贵州两栖动物区系及地理区划的初步研究

本文报道贵州省两栖动物63种,其中省新纪录2种,即阔褶蛙和锯腿树蛙。将贵州划分为黔西高原中山、黔北中山峡谷、黔中山原丘陵、黔东南低山丘陵盆地和黔南低山河谷五个动物地理省。认为黔南低山河谷省属于向华南区过渡的华中地带。讨论了各动物地理省的地貌、气候、两栖动物区系特征及地理替代种类。分析了各动物地理省两栖动物区系的相似性及数量关系。     

Ca2+ channels in chick neural retina cells characterized by 1,4-dihydropyridine antagonists and activators

The voltage-sensitive calcium channel in cultured chick neural retina cells was characterized by the actions of the enantiomers of Bay K 8644 and 202-791 and other 1,4-dihydropyridines. These cells showed time- and voltage-dependent Ca2+ uptake that was stimulated by K+ depolarization and blocked by the inorganic calcium channel blockers Cd2+ and Co2+. A small fraction only (15% maximum) of the uptake was inactivated by predepolarization of the cells with 80 mM K+. Ca2+ uptake was sensitive to the 1,4-dihydropyridine calcium channel antagonists and activators. (S)-Bay K 8644 and (S)-202-791 stimulated the Ca2+ uptake, and (R)-Bay K 8644 and (R)-202-791 as well as nitrendipine and PN 200-110 inhibited Ca2+ uptake stimulated by K+ depolarization or channel activators. The K+ depolarization-stimulated uptake was inhibited by 90%, but the activator-stimulated uptake was completely blocked by the 1,4-dihydropyridine antagonists. The potencies of these agents as inhibitors of Ca2+ uptake were significantly lower than the binding affinities in membrane preparations from the same cells or their binding and pharmacologic affinities in vascular smooth muscle. K+ depolarization or (S)-Bay K 8644 induced 45Ca2+ uptake was not observed in a glial cell culture. [3H]Nitrendipine and [3H]PN 200-110 bound to membrane preparations of the cells consistent with the presence of a single type of high affinity binding site.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Genes involved in the biosynthesis of PQQ fromAcinetobacter calcoaceticus

From a gene bank of theAcinetobacter calcoaceticus genome a plasmid was isolated that complements four different classes of PQQ^- mutants. Subclones of this plasmid revealed that the four corresponding PQQ genes are located on a fragment of 5 kilobases. The nucleotide sequence of this 5 kb fragment was determined and by means of Tn5 insertion mutants the reading frames of the PQQ genes could be identified. Three of the PQQ genes code for proteins of M_r 29700 (gene I), M_r 10800 (gene II) and M_r 43600 (gene III) respectively. In the DNA region where gene IV was mapped however the largest possible reading frame encodes for a polypeptide of only 24 amino acids. A possible role for this small polypeptide will be discussed. Finally we show that expression of the four PQQ genes inAcinetobacter lwoffi andEscherichia coli lead to the synthesis of the coenzyme in these organisms.     

Polyclonal antibodies to rabbit skeletal muscle protein phosphatases C-I and C-II

Polyclonal antibodies against rabbit skeletal muscle phosphatases C-I and C-II were raised in goats and in mice. The goat polyclonal antibodies to phosphatases C-I and C-II were examined for their ability to immunoblot the purified enzymes and crude rabbit muscle extracts. In preparations of phosphatases C-I and C-II that were apparently homogeneous, the expected ca. 35- to 38-kDa polypeptides were immunoblotted, but, in addition, immunoblotting of a 67-kDa polypeptide was observed. Both the antisera blotted only the 67-kDa polypeptide in crude rabbit muscle extracts and not the expected 35- to 38-kDa polypeptides. These findings are qualitatively similar to those reported previously (D.L. Brautigan et al. (1985) J. Biol. Chem. 260, 4295-4305) where immunoblotting experiments with a sheep antisera to phosphatase C-I indicated that the ca. 35-kDa polypeptide originates from a 70-kDa precursor. On further investigation, it was found that our antisera were strongly immunoreactive to rabbit serum albumin. The antisera blotted purified rabbit albumin, but not bovine serum albumin. After passage through a rabbit albumin-Sepharose column, the antisera lost immunoreactivity to rabbit albumin, and no longer blotted the ca. 70-kDa band in muscle extracts or in purified enzyme preparations. These findings show that the phosphatase preparations contained traces of albumin which produced a strong antigenic reaction. Production of antisera in BALB/c mice produced similar results; i.e., an antibody to the low-molecular-weight phosphatases was produced that was also a strong antibody to rabbit albumin. This antibody could be removed by affinity adsoption on rabbit albumin-Sepharose columns. In addition, the antibodies to phosphatase C-I displayed no cross-reactivity to phosphatase C-II, while antibodies to C-II showed no cross-reactivity to phosphatase C-I by immunoblotting methods.     

Liver mitochondrial respiratory functions decline with age

Human liver mitochondrial respiration rates in Chinese populations of various ages were assayed with an oxygraph. In this study, State 3 and State 4 respiration rates, respiratory control ratio (RCR), and ADP/O ratio were measured for 35 Chinese subjects of 31 to 76 years old. We found a significant negative correlation between age and respiratory control and ADP/O ratios tested. Moreover, the respiratory control and ADP/O ratios decreased with the increase of age. These findings suggest that a substantial fall in mitochondrial oxidative capacity in ageing liver may be an important contributor to the ageing process.     

Two LINE 1 repeats in rat

One LINE 1 repeat has been located 661 bp downstream from the last albumin exon and another approx. 10 kbp downstream from the last alpha-fetoprotein exon in the rat genomic DNA. The LINE 1 repeat following the albumin gene is truncated at its 5' end and is 1204 nucleotides long. The 5' end of the longer repeat downstream from the alpha-fetoprotein gene has not been determined. The two repeats have 95% homology with each other, with the exception of a short diverse 3' end sequence just preceding the putative polyadenylation signal.     

A new HaeIII polymorphism at the D21S13 locus

Summary DNA markers in the pericentromeric region of human chromosome 21 have shown linkage to a gene for Familial Alzheimer disease (FAD; St. George Hyslop et al. 1987). The limited informativeness of probes for the loci D21S13 and D21S16 have hindered precise mapping of the FAD locus and analysis of non-allelic heterogeneity in FAD (Schellenberg et al. 1988; St. George-Hyslop et al. 1987). We recently described a new EcoRII polymorphism at the D21S13 locus that was very informative in a large FAD pedigree (Pulst et al. 1990a, b). We now report another polymorphism for the D21S13 locus that further increases the informativeness of this locus.     

小麦间期集缩染色质的超微结构研究

本文以普通小麦(Triticum aestivum L.)根端分生组织为材料,在透射电镜下对间期细胞核内的集缩染色质的高层次结构进行了研究。在其中观察到直径约为20—25nm、50nm及110—120nm 的不同等级染色线,并且发现直径110—120nm 的染色线是由50nm 的染色线组成的,而直径约50nm 的染色线是由20—25nm 的染色线组成的。对这三个层次染色质结构之间的集缩方式进行了讨论。