Direct acid-catalysed transmethylation of lactobacillic acid in lactic acid bacteria

Summary Cellular fatty acids inLactobacillus büchneri were transmethylated with H₂SO₄ catalyst in methanol at elevated temperature. By optimising the reaction time and the amounts of catalyst and methanol used at a fixed temperature it was possible to maximise the lactobacillic acid yield. The yield of lactobacillic acid with this method was better than with the traditional method using base-catalysed saponification followed by HCL-catalysed methylation.     

Ontogeny,environment, and shape of a marine snail Thais lamellosa Gmelin

Shell shape, as expressed in terms of log weight/log length, (relative weight), changes progressively as Thais lamellosa Gmelin grows. Relative weight decreases at all sites, but the decrease is relatively rapid at localities with low food supply and correspondingly low growth rates. Snails at these sites are ‘slender’ relative to those at sites with greater barnacle populations. The sitespecific shapes are phenotypic, since snails with fat and with slender parents all became slender in the laboratory where food was readily available and growth rates were higher than those observed at most field localities. Since these snails did not become ‘fat’, food abundance is not the immediately causal, environmental factor promoting a slow change in relative weight. Two other species of Thais live in the same places and undergo similar changes in relative weight.     

Darting and marking techniques for an arboreal forest monkey,Cercopithecus ascanius

Techniques are described for capturing and marking redtail monkeys (Cercopithecus ascanius). An air-powered darting rifle and syringe darts loaded with a Ketamine-Rompun mixture were used for capture. Ketamine was used for maintaining anesthesia. Monkeys were darted 48 times and captured 27 times. In 24 of the 27 captures, the monkeys were released unharmed. Adult males were marked with radiotransmitters attached to collars of nylon webbing. Females received nylon webbing collars with colorcoded plastic washers for identification.     

Coordinate induction of electrophoretic variants of juvenile hormone esterase

Major and minor electrophoretic variants of juvenile hormone esterase (JHE) were found in the hemolymph of last instar larvae of Trichoplusia ni, both before and after metamorphic commitment. The average ratios of activity of the two major forms were similar during both last stadium peaks in activity. Immunological analysis showed that the hemolymph concentration of JHE during this stadium paralleled the level of enzymatic activity, and no putative higher molecular weight, inactive forms were detected. Immunological analysis provided the first evidence of relatedness of major and minor forms. After hormonal stimulation, the concentration of the two major forms increased concomitantly and by a similar proportion, suggesting that charge variation, at least for these two major forms, is not a point of hormonal or developmental regulation of JHE.