Iron-sulfur centers in the photosynthetic reaction center complex fromChlorobium vibrioforme. Differences from and similarities to the iron-sulfur centers in Photosystem I

The photosynthetic reaction center complex from the green sulfur bacteriumChlorobium vibrioforme has been isolated under anaerobic conditions. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis reveals polypeptides with apparent molecular masses of 80, 40, 30, 18, 15, and 9 kDa. The 80- and 18-kDa polypeptides are identified as the reaction center polypeptide and the secondary donor cytochromec ₅₅₁ encoded by thepscA andpscC genes, respectively. N-terminal amino acid sequences identify the 40-kDa polypeptide as the bacteriochlorophylla-protein of the baseplate (the Fenna-Matthews-Olson protein) and the 30-kDa polypeptide as the putative 2[4Fe-4S] protein encoded bypscB. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) analysis shows the presence of an iron-sulfur cluster which is irreversibly photoreduced at 9K. Photoaccumulation at higher temperature shows the presence of an additional photoreduced cluster. The EPR spectra of the two iron-sulfur clusters resemble those of F_A and F_B of Photosystem I, but also show significantly differentg-values, lineshapes, and temperature and power dependencies. We suggest that the two centers are designated Center I (with calculatedg-values of 2.085, 1.898, 1.841), and Center II (with calculatedg-values of 2.083, 1.941, 1.878). The data suggest that Centers I and II are bound to thepscB polypeptide.     

α-MSH Stimulates Glucose Uptake in Mouse Muscle and Phosphorylates Rab-GTPase-Activating Protein TBC1D1 Independently of AMPK

The melanocortin system includes five G-protein coupled receptors (family A) defined as MC1R-MC5R, which are stimulated by endogenous agonists derived from proopiomelanocortin (POMC). The melanocortin system has been intensely studied for its central actions in body weight and energy expenditure regulation, which are mainly mediated by MC4R. The pituitary gland is the source of various POMC-derived hormones released to the circulation, which raises the possibility that there may be actions of the melanocortins on peripheral energy homeostasis. In this study, we examined the molecular signaling pathway involved in α-MSH-stimulated glucose uptake in differentiated L6 myotubes and mouse muscle explants. In order to examine the involvement of AMPK, we investigate α-MSH stimulation in both wild type and AMPK deficient mice. We found that α-MSH significantly induces phosphorylation of TBC1 domain (TBC1D) family member 1 (S237 and T596), which is independent of upstream PKA and AMPK. We find no evidence to support that α-MSH-stimulated glucose uptake involves TBC1D4 phosphorylation (T642 and S704) or GLUT4 translocation.     

Volatile fatty acids as indicators of process imbalance in anaerobic digestors

In continuously stirred tank reactor experiments, with manure as substrate at thermophilic temperatures, the use of volatile fatty acids (VFA) as process indicators was investigated. Changes in VFA level were shown to be a good parameter for indicating process instability. The VFA were evaluated according to their relative changes caused by changes in hydraulic loading, organic loading or temperature. Butyrate and isobutyrate together were found to be particularly good indicators. Butyrate and isobutyrate concentrations increased significantly 1 or 2 days after the imposed perturbation, which makes these acids suitable for process monitoring and important for process control of the anaerobic biological system. In addition it was shown in a batch experiment that VFA at concentrations up to 50 mM did not reduce the overall methane production rate. This showed that VFA accumulation in anaerobic reactors was the result of process imbalance, not the cause of inhibition, thus justifying the use of VFA as process indicators.     

Reinforcement and learning

Evidence has been accumulating to support the process of reinforcement as a potential mechanism in speciation. In many species, mate choice decisions are influenced by cultural factors, including learned mating preferences (sexual imprinting) or learned mate attraction signals (e.g., bird song). It has been postulated that learning can have a strong impact on the likelihood of speciation and perhaps on the process of reinforcement, but no models have explicitly considered learning in a reinforcement context. We review the evidence that suggests that learning may be involved in speciation and reinforcement, and present a model of reinforcement via learned preferences. We show that not only can reinforcement occur when preferences are learned by imprinting, but that such preferences can maintain species differences easily in comparison with both autosomal and sex-linked genetically inherited preferences. We highlight the need for more explicit study of the connection between the behavioral process of learning and the evolutionary process of reinforcement in natural systems.     

The Drosophila ribosomal protein L14-encoding gene, identified by a novel Minute mutation in a dense cluster of previously undescribed genes in cytogenetic region 66D

The Minute phenotype results from mutations at?>50 loci scattered throughout the genome of Drosophila. Common traits of the Minute phenotype are short and thin bristles, slow development, and recessive lethality. Here, we report a novel P-element induced Minute mutation, P{lacW}M(3)66D ¹ , that maps to region 66D on chromosome 3L. Flies heterozygous for P{lacW}M(3)66D ¹ have a strong Minute phenotype. Molecular characterisation of the chromosomal region revealed three previously undescribed Drosophila genes clustered within a 5-kb genomic fragment. Two of the genes have significant sequence homology to genes for the mammalian ribosomal proteins L14 and RD, respectively, and share a joint 240-bp promoter region harbouring the P-element insert. Quantitative Northern blot analyses showed the mutation to affect RPL14 mRNA levels only. Interestingly, the reduction in abundance of RPL14 mRNA is not constitutive, indicating that the promoter function abolished by the inserted P-element is utilised with different efficiencies in different developmental situations. Remobilisation of the P element produced wild-type flies with normal levels of RPL14 mRNA, demonstrating that the mutant phenotype is caused by the insertion. P{lacW}M(3)66D ¹ joins a growing list of Minute mutations associated with ribosomal protein-haploinsufficiency.     

Kinetics of Butyrate, Acetate, and Hydrogen Metabolism in a Thermophilic, Anaerobic, Butyrate-Degrading Triculture

Kinetics of butyrate, acetate, and hydrogen metabolism were determined with butyrate-limited, chemostat-grown tricultures of a thermophilic butyrate-utilizing bacterium together with Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum and the TAM organism, a thermophilic acetate-utilizing methanogenic rod. Kinetic parameters were determined from progress curves fitted to the integrated form of the Michaelis-Menten equation. The apparent half-saturation constants, K_m, for butyrate, acetate, and dissolved hydrogen were 76 μM, 0.4 mM, and 8.5 μM, respectively. Butyrate and hydrogen were metabolized to a concentration of less than 1 μM, whereas acetate uptake usually ceased at a concentration of 25 to 75 μM, indicating a threshold level for acetate uptake. No significant differences in K_m values for butyrate degradation were found between chemostat- and batch-grown tricultures, although the maximum growth rate was somewhat higher in the batch cultures in which the medium was supplemented with yeast extract. Acetate utilization was found to be the rate-limiting reaction for complete degradation of butyrate to methane and carbon dioxide in continuous culture. Increasing the dilution rate resulted in a gradual accumulation of acetate. The results explain the low concentrations of butyrate and hydrogen normally found during anaerobic digestion and the observation that acetate is the first volatile fatty acid to accumulate upon a decrease in retention time or increase in organic loading of a digestor.     

ReducedS-adenosylmethionine: Protein-lysineN-methyltransferase activity (protein methylase III) in shiverer mutant mouse brain

Mice with the dysmyelinating mutation shiverer were studied by measuring the activity of two protein methylases and myelin marker enzymes in the brain. It was observed thatS-adenosylmethionine: protein-lysineN-methyltransferase (protein methylase III, EC. 2.1.1.43) activity is significantly reduced in phenotypically affected homozygous shiverer (shi/shi) mutant mouse brain compared to the unaffected heterozygous littermate brain. This reduction in enzyme activity is manifested mainly by reduced formation of trimethyllysine during the in vitro methylation of histone. In contrast, myelin marker enzymes such as 2,3-cyclic nucleotide 3-phosphohydrolase and 5-nucleotidase as well asS-adenosyl-methionine: protein-carboxylO-methyltransferase (protein methylase II, EC. 2.1.1.24) activities were not significantly affected in these strains of mice.     

Ontogeny of hormone-secreting cells of the rat pituitary gland: An immunocytochemical study on dissociated cells

Summary An immunocytochemical study was undertaken in foetal, prepubertal and mature rats to determine the time of differentiation of various types of adenohypophyseal cells during development. Freshly dissociated pituitary cells from foetal (18–21 days postconception), neonatal (from birth up to 30 days) and adult rats (more than 8 weeks) were characterized using immunocytochemical methods. All types of hormone-producing cells were present at day 18 postconception, although only 20% of the cells were immunolabelled. Adrenocorticotropin (ACTH)-secreting cells accounted for the highest number of hormone-positive cells. Growth hormone-secreting cells increased remarkably from day 18 postconception onwards. Prolactin-secreting cells were not seen in the foetal adenohypophysis and did not start to increase until 10 days after birth, whereas by that time the number of ACTH, thyrotropin, follicle-stimulating and luteinizing hormone-secreting cells had stopped increasing. By day 30 after birth, 80–95% of the cells were immunoreactive.     

Ha-ras-1 alleles in Norwegian lung cancer patients

Summary We have examined DNA restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLP) of the Ha-ras-1 gene in DNA from 118 lung cancer patients and 123 unaffected controls. When DNA samples were digested with MspI/ HpaII restriction endonucleases. Southern blot analysis demonstrated 4 common, 4 intermediate and 7 different rare alleles in the combined population after hybridization to the pGDa1 probe. Six of the rare alleles were unique for the lung cancer group and 1 rare allele for the control group. The frequency of rare alleles in lung cancer patients (10/236) was significantly different (P<0.01) from the control group (1/246). The lung cancer group also had a significantly lower frequency of the common 2.57 kb fragment than the controls (P<0.02). The results thus indicate that Ha-ras genotyping may be of value in lung cancer risk assessment.