Distribution of non-electrolytes in Halobacterium cells. I. Halobacterium marismortui.

Halobacterium marismortui is an obligatorily halophilic species isolated from the Dead Sea. When inulin, fructose or glycerol are added to suspensions of bacteria, the amounts of these substances recovered from centrifuges pellets are more than could have been present in the extracellular space. Thus a certain amount becomes associated with the bacteria, though not enough to equilibrate with all the cell water. The inulin or fructose concentration found after uptake of these substances was correlated with the cell sodium concentration. It is argued that inulin, fructose or glycerol is unlikely to be adsorbed on the outside of the bacteria and more probably crosses the plasma membrane. A possible scheme for explaining the data is presented.     

Rules of thumb for judging ecological theories

An impressive fit to historical data suggests to biologists that a given ecological model is highly valid. Models often achieve this fit at the expense of exaggerated complexity that is not justified by empirical evidence. Because overfitted theories complement the traditional assumption that ecology is 'messy', they generally remain unquestioned. Using predation theory as an example, we suggest that a fit-driven appraisal of model value is commonly misdirected; although fit to historical data can be important, the simplicity and generality of a theory--and thus its ecological value--are of comparable importance. In particular, we argue that theories whose complexity greatly exceeds the complexity of the problem that they address should be rejected. We suggest heuristics for distinguishing between valuable ecological theories and their overfitted brethren.     

The effect of dormancy on glucose uptake in gladiolus cormels

The uptake of glucose and of 3-O-methyl-d-glucose by cormel slices of Gladiolus X gandavensis Van Houtte was studied in relation to cormel dormancy. Uptake was higher in nondormant cormels. Incubation of nondormant cormels with abscisic acid (ABA) reduced their uptake capacity. Treatment of dormant cormels with 6-benzyladenine (BA) did not affect their uptake rate. ABA and BA promoted O₂ uptake, indicating that differences in uptake are not related to differences in energy supply.     

An Electron Microscopic Investigation into the Effect of EDTA on Plant Cell Wall

To study the effect of EDTA on cell wall structure and the reversal of this effect by uranyl ion, thin sections of pea root tips were examined in the electron microscope. EDTA is known to facilitate separation of the cells in root tips. When sections of fixed and embedded EDTA-treated roots are floated on a uranyl-acetate solution, a loose network is revealed that would seem to be cellulose. Incorporation of uranyl into the roots, if it occurs prior to fixation, brings about recementation of the cells. After such treatment, a marginal darker area and a median brighter one can be observed in the wall, and the whole structure appears more compact again. Comparison of the results of the various treatments suggests that cellulose-cementing material is dispersed throughout the entire wall, and that its distribution parallels that of cellulose.     

BAG-1M is up-regulated in hippocampus of Alzheimer's disease patients and associates with tau and APP proteins

The accumulation of tau and amyloid beta proteins is the major molecular pathology of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The mechanisms leading to the accumulation of these proteins are not completely clear. Hsc-70/Hsp-70, a chaperone protein, has been shown to bind both these proteins and regulate their degradation. We have previously shown that the co-chaperone protein BAG-1 can inhibit the degradation of tau by forming a complex with Hsc-70 and tau. In this current work, we show that there is an increase in the BAG-1M isoform in the hippocampus of AD patients. In addition, BAG-1 binds to both tau and amyloid precursor protein physically, and is found highly expressed in the same neurons that contain intracellular tau or amyloid in hippocampal sections from AD patients. Over-expression of BAG-1M in cell culture also induced an increase in both tau and amyloid precursor protein levels. In conclusion, we report a specific increase of BAG-1M in human AD patients, which is both physically and functionally associated to the two major molecular markers of AD.     

The May threshold and life-history allometry

One of Robert May''s classic results was finding that population dynamics become chaotic when the average lifetime rate of reproduction exceeds a certain value. Populations whose reproductive rates exceed this May threshold probably become extinct. The May threshold in each case depends upon the shape of the density-dependence curve, which differs among models of population growth. However, species of different sizes and generation times that share a roughly similar density-dependence curve will also share a similar May threshold. Here, we argue that this fact predicts a striking allometric regularity among animal taxa: lifetime reproductive rate should be roughly independent of body size. Such independence has been observed in diverse taxa, but has usually been ascribed to a fortuitous combination of physiologically based life-history allometries. We suggest, instead, that the ecological elimination of unstable populations within groups that share a value of the May threshold is a likely cause of this allometry.     

rRNA pseudouridylation defects affect ribosomal ligand binding and translational fidelity from yeast to human cells

How pseudouridylation (Ψ), the most common and evolutionarily conserved modification of rRNA, regulates ribosome activity is poorly understood. Medically, Ψ is important because the rRNA Ψ synthase, DKC1, is mutated in X-linked dyskeratosis congenita (X-DC) and Hoyeraal-Hreidarsson (HH) syndrome. Here, we characterize ribosomes isolated from?a yeast strain in which Cbf5p, the yeast homolog of DKC1, is catalytically impaired through a D95A mutation (cbf5-D95A). Ribosomes from cbf5-D95A cells display decreased affinities for tRNA binding to the A and P sites as well as the cricket paralysis virus internal ribosome entry site (IRES), which interacts with both the P and the E sites of the ribosome. This biochemical impairment in ribosome activity manifests as decreased translational fidelity and IRES-dependent translational initiation, which are also evident in mouse and human cells deficient for DKC1 activity. These findings uncover specific roles for Ψ modification in ribosome-ligand interactions that are conserved in yeast, mouse, and humans.     

Verification of a monogenic hypothesis on pedigrees with an arbitrary structure selected for proband. I. Alternative trait

On the example of human familial hypercholesterinemia, a method for verification of hypothesis on monogenic diallele control of alternative characters is demonstrated. An algorithm of estimation of genotype frequencies and penetrances by pedigrees selected for collective probands, using the maximum likelihood method, is described.