Expression of a Clostridium thermocellum endoglucanase gene in Lactobacillus plantarum

Recombinant plasmid pM25 containing the celE gene of Clostridium thermocellum, which codes for an enzymatically active endoglucanase, was transformed into Lactobacillus plantarum by electroporation. Strains harboring pM25 expressed thermostable endoglucanase, which was found predominantly in the culture medium. Two other plasmids, pGK12 and pSA3, were transformed into L. plantarum, and the stability of each plasmid was evaluated.     

Chemokinetic Motility Responses of the Cyanobacterium Oscillatoria terebriformis

Oscillatoria terebriformis, a gliding, filamentous, thermophilic cyanobacterium, exhibited an inhibition of gliding motility upon exposure to fructose. The observed response was transient, and the duration of nonmotility was directly proportional to the concentration of fructose. Upon resumption of motility, the rate of motility was also inversely proportional to the concentration of fructose. Sulfide caused a similar response. The effect of sulfide was specific and not due to either anoxia or negative redox potential. Exposure to glucose, acetate, lactate, or mat interstitial water did not elicit any motility response.     

TGF-Beta inhibits the in vitro induction of lymphokine-activated killing activity

Summary Employing serum-free media, human peripheral blood mononuclear cells, and purified recombinant interleukin-2 (IL-2), conditions were observed in which the development of IL-2-driven cytotoxic activity was suppressed. The cytotoxic activity of such IL-2-generated lymphokine activated killing (LAK) was tested against natural killer-resistant cultured tumor cells (Daudi, Raji, and a glioma). LAK generation was inhibited by addition of some normal sera, normal platelets, or some tumor cells. Because recent reports have indicated that transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta)-like factors are often secreted by tumors and the acidic alpha granules of platelets and can be present in sera, we tested the effect of purified human TGF-beta on the activation of LAK. Our results indicated that TGF-beta is very suppressive for LAK induction, and can completely prevent both the IL-2-driven proliferation and cytotoxicity at concentrations as low as 5 ng/ml. Titrations of IL-2 and of TGF-beta indicated that the suppression is dose-dependent and can be avoided by employing higher levels of IL-2. It was also found that the suppressive effect of TGF-beta can be overcome by washing suppressed cell populations and further culture in low levels of IL-2. Collectively, these data indicate that TGF-beta can be a potent inhibitor of LAK generation under standard activation conditions, but that this effect is regulated by the relative level of IL-2 and may be overcome and/or reversed in vitro.     

The production of haploid wheat plants from wheat x maize crosses

Summary Hybrid embryos from hexaploid wheat x maize crosses rapidly lose the maize chromosomes to produce haploid wheat embryos. Such embryos almost always aborted when left to develop on the plant, and only 1 was recovered from 2440 florets (0.17% of the expected number). Embryos had greater viability in spikelet culture, 47 (26.5% of the expected number) being recovered from 706 ovaries. Thirty-two of these embryos germinated to give green plants, 31 of which were haploid (21 wheat chromosomes) and 1 of which was euploid (42 wheat chromosomes). Spikelet culture enabled 17.1% of the expected number of embryos to be recovered as haploid plants, a 100-fold improvement on allowing embryos to develop in vivo. Ten haploid plants of Chinese Spring (kr1, kr2), 13 plants of Chinese Spring (Hope 5A) (kr1, Kr2), and 8 of Hope (Kr1, Kr2) were recovered. The potential of wheat x maize crosses for wheat haploid production and for gene transfer from maize to wheat is discussed.     

Thermal Dependence of Tongue-flicking and Comments on Use of Tongue-flicking as an Index of Squamate Behavior

Tongue-flicking rate has often been used as a dependent variable or a component of a dependent variable taken as a measure of responsiveness to chemical stimuli by lizards and snakes. Because temperature has been controlled in most studies, effects of temperature have been largely overlooked. In this study, a constant stimulus, the adult cloacal odor of a conspecific female, was presented to adult scincid lizards (Eumeces laticeps) and temperature was from 15 ° to 35 °C. Tongue-flicking rates by adult Eumeces laticeps in response to cloacal odors of conspecific females were strongly thermally dependent in 20 s and 60 s trial periods. The tongue-flick-temperature curve appears to be roughly quadratic over the entire 15 °-35 °C range studied, with very low rates at 15 ° and 20 °C followed by a rapid rise to maximum tongue-flicking rate at 30 ° and rapid decline to 35 °C. Presumably, similar relationships apply to other lizards and snakes with modifications related to ecological characteristics such as diel activity cycle and foraging mode, to relative position on a scale of eurythermy-stenothermy, and to taxon. Thermal response curves for other stimuli, especially prey odors, are likely to have the same basic form, but have not been determined.     

Serum Albumin Washing Specifically Enhances Arachidonate Incorporation into Synaptosomal Phosphatidylinositols

Arachidonate incorporation into synaptosomal phospholipids was shown to be affected by factors including the procedure for preparation of the membrane fractions and preincubation of synaptosomes prior to assay of incorporation of arachidonate into both phosphatidylcholine (PC) and phosphatidylinositol (PI). However, the inhibition toward incorporation into PIs, but not PCs, was fully reversed when the membranes were washed with bovine serum albumin. A twofold increase in arachidonate incorporation into PIs was also observed when freshly prepared synaptosomes were washed with serum albumin immediately before assay of incorporation activity. The inhibitory action is thought to be due to an increase in polyunsaturated fatty acids and/or their oxidation products which may then elicit a special effect on the acyltransferase responsible for transferring arachidonate into phosphatidylinositols. The differences in fatty acid uptake and response to serum albumin also suggest the presence of different acyltransferase for acyl transfer to PIs and PCs.     

Versatility and specialization in labrid fishes: ecomorphological implications

Summary The term specialized has been used to describe species that possess unique functional attributes and/or a narrow, stereotyped range of attributes, but there are few comparative functional analyses of specialists and generalists. If species with functional morphological specializations are capable of functioning over a broad range, the link between morphology and ecology may be relaxed under certain environmental conditions. In this study, high-speed films of jaw movements during prey capture were compared statistically for three coexisting coral reef fish species in the family Labridae, one trophic specialist and two trophic generalists. The trophic specialist possessed a unique functional feature related to the movement of the hyoid in the floor of the mouth, while the trophic generalists were not observed to possess any functional specializations. All three species showed functional versatility in that they were able to adjust their prey capture mechanism in response to the evasive potential of the prey. The functional versatility of trophic specialists has implications for ecomorphological studies, since species characterized as possessing unique functional or morphological features may demonstrate marked flexibility in ecological variables such as diet or foraging behavior, decreasing the likelihood of identifying correlations between morphology and ecology.