Biology,boundaries and borders

Towards Justice and Peace is a splendid title for a symposium and book to honour Professor Sunderland. It is also a very difficult title for a biological anthropologist. I make the distinction from social anthropology with some apology. There are of course many subdisciplines and traditions within Anthropology and I most associate Professor Sunderland's support of my university and myself with our attempts to foster cross-disciplinary discussion, towards a “Biosocial Anthropology”, as it were. So, while for specialists in fossilization of bones, sequences of DNA molecules or analysis of urine, the title, Towards Justice and Peace might cause problems, I should like to discuss some biosocial anthropology on an international frontier, which, after centuries of military aggression and defence, is now a peaceful line on a map within the European Community. HMM.     

Studies on Strains of Trichogramma evanescens Westwood from Different Regions of Eurasia

Strains of Trichogramma evanescens Westwood (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) collected from six different geographical regions in Eurasia were compared in terms of their biological and morphological characteristics and electrophoretic patterns. Significant differences were observed between the strains for biological characteristics such as the proportion of female progeny, developmental period, longevity, proportion of adults emerging and fecundity. Strains from the Altai region in Russia were more fecund at all hygrothermal conditions in which they were reared (27 C, 80% relative humidity (RH); 27 C, 40% RH; 23 C, 80% RH; and 23 C, 40% RH). Poor adult emergence took place at 27 C and 40% RH in strains from Moldavia and Slovakia. Morphological examination of male antennae showed that strains from Moldavia and Slovakia had the highest ratio of the length of antennal hairs to the maximum width of flagellum. The patterns of esterases after electrophoresis indicated that strains differed in the mobility and intensity of esterase bands. Electrophoretic and morphological relationships among the strains did not correspond with their biological relationships. The possibility of the use of strains from the Altai region in Russia in biocontrol programmes in southern parts of Europe is discussed.     

Energy metabolism in the cyanobacterium Plectonema boryanum. Participation of the thylakoid photosynthetic electron transfer chain in the dark respiration of NADPH and NADH

The oxidation of NADPH and NADH was studied in the light and in the dark using sonically derived membrane vesicles and osmotically shocked spheroplasts. These two types of cell-free membrane preparations mostly differ in that the cell and thylakoid membranes are scrambled in the former type and that they are more or less separated in the latter type of preparations. In the light, using both kinds of preparations, each of NADPH and NADH donates electrons via the plastoquinone-cytochrome $\text{b}\text{c}$ redox complex (Qbc redox complex) to the thylakoid membrane-bound cytochrome c-553 preoxidized by a light flash and to methylviologen via Photosystem I. NADPH donates electrons to the thylakoid membrane via a weakly rotenone-sensitive dehydrogenase to a site that is situated beyond the 3(3′,4′-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea sensitive site and before plastoquinone. Ferredoxin and easily soluble cytoplasmic proteins are presumably not involved in light-mediated NADPH oxidation. Inhibitors of electron transfer at the Qbc redox complex as the dinitrophenylether of 2-iodo-4-nitrothymol, 2,5-dibromo-3-methyl-6-isopropyl-p-benzoquinone and 2-n-heptyl-4-hydroxy-quinone-N-oxide are effective, but antimycin A and KCN are not. The oxidation of NADH showed comparable sensitivity to these inhibitors. However, the oxidation of NADH is antimycin-A-sensitive regardless of the kind of membrane preparation used, indicating that in this case electrons are donated to a different site on the thylakoid membrane. In the dark, NADPH and NADH donate electrons at sites that behave similar to those of light-mediated oxidation, indicating that the initial steps of electron transfer are situated at the thylakoid membranes. However, NADPH oxidation is in some cases not sensitive to inhibitors active at the Qbc redox complex. It is concluded that O₂ reduction takes place at two different sites, one partly developed in vitro, situated near the rotenone-sensitive NADPH dehydrogenase, and another, highly KCN-sensitive one, situated beyond the Qbc redox complex and used in vivo. The terminal oxygen-reducing step of NADPH and NADH oxidation in the dark showed a preparation-dependent sensitivity for KCN, more than 80% inhibition in sonically derived membrane vesicles and less than 30% inhibition in osmotically shocked spheroplasts. From this result we tentatively conclude that the highly KCN-sensitive oxidase is not necessarily located at the thylakoid membrane and could be located at the cytoplasmic membrane.     

鳗鲡寄生伪指环虫(单殖吸虫)的危害性、生物学和治疗试验

本文研究了人工放养池内引起鳗鲡鳃病的寄生虫是秉伪指环虫和鳗鲡伪指环虫。影响秉伪指环虫纤毛幼虫孵化的因素,与温度和寄主粘液密切相关,而与光照可能无关。在实验室里,分别用药物处理带有病原体的鳗苗,表明:用0.3—0.5ppm90％,晶体敌百虫,可达全部杀灭病原体的良好效果,1％氯化钠长期药浴也有显著效果。     

The electrolytic preparation of bioactive radioiodinated parathyroid hormone of high specific activity.

A technique for the preparation of microgram quantities of bovine parathyroid hormone (bPTH) labeled with carrier-free ¹²⁵I to a specific activity of 1300 Ci/mmol is described. A restructured and simplified apparatus was used for electrolytic iodination, making it feasible to use reaction volumes of 100 to 200 ml. The miniaturized setup requires only a small platinum crucible connected via an agar-KCl salt bridge to a saturated KCl solution, a battery to drive the reaction, and a voltmeter to monitor the potential difference between the reference-saturated KCl solution (via a calomel electrode) and the platinum crucible. The [¹²⁵I]-labeled bPTH elutes as a single species when chromatographed on a Biogel P-10 column equilibrated in 3 m guanidine HCl-2.3 m formic acid, and it retains full biologic activity when bioassayed in vivo. It is evident that bPTH labeled to a high specific activity with ¹²⁵I does not suffer in regard to its biological potency.     

Similarity between 5'- and 3'-terminal nucleotide sequences and double-stranded RNA-derived sequences of eukaryotic mRNA

It has been reported recently that parts of the nucleotide sequences present in the 5′- and 3′-terminal regions of cytoplasmic mRNA are derived from double-stranded hairpin structures of heterogeneous nuclear RNA—a putative mRNA precursor (Naora, 1979). In order to explore the nature of double-stranded hairpin structures, using the sequencing data of human and rabbit globin mRNA and hen ovalbumin mRNA, we examined the following possibility: that certain regions of both the 5′- and 3′-terminal nucleotide sequences of mature mRNA were present in double-stranded hairpin structures covalently linked to both sides of the message sequence in the precursor mRNA molecule and that these double-stranded hairpin structures are similar to each other. The results support the above possibility by showing substantial similarity of nucleotide sequences between the 5′- and 3′-terminal regions of these mRNAs in terms of the formation of similar double-stranded hairpin structures.     

Computer simulation of engulfment and other movements of embryonic tissues

Using a model proposed earlier by Goel et al. and a set of plausible motility rules, a computer simulation of engulfment of two or more intact embryonic tissues is successfully carried out. The same motility rules are used to simulate the rounding up of a tissue, centralization of one tissue within another tissue (a phenomenon not yet observed), and phase inversion, a process which may have relevance to differentiation. The finnal structures bear a good resemblance to those observed experimentally. The software, in conjunction with an appropriate hardware configuration, allows a visual display of the dynamics of cellular movement. These simulations indicate that the range of inter-cellular interactions controlling these tissue rearrangements extends only one or two cell diameters.     

Dephosphorylation of skeletal muscle phosphorylase,glycogen synthase,and phosphorylase kinase β-subunit by a Mn2+-activated protein phosphatase

An Mn²⁺-activated phosphoprotein phosphatase of M_r = 80,000 from rabbit muscle catalyzes the dephosphorylation of skeletal muscle proteins that are phosphorylated by either phosphorylase kinase or cAMP-dependent protein kinase. Phosphorylase or glycogen synthase labeled by phosphorylase kinase at seryl residues 14 or 7, respectively, are both dephosphorylated by the phosphatase. Phosphorylase a and glycogen synthase compete with one another for the phosphatase. The phosphatase discriminates between different sites labeled by the cAMP-dependent protein kinase: glycogen synthase phosphorylated either to 1.0 or 1.8 mol phosphate/mol, or phosphorylase kinase phosphorylated on its β-subunit serve as substrates for the phosphatase, but the phosphorylase kinase α-subunit, the phosphorylated phosphatase inhibitor 1, or casein do not. Histone fraction IIA, phosphorylated by the catalytic subunit, was a poor substrate even at a concentration of 100 μm. Phosphorylation of the α-subunit of phosphorylase kinase had no influence on the kinetics of dephosphorylation of the β-subunit. Thus, the M_r = 80,000 phosphatase meets the functional definition of a protein phosphatase 1 [Cohen, P. (1978) Curr. Top. Cell. Regul.14, 117–196]. Furthermore, from a comparison of the known phosphorylated sites of these proteins, it appears that the phosphatase discriminates between different sites present in the phosphoproteins tested on the basis of the K_m values for the reactions. It displays a preferential activity toward proteins with a primary structure wherein basic residues are two positions amino-terminal from the phosphoserine, AgrLysX-YSer(P) or LysArgX-YSer(P), rather and one residue away, ArgArgX-Ser(P).     

The identification of dimethylphenylarsine as a microbial metabolite using a simple method of chemofocusing

Candida humicola acts on benzenearsonic acid to produce dimethylphenylarsine, which was identified by mass spectroscopy following the chemofocusing of the volatile metabolite onto a mercuric chloride impregnated filter. The same technique established that trimethylarsine is the volatile metabolic product obtained from C. humicola treated with 4-NH₂-2-OHC₆H₃AsO(OH)₂ and (CH₃)₃AsO. Arsanilic acid, 4-NH₂C₆H₄AsO(OH)₂, is not metabolized to a volatile arsine.     

Genetic and developmental evidence for a repressed genital primordium in Drosophila melanogaster

Agametic, a maternal-effect mutation, causes the absence of germ cells in approximately 40% of the gonads of flies derived from homozygous females. The nature of the deficiency in the eggs produced by these flies was examined. Ultrastructural abnormalities were seen in the polar granules of some eggs shortly after fertilization. Although a normal number of pole cells form, some are abnormal with degenerating polar granules and nuclear bodies and they contain myeloid bodies. The pole cells reach the gonads and at 14 hr of development all the gonads contain germ cells. However, in 40% of the gonads the germ cells become necrotic and disappear. Thus, the source of agametic gonads in the adult is embryonic death of pole cells in some gonads. To test whether this gonadal death is an autonomous deficiency of the mutant pole cells, mosaic pole cell populations were produced by reciprocal pole cell transplantation. In both types of transplants, the mutant pole cells died autonomously. In eight instances gonads containing only donor pole cells were obtained. Since mutant pole cells die when wild-type pole cells normally begin dividing, we suggest that the lesion affects the ability of these mutant pole cells to reenter the cell cycle.