生态系统与耗散结构

1977年,比利时著名科学家伊·普里高津成功地提出耗散结构理论,荣获了诺贝尔奖。普里高津的理论告诉我们:“一个远离平衡态的复杂系统,各元素的作用具有非线性特点,正是这种非线性的相关机制,导致了大量离子的协同动作,突变而产生有序结构。”普里高津的耗散结构理论,研究系统怎样从混沌无序的动态向稳定有序的结构组织演化及其规律,故也称为非平衡系统自组织理论。这一系统理论的奇葩,对于生态系统的深入研究将起到不可估量的作用。同时,这一理论使我们对生态     

The mutagenic potential of high flash aromatic naphtha

Catalytic reforming is a refining process that converts naphthenes to aromatics by dehydrogenation to make higher octane gasoline blending components. A portion of this wide boiling range hydrocarbon stream can be separated by distillation and used for other purposes. One such application is a mixture of predominantly 9-carbon aromatic molecules (C9 aromatics, primarily isomers of ethyltoluene and trimethylbenzene), which is removed and used as a solvent — high-flash aromatic naphtha. A program was initiated to assess the toxicological properties of high-flash aromatic naphtha since there may be human exposure through inhalation or external body contact. The current study was conducted partly to assess the potential for mutagenic activity and also to assist in an assessment of carcinogenic potential. The specific tests utilized included the Salmonella/mammalian microsome mutagenicity assay, the hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyl transferase (HGPRT) forward mutation assay in CHO cells, in vitro chromosome aberration and sister chromatid exchange (SCE) assays in CHO cells, and an in vivo chromosome aberration assay in rat bone marrow.There was no evidence that high-flash aromatic naphtha was either a gene or chromosomal mutagen. Thus it is unlikely to be a genotoxic carcinogen.Abbreviations Brdu 5-Bromo-2-deoxyuridine - C9 Aromatic species with 9 carbons (i.e., ethyl toluene and trimethyl benzene isomers) - CE Cloning efficiency - CHO Chinese hamster embryo - CP Cyclophosphamide - DMSO Dimethyl sulfoxide - HGPRT Hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyl transferase - HVAC Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning - 3MC 3 Methylcholanthrene - MMC Mitomycin C - MMS Methyl methanesulfonate - S9 S9 Mammalian microsomal enzyme activation mixture - SCE Sister chromatid exchange     

Marked Amine and Amine Metabolite Changes in Norrie Disease Patients with an X-Chromosomal Deletion Affecting Monoamine Oxidase

Urinary and plasma amines and amine metabolites were quantified in two individuals with Norrie disease resulting from a deletion in chromosomal region Xp11.3, recently reported to be associated with absence of the gene encoding monoamine oxidase (MAO)-A and nondetectable MAO-A activity in fibroblasts and MAO-B activity in platelets. Marked (four-to 100-fold) elevations in levels of urinary phenylethylamine, o-tyramine, and m-tyramine (which are preferential substrates for MAO-B) and marked reductions (90%) in levels of 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol (a deaminated metabolite of norepinephrine, a preferential substrate for MAO-A) in urine and plasma confirmed the presence of a systemic, functionally significant reduction in the activities of both MAO isozymes. The magnitude of these changes, which are equivalent to those found in subjects taking MAO-inhibiting antidepressants, suggests that early initiation of dietary and drug restrictions may be clinically important in these and other patients with X-chromosomal mutations involving MAO. These findings further support the proposition that the MAOA and MAOB genes are located in close proximity on the X chromosome. Negligible changes in the metabolites of dopamine and serotonin raise the possibility that other metabolic pathways are of importance for their production, that dietary or intestinal bacterial sources contribute substantially to the presence of these amine metabolites in urine, or both.     

Indexes to the reassociation and stability of solution DNA hybrids

Summary The computation, assumptions, and properties of DNA-hybrid stability and reassociation indexes were reviewed. Different methods of computing the same index typically yielded similar values. However, because dissociation curves change from asymmetric to symmetric as increasingly divergent DNAs are compared, adequate determination of mode required fitting a complex function. Delta Tm, delta mode, and delta T50H correlated well up to ca. 12, and all were found to be useful indexes of genomic similarity in that range. They also exhibited similar levels of error, even though T50H comprises a percent reassociation component with relatively large variance. At greater distances, the delta Tm scale became markedly compressed because of the boundary imposed by the temperature of hybrid formation (incubation temperature). Though not compressed or technically limited by it, delta mode and delta T50H could not be extrapolated with certainty below the incubation temperature. Among theoretical problems discussed: Tm and mode index an increasingly small percentage of the genome as the extent of reassociation decreases, and they may compare different genomic segments as DNAs become highly diverged. T50H relies upon the assumptions that all sequences evolve at a constant rate and that reassociation behavior is the same among all sequences regardless of their extent of divergence. Tm and T50H may be biased by selfhybridization of repetitive elements or cross-hybridization of paralogous sequences. Delta mode is free of such biases as long as the genomes under comparison are not too diverged. No index was found to be best in all circumstances.     

Mitochondrial DNA evolution in theDrosophila nasuta subgroup of species

Summary TheDrosophila nasuta group consists of about 12 closely related species distributed throughout the Indo-Pacific region. They are of great interest because of their evolutionary idiosyncrasies including little morphological differentiation, the ability to intercross in the laboratory often producing fertile offspring, and substantial chromosomal evolution. Studies of metric traits, reproductive isolation, and chromosomal and enzyme polymorphisms have failed to resolve the phylogeny of the species. We report the results of a survey of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) restriction patterns of the species. The phylogeny obtained is consistent with other available information and suggests thatD. albomicans may represent the ancestral lineage of the group. The amount of polymorphism in local populations (=1.0% per site) is within the typical range observed in other animals, includingDrosophila. The degree of differentiation between species is, however, low: the origin of the group is tentatively dated about 6–8 million years ago. This study confirms the usefulness of mtDNA restriction patterns for ascertaining the phylogeny of closely related species.     

The extension reached by the minimization of the polarity distances during the evolution of the genetic code

Summary The level reached by the optimization of the polarity distances during the evolution of the genetic code was investigated. The results, although not conclusive, indicate that this optimization level is higher than the data reported in the literature. The results seem compatible with the reaching of an evolutionary minimum, with respect to the optimization of the polarity distances, by the genetic code during its formation.     

Transformation and expression of a cloned δ-endotoxin gene in bacillus thuringiensis

Abstract A shuttle vector containing the replication region of a resident plasmid of B. thuringiensis , was used to determine the conditions allowing efficient transformation of B. thuringiensis by electroporation. Using this plasmid a δ-endotoxin gene was cloned and expressed both in Escherichia coli and B. thuringiensis . It was shown that this gene was poorly expressed in the wild type situation whereas after cloning in acrystalliferous strains of B. thuringiensis large amounts of crystal protein were obtained.     

Identification of Brassica oleracea monosomic alien chromosome addition lines with molecular markers reveals extensive gene duplication

Summary Chromosomes of Brassica oleracea (2n=18) were dissected from the resynthesized amphidiploid B. napus Hakuran by repeated backcrosses to B. campestris (2n=20), creating a series of monosomic alien chromosome addition line plants (2n=21). Using morphological, isozyme and restriction fragment length polymorphism markers (RFLPs), 81 putative loci were identified. Of nine possible synteny groups, seven were represented in the 25 monosomic addition plants tested. Sequences homologous to 26% of the 61 DNA clones utilized (80% were cDNA clones) were found on more than one synteny group, indicating a high level of gene duplication. Anomalous synteny associations were detected in four 2n=21 plants. One of these plants showed two markers from one B. oleracea chromosome associated with a second complete B. oleracea synteny group, suggesting translocation or recombination between non-homologous chromosomes in Hakuran or the backcross derivatives. The other three 2n=21 plants each contained two or more B. oleracea synteny groups, suggesting chromosome substitution.