Clinical and laboratory effect of leukinferon in purulent infections

Clinical trials of human leukocytic alpha-interferon for injections, leukinferon were performed in 51 patients with different forms of surgical purulent infections. It was shown that leukinferon lowered the terms of normalization of body's temperature, leukocytosis, respiratory neutrophilic outbreak and levels of active T-lymphocytes. The same was observed when leukinferon was used prophylactically in cardiosurgical patients. The effect of leukinferon depended on the level of radical operations on primary purulent foci and severity of the patient's state. Leukinferon had immunomodulatory properties and mainly influenced the system of neutrophilic phagocytes. The action was lymphocyte-mediated. The rapid effect of leukinferon makes it necessary to recommend it for treatment of patients with purulent infections as an agent of urgent immunomodulation.     

Organization of the 378 bp satellite repeat in terminal heterochromatin of Allium fistulosum

Telomeres, DNA-protein structures, are important elements of the eukaryotic chromosome. Telomeric regions of the majority of higher plants contain heptanucleotides TTTAGGG arranged into a tandem repeat. However, some taxa have no such repeats. These are some species of lilies (Lilium) and onions (Allium). For example, terminal regions of chromosomes of Spanish onion (Allium fistulosum) contain satellite DNA whose unit repeats are 380 bp in length, and the short arm of its chromosome 8 contains rDNA repeats. This study deals with the terminal heterochromatin and organization of the satellite repeat in A. fistulosum. Fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) was used to locate the satellite DNA on chromosomes and on extended DNA of A. fistulosum. Nonsatellite DNA was found in the structure of telomeric repeat. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and Southern hybridization were used for analysis of terminal heterochromatin. Various rearrangements were found in the satellite repeat. The roles of retrotransposones and microsatellites in the formation of terminal heterochromatin are discussed.     

Morphometric and cytogenetic characteristics of haploid tomato plants

Stable differences have been found between haploid and diploid Mikado tomato plants with respect to quantitative characteristics of their vegetative and generative organs, whereas these plants were phenotypically similar with respect to qualitative characteristics, such as the bush habitus and the shapes of leaves, flowers, and fruit. A simple indirect method based on counting the chloroplasts in guard cells has been suggested to diagnose haploids. Analysis of meiosis during microspore formation in haploids has revealed considerable anomalies leading to heterogeneity and a high sterility rate of pollen, which has been confirmed by differences in DNA content. The data obtained suggest that formation of fertile gametes is accounted for by the absence of reduction division. It has been hypothesized that meiosis in haploids induces the genotypic variation that is subject to selection.     

Synthesis and characterization of metallatranes with phenyl substituents in atrane cage

A new series of mono- and diphenylsubstituted silatranes and boratranes N(CH₂CH₂O)₂(CHR³CR¹R²O)MZ (M = Si, Z = CH₂Cl, CCPh, H, OMenth, R¹, R², R³ = H, Ph; M = B, Z = nothing, R¹, R², R³ = H, Ph) have been synthesized. Both transalkoxylation and stepwise modification of a preformed metallatrane skeleton were used. The chloromethyl derivatives N(CH₂CH₂O)₂(CHRCHRO)SiCH₂Cl (R = H, Ph) react with tert-BuOK under intramolecular cycle expansion to give 1-tert-butoxy-2-carba-3-oxahomosilatranes N(CH₂CH₂O)(CH₂CH₂OCH₂)(CHRCHRO)SiO^tBu (R = H, Ph). The treatment of boratranes N(CH₂CH₂O)₂(CH₂CR¹R²O)B (R¹,R² = H, Ph) with triflic acid and trimethylsilyl triflate results in the products of electrophilic attack at the nitrogen atom. The molecular structures of four silatranes and one boratrane bearing phenyl groups in the atrane skeleton were determined by the X-ray structure analysis.     

Cloning and analysis of the resistance gene fragments from silverleaf sunflower <Emphasis Type="Italic">Helianthus agrophyllus</Emphasis>

Using a combination of degenerate primers designed from the NBS domains of the resistance genes, amplification and subsequent cloning of the resistance gene fragments from sunflower (Helianthus agrophyllus) was conducted. Sequences of cloned PCR products differed from one another and displayed homology to NBS domain fragments of the already known plant resistance genes, as well as to the analogous genes from different classes. The highest homology was shown to the NBS domain regions of cultivated sunflower and the other members of the family Compositae. Two cloned fragments had open reading frames, while the other sequences carried stop codons and seemed to belong to pseudogenes. Amino acid sequences of Helianthus agrophyllus analyzed contained conservative regions typical of NBS domains of the resistance gene products.     

Molecular Cytogenetic Characterization of the Dioecious Cannabis sativa with an XY Chromosome Sex Determination System

Hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) was karyotyped using by DAPI/C-banding staining to provide chromosome measurements, and by fluorescence in situ hybridization with probes for 45 rDNA (pTa71), 5S rDNA (pCT4.2), a subtelomeric repeat (CS-1) and the Arabidopsis telomere probes. The karyotype has 18 autosomes plus a sex chromosome pair (XX in female and XY in male plants). The autosomes are difficult to distinguish morphologically, but three pairs could be distinguished using the probes. The Y chromosome is larger than the autosomes, and carries a fully heterochromatic DAPI positive arm and CS-1 repeats only on the less intensely DAPI-stained, euchromatic arm. The X is the largest chromosome of all, and carries CS-1 subtelomeric repeats on both arms. The meiotic configuration of the sex bivalent locates a pseudoautosomal region of the Y chromosome at the end of the euchromatic CS-1-carrying arm. Our molecular cytogenetic study of the C. sativa sex chromosomes is a starting point for helping to make C. sativa a promising model to study sex chromosome evolution.     

Molecular genetic characteristics of the Wx-B1e allele from common wheat and applicability of the DNA markers for its identification

Molecular genetic characterization of the Wx-B1e allele identified by the authors of the study in the common wheat cultivar Korotyshka was performed. The 804-bp Wx-B1e fragment was cloned and sequenced. Comparison of the sequence obtained with that for the wild-type allele of common wheat (Wx-B1a) demonstrated that Wx-B1e carried the 34-bp insertion, 8-bp deletion, and 23 nucleotide substitutions. BLAST analysis revealed the highest homology with the nucleotide sequences of Wx genes from Triticum spelta and Triticum durum. The amplification variants of four Wx-B1 molecular markers, applied worldwide for testing the collections for different Wx allelic variants, are demonstrated.