Influence of physiologically active substances of the soil humus on the activity of glucose-6-phosphate-dehydrogenase in pea (Pisum sativum L.) roots

The influence of phenolic and humic acids on the activity of glucose-6-phosphate-dehydrogenase in the roots of pea under aseptic conditions has been investigated. It seems clear that vanillic and protocatechuic acids inhibit the enzyme activity in the excised roots of pea, but their dry weight increases in relation to the control. Gallic acid stimulates the G-6-PD activity in the roots of whole plants. The humic acids influence neither the enzyme activity nor the dry weight of pea seedlings after short-term treatment.     

Dimethyl sulfoxide: A solvent for cytokinins in theAmaranthus bioassay

Dimethyl sulfoxide present in the agar medium at concentration 0.2 % (v/v) and lower does not inhibit cytokinin-induced betacyanin synthesis in theAmaranthus caudatus seedlings. The activity of kinetin, N⁶-(Δ²-isopentenyl)adenine andtrans- zeatin is the same when these cytokinins are dissolved in either water or dimethyl sulfoxide and incorporated into the medium after autoclaving. A simple method is described which allows the cytokinin activity of slightly water-soluble and thermolabile compounds,e.g. aromatic urea and thiourea derivatives, to be determined in theAmaranthus bioassay.     

Particulate aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases are retained on heparin bound to sepharose

Fractions of reticulocyte lysates were retained on heparin immobilized on Sepharose 4B and further separated by gel filtration on Sepharose 6B. These fractions contain aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases for 12 amino acids tested. Most synthetases with the highest specific activity are present in the fraction of approximately 40S. Particulate synthetases present in the postmicrosomal pellet of rat liver and synthetases associated with polyribosomes are almost completely adsorbed on heparin-Sepharose but free enzymes in the cytosol are not retained. Since only particulate synthetases are retained on the affinity carrier, their adsorbtion may be due to the presence of proteinsynthesis factors, in particular peptide initiation and elongation factors, in the complexes of synthetases.     

The role ofH-2 regions in overcoming tissue incompatibility

Neonatal transplantation tolerance to the products of theH-2 ^b complex was induced in B10.A (H-2 ^a ) mice. On the basis of the survival of skin allografts it was found that antigens determined by theD region of theH-2 ^b complex (of the B10.A(2R) strain) were most easily overcome and that tolerance to the products of theD end of theH-2 complex (of the B10.A(4R) strain) was also easy to induce. The antigens produced by theK end ofH-2 (of the B10.A(5R) and B10.A(3R) strains) represented a stronger incompatibility barrier and a difference in the entireH-2 ^b complex caused strongest resistance to tolerance induction. When tolerance to the products of the entireH-2 ^b complex was induced in newborn B10.A mice, and the neonatally treated animals were grafted simultaneously with five different grafts, those disparate at theK end ofH-2 and in the entireH-2 region were rejected in some animals, while the grafts disparate at theD end of H-2 remained intact in the same mice. No dependence on theI-J subregion was observed in this system. Furthermore, tolerance was more easily inducible in male than in female B10.A mice.     

Biodegradation of sodium sulfite liquor (NaSSL) and sodium lignosulfonate (NaLS) by a mixed culture of microorganisms

Summary In this work we discuss the aerobic biodegradation of sodium sulfite liquor of (NaSSL) and sodium lignosulfonate (NaLS) in a firwood sulfite waste liquor by a mixed culture of microorganisms consisting of two Trichosporon yeasts and bacteria in the Arthrobacter (two species), Pseudomonas and Chromabacterium genera. Under established process parameters, the NaSSL was biodegradated in one or two stages by mixed cultures. The kinetics in each stage was studied. The optimal ratio of NaLS and sugars in the substrate for the growth of mixed culture was determined. The growth of the monocultures of the bacteria on the NaLS and the growth of the yeasts as monocultures on the NaSSL substrate were examined. UV absorption and IR spectra were employed as analytical methods to follow the microbial degradation of NaLS. The aim of this research was to study the biodegradation process and kinetics and to remove by means of mixed culture the maximum amount of organic matter from NaSSL.     

Sensitivity of various yeasts to crude cellulolytic enzyme complexes fromTrichoderma reesei

Summary Twenty-six yeast strains, representative of different yeast genera, were tested for their sensitivity to crude extracellular cellulolytic enzyme complexes obtained from the fungusTrichoderma reesei QM 9414 and its mutants M 6 and MHC 22 (Microcrystalline cellulose was the sole carbon source.) Practically all the yeast strains tested were found to be sensitive, exhibiting signs of cellwall weakening and lysis during prolonged incubation with the emzymes fromTrichoderma. Under growth conditions, the effect of cellulolytic enzymes on yeast cells and their growth rates was much less pronounced. However, at increased cellulase concentrations (5 mg/ml) in the growth medium, lysis of stationary phase yeast cells was observed.     

Ontogeny of lymphatic structures in the pig omentum

Summary The development of lymphoid populations in the omentum majus during the prenatal and postnatal life of the pig was studied. T lymphocytes, monocytes and mast cells were first found on the 40th day of gestation. B lymphocytes appeared on the 72nd day of gestation when the first macrophage aggregates were formed. Macrophages appeared to be the prerequisite for the formation of dense lymphatic areas (DLA's). At later stages T cells were observed only in the omentum of germfree pigs. DLA's of conventional pig omentum are filled exclusively with B cells.     

Three rare G-6-PD variants from Porto Alegre,Brazil

Summary Studies in 772 children and their mothers living in Porto Alegre, Brazil, disclosed three rare G-6-PD phenotypes. The first, observed in a dark mulatto, is probably identical to a variant previously found in Northeastern Brazil and was named Gd Minas Gerais-like; a white boy of German ancestry showed what seems to be Seattle-like; and a white man of Portuguese ancestry presented a previously undescribed variant that is being called Gd Porto Alegre. The allele responsible for Gd Minas Gerais may be more prevalent in Brazilian populations than was previously thought. Its estimated frequency in 214 black males from Porto Alegre is 0.005.     

The influence of carotenoids on the conformation of chlorophyll-protein complexes isolated from the cyanobacterium Plectonema boryanum. Absorption and circular dichroism study

Thylakoid membranes of the cyanobacterium Plectonema boryanum solubilized with Triton X-100 can be resolved into three fractions of pigment-protein complexes (Hladík, J. and Sofrová, D. (1981) Photosynthetica 15, 490–503). Fraction I contained relatively the highest amount of carotenoids as well as monomeric forms of chlorophyll a, Fractions II and III contained chlorophyll-protein complexes with a characteristic exciton-split circular dichroism in the red region. It has been shown that fraction III is an oligomeric form of the chlorophyll-protein complex of fraction II. Circular dichroism spectra indicate that, different from fraction II, fraction III contains specifically oriented and space-fixed molecules of carotenoids. Thermal dissociation of fracion III to fraction II is accompanied by disappearance of the positive circular dichroism effect of carotenoids in the 500–550 nm region, thus causing deorganization of the carotenoids, proceeding in parallel to the geometrical rearrangement of chlorophyll molecules. Extraction of the carotenoids of fraction III with heptane is acompanied by dissociation of fraction III. We assume that the observed effects are due to binding of the two pigments to the protein component of the complex and that carotenoids can mediate a part of the interactions which stabilize the structure of pigment-protein complexes. Thus, besides the light-harvesting and protective functions, carotenoids can also play a structural role.