Quantitative structure-activity relationships of structurally similar odorless and odoriferous benzenoid musks

To reveal the difference of molecular property between structurallysimilar odorless and odoriferous musk compounds, 10 pairs ofbenzenoids (monocyclic-, dicyclic- and tricyclic-) were examined.Molecular structures of all compounds were optimized by MNDO(modified neglect of diatomic differential overlap) consideringconformation. Parameters effective in discriminating two groups,group A of 10 odorless compounds and group B of 10 musk odorcompounds, were searched from 34 candidate parameters by adaptiveleast squares. The best three parameters found were log P value(octanol/water partition coefficient), the longest side lengthof hexahedron circumscribing a molecule, and the parameter whichexpresses structural hindrance to the functional group whena molecule approaches the receptor site. The two groups of compoundswere completely discriminated using these three parameters.     

Cultivated potato chloroplast DNA differs from the wild type by one deletion — evidence and implications

Summary The chloroplast DNA (ctDNA) of Solanum tuberosum ssp. tuberosum (T type) and S. chacoense (W type) yield five different restriction fragment patterns with five different restriction endonucleases. DNA-DNA hybridization tests revealed that these differences were all caused by one physical deletion (about 400 bp in size) in the ctDNA of ssp. tuberosum. This suggests that T type ctDNA of the common potato and of Chilean tuberosum originated from W type ctDNA. The deleted region of the T type ctDNA is probably not concerned with gene-cytoplasmic male sterility.Reference to a specific brand or firm name does not constitute endorsement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture over others of a similar nature not mentioned     

A convenient approach to the synthesis of medium size oligodeoxyribonucleotides by improved new phosphite method.

Improvement of the new phosphite method for the synthesis of oligodeoxyribonucleotides using the deoxyribonucleoside 3'-bis(1,1,1,3,3,3- hexafluoro-2-propyl) phosphite unit has been carried out via the hydrolysis and capping steps, without any side reaction products. The new phosphite unit and capping agent, bis(1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoro-2-propyl)-2-propyl phosphite, is readily activated by N-methylimdazole under very mild condition on a solid support. This operation involves a one pot reaction, which is an advantage over both the phosphite and H- phosphonate approaches. The mechanism of internucleotidic bond formation of the new phosphite method is also discussed.     

Changes in the activity of enzymes involved in purine "salvage" and nucleic acid degradation during the growth of Catharanthus roseus cells in suspension culture

Changes during growth in the activity of several enzymes involved in purine "salvage", adenine phosphoribosyltransferase (EC 2.4.2.7), guanine phosphoribosyl-transferase (EC 2.4.2.8), hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase (EC 2.4.2.8) and adenosine kinase (EC 2.7.1.20), the enzymes which catalyze the conversion of nucleoside monophosphate to triphosphate, nucleoside monophosphate kinase (EC 2.7.4.4) and nucleoside diphosphate kinase (EC 2.7.4.6), and several degradation enzymes, deoxyribonucleae(s), ribonuclease(s). phosphatase(s), nucleosidase (EC 3.2.2.1), 3'-nucleotidase (EC 3.1.3.6) and 5'-nucleotidase (EC 3.1.3.5) were examined in cells of Catharanthus roseus (L.) G. Don cultured in suspension. In addition, the incorporation of [8-¹⁴C] adenine, [8-¹⁴C] adenine, [8-¹⁴C]hypoxanthine. [8-¹⁴C] adenosine and [8-¹⁴C]inosine into nucleotides and nucleic acids was also determined using intact cells.
The activities of all purine "salvage" enzymes examined and those of nucleoside monophosphate and diphosphate kinases increased rapidly during the lag phase and decreased during the following cell division and cell expansion phases. The rate of incorporation of adenine, guanine, hypoxanthine, and adenosine into nucleotides and nucleic acids was higher in the lag phase cells than during the following three phases. The highest rate of [8-¹⁴C]inosine incorporation was observed in the stationary phase cells. The activity of all degradation enzymes examined decreased when the stationary phase cells were transferred to a new medium.
These results indicated that the increased activity of purine "salvage" enzymes observed in the lag phase cells may contribute to an active purine "salvage" which is required to initiate a subsequent cell division.     

Who is the mother of the potato? — restriction endonuclease analysis of chloroplast DNA of cultivated potatoes

Summary Chloroplast DNA from 44 lines of 16 wild and 7 cultivatedSolanum species were compared by restriction endonuclease analysis. Seven chloroplast genome types were identified among them by 5 restriction enzymes: Type A (S. tuberosum ssp.andigena andS. maglia); Type S (S. goniocalyx, S. phureja, S. stenotomum, S. ×chaucha and a line of ssp.andigena); Type C (S. acaule, S. bukasovii, S. canasense, S. multidissectum andS. ×juzepczukii); Type T (S. tuberosum ssp.tuberosum); Type W (other wild species); Type W (S. chacoense f.gibberulosum) and Type W (S. tarijense). From this cytoplasmic identification, it was concluded thatS. goniocalyx, S. phureja, S. ×chaucha and ssp.andigena were derived fromS. stenotomum or its primitive type, which may have originally evolved itself fromS. canasense. The chloroplast genome of the European potato, however, was introduced from the Chilean potato, which might have been primarily constructed with the nuclear genome from ssp.andigena and with cytoplasm from other species. The cytoplasmic donor of the Chilean potato could not be determined.Contribution from the Laboratory of Genetics, Faculty of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Japan, No. 479. This work was done at Kyoto University when the author was a graduate student at Kobe University     

Interconversion of polyamines in wild-type strains and mutants of yeasts and the effects of polyamines on their growth

Yeasts of wild-type strains, such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Schizosaccharomyces pombe and Candida albicans were shown to have the ability to form aminopropylcadaverine and aminopropylhomospermidine from cadaverine and homospermidine, respectively. A polyamine autotroph S. cerevisiae 179-5, which lacks ornithine decarboxylase, produced both aminopropylcadaverine and aminopropylhomospermidine, while another mutant S. cerevisiae Y 260 A, which lacks spermine synthase, formed only aminopropylcadaverine. Naturally-occurring triamines and tetraamines except norspermidine and norspermine stimulated the growth of S. cerevisiae 179-5. All the six aliphatic diamines with carbon chain length ranging from one to six were effective in activating the growth of S. cerevisiae 179-5, though all of them were not converted to either triamines or tetraamines.     

Biosynthesis of lipopolysaccharide in Escherichia coli. Cytoplasmic enzymes that attach 3-deoxy-D-manno-octulosonic acid to lipid A

Previous studies in our laboratory led to the elucidation of the covalent structure of a tetraacyldisaccharide 1,4'-bisphosphate precursor of lipid A (designated lipid IVA), that accumulates at 42 degrees C in temperature-sensitive mutants defective in 3-deoxy-D-manno-octulosonic acid (KDO) biosynthesis (Raetz, C. R. H., Purcell, S., Meyer, M. V., Qureshi, N., and Takayama, K. (1985) J. Biol. Chem. 260, 16080-16088). Using [4'-32P]lipid IVA as the probe, we now demonstrate the existence of cytoplasmic KDO-transferases in Escherichia coli capable of attaching 2 KDO residues, derived from CMP-KDO, to lipid IVA. A partial purification has been developed to obtain a cytoplasmic subfraction that adds these 2 KDO residues with a 90% yield. The product is shown to have the stoichiometry of (KDO)2-IVA by fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry and NMR spectroscopy. The partially purified enzyme can utilize alternative lipid-disaccharide cosubstrates bearing five or six fatty acyl chains, but it has an absolute requirement for a monophosphate residue at position 4' of the lipid acceptor. When reincubated with a crude cytoplasmic fraction, a nucleoside triphosphate and Mg2+, (KDO)2-IVA is rapidly metabolized to more polar substances, the identity of which is unknown. The KDO-transferase(s) described in the present study should be very useful for the semisynthetic preparation of complex lipopolysaccharide substructures and analogs.     

Immunohistochemical characteristics of the constituents of senile plaques and amyloid angiopathy in aged cynomolgus monkeys

Abstract: In this study, we immunohistochemically examined the several constituents of senile plaques (SPs) and cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) in aged cynomolgus monkeys. Apolipoprotein E (apoE) deposited in all mature plaques and CAA, and in half of the diffuse plaques. Alpha-1-antichymotripsin (αACT) deposited in half of the mature plaques and in one third of the CAA. Amyloid precursor protein (APP), ubiquitin (Ub), and microtubule-associated protein-2 (MAP-2) accumulated in the swollen neurites of mature plaques. Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) was detected in the astrocytes and their processes surrounding the mature plaques. Tau was detected in neither the SPs nor CAA. Therefore, mature plaques involved extracellular Aβ, apoE, and αACT, and also astrocytes and swollen neurites. However, diffuse plaques involved only extracellular Aβ and apoE. Since these features, except for tau, were consistent with those in humans, this animal model will be useful for studying the pathogenesis of cerebral amyloid deposition.