Solubilization and characterization of cardiac sarcolemmal taurine-binding proteins

Cardiac sarcolemma preparations of both pig and rat ventricles were found to possess two sets of taurine-binding components. The two proteins from pig heart were solubilized with the detergent Ammonyx-Lo. Characterization of these solubilized proteins revealed that both components are glycoproteins and retain the binding properties observed for the membrane isolate. However, the characterization also revealed several differences between the proteins including their binding specificities, their affinities for taurine, their binding isotherms, and their molecular sizes. Possible functions of these two taurine-binding proteins are discussed.     

Performance of Two Fruit Fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) Pupal Parasitoids (Coptera haywardi [Hymenoptera: Diapriidae] and Pachycrepoideus vindemiae [Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae]) under Different Environmental Soil Conditions

We evaluated the performance of Coptera haywardi (Ogloblin) (Diapriidae) and Pachycrepoideus vindemiae (Rondani) (Pteromalidae), both hymenopteran pupal parasitoids of Anastrepha spp. (Diptera: Tephritidae). Performance was studied by manipulating the following environmental conditions in the laboratory: (1) soil type, (2) soil moisture content, (3) soil compaction, and (4) depth at which pupae were buried in the soil. There were two experiments: in the first, exposure time of pupae was held constant and in the second, it varied. In the first experiment, C. haywardi was significantly more effective than P. vindemiae in parasitizing fly pupae. With exposure time held constant (36 h), only soil type and pupal burial depth were significantly related to parasitism rates. While P. vindemiae only parasitized pupae located on the soil surface, C. haywardi attacked pupae that were buried up to 5 cm deep, performing better in clayey than in loamy soil. In the second experiment, exposure time (24, 36, 48, and 72 h) had no significant effect on parasitism rates, but soil type did. P. vindemiae again only attacked pupae on the soil surface while C. haywardi was also able to parasitize pupae that were buried up to 5 cm deep. We conclude that C. haywardi represents a viable candidate to replace the environmentally unfriendly P. vindemiae in augmentative biological control programs against fruit flies.     

Yohimbine increases plasma insulin concentrations of dogs

Recent evidence suggests that catecholamines inhibit insulin release by stimulating alpha 2-adrenoreceptors in beta-cells of the pancreatic islets. In the present study, iv injections of 0.1 and 0.3 mg/kg of yohimbine, an alpha 2-adrenoreceptor antagonist, resulted in increased plasma insulin and decreased plasma glucose concentrations in the dog. The use of alpha 2-adrenoreceptor antagonists may be of value in non-insulin-dependent diabetic patients by counteracting the inhibitory influence of endogenous catecholamines.     

Evidence for African origins of founders of the asiatic lion species survival plan

The Asiatic lion (Panthera leo persica) exists in the wild as a single relict population of approximately 250 individuals in the protected Gir Forest Sanctuary in western India. In 1981, a species survival plan (SSP) for the Asiatic lion was established by the American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums to manage the 200 + descendants of Asiatic lions in captivity in western zoological facilities. This captive population was derived from seven founders. In order to compare the genetic structure of the Gir Forest population with that of the captive SSP population, a genetic survey of 46 electrophoretic allozyme systems resolved from extracts of lion blood was undertaken by using 29 SSP Asiatic lions and 28 wild-caught or captive-bred lions maintained at the Sakkarbaug Zoo in India but originally derived from the Gir Forest. The Gir lion population was found to be genetically monomorphic at each of 46 allozyme loci. This was in contrast to several African lion (Panthera leo leo) populations, which show moderate levels of allozyme variation at the same loci. The SSP lion population was polymorphic at three allozyme loci (IDHI, TF, and PTI) for alleles that were previously found only in African lion populations. Pedigree analysis of the genetic transmission of these three biochemical loci demonstrated that two of the five primary founder animals of the SSP Asiatic lion population (a breeding pair originally imported from the Trivandrum Zoo in southern India) were descendants of the African subspecies. Three other founder animals were pure Asian. A retrospective SSP pedigree analysis of two morphologic characters (prominent abdominal fold and pairing of infraorbital foramen) that are partially diagnostic for persica vs leo was consistent with this conclusion as well. The implications for the management of small captive populations of threatened species and of the Asiatic lion SSP population are discussed.     

A gastric trichobezoar in a chimpanzee

A firm, mobile, oblong mass was discovered as an incidental finding in the stomach of a chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) during routine surgery. It was removed and determined to be a trichobezoar.     

Flavonol triglycosides containing galactose in tea.

The isolation and structural elucidation of new quercetin and kaempferol triglycosides from Camellia sinensis is described. Their structures were determined as quercetin and kaempferol 3-glucosyl(1----3) rhamnosyl(1----6)galactosides. The content of quercetin glucosylrhamnosylgalactoside ranged between 0 and 87 mg per 100 g, and that of the kaempferol homologue between 0 and 119 mg per 100 g dry wt.     

Functional levels of mitochondrial anion transport proteins in non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus

The effect of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (i.e., NIDDM; type 2 diabetes) on the levels of functional mitochondrial anion transport proteins has been determined utilizing a chemically-induced neonatal model of NIDDM. We hypothesized that moderate insulin deficiency exacerbated by the insulin resistance, which is characteristic of NIDDM, would cause changes in mitochondrial anion transporter function that were similar to those we have previously shown to occur in insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (i.e., IDDM; type 1 diabetes) (Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 280: 181–191, 1990). Our experimental approach consisted of the extraction of the pyruvate, dicarboxylate and citrate transport proteins from the mitochondrial inner membrane with Triton X-114 using rat liver mitoplasts (prepared from diabetic and control animals) as the starting material, followed by the functional reconstitution of each transporter in a proteoliposomal system. This strategy permitted the quantification of the functional levels of these three transporters in the absence of the complications that arise when such measurements are carried out with intact mitochondria (or mitoplasts). We found that experimental NIDDM did not cause significant changes in the extractable and reconstitutable specific (and total) transport activities of the pyruvate, dicarboxylate, and citrate transporters. These results are in marked contrast to our previous findings obtained using rats with IDDM and negated our hypothesis. The present results, in combination with our earlier findings, allow us to conclude that insulin plays an important role in the regulation of mitochondrial anion transporter function. Accordingly, in this model of NIDDM, where the level of insulin is not profoundly deficient, transporter function is unaltered, whereas in IDDM, where a profound insulinopenia exists, transporter function is altered. Furthermore, the present studies suggest that in the neonatal model of NIDDM the three mitochondrial transporters investigated are neither affected by, nor are they the sites of the well documented hepatic post-receptor insulin resistance which is characteristic of this disease.     

A simple method for counting Staphylococcus aureus in swimming pool water

Staphylococcus aureus counts from swimming pool water were determined by the membrane filtration technique. Water samples were passed through a membrane filter and then put on Baird-Parker media. After incubation, the filters were transferred to nutrient agar, and incubated at 37 degrees C, for 3 h. After removal of the filters, the plates were incubated at 60 degrees C for 2 h. An overlay of toluidine blue agar was added and the plates reincubated for 4 h at 37 degrees C. The formation of thermonuclease correlated with the formation of coagulase, and the results indicated that Staphylococcus aureus could be present in swimming pool water without the presence of either coliform or faecal coliform bacteria.