Mitotic karyotypes of Brassica campestris and Brassica alboglabra and identification of the B. alboglabra chromosome in an addition line.

A Brassica campestris-alboglabra monosomic addition line (genome: AA + one chromosome from the C genome, 2n = 21) harbours the Brassica alboglabra (CC, 2n = 18) chromosome with the gene for erucic acid. In order to identify this chromosome, we have studied the mitotic prometaphase chromosomes of Brassica campestris (AA, 2n = 20), B. alboglabra, and the monosomic addition line. More pronounced differential staining and size differences of chromosomes were observed in B. campestris than in B. alboglabra. The karyotype of B. campestris was composed of four median (m), four submedian (sm), and two subterminal (st) chromosome pairs, while that of B. alboglabra was composed of three m, four sm, and two st chromosome pairs, provided that the length of the satellite was excluded when determining the arm ratio of the nucleolar chromosome. The alien chromosome from the C genome in the addition line was easily identified in the background B. campestris genome by its large size, its submedian centromere, and its differential staining pattern. When compared with the karyotype of B. alboglabra, the alien chromosome from the C genome in the monosomic addition line was revealed to be chromosome 4.     

Mutations of surface residues in Anabaena vegetative and heterocyst ferredoxin that affect thermodynamic stability as determined by guanidine hydrochloride denaturation.

The stability properties of oxidized wild-type (wt) and site-directed mutants in surface residues of vegetative (Vfd) and heterocyst (Hfd) ferredoxins from Anabaena 7120 have been characterized by guanidine hydrochloride (Gdn-HCl) denaturation. For Vfd it was found that mutants E95K, E94Q, F65Y, F65W, and T48A are quite similar to wt in stability. E94K is somewhat less stable, whereas E94D, F65A, F65I, R42A, and R42H are substantially less stable than wt. R42H is a substitution found in all Hfds, and NMR comparison of the Anabaena 7120 Vfd and Hfd showed the latter to be much less stable on the basis of hydrogen exchange rates (Chae YK, Abildgaard F, Mooberry ES, Markley JL, 1994, Biochemistry 33:3287-3295); we also find this to be true with respect to Gdn-HCl denaturation. Strikingly, the Hfd mutant H42R is more stable than the wt Hfd by precisely the amount of stability lost in Vfd upon mutating R42 to H (2.0 kcal/mol). On the basis of comparison of the X-ray crystal structures of wt Anabaena Vfd and Hfd, the decreased stabilities of F65A and F65I can be ascribed to increased solvent exposure of interior hydrophobic groups. In the case of Vfd mutants E94K and E94D, the decreased stabilities may result from disruption of a hydrogen bond between the E94 and S47 side chains. The instability of the R42 mutants is also most probably due to decreased hydrogen bonding capabilities.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Distribution of 3α-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase in rat brain and molecular cloning of multiple cDNAs encoding structurally related proteins in humans

3α-Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase in the brain is responsible for production of neuroactive tetrahydrosteroids that interact with the major inhibitory gamma-aminobutyric acid receptor complexes. Distribution of 3α-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase in different regions of the brain in rats was evaluated by activity assay and by Western immunoblotting using a monoclonal antibody against liver 3α-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase as the probe. The olfactory bulb was found to contain the highest level of 3α-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase activity, while moderate levels of the enzyme activity were found in other regions such as cerebellum, cerebral cortex, hypothalamus and pituitary. Some activity was found in the rest of the brain such as amygdala, brain stem, caudate putamen, cingulate cortex, hippocampus, midbrain, and thalamus. The protein levels of 3α-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase in different regions of the brain as detected by Western immunoblotting are comparable to those of the enzyme activity. We used the rat cDNA as the probe to screen a human liver λ gt11 cDNA library. A total of four different cDNAs were identified and sequenced. One of the cDNAs is identical to that of the human chlordecone reductase cDNA except that our clone contains a much longer 5′-coding sequence than previously reported. The other three cDNAs display high degrees of sequence homology to those of both rat 3α-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase and human chlordecone reductase. We are currently investigating the functional relationship between the enzymes encoded by these human cDNAs and 3α-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase.     

中国带斑蚜属记述（同翅目：斑蚜科）

本文记述中国带斑蚜属Ｃａｌｌｉｐｔｅｒｉｎｅｌｌａ Ｇｏｏｔ,１９１３２种,其一为新亚种：河北带斑蚜Ｃａｌｌｉｐｔｅｒｉｎｅｌｌａ ｃａｌｌｉｐｔｅｒａ ｈｅｂｅｉｅｎｓｉｓ ｓｕｂｓｐ．ｎｏｖ．。新亚种的模式标本保存于中国科学院动物研究所。     

山东半岛近岸水域铃苔虫属一新种（苔藓动物门：唇口目：马孔苔虫科）

双型铃苔虫,新种Ｃｏｄｏｎｅｌｌｉｎａ ｂｉｆｏｒｍｉｓ ｓｐ．ｎｏｖ．群体双型,被覆－直立。单层群体个虫细狭;口下鸟头体小;颚骨圆三角形、半椭圆形。双层群体个虫较宽;口下鸟头体大,颚骨均呈匙形,其末端部分均膨胀。新种双层群体个虫的口下鸟头体颚骨形态和卵胞表面孔饰与口盖铃苔虫Ｃｏｄｏｎｅｌｌｉｎａ ｏｐｅｒｃｕｌａｔａＭａｗａｔａｒｉ,１９５６有些相似,但新种在群体生长方式以及在室口形态、口盖表面     

中国南部水域膜孔苔虫属一新种：苔藓动物门：唇口目：膜孔苔虫科

连壁膜孔苔虫Ｍｅｍｂｒａｎｉｐｏｒａｃｏｎｊｕｎｃｔｉｖａｓｐ．ｎｏｖ．群体被覆、单层。相邻个以隆起的个虫墙缘为界,无室间沟。横壁孔室单孔型,由大、中、小三种单孔组成。侧壁孔室多孔型,由一列大孔和列小孔组成。新种个虫一般形态与大室孔苔虫Ｍｅｍｂｒａｎｉｐｏｒａｇｒａｎｄｉｃｅｌｌａ的单层群体相似,但其权成相邻个虫的界限和体壁孔室的结构及排列方式与大室膜孔苔虫有显著区别。     

中国土壤小型多足类Ⅲ．矮瘤带马陆属一新种（倍足纲：带马陆目）

本文描述的新种,异齿矮瘤带马陆Ｎａｎｏｃｏｎｄｙｌｏｄｅｓｍｕｓａｎｉｓｏｄｅｎｔｕｓ,ｓｐ．ｎｏｖ．与该属的模式种栉齿矮瘤带马陆Ｎ．ｐｅｃｔｉｎａｔｉｄｅｎｔｉｓＺｈａｎｇ之雄性生殖肢端肢有明显的不同特征,模式标本采自福建省武夷山桐树林中。     

中国凹盾象属六新种记述（鞘翅目：象虫科）

本文记述产于我国的凹盾象属Ｓｔｅｎｏｓｃｅｌｉｓ昆虫６新种,分别为赤杨凹盾象Ｓｔｅｎｏｓｃｅｌｉｓ（Ｈｅｘａｓｔｅｎｏｓｃｅｌｉｓ）ａｌｎｉ ｓｐ．ｎｏｖ．,圆窝凹盾象Ｓ．ｆｏｖｅａｔｕｓ ｓｐ．ｎｏｖ．,齿突凹盾象Ｓ．ａｃｅｒｂｕｓ ｓｐ．ｎｏｖ．,小点凹盾象Ｓ．ｐｕｎｃｔｉｃｕｌａｔｕｓ ｓｐ．ｎｏｖ．,洼喙凹盾象Ｓ．ｒｅｃａｖｕｓ ｓｐ．ｎｏｖ．,和蔚县凹盾象Ｓ．ｙｕｘｉａｎｅｎｓｉｓ ｓｐ     

Simultaneous Determination of Fluzinamide and three of its active metabolites in plasma by high-performance liquid chromatography

A sensitive and selective high-performance liquid chromatographic method has been developed for a new anticonvulsant, fluzinamide, and three of its active metabolites. This method requires only 0.5 ml of plasma, and it involves a single extraction with a mixture of hexane—dichloromethane—butanol (55:40:5). The plasma extract is chromatographed on a 10-μm, C₁₈ reversed-phase column and quantitated by ultraviolet absorbance at 220 nm. The concentration—response curve for all four compounds are linear from 0.05 μg/ml to at least 10 μg/ml. The extraction efficiency of this method is greater than 90%. The accuracy and precision of the method were tested by analyzing spiked unknown samples that had been randomly distributed across the concentration range. The mean concentrations found were within ± 9% of the various amounts added with a standard deviation of ± 3.5%. This method has been successfully applied to the analysis of samples obtained from fluzinamide-dosed dogs, healthy unmedicated volunteers, and patients who were at steady state with phenytoin, carbamazepine, and fluzinamide.