Osmotic Transport across Cell Membranes in Nondilute Solutions: A New Nondilute Solute Transport Equation

The fundamental physical mechanisms of water and solute transport across cell membranes have long been studied in the field of cell membrane biophysics. Cryobiology is a discipline that requires an understanding of osmotic transport across cell membranes under nondilute solution conditions, yet many of the currently-used transport formalisms make limiting dilute solution assumptions. While dilute solution assumptions are often appropriate under physiological conditions, they are rarely appropriate in cryobiology. The first objective of this article is to review commonly-used transport equations, and the explicit and implicit assumptions made when using the two-parameter and the Kedem-Katchalsky formalisms. The second objective of this article is to describe a set of transport equations that do not make the previous dilute solution or near-equilibrium assumptions. Specifically, a new nondilute solute transport equation is presented. Such nondilute equations are applicable to many fields including cryobiology where dilute solution conditions are not often met. An illustrative example is provided. Utilizing suitable transport equations that fit for two permeability coefficients, fits were as good as with the previous three-parameter model (which includes the reflection coefficient, σ). There is less unexpected concentration dependence with the nondilute transport equations, suggesting that some of the unexpected concentration dependence of permeability is due to the use of inappropriate transport equations.     

Application of a new slot comb to electrophoretic analysis.

In the present experiment, a new slot comb was designed in order to form a wide and sloped sample well on the stacking gel of electrophoresis. Using this slot comb, a gradient of the reagent layer of interest can be easily formed transversely on the gel that is perpendicular to the direction of electrophoresis. Thus, the protein sample overlaid on the agent migrates across the gradient layer during electrophoresis to produce a continuous electrophoretic band reflecting the interaction between the protein and reagent. This new slot comb (tentatively called slope comb) was applied to the following two experiments. In the first experiment, in combination with this comb and a reducing agent, 2-mercaptoethanol, the reducing steps of cross-linked axonemal proteins with o-iodosobenzoic acid (OIBA) were analyzed electrophoretically, enabling visualization of the reducing pattern of each axonemal protein in a single experiment. The results obtained indicate that alpha and beta tubulins are cross-linked differently by OIBA. In the second experiment, the formation of the Ca2+ gradient layer using this slope comb could electrophoretically differentiate the Ca2+ sensitivity of three Ca(2+)-binding proteins.     

The Differential Susceptibility of Vetch (Vicia spp.) to Orobanche aegyptiaca: Anatomical Studies

Vetches (Vicia spp .) are important forage legumes in the MiddleEast and Mediterranean regions. Most vetches are highly susceptibleto the root holoparasites Orobanche aegyptiaca and O. crenata,suffering severe quality and yield losses. However, purple vetch(V. atropurpurea) has shown good resistance to Orobanche. Microscopicstudies were performed to reveal anatomical differences of host-parasiteinteractions between susceptible and resistant vetch. SusceptibleV. sativa‘Yovel’ and resistant V. atropupurea‘Popany’were grown in association with O. aegyptiaca seeds, on glassmicrofibre sheets in a polyethylene-bag system. Whole root observationsusing stereoscopic microscopy detected necrotic lesions surroundingthe attachments of Orobanche radicles on resistant vetch roots.Hand-cut sections examined under the light microscope revealedthat in both susceptible and resistant vetch genotypes the Orobancheseeds germinated, attached and penetrated the host root epidermisand cortex. A reddish-brown secretion was observed in the apoplastat the interface between the parasite haustorium and the hosttissues, including the cell walls of the resistant vetch xylemvessels. Fixed and embedded sections observed under the lightmicroscope showed that in the susceptible genotype the parasitehaustorium penetrated through the endodermis into the host vascularcylinder, successfully forming a continuum with host vascularvessels. However, in the resistant genotype, the parasite haustoriumwas blocked at the root endodermis layer. The blockage was coupledwith secretion of unidentified material, thus preventing theparasite from establishing. These findings indicate that mechanicaland possibly chemical barriers are responsible for the hostdefence mechanism(s) conferring resistance of V. atropurpureato O. aegyptiaca. Copyright 2000 Annals of Botany Company Broomrape, Vicia atropurpurea, Vicia sativa, parasitic plants, plant resistance, tissue sections.     

Multiple-Interval Mapping for Quantitative Trait Loci With a Spike in the Trait Distribution

For phenotypic distributions where many individuals share a common value—such as survival time following a pathogenic infection—a spike occurs at that common value. This spike affects quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping methodologies and causes standard approaches to perform suboptimally. In this article, we develop a multiple-interval mapping (MIM) procedure based on mixture generalized linear models (GLIMs). An extended Bayesian information criterion (EBIC) is used for model selection. To demonstrate its utility, this new approach is compared to single-QTL models that appropriately handle the phenotypic distribution. The method is applied to data from Listeria infection as well as data from simulation studies. Compared to the single-QTL model, the findings demonstrate that the MIM procedure greatly improves the efficiency in terms of positive selection rate and false discovery rate. The method developed has been implemented using functions in R and is freely available to download and use.     

Multicenter evaluation of the performance and clinical utility in longitudinal monitoring of the Bayer Immuno 1 complexed PSA assay.

We conducted a multicenter evaluation of the analytical and clinical performance of the automated Bayer Immuno 1 complexed PSA (cPSA) assay, and compared assay performance to the Bayer Immuno 1 PSA assay. We sought to determine whether measurements of cPSA could be of clinical utility in the management of patients with prostate cancer. Results of the 10-day imprecision across three evaluation sites produced total CV < 2.50% and an analytical sensitivity of 0.02 microgram/L. There was an increased trend in clinical sensitivity for prostate cancer with increasing stage of disease (71-86%). Clinical specificity for patients with benign urogenital disease was 74.8%, and for other nonprostate diseases ranged from 91.1-100%. Retrospective serial monitoring of 155 patients with prostate cancer demonstrated concordance of cPSA measurements to clinical status for 97% of the patients analyzed. Results from the clinical studies using the Bayer Immuno 1 cPSA assay were comparable to results obtained with the Bayer Immuno 1 PSA assay. The Bayer Immuno 1 cPSA assay demonstrates analytical performance and clinical effectiveness in the management of prostate cancer patients during the course of disease and therapy.     

The Effect of Leaf Age on Gas Exchange and Malate Accumulation in C3-CAM Plant Marrubium Frivaldszkyanum (Lamiaceae)

For the first time the expression of C₃ and CAM in the leaves of different age of Marrubium frivaldszkyanum Boiss, is reported. With increasing leaf age a typical C₃ photosynthesis pattern and high transpiration rate were found. In older leaves a shift to CAM occurred and the 24-h transpiration water loss decreased. A correlation was established between leaf area and accumulation of malate. Water loss at early stages of leaf expansion may be connected with the shift to CAM and the water economy of the whole plant.