Wild pearl millet population (Pennisetum glaucum,Poaceae) integrity in agricultural Sahelian areas. An example from Keita (Niger)

Morphometric and isozymic analyses of adjacent cultivated and spontaneous populations of pearl millet in Niger revealed in the field a unique continuous distribution of phenotypes ranging from the most cultivated one to a typical cultivated × wild hybrid. The natural population was subdivided into a major wild group and a hybrid wild × cultivated group. Cultivated millet displayed an equilibrium state between recombined domesticated and wild genes. The natural population, in spite of a high rate of immigration by pollen from cultivated plants, retained its structure by apparently reproducing itself exclusively from the major wild group.     

Modulation of fibroblast response to maitotoxin along the cell division cycle

Maitotoxin (MTX) induces an increase of [Ca²⁺]_i and of phosphoinositide breakdown in various cell types. The [Ca²⁺]_i increase followed with fluorescent probes on cell suspensions has been described as slow and lasting, in contrast to the signal induced by calcium ionophores such as ionomycin. MTX effects have been studied on two fibroblastic cell lines, BHK21 C13 and FR 3T3, synchronized by serum deprivation treatment performed in an isoleucine-free medium for BHK21 C13 cells. In BHK21 C13 cells, flow cytometry analysis showed that two stages, G1/S and G2/M, were particularly susceptible to MTX treatment. Scanning laser cytometry demonstrated that calcium response of FR 3T3 fibroblasts followed with Indo-1 varied during the cell division cycle. The [Ca²⁺]_i increase was almost always vertical, but its delay after MTX addition lasted from zero (S and G2/M transition) to 10–20 min (G1) or more (G2). No [Ca²⁺]_i change could be detected during mitosis. The [Ca²⁺]_i response at the S phase was biphasic. These observations suggest that (1) the lasting response described in the literature represents a global cell population effect, and (2) cells are more sensitive to MTX at specific stages of the cell division cycle, which could correspond to periods when calcium signals have been detected in different cell types.Abbreviations MTX maitotoxin - [Ca²⁺]_i intracellular calcium concentration - IP₃ inositol triphosphate     

Determination of ammonium and L-Glutamine in hybridoma cell cultures by sequential flow injection analysis

A flow injection anlytical system based on a gas diffusion membrane module for ammonia and an ammonium flow-through potentiometric detector has been set up for measurement of L-glutamine and ammonium ions in hybridoma cell cultures. The main feature of the system is that the same basic analytical concept and equipment is used in both measurements, the only difference being for the determination of L-glutamine, in which the sample flows through an immobilized glutaminase cartridge. The conditions to enable the performance of both analysis consecutively, avoiding potential interferences by unwanted deamination of other compounds in the samples, have been determined. Finally, the proposed system has been compared with reference analytical methods for batch hybridoma cell culture experiments.     

Size structure of the metazoan community in a Piedmont stream

We characterized the size structure of virtually the entire metazoan community in a fourth order, sandybottomed Piedmont stream during late summer. Our study, the first to sample across all habitat types and sizes of metazoans in an aquatic ecosystem, indicates that at the community level, stream size spectra may be bimodal for the benthos or trimodal when fish are included. Animals spanning 10 orders of magnitude in dry mass (from gastrotrichs to fish) were quantitatively collected from nine habitat types. The bimodal benthic size spectrum was characterized by a meiofaunal component (mostly oligochaetes and micro-crustacea) and a macrobenthic component (mostly the introduced asiatic clam, Corbicula fluminea). Insects contributed little to overall standing crop. Size-specific contribution to whole-community metabolism was assessed using allometric equations for respiration, and we found a distinctly bimodal distribution across the entire metazoan size range, with peaks in the meiofaunal and benthic macrofaunal size ranges. Our bimodal benthic size spectrum is similar to that observed for marine benthos but not to other freshwater benthic systems, possibly because the entire range of habitat types and/or animal sizes were not sampled in the latter. Numerous factors may influence size spectra in stream ecosystems, including local geomorphic (habitat) conditions, water level fluctuations, species introductions, and predation processes.     

Fractionation of bovine spermatozoa for sex selection: A rapid immunomagnetic technique to remove spermatozoa that contain the H-Y antigen

A study was conducted to rapidly fractionate bovine spermatozoa on the basis of cell-surface H-Y antigen (i.e., Y chromosome-bearing spermatozoa). A novel, rapid immunomagnetic method was developed for removal of spermatozoa that bound to anti-H-Y IgG. Fluorescent labeling and flow cytometry were used to measure the efficiency with which spermatozoa binding to anti-H-Y were removed by the immunomagnetic technique. Washed bovine spermatozoa (n=7 bulls) were treated with a mouse monoclonal IgG antibody to H-Y antigen (MoAb 12/49). Fluorescent labeled goat antibody against mouse IgG was added to label those spermatozoa with cell-surface H-Y antigens. Supermagnetized polymer beads coated with an anti-antibody to the MoAb 12/49 were then added to the spermatozoa. After 20 min of incubation, spermatozoa were exposed for 2 min to a magnet, causing the magnetized particles to adhere to the sides of the tube. Nonmagnetized spermatozoa in the supernatent were aspirated and analyzed for fluorescent label by flow cytometry. Approximately 50% of spermatozoa not subjected to immunomagnetic separation were fluorescent labeled, and about one-half of the spermatozoa were observed microscopically to be bound to the magnetized polymer beads prior to magnetic separation (P<0.05). Following magnetic separation, only 1.2% (P<0.05) of the spermatozoa in the magnetic supernatent were fluorescent labeled. Assuming that only Y chromosome-bearing spermatozoa have cell-surface H-Y antigens, the present immunomagnetic fractionation removed almost all of the Y chromosome-bearing spermatozoa, leaving a population that was greater than 98% X chromosome-bearing spermatozoa.     

经颅多普勒超声对80例偏头痛病人的检测分析

经颅多普勒超声波对８０例偏头痛病人与１１０例正常对照组血流速度进行检测．结果发现病例组血流速度异常为８７．５％。根据血流速度改变,本组分为血流速度增快型与血流速度减慢型,这有助于偏头痛的临床诊断。     

Transpiration by an emergent macrophyte: source of water and implications for nutrient supply

The contribution of sediment interstitial water and the water column to the transpiration stream of Myriophyllum aquaticum (Vellozo) Verdcourt was determined to estimate the significance of mass flow in supply of sediment nutrients for plant growth. Sediment interstitial water accounted for about 2% of the water transpired over a 37 day period. Because of the small volume of water that originated in the sediment we concluded that mass flow did not significantly enhance nutrient supply to the roots of M. aquaticum. Relative growth rate (RGR) of adventitious, water roots was greater than whole plant RGR, and RGR of sediment roots was not significantly different from zero, indicating a shift in the biomass allocation after emergence of the apical meristem into the air. Water use, measured by the transpiration coefficient, averaged 260 ml H₂O mg DW^-1, which is similar to C-4 terrestrial plants. M. aquaticum has leaf characteristics commonly associated with xerophytic habitats. These characteristics may be necessary if a high transpiration rate and a mechanical requirement for high cell turgor pressure, required by a reliance upon hydrostatic pressure for support of the aerial stems, are mutually exclusive because of morphological constraints on hydraulic conductivity.     

Estimation of disruption of animal cells by turbulent capillary flow

Disruption of animal cells in turbulent capillary flows has been predicted from a model of cell-hydrodynamic interactions using cell mechanical properties determined by micromanipulation. Eddies of sizes similar to or smaller than the cells are presumed to interact with those cells, causing local surface deformations. The proposed mechanism of cell damage is that such deformations result in an increase in membrane tension and surface energy and that a cell disrupts when its bursting membrane tension and bursting surface energy are exceeded. The surface energy of the cells is estimated from the kinetic energy of appropriately sized eddies. To test the model, cells were disrupted in turbulent flows in capillaries at mean energy dissipation rates up to 2 x 10(4) m(2)/s(3). In all cases the model underestimated the cell disruption by about 15%. Such good agreement implies that the approach of the model to the complicated phenomena of cell turbulence interactions is reasonable. (c) 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Monitoring glutamine in animal cell cultures using a chemiluminescence fiber optic biosensor

Together with flow injection analysis (FIA), a chemiluminescence (CL) fiber optic biosensor system has been developed for determining glutamine in animal cell cultures. Glutaminase (GAH) and glutamate oxidase (GLO) were onto separate porous aminopropyl glass beads via glutaraldehyde activation and packed to form an enzyme column. These two enzymes acted in sequence on glutamine to produce hydrogen peroxide, which was then reacted with luminol in the presence of ferricyanide to produce a light signal. An anion exchanger was introduced on-line to eliminate interfering endogenous glutamate in view of its negative charge at pH above 3.22 (isoelectric pH). Among several resins tested, the acetate form was most effective, and this type of ion exchanger also effectively adsorbed uric acid, acetaminophen, and aspartic acid.There was an excellent linear relationship between the CL response and standard glutamine concentration in the range 1 to 100 muM. A complete analysis could be performed in 2 min, including sampling and washing with a good reproducibility (+/- 4.4%). Both the bi-enzymic and ion exchange columns were useful for at least 500 analyses when the biosensor system was applied for the glutamine determination in murine hybridoma cell cultures and insect cell cultures. The values obtained compared well with those of HPLC, thus validating the applicability of the CL fiber optic system. (c) 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

PEAK SHIFTS AND POLYMORPHISM DURING PHASE THREE OF WRIGHT'S SHIFTING-BALANCE PROCESS

The third phase of Wright's shifting-balance theory involves the export of adaptive gene combinations from one subpopulation to another. Previous results have demonstrated that this can occur at very low migration rates, but it has been argued that this simply reflects the ability of migration to overcome selection and fix any (even deleterious) alleles. Here, previous analyses are extended by concentrating on the critical balance between forward and reverse migration rates that still allows phase III to proceed. It is shown that selective advantage, dominance, recombination rate, and the number of loci all affect the ability of a genotype to invade and become fixed in a new subpopulation, but it is unlikely that phase III will occur in the absence of differential migration unless the invading genotype consists of a few dominant loci with a large selection advantage, spreading into a few populations of lower fitness. Therefore, as was envisioned by Wright, differential migration from more to less fit populations will be necessary for phase III to occur under most circumstances.