Amino acid sequence of neurotoxin III of the scorpion Androctonus austrialis Hector.

The amino acid sequence of neurotoxin III, purified from the venom of the North African scorpion Androctonus australis Hector, has been determined by Edman degradation using a liquid-phase sequencer. Carboxypeptidase A hydrolyses confirmed not only the sequence of the five last residues but also the presence of a free alpha-carboxylic group at the C-terminus. Edman degradation was conducted on one hand with the Quadrol [N,N,N',N'-tetrakis(2-hydroxypropyl)ethylene diamine] program and S-alkylated protein before or after coupling with sulfophenylisothiocynate (the first 34 residues were thus identified), on the other hand on tryptic and chymotryptic peptides with a dimethylbenzylamine program (residues 1--23 and 31--34 were confirmed, the positions of residues 35-64 were established). Neurotoxin III was found to belong to the same group of scorpion toxins active on mammals as neurotoxin I purified from the same venom (50 homologous positions exist in the two proteins).     

Pathogenetic mechanisms in immune polioencephalomyelitis: quantitative evaluation of protective and pathogenic effects of lymphoid cells.

Terminal dilution, adoptive cell transfer techniques were developed to quantify the protective effect of lymphoid cells in the pathogenesis of immune polioencephalomyelitis (IPE). The pathogenic effects of lymphoid cell populations were quantified by deleting the step of antigenic challenge. Regression curves were computer analyzed and PD50 values were compared. Immune spleen cells (ISC) from 4- to 6-week-old donors were more protective (PD50 = 4.9 +/- 1.3) than ISC from 12-month-old animals (PD50 greater than 7.0). The slopes of the regression curves also differed markedly (young mice, -0.24; old mice, -0.09). ISC were less protective in 12-month-indicator mice than in 5-month-old recipients (PD50 values of 5.2 +/- 0.8 and 3.7 +/- 0.8, respectively). When adoptive cell transfer tests were used to quantify the pathogenetic effects of donor cells it was found that ISC were pathogenetic at doses of 10(5) or less, but protective at higher doses. IPEC were pathogenetic at all test doses. When ISC were x-irradiated or sonicated the were only pathogenetic. Normal spleen or peritoneal exudate cells were neither protective nor pathogenetic. A model was developed in which mice were either thymectomized at birth (Tx), or Tx at birth and x-irradiated (500 R) 8 weeks later (Tx-XR). Sham Tx or Tx-XR mice served as controls. All of the mice were challenged with antigen (10(4) x-irradiated Ib cells). Only a portion (8/24) of the Tx mice developed IPE, indicating that resistance was T cell dependent but also involved a significant T cell independent component. The data also indicated that T cells were not pathogenetic effector cells in this model. Tx mice were not reconstituted by ISC (7/18 developed IPE), Tx-XR mice were partially reconstituted (3/12 developed IPE), but sham Tx-XR were fully restored (0/20 had IPE). Normal spleen cells did not reconstitute any of the mice.     

Sampling Bias in Roadsides: The Case of Galling Aphids on Pistacia Trees

Sampling along roadsides is convenient and is widely practiced in insect population researches. Ecological conditions in road verges are very different than those prevailing in natural habitats and they affect the annual growth of plants in semi-arid and arid regions. This in turn may improve development, survival and abundance of insects feeding on plants growing in roadsides. These trends may bias the results of sampling. To verify this assertion, we quantified the effects of growing in roadside on annual growth of Pistacia atlantica trees and Pistacia palaestina shrubs and compare two demographic indexes of nine gall-inducing aphid species on trees growing along roads with trees in the open landscape, in Israel. The annual growth of the two host plants was significantly more vigorous in roadsides than away from roads. Tests of Combined Probabilities showed that the likelihood of P. atlantica and P. palaestina to be parasitized by more galls of Fordini species is higher in roadsides than away from roads. Moreover, in the semi-dry regions of Israel, three aphid species on P. atlantica and five species on P. palaestina induced more galls in plants growing along roads than away from roads, while in the rainy Northern region, the difference was not significant between the two habitats. These results indicate a biased evaluation of population size in roadside habitat, which has to be accounted in insect–plant relation researches.     

Bovine skeletal muscle adenosine deaminase. Purification and some properties

A low molecular weight form of adenosine deaminase from bovine skeletal muscle was purified about 930-fold. The enzyme had a mol. wt of 31,000, a Km value for adenosine of 2.37 X 10(-5) M and a pH optimum at 7.0. This enzyme is very resistant to heat inactivation and does not require metal activators or other dialysable cofactors. A possible role in the post-mortem metabolism of adenine nucleotide in skeletal muscle is discussed.