Deoxyribonucleic Acid Base Compositions of Selected Mycoplasmas and L-Phase Variants

Deoxyribonucleic acid base compositions were determined for 25 Mycoplasma strains and 6 L-phase variant strains. Values obtained correlated well with the results of other investigators.     

Isolation, Composition, and Structure of Membrane of Listeria monocytogenes

The plasma membrane of Listeria monocytogenes strain 42 was prepared by osmotic lysis of protoplasts with tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane (Tris) buffer, pH 8.2, containing MgCl₂ and glucose, followed by washing with NaCl and MgCl₂ in Tris buffer. Electron microscopy showed that the preparation was not contaminated with cytoplasmic material. The membrane preparation was composed of 55 to 60% protein, 1.5% ribonucleic acid, 0.1% deoxyribonucleic acid, 1.3 to 2.3% carbohydrate, 0.17 to 0.38% amino sugar, 0.2 to 0.4% rhamnose, 3.5 to 4.0% phosphorus, 10.5 to 12.0% nitrogen, and 30 to 35% lipid. Amino acid composition of the washed membrane showed some variation from that of the whole cells. Sulfur-containing amino acids were not present in the membrane hydrolysate. The membrane carbohydrate contained glucose, galactose, ribose, and arabinose. The membrane lipid was 80 to 85% phospholipid and 15 to 20% neutral lipid. The lipid contained 2.3 to 3.0% phosphorus, 2.5 to 3.0% carbohydrate, and a very small amount of nitrogen (0.2 to 0.3%). The phospholipid was of the phosphatidyl glycerol type. Electron micrographs of the washed membrane showed three layers. The outer and inner layers varied in thickness from 25 to 37 A and the middle layer from 20 to 25 A. The total thickness varied between 85 and 100 A. These preparations contained many vesicles which stained heavily with lead citrate. Some vesicles were also attached to the protoplast ghosts in the form of extrusions or intrusions, or both. Membrane preparations obtained by lysis of protoplasts in the absence of MgCl₂ were fragmented and contained less lipid (20 to 22%) and ribonucleic acid (0.3 to 0.5%) than preparations prepared with MgCl₂.     

Survey of the U.S. Gulf Coast for the Presence of Clostridium botulinum

In sediments and animals collected during warm weather months between Key West, Fla., and Brownsville, Tex., Clostridium botulinum, predominantly type E, was demonstrable. Incidence was somewhat higher in the eastern Gulf animals, but the organism was present to the southernmost limits of both Texas and Florida. Types A and F were never detected in warm weather. No bottom type or any single species seemed exclusively vulnerable. In samples collected during colder weather, the east-west incidence differential was minimized in animals but not in sediments, overall incidence was lowered, all known types were present, and type E no longer predominated. Detection by fluorescent-antibody techniques was found to be inadequate.     

Cervical Traction in the Home

The indications for and contraindications to cervical traction are discussed. The social and economic advantages to be obtained from carrying out such treatment at home are obvious. A special technique is described which does not make use of weights and in which traction is applied in a position of flexion rather than of extension.     

Hypoxia-induced periodic breathing in newborn lambs

This study was designed to elucidate the effect of hypoxia on the breathing rhythmicity and the effect of hypoxia on periodic breathing (PB) in two groups of newborn lambs (less than 2 days and 10 days of age). Lambs undergoing a hypoxic ventilatory test [0.08 inspired O2 fraction (FIo2) for 13 min] experienced no apnea or PB in hypoxia, but all developed PB during the 1-min period immediately after their abrupt return to 0.21 FIo2. This PB occurred when alternation of arterial PO2 and PCO2 in mild hypoxic and hypocapnic conditions induced an overshoot-undershoot response of the chemical drive to breathe. The magnitude of PB was found to be greater in the animals with a higher peripheral chemoreflex sensitivity to hypoxia but ceased altogether when the hypoxic-hypocapnic conditions were resolved. When these conditions were removed more quickly, that is, when the animals were returned either to 0.50 FIo2 or to 0.03 FIco2, no PB was observed. To clarify the role of hypoxia as a central depressant on the genesis of PB, we tested to determine whether additional central tissue hypoxia, using carboxyhemoglobin (30%), would worsen the episodes of PB. No effect on breathing rhythmicity was observed. These findings suggest not only that, in newborn animals and adults, the mechanisms of post-hypoxia-induced PB are identical but that the PB elicited in mild hypoxic conditions is a peripheral chemoreflex-mediated event rather than a centrally mediated one.     

Crystallization and preliminary X-ray characterization of a soybean seed lipoxygenase

An isoenzyme of soybean (Glycine max L. Merrill cv. Provar) lipoxygenase (EC 1.13.11.12) has been crystallized using the vapor diffusion method. Crystals were grown from solutions of the protein (7 mg/ml) using 10 to 20% (w/v) polyethylene glycol 8000 in citrate/phosphate buffer (pH 5.7) containing 0.5% (w/v) n-octyl-beta-D-glucopyranoside. The crystals reached maximum dimensions of 0.3 mm x 0.2 mm x greater than 2 mm. The enzyme crystallized in space group C222(1) with unit cell dimensions a = 246 A, b = 193 A and c = 75 A. A calculated Vm value of 2.35 A3/dalton was obtained assuming two molecules per asymmetric unit. The density of the crystals was found to be 1.16 g/ml, which confirmed the presence of two molecules per asymmetric unit and indicated a solvent content of 47.5%.     

Weights for data related by a tree

How can one characterize a set of data collected from different biological species, or indeed any set of data related by an evolutionary tree? The structure imposed by the tree implies that the data are not independent, and for most applications this should be taken into account. We describe strategies for weighting the data that circumvent some of the problems of dependency.