Comparative effects of trichothecene mycotoxins on bovine platelet function: Acetyl T-2 toxin,a more potent inhibitor than T-2 toxin

The effects of the trichothecene mycotoxins (acetyl T-2 toxin, T-2 toxin, HT-2 toxin, palmityl T-2 toxin, diacetoxyscirpenol (DAS), deoxynivalenol (DON), and T-2 tetraol) on bovine platelet function were examined in homologous plasma stimulated with platelet activating factor (PAF). The mycotoxins inhibited platelet function with the following order of potency: acetyl T-2 toxin > palmityl T-2 toxin = DAS > HT-2 toxin = T-2 toxin. While T-2 tetraol was completely ineffective as an inhibitor, DON exhibited minimal inhibitory activity at concentrations above 10×10^?4M. The stability of the platelet aggregates formed was significantly reduced in all mycotoxin treated platelets compared to that of the untreated PAF controls. It is suggested that the increased sensitivity of PAF stimulated bovine platelets to the more lipophilic mycotoxins may be related to their more efficient partitioning into the platelet membrane compared to the more hydrophilic compounds.     

The drug metabolism systems of liver and liver tumors: A comparison of activities and characteristics

Summary Transplantable rat liver tumors 5123 t.c., 7288 ct.c., 5123 t.c.(H) and the Novikoff hepatoma have active mixed function oxidase systems capable of metabolizing a variety of drug and polycyclic hydrocarbon substrates. The tumor drug metabolism systems are at best 20% as active as rat liver. The tumor drug metabolism activities are induced by pretreatment with phenobarbital or -naphthoflavone and can be inhibited with specific inhibitors such as carbon monoxide or 7,8-benzoflavone. Tumor drug metabolism systems appear to consist of cytochrome P-450 and cytochrome P-450 reductase. The properties of the two protein components from tumors are highly similar to the corresponding components of the liver drug metabolism system.Cytochrome P-450 reductase has been at least partially purified from the Novikoff hepatoma and hepatoma 5123 t.c.(H). The kinetic and physical properties of the tumor reductases are similar to those of the liver reductase except that the K_m of hepatoma 5123 t.c.(H)     

Active and passive cation transport and L antigen hertogeneity in low potassium sheep red cells

Several lines of experimental evidence are presented suggesting that the L antigens in low potassium (LK) sheep red cells are associated with separate Na(+)K(+) pump flux is distinct from the action of anti-L(l) on K(+) leak flux, implying that K(+) leak transport sites may not be converted into active pumps by the L antiserum. Treatment of LK red cells with trypsin completely abolished both the stimulation of K(+) pump flux and the enhancement of the rate of ouabain binding brought about by anti- L. That this effect is due to a total destruction of the L(p) determinant associated with the LK pump was evident from the complete failure of anti-L(p) to bind to trypsinized LK red cells. The L(p) antigen can be effectively protected against the trypsin attack by prior incubation with anti-L, indicating that the sites for antibody binding and trypsin action may be closely adjacent at the structural level. Trypsin treatment, however, did not interfere with anti-L(l) reducing ouabain insensitive K(+) leak influx, nor did it prevent binding of anti-L(ly), the hemolytically active L antibody which is probably identical with anti-L(l). The functional independence of the L(p) and L(l) sites was documented by the observation that anti-L(l) still reduced K(+) leak influx in LK cells with experimentally induced high potassium concentrations, at which K(+) pump flux is fully suppressed, whether or not anti-L(p) was binding to the L(p) antigen associated with the LK pump.     

On the mechanism of premeiotic DNA synthesis in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Premeiotic DNA synthesis in synchronously sporulating cultures of the yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, was analysed by sedimentation in alkaline sucrose gradients and by DNA-fibre autoradiography. The gradient profiles of cells pulse-labelled for varying times were essentially identical with those obtained with mitotic cultures, revealing a close resemblance between the meiotic and mitotic replication mechanisms. This was supported by the finding that exposure of meiotic cells to a specific concentration of hydroxyurea led to the accumulation of completed, but unjoined replicons, just as it does in mitotic cells. The results of DNA-fibre autoradiography confirmed that replicons in meiotic cells are the same size (20–180 Kb, averaging around 90 Kb) as in mitotic cells, and assuming replication is bi-directional, replication forks must move at round the same rate as in mitosis, i.e. about 0.7 μm/min.     

Simulating the effects of climate change on the distribution of an invasive plant,using a high resolution,local scale,mechanistic approach: challenges and insights

The growing economic and ecological damage associated with biological invasions, which will likely be exacerbated by climate change, necessitates improved projections of invasive spread. Generally, potential changes in species distribution are investigated using climate envelope models; however, the reliability of such models has been questioned and they are not suitable for use at local scales. At this scale, mechanistic models are more appropriate. This paper discusses some key requirements for mechanistic models and utilises a newly developed model (PSS[gt]) that incorporates the influence of habitat type and related features (e.g., roads and rivers), as well as demographic processes and propagule dispersal dynamics, to model climate induced changes in the distribution of an invasive plant (Gunnera tinctoria) at a local scale. A new methodology is introduced, dynamic baseline benchmarking, which distinguishes climate‐induced alterations in species distributions from other potential drivers of change. Using this approach, it was concluded that climate change, based on IPCC and C4i projections, has the potential to increase the spread‐rate and intensity of G. tinctoria invasions. Increases in the number of individuals were primarily due to intensification of invasion in areas already invaded or in areas projected to be invaded in the dynamic baseline scenario. Temperature had the largest influence on changes in plant distributions. Water availability also had a large influence and introduced the most uncertainty in the projections. Additionally, due to the difficulties of parameterising models such as this, the process has been streamlined by utilising methods for estimating unknown variables and selecting only essential parameters.     

Multiple effects of temperature,photoperiod and food quality on the performance of a pine sawfly

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Detection and characterization of a dehalogenating microorganism by terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism fingerprinting of 16S rRNA in a sulfidogenic, 2-bromophenol-utilizing enrichment

Terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of reverse-transcribed 16S rRNA during periods of community flux was used as a tool to delineate the roles of the members of a 2-bromophenol-degrading, sulfate-reducing consortium. Starved, washed cultures were amended with 2-bromophenol plus sulfate, 2-bromophenol plus hydrogen, phenol plus sulfate, or phenol with no electron acceptor and were monitored for substrate use. In the presence of sulfate, 2-bromophenol and phenol were completely degraded. In the absence of sulfate, 2-bromophenol was dehalogenated and phenol accumulated. Direct terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism fingerprinting of the 16S rRNA in the various subcultures indicated that phylotype 2BP-48 (a Desulfovibrio-like sequence) was responsible for the dehalogenation of 2-bromophenol. A stable coculture was established which contained predominantly 2BP-48 and a second Desulfovibrio-like bacterium (designated BP212 based on terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism fingerprinting) that was capable of dehalogenating 2-bromophenol to phenol. Strain 2BP-48 in the coculture could couple reductive dehalogenation to growth with 2-bromophenol, 2,6-dibromophenol, or 2-iodophenol and lactate or formate as the electron donor. In addition to halophenols, strain 2BP-48 appears to use sulfate, sulfite, and thiosulfate as electron acceptors and is capable of simultaneous sulfidogenesis and reductive dehalogenation in the presence of sulfate.