Partial purification,subunit structure and thermal stability of the photochemical reaction center of the thermophilic green bacterium Chloroflexus aurantiacus

Spectrally pure reaction center preparations from Chloroflexus aurantiacus have been obtained in a stable form; however, the product contained several contaminating polypeptides. The reaction center pigment molecules (probably three bacteriochlorophyll a and three bacteriopheophytin a molecules) are associated with two polypeptides (M_r = 30000 and 28000) in a reaction center complex of M_r = 52000. No carotenoid is present in the complex. These data together with previous spectral data suggest that the Chloroflexus reaction center represents a more primitive evolutionary form of the purple bacterial reaction center, and that it has little if any relationship to the green bacterial component. A reaction center preparation from Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides R26 was fully denatured at 50°C while the Chloroflexus reaction center required higher temperatures (70–75°C) for complete denaturation. Thus, an intrinsic membrane protein of a photosynthetic thermophile has been demonstrated to have greater thermal stability than the equivalent component of a mesophile.     

True grit: A microwear experiment

Recently we noted the effects of experimental diets on microscopic dental wear in the American opossum and concluded that it might prove difficult to distinguish the microwear produced by an insectivorous diet from that produced by some kinds of herbivorous ones. We also noted that wear caused by gritty diets and those containing plant opal, although they might be confused with one another, are easily distinguished from other sorts of dietary wear. Our conclusions have been challenged on the basis that possibly we did not allow sufficient time in the experiments for diagnostic wear patterns to emerge. Additional data reported here show that this is not so. Even in our n “control” animals, fed a relatively soft unabrasive diet, enough time elapsed to produce significant dental wear. A new technique is described which for the first time allows the study of changing patterns of microscopic wear in a living animal over a period of time, thus allowing each animal to serve as its own control. A solution containing a broad-spectrum proteolytic enzyme when applied to the teeth of an anesthetized animal removes the proteinaceous coat (pellicle) which will otherwise obscure wear scratches. Precision dental impressions can then be made which reveal the details of the pattern of microwear on the teeth.     

Effects of temperature changes on thymidine kinase in heat- and cold-sensitive cell-cycle mutants and ‘wild-type’ murine P-815 cells

Two heat-sensitive (arrested in G1 at 39.5°C) and two cold-sensitive (arrested in G1 at 33°C) clonal cell-cycle mutants that had been isolated from the same clone (K 21), of the murine mastocytoma P-815 cell line, were tested for thymidine kinase (EC 2.7.1.21) activity. After shift of mutant cells to the nonpermissive temperature, thymidine kinase activity decreased, and minimal levels (i.e., less than 3% of those observed for ‘wild-type’ K 21 cells at the respective temperature) were attained within 16 h in heat-sensitive and after 3–4 days in cold-sensitive mutants, which is in good agreement with kinetics of accumulation of heat-sensitive and cold-sensitive cells in G1 phase. After return of arrested mutant cells to the permissive temperature, thymidine kinase of heat-sensitive cells increased rapidly and in parallel with entry of cells into the S phase. In cultures of cold-sensitive cells, however, initiation of DNA synthesis preceded the increase of thymidine kinase activity by approx. one cell-cycle time. Thymidine kinase activities in revertants of the heat-sensitive and cold-sensitive mutants were similar to those of ‘wild-type’ cells. In ‘wild-type’ K 21 cells incubated at 39.5°C, thymidine kinase activity was approx. 30% of that at 33°C. This difference is attributable, at least in part, to a higher rate of inactivation of the enzyme at 39.5°C, as determined in cultures incubated with cycloheximide. The rapid increase of thymidine kinase activity that occurred after shift of K 21 cells and of arrested heat-sensitive mutant cells from 39.5°C to 33°C was inhibited by actinomycin D and cycloheximide.     

Studies on synthetic chromatins containing poly(dA-dT)·poly(dA-dT) and poly(dG-dC)·poly(dG-dC)

Core histones, (H2A,H2B,H3,H4)₂, were reconstituted with the synthethic polynucleotides poly(dA-dT)·poly(dA-dT) and poly(dG-dC)·poly(dG-dC) to yield synthetic chromatins containing 200 basepairs per octamer. These synthetic chromatins displayed a 36% decrease in the circular dichroism (CD) peak ellipticity from the value of the polynucleotide free in solution; the poly(dA-dT)·poly(dA-dT)/chromatin showed an increase in the complexity of the thermal denaturation profile compared to that of the polynucleotide. Both the temperature of maximum $\text{d}\text{h}\text{d}\text{T}$ for each transition (T_m) and the relative amount of poly(dA-dT)·poly(dA-dT) in the synthetic chromatin melting in each of the four thermal transitions is a function of the ionic strength over the 0–5 mM sodium phosphate range (0.25 mM EDTA, pH 7.0); a shift of material toward higher melting transitions was observed with increasing ionic strength. The CD peak ellipticity value for both synthetic chromatins was ionic strength-independent over the 0–5 mM sodium phosphate range. These results are in contrast to those observed with $\text{H}\text{1}\text{H}\text{5}$ stripped chicken erythrocyte chromatin (Fulmer, A. and Fasman, G.D. (1979) Biopolymers 18, 2875–2891), where an ionic strength dependence was found. Differences in the CD spectra between poly(dA-dT)·poly(dA-dT)/chromatin, poly(dG-dC)·poly(dG-dC)/chromatin and $\text{H}\text{1}\text{H}\text{5}$ stripped chicken erythrocyte chromatin suggest subtle differences in assembly. Finally, the temperature dependence of the CD spectra of poly(dA-dT)·poly(dA-dT)-containing synthetic chromatin, which is similar to that for the polynucleotide, suggests the core histone bound polynucleotide has a large degree of conformational flexibility allowing it to undergo the premelt transition.     

An observation of an association between adaptive pigmentation and thermal tolerance of fish

Replidated experiments indicate an association between thermal tolerance of juvenile bluegill sunfish and adaptive pigmentation to background color. Bluegills exposed to black backgrounds were able to survive higher temperatures longer than those exposed to blond backgrounds, when water temperatures were raised at a rate of 0.1°C/h from 24 to 36°C. Plausible explanations are considered which involve heat radiation effectiveness (by the fish) related to the black body concept, and stress associated with adaptive pigmentation.     

Establishment of microscale vegetation pattern in maritime chaparral after fire

We quantified microscale pattern in vegetation and seed assemblages along a 24 m transect before and for two years following a controlled burn in chamise (Adenostoma fasciculatum) chaparral in central coastal California. Our objective was to document scale-dependent correlation between pre-burn seed assemblages, pre-burn canopy cover, microtopography, soil temperatures during burning, post-burn seed assemblages and post-burn vegetation. Scale-dependent correlations among pre- and post-burn seed densities, maximum soil temperatures during burning, microtopography and post-burn vegetation were measured based on two-term local covariance analysis.Seed distribution varied among species prior to fire, with seeds of some annual species concentrated in gap areas. Maximum soil temperatures during burning ranged from less than 50 °C to 225 °C, and were generally lowest in gaps in the pre-burn canopy. These gaps were associated with local topographic depressions. After burning, readily germinable seeds were concentrated in or near gaps in the pre-burn canopy. Germination of different species was variously enhanced, diminished or unchanged by the passage of fire. Post-burn vegetation was very patchy, with some areas nearly devoid of seedlings and other areas, especially pre-burn canopy gaps, supporting numerous seedlings. Seedling recruitment patterns in the second year were generally highly correlated with patterns in pre-burn seed banks and first year vegetation. Although many species exhibited similar recruitment patterns, several different mechanisms may have been responsible for the origin of those patterns.     

黑卷尾繁殖期领域性的初步研究

鸟类的领域性是鸟类行为生态学研究的一个重要内容。在这方面国外进展很快,但国内工作较少,专文报道除三宝鸟之外,其它颇为罕见。1987年夏季,我们在太原市南郊对该地区的夏候鸟黑卷尾(Dicrurus macrocercus)的领域行为进行了观测。现将资料整理分析如下。一、工作区与工作方法太原盆地的自然环境和鸟类群落状况已有报道,在此不再赘述。工作区选在小马—加节两村之间约190ha的区域内(图1)。其     

Climate and vegetation in China II. Distribution of main vegetation types and thermal climate

The authors examined relationships between Kira's warmth index (WI) and four other important thermal indices: the sums of daily mean temperatures above 5°C and 10°C, Thornthwaite's potential evapotranspiration (PE) and Holdridge's annual biotemperature. The thermal records of 671 meteorological stations evenly located all over China were used to make these comparisons. Close correlations were found within the four relationships, and accordingly WI was used to analyse the thermal distributions of the main vegetation types. Vegetation types around the 671 stations were read from a vegetation map with a scale of 1/4000000. Vegetation types at 269 stations corresponded to the natural or seminatural vegetation, and 29 vegetation types were distinguished by arranging the 269 data into the same or similar types. The geographical distribution of these 29 types and the corresponding main climatic features were described. The relations between WI and distribution of these vegetation types were discussed in detail. As a result, WI values (°C month) corresponding to the vegetation zones could be summarized as follows: (1) arctic or alpine vegetation zone: 0–15; (2) boreal or subalpine vegetation zone: 15-(50–55); (3) cool-temperate vegetation zone: (50–55)–(80–90); (4) warm-temperate vegetation zone: (80–90)–(170–180). These values almost coincided with Kira's values. Chinese postgraduate student in Japan sent by the Chinese Government.