Variation in Quantitative Requirements for Na for Transport of Metabolizable Compounds by the Marine Bacteria Alteromonas haloplanktis 214 and Vibrio fischeri

The rates of uptake by Alteromonas haloplanktis of 19 metabolizable compounds and by V. fischeri of 16 of 17 metabolizable compounds were negligible in the absence of added alkali-metal cations but rapid in the presence of Na. Only d-glucose uptake by V. fischeri occurred at a reasonable rate in the absence of alkali-metal cations, although the rate was further increased by added Na, K, or Li. Quantitative requirements for Na for the uptake of 11 metabolites by A. haloplanktis and of 6 metabolites by V. fischeri and the characteristics of the Na response at constant osmotic pressure varied with each metabolite and were different from the Na effects on the energy sources used. Li stimulated transport of some metabolites in the presence of suboptimal Na concentrations and for a few replaced Na for transport but functioned less effectively. K had a small capacity to stimulate lysine transport. The rate of transport of most of the compounds increased to a maximum at 50 to 300 mM Na, depending on the metabolite, and then decreased as the Na concentration was further increased. For a few metabolites, the rate of transport continued to increase in a biphasic manner as the Na concentration was increased to 500 mM. Concentrations of choline chloride equimolar to inhibitory concentrations of NaCl were either not inhibitory or appreciably less inhibitory than those of NaCl. All metabolites examined accumulated inside the cells against a gradient of unchanged metabolite in the presence of Na, even though some were very rapidly metabolized. The transport of l-alanine, succinate, and d-galactose into A. haloplanktis and of l-alanine and succinate into V. fischeri was inhibited essentially completely by the uncoupler 3,5,3',4'-tetrachlorosalicylanilide. Glucose uptake by V. fischeri was inhibited partially by 3,5,3',4'-tetrachlorosalicylanilide and also by arsenate and iodoacetate.     

Free-living dinitrogen-fixing bacteria isolated from petroleum refinery oily sludge

Dinitrogen-fixing activity (acetylene reduction and N(2) fixation) was found in an oily sludge originating from a petroleum refinery. Two representative dinitrogen-fixing bacterial strains were isolated from this oily waste. Their nitrogenase activity was effective when they were cultivated on sterilized sludge or simple carbon substrates (organic acid salts, sugars). Using the classical methods, these strains could not be unambiguously related to other diazotrophic taxa. The landfarming process is widely used for oily sludge disposal; this study shows that oily sludges are more than a simple carbon input into the soil but that they must also be considered as real sources of dinitrogen-fixing and probably degradative microorganisms.     

Rural housing for control of Chagas disease in Venezuela

The home is an important protective element for the health of its inhabitants - but these inhabitants often include not only the householders but also domestic pests and vectors of disease. This is particularly so in Latin America where domestic triatomine bugs thrive in many of the poorer quality rural houses, emerging from their crevices at night to feed and transmit Trypanosoma cruzi in their faeces. At the public health level, there is neither drug nor vaccine suitable for controlling T. cruzi - causative agent of Chagas disease - but transmission can be interrupted by control of the domestic vectors. Traditionally, vector control has involved spraying houses with residual insecticides, but a more long-term solution, with many colateral benefits, is to improve rural housing in such a way that colonization by triatomine bugs is inhibited. Such an approach involves development of low-cost techniques for house construction, and mobilization of rural communities to make use of them. In this, Venezuela has played a leading role, as Roberto Briceno-Leon reports.     

Molecular evolution in Hawaiian drosophilids

The evolutionary relationships of the Hawaiian drosophilids have been studied by several molecular techniques. Immunological measurements have determined some of the distances between the major groups. More detailed studies have used protein polymorphism, DNA hybridization, DNA restriction enzyme analysis and DNA sequence studies of both nuclear and mitochondrial genomes. These studies indicate both the strengths and the weaknesses of the various methods and suggest new ways to examine phylogenetic relationships and question some of the accepted ph ylogenies.     

Osmotically induced proton extrusion from carrot cells in suspension culture

Addition of 200 mm of a polyol to anthocyanin containing carrot (Daucus carota L.) cells in suspension culture decreased turgor pressure to zero and induced hyperpolarization of the membrane potential and acidification of the medium due to H⁺ extrusion. These changes were shown to be slightly affected by vanadate. In parallel, a decrease in intracellular ATP and total adenylate concentrations were observed. However, when the osmoticum was NaCl acidification of the medium occurred in the absence of considerable changes in intracellular ATP concentration. These results are interpreted as indicating that a drop of turgor, by addition of a polyol, triggers a proton extrusion activity which is only slightly inhibited by vanadate but apparently ATP utilizing. The observed decrease in ATP level occurs without a change in respiration rate and is accompanied by a drop in total adenylate pool. However when NaCl is the osmoticum it is assumed that Δ_μH+ is enhanced through a Na⁺/H⁺ antiporter. The difference between the two types of osmotica as related to their ability to penetrate through the cellular membrane is discussed.     

Biphasic fluence-response curves for phytochrome-mediated kalanchoë seed germination : sensitization by gibberellic Acid

The fluence-response curves for the effect of two red pulses separated by 24 hours on the germination of Kalanchoe blossfeldiana Poelln. cv Vesuv seeds, incubated on gibberellic acid (GA₃) are biphasic for suboptimal concentrations. The response in the low fluence range corresponds with a classical red/far-red reversible phytochrome mediated reaction. GA₃ induces an additional response in the very low fluence range, which is also phytochrome mediated. The sensitivity to phytochrome-far-red absorbing form (Pfr), however, is increased about 20,000-fold, so that even far-red fluences become saturating. Both in the very low and low fluence response range, the maximal responses induced by saturating fluences are modulated by the GA₃ concentration. GA₃ having no direct influence on the phytochrome phototransformations, alters the Pfr requirement and determines the responding seed population fraction in the very low and low fluence range. The effet of GA₃ appears to be on the transduction chain of the phytochrome signal.     

Role of Internal Potassium in Maintaining Growth of Cultured Citrus Cells on Increasing NaCl and CaCl(2) Concentrations

Shamouti orange (Citrus sinensis L. Osbeck) salt-tolerant cells were grown under low water potential conditions induced by polyethylene glycol (PEG), NaCl, and CaCl₂. On the basis of equal osmotic potentials, PEG was the least inhibitory, NaCl next, and CaCl₂ the most inhibitory. The relation between growth capacity and ion content can be summarized as follows. (a) Internal K⁺ concentration was a major factor which changed in the presence of PEG, NaCl, and CaCl₂ and probably played a key role in determining growth capacity. (b) Internal concentrations of Na⁺, Ca²⁺, or Cl⁻ could not be directly correlated with growth. (C) Internal Mg²⁺ concentration could be significant only in the presence of high external Ca²⁺ concentrations. (d) The contribution of nitrate and phosphate to the internal osmoticum was negligible. The ratio of external (Ca²⁺)/(Na⁺)² concentration is crucial for growth. Ratios above 0.5 × 10⁻⁴ per millimolar gave maximal protection from adverse effects of NaCl. Growth capacity was found to be determined by the combination of (Ca²⁺)/(Na⁺)² ratio and the absolute external concentration of NaCl. However, a correlation between internal K⁺ concentration and growth capacity seemed independent of external NaCl concentration.     

C nuclear magnetic resonance study of acetate incorporation into malate during ca-uptake by isolated leaf tissues

¹³C Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy of leaflets of Gleditsia triacanthos and Albizia julibrisin was used to determine the fate of acetate taken up during the absorption of calcium from ¹³C-labeled Ca-acetate solution. Small amounts of acetate accumulated temporarily in the leaf tissues, but the bulk of acetate was incorporated into malate. The initial rate of malate synthesis was very low, but increased rapidly during acetate treatment and reached its maximum after 8 hours; the enzymes involved in malate synthesis thus appear to be substrate induced. Use of acetate-2-¹³C yielded malate labeled in C-3, indicating that vacuolar malate accumulating during Ca-uptake might be synthesized via malate synthase from acetate and glyoxalate. However, a source of glyoxalate condensing with acetate during malate synthesis could not be identified. Glycolate produced in photorespiration is an unlikely source, because glycolate-2-¹³C was absorbed and metabolized by the leaf tissues into products of the glycolate pathway, but was not a major precursor in malate synthesis. Malate synthesis via the glyoxalate cycle is also unlikely, because no evidence for the recycling of a ¹³C-labeled 4-carbon organic acid was found. Malate synthesis in the leaflets of Gleditsia and Albizia thus appears to involve the inducible condensation of acetate with a 2-carbon compound of unidentified nature and origin.     

Wavelength Effect on the Action of a N-Phenylimide S-23142 and a Diphenylether Acifluorfen-Ethyl in Cotyledons of Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) Seedlings

Specific wavelengths of light required for expression of phytotoxic activity of S-23142 (N-[4-chloro-2-fluoro-5-propargyloxy]phenyl-3,4,5,6-tetra- hydrophthalimide) and acifluorfen-ethyl (ethyl-5-[2-chloro-4-(trifluoromethyl)phenoxy]-2-nitro benzoic acid) were determined in cotyledons of cucumber seedlings using the Okazaki Large Spectrograph. Leakage of amino acids from the cotyledons was measured as an indication of the phytotoxic activity. The wavelength effects showed common major peaks of activity at 550 and 650 nanometers and a minor peak at 450 nanometers for both herbicides, indicating a common primary photoreaction. Concomitant application of DCMU (3-[3,4-dichlorophenyl]-1,1-dimethylurea) with S-23142 had little influence on the effective wavelengths for S-23142 activity. Light of 450 and 650 nanometers was relatively less effective in achlorophyllous tissue grown in far red light than in green tissue. These results strongly suggest that the phytotoxic action of S-23142 and diphenylethers involves multiple photoreactions and that one of the photoreceptor pigments may be chlorophyll or its related pigment, although photosynthesis is not involved.