Correlation Between Degradation of Bacteriophage T2 Deoxyribonucleic Acid and the Resistance of Escherichia coli to Infection

The ability of certain strains of Escherichia coli to degrade T2 deoxyribonucleic acid to acid-soluble fragments is correlated with their high capacity to survive T2 infection.     

Free amino Acid pools and enzymes in teratonia and habituated tobaceo tissue cultures

The free amino acid content of habituated (normal) and teratoma (abnormal) tobacco tissue cultured on white's medium were compared. Significant qualitative differences (twofold or more) were observed for serine, proline, alanine, leucine, phenylalanine, and lysine. There were qualitative differences in several unidentified ninhydrin sensitive compounds. One unknown which co-chromatographed with homo-serine was present in high concentrations (9.96 μmol/g dry weight) in habituated but was lacking in teratoma tissue, Isoenzymes of an esterase, acid phosphatase, and oxidase were demonstrated in both tissues. The distinct differences in the isoenzyme pattern of acid phosphatase suggests a differential regulatory capacity of certain phosphomonoester intermediates and P(1) . The invertase activity was higher in habituated tissue, implying a greater capacity to utilize the sole carbon source, socrose.     

A Retraining Program for Inactive Physicians

During the past two years a pilot project was conducted in which 19 inactive physicians were retrained in preparation for resumption of active practice. The initial program consisted of a flexible training program of six months to one year patterned after conventional internship-residency concepts. During the second year the program was modified by providing an initial condensed indoctrination period of two months'' duration especially designed for this purpose, followed by a preceptorship type of training.The project was considered successful in permitting trainees to enter some form of active medical work, or to enroll in formal specialty training. The observations made by the faculty of the program and its accomplishments are discussed in the light of the effort expended and the cost of the project.     

A Modified Pyridine-Silver Stain for Teased Preparations of Motor and Sensory Nerve Endings in Skeletal Muscle

This technique has been developed especially to stain sensory receptors which have been localised intramuscularly by electrophysiological means. Rat intertransverse caudal muscles, removed immediately after death, are fixed for 24 hr in a freshly prepared mixture of absolute ethyl alcohol, 4.5 ml; distilled water, 5 ml; and concentrated HNO_a, 0.1 ml. After a further 24 hr in 10 ml of absolute ethyl alcohol containing 0.1 ml of ammonia solution (sp. gr. 0.88), the muscles are washed in distilled water for 30 min and placed in full strength pyridine for 2 days. They are then washed for 24 hr in distilled water (changed 5-8 times) and left in 2% AgNO₃, in the dark for 3 days at 25 C. Following reduction in 10 ml of 5% formic acid containing 0.4 gm of pyrogallol for 6-24 hr, the specimens are washed briefly in distilled water and stored in pure glycerol. The nerve endings can then be teased out and mounted in glycerol, under cover glasses ringed with a waterproof cement. The advantage of this method is that it gives consistently good staining of receptors and motor end-plates in small muscles of the rat     

Activity and intracellular distribution of enzymes of ketone-body metabolism in rat liver

1. The activities of hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA synthase and lyase in rat liver were found to be two- to 15-fold greater than those reported by other authors under similar conditions. 2. When expressed on the basis of body weight, no appreciable differences were found between the activities of hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA synthase in whole homogenates of livers from normal and starved rats. The synthase activity increased by 70% and 140% in livers of alloxan-diabetic rats and rats fed on a high-fat diet respectively. 3. Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA lyase activity showed no significant increases in starvation or alloxan-diabetes, but a 40% increase was found in fat-fed rats. 4. Less than 12% of the activities of both enzymes were found in the cytoplasmic fraction of normal liver. The cytoplasmic activity doubled in alloxan-diabetes and starvation; on feeding with a high-fat diet the increase, though significant, was less marked. 6. The intracellular distribution of glutamate dehydrogenase indicated that the changes in the cytoplasmic activities observed were not due to leakage from the mitochondria. 7. Feeding with a normal or high-fat diet after 48hr. starvation caused within 24hr. a decrease in the cytoplasmic activity of hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA synthase to values lower than those found in rats fed on a corresponding diet for a longer period of time. 8. Acetoacetyl-CoA deacylase activity in liver was about 20% of that of hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA synthase and was primarily located in the cytoplasm. Starvation or alloxan-diabetes did not alter the acetoacetyl-CoA deacylase activity. 9. It is concluded that variations in the concentrations of enzymes involved in acetoacetate synthesis play no major role in the regulation of ketone-body formation in starvation and alloxan-diabetes. The changes in the cytoplasmic activities of hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA synthase and lyase suggest that acetoacetate synthesis can occur in the cytoplasm. This may play a role in the disposal of surplus acetyl-CoA arising in the cytoplasm when lipogenesis is inhibited.     

Colony stimulating activity of serum from germfree normal and leukemic mice

Serum from germfree Swiss/HaM mice exhibited a reduced capacity to stimulate granulocytic and mononuclear cell colony formation by DBA/1 bone marrow cells in vitro when compared with serum from conventional Swiss/HaM mice. Sera from germfree preleukemic and leukemic AKR mice exhibited strong colony stimulating activity, indicating that the increased colony stimulating activity previously observed in the serum of conventional leukemic mice is not the consequence of bacterial or fungal infections supervening in leukemic animals with deficient immune responses.     

The reversal of phenylarsenoxide inhibition of keto acid oxidation in mitochondrial and bacterial suspensions by lipoic acid and other disulphides

1. Inhibition of pyruvate oxidation in suspensions of Aerobacter aerogenes cells and of isolated mitochondria from rat heart and liver by phenylarsenoxide is prevented by an excess of lipoic acid, whereas inhibition due to certain bivalent cations is not. 2. In both systems inhibition persists when the bacteria and mitochondria are recovered and resuspended in fresh media in the absence of the inhibitor. Persistent inhibition due to preincubation with phenylarsenoxide, but not with the metal ions, is reversed by lipoic acid and by certain other disulphides. 3. 2,3-Dimercaptopropan-1-ol prevents the inhibition of pyruvate oxidation by phenylarsenoxide and by bivalent cations in both mitochondria and bacterial cells. 4. In aerobic suspensions of mitochondria and bacteria disulphides such as lipoic acid are reduced rapidly to dithiols. Reduction is inhibited by Co(2+), Ni(2+), Cd(2+) and Zn(2+), but not by phenylarsenoxide. 5. It is concluded that the inability of lipoic acid to prevent the action of the metal ions on pyruvate oxidation is due to the inhibition of its reduction to the effective dithiol.     

Studies onAzotobacter species in soil

Summary Methods for countingAzotobacter species in soil have been examined. The highest counts were obtained from soil suspensions shaken in sterile distilled water containing 10-g glass beads and plated on to glucose agar. Mannitol has been rejected as a suitable substrate in agar media because it gives lower counts of Azotobacter than glucose, an effect which is further enhanced by drying the agar plates. A clear medium free from precipitated phosphate and CaCO₃ is recommended for the agar-plate method; the Azotobacter count is affected by the phosphate concentration.The agar-plate and dilution-tube methods were compared; the latter is less accurate but more convenient when many soil samples have to be examined.