Ca2+ uptake and membrane potential in sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles

The rate of calcium uptake by sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles isolated from rabbit skeletal muscle was stimulated by inside-negative membrane potential generated by K+ gradients in the presence of valinomycin. The increase in the calcium transport rate was accompanied by a proportional increase in the rate of calcium-dependent ATP hydrolysis, without significant change in the steady state level of the phosphorylated enzyme intermediate. Changes in the sarcoplasmic reticulum membrane potential during calcium transport were monitored with the optical probe, 3,3'-diethylthiadicarbocyanine. The decrease in the absorbance of 3,3'-diethylthiadicarbocyanine at 660 nm following generation of inside-negative membrane potential was reversed during ATP-induced calcium uptake. These observations support an electrogenic mechanism for the transport of calcium by the sarcoplasmic reticulum.     

Trophic interactions in soils as they affect energy and nutrient dynamics. IV. Flows of metabolic and biomass carbon

Flows of biomass and respiratory carbon were studied in a series of propylene-oxide sterilized soil microcosms. One-half of the microcosms received three pulsed additions of 200 ppm glucose-carbon to mimic rhizosphere carbon inputs. Biotic variables were: bacteria (Pseudomonas) alone, or amoebae (Acanthamoeba) and nematodes (Mesodiplogaster) singly, or both combined in the presence of bacteria.Over the 24-day experiment, respiration was significantly higher in the microcosms containing the bacterial grazers. Biomass accumulation by amoebae was significantly higher than that by nematodes. The nematodes respired up to 30-fold more CO₂ per unit biomass than did amoebae. Similar amounts of carbon flowed into both respiratory and biomass carbon in microcosms with fauna, compared with the bacteria-alone microcosms. However, partitioning of available carbon by the microfauna varied considerably, with little biomass production and relatively more CO₂-C produced in the nematode-containing microcosms. The amoebae, in contrast, allocated more carbon to tissue production (about 40% assimilation efficiency) and correspondingly less to CO₂.     

Effect of cadmium on photosynthetic pigments in synchronously growing Chlorella cells

Cadmium ions introduced at concentration of 30 ppm to the cultivation medium of synchronously growing Chlorella vulgaris decreased concentration of chlorophylls a and b, carotenes alpha and beta and lutein at various stages of the cell cycle, while at concentration of 1 ppm synthesis of the photosynthetic pigments was stimulated. The pigment content in the cadmium treated cells was related to the morphometrically determined changes in the size and shape of the cells.