Thermodynamics of mucopolysaccharide–dye binding. II. Binding constant and cooperativity parameters of acridine orange–dermatan sulfate system

In the acridine orange–dermatan sulfate system, free and bound dye can be distinguished from each other spectroscopically. This permits the use of fluorometric methods to study the binding of acridine orange to the acid mucopolysaccharide dermatan sulfate. Experiments were conducted at 24°C in 10^?3 M citrate/phosphate buffer at pH = 7.0. The binding of the dye is highly cooperative, as evidenced by considerable interaction between adjacent bound dye molecules. Analysis of the data indicates that dermatan sulfate binds 2.3 ± 0.3 mol of acridine orange per dermatan sulfate uronic acid residue with a cooperative binding constant, K_q ranging from 4.9 to 6.0 × 10⁵ M^?1 which corresponds to a free energy of 7.74 ? ΔG° ? 7.86. The cooperativity parameter q apparently increases with increasing polymer-to-dye ratio.     

Salmonella Virchow in a Chicken-packing Station and Associated Rearing Units

In tracing the source of an outbreak of food-poisoning with Salmonella virchow a chicken-packing station and associated rearing farms were investigated. The serotype was found in chickens in 9 of the 14 rearing farms investigated and in the hatchery, but not in the breeding flocks supplying the hatchery. Several personnel on the farms were affected. The infection was most likely to have been introduced by contaminated feeding-stuffs.     

Stretch-induced growth of skeletal myotubes correlates with activation of the sodium pump

Skeletal myotubes responded to passive stretch by increased amino acid uptake (as measured with [³H]α-aminoisobutyric acid), increased incorporation of amino acids into total cellular protein and myosin heavy chains, and increased accumulation of total cellular protein and myosin heavy chains. These alterations were preceded by an increase in the uptake of ouabain-sensitive rubidium-86 (⁸⁶Rb⁺), a potassium tracer used to measure membrane sodium pump activity (Na⁺K⁺ATPase). This stretch-induced stimulation of ⁸⁶Rb⁺ uptake resulted from a 60-70% increase in the V_max of the Na pump with little change in the K_m. [³H] ouabain binding studies showed no stretch-induced change in the number of membrane Na pumps, indicating that stretch activates the Na pumps that are already present on the cell surface. Since the stretch-induced increases in amino acid transport and amino acid incorporation into proteins were inhibited by ouabain, Na pump activation may be involved in stretch-induced cell growth of skeletal muscle cells by hypertrophy.     

Separation and Partial Characterization Of Rat Liver Cell Membrane Components

The objectives of this research were to separate and partially characterize the components of rat liver cell plasma membranes. The plasma membranes of liver cells obtained from normal Wistar male rats were isolated using density gradients. The purified membrane was then solubilized in phenol-urea-acetic acid and gel electrophoresis was performed on the solubilized membrane components. Samples of the eluate collected following preparative gel electrophoresis were phosphorus positive-ninhydrin positive; phosphorus negative-ninhydrin positive; phosphorus po6itive-ninhydrin negative; and phosphorus negative-ninhydrin negative. The amino acid analyses showed that the proteins of the separated components were different and that no one component contained more than 6% of the total membrane protein. Liver cell plasma membranes contain components that differ from those of red blood cell plasma membranes. These components can be further divided into subgroups of proteins, i.e., phospholipoproteins and protein alone. The concept of a group of proteins composing the membrane is extended to one of various subgroups on the basis of their different affinity for lipid.     

Unambiguous syntheses of the 3,4-di- and 3,4,6-tri-methyl ethers of methyl α-d-mannopyranoside

The unambiguous syntheses of methyl 3,4,6-tri-O-methyl-α-d-mannopyranoside (6) and methyl 3,4-di-O-methyl-α-d-mannopyranoside (10) were performed by routes involving methyl 3-O-benzoyl-4,6-O-benzylidene-α-d-mannopyranoside (1) to form methyl 2-O-p-tolylsulfonyl-d-mannopyranoside (4). Compound 4 directly led to 6, and, via a 6-trityl derivative, to 10.     

The lens eyes of the box jellyfish <Emphasis Type="Italic">Tripedalia cystophora</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Chiropsalmus sp.</Emphasis> are slow and color-blind

Box jellyfish, or cubomedusae, possess an impressive total of 24 eyes of four morphologically different types. Compared to other cnidarians they also have an elaborate behavioral repertoire, which for a large part seems to be visually guided. Two of the four types of cubomedusean eyes, called the upper and the lower lens eye, are camera type eyes with spherical fish-like lenses. Here we explore the electroretinograms of the lens eyes of the Caribbean species, Tripedalia cystophora, and the Australian species, Chiropsalmus sp. using suction electrodes. We show that the photoreceptors of the lens eyes of both species have dynamic ranges of about 3 log units and slow responses. The spectral sensitivity curves for all eyes peak in the blue-green region, but the lower lens eye of T. cystophora has a small additional peak in the near UV range. All spectral sensitivity curves agree well with the theoretical absorbance curve of a single opsin, strongly suggesting color-blind vision in box jellyfish with a single receptor type. A single opsin is supported by selective adaptation experiments.     

AQUATIC FUNGI OF ICELAND: ACHLYA AMERICANA

Twenty-one isolates of Achlya with smooth-walled oogonia, small, eccentric oospores, and a preponderance of monoclinous antheridial branches are characterized quantitatively and qualitatively. The isolates are separated into nine series, and the parameters through which they relate to and digress from one another are discussed. At most, three quantitative characteristics separate the various groups. The distinctive features of isolates in two series are unstable in culture. A concept of broad species limits is applied to A. americana.