Accumulation of a peptide toxin from the cyanobacterium Oscillatoria agardhii in the freshwater mussel Anadonta cygnea

Swan mussels (Anodonta cygnea) were exposed to a toxic strain of the cyanobacterium Oscillatoria agardhii. Mussels accumulated large amounts of the peptide Oscillatoria toxin which was present in low concentrations within the cyanobacterial cells in the test aquaria (40–60 µg Oscillatoria toxin/1). The toxin concentration in the mussels increased during the experiment and after 15 days of exposure the concentration was 70 ± 2 µg/g freeze dried tissue (mean ± range of values). The highest concentration of the toxin (130 µg/g of freeze dried tissue) was found in the hepatopancreatic tissue. The toxin did not seem to be metabolized in the mussels and they were not killed by the high toxin concentrations within them. After two months in clean water still detectable amounts of toxin were present in the mussels.     

Effect of Moniliformis moniliformis density on distribution within the definitive host population (Rattus norvegicus)

The population dynamics of Moniliformis moniliformis was studied in ‘free-ranging’ laboratory rats, Rattus norvegicus, presented with different relative density levels of M. moniliformis in cockroaches, Periplaneta americana. Changes in selected population parameters of the negative binomial distribution were evaluated as indicators of changes in aggregation. A significant increase in the degree of aggregation of parasites occurred as a result of the increase in relative density of infective stages available to the rats. This increase in aggregation was due to the increase in over-dispersion that occurred in female rats only. The degree of aggregation in females was found to be significantly higher than that in males at both treatment levels. The best indicators of the degree of aggregation were found to be the ratio of the variance to the relative density and the ratio of the log-variance to log-relative density. Changes in k were not correlated with changes in over-dispersion or the relative density.     

Initial steps of phloroglucinol metabolism in Penicillium simplicissimum

The pathway for the aerobic catabolism of 1,3,5-trihydroxybenzene (phloroglucinol) by a new strain of Penicillium was investigated using both in vivo and in vitro cell-free systems. The fungal strain was isolated by enrichment on phloroglucinol and identified as P. simplicissimum (Oud) Thom. It grew optimally at pH 5.5 and 27°C with 119 mM (1.5%w/v) of phloroglucinol in a basal mineral salts medium. Vapours of the crystalline substrate placed in a Petri-plate lid supported the growth of the fungal colonies on the agar surface. Mycelia grown on phloroglucinol accumulated 1,2,4-trihydroxybenzene and resorcinol in the medium. Washed, resting mycelia grown on phloroglucinol, when resuspended in a buffer utilized oxygen in the presence of catechol, resorcinol, pyrogallol and phloroglucinol. A NADPH-dependent reductase in the cell-free extract reduced phloroglucinol to dihydrophloroglucinol. This electron donor could not be replaced by NADH. Resorcinol hydroxylase, phloroglucinol reductase, catechol-1,2-oxygenase, and catechol-2,3-oxygenase were detected in cell-free extracts of mycelia grown on phloroglucinol. The possible steps in the degradation of phloroglucinol are discussed.     

Prediction of temperature profiles in the human skin and subcutaneous tissues

Exact mathematical solutions in terms of confluent hypergeometric and Airy's functions are obtained to study the steady state temperature distributions in human skin and subcutaneous tissues (SST). It is assumed that the skin is exposed to an air environment and heat transfer from the skin occurs by convection, radiation and evaporation. A mathematical model of the SST, accounting for heat conduction, perfusion of the capillary beds and metabolic heat productions of the dermis and subcutaneous tissues, has been solved to obtain interface temperatures for a wide range of environmental temperatures, rates of evaporation of sweat, wind speeds and relative humidities. The solutions provide inter-relationships between interface temperatures, thermal conductivities, metabolic heat production, blood perfusion, thicknesses of various layers of SST and ambient temperature.     

厦门附近海域浮游甲藻类的分布

本文报道了厦门附近海域浮游甲藻类49种,并对其生态特性以及与海洋环境因素的关系进行了详细研究与讨论。分析的204号样品,系1980年9月至1981年8月,逐月采自厦门海域的浔江区(Ⅰ区),西港区(Ⅱ区)和九龙江口区(Ⅱ区)。     

四川宝兴雉类生态和垂直分布的调查研究

宝兴位于四川盆地西缘山地,境内纵贯世界闻名的大雪山——即夹金山。 自19世纪30年代至20世纪30年代,先后有Verreaux(1838—1871),Geoffroy(1866),David(1871),Seinhoe(1871),Sharpe(1875),David et Oustalet(1877),Oustaler (1891—92),Styan(1899),Laubmann(1920),La Touch(1925—30),Smith(1931—34),Bangs(1932),Seys(1934)等对宝兴进行过调查和采集,而我     

Subcellular Distribution of UDP-Galactose:Ceramide Galactosyltransferase in Rat Brain Oligodendroglia

Oligodendrocytes isolated from 18-19-day-old rat brain were homogenized in 0.32 M sucrose. The homogenate was centrifuged at 100,000 g for 50 min in a gradient containing 0.8, 1.05, and 1.3 M sucrose. Three discrete bands were obtained at the interfaces 0.32-0.8 (F1), 0.8-1.05 (F2), and 1.05-1.3 M (F3). The distribution of UDP-galactose:ceramide galactosyltransferase (CgalT) activity in each fraction was measured using liposomes containing normal fatty acid-containing ceramides (NFA-CgalT activity) or 2-hydroxy fatty acid-containing ceramides (HFA-CgalT activity). Although detection of both CgalT activities was possible in all fractions, HFA-CgalT activity was enriched in F1 and F2 fractions, which also showed an enrichment of Golgi and endoplasmic reticulum markers, respectively. It is interesting that NFA-CgalT activity was significantly enriched in the F2 fraction. These results suggest that hydroxylated and nonhydroxylated galactocerebrosides may be synthesized at different intracellular locations.     

Limited Tryptic Proteolysis of the Benzodiazepine Binding Proteins in Different Species Reveals Structural Homologies

Peptide mapping can be used to elucidate further the structural similarities of the benzodiazepine binding proteins in different vertebrate species. Crude synaptic membrane preparations were photoaffinity-labeled with [3H]flunitrazepam and subsequently degraded with various concentrations of trypsin. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis followed by fluorography allowed a comparison of the molecular weights of photolabeled peptides in different species. Tryptic degradation led to a common peptide of 40K in all species investigated, a finding indicating that the benzodiazepine binding proteins are structurally homologous in higher bony fishes and tetrapods.     

Distribution of the Glucose-1,6-Bisphosphate System in Brain and Retina

The distribution of glucose-1,6-bisphosphate (G16P2) synthase was measured in more than 70 regions of mouse brain, and nine layers of monkey retina. Activities in gray areas varied as much as 10-fold, in a hierarchical manner, from highest in telencephalon, especially the limbic system, to lowest in cerebellum, medulla, and spinal cord. The synthase levels were significantly correlated among different regions with G16P2 itself, as well as with previously published levels of a brain specific IMP-dependent G16P2 phosphatase. In contrast, neither G16P2 nor either its synthase or phosphatase correlated positively with phosphoglucomutase, and in all regions the G16P2 levels greatly exceeded requirements for activation of this mutase. This strengthens the view that G16P2 has some function besides serving as coenzyme for phosphoglucomutase. However, attempts to correlate the "G16P2 system," as defined by the three coordinately related elements, synthase, phosphatase, and G16P2, with other enzymes of carbohydrate metabolism, or with regional data of Sokoloff et al. [J. Neurochem. 28, 897-916 (1977)] for glucose consumption, were unsuccessful. This leaves open the possibility that brain G16P2 might serve as a phosphate donor for specific nonmetabolic effector proteins.     

Studies on the Tissue Distribution of the Puromycin-Sensitive Enkephalin-Degrading Aminopeptidases

An antiserum generated to the soluble form of the rat brain puromycin-sensitive enkephalin-degrading aminopeptidase was used to determine the tissue distribution of the soluble and membrane-associated forms of this enzyme. All tissues examined contained significant levels of the soluble enzyme form, with this enzyme accounting for greater than 90% of the arylamidase activity in brain, heart, and skeletal muscle. Native gel electrophoresis coupled with activity staining as well as inhibition studies were used to confirm the presence of this enzyme in various tissues. Serum was found not to contain this particular aminopeptidase. In contrast to the results obtained with the soluble enzyme form, brain was the only tissue found to contain the membrane-associated enzyme form. Although all tissues contained membrane-associated aminopeptidase activity only the brain enzyme could be maintained in solution in the absence of detergent. In addition, the brain membrane-associated enzyme could be distinguished from the membrane-associated aminopeptidase activity in other tissues on the basis of its sensitivity to inhibition by puromycin.