PHOTOSYNTHESIS IN PROTOPLASTS OF MACROCYSTIS PYRIFERA (PHAEOPHYTA)1

Photosynthetic rates measured in protoplasts isolated from the broivn alga Macrocystis pyrifera (L.) Ag. were compared to those for intact tissue. Both ¹⁴C incorporation and O₂ evolution gave similar rates of light-saturated protoplast photosynthesis (approximately 0.4 mmol-g chl a^?1· min^?1). Light saturated photosynthetic rates (P_max) and light harvesting efficiencies (α) of protoplasts were approximately 40% those of intact tissue. In contrast, protoplasts had a greater substrate affinity for photosynthetic HCO₃ uptake (lower K_0.5) than intact tissue (0.87 and 4.1 mMolar, respectively), presumably because of a reduction in the thickness of the unstirred boundary layer in the absence of the cell wall. Overall, the data suggest that protoplasts isolated from Macrocystis pyrifera are of valur in the study of photosynthesis. However, experiments with intact tissue are necessary as controls to aid interpretation of protoplast data.     

A quantitative analysis of the abundance and demography of European hares Lepus europaeus in relation to habitat type, intensity of agriculture and climate

1. European hares Lepus europaeus have declined throughout Europe since the 1960s. Possible reasons for this include agricultural intensification and changes in climate and predator numbers, but no clear consensus has been reached as to the relative importance of each of these. We aimed to identify factors associated with high and low hare numbers throughout Europe, to determine which could have caused population declines. 2. Results of 77 research papers from 12 European countries were summarized. Relationships between hare density and demographics and habitat, climate, hunting and predator variables were examined and quantified where possible. Temporal changes in factors identified as being associated with high or low numbers of hares were then examined to see if they could explain population declines. 3. Data from pastural habitats were limited, but densities of hares were low. Arable habitats had higher densities than mixed areas in spring, unless farming was intensive in which case densities were similar. In autumn the two habitats had similar densities. Field size, temperature, precipitation and hunting had no effect on density throughout Europe. Fecundity was affected by climate. 4. Arable land, various crops, fallow habitat and temperature were positively associated, and monoculture, precipitation and predators negatively associated with hare abundance. The relationship of field size, pasture and woodland with abundance depended on spatial scale. 5. Habitat changes caused by agricultural intensification are the ultimate cause of hare population declines. Effects of changes in climate or predator numbers are magnified by the loss of high-quality year-round forage and cover. Further research is required on how habitat changes affect fecundity and survival, and to identify which parameters have the greatest impact on population numbers. Farmland management policies that target the re-establishment of some of the habitat diversity lost within fields, farms and landscapes will help to reverse the decline of the European hare.     

α- andβ-adrenergic control of thermogenin mRNA expression in brown adipose tissue

By the use of an earlier characterised cDNA clone, CIN-1, corresponding to a sequence of the mRNA coding for the brown-fat specific uncoupling protein, thermogenin, the amount of thermogenin mRNA found in the brown adipose tissue of mice was quantitatively investigated under different physiological and pharmacological conditions.It was found that a 4 hr cold stress led to a 7-fold increase in the amount of thermogenin mRNA; injection of norepinephrine had a significant but smaller effect. Most notably, isoprenaline (-agonist) and phenylephrine (-agonist) had in themselves no effect, but when injected together were able to increase the mRNA level synergistically. In 4 hr cold-stressed mice, norepinephrine, isoprenaline and cholera toxin could all further potentiate the effect of the cold stress itself on the mRNA level. Insulin and the glucocorticoid dexamethasone both had weak stimulatory effects on the mRNA level.It is concluded that an increase in intracellular cAMP levels is a necessary and perhaps sufficient stimulus for the increase in thermogenin gene expression. However, at least underin vivo conditions, this increase requires stimulation of both - and-adrenergic pathways.     

Partial purification and functional reconstitution of GDP sensitive brown adipose tissue mitochondria uncoupling protein using octyl glucoside

A partial purification of the uncoupling protein of brown adipose tissue mitochondria (BATM) was achieved by extraction of BATM with 40 mM octyl glucoside, followed by affinity chromatography on ATP-agarose. The isolated protein was functionally reconstituted into liposomes using octyl glucoside dialysis. Proteoliposomes containing the uncoupling protein had an increased proton or chloride conductance when subjected to a valinomycin-induced potassium diffusion potential. The increased ion conductance was consistently found to be inhibited by 200 microM GDP.     

Plant pathotoxins from Alternaria citri: The minor ACRL toxins

Five host-specific pathotoxins, ACRL toxins II, III, III′, IV and IV′, were isolated from the culture broth of Alternaria citri, the fungus causing brown spot disease of rough lemon. These toxins are related structurally to the major ACRL toxin, toxin I, and to its derivative compound A. Chemical and spectral studies indicated that the ACRL minor toxins were a group of analogous compounds of different chain lengths all of which have a α-pyrone group, in contrast to the dihydro-α-pyrone group in toxin I. Toxin II showed a very low biological activity (ED₅₀ greater than 10 μg/ml) whereas the other minor toxins had slightly higher activities ranging from 1 to 10 μg/ml. The dihydropyrone group in ACRL toxin I was correlated with high biological activity (ED₅₀ = 18–30 ng/ml).     

Effects of fasting on heat balance and nonshivering thermogenesis in febrile adult guinea pigs

1. 1. The calorigenic responses of 60-h fasted (F) and control (C) guinea pigs to E. coli endotoxin (5 μg·kg⁻¹ i.v.) injection were compared at T_a = 25°C.

2. 2. In contrast to fed (C) guinea pigs, the F group showed significantly lower calorigenic response.

3. 3. The brown adipose tissue (BAT) thermogenesis judge by the BAT temperature did not change significantly. Shivering activity was not different from that in the C group.

4. 4. The results conclude that fasting attenuates endotoxin-induced fever and this attenuation is due to suppression of nonshivering thermogenesis (NST) in guinea pigs.

5. 5. The results from direct calorimetry indicate that endotoxin injection evoked a prominent increase in heat production, while the changes in heat loss do not have an important role.

MORPHOGENESIS OF MONOSTROMA OXYSPERMUM (KÜTZ.) DOTY (CHLOROPHYCEAE) IN AXENIC CULTURE,ESPECIALLY IN BIALGAL CULTURE1

The typical morphology of Monostroma oxyspermum (Kütz.) Doty is lost in axenic culture. In synthetic media of the ASP type, it grows as a colony-like mass composed of round cells with numerous rhizoids. Such a mass is a fragile structure which falls apart upon shaking, or slight touch, into small cell-groups and single cells or cells with a long rhizoid. Only temporary saccate or monostromatic fronds appear and reach 1–2 mm in length when grown in enriched seawater media, but disintegrate and become a colony-like mass. The typical morphology is easily restored by adding at specific intervals filtrates of bacterial cultures and supernatant medium from axenic brown and red algal cultures to the basal medium (ASP7), or by reinfecting the Monostroma with an appropriate bacterial flora. Furthermore, the typical morphology in also maintained by bialgal cultures between Monostroma and other axenic strains of various species of seaweeds except the species belonging to the Chlorophyceae. Monostroma thus appears to utilize some substances released by most species of brown and red algae for its typical growth. Active substances released by bacteria, brown and red algae have not yet been identified and purified. However, it is demonstrated that in axenic cultures many species of seaweeds produce active extracellular substances which play an important role in growth and Morphogenesis of other species of seaweeds.     

HETEROMORPHIC LIFE-HISTORY STRATEGIES IN THE BROWN ALGA SCYTOSIPHON LOMENTARIA (LYNGB.) LINK1

The adaptive significance of a life-history strategy, expressed as divergent morphological forms, was examined for the heteromorphic alga Scytosiphon lomentaria. Successional studies were performed by physically clearing mature, temporally-constant intertidal communities on San Clemente I., California. At week six, after clearing, complanate thalli dominated the successional plots (mean cover = 23.5%) and began to decline as the cylindrical form became abundant. The latter attained its peak cover (82.3%) at week 13, whereupon it too began a precipitous reduction. The crustose ralfsioid form appeared surprisingly early (4–13 wks) in trace amounts but did not achieve its greatest cover (85.0%) until week 43. The ranking from high to low primary productivity (cylindrical form = 8.1 mg C · g dry. wt^-1·h^-1, complanate form = 6.5 mg, crustose form = 0.5 mg) corresponded closely with the data for photosynthetic vs. structural components (cylindrical = 92.3% pigmented, complanate = 65.3%, crustose = 32.0%). This finding indicates that selection in the crust form, which is more readily accessible to epilithic grazers, has tended to increase allocation of materials to nonpigmented structural tissue at the expense of photosynthetic tissue and reduced production rates. The results for thallus losses to urchin grazing over 48 h were complanate form = 82.7% lost, cylindrical = 81.4% and crustose = 16.2%, which correlates with the calorific contents of the three forms (i.e. complanate = 4.97 kcal · ash-free g dry wt.^-1, cylindrical = 4.46 kcal and crustose = 3.55 kcal). The crustose form had tougher thalli (26 g · mm^-2 to penetrate thallus) than either the complanate form (12 g) or the cylindrical form (15 g). It is likely that opposing selective factors have resulted in the evolutionary divergences observed in algae with heteromorphic life histories. Previous work may have overemphasized the selective role of grazing because the crustose form is also adapted to withstand physical forces (sand-scouring, burial and wave-shearing) or as an overwintering stage under physiologically stressful conditions.     

PHOSPHOENOLPYRUVATE CARBOXYKINASE ACTIVITY IN ASCOPHYLLUM NODOSUM (PHAEOPHYCEAE)1

PEP-dependent⁴ CO₂-fixation by extracts of Ascophyllum nodosum (L.) Le Jol. is reported. The carboxylation of PEP is Mn²⁺ dependent and ATP is shown to be a product. IDP was found to be less efficient as a phosphate acceptor than ADP and 3-mercaptopicolinic acid inhibited the carboxylation reaction. Extracts decarboxylated OAA only in the presence of ATP and had high activities of MDH and GOT. This evidence, together with the probable absence of PEPC, PEPCTrP, and PC in A. nodosum extracts, favors the view that PEPCK is responsible for the light-independent CO₂-fixation observed in this alga.