Propagation of Morus indica L. (Mulberry) by encapsulated shoot buds

Axillary buds of mulberry (Morus indica L) were encapsulated in alginate and agar to produce individual beads. The beads could be stored at 4°C for 45 days without loss of viability. Amongst the encapsulating agents tested, sodium alginate was found to be a better matrix. Encapsulated buds regenerated complete plantlets on an appropriate medium. This technique would provide an easy and novel propagation system for the elite as well as difficult-to-root species of mulberry.Abbreviations BAP benzylaminopurine - MS Murashige and Skoog (1962).     

Enzymatic transformation of PGH2 to PGF2 alpha catalyzed by glutathione S-transferases

Glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) purified from both rat liver cytosol and microsomes catalyzed the direct reduction of PGH2 to PGF2 alpha. As much as 40% of the substrate was transformed into a prostanoid whose Rf value corresponded to that of PGF2 alpha. The identification of the reaction product as PGF2 alpha was confirmed by TLC and reverse-phase HPLC as well as by mass spectral analysis. In the absence of GSTs, PGH2 was found to be primarily converted to PGE2 and PGD2. Also, PGF2 alpha formation was completely abolished by decylglutathione, a potent inhibitor of both peroxidase and transferase activity associated with GSTs. These results indicate that the direct reduction of endoperoxide moiety of PGH2 to form PGF2 alpha is an enzymatic process. Interestingly, selenium-dependent glutathione peroxidase (Se-GSH-Px) showed very little PGF2 alpha formation from PGH2. However, this enzyme was very active in the reduction of PGG2 to PGH2. In contrast, GSTs were very poor in the conversion of PGG2 to PGH2. Therefore, it is possible that the relative tissue distribution of Se-GSH-Px and GSTs might play an important role in the tissue specific synthesis of PGF2 alpha.     

Comparison by 1H-nmr spectroscopy of the conformation of the 2600 dalton antifreeze glycopeptide of polar cod with that of the high molecular weight antifreeze glycoprotein

The antifreeze glycopeptide (AFGP-8) from polar cod, B. saida, is a 14-amino acid polypeptide having alternating glycotripeptide sequences of Ala-[Gal(β1 → 3)GalNAc(β1 → O)]-Thr-Pro and Ala-[Gal(β1 → 3)GalNAc(β1 → O)]-Thr-Ala, with alanyl residues at amino and carboxy terminals. Conformational studies of AFGP-8 have been carried out by ¹H-nmr and empirical energy calculations to investigate the difference in its antifreeze behavior from that of the more active high-molecular weight AFGP 1-4 of P. borchgrevinki. The ¹H-nmr spectra, including the resonances of the exchangeable amide protons, were assigned by two-dimensional correlated spectroscopy (COSY), one-dimensional difference decoupling, and nuclear Overhauser effect (NOE) measurements. For the four threonyl residues, the amide proton coupling constants and the small coupling constants between H^α and H^β indicate similar conformations, despite significant chemical shift differences. The strong NOE between the α protons and the amide protons of the residue following together with large temperature coefficients of chemical shifts, indicate an extended conformation not consisting of α-helix, turns or bends. Energy computations indicate several low-energy conformations consistent with the observed coupling constants for ?. Among these, a left-handed helical conformation with three repeating residues per turn has been proposed, which is in accordance with the observed NOE between the methyl group of the α-GalNAc and Ala H^βs. While the observed Overhauser effects in the threonyl side chain suggest a certain amount of conformational averaging, the effect involving the acetmido methyl of α-GalNAc and H^βs of Ala indicate that it as is a major conformer. In view of the close similarity between the conformations of AFGP-8 and the more active antifreeze polymer, AFGP 1-4, we propose that the difference in their activities is due to the length of the regular repeating structure with glycosylation at every third amino acid residue, and not due to any fundamental difference in their conformations.     

Prostaglandins can modify gamma-radiation and chemical induced cytotoxicity and genetic damage in vitro and in vivo

The effect of prostaglandin E1, E2, and F2 alpha on gamma-radiation, benzo(a)pyrene and diphenylhydantoin-induced cytotoxicity in vivo and genotoxicity in vitro was investigated. Prostaglandin E1 prevented both cytotoxic and genotoxic actions of all the three agents, where as both PGE2 and PGF2 alpha were ineffective. In fact, it was seen that both PGE2 and PGF2 alpha are genotoxic by themselves. Gamma-linolenic acid and dihomogamma-linolenic acid, the precursor of PGE1 were also as protective as that of PGE1, where as arachidonic acid, the precursor of 2 series PGs, has genotoxic actions to human lymphocytes in vitro. These results suggest that prostaglandins and their precursors can determine the susceptibility of cells to cytotoxic and genotoxic actions of chemicals and radiation. This study is particularly interesting since, it is known that some tumor cells contain excess of PGE2 and PGF2 alpha and many carcinogens can augment the synthesis of 2 series of PGs.     

Protective role of fructose 1,6-bisphosphate during CCl4 hepatotoxicity in rats.

Rats were injected intraperitoneally with CCl4 (2.5 ml/kg body wt.) and the hepatotoxicity was compared with that of rats receiving the same dose of CCl4 and an intraperitoneal injection of fructose 1,6-bisphosphate (2 g/kg body wt.). A 50-70% decrease in plasma aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase activities was observed in the latter treatment, indicating a protective role of the sugar bisphosphate in CCl4 hepatotoxicity. The protection was accompanied by elevated hepatic activities of ornithine decarboxylase at 2, 6 and 24 h, S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase at 6 h, and spermidine N1-acetyltransferase at 2 h. The increase in the enzymes involved in polyamine metabolism was shown in our previous work [Rao, Young & Mehendale (1989) J. Biochem. Toxicol. 4, 55-63] to correlate with increased polyamine synthesis or interconversion, which was related to the extent of hepatocellular regeneration. The hepatic contents of fructose 1,6-bisphosphate and ATP significantly decreased after CCl4 treatment, and administration of the sugar bisphosphate increased hepatic ATP. Fructose 1,6-bisphosphate, an intermediary metabolite of the glycolytic pathway, may decrease CCl4 toxicity by increasing the ATP in the hepatocytes. The ATP generated is useful for hepatocellular regeneration and tissue repair, events which enable the liver to overcome CCl4 injury.     

Characterization of poly(ADP-ribosyl)ated domains of rat pachytene chromatin.

Poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation of nuclear proteins was several-fold higher in the pachytene spermatocytes than in the premeiotic germ cells of the rat. Among the histones of the pachytene nucleus, histone subtypes H2A, H1 and H3 were poly(ADP-ribosyl)ated. Based on the immunoaffinity fractionation procedure of Malik, Miwa, Sugimara & Smulson [(1983) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 80, 2554-2558] we have fractionated DNAase-II-solubilized chromatin into poly(ADP-ribosyl)ated chromatin (PAC) and non-poly(ADP-ribosyl)ated chromatin (non-PAC) domains on an anti-[poly(ADP-ribose)] IgG affinity matrix. Approx. 2.5% of the pachytene chromatin represented the PAC domains. A significant amount of [alpha-32P]dATP-labelled pachytene chromatin (labelled in vitro) was bound to the affinity matrix. The DNA of pachytene PAC domains had internal strand breaks, significant length of gaps and ligatable ends, namely 5'-phosphoryl and 3'-hydroxyl termini. On the other hand, the PAC domains from 18 h regenerating liver had very few gaps, if any. The presence of gaps in the pachytene PAC DNA was also evident from thermal denaturation studies. Although many of the polypeptides were common to the PAC domains of both pachytene and regenerating liver, the DNA sequences associated with these domains were quite different. A 20 kDa protein and the testis-specific histone H1t were selectively enriched in the pachytene PAC domains. The pachytene PAC domains also contained approx. 10% of the messenger coding sequences present in the DNAase-II-solubilized chromatin. The pachytene PAC domains, therefore, may represent highly enriched DNA-repair domains of the pachytene nucleus.     

Hydrogen peroxide permeation across liposomal membranes: a novel method to assess structural flaws in liposomes

Hydrogen peroxide permeation across large multilamellar vesicles of defined and complex lipid composition was shown to obey precise kinetic relationships for the activity of the occluded catalase. Careful assay conditions precluded simultaneous peroxidative damage to the lipids. The kinetic data was consistent with a barrier role for the bilayer for hydrogen peroxide permeation. More interestingly, hydrogen peroxide permeation across liposomes of complex lipid mixtures exhibited osmotic inhibition of permeation of hydrogen peroxide. On the other hand, purified egg lecithin vesicles did not exhibit any effect of external osmolality on hydrogen peroxide permeation in an experimentally defined non-lytic zone of external osmolarity. These results argue in favour of a heterogeneous, heteroporous structure of bilayers with complex lipid composition.     

Developmental and Dimensional Changes in the Cambial Fusiform Initials ofHoloptelea integrifolia (Roxb.) Planch.

Divisional activity, intrusive growth of the cell wall and loss of fusiform initials have been studied in Holoptelea integrifolia. The dimensional changes in relation to mean length, length frequency, mean width and length variation in relation to fibre length have also been analysed.