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).     

Temperature dependence of N-phenyl-1-naphthylamine binding in egg lecithin vesicles

The temperature dependence of the binding of PhNapNH₂ ($\text{N-}\text{phenyl-1-naphthylamine}$) to vesicles of egg phosphatidylcholine has been determined. The Arrhenius plot of the association constant exhibits a discontinuity at 20.9 °C, some 30 °C above the broad phase transition region of the phospholipid. In the temperature range above 20 °C, $\text{ΔH}{}^0\text{= ?6100}\text{cal·mol}{}^{\mathrm{?1}}$ and $\text{ΔS}{}^0\text{= 9.7}\text{e. u.}$; in the temperature range below 20 °C, $\text{ΔH}{}^0\text{= 0}\text{cal · mol}{}^{\mathrm{?1}}$ and $\text{ΔS}{}^0\text{= 30.4}\text{e. u.}$ These values are consistent with the view that there are well ordered lipid-lipid bonds below 20 °C which are significantly less important above this temperature. The order in the temperature range of 5 to 20 °C, though significantly greater than that above 20 °C, is still significantly less than that in the crystalline state.     

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.     

Isolation and properties of a ferredoxin from Anabaena Flos-Aquae

Ferredoxin was isolated from the blue-green alga Anabaena flos-aquae. Its homogeneity was shown by conventional and SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and isoelectric focusing on polyacrylamide gel columns, the latter indicating a pI at ca pH 3·7. The absorption spectrum had, in the oxidized state, maxima at 462, 421, 327 and 276 nm, with a shoulder at 284 nm, a spectrum characteristic of plant-type ferredoxins. The 421 : 276 nm absorbance ratio was typically 0.49. The ferredoxin effectively mediated the photoreduction of NADP⁺ by barley chloroplasts depleted of native ferredoxin. The MW obtained by sedimentation-equilibrium and sedimentation velocity-diffusion coefficient studies was ca 12 000 daltons, a value somewhat higher than suggested by amino acid composition data. The ferredoxin contained 2Fe and 2S per molecule.     

Lithium transport across isolated frog skin epithelium

Summary Transepithelial Li⁺ influx was studied in the isolated epithelium from abdominal skin ofRana catesbeiana. With Na⁺-Ringer's as inside medium and Li⁺-Ringer's as outside medium, the Li⁺ influx across the epithelium was 15.6 A/cm². This influx was considerably reduced by removal of either Na⁺ or K⁺ from the inside bath or by the addition of ouabain or amiloride. Epithelial K⁺ or Na⁺ concentration was respectively lower in epithelia bathed in K⁺-free Ringer's or Na⁺-free Ringer's. In conditions of negligible Na⁺ transport, a 20mm Li⁺ gradient (outin) produced across the short-circuited epithelium a Li⁺ influx of 11.8 A/cm² and a mean short-circuit current of 10.2 A/cm². The same Li⁺ gradient in the opposite direction produced a Li⁺ outflux of only 1.9 A/cm². With equal Li⁺ concentration (10.3 and 20.6mm) on both sides of the epithelium, plus Na⁺ in the inside solution only, a stable Li⁺-dependent short-circuit current was observed. Net Li⁺ movement (outin) was also indirectly determined in the presence of an opposing Li⁺ gradient. Although Li⁺ does not substitute for Na⁺ as an activator of the (Na⁺+K⁺)-ATPase from frog skin epithelium, Li⁺ influx appears to be related to Na⁺–K⁺ pump activity. It is proposed that the permeability of the outer barrier to Na⁺ and Li⁺ is regulated by the electrical gradient produced by electrogenic Na⁺–K⁺ pumps located in the membrane of the deeper epithelial cells.