Inhibition of dopamine beta-hydroxylase by thiazoline-2-carboxylate, a suspected physiological product of D-amino acid oxidase

Thiazoline-2-carboxylate was chemically synthesized and shown to be identical in all respects to the product formed in a D-amino acid oxidase catalyzed reaction involving cysteamine and glyoxylate. Both the chemically synthesized and enzymically prepared thiazoline-2-carboxylate are effective inhibitors of dopamine β-hydroxylase but they do not appreciably affect the activity of several other metalloenzymes that require copper, iron or zinc. The inhibition of dopamine β-hydroxylase is competitive with respect to the reactant ascorbic acid and uncompetitive with respect to tyramine. The possible physiological significance of this inhibition is briefly considered.     

Isolation and Identification of Environmental Mycobacteria in the Mycobacterium bovis BCG Trial Area of South India

The isolation profiles of environmental mycobacteria present in soil, water, and dust samples, and sputum samples of persons with symptoms of chest infection in the South Indian Mycobacterium bovis BCG (bacillus Calmette-Guérin) trial area were compared. Isolates belonging to the Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare-scrofulaceum complex were predominant in water, dust, and sputum samples and Mycobacterium fortuitum-complex organisms were predominant in soil samples irrespective of the season of the year.     

Evaluation of Procedures for Isolation of Nontuberculous Mycobacteria from Soil and Water

Six methods of decontamination each for the isolation of mycobacteria from soil and water were compared. On the basis of the results obtained, three of the six methods for soil and two of the six methods for water were further evaluated. For both soil and water samples, the method using 3% sodium lauryl sulfate in combination with 1% NaOH yielded more positives than the other methods.     

Plant cyclins: a unified nomenclature for plant A-, B- and D-type cyclins based on sequence organization

The comparative analysis of a large number of plant cyclins of the A/B family has recently revealed that plants possess two distinct B-type groups and three distinct A-type groups of cyclins [1]. Despite earlier uncertainties, this large-scale comparative analysis has allowed an unequivocal definition of plant cyclins into either A or B classes. We present here the most important results obtained in this study, and extend them to the case of plant D-type cyclins, in which three groups are identified. For each of the plant cyclin groups, consensus sequences have been established and a new, rational, plant-wide naming system is proposed in accordance with the guidelines of the Commission on Plant Gene Nomenclature. This nomenclature is based on the animal system indicating cyclin classes by an upper-case roman letter, and distinct groups within these classes by an arabic numeral suffix. The naming of plant cyclin classes is chosen to indicate homology to their closest animal class. The revised nomenclature of all described plant cyclins is presented, with their classification into groups CycA1, CycA2, CycA3, CycB1, CycB2, CycD1, CycD2 and CycD3.     

Intracellular enzymes and their localization in slender and stumpy forms of Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense

Acid phosphatase and cathepsin D activity is greater in stumpy than in slender forms, especially when estimations are made on a ‘light lysosomal’ fraction. Acid phosphatase is localized in the region of the flagellar pocket in slender forms but is present in lysosomes, phagolysosomes, autophagosomes and rough endoplasmic reticulum of stumpy forms. In stumpy forms dense bodies develop the macrocrystalline structure of peroxisomes. Intense enzyme activity in stumpy forms appears to be associated with absorption of lipid from the plasma by a mechanism similar to but of greater intensity than that described in atheromatous rabbit aorta.