Penetration of furosemide into phospholipid monolayers

Summary Furosemide is a surface-active anion and it tends to displace lipid monolyaers from the surface at positive polarizations lowering their potential stability range. The efficiency of the penetration and the displacement increases with decreasing surface pressure of the monolayer. Lower capacitance at a wider potential range corresponds to higher surface pressure. Monolayers with higher capacitances are indeed more readily penetrated and displaced as demonstrated by further increase in their capacitance and increase in their proton conductance. Furosemide raises the capacitance of the monolayer in the stable region due to intercalation between the head groups thus reducing the thickness of the hydrocarbon layer. In pure PC monolayer about 10% increase in capacitance is observed in the presence of 6×10^–4 m furosemide. The effect of furosemide becomes more pronounced with increasing sphingomyelin content in the mixed monolayers. The monolayer of PE is more condensed and its capacitance is lower (1.45 F/cm²) and is stable in a wider potential range than that of PC. It is less affected by furosemide and concentrations higher than 10^–3 m are required to narrow the stability range and to increase the capacitance.     

Phase diagrams for a model of a lipid monolayer

A microscopic model of a lipid monolayer is proposed. It includes, within a single scheme, the following factors which are considered to be essential in phase transitions in lipid systems: formation of gauche rotamers, interactions between polar heads, interactions between hydrocarbon chains (depending on their conformation) and changes in the energy of the system due to a directional ordering of the chains. Phase diagrams are constructed and discussed and it is shown how the phase diagrams are modified by alterations of these parameters and the length of the hydrocarbon chains.     

Diversity of Entamoeba spp. in African great apes and humans: an insight from Illumina MiSeq high-throughput sequencing

Understanding the complex Entamoeba communities in the mammalian intestine has been, to date, complicated by the lack of a suitable approach for molecular detection of multiple variants co-occurring in mixed infections. Here, we report on the application of a high throughput sequencing approach based on partial 18S rDNA using the Illumina MiSeq platform. We describe, to our knowledge, for the first time, the Entamoeba communities in humans, free-ranging western lowland gorillas and central chimpanzees living in the Dja Faunal Reserve in Cameroon. We detected 36 Entamoeba haplotypes belonging to six haplotype clusters, containing haplotypes possessing high and low host specificity. Most of the detected haplotypes belonged to commensal Entamoeba, however, the pathogenic species (Entamoeba histolytica and Entamoeba nuttalli) were also detected. We observed that some Entamoeba haplotypes are shared between humans and other hosts, indicating their zoonotic potential. The findings are important not only for understanding the epidemiology of amoebiasis in humans in rural African localities, but also in the context of wild great ape conservation.     

谷氨酸一钠制备新工艺研究

本文介绍了从谷氨酸发酵液中直接生产谷氨酸一钠（味精）的现实性与可能性;探讨了新工艺的最佳条件。     

Cytoplasmic male-sterile synthetics: a new approach to the exploitation of heterosis in rape

In addition to their application in the production of F₁ hybrids in rape (Brassica napus L.), cytoplasmic male-sterility (CMS) systems may be used to produce synthetic varieties with much higher levels of heterozygosity than those expected in conventional rape synthetics. CMS synthetics are produced by compositing a CMS A-line with several male-fertile (MF) B-lines lacking nuclear alleles for fertility restoration, and increasing the resulting mixture by natural pollination. Over generations of increase, pollination of the CMS component by the MF component of the synthetic results in the progressive loss of A-line nuclear genes from the population. The initial proportions of CMS and MF plants are expected to be preserved over several generations of natural pollination if CMS and MF plants are equal in yield. Methods for estimating the heterozygosity level of CMS synthetics, taking into account the proportion of CMS plants, number of MF parents in Syn 0, and selfing rate (s) of MF plants, are presented. If completely inbred Syn 0 parents and s of 0 and 0.75 for CMS and MF plants respectively, are assumed, the heterozygosity level (1-F) of a synthetic derived from four inbred MF parents each comprising 6.25% of Syn 0 and one inbred CMS parent comprising 75% of Syn 0 is predicted to be 0.66 in Syn 5, compared to 0.30 in synthetics derived from four MF parents only. CMS synthetics offer a novel, low-cost approach to the exploitation of heterosis in rape and other species with mixed mating systems in which self-pollination predominates.     

Pores formed in lipid bilayers and in native membranes by nodularin,a cyanobacterial toxin

Nodularin (NODLN), a cyclic pentapeptide hepatotoxin from the cyanobacterium Nodularia spumigena, induces pores in bilayers of diphytanoyl lecithin (DPhL) and in locust muscle membrane. NODLN increases the surface pressure of a DPhL monolayer; except when the surface pressure of the monolayer is high when the toxin causes a reduction of this parameter. NODLN pores exhibit many open conductance states; the higher state probabilities increasing when the transmembrane pressure is increased. The results from these studies are discussed in terms of two models for a NODLN pore, a torroidal model and a barrel-stave model. The edge energy of the NODLN pore of 1.4× 10^–12 J/m is determined.Abbreviations NODLN Nodularin - MCYST-LR Microcystin-LR - ADDA 3-amino-9-methoxy-2,6,8-trimethyl-10-phenyldeca-4,6-dienoic acid - DPhL diphytanoyl lecithin Correspondence to: A. G. Petrov     

Electrostatically induced growth of spiral lipid domains in the presence of cholesterol

The formation of crystalline domains of the phospholipid l--dimyristoyl-phosphatidic acid containing 1 mol% cholesterol, was studied as a function of head group charge by fluorescence microscopy with monolayers at the air/water interface. It is shown that the usual dendritic growth occurs at low pH (8), whereas spiral domains are formed at high pH (11), where the head group contains two negative charges. The findings are ascribed to an electrostatically induced chain tilt that, in conjunction with an in-plane dipole moment, causes a ferroelectric state. This allows for domain aggregation and orientation originating in elongated domains that, additionally, are bent because of the chirality of the molecules. The structure is stabilized and further elongated due to the anisotropic edge activity of cholesterol.     

Reproductive tactics and fertilization success of mature male Miyabe charr,Salvelinus malma miyabei

Synopsis Spawning behaviour, fertilization success and reproductive ecology of stream-resident and lake-run male Miyabe charr, Salvelinus malma miyabei, were studied under natural and artificial conditions. In Shikaribetsu Lake, Japan, the ratio of the two types of males is approximately 1:1, estimated by weir data. The majority of stream-resident males mature sexually at 2⁺ years of age, while the lake-run males begin to mature at 4⁺. In contrast to the large-bodied lake-run males, which paired with females, the smaller stream-resident males attempted to fertilize eggs by ‘streaking’ into the nest. We demonstrated through electrophoretic techniques that stream-resident males were able to fertilize eggs by streaking. Under artificial conditions, the estimated maximum proportion of eggs fertilized by a single stream-resident male was about 16.8. The evolutionary stability of the charr's dual mating system may be explained by Gross's theory for alternative life-history evolution, although further testing is necessary.     

In Situ Embedding of Cell Monolayers Cultured on Plastic Surfaces for Electron Microscopy

Various procedures suitable for routine in situ embedding of cell monolayers were tested including: (1) the use of different Epon substitutes, (2) the use of different types of plas-ticware obtained from different sources, and (3) different methods of preparing capsules for sectioning. Different resins reacted differently with different plastics and type of preparation. Merck Epon substitute bound to most of the plastics tested. Ladd Epon substitute released cleanly from all plastics tested when a suitable method of preparation was used. The results show that for routine embedding of cell monolayers it is necessary to select an appropriate Epon substitute and method of preparation of capsules for the type of plasticware used. A routine method is described, with various alternative steps which can be applied when particular difficulties are encountered.