CATCHES OF HUMPBACK AND OTHER WHALES FROM SHORE STATIONS AT MOSS LANDING AND TRINIDAD, CALIFORNIA, 1919–1926

Logbook data from California shore whaling stations at Moss Landing (1919–1922 and 1924) and Trinidad (1920 and 1922–1926) are analyzed. The logs for the two stations record the taking of 2,111 whales, including 1,871 humpbacks, 177 fin whales, 26 sei whales, 3 blue whales, 12 sperm whales, 7 gray whales, 1 right whale, 1 Baird's beaked whale, and 13 whales of unspecified type (probably humpbacks). Most whales were taken from spring to autumn, but catches were made in all months of some years. The sex ratios of humpback, fin, and sei whales (the three species with sufficient sample sizes to test) did not differ from parity. Primary prey, determined from stomach contents, included sardines and euphausiids for both humpback and fin whales, and 'plankton' (probably euphausiids) for sei whales. The prevalence of pregnancy was 0.46 among mature female humpbacks and 0.43 among mature female fin whales, although these values are reported with caution. Information on length distribution for all species is summarized. Analysis of the catch data for this and other areas supports the current view that humpback whales along the west coast of the continental United States comprise a single feeding stock and also suggests that the present population is well below pre-exploitation levels.     

Transfer ribonucleic acids from radish seedlings germinated with 4-thiouridine

Transfer RNAs containing 4-thiouridine residues were prepared from etiolated cotyledons or isolated chloroplasts of radish seedlings germinated with the analog. They possess a higher melting temperature and tend to have a reduced hyperchromicity. Incorporation of 4-thiouridine into tRNA reduces the ability to accept a mixture of 14 amino acids or phenylalanine alone. After desulphurization of 4-thiouridine to uridine in the tRNA, aminoacylation was restored almost completely to the level of control tRNA prepared from untreated seedlings. These results indicate that a tRNA containing 4-thiouridine in the anticodon and/or in another part of molecule has low or no ability to accept amino acids.     

Estimating larger carnivore numbers from track counts and measurements

Résumé Avoir conscience de l'abondance des grands carnivores est très important pour la gestion de leur conservation. Cependant, l'évaluation directe des nombres de carnivores est souvent difficile, nècessitant beaucoup d'argent et de temps, ce qui importe que l'échantillonnage indirect est une alternative fiable et valable. Les techniques de recensement à distance se sont montrèes économiques, renouvelables, et objectives. Nous avons donc estimé le nombre de grands carnivores de six espèces dans une superficie assez petite au nord de l'Afrique du Sud, en comparant trois méthodes d'échantillonnage basèes sur des décomptes des traces et mesures: (i) une approche qualitative, où les individus furent identifiés de manière subjective en étudiant les différences dans les mesures des traces; (ii) une approche quantitative qui se sert de la forte corrélation linéaire de la densité des traces à la densité des carnivores démontrée dans d'autres études; et (iii) une approche quantitative qui impliquent des analyses répétées de la variance et des post-enquêtes sur les mesures des traces afin de disposer des données statistiques pour identifier les différences entre des services des traces. Les trois méthodes fournirent des résultats comparables qui semblent raisonnables et qui peuvent être une bonne indication du vrai nombre de grands carnivores dans la zone de l'étude. Les rèsultats étayent la fiabilité des estimations indirectes de l'abondance de grands carnivores basés sur les données des traces, et sont prometteurs pour des futures recherches et pour la conservation de ces animaux.     

Syntheses and biological activities of deoxy-d-allose fatty acid ester analogs

We describe the syntheses of three different deoxy-D-allose analogs [2-deoxy-D-allose (2-DOAll), 1,2-dideoxy-D-allose (1,2-DOAll), and 1,2-didehydro-1,2-dideoxy-D-allose (1,2-DHAll)] and their fatty acid esters via regioselective lipase-catalyzed transesterification. Among them, 2-DOAll and its decanoate (2-DOAll-C10) showed higher inhibitory activity on plant growth, which is similar to D-allose (All) and its decanoate (All-C10). Bioassay results of deoxy-All-C10 on four plant species suggest that the hydroxy group at the C-1 position might be important showing growth inhibitory activity. In addition, co-addition of gibberellin (GA₃) with 1,2-DHAll-C10 and 2-DOAll-C10 recovered plant growth, suggesting that they might mainly inhibit biosynthesis of gibberellin.     

Construction of the physical map of the chloroplast DNA of Phaseolus vulgaris and localization of ribosomal and transfer RNA genes

Construction of a physical map of the chloroplast DNA from Phaseolus vulgaris showed that this circular molecule is segmentally organized into four regions. Unlike other chloroplast DNAs which have analogous organization, two single-copy regions that separate two inverted repeats have been demonstrated to exist in both relative orientations, giving rise to two populations of DNA molecules.Hybridization studies using individual rRNA and tRNA species revealed the location of a set of rRNA genes and at least seven tRNA genes in each inverted repeat region, a minimum of 17 tRNA genes in the large single-copy region and one tRNA gene in the small single-copy region. The tRNA genes code for 24 tRNA species corresponding to 16 amino acids. Comparison of this gene map with those of other chloroplast DNAs suggests that DNA sequence rearrangements, involving some tRNA genes, have occurred.     

Protein Modification by RNA-Dependent Posttranslational Aminoacylation in Synaptoplasm

A soluble enzyme system that posttranslationally adds [3H]arginine to proteins in a ribosome-free preparation of guinea pig synaptoplasm is described. The reaction in synaptoplasm is inhibited by the addition of ribonuclease-A and puromycin, indicating tRNA dependence. A limited number of proteins in synaptoplasm (molecular weights of 20, 37, and 50 kilodaltons) were found to accept arginine. We suggest that RNA-dependent posttranslational amino acylation is used by the mammalian neuron for protein processing at the synaptic terminal.