Rifampicin-resistant bacteriophage PBS2 infection and RNA polymerase in Bacillus subtilis

Bacteriophage PBS2 replication is unaffected by rifampicin and other rifamycin derivatives, which are potent inhibitors of Bacillus subtilis RNA synthesis. Extracts of gently-lysed infected cells contain a DNA-dependent RNA polymerase activity which is specific for uracil-containing PBS2 DNA. The PBS2-induced RNA polymerase is insensitive to rifamycin derivatives which inhibit the host's RNA polymerase.     

DEVELOPMENT OF THE DIMORPHIC CHLOROPLASTS OF SUGAR CANE

The vascular bundle sheath cells of sugar cane contain starch-storing chloroplasts lacking grana, whereas the adjacent mesophyll cells contain chloroplasts which store very little starch and possess abundant grana. This study was undertaken to determine the ontogeny of these dimorphic chloroplasts. Proplastids in the two cell types in the meristematic region of light-grown leaves cannot be distinguished morphologically. Bundle sheath cell chloroplasts in tissue with 50% of its future chlorophyll possess grana consisting of 2-8 thylakoids/granum. Mesophyll cell chloroplasts of the same age have better developed grana and large, well structured prolamellar bodies. A few grana are still present in bundle sheath cell chloroplasts when the leaf tissue has 75% of its eventual chlorophyll, and prolamellar bodies are also found in mesophyll cell chloroplasts at this stage. The two cell layers in mature dark-grown leaves contain morphologically distinct etio-plasts. The response of these two plastids to light treatment also differs. Plastids in tissue treated with light for short periods exhibit protrusions resembling mitochondria. Plastids in bundle sheath cells of dark-grown leaves do not go through a grana-forming stage. It is concluded that the structure of the specialized chloroplasts in bundle sheath cells of sugar cane is a result of reduction, and that the development of chloroplast dimorphism is related in some way to leaf cell differentiation.     

Acetylation of serotonin in vitro by a human N-acetyltransferase

1. There is a well-recognized genetic polymorphism for the N-acetylation of isoniazid and sulphamethazine by human livers. 2. Serotonin was found to be acetylated by human liver enzyme preparations and the N-acetylserotonin formed was identified and determined quantitatively. 3. In 13 livers examined there was a wide variability in the capacity to acetylate serotonin that did not correlate with the capacity of the same livers to acetylate isoniazid and sulphamethazine. The results suggest that serotonin is not a natural substrate for the polymorphic N-acetyltransferase and that it may be acetylated by a different enzyme.     

Effect of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid-Tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane on release of the acid-soluble nucleotide pool and on breakdown of ribosomal ribonucleic acid in Escherichia coli

Brief treatment of Escherichia coli with 2 x 10(-4)m ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA)-0.12 m tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane (Tris), pH 8.0, or 0.12 m Tris alone resulted in the release of the acid-soluble nucleotide pool at 3 or 23 C. Exposure to EDTA-Tris for up to 90 min at 3 C did not result in the release of increasing amounts of 260-mmu-absorbing material. At 23 and 37 C, EDTA-Tris resulted in a steady increase in acid-soluble 260-mmu-absorbing material. Previous growth environment did not alter the release. There appeared to be degradation of 23S ribonucleic acid (RNA) after 10 min of exposure at 23 C. In addition, there was degradation of nucleotides to nucleosides and bases. This occured either within the cells with altered permeability or in the periplasmic space. This occurred in the presence of EDTA and Tris but was not seen with EDTA-phosphate. The mechanism of this degradation is unclear, since it occurs in ribonuclease I-deficient strains. Exposure to Tris buffer for long periods of time at 23 C resulted in release of the nucleotide pool and in degradation of RNA and nucleotides. These studies point out that the EDTA-Tris effect on E. coli must be divided into two parts, an early (4 to 5 min) change in permeability and a later phase of actual RNA breakdown and nucleotide degradation. Studies utilizing EDTA and Tris as agents altering permeability must thus be viewed with caution. Although the cells are viable, they have lost their acid-soluble nucleotide pool and have undergone degradation of some ribosomal RNA.     

Carbon Oxysulfide Is an Inhibitor of Both CO(2) and HCO(3) Uptake in the Cyanobacterium Synechococcus PCC7942

Carbon oxysulfide (COS) was reinvestigated as an inhibitor of active inorganic carbon transport in cells of Synechococcus PCC7942 adapted to growth at low inorganic carbon. COS inhibited both CO₂ and HCO₃⁻ transport processes in a reversible (in the short term) and mixed competitive manner. The inhibition of COS was established using both silicone oil centrifugation experiments and O₂-evolution studies. The K_i for COS inhibition was 29 micromolar for CO₂ transport and 110 micromolar for HCO₃⁻ transport. These results support a model of inorganic carbon transport with a central CO₂ pump and an inducible HCO₃⁻ utilizing accessory protein which supplies CO₂ to the primary pump.     

Ovarian response to hCG treatment during the oestrous cycle in heifers

The aims of this study were to investigate whether treatment with a single ovulatory dose of hCG, between the day of oestrus and the end of the luteal phase, could induce extra ovulations in heifers and whether the presence of an existing corpus luteum (CL) affected the response. Heifers (N = 32) were injected with 1500 i.u. hCG or saline on a given day of the oestrous cycle. Treatments were repeated during subsequent cycles to provide a total of 71 observations, 57 of which followed an injection of hCG, given between Day 0 (oestrus) and Day 16, and 14 of which followed saline injections as controls. Ovulatory responses were noted by laparoscopy 2 days after hCG treatment. No heifers injected with saline produced additional CL. Of the hCG-treated cycles, 23 resulted in the formation of an additional CL, and this was significantly affected by the stage of the oestrous cycle when hCG was given; a greater response was observed during the early (Days 4-7) and late (Days 14-16) stages of the luteal phase than at the mid-luteal phase of the oestrous cycle. Two heifers were also treated with hCG on Days 17 or 18 of the oestrous cycle, but before oestrus; both had induced CL. There were no significant differences between the left-right orientation of the existing CL or the hCG-induced CL. These results demonstrate that the large, luteal-phase follicle of the cow is capable of ovulating in response to hCG and that the induced CL is not affected by the presence of an existing CL.