Regulation of rat hepatic stearoyl coenzyme A desaturase. The roles of insulin and carbohydrate.

The rat hepatic stearoyl-CoA desaturation decreased by 3.7-fold in streptozotocin-induced diabetes. Insulin treatment of diabetic rats increased the enzyme activity by 7-fold. In marked contrast to glucose administration, fructose feeding in diabetic rats resulted in 20-fold stimulation of stearoyl-CoA desaturation, although both carbohydrates stimulated stearoyl-CoA desaturation in normal rats. Measurement of the microsomal electron transfer components showed no significant changes in the NADH-cytochrome b5 reductase activity or in the concentration of cytochrome b5. However, the activity of the terminal desaturase changed in a parallel fashion as the amount of terminal desaturase reflect changes in the overall desaturation. Supplementation of various microsomes with the saturating amount of purified terminal desaturase resulted in the formation of similar amounts of catalytically active complex and increased the stearoyl-CoA desaturation to the same level suggesting that the changes in the amount of terminal desaturase reflect changes in the overall desaturation. The results support the suggestion that both insulin and the intermediates of carbohydrate metabolism are involved in the regulation of terminal desaturase.     

Light microscopic features of the rete testis,the vas efferens,the epididymis and the vas deferens in the adult rhesus monkey

The present study was carried out to determine the detailed histological and cytological features of the excurrent ducts of the male reproductive system in the rhesus monkey. The excurrent ducts show a regional difference in their histological features. The use of some of these features as histological markers and their possible functional significance are discussed. The epithelial cells in the different components of the excurrent duct system possess cytological features which suggest their involvement in absorption and the secretion of different products into the lumen.     

Effect of sodium butyrate on mammalian cells in culture: a review.

Sodium butyrate produces reversible changes in morphology, growth rate, and enzyme activities of several mammalian cell types in culture. Some of these changes are similar to those produced by agents which increase the intracellular level of adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cAMP) or by analogs of cAMP. Sodium butyrate increases the intracellular level of cAMP by about two fold in neuroblastoma cells; therefore, some of the effects of sodium butyrate on these cells may in part be mediated by cAMP. Sodium butyrate appears to have properties of a good chemotherapeutic agent for neuroblastoma tumors because the treatment of neuroblastoma cells in culture causes cell death and "differentiation"; however, it is either innocuous or produces reversible morphological and biochemical alterations in other cell types.     

Initiation of ovalbumin synthesis in chicken oviduct magnum: Transient labeling of the NH2-terminus by methionine

The incorporation of [³⁵S]methionine into ovalbumin, a protein containing NH₂-terminal N-acetylglycine, has been studied in chicken oviduct magnum cells. The purification of [³⁵S]methionine-labeled ovalbumin from total oviduct proteins was accomplished by dialysis of a crude extract at pH 3.6 followed by chromatography on carboxymethyl cellulose. The radioactive ovalbumin eluted from the column in three peaks (P₀, P₁, and P₂-containing 0, 1, and 2 moles of phosphate, respectively, per mole of ovalbumin). The kinetics of labeling of peaks P₀ and P₁ showed that the ratio of radioactivity in NH₂-terminal methionine to total incorporation was greater at 2 min of labeling than at later times. The transient labeling of the NH₂-terminus of ovalbumin with methionine indicates that methionine is the initiator amino acid for the synthesis of this protein, which in its mature form contains NH₂-terminal N-acetylglycine.     

Laboratory evaluation of a carabid larva,Chlaenius bioculatus [Col.: Carabidae] as a predator of lepidopterous pests

Food preference as well as feeding efficiency studies of the carabid predator revealed that the grub of theChlaenius bioculatus Chaud preferred mostPolytella gloriosae F. larvae in both 2nd and 3rd instar.Tarache tropica Guénée was preferred least by the grub predator in both instar.T. tropica was found toxic and grubs of the predator died after consumption.

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Résumé Les préférences alimentaires, de même que l'efficacité prédatrice deChlaenius bioculatus Chaud, montrent que ce carabide prédateur préfère le plus les larves dePolytella gloriosae F. du 2^e et 3^e stade.Tarache tropica Guénée est le moins attaqué aux deux stades.T. tropica est toxique et les larves du prédateur meurent après sa consommation.

     

Epigenetic mechanisms of plant stress responses and adaptation

Epigenetics has become one of the hottest topics of research in plant functional genomics since it appears promising in deciphering and imparting stress-adaptive potential in crops and other plant species. Recently, numerous studies have provided new insights into the epigenetic control of stress adaptation. Epigenetic control of stress-induced phenotypic response of plants involves gene regulation. Growing evidence suggest that methylation of DNA in response to stress leads to the variation in phenotype. Transposon mobility, siRNA-mediated methylation and host methyltransferase activation have been implicated in this process. This review presents the current status of epigenetics of plant stress responses with a view to use this knowledge towards engineering plants for stress tolerance.     

The effect of cytochrome P-450 and reduced glutathione on the ATP-dependent calcium pump of hepatic microsomes from male rats

In the presence of ATP hepatic microsomes sequester calcium. This sequestration is thought to be important in the modulation of free cytosolic calcium concentration. We find that on the addition of NADPH the uptake of calcium by the hepatic microsomes is inhibited 27-85%. This inhibition is reversed by the addition of 1 mM reduced glutathione (85-91% of control), incubation under a nitrogen atmosphere (112% of control), or incubation in a 80% carbon monoxide/20% oxygen atmosphere (75% of control). Superoxide dismutase had no effect on the inhibition, while catalase reversed the inhibition by 35%. The addition of 1 mM reduced glutathione at 2 and 5 min after the addition of NADPH led to uptakes of calcium which paralleled the uptake seen when the reduced glutathione was added at the beginning of the incubation. The effect of reduced glutathione showed saturation kinetics with a Km of 10 microM. Together these data suggest that cytochrome P-450 reduces the activity of the microsomal ATP-dependent calcium pump both by the production of hydrogen peroxide and by the direct oxidation of the protein thiols. The reversal of this effect by reduced glutathione appears to be enzymatically catalyzed.     

Torulaspora indica a novel yeast species isolated from coal mine soils

Four yeast strains (APSS 805, APSS 806, APSS 815 and AP-18) belonging to a novel Torulaspora species were isolated from coal mine soils of Singareni in Andhra Pradesh state, India. Another strain (PBA-22) was isolated from agricultural field soil from Gujarat state, India. The vegetative cells of all these strains were round, haploid and produced asci by conjugation between independent cells or mother cell and bud, with rough ascospores, suggesting their possible relation to ascomycetous yeast genus Torulaspora. Phylogenetic analysis of the D1/D2 domain of the large subunit (LSU) rRNA gene and Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) regions revealed that, among the five strains, three viz. APSS 805, APSS 806 and APSS 815 have identical sequences. The other two strains (AP-18 and PBA-22) differed from the other three strains in less than 1% nucleotide substitutions in the combined D1/D2 domain and ITS sequences, indicating that all of them (five strains) may belong to the same species. These five strains were closely related to Torulaspora globosa, but showed more than 3–7% sequence divergence from T. globosa and all other species in the genus Torulaspora in the combined sequence analysis of D1/D2 domain and ITS region of rRNA gene. In addition, these strains also showed distinct microsatellite finger-printing pattern from related species and differed in several physiological responses suggesting that these strains belong to a novel species of Torulaspora. We propose to name these strains as Torulaspora indica sp. nov., and designate APSS 805^T = MTCC 9772 ^T = CBS 12408 ^T as the type strain of this novel species. The Mycobank number of the novel species is MB 563738.     

Cyclo (His-Pro): a selective inhibitor of rat prolactin secretion in vitro

Cyclo (His-Pro) (10 ng/ml), inhibits KCl (59 mM) or thyrotropin-releasing hormone (10 ng/ml) stimulated, but not basal, release of prolactin from rat hemipituitaries $\text{in vitro}$. However, cyclo (His-Pro) has no effect on the basal or stimulated release of thyrotropin and growth hormone. Cyclo (His-Pro) does not inhibit the binding of thyrotropin-releasing hormone to pituitary membrane suggesting that cyclo (His-Pro) inhibition of prolactin release is not mediated via the pituitary TRH-receptor.