Picolinyl esters for the structural determination of fatty acids by GC/MS

The position of unsaturation, chain branching, and other structural features of fatty acids are not often apparent from the mass spectra of common derivatives such as methyl esters because of factors such as charge location at the carboxy termiunus and migration of double bonds. The spectra of picolinyl esters, on the other hand, contain fragment ions that provide this information. The esters are synthesized by reaction of the acids with thionyl chloride to form the acid chloride that is reacted with 3-pyridylcarbinol to give the ester. Under electron impact conditions in the mass spectrometer, an electron is removed from the nitrogen of the pyridine ring and a hydrogen atom is abstracted from the alkyl chain to this electron-deficient site. This process produces a radical site in the chain that initiates chain cleavage. Hydrogen atoms can be removed from any position of the chain with varying probability, depending on the chain structure. Thus, diagnostic ions are produced from each type of fatty acid whose masses and relative abundances reflect the structure of the alkyl chain and any substituents. Patterns of fragmentation for straight-chain, branched-chain, unsaturated and cyclic fatty acids are described together with those containing hydroxy-, epoxy-, keto-, and ether groups.     

A New Method for Locating Changes in a Tree Reveals Distinct Nucleotide Polymorphism vs Divergence Patterns in Mouse Mitochondrial Control Region

A new, model-based method was devised to locate nucleotide changes in a given phylogenetic tree. For each site, the posterior probability of any possible change in each branch of the tree is computed. This probabilistic method is a valuable alternative to the maximum parsimony method when base composition is skewed (i.e., different from 25% A, 25% C, 25% G, 25% T): computer simulations showed that parsimony misses more rare → common than common → rare changes, resulting in biased inferred change matrices, whereas the new method appeared unbiased. The probabilistic method was applied to the analysis of the mutation and substitution processes in the mitochondrial control region of mouse. Distinct change patterns were found at the polymorphism (within species) and divergence (between species) levels, rejecting the hypothesis of a neutral evolution of base composition in mitochondrial DNA. Received: 15 March 1999 / Accepted: 7 October 1999     

用脑光学成像术研究不同空间拓扑位置猫初级视皮层的空间频率反应特性

采用基于内源信号的脑光学成像方法,在大范围视皮层研究了不同空间拓扑位置对应的皮层区的对光栅刺激空间频率反应特性。结果表明,周边视野对应区对高空间频率刺激反应极弱或没有反应,中心视野对应区对较宽的空间频率范围内的刺激均有反应,但对高频刺激反应更强;无论在周边对应区还是中心对应区,其视野越靠近中心,其空间频率调谐曲线和截止空间频率越靠近高频,而且这种过渡是平缓的。以上结果说明,猫初级视皮层空间频率反应     

Individually mark–mass release–resight study elucidates effects of patch characteristics and distance on host patch location by an insect herbivore

1. How organisms locate their hosts is of fundamental importance in a variety of basic and applied ecological fields, including population dynamics, invasive species management and biological control. However, tracking movement of small organisms, such as insects, poses significant logistical challenges. 2. Mass‐release and individual–mark–recapture techniques were combined in an individually mark–mass release–resight (IMMRR) approach to track the movement of over 2000 adult insects in an economically important plant–herbivore system. Despite its widespread use for the biological control of the invasive thistle Carduus nutans, the host‐finding behaviour of the thistle head weevil Rhinocyllus conicus has not previously been studied. Insects were released at different distances from a mosaic of artificially created host patches with different areas and number of plants to assess the ecological determinants of patch finding. 3. The study was able to characterize the within‐season dispersal abilities and between‐patch movement patterns of R. conicus. Weevils found host plant patches over 900 m away. Large patches, with tall plants, situated close to the nearest release point had the highest first R. conicus resights. Patch area and plant density had no effect on the number of weevils resighted per plant; however, R. conicus individuals were more likely to disperse out of small patches and into large patches. 4. By understanding how R. conicus locates host patches of C. nutans, management activities for the control of this invasive thistle can be better informed. A deeper mechanistic understanding of host location will also improve prediction of coupled plant–herbivore spatial dynamics in general.     

Gene structure and chromosomal localization of mouse cyclin G2 (Ccng2)

Cyclins are essential activators of cyclin-dependent kinases (Cdk) which, in turn, play pivotal roles in controlling transition through cell-cycle checkpoints. Cyclin G2 is a recently discovered second member of the G-type cyclins. The two members of the G-type cyclins, cyclin G1 and cyclin G2, share high structural similarity but their function remains to be defined. Here we characterize the structure of the mouse cyclin G2 gene by first cloning and sequencing the full-length mouse cyclin G2 cDNA. The cyclin G2 cDNA was used to isolate the cyclin G2 gene from a BAC library and to establish that the gene was transcribed from eight exons spanning a total of 8604 bp. The cyclin G2 gene was mapped by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) to mouse chromosome 5E3.3.–F1.3. This region is syntenic to a region on human chromosome 4. The expression of cyclins G1 and G2 was examined in various tissues, but no correlation between expression patterns of the two genes was observed. However, during hepatic ontogenesis the cyclin G2 expression level decreased with age, whereas cyclin G1 expression increased. Transient expression of cyclin G2-green fluorescent protein (GFP) fusion protein in NIH3T3 cells showed that cyclin G2 is essentially a cytoplasmic protein, in contrast to the largely nuclear localization of cyclin G1. Our data suggest that, despite the close structural similarity between mouse cyclins G1 and G2, these proteins most likely perform distinct functions.     

几种核受体核浆穿梭与调控机制

许多核受体属于核转录因子,它们在胞浆合成后快速地转运入核,同时还能够在核浆之间穿梭以行使其特定的生物学功能。核受体的核浆转运主要通过核膜上的核孔复合体,依靠运输载体Importins和Exportins介导以及Ran-GDP提供能量。现对糖皮质激素受体（GR）、雄激素受体（AR）和雌激素受体（ER）等核受体在核浆穿梭转运和调控机制等方面的研究进展进行综述,同时也介绍我们实验室最近发现的视黄素X受体（RXR）核浆穿梭转运的新功能。     

桑天牛卵长尾啮小蜂的寄主选择定位行为

本文对桑天牛卵长尾啮小蜂Aprostocetus prolixus LaSalle et Huang的寄主选择定位行为进行了系统研究。已有研究表明,寄主植物-寄主昆虫复合体释放的挥发物对寄生蜂有显著的引诱作用。为了查明寄主植物 寄主昆虫复合体中挥发性引诱物质的来源,对不同处理桑枝（正常桑枝、机械损伤桑枝、系统枝、桑天牛Apriona germari（Hope）咬食和产卵桑枝）、桑天牛虫粪及雌雄两性桑天牛所释放的挥发物分别进行了测定。结果显示：不同处理桑枝对寄生蜂都具有显著的引诱作用,而且产卵桑枝的引诱活性最大;桑天牛虫粪的气味对寄生蜂有引诱活性,而雌、雄桑天牛体表挥发物对寄生蜂的引诱效果不明显。桑天牛爬行痕迹对寄生蜂的微栖境接受行为没有影响,而桑天牛虫粪中的信息物质在寄生蜂的微栖境接受过程中起着重要作用。寄生蜂对产卵桑枝段的选择几率明显高于正常桑枝段和咬食桑枝段,而对不同植物上产卵刻槽的选择没有差异; 刻槽表面存在着与此卵寄生蜂寄主识别相关的信息物质。     

水稻Rubisco和RCA的日变化及其细胞定位

采用免疫胶体金标记电镜技术对水稻(Oryza satova subsp.indica cv.浙农952)叶片中的Rubisco及其活化酶(RCA)进行细胞器定位和定量,同时用免疫扩散法进行叶片含量分析,研究了这两种酶含量及活力的日变化。结果表明Rubisco主要分布于叶绿体,RCA分布于叶绿体和线粒体中;光合速率(Pn)、Rubisco初始活力和RCA活力与光合日变化密切相关;在光照最强的13时,出现光合“午休”,叶绿体中Rubisco的密度有一定程度降低,而全叶的总Rubisco保持稳定,Rubisco初始活力也有明显的“午休”,这意味着体内Rubisco的活力除受RCA调节外,可能还与叶绿体中Rubisco的分布有关。RCA活力变化与叶绿体中RCA含量变化较为一致,表明RCA在叶绿体中的分布对调节其本身活力和Rubisco活性有重要作用。     

小麦条锈菌主要结构中糖基种类的细胞化学定位研究

用8种植物凝集素探针对小麦条锈菌主要结构中的糖基种类进行了细胞化学定位。电镜观察结果表明在菌丝和吸器母细胞壁中存在有α-葡萄糖或α-甘露糖、乙酰胺基葡萄糖、α-半乳糖、α-乙酰半乳糖、岩藻糖和β-连结的糖基,而隔膜中仅含α-葡萄糖或甘露糖和乙酰胺基葡萄糖基;在吸器颈壁中分布有α-葡萄糖或α-甘露糖;尽管吸器体壁中仅含乙酰胺基葡萄糖,而在吸器外间质中存在有半乳糖,乙酰半乳糖,α-葡萄糖或甘露糖等糖基。以上结果表明不同结构所含糖基种类并非一致。     

Multiplicity of soluble glucan-synthase activity in spinach leaves: Enzyme pattern and intracellular location

Buffer-extractable proteins from leaves of Spinacia oleracea L. were separated by non-denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Gels were stained for adenosine diphosphoglucose (ADPglucose)-dependent glucan-synthase (GS) activity (EC 2.4.1.21). Three major forms of activity were observed. No staining was detectable when ADPglucose was replaced by an equimolar concentration of either uridine, guanosine or cytosine diphosphoglucose. Two of the three GS forms exhibited both primed and citrate-stimulated unprimed activity whereas one enzyme form was strictly dependent upon the presence of an exogenous glucan. For intracellular localization, mesophyll protoplasts and intact chloroplasts were isolated and their enzyme pattern was compared with that of the leaf extract. Intactness and purity of the chloroplast preparations were ascertained by polarographic measurement of the ferricyanide- or CO₂-dependent oxygen evolution, by determination of marker-enzyme activities, and by electrophoretic evaluation of the content of chloroplast- and cytosol-specific glucanphosphorylase forms (EC 2.4.1.1). The three GS forms were present in mesophyll protoplasts. Intact chloroplasts possessed both primer-independent enzyme forms but lacked the primer-dependent one. The latter form was enriched in supernatant fractions of leaf homogenates when the intact chloroplasts had been pelleted by centrifugation. Thus, in spinach-leaf mesophyll cells soluble ADPglucose-dependent GS is located both inside and outside the chloroplast.Abbreviations GS glucan synthase - PAGE polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis This work has been made possible by grants from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and from the Minister für Wissenschaft und Forschung des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen. The authors gratefully acknowledge the generous permission to use the laser densitometer of Professor Dr. W. Barz (Biochemie der Pflanzen, Universität Münster, FRG). They are indebted to Dr. H.-J. Witt (Pflanzenphysiologie, Universität Kassel, FRG) for helpful discussions and to Mr. W. Lamkemeyer for skilfull technical assistance.