Genetic recombination of homologous plasmids catalysed by cell-free extracts of topo-isomerase mutant strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Cell-free extracts of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae can be used to catalyse the recombination of bacterial plasmids in vitro. Recombination between homologous plasmids containing different mutations in the gene encoding tetracycline resistance is detectable by the appearance of tetracycline-resistance following transformation of the recombinant plasmid DNA into Escherichia coli DH5. This in vitro recombination system was used to determine the involvement of eukaryotic topo-isomerases in genetic recombination. Cell-free extracts prepared from a temperature-sensitive topo-isomerase II mutant (top2-1) of S. cerevisiae yielded tetracycline-resistant recombinants, when the recombination assays were performed at both a non-restrictive temperature (30°C) and the restrictive temperature (37°C). This result was obtained whether or not ATP was present in the recombination buffer. Extracts from a non-conditional topo-isomerase I mutant (top1-1) of S. cerevisiae yielded tetracycline-resistant recombinants, as did a temperature-sensitive double mutant (top2-1/top1-8) at the restrictive temperature. The results of this study indicate that neither topo-isomerase I nor topo-isomerase II was involved in the recombinational activity examined.     

Trichoderma asperelloides antagonism to nine Sclerotinia sclerotiorum strains and biological control of white mold disease in soybean plants

Sclerotinia sclerotiorum is an important plant pathogen with worldwide distribution that causes severe economic losses of various agricultural crops such as soybean. This fungus is normally controlled with synthetic chemical fungicides that pose risks to the environment, and can be harmful to human health, and they can also induce resistance in pests. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential of Trichoderma asperelloides as a biocontrol agent towards white mold disease on soybeans crops. The antagonism of two strains of T. asperelloides (T25 and T42) isolated from soil samples was determined in-vitro by dual-culture confrontation testing on nine S. sclerotiorum strains obtained from sclerotia collected on diseased soybean plants. The mycelial growth and inhibition of carpogenic and ascospore germination by T. asperelloides extracts, as well as the efficacy of these on white mold control in soybeans were evaluated. Both strains of T. asperelloides exhibited high potential of antagonism. Methanolic and ethyl acetate extracts of the two T. asperelloides strains showed excellent growth inhibition (60–100%) on all of the pathogens tested. The ethyl acetate extracts of both T. asperelloides strains exhibited the highest efficacy against carpogenic germination, decreasing by 20–30% the number of ascospores per apothecium. Strains of T. asperelloides tested were more efficient in controlling white mold than two commercial products made from Trichoderma harzianum. The new strains of T. asperelloides have potential for successful biological control of white mold disease of soybean crops in the field.     

Drosophila centrosomes are unable to trigger parthenogenetic development of Xenopus eggs

Centrosomes are powerful and exclusive parthenogenetic agents in the Xenopus egg. We have previously shown that heterologous centrosomes from various vertebrate species were able to promote egg cleavage in Xenopus and that human centrosome activity was associated with an insoluble proteinacious structure that is not significantly simpler than the native centrosome. In this work, we have investigated the parthenogenetic capacity of more evolutionary distant centrosomes. We show that centrosomes devoid of centrioles, such as SPBs isolated from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, do not form asters of microtubules in cytoplasmic extracts from Xenopus eggs, and are inactive in the parthenogenetic test. We further show that Drosophila centrosomes which possess a typical centriole architecture, and are quite active to nucleate microtubules in Xenopus cytoplasmic extracts, are unable to trigger egg cleavage. This was observed both with centrosomes isolated from Drosophila syncytial embryos and nucleus-centrosome complexes from the Drosophila Kc23 cell line. We demonstrate that this inability could not be restored after pre-incubation of Drosophila centrosomes in the egg cytoplasm before injection. We conclude that the parthenogenetic activity of a centrosome is not directly linked to its capacity to nucleate microtubules from the egg tubulin, and that the evolutionary conserved nine-fold symmetrical structure of the centriole cannot be considered as sufficient for triggering procentriole assembly.     

Reorganization of chromatin in Xenopus egg extracts: electron microscopic studies.

The structural basis of mitotic condensation of chromosomes is one of the problems of cell biology yet to be elucidated. A variety of approaches have been used to study this problem and a large number of hypotheses have been proposed to explain the different levels of compaction of chromatin. Xenopus egg extracts, now widely used to study various aspects of cell biology, provide a valuable tool to study mitotic condensation of chromosomes. No detailed study has however yet been reported on the submicroscopic organization of condensed chromosomes in vitro in egg extracts. We present here the results of our electron microscopic studies on the organization of condensed chromosomes in vitro, using demembranated sperm nuclei and mitotic (CSF-arrested) extracts of Xenopus laevis eggs, clarified by high speed centrifugation. Upon introduction of sperm nuclei in egg extracts, the nuclei swell and the chromatin undergoes a rapid decondensation; at this stage the chromatin is formed of 10 nm fibrils. After longer incubation, the chromatin condenses, and by 2 h chromosomal structures can be visualized by staining with DAPI or Hoechst 33258. Our results on the organization of chromosomes in different stages of condensation are discussed in relation to the different hypotheses proposed to explain the process of mitotic condensation of chromosomes. Finally, this study demonstrates the feasibility of high-resolution analysis of the process of chromosome condensation.     

Insect growth‐reducing and antifeedant activity in Eastern North America hardwood species and bioassay‐guided isolation of active principles from Prunus serotina

1 Thirty extracts of wood and bark of hardwood trees from Eastern North America were examined for insect growth‐reducing activity in a bioassay with European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis, and an antifeedant bioassay with the rice weevil, Sitophilus oryzae. 2 Nine of the bark extracts and four of the wood extracts showed significant growth reducing effects at 0.5% in meridic diets, whereas only two bark extracts and one wood extract showed significant antifeedant effect at the same concentration. 3 Slower growing tree species were more biologically active than fast growing ones. Isolation of the bioactive compounds in one of the active species, Prunus serotina, showed that naringenin, its derivative methoxynaringenin, and eriodictyol were responsible for the antifeedant effects.     

一些孟加拉当地产水果的抗氧化活性

研究了A. heterophyllus, A. squamosa, T. bellirica, S. samarangense, A. carambola and O. europa 水果的抗氧化活性。首先将这些成熟的水果切成小片,然后用日光晒干,最后用研磨器磨成粉末。这些水果粉末用99.99%的乙醇进行乙醇提取。这些提取物的活性通过其清除稳定的1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH)自由基的能力进行测定。实验结果表明,所有A. heterophyllus, A. squamosa, T. bellirica, S. samarangense, A. carambola and O. europa这些水果的乙醇提取物都具有抗氧化活性,这些水果的乙醇提取物的的IC₅₀值分别是410, 250, 34, 200, 30 和76μg/mL。其中A. carambola具有最高的抗氧化活性,其次是T. bellirica, O. europa, S. samarangense, A. squamosa 和 A. heterophyllus 。结果表明A. carambola, T. bellirica 和 O. europa对人体健康是非常有益的。     

6种植物提取物对酪氨酸酶活性的影响

近年来,中草药美容由于疗效显著、毒副作用小而风靡全球。与此同时,中外众多研究者从中国古代治疗皮肤病的方剂中筛选出多种中药,以现代实验手段探讨它们的作用机理,从而更有效地指导美容用品的研制开发,植物药对酪氨酸酶活性的影响便是其中的研究课题之一。已有证据表明,酪氨酸酶在黑色素生成过程中起着极为关键的作用,用药物调节酪氨酸酶的活性,能医治相关的皮肤病[1]。Ｙｕｋｉｍｉｔｓｕ等[2]选用26种在古方中用于皮肤增白的中药进行了酪氨酸酶活性的抑制性试验;雷铁池等[3]用计算机从古今中医治疗色素增加性皮肤病方剂中精选69首进…     

Antimycobacterial evaluation of Peruvian plants

We present the results of an antimycobacterial screening of 270 Peruvian plant samples representing 216 species from 171 genera in 63 families. Dichloromethane extracts were tested at a concentration of 50 microg/ml for inhibition of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in radiometric culture. Slightly more than half of the samples tested showed inhibition of M. tuberculosis at this concentration.     

海金沙提取物体外抑菌性能研究

用M／C和纸片法考查了海金沙提取物对藤黄球菌、枯草芽孢杆菌、金黄色葡萄球菌和乙型溶血性链球菌的抑菌性能。结果表明：海金沙对4种受试菌株都有抑菌活性;37℃时,醇提物对乙型溶血性链球菌的抑菌效果最好,最大抑菌圈为8．5mm;42℃时,对藤黄球菌、金黄色葡萄球菌和枯草杆菌的抑菌效果最好,最大抑菌圈分别为21、13．2和6．5mm。pH值为7．6时,海金沙醇提物在对藤黄球菌、金黄色葡萄球菌、枯草杆菌和乙型溶血性链球菌的最大抑菌圈分别为9．1、8．2、9mm和11．3mm。海金沙水提物和醇提物对藤黄球菌、乙型溶血性链球菌、枯草芽孢杆菌、金黄色葡萄球菌的最低抑菌质量分数分别为25％、12．5％、12．5％、25％和3．12％、1．56％、6．25％、3．12％．