Adaptive Mechanisms in the compound eye of Squilla mantis (Crustacea,Stomatopoda)

Summary Light and dark adaptations were studied in the eye of Squilla mantis. Light adaptation is characterized by (1) a proximal shift of the distal pigment sheath (DPS) surrounding the proximal portion of the crystalline cone above its zone of contact with the rhabdom; (2) flattening of the distal pigment sheath; (3) lengthening of the crystalline cone correlated with shortening of the rhabdom; (4) a migration of screening pigment granules in retinula cells in the protoplasmic bridges crossing the perirhabdomal space. In animals kept in constant darkness, longitudinal displacements of the distal pigment sheath were found to be subject to a circadian rhythm characterized by a maximal light adaptation state at about 5 p.m. and a minimal one at 5 a.m. Screening pigment granule translocation in retinula cells does not show such rhythmic activity.Abbreviations a, b maximal incidence angles in L.A., and D.A., respectively - Cc crystalline cone - Dps distal pigment sheath - I extreme incident light beam - Prs perirhabdomal space - Rh rhabdom - Rp reflecting pigment This research has been supported by grant 3.012-76 of the Swiss National Science Foundation     

Studies on dissimilatory sulfate-reducing bacteria that decompose fatty acids

Three strains (2ac9, 3ac10 and 4ac11) of oval to rodshaped, Gram negative, nonsporing sulfate-reducing bacteria were isolated from brackish water and marine mud samples with acetate as sole electron donor. All three strains grew in simple defined media supplemented with biotin and 4-aminobenzoic acid as growth factors. Acetate was the only electron donor utilized by strain 2ac9, while the other two strains used in addition ethanol and/or lactate. Sulfate served as electron acceptor and was reduced to H₂S. Complete oxidation of acetate to CO₂ was shown by stoichiometric measurements with strain 2ac9 in batch cultures using sulfate, sulfite or thiosulfate as electron acceptors. With sulfate an average growth yield of 4.8 g cell dry weight was obtained per mol of acetate oxidized; with sulfite or thiosulfate the growth yield on acetate was about twice as high. None of the strains contained desulfoviridin. In strain 2ac9 cytochromes of the b- and c-type were detected. Strain 2ac9 is described as type strain of the new species and genus, Desulfobacter postgatei.     

A new anaerobic,sporing, acetate-oxidizing,sulfate-reducing bacterium,Desulfotomaculum (emend.) acetoxidans

Archives of Microbiology - A new strictly anaerobic, polarly flagellated, sporing, acetate-oxidizing, sulfate-reducing bacterium was isolated from anaerobic fresh or sea water mud samples. The...     

Preparation of asymmetric,cerebroside sulfate-containing phospholipid vesicles

A procedure is described which inserts asymmetrically cerebroside sulfate (‘sulfatide’) into the outer leaflet of bilayered phospholipid vesicles. Cerebroside sulfate is adsorbed onto a cellulose, filter-paper support and, when incubated with phosphatidylcholine vesicles is transferred to and inserted into the outer leaflet of these vesicles. This transfer occurs at, or above the transition temperature of the phospholipid and follows a similar pattern with small or larger (‘fused’) unilamellar vesicles. The transfer is linear with time for 1–2 h and is maximal after about 6 h, when the sulfatide content reaches about 6 mol% of the total quantity of phospholipid, corresponding to about 10 mol% of the phospholipids present in the outer layer. Initial rates of sulfatide transfer were somewhat increased when the vesicles contained a positively charged lipid (e.g. stearylamine) and decreased when this lipid was negatively charged (e.g. dicetyl phosphate) or hydrophobic (e.g. cholesterol). Divalent ions markedly inhibited sulfatide transfer and monovalent ions did so to a lesser degree. Once incorporated into the outer leaflet of the vesicle, the sulfatide could not be removed by washing with buffer, 1 M NaCl or 1 M urea.     

Comparative titration of arginyl residues in purified D-β-hydroxybutyrate apodehydrogenase and in the reconstituted phospholipid-enzyme complex

In order to titrate and understand the role of arginyl residues of D-β-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase, arginyl specific reagents: butanedione, 1,2-cyclohexanedione and phenylglyoxal were incubated with three different forms of the enzyme; native enzyme (inner mitochondrial membrane bound), purified apoenzyme (phospholipid -free) and phospholipid-enzyme complex (reconstituted active form).After complete inactivation of the enzyme by [¹⁴C]-phenylglyoxal, the number of modified arginyl residues was different: one with the lipid-free apoenzyme and three with the phospholipid-enzyme complex, suggesting a conformational change of the enzyme triggered by the presence of phospholipids.After exhaustive chemical modification either of the apoenzyme or of the phospholipid-enzyme complex with [¹⁴C]-phenylglyoxal, four arginyl residues were titrated indicating that these residues are located in the hydrophilic part of the enzyme, not interacting with phospholipids.Reconstituted enzyme inactivated by butanedione could no longer bind a pseudosubstrate (succinate) which indicates that an arginyl residue is involved in the enzyme-substrate complex formation.The values of second order rate constants of D-β-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase inactivation by butanedione and 1,2-cyclohexanedione were unchanged with the three enzyme forms, suggesting that phospholipids are not involved in the substrate binding mechanism.     

The protein phosphatase inhibitor, okadaic acid, potentiates the stimulatory effect of phorbol ester on phosphatidylcholine synthesis, but not on phospholipid hydrolysis, in fibroblasts.

The potent protein phosphatase inhibitor, okadaic acid, was used to determine the possible role of protein phosphorylation reaction(s) in phorbol ester-induced synthesis and hydrolysis of phosphatidylcholine (PtdCho) in NIH 3T3 fibroblasts. Okadaic acid (2 microM) was found to enhance the stimulatory effects of lower concentrations (2.5-25 nM) of phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) on PtdCho synthesis, but not on PtdCho hydrolysis, after treatments for 30-60 min. These data support a view that in fibroblasts PMA stimulates only PtdCho synthesis, and not PtdCho hydrolysis, by a protein phosphorylation-dependent mechanism.     

Cap structure of U3 small nucleolar RNA in animal and plant cells is different. gamma-Monomethyl phosphate cap structure in plant RNA.

U3 small nucleolar RNA (snoRNA) is an abundant small RNA involved in the processing of pre-ribosomal RNA of eukaryotic cells. U3 snoRNA has been previously characterized from several sources, including human, rat, mouse, frog, fruit fly, dinoflagellates, slime mold, and yeast; in all these organisms, U3 snoRNA contains trimethylguanosine cap structure. In all instances where investigated, the trimethylguanosine-capped snRNAs including U3 snoRNA, are synthesized by RNA polymerase II. However, in higher plants, the U3 snoRNA is synthesized by RNA polymerase III and contains a cap structure different from trimethylguanosine (Kiss, T., and Solymosy, F. (1990) Nucleic Acids Res. 18, 1941-1949; Marshallsay, C., Kiss, T., and Filipowicz, W. (1990) Nucleic Acids Res. 18, 3451-3458; Kiss, T., Marshallsay, C., and Filipowicz, W. (1991) Cell 65, 517-526). In this study, we present evidence that cowpea and, most likely, tomato plant U3 snoRNA contains a methyl-pppA cap structure. These data show that the same U3 snoRNA contains different cap structures in different species and suggest that the kind of cap structure that an uridylic acid-rich small nuclear RNA contains is dependent on the RNA polymerase responsible for its synthesis. In vitro synthesized plant U3 snoRNA, with pppA or pppG as its 5' end, was converted to methyl-pppA/G cap structure in vitro when incubated with extracts prepared from wheat germ or HeLa cells. These data show that the capping machinery is conserved in organisms as evolutionarily distant as plants and mammals. Nucleotides 1-45 of tomato U3 snoRNA, which are capable of forming a stem-loop structure, are sufficient to direct the methyl cap formation in vitro.