Changes in the Water Balance and Photosynthesis of Onion, Bean and Cotton Plants under Saline Conditions

The osmotic concentration (osmotic potential) of onion leaf sap did not adjust to chloride salinity, and consequently water potential, turgor, stomatal aperture and transpiration were reduced. Although osmotic concentration of bean and cotton leaf sap did adjust to a saline root medium and turgor was no less in the salinized plants than in the controls, stomata of the salinized plants remained only partly open and transpiration was reduced. Net photosynthesis of onion plants was reduced by salinity (this effect being much enhanced in a hot dry atmosphere) but it could be rapidly raised to the level of the controls by inducing elevated leaf turgor. Stomatal closure was initially responsible for most of the ～30 % reduction in photosynthesis of salinized beans. This was due to interference with CO₂ diffusion and could be overcome by raising the CO₂ concentration in the air. At a later stage of growth, salinity affected the light reaction of bean photosynthesis, and elevation of the air CO₂ had little effect. Closure of stomata of salinized cotton plants had only a relatively small effect on net photosynthesis. Light intensity and CO₂ concentration experiments showed that salinity was reducing the photosynthesis of cotton leaves mainly by affecting the light reaction of photosynthesis. It is concluded that chloride salinity does affect the water balance and rate of photosynthesis of plants and that the nature and degree of the effects will depend upon climatic conditions and may be very different between plant species and in the same species at different periods of growth.     

Morphology of a Virus of Blue-green Algae and Properties of Its Deoxyribonucleic Acid

The morphology of Safferman's virus of blue-green algae (phycovirus LPP-1) has been studied by electron microscopy and physicochemical methods. The virion has a short (100 to 200 A long, 150 A in diameter) forked tail, with an outer sheath, an inner core, and a capital attached to one of the vertices of a polyhedral head. The head capsid edge-to-edge distance is 600 A, based upon internal calibration of the magnification in electron micrographs by use of the line-line spacing of catalase crystals. Measurements of absorbancy and infectivity, and electron microscopy across the band of virus after zone centrifugation on a sucrose gradient, indicated that infectivity was correlated with the short-tailed particles described. The viral deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is linear, with a contour length of 13.2 +/- 0.5 mu, measured by the Kleinschmidt method. Its sedimentation coefficient, S(0) (20, w), is 33.4 +/- 0.7 S. These values are consistent with a molecular weight of 27 x 10(6) for the viral DNA. Based upon buoyant density in CsCl and thermal denaturation, the guanine-cytosine content of the DNA is 53%. The viral DNA was used as template for in vitro ribonucleic acid (RNA) synthesis by Escherichia coli RNA polymerase. This RNA annealed to 18% of the sequences in the viral DNA, 0.5% of the sequences in bacteriophage T7 DNA, and 0.25% of the sequences in Plectonema boryanum DNA, at saturating levels of RNA in the Hall-Nygaard hybridization assay. The lack of homology with T7 DNA is of interest because the two viruses are very similar morphologically. The lack of homology with host DNA suggests that this algal virus is a poor candidate for transduction.     

Physical Assay and Growth Cycle Studies of a Defective Adeno-Satellite Virus

Electron microscopic particle counting of the defective adeno-satellite virus (ASV), by use of pseudoreplication and negative staining with phosphotungstic acid, was shown to be a reproducible quantitative assay procedure. Particles of satellite type 4 that were counted in fluids from infected cultures had the same morphology as particles that banded at a buoyant density of 1.43 g/cc in cesium chloride. Other satellite virus serotypes examined in the same manner had a buoyant density of 1.37 to 1.38 g/cc. A comparison of satellite titers obtained by complement fixation and by particle counting demonstrated that an increase in satellite particles resulted in a corresponding increase in CF titers; however, electron microscopy was at least 10 times more sensitive than complement fixation for detecting satellite virus. Growth cycle studies of satellite virus in cells co-infected with adenovirus, as assayed by particle counting, indicated that the kinetics of satellite virus production closely followed the kinetics of its helper adenovirus production, with an eclipse period of 12 to 16 hr. The eclipse period of the satellite remained the same when cultures were preinfected with satellite 24 hr prior to adenovirus inoculation. However, when cultures were infected with adenovirus 12 hr before satellite virus, the eclipse period of the satellite was shortened to between 4 and 6 hr. Thus, satellite virus replication seems dependent upon a relatively late event in the adenovirus replication cycle. When cells were co-infected with adenovirus and its defective satellite, the yield of adenovirus was markedly reduced from that obtained in cells singly infected with adenovirus.     

Characterization of an Infectivity Assay for the Ribonucleic Acid of Bacteriophage MS2

An infectivity assay for MS2 ribonucleic acid (RNA), which uses bacterial spheroplasts of an F(-) strain of Escherichia coli, has an efficiency of 10(-5) infected spheroplasts per RNA molecule. The characteristics of this assay and the influence of several parameters are presented. Important variables include the duration of exposure of the cells to lysozyme-ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, the duration of exposure of the spheroplast stock to the RNA solutions before dilution, the concentration of RNA, and the presence of competing RNA. The growth kinetics of the virus in the infected spheroplasts and the extent of lysis have also been studied.     

Serology of Rubella—Comparison of Fluorescent Antibody,Complement Fixation and Neutralization Tests for Diagnosis of Current Infections and Determination of Sero-immunity

Neutralization, complement fixation (CF) and indirect fluorescent antibody (FA) assays for rubella virus were compared for sensitivity in the serologic diagnosis of infection, for demonstrating antibody in the sera of infants with suspected rubella syndrome, and in the detection of antibody elicited by past infection (determination of immunity status). The combination of CF and FA tests was shown to be the most useful for serologic diagnosis of infection, largely eliminating the need for the slower and more cumbersome interference neutralization test.Neutralizing antibodies were found to appear rapidly in the course of infection, antibodies demonstrable by immunofluorescent staining appeared slightly later, and CF antibodies were rarely demonstrable in sera collected earlier than 14 days after onset of illness. Antibodies detected by all three techniques showed good correlation in infants with clinical evidence of rubella syndrome and corresponding maternal sera. The indirect FA technique compared favorably with the neutralization test for the detection of antibody elicited by past infection (determination of immunity status) and offered distinct advantages in ease of technical performance and more rapid results. In both current and past infections, FA titers tended to be higher than neutralizing antibody titers.     

Dermatopathic Lymphadenopathy—A Clinicopathologic Analysis of Lymph Node Biopsy Over a 15-Year Period

Forty cases of dermatopathic lymphadenopathy were found in a series of 906 consecutive lymph node biopsies (4.8 per cent).The histologic development and progression of the disease was correlated with the clinical state of the patient.In 35 of 40 cases the patients had active skin disease at the time of the biopsy; one of the remaining five patients had Hodgkin''s disease, one had multiple myeloma and one had secondary syphilis. In the other two, no organic cause was found.In nine cases (22.5 per cent), the histological pattern typical of dermatopathic lymphadenopathy was associated with malignant lymphoma. Except for two biopsies, which showed coexisting malignant lymphoma and dermatopathic lymphadenopathy, no histologic features were found which distinguished patients with malignant lymphoma from the remainder.While the pathogenesis of the lymph node changes remains obscure, the histologic features suggest that it is at least in part an immune response, although the nature of the responsible antigen is unknown.