C-banding polymorphism and the analysis of nucleolar activity in Dasypyrum villosum (L.) Candargy,its added chromosomes to hexaploid wheat and the amphiploid Triticum dicoccum — D. villosum

Summary C-banding patterns and nucleolar activity were analyzed in Dasypyrum villosum, its added chromosomes to hexaploid wheat and the hexaploid amphiploid Triticum dicoccum-D. villosum. Two different populations of the allogamous species D. villosum (2n= 14, VV) from Greece and Italy were analyzed showing a similar polymorphism for C-banding pattern. Six of the seven addition lines were identified by their characteristic C-banding pattern. No polymorphism between both members of each added alien chromosome was found. Furthermore, nucleolar activity and competition were studied by using silver staining procedure. In D. villosum only one chromosome pair, A, was found to be responsible for organizing nucleoli. The results obtained in the amphiploid and in the addition lines demonstrate that nucleolar activity is restricted to SAT-chromosomes 1B and 6B of wheat, while those of D. villosum remain inactive.     

Relationship between melanin content and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity in the liver of various species of animals

The scavenger effect of melanin and of superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity on superoxide anion has been shown. In this work we show the relationship between melanin content and SOD activity in livers containing different quantities of melanin which were taken from various species of animals. The mitochondrial SOD activity disappears when the melanin content in the liver is very high; moreover it increases, in the liver of various species of animals examined, proportionally to the decrease of melanin content. No significant variation of the SOD activity localized in the soluble fraction has been detected when related to the melanin content. We think that in the pigmented liver the antioxidant activity of the melanin could mimic part of the function of SOD. The loss of Mn SOD activity could be mediated by a low intracellular level of superoxide anion due to the scavenger effect of melanin on superoxide anion; in fact, it is well known that the biosynthesis of Mn SOD is induced by intracellular levels of superoxide anion.     

Stereoselective formation of a 2′(3′)-aminoacyl ester of a nucleotide

Summary Reaction ofDl-serine and adenosine-5-phosphorimidazolide in the presence of adenosine-5-(O-methylphosphate) and imidazole resulted in the stereoselective synthesis of the aminoacyl nucleotide ester 2(3)-O-seryl-adenosine-5-(O-methylphosphate). The enantiomeric excess ofd-serine incorporated into 2(3)-O-seryl-adenosine-5-(O-methylphosphate) was about 9%. Adenylyl-(5N)-serine and an unknown product also incorporated an excess ofd-serine; however, serylserine showed an excess ofl-serine. The relationship of these results to the origin of the biological pairing ofl-amino acids and nucleotides containingd-ribose is discussed.     

Nitrification and nitrogen accumulation in the early stages of primary succession on Mt. Fuji

The relationship between nitrification potential and nitrogen accumulation was studied in an early successional sere on Mt. Fuji. Soil organic nitrogen accumulated with the invasion ofPolygonum cuspidatum and successively withMiscanthus oligostachyus and other species. Laboratory incubation experiments showed a higher nitrification potential at theM. oligostachyus state. The numbers of nitrifying bacteria increased with the progress of succession. No significant difference in nitrate reductase activity was found between pioneer and succeeding species. The soil solution at theM. oligostachyus stage contained a lower level of nitrate than rainwater, while that of the bare ground and theP. cuspidatum stage contained a higher nitrate level than rainwater. It was concluded that the high nitrate levels in the soil solution of the bare ground and theP. cuspidatum stage were due to lower nitrate-absorbing activity, leading to loss of nitrogen with precipitation, while the lower nitrate levels at theM. oligostachyus stage when higher nitrification activity occurred were due to higher nitrate-absorbing activity, preventing net loss of nitrogen from the ecosystem.     

Den distribution and den use by the red foxVulpes vulpes japonica in Kyushu

The distribution of dens and den use by the red fox was studied in Kumamoto Prefecture between 1968 and 1982. A total of 80 dens were classified into natal, residential, and temporarily-visited dens. Natal dens comprised 12.4% of all dens. Relative proportions were quite stable for a long period. This indicates a constant number of reproducing females in the area for a considerable length of time. Seasonally the utilization of den showed three peaks in February, May and October. The peaks coincided well with the peaks of reproductive activity of female foxes. The results of multiple regression analysis of distribution of dens with respect to selected environmental parameters around densites indicated that the fox selectively utilize open land, rather than densely vegetated areas. The persistence of dens, the selective utilization by foxes of open land and the sizes of dens were all related to the breeding activities of female foxes inhabiting the area. Reproductive females usually used plural dens (“den group”) in one reproductive season. The numbers of those females occuring in the area were maintained at a steady level for fairy long periods. These indicate that the existence of a stable social relationship between females mediated through occupancy of “den groups.”     

A Chronobiologic Approach to Ethanol and Acidified Aspirin Injury of the Gastric Mucosa in the Rat

Several models of erosive peptic disease have used drug-induced lesions to examine protective mechanisms of the gastric mucosa. Physiological processes such as acid secretion, motility, or epithelial cell turnover have circadian rhythms which may modulate the susceptibility of the gastric mucosa to injury. In this review are described recent studies which demonstrated that susceptibility to gastric mucosal injury by acidified aspirin and absolute ethanol varied with the phases of the light-dark cycle. Acidified aspirin caused significantly more gastric mucosal lesions when administered early in the light phase compared to administration early in the dark phase. The differences in susceptibility were not altered by pretreatment conditions such as immobilization or length of the fasting period. Absolute ethanol also caused significantly greater gastric mucosal injury when administered in the light than in the dark phase, but this difference was only evident in rats immobilized during the pretreatment fasting period. Further studies are needed to correlate circadian susceptibility to drug-induced gastric mucosal injury with physiological defense mechanisms. Careful attention to circadian timekeeping may allow us to refine therapy to optimize physiological defense mechanisms in the stomach.     

Consequences of terbium (111) binding on the conformation and enzymatic activity of Guinea pig liver transglutaminase

Calcium ions are crucial for expression of transglutaminase activity. Although lanthanides have been reported to substitute for calcium in a variety of protein functions, they did not replace the calcium requirement during transglutaminase activity measurements. Furthermore, lanthanides strongly inhibited purified liver transglutaminase activity using either casein or fibrinogen as substrates. Terbium (III) inhibition of transglutaminase-catalyzed putrescine incorporation into casein was not reversed by the presence of 10–200 fold molar excess of calcium ions (Ki for Tb(III)=60 µM). Conformational changes in purified liver transglutaminase upon Tb(III) binding were evident from a biphasic effect of Tb(III) on transglutaminase binding to fibrin. Low concentrations of Tb(III) (1 µM to 10 µM inhibited the binding of transglutaminase to fibrin, whereas higher concentrations (20 µM to 100 µM promoted binding. Conformational changes in purified liver transglutaminase consequent to Tb(III) binding were also demonstrated by fluorescence spectroscopy due to Forster energy transfer. Fluorescence emission was stable to the presence of 200 mM NaCl and 100 mM CaCl₂ only partially quenched emission. Purified liver transglutaminase strongly bound to Tb(III)-Chelating Sepharose beads and binding could not be disrupted by 100 mM CaCl₂ solution. Our data suggest that Tb(III)-induced conformational changes in transglutaminase are responsible for the observed effects on enzyme structure and function. The potential applications of Tb(III)-transglutaminase interactions in elucidating the structure-function relationships of liver transglutaminase are discussed.     

Algesia and local responses induced by neurokinin A and substance P in human skin and temporal muscle

Neurokinin A (NKA), substance P (SP) and the two peptides combined (SP + NKA) were injected intracutaneously on the forearm and into the temporal muscle of healthy volunteers. Pain intensity, cutaneous wheal and flare responses and tenderness of the temporal muscle were quantitated. SP but not NKA induced cutaneous pain. This relates the algesic effect of SP to the specific N-terminal amino acid sequence of the peptide, not shared by NKA. NKA, however, potentiated the algesic effect of SP as SP + NKA induced a significantly prolonged cutaneous pain sensation. Both peptides induced wheals, but only SP induced flare. These results confirm previous studies relating wheal formation to the identical C-terminal amino acid sequence of the two peptides and flare reaction to the N-terminal part of SP. Injections into the temporal muscle did not cause pain or tenderness.     

Rat ventral prostate as an independent source of inhibin-like material

Castration had no effect on prostatic inhibin-like activity as compared to normal controls. Consequent upon castration there is a significant reduction in the inhibin content of the ventral prostate on a per gland basis. However, when expressed as a function of protein content, there is no change. The data suggest that the very same epithelial cells which under the influence of androgen carry out the characteristic exocrine secretory activity are responsible for the synthesis and secretion of inhibin-like material.     

The effect of glucose-6-phosphate isomerase genotype onin vitro specific activity andin vivo flux inMytilus edulis

Four samples of the musselMytilus edulis were taken between 1984 and 1987 from Stony Brook, New York, and used to study the glucose-6-phosphate isomerase (GPI) polymorphism in this species.In vitro specific activity andin vivo flux measured in the same animals were found to be significantly correlated. A significant effect of GPI genotype on flux was observed in one of the samples; overall, significant evidence of effect of genotype on enzyme activity was also obtained. GPI activities of common genotypes tend to deviate less from the population mean than those of rare (frequency less than 5%) genotypes. This suggests the possibility that rare GPI genotypes are rare as a consequence of having biochemical properties that deviate from an optimum level and, therefore, having a lower fitness. In support of this hypothesis, we found in one of our samples that shell length is a concave function of GPI activity with an intermediate optimum activity level. The financial support provided to P.J.N.S. by the Luso-American Educational Commission (Fulbright Program), the Instituto Nacional de Investigacao Científica (Portugal), and the Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa during several stages of this research is gratefully acknowledged. Financial support from the Ministerio de Educatión y Ciencia (Spain) in the form of a postdoctoral Fulbright/MEC fellowship to M.S. is also gratefully acknowledged. Research was supported by National Science Foundation Grant BSR-8415060 to R.K.K. This is contribution No. 736 from the Program in Ecology and Evolution, State University of New York at Stony Brook. On leave from Departamento de Biologia Vegetal, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande C2, Lisboa, Portugal.