Enhanced heavy metal removal from waste water by viable, glucose pretreated Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells

Summary The bioaccumulation of metals (Cu²⁺, Cr⁶⁺, Cd²⁺, Ni²⁺ and Zn²⁺) from three electroplating effluents by viable Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and the effect of glucose treatment on accumulation was determined. Pretreatment of the yeast cells with glucose increased the amount of metal removed, whilst direct addition of glucose to the yeast-effluent solution had no effect on the amount of metal accumulated.     

Nothobranchius cooperi (Teleostei: Cyprinodontiformes): a new species of annual killifish from the Luapula River drainage,northern Zambia

Nothobranchius cooperi, Nagy, Watters and Bellstedt, new species, is described from seasonal streams and ephemeral pools associated with the upper Mansa River system in the middle Luapula drainage and systems draining into the low-lying area marginal to the southwestern part of Lake Bangweulu, in the Luapula province of northern Zambia. It belongs to the N. brieni species group. Males of Nothobranchius cooperi are distinguished from congeners by the following unique combination of characters: body scales with broad orange posterior margin, forming a highly irregular cross-barred pattern; anal fin fairly uniform orange-red with irregular to regular, light blue-green zone close to the base; caudal peduncle length 1.2–1.3 times its depth; prepelvic length 48.8–51.9% SL; and head depth 75–77% of head length. Genetic divergence of the mitochondrial COI and ND2 genes and nuclear S7 gene support the distinction of the new species from its closest known relative, N. rosenstocki and confirms its position in the N. brieni species group.     

Identification of the Cationic Amino Acid Transporter (System y+) of the Rat Blood-Brain Barrier

Abstract: Cationic amino acids are transported from blood into brain by a saturable carrier at the blood-brain barrier (BBB). The transport properties of this carrier were examined in the rat using an in situ brain perfusion technique. Influx into brain via this system was found to be sodium independent and followed Michaelis-Men-ten kinetics with half-saturation constants (K_m) of 50–100 μM and maximal transport rates of 22–26 nmol/min/g for L-lysine, L-arginine, and L-ornithine. The kinetic properties matched that of System y⁺, the sodium-independent cationic amino acid transporter, the cDNA for which has been cloned from the mouse. To determine if the cloned receptor is expressed at the BBB, we assayed RNA from rat cerebral microvessels and choroid plexus for the presence of the cloned transporter mRNA by RNase protection. The mRNA was present in both cerebral microvessels and choroid plexus and was enriched in microvessels 38-fold as compared with whole brain. The results indicate that System y⁺ is present at the BBB and that its mRNA is more densely expressed at cerebral microvessels than in whole brain.