Effect of intraperitoneal administration of amino acids on the food intake of piglets on a liquid diet during the first month after birth

The effect of single intraperitoneal 1 g.kg-1 doses of a solution of 20 amino acids (AA) on food intake was investigated in 20 piglets examined repeatedly between 2 and 26 days of age. The animals were reared individually from day 1 after birth in cages and bottle-fed a liquid diet nine times per day at two-hour intervals from 6 to 22 h. Although amino acid administration did not significantly affect plasma concentrations of total free AA throughout the experiment (as measured just before and 2 and 5 h after AA administration in blood withdrawn from the external jugular vein) it did produce a downward trend in food intake of piglets at 9-10 d of age. In older animals, the depressive effect on food intake was significantly greater and lasted longer. It is suggested that the aminostatic component of food intake regulation in piglets does not begin to operate until the weaning period.     

Nutritional and hormonal regulation of mRNA abundance for arginine biosynthetic enzymes in kidney

Argininosuccinate synthetase and argininosuccinate lyase catalyze the synthesis of arginine from citrulline in kidney and also serve as components of the urea cycle in liver of ureotelic animals. Dietary and hormonal regulation of mRNAs encoding these enzymes have been well studied in liver but not in kidney. Messenger RNAs for these enzymes are localized within the renal cortex. Starvation and extreme variations in dietary protein content (0% vs 60% casein) produced 2.6- to 3.5-fold increases in mRNA abundance for these two enzymes in rat kidney. Argininosuccinate lyase mRNA was not induced by dibutyryl cAMP, dexamethasone, or a combination of the two agents. In contrast, argininosuccinate synthetase mRNA was induced 2-fold by dibutyryl cAMP but was unresponsive to dexamethasone. Thus, diet and hormones regulate levels of these mRNAs in rat kidney, but the responses are both qualitatively and quantitatively distinct from the responses previously reported for rat liver.     

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.      

Selected subspecies names from Richter,Plantae Europeae,Vol. 1, 1890

The bookK. Richter, Plantae europeae, Vol. 1, 1890, is analyzed from the viewpoint of nomenclature of subspecies names. 264 subspecies names interesting from the standpoint of contemporary taxonomy and nomenclature are selected from the total number of 840 subspecies names for a commented list. Seventeen important cases are dealt with separately in greater detail. Eleven new nomenclatural combinations (two for species, nine for subspecies) are proposed in the Appendix. Types for two generic names (Acorellus Palla andJuncellus C. B. Clarke) are proposed. A new term “parabasionym” is applied for names establishing the priority of infraspecific epithets in the rank in question. The need to respect the newly accepted principle of priority of autonymic subspecies names at proposing new nomenclatural combinations is stressed. Examples ofRichter’s subspecies names having priority, subspecies names with necessary changes in their authorship and names having a possible importance as parabasionyms are enumerated in separate lists.     

Annotated chromosome counts of czechoslovak plants (31–60) (Materials for “Flóra ČSSR”—3)

Chromosome counts of the following 30 taxa (106 populations) are given:Betonica officinalis (2n=16);Bidens frondosus (2n=48);Calamagrostis arundinacea (2n=28+0–2B);Dianthus carthusianorum subsp.latifolius (2n=30);Festuca gigantea (2n=42, 42+2B);Hypericum perforatum (2n=32);Koeleria macrantha (2n=28);Kohlrauschia prolifera (2n=30);Lilium martagon (2n=24+0–2B);Melica ciliata (2n=18);Poa remota (2n=14);Ranunculus polyanthemos (2n=16);R. sardous subsp.sardous (2n=16);Roegneria canina (2n=28+0–1B);Rudbeckia laciniata (2n=76);Scabiosa canescens (2n=16);Serratula tinctoria (2n=22);Seseli elatum subsp.heterophyllum var.beckii (2n=18);S. hippomarathrum (2n=20);Thlaspicaerulescens caerulescens subsp.tatrense (2n=14);Trifolium alpestre (2n=16);T. avense (2n=14);T. medium (2n=79, 80+0–2B, 82);T. rubens (2n=16);Veronica officinalis subsp. alpestris (2n=36);Vincetoxicum hirundinaria (2n=22);Vulpia bromoides (2n=14);Zerna benekenii (2n=28)Z. monoclada (2n=28+0–8B);Z. ramosa (2n=42). Remarks on taxonomy, nomenclature and chorology for some of these taxa are given.     

A note on the infraspecific classification ofHelictotrichon desertorum (Less.)Nevskij

Helictotrichon desertorum (Less.) Nevskij is divided into four subspecies, based on the characters of the ligule and indumentum of the sheaths of cauline leaves. A new subspecies—subsp.centroasiaticum Holub—is proposed to cover the Central Asiatic segment of the species.     

Effect of dietary supplementation with a fish oil concentrate on the alkenylacyl class of ethanolamine phospholipid in human platelets

It has been demonstrated that the alkenylacyl class of ethanolamine phospholipid (PE) represents one of the major forms of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA)-containing phospholipid in the circulating platelets isolated from human subjects consuming a fish oil concentrate. Since the alkenylacyl PE from human platelets is enriched in the eicosanoid precursor arachidonic acid (AA) and the n-6 polyunsaturate adrenic acid (AdA), it was of interest to study changes in alkenylacyl PE fatty acid composition upon fish oil supplementation. Healthy volunteers were given 20 capsules of MaxEPA daily (3.6 g of EPA plus 2.4 g of docosahexaenoic acid, DHA) for 6 weeks followed by a 6-week recovery period. Washed platelet suspensions were prepared and the fatty acid compositions of the phospholipid components were evaluated by thin-layer and gas-liquid chromatography at weeks 0, 3, 6, 9, and 12. Fatty acid composition changes were more pronounced in the alkenylacyl PE than in other platelet phospholipids as a result of fish oil consumption. The alkenylacyl PE exhibited a greater drop (by 20.3 mol%, i.e., from 72.0 to 51.7 mol%) in AA than diacyl PE (by 1.6 mol%) or total (predominantly diacyl) choline phospholipids (PC) (by 4.5 mol%). In alkenylacyl PE, the predominant reservoir of AdA in human platelet phospholipid, a dramatic reduction in the level of AdA also resulted with MaxEPA supplementation (from 7.9 to 3.1 mol%); diacyl PE and total PC decreased by 0.6 and 0.3 mol%, respectively. With respect to the n-3 fatty acids, EPA rose by 12.5 mol% in alkenylacyl PE, compared to only 3.8 and 2.5 mol% in diacyl PE and total PC, respectively.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)