Choanoflagellates (Sarcomastigophora, Protozoa) from the Coastal Waters of Taiwan and Japan. I. Three New Species

Three new acanthoecidaean species collected from the coastal waters of Taiwan and Japan are described: Acanthocorbis camarensis n. sp. resembles Acanthocorbis unguiculata in lorica morphology, but differs in having regularly arranged longitudinal and transverse costae at the anterior lorica chamber, and in lacking a nail at the apical end of anterior spine; Diaphanoeca spiralifurca n. sp. is characterized by the spiral arrangement of the costal strips in the posterior half of the lorica chamber and is closely related to Diaphanoeca grandis; Stephanoeca supracostata n. sp. is closely related to Stephanoeca elegans, but differs in having an additional transverse costa at the anterior lorica chamber.     

Erythrocyte Membrane-specific Antigens common to Several Species of Rodentia

THE rare existence of organ-specific antisera transcending species differences was pointed out by Coombs¹. Similar new organ, or “erythrocyte-specific”, antisera reacting selectively to the erythrocytes of several species of Myomorpha are described here. The antisera, “anti-A”, were prepared by the method of Adachi and Furusawa²: adult guinea-pigs were sensitized with the “antigen-A” (the protein portion of dd mouse erythrocyte membrane). The detailed procedure for preparing labelled antibody, the staining method and its specific reactivity to mouse erythrocytic cells have been reported before³. Circulating erythrocytes from various animals were stained with the fluorescein isothiocyanate-labelled “anti-A”. Smeared cell preparations were fixed with acetone at ? 20° C for 20 min and incubated with the labelled antisera, which had been thoroughly absorbed with the emulsion of mouse liver and kidney to remove the cross-reacting antibodies, at 37° C for 90 min. A light microscope with a darkfield condenser was used for the fluorescent observations using Orsen's interference filter system. Clear fluorescent reactions, though of varied intensities, were observed with those animals classified as Myomorpha, that is, mouse, rat, golden hamster and Chinese hamster (Table 1, Fig. 1). Mammalian erythrocytes other than those of the guinea-pig used as the sensitized animal showed faint fluorescences. Nucleated erythrocytes of the chick, quail, turtle, toad and goldfish were negative to the reaction. The erythrocyte-specific reactivity of the labelled antisera was examined with the liver, kidney and thymus cells of the animals whose erythrocytes displayed intense fluorescences; they showed, however, no fluorescence.     

SORBITOL IN THE EGGS OF THE SILKWORM, BOMBYX MORI

Sorbitol was found to be a normal and sole monosaccharide demonstrable in the late ovarian and in the early embryonic stages of the silkworm, Bombyx mori. This observation was first made on a line of non-diapausing polyvoltine Katsumata strain, but was later confirmed by the analysis of two other Katsumata lines and on several polyvoltine or bivoltine strains. The identification of the sugar extracted from the diapause eggs of a bivoltine strain and from the non-diapausing eggs of a Katsumata strain was based on analyses involving paper chromatography, paper electrophoresis and sorbitol dehydrogenase.     

Changes in Nicotinamide Nucleotide Coenzymes in Cucumber Leaves during Ammonium Toxicity

Nicotinamide nucleotide coenzymes were estimated enzymatically in cucumber leaves (Cucumis sativus L. cv. Suisei No. 2) during ammonium toxicity. The contents of all the coenzymes (NAD(H) and NADP(H)) were found to be higher in the ammonium-treated plants than in the control plants, and the difference attained a maximum at 5 days after the initiation of ammonium treatment. Thereafter, the contents of NAD and NADH returned towards the control level, but NADP and NADPH levels were lowered in injured plants. The ratios of NAD/NAD + NADH and NADP/NADP ++ NADPH were little altered by the ammonium treatment. Changes of nicotinamide nucleotide coenzymes are discussed in relation to respiratory metabolism in cucumber leaves during ammonium toxicity.     

Localization of Possible Calcium-Binding Sites in the Cilia of Paramecium caudatum

SYNOPSIS. Electron-dense deposits indicating possible Ca-binding sites were found at the ciliary base of Paramecium caudatum fixed in a glutaraldehyde solution containing 5 mM CaCl₂. The deposits appeared mainly at the inner surface of the ciliary membrane above the "ciliary necklace" region, although they could also occur in the space between the outer and the central microtubules. In some cases a ring of exactly 9 deposits was found in a ciliary cross section of a cilium.     

CHICK BRAIN CREATINE KINASE ONTOGENY BEFORE THE ADVENT OF CREATINE AND INSULIN

The ontogeny of brain creatine kinase (CK) was studied during chick embryo development. The cytosolic activity increased 270% in 10 h from the 2nd to the 3rd days of incubation; this was followed by a plateau phase throughout development and at the end of incubation there appeared to be another increase of cytosolic and mitochondrial CK activities. Therefore, early embryonic chick brain CK is another‘constitutive’enzyme like the early embryonic chick heart CK since creatine has not been enzymatically detected in the embryo until day 4 of incubation. Insulin does not appear to stimulate the early increase of brain CK activity since the hormone is not present in the embryo until day 5 of incubation. It is likely that CK increase is associated with neuronal multiplication at early stages and possibly to neuronal maturation before hatching.     

On artifacts appearing in the histochemical fixation of glycogen

1. Fixation artifacts associated with glycogen translocation are prevalent in tissues of parenchymatous type and scarce or non-existent in tissues of loose type. 2. Liver tissue treated with M/3 NaOH solution before fixation did not show an uneven distribution of glycogen. This was interpreted as indicating that the liver, a tissue of parenchymatous type, was changed, so to speak, into a loose type of tissue by alkali treatment. 3. The so called Alkohol-flucht of glycogen was produced in Yoshida's ascites tumor cells by a procedure which changed a loose type of tissue into a parenchymatous one, that is, by packing the tumor cells tightly. 4. The translocation of glycogen in cells appeared to occur when the fixatives penetrated the cells rapidly from a single direction, but failed to occur when the cells were attacked by the fixative from all directions. 5. In dried smears of Yoshida's ascites tumor cells and bone marrow cells, the glycogen particles are translocated to the peripheral regions of the cells, and coalesce there. The production of these artifacts is related in some way to the physicochemical properties of the protoplasm and plasma membrane of the cells.     

The possibility of photo-induced induction of nitrate reductase in rice seedlings

Nitrate reductase activity in rice seedlings showed daily fluctuations.Seedlings placed in the dark slowly lost activity and quicklyregained it when exposed to sunlight. Etiolated seedlings alsoshowed rapid increases in activity when transferred to sunlight.This increase in activity by sunlight was inhibited by bothchloramphenicol and ethionine. Ethionine inhibition was reversedby methionine. Purification of nitrate reductase was carriedout by ammonium sulfate fractionation and DEAE-cellulose columnchromatography. Nitrate reductase was purified about 40-foldfrom plants placed in the dark and in sunlight. Incorporationof mediionine-S-¹⁴CH₃ into the nitrate reductase fraction wasstudied. In sunlight, the specific radioactivity of the nitratereductase fraction from the DEAE-cellulose column increased2-fold as compared with that of the crude extracts. Specificradioactivity did not increase in the dark. ¹Present address: Asahi Kasei Chemicals Industry Co., Ltd.,Sameshima 2-1, Fuji, Shizuoka, Japan (Received December 3, 1968; )     

Chemosensory Response in Blepharisma. I. Accumulation of Cells in Products of Bacterial Metabolism

ABSTRACT. Blepharisma cells were attracted by a pellet of live bacteria (Enterobacter) which was separated from the Blepharisma suspension by a cellulose membrane (fractionation: M.W. 14,000). The cells, however, were not attracted by killed bacteria. Crude and heat-treated supernatants obtained from bacterial suspension also induced chemoaccumulation of cells. These results suggest that the cells of Blepharisma detect certain small molecules, produced by live bacteria, that can pass through the cellulose membrane and are stable to heat. From the live bacteria supernatant, several ninhydrin-positive substances were isolated by means of two-dimensional thin-layer chromatography. Several of the spots contained substances that attracted the cells, indicating that certain ninhydrin-positive components, such as peptides or free amino acids (probably products of bacterial metabolism), may serve as a signal for food.