Iridoid glucosides in fouquieriaceae

From three Fouquieria sp. 12 iridoid glucosides were isolated and identified. Eight of these were structurally related to galioside (monotropein methylester), while four were hydroxy substitution products of deoxyloganin. In three cases the glucoside occurred together with the corresponding 10-O-acetate.     

S100A2 in cancerogenesis: a friend or a foe?

Owing to the exceptional intracellular distribution and the heterogeneous expression pattern during transformation and metastasis in various tumors, the EF-hand calcium-binding protein S100A2 attracts increasing attention. Unlike the majority of S100 proteins, S100A2 expression is downregulated in many cancers and the loss in nuclear expression has been associated with poor prognosis. On the other hand, S100A2 is upregulated in some cancers. This mini review highlights the general characteristics of S100A2 and discusses recent findings on its putative functional implication as a suppressor or promoter in cancerogenesis.     

Os penis of the rat. V. The distal cartilage process

The morphogenesis and morphology of the distally positioned cartilage of the os penis, the processus cartilagineus, are described in rats aged from 1 to 100 days. Based on observations of metachromacy of the process stained with toluidine blue it was found that a processus cartilagineus only exists in the period between 35 and 50 days of age. Before 35 days, the structure consists of connective tissue proper, and after 50 days the cartilage starts to calcify partially. The present paper also initiates studies of experimentally caused alterations of the normal development of the processus cartilagineus by subjecting 35-day-old rats to castration, with subsequent sacrifice at 100 days. Castration at that age causes a complete interruption of normal development of the processus cartilagineus as the structure in 100-day-old castrated rats has distinct morphological characteristics in common with those of 35-day-old normal rats. The present paper, thus, confirms that normal development of the processus cartilagineus seems to be male-hormone-dependent.     

DNA-damaging properties and cytotoxicity in human fibroblasts of tetrachlorohydroquinone, a pentachlorophenol metabolite

The DNA-damaging potential of pentachlorophenol (PCP) and its metabolite tetrachlorohydroquinone (TCH) was investigated. TCH was found to bind covalently to calf-thymus DNA and to cause single-strand breaks in PM2 DNA. No DNA-damaging effects were observed for PCP. Exposure of human fibroblasts to PCP and TCH showed that TCH is more toxic, when colony-forming ability after exposure to the agent is used as a measure of toxicity. In the evaluation of the mutagenic and carcinogenic potential of PCP the metabolite TCH should be taken into consideration.     

Growth and analysis of crystal forms of toxic shock syndrome toxin 1

Native toxic shock syndrom toxin 1 (TSST-1) purified from Staphylococcus aurius has been crystallized in four different forms. The highest resolution data (2.05 Å) was collected from orthorhombic crystals belonging to the space group C222₁. The unit cell dimension are a = 108.7 Å, b = 177.5 Å, c = 97.6 Å. Rotation function analysis of this from indicates that there is trimer of toxin molecules in the asymmetric unit with a local 3-fold axis parallel to the crystallographic c axis. Crystals of a double mutant of TSST-1 have been grown which has a single molecule in the asymmetric unit and diffract to 1.9 Å. The space group is P2₁ with unit cell parameters of a = 44.4 Å, b = 34.0 Å, c = 55.2 Å, β = 93.0°. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Population genetic structure of a California endemic branchiopod,Branchinecta sandiegonensis

Branchinecta sandiegonensis (Crustacea: Anostraca) is a narrow range endemic fairy shrimp discontinuously distributed in ephemeral pools on coastal mesas in San Diego County, USA. Ten populations across the range of the species were subjected to allozyme analysis for eleven loci. The species exhibits low variability (P₉₅ =9.1–45.5) and one third of the loci tested did not conform to Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium expectations. The species also exhibited a high degree of genetic differentiation between populations. F _ST values (fixation index) for most pairs of populations were above 0.25 (0.036–0.889).Low genetic variability and high genetic structure may result from low gene flow and founder effects due to habitat fragmentation and the lack of potential vectors for cyst dispersal. The unpredictable rainfall of the region also creates potential for variable population sizes which could affect structure and variability. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Vegetation changes of a Danish mire 1957–1981

A Danish mire influenced by culture until ca. 100 years ago and since then with incipient growth of Betula pubescens , was analyzed in 1957 and 1981 with regard to height of the Betula trees and cover percentage of plant species in the field layer. In 1957, every m2 along a 110 m transect was examined; in 1981 only 56 m2 representatively selected from the transect were examined. Betula showed considerable changes with a net intake of 10 trees (23%) and a net loss of 23 trees (52%), i.e. a net loss of 13 trees (30%). The mean height of the trees has, however, increased by 80 cm and the sum of the height of the trees per m2 by 29 cm. An increased total cover was found for Em–petrum nigrum, Molinia coerulea , and Erica tetralix , and a decreased total cover for Calluna, Sphagnum magellanicum, S. nemoreum, S. rubellum, Hypnum cupressi–forme, Pleurozium schreberi , and Aulacomnium palustre. An almost unchanged total cover was found for Eriophorum vaginatum, E. angustifolium, Sphagnum recurvum, Andromeda polifolia, Drosera rotundifolia , and Oxycoccus palustris. On the basis of quantitative changes in the individual plots, a specific index of change is calculated, decreasing in the order Empetrum > Sphagnum magellanicum > S. recurvum = Molinia > Calluna > Hypnum cupressiforme > Pleurozium schreberi> Oxycoccus palustre> Sphagnum nemoreum = S. rubellum = Eriophorum vaginatum = E. angustifolium > Aulacomnium palustre > Erica> Drosera > Andromeda. Analyses from 1981 demonstrate that usually the light conditions and/or the water content and rarely the bulk density of the soil is correlated with the change in cover of the individual species. For some species it is also shown that the change is correlated with the strongly increased cover of Empetrum in particular. The changes are finally illustrated by showing the position of the species along ecological gradients in 1981.