The Isolation and Characterization of Glycosylated Phosphoproteins from Herring Fish Bones

Past studies of bone extracellular matrix phosphoproteins such as osteopontin and bone sialoprotein have yielded important biological information regarding their role in calcification and the regulation of cellular activity. Most of these studies have been limited to proteins extracted from mammalian and avian vertebrates and nonvertebrates. The present work describes the isolation and purification of two major highly glycosylated and phosphorylated extracellular matrix proteins of 70 and 22 kDa from herring fish bones. The 70-kDa phosphoprotein has some characteristics of osteopontin with respect to amino acid composition and susceptibility to thrombin cleavage. Unlike osteopontin, however, it was found to contain high levels of sialic acid similar to bone sialoprotein. The 22-kDa protein has very different properties such as very high content of phosphoserine (∼270 Ser(P) residues/1000 amino acid residues), Ala, and Asx residues. The N-terminal amino acid sequence analysis of both the 70-kDa (NPIMA(M)ETTS(M)DSKVNPLL) and the 22-kDa (NQDMAMEASSDPEAA) fish phosphoproteins indicate that these unique amino acid sequences are unlike any published in protein databases. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay revealed that the 70-kDa phosphoprotein was present principally in bone and in calcified scales, whereas the 22-kDa phosphoprotein was detected only in bone. Immunohistological analysis revealed diffusely positive immunostaining for both the 70- and 22-kDa phosphoproteins throughout the matrix of the bone. Overall, this work adds additional support to the concept that the mechanism of biological calcification has common evolutionary and fundamental bases throughout vertebrate species.     

Effects of 1-ethynylpyrene and related inhibitors of P450 isozymes upon benzo[a]pyrene metabolism by liver microsomes

The effects of three aryl acetylenes, 1-ethynylpyrene (EP), 2-ethynylnaphthalene (EN) and 3-ethynylperylene (EPE), upon the metabolism of benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) by microsomes isolated from rat liver were investigated. These aryl acetylenes all inhibited the total metabolism of BaP. Formation of BaP 7,8-dihydrodiol and BaP tetrol products by microsomal preparations from rats that had been pretreated with 3-methylcholanthrene (3MC) were preferentially inhibited. The effects of EP upon the metabolism of BaP 7,8-dihydrodiol by microsomes from rat liver were also studied. This aryl acetylene strongly inhibited the formation of BaP tetrols from BaP 7,8-dihydrodiol by liver microsomes both from untreated rats and from rats pretreated with 3MC, but enhanced the conversion of the BaP dihydrodiol into other metabolites.     

Late Glacial and Holocene environmental and climatic changes from a limnological transect through Colombia, northern South America

We present a synthesis of the palaeolimnological and palaeoclimatic reconstructions of four sites in Colombia. The record from Lake El Caimito, the westernmost site on the Pacific Coast, dates from the Late Holocene and shows lacustrine sedimentation frequently interrupted by fluvial pulses. These pulses probably reflect periods of increased precipitation related to La Niña phases. East of El Caimito site is the Patía swamp, situated between the Western and Central Andean Cordilleras. The Patía records the dynamics of forest expansion/reduction and changes in water levels. Although the climatic signal of the Patia core is difficult to reconstruct, there is a clear increase in humidity in the Mid-Holocene. The Fúquene Lake record, on the Eastern Andean Cordillera, records dry and cold conditions during the Late Pleistocene, very humid conditions for the early Mid-Holocene, and dry conditions during the mid-Late Holocene. Las Margaritas site, on the eastern savannas, records dry conditions during the Early Holocene and overall humid conditions for the Mid- and Late Holocene. Climate conditions from the Fuquene and Las Margaritas sites seem to reflect the Holocene movements of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ); the latter site being more affected by humidity coming from the Amazon region.     

The effect of temperature on progeny allocation and short interval timing in a parasitoid wasp

Abstract The parasitoid wasp Trichogramma dendrolimi Matsumura sets the number of progeny allocated to its insect egg hosts according to the duration of its initial transit walk across the host surface. Although cooling the wasp reduces its walking speed, reduced temperature does not affect progeny allocation. By locally heating and cooling the wasps, the initial transit can be thermally uncoupled from the subsequent oviposition. Using this technique we show that the timing of initial transit duration is temperature-dependent. These findings suggest that short interval timing by Trichogramma differs physiologically from the temperature compensated clocks that have been described for other insects.