On the role of the bacteriophage lambda int gene product in site specific recombination

Integrative recombination of phage λ DNA occurs in extracts made from cells synthesizing int protein. In this paper we show that extracts of cells containing temperature-sensitive int protein are inactivated more rapidly by incubation at 38 °C than are wild-type extracts. This indicates that the int protein is directly involved in the recombination reaction.     

Hyperglycemia in mice of the Goodale Giant (G/Gw) strain

Mice of the Goodale Giant strain have a 60-day weight which is over twice that of normal mice and have a non-fasting glucose level of 250 mg/dl. Body composition and insulin levels are normal; however, growth hormone levels are elevated and glucose tolerance is abnormal. The mild hyperglycemia is associated with the rapid rate of growth and elevated level of growth hormone.     

Evidence that the hypothermic response of mice to delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol is not mediated by changes in thermogenesis in brown adipose tissue.

Delta 9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (20 mg/kg i.p.) and propranolol (20 and 50 mg/kg i.p.) produced marked falls in the rectal temperatures of mice kept at an ambient temperature of 22 degrees C. Propranolol (50 mg/kg i.p.) also decreased the thermogenic activity of brown fat, as measured by a decrease in the level of [3H]GDP binding to mitochondria obtained from mouse interscapular brown adipose tissue. In contrast, delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (20 mg/kg i.p.) did not affect mitochondrial GDP binding even though the dose used was one shown previously to depress heat production. GDP binding was also unaffected by this cannabinoid in brown adipose tissue taken from mice that had been kept at 13 degrees C instead of 22 degrees C. In mice kept at 34 degrees C, isoprenaline (0.25 and 1.0 mg/kg s.c.) induced a marked rise in rectal temperature and increased the level of GDP binding to brown fat mitochondria. Propranolol (50 mg/kg i.p.) prevented the hyperthermic response to isoprenaline, the mice becoming hypothermic instead. Delta 9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (20 mg/kg i.p.) had no effect on isoprenaline-induced hyperthermia. We conclude from these data that there is no significant involvement of brown adipose tissue in the hypothermic response of mice to delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol.     

Catenation and supercoiling in the products of bacteriophage λ integrative recombination in vitro

Catenanes (interlocked circular DNA molecules) are the exclusive products of the bacteriophage λ integrative recombination reaction in vitro when the substrate is a supercoiled DNA molecule containing both the attP and attB sites. It is proposed that the catenation results from the superhelical form of the substrate DNA. We also show that both circular DNA products of a single recombination event can be recovered as superhelical molecules with a superhelical density approximately that of the substrate DNA. The recombination reaction must therefore occur as a coupled process which does not permit free rotation around single-strand breaks at any stage.     

Purification and properties of the Escherichia coli protein factor required for lambda integrative recombination

A purified preparation of the Escherichia coli integration host factor (IHF) displays two polypeptides of apparent molecular weight 11,000 and 9,500 when analyzed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate. Under nondenaturing conditions, IHF appears to exist as a 1:1 complex of these two polypeptides. Integrative recombination takes place in vitro when purified IHF and purified Int, a product of a bacteriophage lambda gene, are the only proteins added to reaction mixtures. No recombination is detected in the absence of either protein. The characteristics of the recombination reaction carried out by these two purified proteins are described. Purified IHF binds to DNA; in the presence of Int, a ternary complex is formed at one of the specific recombination sites. IHF hs no detectable endonuclease or topoisomerase activity. Several possibilities for the role of IHF in recombination are considered.     

Laboratory observations on the burrowing of the snake blenny, Lumpenus lampretaeformis (Walbaum), in soft sediment

The Lumpenus lampretaeformis used in this study were caught on soft sediments in Irvine Bay and Ardmucknish Bay (West Coast of Scotland). In aquaria the fish is capable of constructing and maintaining its own burrow in soft sediments. The burrow has a'Y'configuration which may be made complex by the construction of additional tunnels as the original system begins to decay. The cross sections of these burrows are distinctive in that they have an oval shape in the main tunnel and a rounded cross section in the subsidiary (side) tunnel. Burrowing can be relatively rapid, a burrow with three entrances being constructed within 12 h.