Spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia, chondroitin sulfate type: a possible defect of PAPS--chondroitin sulfate sulfotransferase in humans

Four patients with an unusual form of spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia excreted in the urine undersulfated chondroitin 6-sulfate (Biochem. Med. $\text{7}$, 415–423, 1973). The sera of these patients show a low activity of PAPS — chondroitin sulfate sulfotransferase, while the undersulfated chondroitin sulfate present in their urine is a much better acceptor of ${}^{35}\text{SO}{}_4$ than standard chondroitin sulfate when they are incubated with [${}^{35}\text{S}$]PAPS and normal sulfotransferases. These results suggest that in these patients the skeletal lesions are secondary to a defect in the synthesis of chondroitin sulfate involving specifically the sulfotransferase activity.     

Inhibition of peroxidase by algal humic and fulvic acids

In contrast to their soil counterparts, algal fulvic acids were more inhibitory than the corresponding humic acids. Fulvic and humic acids fromFucus vesiculosus were more efficient than the correspondingLaminaria digitata acids in inactivating the enzyme.Laminaria humic acids, which have no phenolic hydroxyls, showed a concentration dependent inhibition hardly in accordance with the presumed role played by these groups in the activity of oxidases.     

Genetic variants of serum alpha1-antitrypsin (Pi types) in Portuguese.

The results of Pi typing on 330 Portuguese from the area of Lisbon are reported. We found six phenotypes and four alleles out of the 24 described in the literature. The allele PiM is the most frequent as in other populations, PiS shows a high frequency (0.1152), and PiF is absent, which agrees satisfactorily with former studies carried out in Spain. These results are compared with others and the entity of the Iberian population is evoked.     

Creatine and creatinine quantification in olympic athletes: dried blood spot analysis pilot study

Capillary dried blood spot (DBS) samples facilitate field-based collection without venipuncture. This pilot study aims to evaluate the viability of creatine (Cr) and creatinine (Crt) quantification using fresh capillary serum (Cr_S/Crt_S) and DBS samples (Cr_DBS/Crt_DBS), using Flow Injection Analysis Mass Spectrometry (FIA – MS). Nine Olympic Athletes provided a capillary blood sample to assess Cr_S/Crt_S and Cr_DBS/Crt_DBS quantified by FIA – MS. No difference between Crt_S (mean ± SD: 813.6 ± 102.4 μmol/L) and Crt_DBS (812.4 ± 108.1 μmol/L) was observed with acceptable variance [SEM 88.7; CV 10.7%; ICC 0.57 (CI 95% 0.06 – 0.84)] and agreement [very strong (Spearman: r = 0.77; p < 0.01) or strong (Pearson: r = 0.56; p = 0.04); Bland Altman: lower (-193) and upper (+196) limits of agreement]. Cr_S (mean ± SD: 691.8 ± 165.2 μmol/L) was significantly different to Cr_DBS (2911 ± 571.4 μmol/L) with unacceptable variance [SEM 171.6; CV 27%; ICC 0.002 (CI 95% -0.02 – 0.07)] and ‘weak’ agreement [Spearman: r = 0.21, p = 0.47 and Pearson: r = 0.06, p = 0.84; Bland Altman lower (-3367) and upper (-1072) limits of agreement]. Crt quantification is viable using both Crt_S and Crt_DBS (but not for Cr and Cr_S/Cr_DBS), with the DBS tissue handling technique offering several methodological and practice facing advantages. Future work should expand upon the sample size, explore sport/discipline relevant analytes across a full competitive season, including key training, recovery and performance blocks of their periodized performance plan.     

Characterization of the yeast population in olive brines

Yeasts were isolated from spontaneous fermentations of olives in brines. Ascomycetous species dominated the yeast flora (>90%) and among them Pichia membranae-faciens and related species. Some components of the olives were tested as substrates for growth. Killer activity was observed in approximately half of the isolates, and the wider spectra were displayed by strains of Pichia anomala .     

Common and rare species respond to similar niche processes in macroinvertebrate metacommunities

Ecologists have long investigated why communities are composed of a few common species and many rare species. Most studies relate rarity to either niche differentiation among species or spatial processes. There is a parallel between these processes and the processes proposed to explain the structure of metacommunities. Based on a metacommunity perspective and on data on stream macroinvertebrates from different regions of Brazil, we answer two questions. 1) Are sets of common and rare species affected by similar niche and spatial processes? 2) How does the community composition of common and of rare species differ? The main hypothesis we test is that common species are mainly affected by environmental factors, whereas rare species are mostly influenced by dispersal limitation. We used variation partitioning to determine the proportion of variation explained by the environment and space in common and rare species matrices. Contrary to our expectations, evidence supported the idea that both common and rare species are affected mainly by environmental factors, even after controlling for the differing information content between common and rare species matrices. Moreover, the abundance of some common species is also a good predictor of variation in rare species matrices. Niche differences are unlikely to be the sole cause of patterns of rarity in these metacommunities. We suggest that sets of common and rare species react to similar major environmental gradients and that rare species also respond to processes that operate at a more fine‐grained spatial scale, particularly biotic interactions. We extend the view that species sorting is the dominant process structuring metacommunities and argue that future studies focusing on rarity would benefit from a metacommunity perspective.     

Development of microsatellite markers for the neotropical tree species Dipteryx alata (Fabaceae)

? Premise of the study: Microsatellite markers were developed for the population genetic analyses of the neotropical tree Dipteryx alata (Fabaceae). ? Methods and Results: Microsatellites were developed from a genomic shotgun library. Polymorphism at each microsatellite loci was analyzed based on 94 individuals from three populations. Eight loci amplified successfully and presented one to 10 alleles, and expected heterozygosities ranged from 0.097 to 0.862. Four loci also amplified in Pterodon emarginatus and presented similar polymorphism. ? Conclusion: The eight microsatellite primer pairs are potentially suitable for population genetic studies and successfully amplified in another Fabaceae species.     

The N‐Terminal Sequences of Four Major Hydrogenosomal Proteins Are Not Essential for Import into Hydrogenosomes of Trichomonas vaginalis

The human pathogen Trichomonas vaginalis harbors hydrogenosomes, organelles of mitochondrial origin that generate ATP through hydrogen‐producing fermentations. They contain neither genome nor translation machinery, but approximately 500 proteins that are imported from the cytosol. In contrast to well‐studied organelles like Saccharomyces mitochondria, very little is known about how proteins are transported across the two membranes enclosing the hydrogenosomal matrix. Recent studies indicate that—in addition to N‐terminal transit peptides—internal targeting signals might be more common in hydrogenosomes than in mitochondria. To further characterize the extent to which N‐terminal and internal motifs mediate hydrogenosomal protein targeting, we transfected Trichomonas with 24 hemagglutinin (HA) tag fusion constructs, encompassing 13 different hydrogenosomal and cytosolic proteins of the parasite. Hydrogenosomal targeting of these proteins was analyzed by subcellular fractionation and independently by immunofluorescent localization. The investigated proteins include some of the most abundant hydrogenosomal proteins, such as pyruvate ferredoxin oxidoreductase (PFO), which possesses an amino‐terminal targeting signal that is processed on import into hydrogenosomes, but is shown here not to be required for import into hydrogenosomes. Our results demonstrate that the deletion of N‐terminal signals of hydrogenosomal precursors generally has little, if any, influence upon import into hydrogenosomes. Although the necessary and sufficient signals for hydrogenosomal import recognition appear complex, targeting to the organelle is still highly specific, as demonstrated by the finding that six HA‐tagged glycolytic enzymes, highly expressed under the same promoter as other constructs studied here, localized exclusively to the cytosol and did not associate with hydrogenosomes.