Foundations of vectorial metabolism and osmochemistry

Chemical transformations, like osmotic translocations, are transport processes when looked at in detail. In chemiosmotic systems, the pathways of specific ligand conduction are spatially orientated through osmoenzymes and porters in which the actions of chemical group, electron and solute transfer occur as vectorial (or higher tensorial order) diffusion processes down gradients of total potential energy that represent real spatially-directed fields of force. Thus, it has been possible to describe classical bag-of-enzymes biochemistry as well as membrane biochemistry in terms of transport. But it would not have been possible to explain biological transport in terms of classical transformational biochemistry or chemistry. The recognition of this conceptual asymmetry in favour of transport has seemed to be upsetting to some biochemists and chemists; and they have resisted the shift towards thinking primarily in terms of the vectorial forces and co-linear displacements of ligands in place of their much less informative scalar products that correspond to the conventional scalar energies. Nevertheless, considerable progress has been made in establishing vectorial metabolism and osmochemistry as acceptable biochemical disciplines embracing transport and metabolism, and bioenergetics has been fundamentally transformed as a result.     

Requirements for plant regeneration from protoplasts of the shrubby ornamental honeysuckle,Lonicera nitida cv. Maigrun

Leaf protoplasts of axenic shoot cultures of Lonicera nitida cv Maigrun underwent sustained division to give multicellular colonies (microcalli) on a modified, ammonium-free MS (Murashige & Skoog) medium containing 0.5 mg l^-1 NAA (1-naphthaleneacetic acid), 1.0 mg l^-1 BAP (6-benzylaminopurine) and 150 mg l^-1 casein enzymatic hydrolysate. Callus was produced upon transfer of cell colonies to MS medium with 2.0 mg l^-1 NAA and 0.2 mg l^-1 BAP. About 110 days from isolation protoplast-derived shoots were regenerated on a half-strength MS medium with 0.01 mg l^-1 NAA, 5.0 mg l^-1 BAP, 0.5 mg l^-1 zeatin and a complex mixture of group B vitamins. The replacement of such mixture by 250 mg l^-1 casein enzymatic hydrolysate promoted rhizogenesis in calli, with shoot buds being subsequently regenerated from the protoplast-derived roots. Micropropagation of protoplast-derived shoots (of either origin) was difficult, due to a strong apical dominance, but could be accomplished by transferring single-node explants to half-strength MS medium with 1.5 mg l^-1 BAP. Such shoots were, in turn, successfully rooted and transferred to the glasshouse where they completed acclimatization.Abbreviations BAP 6-benzylaminopurine - CPW Power et al. (1989) medium - 2,4-D 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid - FDA fluorescein diacetate - F.P.E. final plating efficiency - f.wt. fresh weight - IAA 4-indole-3yl-acetic acid - IBA 4-indole-3yl-butyric acid - I.P.E. initial plating efficiency - MES 2-N-morpholinoethane sulfonic acid - M.P.E. intermediate plating efficiency - MS Murashige & Skoog (1962) medium - NAA 1-naphthaleneacetic acid - PVP-10 polyvinylpirrolidone - Av MW 10,000, TIBA 2,3,5-tri-iodobenzoic acid - Z zeatin     

Expansion of the canine A blood group system

A detailed study of the canine A blood group system was undertaken, resulting in the expansion of this system into a three-factor, four-allelic one with the recognition of an additional subtype, a3. The serological and extensive family data supported the proposed genetic theory of four alleles with dominance with the order being Aa1, Aa2, Aa3 and A-. Gene frequencies of the alleles were determined in various breeds of dogs with frequencies in the general Brisbane population being 0.244 (Aa1), 0.042 (Aa2), 0.045 (Aa3) and 0.669 (A-).     

Glandular trichomes and essential oil constituents ofCalamintha menthifolia (Lamiaceae)

Plant material ofCalamintha menthifolia was collected from two populations grown in the Vikos-Aoos area (NW. Greece). The structure and ontogeny of the glandular trichomes and the chemical composition of the secreted essential oil were studied. The leaves ofC. menthifolia have numerous glandular trichomes of three morphological distinct types: 1) glandular scales with a unicellular foot and stalk, and a 12-celled head, 2) glandular hairs with a unicellular foot and stalk, and a unicellular pear-shaped head and 3) glandular hairs with a unicellular foot, a bicellular stalk and a unicellular elongated head. Qualitative and quantitative GC-MS analyses of the essential oils revealed piperitone oxide as the main constituent in both populations. In the light of these results the relationships beweenC. menthifolia and other members of theSatureja group as well as its taxonomy are discussed.     

The Chromodorididae (Opisthobranchia: Mollusca) of the Indo-West Pacific: Chromodoris aureomarginata, C. verrieri and C. fide lis colour groups

Nineteen species of chromodorid nudibranchs are described including three new species of Chromodoris , two of Glossodoris and one each of Noumea, Cadlina and Thorunna from the Indo-West Pacific. The colour of all species is white with either a single yellow or gold band at the edge of the mantle or a double band of red and yellow, or orange and red or purple. All previously described species with similar colour patterns, from both the Indo-West Pacific and other regions are discussed.     

Stability enhancement and circular dichroism spectral anomaly as an indication of non-covalent interactions in histidine- and tyrosine-containing ternary copper(II)—amino acid systems

Visible absorption and CD spectral and potentiometric studies on the His- and Tyr-containing ternary copper(II) complexes Cu(A)(L-B), where A refers to L-His, D-His, or L-Tyr and B to Lys, Tyr, Trp, Phe, Ala, Val, Arg, Glu, Asn, Gln, Ser, or Thr, were made to study ligand-ligand interactions in the complexes. While the CD spectral magnitudes in the d—d region are additive in the absence of side chain interactions and can be estimated from the magnitudes for the ternary systems involving DL-A or DL-B, deviation from the additivity was observed for Cu(L-His)(L-B) (B = LysH, Tyr, Trp, or Phe) and Cu(L-Tyr)(L-Trp). From the stability constants determined at 25 °C and I = 0.1 M (KNO₃), the equilibrium constants, K, for the following hypothetical equilibria were calculated to be large (0.14–0.60) for formation of Cu(L-/D-His)(L-B)(B = Tyr or Trp) and Cu(D-His)(L-Phe) with Cu(en)(L-Ala) as standard: $Cu(A)(L?Ala)+Cu(en)(L?b)\stackrel{K}{?}Cu(A)(L?B)+Cu(en)(L?Ala)$ The positive values indicate the stabilization due to the stacking between the imidazole ring of His and the aromatic side chain of L-B. Solvent dependence of the CD spectra for Cu(L-His)(L-LysH) and Cu(L-His) L-Trp) further supported the existence of the intramolecular electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions.     

Peptostreptococcus barnesae sp. nov., a Gram-positive,anaerobic, obligately purine utilizing coccus from chicken feces

Anaerobic, Gram-positive cocci were obtained from chicken feces by direct isolation, which grew on the purines uric acid, xanthine, 6,8-dihydroxypurine, guanine, and hypoxanthine. Adenine and glycine were fermented, but not as readily. Acetate, formate, ammonia, and CO₂ were products. The isolated strains were nutritionally non-fastidious, however, they required selenite, molybdate, and tungstate as micronutrients. The cells were spherical and 0.5–0.9 m in diameter. The addition of bile salts enhanced the growth rate in most cases. The organisms proved to be quite resistant to lysis. The guanosine-plus-cytosine (G+C) content of their deoxyribonucleic acid was 33.6 to 34.8 mol%. The peptidoglycan was of the same structure (Gly-Lys-d-Asp) as reported for the anaerobic cocci of Hare group IX. However, the latter strains could only utilize glycine, not purines. Therefore, it is proposed to form a new species, Peptostreptococcus barnesae sp. nov.This paper is dedicated to Prof. Dr. Norbert Pfennig on the occasion of his 60th birthday     

The effect of cholesterol and gramicidin A′ on the carbonyl groups of dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine dispersions

Proton-enhanced carbon-13 magnetic resonance measurements have been made of the natural abundance carbon-13 carbons in hydrated L_α phase dispersions of 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DMPC) codispersed with cholesterol or with the polypeptide gramicidin A′. The carbonyl group spectrum consists of a superposition of two peaks derived from the two carbonyl sites within the lipid. In the L_α phase of DMPC both carbonyl sites contribute axially symmetric spectra, one with a chemical shift anisotropy of –29 ppm and the other with a chemical shift anisotropy of less than –5 ppm. The chemical shift anisotropy of the broader carbonyl resonance was found to increase with increasing cholesterol content. However, in DMPC dispersions with gramicidin A′, the chemical shift anisotropy of the broader carbonyl signal initially increased slightly from that of pure DMPC and then decreased with increasing concentrations of gramicidin A′. The width of the narrower spectral component was essentially unaltered by cholesterol or gramicidin A′. The presence of a narrow component at all concentrations of cholesterol or gramicidin A′ suggests that it is unlikely that any significant conformational changes have occurred at the carbonyl level of the bilayer. We propose that the major effect of cholesterol or gramicidin A′ is to alter the molecular order parameter, S_mol, which reflects the range of angles through which the local molecular long axis of the phospholipid is tumbling.     

Mg2+-, Ca2+-dependent unwinding of DNA by poly-L-glutamic acid

In order to examine a possibility that the high acidic amino acid region in the nonhistone protein HMG(1+2) is concerned with the Mg2+-, or Ca2+-dependent unwinding of DNA by the HMG(1+2) (1,2), poly-L-glutamic acid was employed as an acidic model peptide for thermal melting temperature analysis. The poly-L-glutamic acid bound to DNA either in the presence or absence of Mg2+. The poly-L-glutamic acid unwound DNA double-helix to a similar extent to HMG(1+2) in the presence of Mg2+ or Ca2+, but not in the absence of them. These results may suggest that the high acidic amino acid region in HMG(1+2) participates in Mg2+-, Ca2+-dependent unwinding of DNA double-helix.     

Larval development of Diploptera punctata reared alone and in groups

Larvae of the cockroach Diploptera punctata were reared in isolation, in pairs, or in groups of 8–10. Duration of larval development, age at each ecdysis, weights at birth and ecdyses, and adult head-capsule width were measured. Duration of larval development was longer and adult size was larger in isolated animals than in animals reared in pairs and groups. The effect of isolation on development was more pronounced in males. All females had 4 larval instars, whereas males had 3 or 4 instars. The proportion of males with 4 larval instars was higher among animals reared in isolation. There was no difference in the duration of larval development or adult size between pair- and group-reared animals. The sex of animals in the group did not affect adult size or the duration of larval development. Males which underwent 3 or 4 larval instars had different schedules of moulting. Rates of growth of males of both instar types reared in isolation and pairs were similar. Greater adult weight of isolated animals and 4-instar-type males was a result of their longer duration of larval development. Both a higher rate of growth and longer duration of larval development contribute to the larger adult size of females than males.