Sucrose Synthase,Starch Accumulation,and Tomato Fruit Sink Strength

Contrasting evidence has accumulated regarding the role of acid invertase and sucrose synthase in tomato fruit sink establishment and maintenance. In this work the relationships among the activities of sucrose synthase and acid invertase, Lycopersicon esculentum Mill cv UC-82B fruit growth, and starch accumulation were analyzed in fruit at 0 to 39 d after anthesis. Sucrose synthase, but not acid invertase, was found to be positively correlated with tomato fruit relative growth rate and with starch content in the pericarp tissue. A similar association between sucrose synthase activity and starch accumulation was also evident in the basal portion of the stem. Heat-shock treatments, which inhibited the increase in sucrose synthase activity at the beginning of the light period and had no effect on acid invertase activity, were used to examine the importance of sucrose synthase in relation to sucrose metabolism and starch synthesis. After the heat-shock treatment, concomitantly with the suppressed sucrose synthase activity relative to the controls, there was a reduction in sucrose cleavage and starch accumulation. These data substantiate the conclusion that, during the early phases of tomato fruit development, sucrose synthase rather than acid invertase is the dominant enzyme in metabolizing imported sucrose, which in turn plays a part in regulating the import of sucrose into the fruit.     

Microatoll microbialites of Lake Clifton,Western Australia: Morphological analogues ofCryptozoön proliferum Hall,the first formally-named stromatolite

Summary The Linnaean nameCryptozo?n proliferum Hall was proposed in 1883 for a previously undescribed life-form preserved in spectacular exposures of Cambrian limestones in New York State, USA. It is now recognised that these are exposures of stromatolitic microbialites, laminated organosedimentary structures formed from interaction between a benthic microbial community (BMC) and the environment. Microbialites are neither fossil organisms nor trace fossils. These complex structures are the products of dissipative, self-organising systems involving a BMC, the external environment and the accreting microbialite. Functionally analogous BMCs of different species compositions may build similar structures in similar environments in quite separate periods. The type exposures ofCryptozo?n proliferum show objects composed of complex, concentric rings, up to a metre in diameter, that have grown laterally without any restriction other than that provided by neighbouring structures. They are not the relicts of domes truncated by penecontemporaneous erosion or Pleistocene glaciation, but depositional forms in which upward growth was restricted. Analogous modern structures occur on a reef platform along the north east shore of hyposaline Lake Clifton, Western Australia. These are tabular thrombolitic microbialites that vary lakeward across the reef platform from low, compound structures to discrete, concentric structures up to 50 cm high. The Lake Clifton forms are, in turn, morphological analogues of microatolls found on coral reef platforms. Coral microatolls are coral colonies with flat, dead tops and living perimeters in which upward growth is constrained by the sea surface. In shallow water they form circular rims of laterally growing coral around a dead centre. In deeper water they form coral heads that develop flat tops on reaching sea level. It is concluded that both the tabular microbialites of Lake Clifton and the type exposures ofCryptozo?n proliferum are analogous to coral microatolls in both form and origin-structures that have been able to grow laterally, but in which upward growth is restricted by subaerial exposure. Similar microatoll microbialites have been described from other modern environments, including Great Salt Lake, Utah, USA and Stocking Island, Exuma Cays, Bahamas. Ancient examples may include some of the “tufa” deposits of the Basal Purbeck Formation in Dorset, UK, as well as the coalesced domal bioherms of the Upper Cambrian Arrinthrunga Formation of the Georgina Basin, Central Australia, and the “washbowl” structures described from the B?tsfjord Formation of the Varanger Peninsula, north Norway. Progress towards a reliable interpretation of ancient microbialites depends on an understanding of modern environments in which analogous structures are forming. This study of microatolls has demonstrated that other sessile life forms may create colonial ecomorphs that, used cautiously, can serve as analogues for understanding the factors controlling the growth and form of microbialites. The surprising lack of pre-Pleistocene examples of microatolls recorded to date has simply been due to their lack of recognition in the geological record. They occur in sequences from the Proterozoic onwards, and provide powerful environmental indicators of ancient reef platforms on which biological growth was adjusted to contemporary sea level.     

Comprehensive assay for pyrazinamide, rifampicin and isoniazid with its hydrazine metabolites in human plasma by column liquid chromatography

A comprehensive assay for determination of pyrazinamide (PZA), rifampicin (RIF), isoniazid (INH) and hydrazine metabolites is described. The method involves organic solvent extraction of PZA and RIF, followed by derivatization of INH, monoacetylhydrazine (mHYD) and hydrazine (HYD) with salicylaldehyde and extraction with diethyl ether. Acetylisoniazid (acINH) and diacetylhydrazine (dHYD) were hydrolyzed to INH and mHYD, respectively, and processed as above. Using a gradient solvent programmer, PZA and RIF were analyzed on a C₈ (5 μm) column at 248 nm, while INH and metabolites were analyzed on a C₁₈ (5 μm) ODS2 column at 280 nm.     

Structure and function of a mating-type gene from the homothallic species Neurospora africana

The homothallic Neurospora species, N. africana, contains sequences that hybridize to the A but not to a mating-type sequences of the heterothallic species N. crassa. In this study, the N. africana mating-type gene, mt A-1, was cloned, sequenced and its function analyzed in N. crassa. Although N. africana does not mate in a heterothallic manner, its mt A-1 gene functions as a mating activator in N. crassa. In addition, the N. africana mt A-1 gene confers mating type-associated vegetative incompatibility in N. crassa. DNA sequence analysis shows that the N. africana mt A-1 open reading frame (ORF) is 93% identical to that of N. crassa mt A-1. The mt A-1 ORF of N. africana contains no stop codons and was detected as a cDNA which is processed in a similar manner to mt A-1 of N. crassa. By DNA blot and orthogonal field agarose gel electrophoretic analysis, it is shown that the composition and location of the mating-type locus and the organization of the mating-type chromosome of N. africana are similar to that of N. crassa.