Circadian effect of ACTH 1-17 on mitotic index of the corneal epithelium of BALB/C mice

The objective was to determine the effect of ACTH 1-17, an adrenocorticotropin analogue, on the mitotic index in the corneal epithelium of mice standardized in 12 hr of light alternating with 12 hr darkness. A question asked was whether the time of administration along the 24-hr time scale influenced any response found. The findings showed that ACTH 1-17 could, depending upon when it was administered, bring about a statistically significant decrease, an increase or even no such change in the mitotic index. The greatest responses found were increases, especially when ACTH 1-17 was administered during the dark span. Also the time after injection when the responses occurred varied. The greatest response recorded was at 12 hr after injection when ACTH 1-17 was given at 2 hr into the dark with a 641% and a 718% increase with a low (0.02 IU/kg) and a higher (20 IU/kg) dose, respectively. A 3-way analysis of variance supported the conclusion that the kind-of-treatment, time-of-treatment and treatment-to-kill interval (sampling time) are important factors when determining any response to ACTH 1-17 on the mitotic index.     

Postembryonic nongonadal cell lineages of the nematode Panagrellus redivivus: Description and comparison with those of Caenorhabditis elegans

The postembryonic nongonadal cell lineages of the nematode Panagrellus redivivus are described and compared with those of Caenorhabditis elegans. The newly hatched larvae of P. redivivus females and males and C. elegans hermaphrodites and males are very similar. An almost identical set of blast cells divides postembryonically in P. redivivus and C. elegans to produce similar changes in the neuronal, muscular, hypodermal, and digestive systems. Most of these cell lineages are invariant; however, there is substantial variability in the number of cell divisions in the relatively extensive lineages of the lateral hypodermis of P. redivivus. Typically, in P. redivivus females, 55 blast cells generate 635 surviving progeny and 29 cell deaths; in P. redivivus males, 59 blast cells generate 758 surviving progeny and 35 cell deaths. The lineages generating the cells of the male tails of P. redivivus and C. elegans are almost identical; thus, the grossly different characteristics of these structures must reflect differences in the morphogenesis of cells equivalent in lineage history. Laser ablation experiments demonstrate that the gonad induces vulva development and that cell-cell interactions are important in specifying the fates of hypodermal precursor cells. The lateral hypodermal lineages provide striking examples of the apparent construction of complex lineages from modular sublineages; one simple pattern of cell divisions and cell fates occurs 70 times in the P. redivivus female. The differences in cell lineage between P. redivivus and C. elegans are relatively minor, and many appear to have involved two types of evolutionary change: the replacement of sublineages, and the modification of sublineages by the four classes of lineage transformations previously proposed based on a comparison of P. redivivus and C. elegans gonadal cell lineages (Sternberg and Horvitz, 1981). These types of differences suggest that the genetic programming of cell lineage includes instructions specifying where and when a particular sublineage is utilized, and other instructions specifying the nature of that sublineage.     

Seasonal dynamics of moss-dwelling chironomid communities

Chironomid communities of mosses in a small upland stream in central Germany were highly dynamic across the year with respect to their abundance, biomass and dominant taxa. During 1988 semi-submersed mosses near a main spring and those occurring some 700 m downstream were compared with permanently submersed mosses in immediate vicinity of the downstream site. All the chironomids sampled were conspicuously small, with nearly 98% being less than 5 mm in length. A total of 65 chironomid species from 26 genera were found, with a higher diversity occurring near the source and a change in dominant taxa along the upper stream section. The mean abundance in permanently submersed mosses (250 larvae/10 cm², n = 125) was about five times higher than in semi-submersed mosses. The maximum value of 830 larvae/10 cm² (n = 1) is the highest chironomid density ever reported, which is explained by the sampling method used. The mean standing crop was also highest in permanently submersed mosses (1.5 mg AFDW/10 cm² (n = 125)), even though the highest individual value was recorded in semi-submersed mosses near the spring (10.4 mg AFDW/10 cm²). The evidence suggested that the dominance of chironomid taxa depended mainly on the location of the moss along the stream, whereas abundance and biomass were determined mainly by constancy in the ambient discharge as well as the factors influenced by this (e.g. temperature, detritus deposition). A trend was seen towards a seasonal succession among the chironomid taxa colonizing lotic mosses.     

Fruit fate,frugivory, and fruit characteristics: a study of the hawthorn,Crataegus monogyna (Rosaceae)

Summary The fate of fruits from a population of European hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) in western Oregon, USA, was examined over a two-year period. Only one frugivore, the American robin (Turdus migratorius) foraged on the C. monogyna fruits, making this an unusually straightforward fruit-frugivore system. Dispersal efficiency was low, with an average 21% of seeds being dispersed (carried away from parent plants) each year; the most common fate of fruits was to simply fall. Robins dropped 20% of the fruits that they picked, and defecated/regurgitated 40% of the fruits (seeds) that they swallowed, beneath parent plants. One trait, gruit abundance, strongly affected the probability of bush visitation by robins, bushes with larger fruit displays being preferred. Both absolute dispersal success (number of seeds) and dispersal efficiency (proportion of seeds; success per propagule) were also found to be correlated most strongly with initial fruit abundance. Individual plant fecundity and fruit quality were found to vary little between years; as a result, dispersal efficiencies for individual plants were also annully consistent. Larger (older) plants produced more fruits and therefore had higher fitness. These results suggest that the optimal fruiting strategy for C. monogyna is therefore to get as big as possible as quickly as possible by delaying fruiting until later in life.     

Isolation of a cloned DNA segment containing a ribosomal protein gene of Drosophila melanogaster

A Drosophila genomic DNA library in the vector Charon 4 was screened using cDNA derived from the small (6S-12S) poly(A)+ mRNA of 2-6-h-old Drosophila embryos. This fraction of mRNA is enriched for ribosomal protein-coding sequences. The selected recombinants were hybridized to total mRNA under conditions which allowed for isolation of homologous mRNAs. The mRNA from these RNA/DNA hybrids was eluted and translated in vitro. The translation products were analyzed by one- and two-dimensional electrophoresis with authentic ribosomal proteins as standards. One cloned DNA segment was found to contain a ribosomal protein gene, and a sequence which hybridizes strongly to at least 5 other ribosomal protein mRNAs.     

QUANTITATIVE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN BENTHIC ALGAL COMMUNITIES ALONG A DEPTH GRADIENT IN LAKE MICHIGAN1,2

This study analyzes the impact of conditions associated with depth upon benthic algal communities in Lake Michigan. Diatom abundance was greater at 9.1 and 14.6 m depths than 6.5, 22.6 and 27.4 m. Shallow (6.5 m), mid-depth (9.1 and 14.6 m) and deep (22.6 and 27.4 m) zones were distinguishable on the basis of community composition, structure and abundance. Dominance of benthic species, high diversity and low abundance in shallow communities probably resulted from substantial substrate disturbance by wave action in this productive zone. Dominance of benthic species, high diversity and high abundance characterized mid-depth communities where less wave disturbance enabled algal accumulation. Preponderance of living planktonic taxa, low diversity and low abundance delineated deep communities where planktonic algae accumulated and low light levels reduced growth of benthic species.     

Factors influencing the distributional abundance of two trophic guilds of Peruvian cricetid rodents

The distributional abundance of 13 species of southern Peruvian rodents is significantly correlated with altitude and patterns of vegetation but vegetation is a better predictor than altitude. Coincidental reversals in the altitudinal trends of both vegetation and rodents demonstrate that rodents are responding to vegetation patterns. Abundance and diversity of rodents are greatest around 4000 m elevation which coincides with the region of greatest vegetational abundance and seasonally heavy rainfall.
The rodent communities consist of two separate feeding guilds, omnivores and insectivores and these guilds show distinctly different distributional patterns. Insectivorous species are strongly associated with the zone of seasonally heavy rainfall (4000 m) whereas omnivorous rodents are relatively abundant over a broader spectrum of elevations and habitats. In a previous study of these same communities, we showed a correspondence between rodent morphology and their diets. This study reveals a correspondence between distributional abundance of the various species and their diets. We conclude that the distributional abundance of southern Peruvian rodents is related to the physiological constraints imposed by altitude (climate) and the distributional abundance of food resources.     

Biotransformation of endorphins by a synaptosomal plasma membrane preparation of rat brain and by human serum.

β-Endorphin (β-LPH 61–91), γ-endorphin (61–77), des-tyrosine-γ-endorphin (62–77), α-endorphin (61–76), and β-LPH 61–69 either labeled with [¹²⁵I] at the N-terminal 61-tyrosine residue or unlabeled were incubated with a crude synaptosomal plasma membrane fraction of rat brain or in human serum. At different time intervals the release of [¹²⁵I]-tyrosine or the change in immunoreactivity of the endorphins was determined. The cSPM preparation displayed both high aminopeptidase and endopeptidase activities. In contrast, human serum mainly contained aminopeptidase activity. The data suggest that functional endorphin metabolism may occur at the synaptosomal plasma membrane. These membranes may potentially be involved in the formation of behaviorally active endorphin fragments.