Glucan Synthesis in Pneumocystis carinii

Rat-derived Pneumocystis carinii lysed with sodium deoxycholate catalysed the incorporation of uridine diphospho-glucose into an insoluble polymer. This enzyme activity was present in both the pellet and the supernatant when the P. carinii preparations were centrifuged. The polymer whose production was catalysed by the supernatant was examined by mass spectrometry and found to be an α 1→4 glucan, which is either unbranched or has relatively few branches. Polymer formation was completely inhibited by the addition of α amyloglucohydrolase to the supernatant. Polymer formation in the pellet of deoxycholate P. carinii preparations, unlike that in the supernatant, was partially resistant to α amyloglucohydrolase. The soluble glucan synthase activity in the supernatant was stable for more than 30 h at room temperature and was approximately 50 times more active on a cell-to-cell basis than the supernatant from deoxycholate preparations of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisae.     

Studies in Garcinia, dioecious tropical forest trees: the origin of the mangos teen (G. mangostana L.)

RICHARDS, A. J., 1990. Studies in Garcinia, dioecious tropical fruit trees: the origin of the mangosteen (G. mangostana L.). Mangosteen does not grow in the wild state. Plants are said to be invariable, and almost all are female. Mangosteen (2n=?88–90), an obligate agamosperm, has only two close relatives, G. hombroniana (2n= 48) and G. malaccensis (2n=?42) which are facultative agamosperms. For the 13 main characters by which they differ, mangosteen takes an intermediate morphological position for five characters, and resembles each of the other species for four of the remainder. It is suggested that mangosteen is an allopolypoid derivative of these species which arose as a female from a single hybridization event in cultivation, and which has since reproduced asexually. To overcome difficulties in propagation and establishment that mangosteen presents, attempts should be made to graft and hybridize mangosteen with its presumptive parents.     

On the occurrence of unilateral incompatibility in Primula section Aleuritia Duby and the origin of Primula scotica Hook

The occurrence of unilateral incompatibility was tested for a distylous heteromorphic system, using crosses between a self-sterile and three self-fertile species in Primula L. section Aleuritia Duby. The crosses showed non-reciprocity but not in the same direction as would be predicted in the case of unilateral incompatibility. Pollen from the self-compatible (s-c) species was not always inhibited on the style of the self-incompatible (s-i) species, and cross-fertility between s-i and s-c crosses more resembled that between different s-c species, which was also non-reciprocal. Cytoplasmic-nuclear DNA interactions and the possibility of embryo-endosperm imbalance could both explain these results. In crosses between Primula farinosa L. (s-i diploid) and P. scotica Hook. (s-c hexaploid), heterostylous pin tetraploid offspring were produced. This result is discussed in relation to the genome of P. scotica and the possibility that pin morph plants may occur in wild P scotica populations.     

Assessment of the Microbiological Potential for the Natural Attenuation of Petroleum Hydrocarbons in a Shallow Aquifer System

Abstract A multidisciplinary field study investigating the fate and transport of petroleum hydrocarbons commonly associated with jet-fuel contamination is currently underway at Columbus Air Force Base (AFB), Mississippi. Sixty sediment cores from 12 boreholes were recovered from the study aquifer. The goal of this initial sampling was to characterize the potential microbial activity using 14C-labeled substrates, as well as the presence, abundance, and distribution of specific hydrocarbon degrading genotypes using DNA:DNA hybridization. Enumeration of total microbial abundance using a 16S rDNA universal oligonucleotide probe was compared to traditional enumeration methods. Total culturable populations determined by spread plate analysis ranged from a low of 10(4) to more than 10(6) organisms per gram sediment. Microbial abundance estimated by DNA hybridization studies with 16S rDNA genes ranged from 10(7) to 10(8) organisms per gram sediment. Molecular analysis of aquifer samples using DNA probes targeting genes encoding the degradative enzymes alkane hydroxylase (alkB), catechol 2,3-dioxygenase (nahH), naphthalene dioxygenase (nahA), toluene dioxygenase (todC1C2), toluene monooxygenase (tomA), and xylene monooxygenase (xylA), as well as two probes measuring methanogenic microorganisms, codh (carbon monoxide dehydrogenase) and mcr (methyl coenzyme reductase), revealed that each target gene sequence was present in nearly all 60 samples. The presence of organisms demonstrating the phenotype to degrade BTEX and naphthalene was further supported using mineralization assays with 14C-labeled benzene, toluene, naphthalene, and phenanthrene. Minimal activity occurred during the first 24 hours. After a period of 5-7 days, greater than 40% of the target compounds were mineralized in aquifer sediments.     

Structural analysis and immunohistochemical localization of two acidic glycosphingolipids from the porcine, parasitic nematode, Ascaris suum

The acidic glycolipid fraction (AF) of the porcine, parasitic nematode, Ascaris suum , consisted of two subfractions. The major component AF II reacted with orcinol-sulfuric acid and molybdate, while the minor component AF I gave a positive reaction with azure-A, a cationic dye specific for sulfatides. Sugar constituent analysis, methanolysis, methylation analysis, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time- of-flight mass spectrometry, liquid secondary-ion mass spectrometry, and gas-liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry specified AF II to be an unusual phosphoinositolglycosphingolipid (Galalpha1-Ins-P-1ceramide) and the minor component AF I to be a 3-sulfogalactosylcerebroside (HSO3- 3Galss1-1ceramide). The ceramide moiety of both components consisted of lignoceric (C24:0) and cerebronic (C24h:0) acids and mainly C17 iso- branched sphingosine. Immunohistochemical localization studies of the glycolipid-bound antigenic determinants with a polyclonal antiserum against AF II and an anti-sulfatide monoclonal antibody against AF I revealed the presence of the AF II-epitope in the intestine, whereas the AF I-epitope was found in the hypodermis, contractile zone of somatic muscle cells and the external musculature of the uterus. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the presence of a sulfatide in an invertebrate.      

A Flexible Growth Function for Empirical Use

The application of an extended form of von Bertalanffy's growthfunction to plant data is considered; the equation has considerableflexibility, but is used only to supply an empirical fit. Inorder to aid the biological analysis of such growth data asare capable of representation by the function, general rateparameters are deduced which are related in a simple mannerto its constants.