expression.     

Physiological aspects of glyphosate degradation in Alcaligenes spec. strain GL

Alcaligenes spec. strain GL (IMET 11314) is able to grow on glyphosate (N-[phosphonomethyl]glycine) and other phosphonates as sole source of phosphorus. Degradation of glyphosate to inorganic phosphate and sarcosine by this strain is subject to several regulatory principles. While uptake and dephosphonation of glyphosate are regulated by P_i starvation, the intensity of glyphosate degradation is also controlled by the cellular ability to utilize the C-skeleton derived from glyphosate. Depending on the external concentration of glyphosate, the liberated sarcosine is differentially metabolised. Utilization of the sarcosine moiety and complete incorporation of 3-[¹⁴C]-label of glyphosate into cellular material occur only in cultures adapted to higher concentrations (5 mM) of the herbicide. At low concentrations of glyphosate (1 mM) only the P_i required by the growing cultures is utilized but not the sarcosine. Initially high rates of glyphosate uptake obtained after P_i-starvation decrease in the presence of low glyphosate concentrations. It is suggested that uptake and metabolism of glyphosate are connected with the expression of the sarcosine metabolizing capacity of the Alcaligenes cells.Abbreviation AMPA aminomethylphosphonic acid     

Resonance phenomena in the cochlea of the mustache bat and their contribution to neuronal response characteristics in the cochlear nucleus

Summary The cochlea of the mustache bat, Pteronotus parnellii, is very sensitive and sharply tuned to the frequency range of the dominant second harmonic of the echolocation call around 61 kHz. About 900 Hz above this frequency the cochlear microphonic potential (CM) reaches its maximum amplitude and lowest threshold. At exactly the same frequency, pronounced evoked otoacoustic emissions (OAE) can be measured in the outer ear canal, indicating mechanical resonance. The CM amplitude maximum and the OAE are most severely masked by simultaneous exposure to tones within the range from about 61–62 kHz up to about 70 kHz. The data suggest that the mechanism of mechanical resonance involves cochlear loci basal to the 61 kHz position.The resonance contributes to auditory sensitivity and sharp tuning: At the frequency of the OAE, single unit responses in the cochlear nucleus have the lowest thresholds. Maximum tuning sharpness occurs at frequencies about 300 Hz below the OAE-frequency, where the threshold is about 10 dB less sensitive than at the OAE-frequency. In addition, in the frequency range around the OAE-frequency several specialized neuronal response features can be related to mechanical resonance: Long lasting excitation after the end of the stimulus, asymmetrical tuning curves with a shallow high frequency slope and phasic on-off neuronal response patterns. In particular the latter phenomenon indicates the occurrence of local mechanical cancellations in the cochlea.Abbreviations CF constant frequency component of echolocation calls - CM cochlear microphonic potential - FM frequency modulated component of echolocation calls - N1 compound action potential of the auditory nerve - OAE octoacoustic emission - SEOAE synchronous evoked OAE     

Untersuchungen über den PolyploidkomplexVeronica cymbalaria agg. (Scrophulariaceae)

Veronica panormitana Tin. inGuss. (sparsely distributed from Corsica and Sicily to Syria) andV. trichadena Jord. etFourr. var.freyniana M. Fisch. (Mallorca) are diploid (2n = 18), and very probably the ancestors of the allopolyploidV. cymbalaria Bod. The latter consists of tetraploid (2n = 36) and hexaploid (2n = 54) strains (confirmed on new material from Italy, Greece, and Turkey). The diploid taxa are morphologically well separated from each other and fromV. cymbalaria, whereas the tetraploids and hexaploids are not separable morphologically.—Another poorly known diploid strain from Kurdistan is described as new:Veronica cymbalaria Bod. var.baradostensis M. Fischer.—V. panormitana is reported from Greece for the first time.     

Acetylcholinesterase-containing nerve cells in the pineal complex and subcommissural area of the frogs,Rana ridibunda and Rana esculenta

Summary In Rana esculenta and Rana ridibunda the frontal organ and the pineal organ (epiphysis cerebri) form a pineal complex. Approximately 60 nerve cells of the frontal organ and 220–320 nerve cells of the pineal organ display a positive acetylcholinesterase reaction (Karnovsky and Roots, 1964). The dorsal wall of the pineal organ is considerably richer in acetylcholinesterase-positive neurons than the ventral wall (ratio 31); a group of unusually large-sized nerve cells occurs in the rostral portion of the frog pineal. Two different types of nerve cells were observed in the pineal complex: multipolar and pseudounipolar elements. The former are embedded in the pineal parenchyma and their processes penetrate radially into the plexiform layer, whereas the latter are distributed along the roots of the pineal tract near the basal lamina. The ratio of the multipolar to pseudounipolar neurons is 14 for the frontal organ and 35 for the pineal organ. The multipolar elements may be interneurons; the pseudouni-polar cells send one of their processes into the pineal tract. At the caudal end of the pineal organ 30–50 unipolar nerve cells are clustered in juxtaposition with the pineal tract, and other 30–50 unipolar neurons are scattered along the basis of the subcommissural organ. Some of these nerve cells emit their processes toward the mesencephalon and others toward the pineal organ via the pineal tract. The results are discussed with respect to previous physiological and morphological findings on the pineal complex of Anura.Supported by a fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Federal Republic of Germany, to K. Wake. Completed November 22, 1973.Supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.     

Kern- und Chloroplastenteilung sowie Photosyntheseleistung synchron kultivierter Bumilleriopsis (Xanthophyceae)

1. Durch Licht-Schwachlicht-Temperatur-Wechsel (LS-T 33:15 h/15000: 3000 Lux/24: 19 C) wird Bumilleriopsis zu 96 bis 98% synchronisiert. 2. Die Kernzahl je Zelle wurde während der Zellentwicklung im LS-T verfolgt. Während des größten Teils des Zyklus sind die Zellen mehrkernig; Zellwandbildungen treten erst nach Abschluß der Kernteilungen auf. Der Anteil der Zellen mit zwei Kernen ist 12 bis 14 Stunden, derjenige mit vier Kernen 20 bis 21, derjenige mit acht Kernen 23 bis 27 Stunden nach Zyklusbeginn maximal. Es wurden keine Zellen mit drei, fünf, sechs oder sieben Kernen gefunden, so daß die Teilungen innerhalb einer Zelle sehr synchron zu sein scheinen. 3. Chloroplasten werden während der gesamten ersten Phase der synchronisierenden Bedingungen gebildet; ein Zusammenhang mit der Zellteilung besteht nicht. 4. Die Photosyntheserate nimmt gegen Ende der ersten Phase des LS-T stark ab und durchläuft etwa 35 bis 36 Stunden nach Zyklusbeginn (also während der Zellwandbildung) ein Minimum. Im anschließenden Bereich, in den die vollständige Zellteilung fällt, steigt die Rate auf den zwei- bis dreifachen Wert rasch an. Gleiche Verhältnisse liegen bei Temperaturwechseln in Dauerlicht (33: 15 h/15 000 Lux/24: 19 C) vor. Herrn Prof. Dr. P. Böger danke ich für sein stetes Interesse an diesen Untersuchungen, Herrn P. Bley für sorgfältige technische Assistenz. Die Arbeit wurde durch den Sonderforschungsbereich 138 unterstützt.     

Zur Cytotaxonomie vonVeronica chamaedrys L., I.: subsp.vindobonensis M.Fischer,eine neue,diploide Sippe

Zusammenfassung Außer typischerVeronica chamaedrys L. findet sich in Österreich eine Sippe mit deutlich dichterer und kürzerer Behaarung der Sepalen, meist merklich tiefer eingeschnittenen Laubblättern, immer rein zweizeiliger Behaarung der Hauptachse und hellblauen, seltener rosa Blüten. Diese Sippe wurde auf Grund ihrer diploiden Chromosomenzahl (2 n=16) entdeckt und wird alsVeronica chamaedrys L. subsp.vindobonensis M.Fischer neu beschrieben. Sie wächst nur an trocken-warmen Standorten der Ebenen- und Hügelstufe, besonders im östlichen Österreich. Die weiter verbreiteteV. chamaedrys L. subsp.chamaedrys erwies sich dagegen als tetraploid (2 n=32); diese Chromosomenzahl entspricht den bisherigen Angaben für diese Art. Weitere Untersuchungen über den Formenkreis sind im Gange.

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Summary Veronica chamaedrys L. subsp.vindobonensis M.Fischer, a new subspecies, differs from the type of the Linnean species by denser and shorter hairs on the sepals, deeply incised leaves and light blue or pink corolla; there are never hairs between the two rows of hairs on the primary stem. This new subspecies proved to be diploid (2 n=16), whereasV. chamaedrys subsp.chamaedrys is tetraploid (2 n=32) in accordance with all previous counts of the species. Subsp.vindobonensis occurs only in dry and warm habitats in low altitudes, especially in the eastern parts of Austria, while the typical subspecies prefers mesic meadows and woods from the plains up into the mountains.