Endopeptidase Activity of Phage λ-Endolysin

JACOB and Fuerst^1,2 demonstrated the presence of a bacteriolytic enzyme (λ-endolysin) in the induced cultures of lysogenic Escherichia coli K12 (λ). The enzyme was later identified as the product of gene R; of phage λ³ which is involved in bacterial lysis at the end of a latent period. The enzyme is apt to form spheroplast-like structures in E. coli² and one would therefore expect its substrate to be murein.     

Population structure of some pond Microcrustacea

Summary The aestival species composition of microcrustacea of eight ponds in southwestern Kansas is described. Two benthic Ostracoda and three planktonic Copepoda and eight planktonic Cladocera were collected.On the whole, the Copepoda were more abundant than the Cladocera. Patterns of relative abundance varied from week to week and were more varied than the patterns described for the limnetic zone of lakes. There were two or three copepods in each pond. Except for one pond which had no Cladocera, there were two to five species of Cladocera per pond.There were fourteen significant affinities among the plankters. Two species showed no affinity. The relationships among four recurrent groups were established. Group I contained one cyclopoid, one calanoid and two cladocerans, a pattern not unlike the typical limnetic community.The population structure of each species that occurred in more that one pond was analyzed by analysis of variance. Significant differences between the ponds occurred from various species in per cent copepodids in the population, per cent females with eggs, and the number of eggs per egg sac. There was no significant difference among the ponds regarding the mean number of eggs per ovigerous female for any cladoceran.Interactions among the species and faunal characteristics of the ponds are discussed in relation to the environmental characteristics of the ponds.

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Zusammenfassung Die Zusammensetzung der estivalen Arten von Mikrocrustacean von acht Teichen im Südwesten von Kansas wird beschrieben. Zwei benthische Ostracoden, drei planktonische Copepoden und acht planktonische Cladoceren wurden gefunden.Die Copepoden waren im allgemeinen häufiger als die Cladoceren. Die Schemen der relativen Anzahl wechselten von Woche zu Woche und waren unterschiedlicher als die Schemen für die limnische Seezone. Zwei oder drei Copepoden, sowie zwei bis fünf Arten von Cladoceren kamen in jedem Teich vor, ausser in einem Teich, in dem keine Cladoceren gefunden wurden.Vierzehn wichtige Übereinstimmungen wurden unter den Planktonern gefunden. Zwei Arten zeigten keine Affinität. Der Zusammenhang zwischen vier wiederkehrenden Gruppen wurden nachgewiesen. Gruppe I enthielt einen Cyclopoiden, einen Calanoiden und zwei Cladoceren, ein für typisch limnische Gemeinschaften übliches Schema.Die Bevölkerungsstruktur jeder Art, die in mehr als einem Teich vorkam, wurde durch Streuungsanalyse untersucht. Es wurden signifikante Unterschiede im Prozentsatz der Copepoden: Bevölkerung, der Weibchen mit Eiern, der Anzahl Eier im Brutraum für die verschiedenen Arten zwischen den Teichen gefunden. Keine signifikanten Unterschiede wurden in der Anzahl Eier pro eitragendem Weibchen der Cladoceren zwischen den Teichen gefunden.Auch der Einfluss der Umweltfaktoren der Teiche auf die Arten und auf die Fauna des Teiches wurde untersucht.

     

Effect of monensin on osmotic water flow across the toad bladder and its stimulation by vasopressin and cyclic AMP

Summary The effects of the sodium ionophore monensin on osmotic water flow across the urinary bladder of the toadBufo marinus were studied. Monensin alone did not alter osmotic water flow; however, the ionophore inhibited the hydrosmotic response to vasopressin and cyclic AMP in a dose-dependent manner. The inhibitory effects of monensin were apparent when the ionophore was added to the serosal bathing solution but not when it was added to the mucosal bathing solution. The inhibitory effect of serosal monensin required the presence of sodium in the serosal bathing solution but not the presence of calcium in the bathing solutions. Thus, it appears that intracellular sodium concentration is a regulator of the magnitude of the hydrosmotic response to vasopressin and cyclic AMP.     

Protection against acute paraquat toxicity by ambroxol

An expression vector for G-CSF, pASLB3-3, was constructed and introduced into Namalwa KJM-1 cells (Hosoi et al., 1988), and cells resistant to 100 nM of methotrexate (MTX) were obtained. Among them, the highest producer, clone SC57, was selected and the productivity of this clone was further characterized. The maximal production of G-CSF was at the most 1.8 g/ml/day using a 25 cm² tissue culture flask, even though the cell number was above 7×10⁵ cells/ml. The limiting factors at high density were analyzed as the deficiency of nutrients, such as glucose, cysteine and serine, and pH control. The depression of specific G-CSF productivity per cell under the batch culture conditions was overcome by using a perfusion culture system, Biofermenter^TM (Sato, 1983) with modifications of nutrients supplementation by a dialysis membrane and/or dissolved oxygen (DO) supplementation by microsilicone fibers. ITPSGF medium was modified to elevate concentrations of amino acids and glucose by 2.0- and 2.5-times, respectively. Under the control of pH at 7.4 and DO at 3 ppm, the specific G-CSF productivity was not depressed even at high cell density (above 1×10⁷ cells/ml), and the amount of G-CSF reached 41 g/ml. These results indicated the possibility of finding the optimum culture conditions for the production of recombinant proteins by Namalwa KJM-1 cells.Abbreviations ABTS 2,2-Azino-di-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline)-6-sulfonic acid - BSA Bovine Serum Albumin - BSA-PBS Phosphate-buffered Saline without Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺ containing Bovine Serum Albumin - dhfr Dihydrofolate Reductase - DO Dissolved Oxygen - G-CSF Granulocyte Colony-stimulating Factor - HEPES 4-(2-Hydroxyethyl)-1-piperazineethansulfonic Acid - IFN Interferon - MTX Methotrexate - PBS(-) Phosphate-buffered saline without Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺ - Tween-PBS Phosphate-buffered saline without Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺ containing 0.05% of Tween 20     

Direct cytological evidence for true terminalization of chiasmata in maize

Equational and disjunctional separation of heterozygous heterochromatic regions was observed relative to chiasma positions at diakinesis. Equational separation of heterozygous knobs was frequently observed and always accompanied by a chiasma distal to the knob. This is considered evidence that in these cases a crossover had occurred in a position proximal to the knob and had terminalized to a position distal to the knob by the time of fixation for observation.     

Influence of clay minerals on sorption of bacteriolytic enzymes

Myxobacteria presumably produce extracellular bacteriolytic enzymes when they are growing in soil. In order to study their ecological significance, adsorption experiments were performed with lytic enzymes produced byMyxococcus virescens in casitone media. Different soils as well as montmorillonite and kaolinite can rapidly adsorb the bacteriolytic but not the proteolytic enzymes. About 1 gm of montmorillonite per liter of cell-free culture solution is enough for the adsorption of 97% of the bacteriolytic enzymes. The adsorption per unit weight is about 100 times greater on montmorillonite than on kaolinite. About 40% of the adsorbed enzymes can be eluted with solutions of high pH or high ionic strength. The only desorbed bacteriolytic enzyme is the alanyl-∈-N-lysine endopeptidase.     

Staining of Some Specific Regions of Human Chromosomes,particularly the Secondary Constriction of No. 9

SEVERAL procedures have been described recently which produce specific patterns of differential staining in human chromosomes^1–9. Techniques which involve DNA denaturation and reannealing reveal deeply stained areas on centromere and secondary constriction regions which have been equated with constitutive heterochromatin⁹.