Correction of timing errors in photomultiplier tubes used in phase-modulation fluorometry

The measurement of fluorescence lifetimes is known to be hindered by the wavelenght-dependent and photocathode area-dependent time response of photomultiplier tubes. A simple and direct method is described to minimize the effects in photomultiplier tubes for phase-modulation fluorometry. Reference fluorophores of known lifetime were used in place of the usual scattering reference. The emission wavelenghts of the reference and sample were matched by either filters or a monochromator, and the use of a fluorophore rather than a scatter decreases the differences in spatial distribution of light emanating from the reference and sample. Thus photomultiplier tube artifacts are minimized. Five reference fluorophores were selected on the basis of availability, ease of solution preparation, and constancy of lifetime with temperature and emission wavelenght. These compounds are p-terphenyl, PPO, PPD, POPOP and dimethyl POPOP. These compounds are dissolved in ethanol to give standard solutions that can be used over the temperature range from ?55 to +55°C. Purging with inert gas is not necessary. The measured phase and modulation of the reference solution is used, in conjunction with the known reference, lifetime, to calculate the actual phase and modulation of the exictation beam. The use of standard fluorophores does not require separate experiments to quantify photomultiplier effects, and does not increase the time required for the measurement of fluorescence lifetimes. Examples are presented which demonstrate the elimination of artifactual photomultiplier effects in measurements of the lifetimes of DADH (0.4 ns) and indole solutions quenched by iodide. In addition, the use of these reference solutions increases the accuracy of fluorescence lifetime measurements ranging ranging to 30 ns. We judge this method to provide more reliable lifetime measurements by the phase and modulation method. The test solutions and procedures we describe may be used by other laboratories to evaluate the performance of their phase fluorometers.     

Use of lambda phasmids for deletion mapping of non-selectable markers cloned in plasmids

A nonselectable gene carried on a poorly selectable recombinant plasmid has been physically mapped by deletion analysis. Our method involved cloning the plasmid into a coliphage lambda vector and treating the recombinant phage with a chelator. Virtually all particles surviving this treatment carried large deletions within the plasmid insert. Further deletion analysis was done by inserting a selectable lambda sequence into one such deletion derivative and repeating the chelator selection. Chelator selection was also used to isolate deletions constructed in vitro. The deleted phage are readily characterized by restriction mapping, and the gene in question scored after infection of a mutant host strain. These techniques have enabled us to physically assign the cyclopropane fatty acid synthase gene of Escherichia coli to 0.8 kb of a 16-kb segment after characterizing only a small number of isolates. This approach should be generally useful in the mapping of plasmids for which no convenient method exists for selecting or scoring the gene in question.     

Immune response to human influenza virus hemagglutinin expressed in Escherichia coli

Cloned DNA fragments coding for parts of strain WSN (H1N1) influenza virus hemagglutinin (HA) were fused to a bacterial leader DNA derived from the Escherichia coli trp operon. Fusion proteins produced consisted of 190 amino acids of trpLE' protein at the amino terminus, and HA amino acids, either 1-308, 1-396, or 1-548 (complete HA), at the carboxyl terminus. These proteins were expressed at high levels (10-20% of total protein) in E. coli starved for tryptophan. A CNBr fragment (HA1-211) was derived from HA-308. Each of the proteins was purified and used for immunizing mice and rabbits. The antibody produced was shown to bind to (i) the HA fusion proteins, (ii) detergent-treated viral HA, (iii) HA, on intact virions, and (iv) the HA on the surface of cells infected with influenza virus. This shows that the HA fusion proteins expressed in bacteria can elicit antibodies that recognize at least some determinants of the native viral HA, and probably could lead to development of an anti-influenza vaccine.     

Novel shuttle plasmid vehicles for Escherichia-Streptococcus transgeneric cloning

A novel plasmid vector that is able to replicate both in Escherichia coli and in Streptococcus sanguis is described. This 9.2-kb plasmid, designated pVA856, carries Cm^r, Tc^r and Em^r determinants that are expressed in E. coli. Only the Em^r determinant is expressed in S. sanguis. Both the Cm^r and the Tc^r of pVA856 may be insertionally inactivated. This plasmid affords several different cleavage-ligation strategies for cloning in E. coli followed by subsequent introduction of chimeras in to S. sanguis. In addition, we have modified a previously described E. coli-S. sanguis shuttle plasmid [pVA838; Macrina et al., Gene 19 (1982) 345–353], so that it is unable to replicate in S. sanguis. The utility of such a plasmid for cloning and selecting sequences enabling autonomous replication in S. sanguis is demonstrated.     

The effects of cholesterol on the time-resolved emission anisotropy of 12-(9-anthroyloxy)stearic acid in dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine bilayers

The time-resolved fluorescence emission anisotropy of 12-(9-anthroyloxy)stearic acid (12-AS) and 1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene (DPH) have been measured in dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine liposomes in the presence and absence of 40 mol% cholesterol at temperatures above and below the phase transition temperature (41°C). By using a synchronously-pumped mode-locked frequency-doubled dye laser and single photon counting detection with an excitation response function of 300 picosecond, rotational correlation times down to less than 1 nanosecond could be resolved. Whereas DPH showed only small changes in the limiting anisotropy on the addition of cholesterol, 12-AS showed significant increases in this parameter with the effect being potentiated at higher temperatures. This difference in behaviour has been attributed to a fluorophore-cholesterol interaction that resulted in a change in the fluorophore geometry. Not only do DPH and 12-AS sense different depolarizing rotations due to the different directions of their emission dipoles but also differ in their lipid interactions which alter their limiting anisotropies. The implication is that the comparison of steady-state anisotropy measurements between chemically identical fluorophores in different lipid environments may be complicated by molecular distortions that change the motions to which the steady-state fluorescence parameters will be sensitive.     

Characterization of the mutant lytic state in lambda expression systems

The two propagative phases of bacteriophage lambda, lysogeny and lysis, can be used in concert to enhance productivity of recombinant expression systems. Lambda vectors carrying mutations to prevent both cell lysis and lambda DNA packaging in the lytic state have been shown to yield 100% stability of the product gene in lysogeny and to produce up to 15% of total cell protein as product beta-galactosidase in a mutant lytic state.(14) Despite these mutations, partial lysis of the culture was observed following induction of the cells from a lysogenic phase into the lytic state. To understand better the phage-host cell interactions and to investigate the possible cause(s) of lysis in these highly productive expression systems, we have made a detailed study of the suppressor-free system JM105(NM1070). We have found high levels of product (15% of total cell protein as beta-glactosidase) to be due chiefly to a high-copy number of lambda DNA in the mutant lytic state. There is partial lysis of the culture even in this suppressor-free system caused by a low-level natural suppression of the amber mutation in gene S of NM1070, resulting in accumulation of lambda endolysin. We have also monitored changes in cell growth and morphology upon induction of the lysogen. There is a slight increase in cell number that follows a linear relationship with time and a 25-fold increase in cell volume during recombinat protein production in the mutant lytic state.     

Analysis of productivity in lysis-deficient lambda expression systems

The integrated state of lambda in the host chromosome in lysogeny can be combined with its extrachromosomal replication in the lytic state to achieve high cloned gene productivities. Our previous studies on lambda expression systems(21,22) have shown 100% segregational stability of the cloned gene in lysogeny and cloned gene product levels up to 15% of total cell protein in a mutant lytic state. However, the expression phase of systems based on Escherichia coli JM109 and JM105 showed partial lysis of the productive culture despite a mutation in the lysis gene S of the lambda vector resulting in extracellular release of the cloned gene product. In the current study, we have eliminated partial lysis in the expression phase of lambda systems and conducted a detailed comparative analysis of these systems in relation to maximization of cloned gene productivity. The elimination of partial cell lysis by using a nonpermissive strain Y1089 did not enhance product yields vs. earlier systems that exhibited partial lysis. The elimination of nonessential lambda protein production by construction of a new vector NP326 did not yield higher product yields presumably because of the small fraction of these proteins in the lytic state. Temperature induction of the lysogen Y1089(NM1070) resulted in higher product levels than direct infection of Y1089 by the phage vector at a high multiplicity. Using infection experiments, we found the promoter lacUV5 in the vector lambdaZEQS to yield threefold higher product levels than lac in NM1070, suggesting possible further enhancement of productivity with stronger promoters. The occurrence or absence of partial lysis in lambda systems could be used beneficially to achieve extracellular or intracellular product as desired. The large capacity of lambda vectors for insert DNA suggests potential applications in obtaining highly amplified levels of operons and multienzyme systems. (c) 1992 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Association of proteins in acidic solutions—a case study with β-globulin

The investigation of the effect of acid pH on the structure of beta-globulin indicated several transitions as a function of pH. Upon reducing the pH from 7.0, the beta-globulin molecule underwent an expansion due to hydration up to pH 5.0, and a further increase in H+ concentration resulted in unfolding. This is a single step cooperative denaturation as indicated by the viscosity profile. At extreme acid pH values (below pH 2.0) the protein associates or folds to a different conformational motif as shown by blue shift of ultraviolet fluorescence emission maximum and decrease in reduced viscosity values by more than 30% due to an entropically driven hydrophobic interaction. The conformational analysis of beta-globulin showed a decrease up to pH 3.0, followed by an increase in the ordered structure at low pH values indicating that the low pH values stabilized this new conformation. These results are discussed in view of the molten globule structure of proteins.     

Anthracenediethanol inhibits lignin degradation by Phanerochaete chrysosporium by competing for oxidation by lignin peroxidase,and not by trapping singlet oxygen

The biodegradation of anthracene-9, 10-diethanol by the ligninolytic fungus Phanerochaete chrysosporium, previously though to involve singlet oxygen, is shown to be catalyzed by lignin peroxidases. Veratryl alcohol stimulated the enzymatic degradation of anthracenediethanol, and anthracenediethanol inhibited enzymatic oxidation of veratryl alcohol. Competition for oxidation by lignin peroxidase is suggested as the mechanism of the inhibition of lignin biodegradation by anthracenediethanol and related anthracene derivatives.Abbreviations ADE anthracene-9,10-diethanol - AES anthracene-9,10-bisethanesulfonic acid - DHP dehydrogenative polymerizate - DMF N,N-dimethylformamide - EPX 9,10-endoperoxide of ADE - PMR proton magnetic resonance     

The effect of trophic/contaminant interactions on chironomid community structure and succession (Diptera: Chironomidae)

The effects of contaminants and organic pollution on the chironomid communities of two basins in Lac St. Louis, a river-lake on the St. Lawrence River above Montreal, Quebec, were assessed and compared using lake classification theory techniques and morphological deformity indices based on the ligulae and antennae ofProcladius, the dominant surviving component of the south-shore communities. Contaminants from the industrial complex around Beauharnois, Quebec, have seriously degraded communities along the south-shore gradient while the introduction of untreated domestic wastes from Laprairie, Quebec, has seriously affected the communities of the Laprairie basin. The interaction between trophic and contaminant effects constitutes a classic example of the setback or deflection in the trajectory of ecological succession in biological communities hypothesized by ODUM (1981, 1985).