Localization of P elements, copy number regulation, and cytotype determination in Drosophila melanogaster

Seventeen highly-inbred lines of Drosophila melanogaster extracted from an M' strain (in the P/M system of hybrid dysgenesis) were studied for their cytotype and the number and chromosomal location of complete and defective P elements. While most lines were of M cytotype, three presented a P cytotype (the condition that represses P-element activity) and one was intermediate between M and P. All lines were found to possess KP elements and only eight to bear full-sized P elements. Only the lines with full-sized P elements showed detectable changes in their P-insertion pattern over generations; their rates of gain and of loss of P-element sites were equal to 0.12 and 0.09 per genome, per generation, respectively. There was no correlation between these two rates within lines, suggesting independent transpositions and excisions in the inbred genomes. The results of both Southern blot analysis and in situ hybridization of probes made from left and right sides of the P element strongly suggested the presence of a putative complete P element in region 1A of the X chromosome in the three lines with a P cytotype; the absence of P copy in this 1A region in lines with an M cytotype, favours the hypothesis that the P element inserted in 1A could play a major role in the P-cytotype determination. Insertion of a defective 2 kb P element was also observed in region 93F in 9 of the 13 M lines. The regulation of the P-element copy number in our lines appeared not to be associated with the ratio of full-length and defective P elements.     

Interaction between the min locus and ftsZ.

In Escherichia coli, distinct but similar minicell phenotypes resulting from mutation at the minB locus and increased expression of ftsZ suggested a possible interaction between these genes. A four- to fivefold increase in FtsZ resulting from increased gene dosage was found to suppress the lethality of minCD expressed from the lac promoter. Since increased MinCD did not affect the level of FtsZ, this suggested that MinCD may antagonize FtsZ to inhibit its cell division activity. This possibility was supported by the finding that alleles of ftsZ isolated as resistant to the cell division inhibitor SulA were also resistant to MinCD. Among the ftsZ(Rsa) alleles, two appeared to be completely resistant to MinCD as demonstrated by the lack of an effect of MinCD on cell length and a minicell phenotype observed in the absence of a significant increase in FtsZ. It was shown that SulA inhibits cell division independently of MinCD.     

Outgrowth promoting factor for the inner cell mass of the mouse blastocyst

When cultured individually, isolated inner cell masses (ICMs) of the mouse blastocyst form an outer layer of endoderm and remain in suspension as spherical structures for several days. Conditioned media from certain teratocarcinoma- and blastocyst-derived cell lines contain one or more outgrowth promoting factors (OPF) which facilitate attachment and outgrowth of ICMs, in some cases prior to endoderm formation. OPF adheres to culture dishes and presumably promotes ICM cell outgrowth by alteration of the substratum. Analyses indicate that the active material is a nondialyzable protein which is stable to freezing and thawing, a wide range of pH, and extended incubation at 37°C. However, inactivation takes place at 60°C for 20 min. Although these properties of OPF are in some ways similar to those of various proteins which have been implicated in cell adhesion and spreading, differences between OPF and most of these other proteins are evident. The detection of OPF activity in conditioned medium from primary cultures of embryonic and some extraembryonic cell types suggests that the factor is biologically significant, perhaps, for example, in the spreading of parietal endoderm cells along the surface of the trophoblast layer.     

Environmental footprints of British Columbia wood pellets from a simplified life cycle analysis

Purpose  

Environmental footprints of wood pellets produced in British Columbia (BC) of Canada are to be estimated based on industry surveys and published emission factor data.     

Isoliquiritigenin ameliorates caerulein‐induced chronic pancreatitis by inhibiting the activation of PSCs and pancreatic infiltration of macrophages

Chronic pancreatitis (CP) is characterized by persistent inflammation of the pancreas that results in progressive loss of the endocrine and exocrine compartment owing to atrophy and/or replacement with fibrotic tissue. Currently, the clinical therapeutic scheme of CP is mainly symptomatic treatment including pancreatic enzyme replacement, glycaemic control and nutritional support therapy, lacking of specific therapeutic drugs for prevention and suppression of inflammation and fibrosis aggravating in CP. Here, we investigated the effect of isoliquiritigenin (ILG), a chalcone‐type dietary compound derived from licorice, on pancreatic fibrosis and inflammation in a model of caerulein‐induced murine CP, and the results indicated that ILG notably alleviated pancreatic fibrosis and infiltration of macrophages. Further in vitro studies in human pancreatic stellate cells (hPSCs) showed that ILG exerted significant inhibition on the proliferation and activation of hPSCs, which may be due to negative regulation of the ERK1/2 and JNK1/2 activities. Moreover, ILG significantly restrained the M1 polarization of macrophages (RAW 264.7) via attenuation of the NF‐κB signalling pathway, whereas the M2 polarization was hardly affected. These findings indicated that ILG might be a potential anti‐inflammatory and anti‐fibrotic therapeutic agent for CP.     

Investigation of the Effects of Squalene and Squalene Epoxides on the Homeostasis of Coenzyme Q10 in Rats by UPLC‐Orbitrap MS

Squalene has been used as a dietary supplement for a long history due to its potential cancer‐preventive function. However, the mechanism has not been investigated in detail yet. Therefore, the aim of this study is to see if the plasma coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) level will be altered by gavage of squalene and oxidosqualenes to rats. In the present work, a sensitive and simple high‐performance analytical method based on ultra‐high‐performance liquid chromatography coupled with an Orbitrap mass spectrometry (UPLC‐Orbitrap‐MS) was developed for the quantification of CoQ10 in rat plasma. Coenzyme Q9 (CoQ9) was employed as the internal standard. CoQ10 was determined after acetonitrile‐mediated plasma protein precipitation using UPLC‐Orbitrap‐MS in negative ion mode. Intragastric administration of squalene and the two squalene epoxides into rats once daily for several days elevated the level of CoQ10 in their plasma, but there was no significant difference between high‐dose (286 mg/kg) and low‐dose (143 mg/kg) groups. Intragastric administration of squalene once a day for 5 consecutive days and oxidosqualenes once a day for 3 consecutive days is necessary for reaching the steady‐state level of CoQ10. Our present findings indicate that squalene and oxidosqualenes may be useful for stimulating the synthesis of CoQ10 in rats.     

Achieving Balanced Crystallization Kinetics of Donor and Acceptor by Sequential‐Blade Coated Double Bulk Heterojunction Organic Solar Cells

Sequential deposition has great potential to achieve high performance in organic solar cells due to the resulting well‐controlled vertical phase separation. In this work, double bulk heterojunction organic solar cells are fabricated by sequential‐blade cast in ambient conditions. Probed by the in situ grazing incidence X‐ray diffraction and in situ UV–vis absorption measurements, the seq‐blade system exhibits a different tendency from each of the binary films during the film formation process. Due to the extensive aggregation of FOIC, the binary PBDB‐T:FOIC film displays a strong and large phase separation, resulting in low current density (J_sc) and unsatisfactory power conversion efficiency. In the seq‐blade cast system, the bottom layer PBDB‐T:IT‐M produces many crystal nuclei for the top layer PBDB‐T:FOIC, so the PBDB‐T molecules are able to crystallize easily and quickly. Balanced crystallization kinetics between polymer and small molecule and an ideal percolation network in the film are observed. In addition, the balanced crystallization kinetics are favorable toward realizing lower recombination loss through charge transport processes.     

Synthesis of n-butyl acetate via reactive distillation column using Candida Antarctica lipase as catalyst

Bioprocess and Biosystems Engineering - The reactive distillation process for the synthesis of n-butyl acetate via transesterification of ethyl acetate with n-butyl alcohol catalyzed by immobilized...