Asparagine-135 of elongation factor Tu is a crucial residue for the folding of the guanine nucleotide binding pocket

This work studies the structure-function relationships of Asn¹³⁵, a residue situated in the GTP binding pocket of elongation factor Tu (EF-Tu). For this purpose we constructed EF-TuN135D/D138N and assayed its reactivity towards various purine nucleotides. We found that EF-TuN135D/D138N had no functional effect with GTP, ATP, XTP and isoGTP. The lack of a productive interaction with isoGTP shows that the Asn¹³⁵ side-chain does not recognize the exocyclic keto group of the guanine base. However, EF-TuN 135D/D 138N, whose native conformation is stabilized by either elongation factor Ts or kirromycin, was able to support the enzymatic binding of aa-tRNA to the ribosome in the absence of any nucleotide, when in complex with the antibiotic. Taken together, these results show that Asn¹³⁵ is important for the correct folding of the nucleotide binding site and that EF-Tu·kirromycin can mediate the binding of aa-tRNA to the mRNA-programmed ribosomes independently of the native conformation of this site.     

Effects of salinity on metabolism and life history characteristics of Daphnia magna

In the Baltic Sea area, the cladoceran Daphnia magna is commonly found in brackish water rockpools and it has been suggested that salinity is one of the niche dimensions that affects the distribution of the species. The salinity tolerance of D. magna was studied both in physiological and life history experiments. The experimental salinities were freshwater, 4S and 8S. The highest respiration and ammonium excretion rates were measured in the freshwater treatment with decreasing respiration and ammonium excretion rates at higher salinities. The lowest O/N ratio (oxygen consumption to ammonium excretion), describing the metabolic status of an organism, was obtained at 8S, although the only significant differences were detected when comparing to 4S treatments. Individual growth rate, reproductive output and population growth rate were highest at 4S. At 8S growth and reproduction were reduced as compared to freshwater and 4S. The life history parameters in the performed experiments indicated higher fitness (expressed as r) as well as more favourable conditions for growth and reproduction at 4S, whereas the O/N ratio was more difficult to interpret and, in this case, gave a less clear picture of the salinity influence.     

Diatom assemblages in superficial sediments from the Gulf of Riga,eastern Baltic Sea

Twenty one superficial sediment samples from areas of high and moderate eutrophication in the Gulf of Riga were studied with respect to siliceous microfossils, mainly diatoms.The results seem to imply that the number of taxa and the abundance of the frustules are affected by runoff from rivers and the degree of eutrophication in different parts of the Gulf. Areas with high eutrophication, e.g. the river estuaries, have diatom assemblages of varying composition, while in areas with moderate eutrophication the composition is almost constant and the influx of freshwater diatoms and littoral periphyton small. The high abundance and low diversity of brackish-marine and brackish, planktonic diatoms seem to be a result of an influx of nutrients and pollutants in the water and bottom sediments. The sea ice diatoms occurring in the Baltic waters and also in the Gulf of Riga tend to be resistant to eutrophication or are even favoured by it.     

Acceptor stem and anticodon RNA hairpin helix interactions with glutamine tRNA synthetase

The class I glutamine (Gln) tRNA synthetase interacts with the anticodon and acceptor stem of glutamine tRNA. RNA hairpin helices were designed to probe acceptor stem and anticodon stem-loop contacts. A seven-base pair RNA microhelix derived from the acceptor stem of tRNA^Gln was aminoacylated by Gln tRNA synthetase. Variants of the glutamine acceptor stem microhelix implicated the discriminator base as a major identity element for glutaminylation of the RNA helix. A second RNA microhelix representing the anticodon stem-loop competitively inhibited tRNA^Gln charging. However, the anticodon stem-loop microhelix did not enhance aminoacylation of the acceptor stem microhelix. Thus, transduction of the anticodon identity signal may require covalent continuity of the tRNA chain to trigger efficient aminoacylation.     

Modulation of sialic acid-binding proteins of rat uterus in response to changing hormonal milieu

A group of sialic acid binding (SAS) agglutinins has been isolated from the rat uteri at different stages [Proestrus (P), estrus (E) and diestrus (D)] of estrous cycle. Studies of biochemical properties indicate that SAS agglutinins are glycoprotein in nature having molecular weights between 28–31 Kd and microheterogenous pI. Function-based characterization revealed that inspite of the fact that all three proteins exhibit sialic acid binding property, the sialic acid binding affinities, calculated from Scatchard analysis, using 4-methylumbelliferyl sialic acid as a ligand, varied in stage specific manner (Ka:D-SAS-9.03×10⁵ M^–1, P-SAS-2.33×10⁵ M^–1, E-SAS-2.13×10⁵ M^–1). Circular dichroism spectra of these three agglutinins suggested that differences exist in the secondary structures of the proteins isolated from different stages. Removal of carbohydrate moiety by trifluoromethane sulfonic acid treatment and CNBr cleavage studies showed some homology between these proteins, however, the variation in the carbohydrate moiety was apparent from the sugar analysis data. Functionally and immunologically these proteins can be grouped as estrogenic and progestogenic SAS agglutinins.     

Exogenous 13C glucose oxidation during exercise: North American vs Western European studies

The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that the well-documented changes in background ¹³C enrichment of expired CO₂ observed in response to exercise and carbohydrate ingestion, in subjects living on a North American diet, are not present in subjects living on a Western European diet. The experimental protocol used by Pirnay et al. in 1977 and by Krzentowski et al. in 1984 in subjects living on a Western European diet (4 h of exercise on a treadmill at 50% VO_2max with ingestion of 100 g of glucose in 400 ml of water) was duplicated as closely as possible in six subjects living on a North American diet. The actual amounts of exogenous glucose oxidized, computed with a high artificial ¹³C enrichment of glucose (+189.7 ¹³C PDB-1) which allows one to neglect the 1–2 changes in ¹³C background, were [mean (SEM)] 54.7 (5.4) and 84.2 (3.4) g over 2 h and 4 h of exercise, respectively. These values compare well with data computed by Pirnay et al. [56.6 (13.1) and 94.9 (4.2) g] and by Krzentowski et al. [55.0 (6.2) and 88.0 (4.5) g] using a natural enrichment of glucose (–11.21 and –10.63 ¹³C PDB-1, respectively) assuming no change in ¹³C background in their Western European subjects. Under the same assumption and using a natural enrichment of glucose (–11.30 ¹³C PDB-1) the oxidation of exogenous glucose was overestimated by 30–40% in our North American subjects. This result indicates that because of a lower input of ¹³C in their diet, the difference between the isotopic composition of carbohydrate and fat stores are smaller, and changes in ¹³C background are small or absent in response to moderate workload in Western European subjects, when compared to their North American counterparts.     

Severe hypoxia decreases oxygen uptake relative to intensity during submaximal graded exercise

The effect of severe acute hypoxia (fractional concentration of inspired oxygen equalled 0.104) was studied in nine male subjects performing an incremental exercise test. For power outputs over 125 W, all the subjects in a state of hypoxia showed a decrease in oxygen consumption ( O₂) relative to exercise intensity compared with normoxia (P < 0.05). This would suggest an increased anaerobic metabolism as an energy source during hypoxic exercise. During submaximal exercise, for a given O₂, higher blood lactate concentrations were found in hypoxia than in normoxia (P < 0.05). In consequence, the onset of blood lactate accumulation (OBLA) was shifted to a lower O₂ ( O₂ 1.77 l·min^–1 in hypoxia vs 3.10 l·min^–1 in normoxia). Lactate concentration increases relative to minute ventilation ( _E) responses were significantly higher during hypoxia than in normoxia (P < 0.05). At OBLA, _E during hypoxia was 25% lower than in the normoxic test. This study would suggest that in hypoxia subjects are able to use an increased anaerobic metabolism to maintain exercise performance.     

Oxic and anoxic growth of a new Citrobacter species on amino acids

A facultatively anaerobic bacterium, strain P-88, was enriched selectively under dual limitation by glutamate and oxygen in a chemostat. The new strain is a gram-negative motile rod. The mol% guanine plus cytosine of the DNA is 51.4±0.6 mol%. The organism grows on citrate as a sole source of carbon and energy, does not form acetoin, does not induce lysine decarboxylase and was thus classified as a species of the genus Citrobacter. A remarkable characteristic of the new isolate is its ability to grow on several amino acids with either a respiratory or a fermentative type of metabolism. Under strictly anoxic conditions glutamate was fermented to acetate, H₂, CO₂ and ammonia. Asparagine, aspartate and serine could also be fermented. Furthermore, all type strains of the genus Citrobacter were shown to have the same fermentative abilities. Based on enzyme activities determined in cell-free extracts a combination of the methylaspartate pathway and the mixed acid fermentation of Enterobacteriaceae is proposed to explain the glutamate fermentation pattern observed in cultures of strain P-88. Analysis of the growth of strain P-88 in continuous culture with various degrees of oxygen supply, demonstrated that the bacterium can rapidly switch between oxic and anoxic metabolism. Cultures of strain P-88 grown under oxygen limitation simultaneously respire and ferment glutamate, suggesting that the organism is particularly well adapted to growth in microoxic environments.