Qualitative analysis by isoelectric focusing of the protein content of Pharbitis nil apices and cotyledons during floral induction

The protein content of apices and cotyledons in Morally inducedor vegetative plants of Pharbitis nilwas examined using isoelectricfocusing. No differences were found in the protein patternsproduced by apical tissue with and without floral induction.Cotyledons, however, repeatedly showed the distinct loss ofa single protein band on floral induction. ¹Current address: Department of Radiation Biology and Biophysics,The University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentristry,Rochester, N.Y. 14642, U.S.A. (Received March 29, 1976; )     

A radioimmunoassay for the Gm(b0) allotype of human immunoglobulins

A radioimmunoassay for the human allotype Gm(b⁰) which provides a sensitive and quantitative measurement of the level of this IgG3 genetic marker has been developed. The assay system can detect 15 nanograms of Gm(b⁰) IgG3 protein and is not inhibited by immunoglobulins of other allotypes and isotypes. Using this assay, good correlation was found between IgG3 and Gm(b⁰) levels in homozygous Gm(f, b⁰) sera and gene dosage effects could be confirmed. The correlation between Gm(b⁰) levels and IgG3 in Negroid Gm(a, b⁰) sera was not as good. This reduced correlation has been attributed to antigen differences in the IgG3 Gm markers characteristic of some Negroid Gm(a, b⁰) sera.     

Transformation of glucocorticoid-receptor complex from rat thymocytes and its accumulation in chromatin in a cell-free system

The accumulation of glucocorticoid-receptor complex from rat thymocyte cytosol in a thymocyte chromatin preparation has been studied. A thymocyte 100 000 × g supernatant was prepared and the receptor stabilized by the addition of glycerol until 40%. Tritiated glucocorticoid-receptor complex was formed by incubation of this solution with tritiated glucocorticoids at −5°C. The chromatin accumulated part of the complex at incubations at 4°C. Receptor without hormone was not accumulated in the chromatin. The accumulation from cytosol diluted and preincubated at 4°C prior to the addition of the chromatin occurred with a high rate, whereas a low rate was seen without preincubation. This indicated a transformation of the complex during the preincubation. This transformation was found to be obligatory for the accumulation and to be promoted by dilution of the supernatant and by high ionic strength. The transformed and the untransformed complexes differed with respect to partition coefficients in an aqueous dextran-polyethylene glycol two-phase system and in their behaviour during adsorptions with dextran-coated charcoal, where great loss of transformed complex was observed. The accumulation of complex in the chromatin was found to be unsaturable in the concentration interval studied (0.07–0.25 nM).     

Die Bedeutung der Elytren bei Vertretern desMelolontha-Flugtyps (Coleoptera)

The function of the flapping elytra was investigated in garden shafers (Melolontha melolontha L.) and rhinoceros beetles (Oryctes boas Fabr.).

Chromosome numbers in some North American species of the genus Cirsium. III. Western United States,Mexico, and Guatemala

New data are presented on chromosome numbers for 36 species, two varieties, and two hybrids ofCirsium (Compositae). These include first reports forC. rhothophilum (2n = 34),C. andrewsii (2n = 32),C. crassicaule (2n = 32),C. quercetorum (2n= 32, 112),C. pascuarense (2n= 32),C. douglasii var.canescens (2n = 30, 34),C. hydrophilum (2n = 32),C. neomexicanum (2n = 30),C. cymosum (2n = 30, 34),C. acantholepis (2n= 34),C. radians (2n = 34), C.grahami (2n = 32),C. nigriceps (2n = 36),C. andersonii (2n= 32, 64),C. anartiolepis (2n = 34), andC. subcoriaceum (2n= 34). The published data on chromosome numbers of Eurasian and AmericanCirsium are summarized. In Eurasia, speciation has taken place primarily at the diploid level but is occasionally reinforced by polyploidy. The ancestral base number of 17 has been preserved in almost all species, and there is little evidence that reduction in chromosome number has played a significant role in speciation. In America speciation has proceeded exclusively at the diploid level, but the ancestral genome of 17 chromosomes has been retained in only about half of the species examined. In the remaining species, restructuring of the genome has occurred resulting in a reduction in number from 17 to 9 in extreme cases. Polyploidy, when seen, is of no significance. It is suggested that all species with greatly reduced numbers may represent products of a single reduction series.     

Revision of the bulbous Iridaceae of North America

The native bulbous Iridaceae of North America excluding Mexico comprise seven species in four genera. The type species ofAlophia Herb. (1836) is shown to belong toEustylis Engelm. & Gray (1836), hence the latter genus is reduced to synonymy. The well known genusAlophia (sensu auct. non Herb.) (Herbertia Sweet) now takes the nameTrifurcia. As a result of the new interpretation ofAlophia, new combinations are made for the North American and Latin American species ofTrifurcia andAlophia. New chromosome counts are given forNemastylis floridana (2n = 56) andTrifurcia lahue (2n = 56).     

Lipid-protein interactions at the erythrocyte membrane. Different influence of glucose and sorbose on membrane lipid transition

When observed over a temperature range, erythrocyte membrane lipids undergo a transition at 18–20 °C (Zimmer, G. and Shirmer, H. (1974) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 345, 314–320). This observation has prompted an investigation of the effects that substrate binding has on the transition of the red cell membrane. Glucose and sorbose were compared, since transport kinetics of these sugars still pose unresolved questions.In membranes, preloaded with glucose, the break at the transition temperature was intensified, while it was abolished or reversed in membranes preloaded with sorbose.These results were corroborated using different solubilization procedures (sonication, sodium dodecyl sulfate treatment) of the membranes, and also different techniques (viscosimetry, 90° light scattering, 1-anilino-naphthalene-8-sulfonate fluorescence).In extracted membrane lipids, viscosimetry indicated a break at transition temperature after preloading with either glucose or sorbose.Disc electrophoresis revealed a different binding pattern of the two sugars.It is suggested, that the amplification of the discontinuity in red cell membranes by glucose and the abolition or reversal of the break by sorbose are mediated by membrane protein- and/or membrane lipid-protein interaction.