Antitumour activities of levans produced by Zymomonas mobilis strains

Levans produced by four Zymomonas mobilis strains showed antitumour activity against sarcoma 180 and Ehrlich carcinoma in Swiss albino mice. Levans from two strains (ZAP and CP4) had the highest effects. NMR analysis showed that the polymers were composed only of fructose units. The results suggested that the antineoplasic effect is associated to the polysaccharide molecular weight and that a particular molecular weight range may be responsible for this effect.     

Central adaptation models of the vestibulo-ocular and optokinetic systems

A theoretical analysis of two models of the vestibulo-ocular and optokinetic systems was performed. Each model contains a filter element in the vestibular periphery to account for peripheral adaptation, and a filter element in the central vestibulooptokinetic circuit to account for central adaptation. Both models account for1 adaptation, i.e. a response decay to a constant angular acceleration input, in both peripheral vestibular afferent and vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) responses and2 the reversal phases of optokinetic after-nystagmus (OKAN) and the VOR and3 oscillatory behavior such as periodic alternating nystagmus. The two models differ regarding the order of their VOR transfer function. Also, they predict different OKAN patterns following a prolonged optokinetic stimulus. These models have behavioral implications and suggest future experiments.     

Construction of a heat-inducible gene for plants. Demonstration of heat-inducible activity of the Drosophila hsp70 promoter in plants

A chimeric gene containing the neomycin phosphotransferase II coding region under the control of the hsp70 promoter from Drosophila was integrated and found to be expressed, in a heat-regulated fashion, in tobacco tissue.     

Phosphorylation modulates the function of the calcium release channel of sarcoplasmic reticulum from skeletal muscle.

The modulation of the calcium release channel (CRC) by protein kinases and phosphatases was studied. For this purpose, we have developed a microsyringe applicator to achieve sequential and multiple treatments with highly purified kinases and phosphatases applied directly at the bilayer surface. Terminal cisternae vesicles of sarcoplasmic reticulum from rabbit fast twitch skeletal muscle were fused to planar lipid bilayers, and single-channel currents were measured at zero holding potential, at 0.15 microM free Ca2+, +/- 0.5 mM ATP and +/- 2.6 mM free Mg2+. Sequential dephosphorylation and rephosphorylation rendered the CRC sensitive and insensitive to block by Mg2+, respectively. Channel recovery from Mg2+ block was obtained by exogenous protein kinase A (PKA) or by Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CalPK II). Somewhat different characteristics were observed with the two kinases, suggesting two different states of phosphorylation. Channel block by Mg2+ was restored by dephosphorylation using protein phosphatase 1 (PPT1). Before application of protein kinases or phosphatases, channels were found to be "dephosphorylated" (inactive) in 60% and "phosphorylated" (active) in 40% of 51 single-channel experiments based on the criterion of sensitivity to block by Mg2+. Thus, these two states were interconvertable by treatment with exogenously added protein kinases and phosphatases. Endogenous Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase (end CalPK) had an opposite action to exogenous CalPK II. Previously, dephosphorylated channels using PPT (Mg2+ absent) were blocked in the closed state by action of endogenous CalPK. This block was removed to normal activity by the action of either PPT or by exogenous CalPK II. Our findings are consistent with a physiological role for phosphorylation/dephosphorylation in the modulation of the calcium release channel of sarcoplasmic reticulum from skeletal muscle. A corollary of our studies is that only the phosphorylated channel is active under physiological conditions (mM Mg2+). Our studies suggest that phosphorylation can be at more than one site and, depending on the site, can have different functional consequences on the CRC.     

Lissarca notorcadensis (Bivalvia: Philobryidae) living on Notocidaris sp. (Echinoidea: Cidaridae): Population dynamics in limited space

Summary Population dynamics of the epizoic bivalve Lissarca notorcadensis living on spines of cidaroid sea urchins in the Weddell Sea were investigated. Total production (somatic & gonad) of the suspension feeding bivalve ranged between 16.5 and 487.4 mg AFDM y^–1 per sea urchin. Annual sedimentation rates are not sufficient to maintain the production of the Lissarca sub-populations carried by the sea urchins, and resuspension of organic matter is most likely to be an important food source. The ratio of the number of freshly settled juveniles to the number of embryos brooded is between 0.054 and 0.207 and seems negatively related to the biomass already present, indicating intraspecific competition for space. Interspecific competition for space is caused by the strong preference of L. notorcadensis as well as other epizoa (colonial anthozoans and bryozoans) for the spines located on the aboral hemispere of the sea urchins.AWI Publication No. 572     

Fusion of Agrobacterium and E. coli spheroplasts with Nicotiana tabacum protoplasts — Direct gene transfer from microorganism to higher plant

Spheroplasts of Agrobacterium tumefaciens strains and E. coli were fused with protoplasts of Nicotiana tabacum. Fusion products were cultured in the presence of antibiotics to eliminate remaining bacterial spheroplasts. On hormone free medium, tobacco protoplasts treated with wild type Agrobacterium-strains formed colonies with an average frequency of 10^–4. Opine synthesis was detected in the tissues. Some calli derived from protoplasts treated with A. tumefaciens C58C1pRi15834 formed typical hairy roots. Kanamycin resistant calli were obtained after fusion with A. tumefaciens containing pLGVTi23 neo (frequency=10^–3). Fusion of E. coli spheroplasts containing a virulent pTiB6S3::RP4 co-integrate with tobacco protoplasts yielded two hormone independent growing calli producing octopine out of 10⁵ microcalli.Abbreviations PEG Polyethylene glycol - PVA Polyvinyl alcohol     

苦荞黄酮-3-羟化酶截短体的原核表达与多克隆抗体制备

为了制备苦荞黄酮-3-羟化酶的多克隆抗体,该研究以苦荞种子灌浆期cDNA文库中获得的苦荞黄酮-3-羟化酶基因截短体(truncated Flavanone-3-hydroxylase,TrF3 H)序列为基础,采用PCR扩增F3 H的截短序列编码区(TrF3 H),构建了原核表达载体pET47b-TrF3 H,并转化入大肠杆菌Rosetta(DE3)plysS中进行诱导表达,将经钴离子螯合层析柱纯化后的目的蛋白切胶回收后制备了高效价的多克隆抗体。结果表明:pET47b-TrF3 H在大肠杆菌Rosetta(DE3)plysS中以包涵体的形式高效表达。蛋白质印迹显示,制备的多克隆抗体能特异识别其对应的抗原,天然的黄酮-3-羟化酶蛋白在苦荞的未成熟种子中大量表达。原核表达体系的建立和多克隆抗体的制备为进一步探讨F3H在苦荞中功能奠定了基础。     

Genome-scale design of PCR primers and long oligomers for DNA microarrays

During the last years, the demand for custom-made cDNA chips/arrays as well as whole genome chips is increasing rapidly. The efficient selection of gene-specific primers/oligomers is of the utmost importance for the successful production of such chips. We developed GenomePRIDE, a highly flexible and scalable software for designing primers/oligomers for large-scale projects. The program is able to generate either long oligomers (40–70 bases), or PCR primers for the amplification of gene-specific DNA fragments of user-defined length. Additionally, primers can be designed in-frame in order to facilitate large-scale cloning into expression vectors. Furthermore, GenomePRIDE can be adapted to specific applications such as the generation of genomic amplicon arrays or the design of fragments specific for alternative splice isoforms. We tested the performance of GenomePRIDE on the entire genomes of Listeria monocytogenes (1584 gene-specific PCRs, 48 long oligomers) as well as of eukaryotes such as Schizosaccharomyces pombe (5006 gene-specific PCRs), and Drosophila melanogaster (21 306 gene-specific PCRs). With its computing speed of 1000 primer pairs per hour and a PCR amplification success of 99%, GenomePRIDE represents an extremely cost- and time-effective program.     

Trends in the twinning rate in Johannesburg, South Africa, 1969-1989 and estimated twinning rates for 1990.

Birth statistics for the Johannesburg Metropolitan Region were collected for 757 151 confinements from 1969 to 1989 (467513 Black, 194375 White, 67250 Coloured and 28013 Indian confinements). From 1969 to 1978 data on the sexes of twins were also collected for 375 203 of the confinements (203 504 Black, 129 631 White, 28 253 Coloured and 13 815 Indian confinements). A twin confinement was defined as two deliveries during one confinement. Twinning rates (TRs), defined as the number of twin confinements per 1000 total confinements, were calculated per year for each population group and from 1969-1978 estimates of the relative proportions of dizygotic (DZ) and monozygotic (MZ) twins were calculated and thus the relative DZTRs and MZTRs. A significant decline in Black and Coloured TRs was observed between 1969 and 1989. A significant decline in Black DZTR but not Black MZTR was observed between 1969 and 1978, the Coloured twin sample was too small to show significant trends over this period. It is probable that the overall decline in Black twinning may be explained by a decline in the DZTR. An analysis of birth statistics for 159 748 confinements (134 504 Black and 25 244 White confinements) collected as part of a prospective study of TRs in the Johannesburg Metropolitan Region from 1988 to 1990, indicated that the Black TR continued to decline at least until the end of 1990. TRs in the Johannesburg Metropolitan Region calculated from City Health Department birth statistics collected from 1988 to 1990 were: 13.8 and 10.77 for the Black and White populations, respectively. TRs for this period calculated from the combined birth statistics of 14 hospitals, nursing homes and maternity clinics across the region were: 12.4 and 10.88 for the Black and White populations, respectively.     

Predicting fine‐scale distributions of peripheral aquatic species in headwater streams

Headwater species and peripheral populations that occupy habitat at the edge of a species range may hold an increased conservation value to managers due to their potential to maximize intraspecies diversity and species' adaptive capabilities in the context of rapid environmental change. The southern Appalachian Mountains are the southern extent of the geographic range of native Salvelinus fontinalis and naturalized Oncorhynchus mykiss and Salmo trutta in eastern North America. We predicted distributions of these peripheral, headwater wild trout populations at a fine scale to serve as a planning and management tool for resource managers to maximize resistance and resilience of these populations in the face of anthropogenic stressors. We developed correlative logistic regression models to predict occurrence of brook trout, rainbow trout, and brown trout for every interconfluence stream reach in the study area. A stream network was generated to capture a more consistent representation of headwater streams. Each of the final models had four significant metrics in common: stream order, fragmentation, precipitation, and land cover. Strahler stream order was found to be the most influential variable in two of the three final models and the second most influential variable in the other model. Greater than 70% presence accuracy was achieved for all three models. The underrepresentation of headwater streams in commonly used hydrography datasets is an important consideration that warrants close examination when forecasting headwater species distributions and range estimates. Additionally, it appears that a relative watershed position metric (e.g., stream order) is an important surrogate variable (even when elevation is included) for biotic interactions across the landscape in areas where headwater species distributions are influenced by topographical gradients.