Palynology of South American Argyrochosma and Notholaena (Pteridaceae) species

The palynology of the South American taxa Argyrochosma chilensis (J. Rémy) Windham, A. nivea (Poir.) Windham, var. nivea , var. flava (Hook.) Ponce, var. tenera (Hook. ex Gillies) Ponce and A. stuebeliana (Hieron.) Windham; N. sulphurea (Cav.) J. Sm. and N. galapagensis Weath. & Svenson has been investigated. These species show differences in spore size, shape, sporoderm thickness and structure. In both genera, the exospore is psilate and the perispore has either cristate-reticulated or reticulated ornamentation, with a complex structure and stratification. The perispore presents several characteristics useful in establishing differences valuable for taxonomic purposes. The investigated species of Argyrochosma have a perispore with a middle stratum composed of radial rodlets, and an outer continuous stratum, which bears the elements of the sculpture. These are independent of the inner structure. The spores of the investigated Notholaena species have a thick, complex, three-stratified perispore, with an outer discontinuous stratum. The middle stratum is composed of threads ramified at several levels and laterally fused. The elements of the sculpture show continuity with those of the structure. Granular material of sporopolleninous composition fills the lumina at the surface. Abnormal spores and 32 spores per sporangium were frequent in specimens of A. nivea var. nivea and N. sulphurea .     

Characterization of the lipolytic pathways that mediate free fatty acid release during Fas/CD95-induced apoptosis

We have undertaken a study to characterize the lipolytic pathway responsible for the generation of free fatty acids (FFA) during Fas/CD95-induced apoptosis in Jurkat cells. It was initially shown that the cellular lipid fraction that suffered the major quantitative decrease during Fas-induced apoptosis was that of phosphatidylcholine (PC). In addition, the secretion of palmitic acid-derived FFA was largely prevented by D609, an inhibitor of PC-specific phospholipase C (PC-PLC) and also by the diacylglycerol lipase (DAGL) inhibitor RHC-80267, suggesting that the secretion of these FFA during Fas-induced apoptosis is mediated by the generation of DAG by a PC-PLC activity and, sequentially, by a 1-DAGL activity which generates the FFA from its sn-1 position. The endocannabinoid 2-arachidonoyl glycerol (2-AG) should be generated as a sub-product of this pathway, but it did not accumulate inside the cells nor was secreted into the supernatant. Interestingly, the complete inhibition of free AA secretion during Fas-induced apoptosis was only achieved by using the AA trifluoromethylketone, which not only inhibits all types of phospholipase-A₂ (PLA₂) activities, but also the described lytic activities on 2-AG. Using a combination of RHC-80267 and the iPLA₂-specific inhibitor bromoenol lactone, it was shown that the DAGL pathway also cooperates with iPLA₂ in the generation of free arachidonate.     

Fifteen years of prothymosin alpha: contradictory past and new horizons

Prothymosin alpha (ProTalpha) is a highly acidic and small protein of only 111 amino acids with an unusual primary structure. One would expected it to play an essential role in the organism, as it has a wide distribution and is high conserved among mammals, yet its exact function remains elusive. Despite the number of effects described for ProTalpha, intracellular and extracellular, none are accepted as its physiological role. Furthermore, many other aspects of its biology still remain obscure. In this review, we discuss the structural properties, location, gene family, functions and immunomodulatory activities of and cellular receptors for ProTalpha. These topics are addressed in an attempt to reconcile opposing outlooks while emphasizing those points where scant investigations do exist. We have also re-evaluated some previous results in light of the structural properties of ProTalpha and have found that molecular mimetism could be the underlying basis. This molecular mimicry hypothesis provides a clue that must not be overlooked for a realistic appraisal of future results.     

The coexistence of symbiosis and pathogenicity-determining genes in Rhizobium rhizogenes strains enables them to induce nodules and tumors or hairy roots in plants

Bacteria belonging to the family Rhizobiaceae may establish beneficial or harmful relationships with plants. The legume endosymbionts contain nod and nif genes responsible for nodule formation and nitrogen fixation, respectively, whereas the pathogenic strains carry vir genes responsible for the formation of tumors or hairy roots. The symbiotic and pathogenic strains currently belong to different species of the genus Rhizobium and, until now, no strains able to establish symbiosis with legumes and also to induce tumors or hairy roots in plants have been reported. Here, we report for the first time the occurrence of two rhizobial strains (163C and ATCC11325T) belonging to Rhizobium rhizogenes able to induce hairy roots or tumors in plants and also to nodulate Phaseolus vulgaris under natural environmental conditions. Symbiotic plasmids (pSym) containing nod and nif genes and pTi- or pRi-type plasmids containing vir genes were found in these strains. The nodD and nifH genes of the strains from this study are phylogenetically related to those of Sinorhizobium strains nodulating P. vulgaris. The virA and virB4 genes from strain 163C are phylogenetically related to those of R. tumefaciens C58, whereas the same genes from strain ATCC 11325T are related to those of hairy root-inducing strains. These findings may be of high relevance for the better understanding of plant-microbe interactions and knowledge of rhizobial phylogenetic history.     

Application of relative warp analysis to the evaluation of two-dimensional gels in proteomics: studying isoelectric point and relative molecular mass variation

We propose a geometric-morphometrics method (relative warp analysis) to be used in proteomic comparisons. This approach was applied to a dataset from a comparison between 5 controls and 5 patients with colorectal cancer disease published elsewhere. The spots in the 2-D maps were used as landmarks in a morphometric study, and the differences in shape (spot distribution) among them were obtained. The shape variables were used to compare controls and patients. These components mostly ignore random or experimental effects affecting all the proteins in any of the two dimensions studied. Furthermore, the method allows the researcher to find those proteins which contributed the most to the local shape component detected. Applying this approach, we detected variations in the position (isoelectric point and/or relative molecular mass) of some spots that may reflect differences in the amino acidic sequence or post-translational modifications.     

Pig MAP/ITIH4 and haptoglobin are interleukin-6-dependent acute-phase plasma proteins in porcine primary cultured hepatocytes.

The acute-phase expression of pig MAP (major acute-phase protein)/ITIH4 (inter-alpha-trypsin inhibitor heavy chain 4) and haptoglobin were analysed in primary cultures of isolated pig hepatocytes in response to recombinant human (rh) cytokines: tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin-1 (IL-1), interleukin-6 (IL-6), as well as to bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Analysis of pig MAP/ITIH4 and haptoglobin mRNAs was carried out by RT-PCR amplification. Secreted proteins from the cytokine-treated hepatocytes were quantified by immunochemical techniques. Time-course and dose-response experiments show that pig MAP/ITIH4 and haptoglobin belong to the type II acute-phase proteins, as they are specifically induced by rhIL-6 and not by rhTNF-alpha or rhIL-1. Stimulation of cultured pig hepatocytes with rhIL-6 for 48 h at doses of 1000 U.mL-1 showed a fourfold to fivefold increase in pig MAP/ITIH4 concentration in the medium, while the concentration of haptoglobin only increased twofold. A similar increase in the concentration of pig MAP/ITIH4 was also observed in media of LPS-treated hepatocytes with the simultaneous generation of IL-6 by the Kupffer cells present in the cultures. Albumin secretion decreased after stimulation with doses of 100 or 1000 U.mL-1 rhTNF-alpha, rhIL-1 or rhIL-6. Therefore, it can be concluded that pig MAP/ITIH4 behaves as a major acute-phase protein produced by porcine hepatocytes under the effect of inflammatory cytokines.     

Seasonal Variation in Aboveground Production and Radiation-use Efficiency of Temperate rangelands Estimated through Remote Sensing

Aboveground net primary production (ANPP) of grasslands varies spatially and temporally. Spectral information provided by remote sensors is a promising new tool that may be able to estimate ANPP in real time and at low cost. The objectives of this study were (a) to evaluate at a seasonal scale the relationship between ANPP and the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), (b) to estimate seasonal variations in the coefficient of conversion of absorbed radiation into aboveground biomass (ε_a), and (c) to identify the environmental controls on such temporal changes. We used biomass-based field determinations of ANPP for two grassland sites in the Flooding Pampa, Argentina, and related them with NDVI data derived from the NOAA Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) satellites using three different models. Results were compared with data obtained from the new Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor at an additional site. The first model was based solely on NDVI; the second was based on the amount of photosynthetically active radiation absorbed by the green vegetation (APAR_g), which was derived from NDVI and incoming photosynthetically active radiation (PAR); the third was based on APAR_g and ε_a, which was in turn estimated from climatic variables. NDVI explained between 63 and 93% of ANPP variation, depending on the site considered. Estimates of ANPP were not improved by considering the variation in incoming PAR. At both sites, ε_a varied seasonally (from 0.2 to 1.2 g DM/MJ) and was significantly associated with combinations of precipitation and temperature. Combining ε_a variations with APAR_g increased our ability to account for seasonal ANPP variations at both sites. Our results indicate that NDVI produces good, direct estimates of ANPP only if NDVI, PAR, and ε_a are correlated throughout the seasons. Thus, in most cases, seasonal variations of ε_a associated with temperature and precipitation must be taken into account to generate seasonal ANPP estimates with acceptable accuracy.     

Characterization of a new alpha-glycoprotein as the major serum component in later fetal and newborn pigs

1. Using crossed immunoelectrophoresis, fetuin, alpha-fetoprotein, albumin, transferrin, alpha1-antitrypsin and a fetospecific-like alpha-glycoprotein, were identified as the main serum components in fetal pig (Sus scrofa domesticus). 2. Fetuin was found to be a trypsin inhibitor, but not a chymotrypsin inhibitor. 3. The fetospecific-like alpha-glycoprotein, not previously reported, accounted for 50% of the total serum proteins in newborn pigs. This protein, however, was a minor component of the adult serum.