Stock and parental effects on embryonic and early larval development of winter flounder Pseudopleuronectes americanus (Walbaum)

A hierarchical breeding design was used to determine if winter flounder Pseudopleuronectes americanus embryos and yolk-sac larvae sired by Georges Bank males developed and grew larger than fish sired by Passamaquoddy Bay males, and to examine parental contributions to variations in fertilization success, time to 50% hatch, hatch success and larval morphological development. Significant stock effects were detected for time to hatch and larval development. Eggs fertilized by Passamaquoddy Bay males reached 50% hatch significantly earlier than eggs fertilized by Georges Bank males. Larvae sired by Georges Bank males were significantly larger during larval development for four of the six traits measured at 12 days post-hatch: head depth, jaw length, myotome height and body area. Embryo and larval development were strongly influenced by maternal contributions; there were significant maternal variance components for the majority of the variables measured. Paternal variance components were significant for fertilization success, time to hatch, larval jaw length and larval head depth, however, they acted principally through parental interactions. This information has important implications for the long-term sustainable development of winter flounder for aquaculture purposes as well as for understanding winter flounder genetic variation in the wild.     

Evolutionary conservation of the chromosomal configuration and regulation of amylase genes among eight species of the Drosophila melanogaster species subgroup

Nuclear DNA was extracted from each of the eight species comprising the Drosophila melanogaster species subgroup. Southern hybridization of this DNA by using a molecular probe specific for the alpha-amylase coding region showed that the duplicated structure of the amylase locus, first found in D. melanogaster, is conserved among all species of the melanogaster subgroup. Evidence is also presented for the concerted evolution of the duplicated genes within each species. In addition, it is shown that the glucose repression of amylase gene expression, which has been extensively studied in D. melanogaster, is not confined to this species but occurs in all eight members of the species subgroup. Thus, both the duplicated gene structure and the glucose repression of Drosophila amylase gene activity are stable over extended periods of evolutionary time.      

Lipid Alterations During the Fermentation of Dill Pickles

Analyses of various lipid fractions of sections of cucumbers and of good and bloated dill pickles showed that marked changes occur in all lipid fractions during fermentation. The most striking difference noted was the decrease in the phospholipid fraction. A nearly fourfold increase in free fatty acid, as well as a marked increase in the neutral fat fatty acids and unsaponifiables, occurred. Gas chromatographic analyses of the methyl esters of fatty acids from the various lipid fractions yielded further interesting data. From the analyses, 41 esters were identified; however, 16 of the esters accounted for at least 95% of the acids. Among the marked changes were the increases in linoleic and linolenic acids in good pickles, in contrast to the increase in oleic acid in the bloated pickles. The presence of tridecenoic acid in cucumbers, and its absence in pickles; and the absence of caproic, caprylic, and capric acids in cucumbers, and its presence in pickles, were interesting. The data demonstrated that the lipid alterations that occur during fermentation of cucumbers are analogous to those previously reported for the sauerkraut fermentation.     

Growth of Phytomonas serpens in a Defined Medium; Nutritional Requirements

ABSTRACT. Three strains of Phytomonas serpens two from tomatoes, Lycopersicon esculentum one from the insect Phtia picta (Hemiptera, Coreidae), were cultivated in a chemically defined medium developed from a defined medium for cultivating insect flagellates. Besides organic growth factors required by other insect trypanosomatids this flagellate requires, serine and inositol. Glutamine stimulates growth, and, surprisingly, does not require heme.     

Sequence variation in the outer-surface-protein genes of Borrelia burgdorferi

Borrelia burgdorferi is a spirochete pathogen transmitted among warm- blooded hosts by ixodid ticks. Frequency-dependent selection for variant outer-surface proteins might be expected to arise in this species, since rare variants are more likely to avoid immune surveillance in previously infected hosts. We sequenced the OspA and OspB genes of nine North American strains and compared them with nine strains previously described. For each gene, the mean number of synonymous substitutions per synonymous site and the mean number of nonsynonymous substitutions per nonsynonymous site show only a twofold excess of silent mutations. Synonymous rates vary widely along the OspB protein. Some regions show a significant excess of silent substitutions, while divergence in other regions is constrained by biased base composition or selection. The presence, in antigenically important regions of the protein, of significant variation among strains, as well as evidence for recombination among strains, should be considered in attempts to develop vaccines against this disease.      

Characterisation of a 34 kD protein from potato cyst nematodes, using monoclonal antibodies with potential for species diagnosis

Two monoclonal antibodies, which differentially recognise the two species of potato cyst nematodes (PCN), Globodera pallida and G. rostochiensis, are described. They have been shown to have potential for quantification of these two species, recognising proteins of the same molecular weight (34 kD) in both species. Further investigation showed these proteins to have isoelectric points at pH values of 5.7 in G. pallida and 5.9 in G. rostochiensis, in common with the proteins used by Fleming & Marks (1983) to differentiate the species of PCN. They are likely to be structurally very similar, with the same physiological function (and therefore similar concentrations) in the two species. In cross-reactivity tests with a wide range of soil nematode species, the antibodies reacted strongly only with species of the genus Globodera, and thereby confirmed their potential as the basis of a quantitative immunoassay likely to be useful in management of PCN populations.