Early events in the life of apple roots: variation in root growth rate is linked to mycorrhizal and nonmycorrhizal fungal colonization

Early events of mycorrhizal and nonmycorrhizal fungal colonization in newly-emerging roots of mature apple (Malus domestica Borkh) trees were characterized to determine the relationship of these events to fine root growth rate and development. New roots were traced on root windows to measure growth and then collected and stained to quantify microscopically the presence of mycorrhizal and nonmycorrhizal fungal structures. Most new roots were colonized by either mycorrhizal or nonmycorrhizal fungi but none less 25 days old were ever internally colonized by both. Compared to nonmycorrhizal colonization, mycorrhizal colonization was associated with faster growing roots and roots that grew for a longer duration, leading to longer roots. While either type of fungi was observed in roots as soon as 3 days after root emergence, intraradical colonization by mycorrhizal fungi was generally faster (peaking at 7 to 15 days) than that by nonmycorrhizal fungi and often occurred more frequently in younger roots. Only 15 to 35% of the roots had no fungal colonization by 30 days after emergence. This study provides the first detailed examination of the early daily events of mycorrhizal and nonmycorrhizal fungal colonization in newly emerging roots under field conditions. We observed marked discrimination of roots between mycorrhizal and nonmycorrhizal fungi and provide evidence that mycorrhizal fungi may select for faster growing roots and possibly influence the duration of root growth by non-nutritional means.     

Multicatalytic proteinase in fish muscle

Proteinase II, a high-molecular-mass proteinase previously identified in white croaker skeletal muscle, was purified to apparent homogeneity by DEAE-Sephacel, phenyl-Sepharose CL 4B, and Sephacryl S-300 chromatographies. Under denaturing conditions, the enzyme dissociated into a cluster of subunits with Mr ranging from 18,000 to 26,000 and a large subunit with a Mr 60,000. The proteinase was able to hydrolyze N-terminal-blocked 4-methyl-7-coumarylamide substrates having either an aromatic amino acid (chymotrypsin-like activity) or an arginine residue (trypsin-like activity) adjacent to the fluorogenic group. The trypsin-like activity of the enzyme was inhibited by fatty acids and sodium dodecyl sulfate, whereas the chymotrypsin-like activity was stimulated by those compounds but inhibited by nonionic and cationic detergents. Several thiol reagents inhibited both proteinase II activities. However, leupeptin and Cu2+ strongly inhibited its trypsin-like activity but only slightly affected its chymotrypsin-like activity. Dithiothreitol stimulated both activities, but at different extents and in different concentration ranges. These results suggest that the enzyme is multicatalytic, having at least two different active sites.     

Osmoregulation in juvenile and adult white sturgeon,Acipenser transmontanus

Synopsis Blood samples from cannulated young adult (2.5–15 kg) white sturgeon, acclimated to San Francisco Bay water (24 ppt) had plasma values of 248.8 ± 13.5 mOsm kg⁻¹ H₂O, [Na⁺] = 125 ± 8.0 mEq 1⁻¹, [K⁺] = 2.6 ± 0.8 mEq 1⁻¹ and [CL⁻] = 122 ± 3.0 mEq 1⁻¹. Freshwater acclimated sturgeon had an osmolality of 236 ± 7, [Na⁺] = 131.6 + 4.4, [K⁺] = 2.5 ± 0.7 and [CL⁻] = 110.6 ± 3.6. Freshwater acclimated fish gradually exposed to sea water (increase of 5 ppt h⁻¹) had higher plasma osmolalities than did the bay water acclimated fish. These young adult sturgeon are able to tolerate transfer from fresh water to sea water as well as gradual transfer from sea water to fresh water. Plasma electrolytes in transferred fish are regulated, but tend to differ from long term acclimated fish at the same salinities. There is a gradual increase in the upper salinity tolerance (abrupt transfer) of juvenile white sturgeon with weight: 5–10 ppt for 0.4–0.9 g fish, 10–15 ppt for 0.7–1.8 g fish, and 15 ppt for 4.9–50.0 g fish. The ability of juveniles to regulate plasma osmolality is limited. The young adult fish are able to tolerate higher salinities (35 ppt) than juvenile sturgeon but probably are also characterized by low activity of the necessary ion exchange mechanisms in the gills which permit rapid adjustment of blood electrolytes with graduate change in external salinity.     

The First Intron of Human c-fms Proto-oncogene Contains a Processed Pseudogene (RPL7P) for Ribosomal Protein L7

During sequence analysis of the first intron of the human c-fms oncogene, we identified an open reading frame encoding the ribosomal protein L7 (RPL7). The presence of this sequence within intron 1 of the c-_fms gene was confirmed by Southern blot hybridization and by sequence analysis of two independent cosmid clones (cos2-e and cos1-22) that span the human genomic c-_fms locus. The RPL7 sequence was detected in a region of sequence overlapped by the cos2-e and cos1-22 cosmid clones but oriented opposite to the c-fms gene. We demonstrated that the sequence is identical to the full-length RPL7 cDNA sequence, but lacks any recognizable introns, has a 30-bp poly(A) tail, and is bracketed by two perfect direct repeats of 14 bp. We also showed that despite the fact that the 5′ flanking region of the RPL7 sequence contains a potential TATA box upstream of an intact open reading frame, this pseudogene (RPL7P) is not actively transcribed.     

Studies on silk secretion in the trichoptera (F. Limnephilidae)

Summary The ultrastructure and amino acid composition of the secreted silk of two species of trichopteran larvae, Pycnopsyche guttifer (Walk.) and Neophylax concinnus McL., were investigated. The spinnerets of these two animals were also examined by scanning electron microscopy. The silk consists of double-stranded, flat ribbons (1–4 wide), composed of bundles of 15–25 Å filaments. There are two components of the silk: the fiber proper and a surrounding coat thought to be a silk gum. Only the outer coat is positive to the EM PATP technique of Thiery (1967), which indicated the presence of neutral sugars. Amino acid analyses of Pycnopsyche silk show that, like other silks, two predominant amino acids are glycine and serine. Arginine, unexpectedly, is the third most abundant and there are a large number of basic and long side-chain amino acids. X-ray diffraction studies of the silk indicate that it has a less crystalline, more amorphous structure than that of other silks.Submitted to the Department of Biological Sciences of the State University of New York at Albany in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Acknowledgements. This study was supported in part by a National Institutes of Health Graduate Student Traineeship grant # GM-02014. The author would like to express sincere gratitude to Dr. Stephen Brown for his encouragement and help during the course of this study. I would also like to thank Dr. Curtis Hemenway and Mr. Douglas Halgren of Dudley Observatory for the use of their scanning electron microscope as well as Dr. Helen Ghiradella and Mr. William Radigan for help with the scanning electron microscopy. I owe special appreciation to Dr. Y. Myer of the Chemistry Department of SUNYA for doing an amino acid analysis of the silk and to Dr. K.M. Rudall of the University of Leeds for doing the X-ray diffraction studies of the silk samples     

Increased Production of IL-4 and IL-12p40 from Bronchoalveolar Lavage Cells Are Biomarkers of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in the Sputum

Background

Tuberculosis (TB) causes 1.45 million deaths annually world wide, the majority of which occur in the developing world. Active TB disease represents immune failure to control latent infection from airborne spread. Acid-fast bacillus (AFB) seen on sputum smear is a biomarker for contagiousness.

Methods

We enrolled 73 tuberculosis patients with extensive infiltrates into a research study using bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) to sample lung immune cells and assay BAL cell cytokine production. All patients had sputum culture demonstrating Mycobacterium tuberculosis and 59/73 (81%) had AFB identified by microscopy of the sputum. Compared with smear negative patients, smear positive patients at presentation had a higher proportion with smoking history, a higher proportion with temperature >38.5⁰ C, higher BAL cells/ml, lower percent lymphocytes in BAL, higher IL-4 and IL-12p40 in BAL cell supernatants. There was no correlation between AFB smear and other BAL or serum cytokines. Increasing IL-4 was associated with BAL PMN and negatively associated with BAL lymphocytes. Each 10-fold increase in BAL IL-4 and IL-12p40 increased the odds of AFB smear positivity by 7.4 and 2.2-fold, respectively, in a multi-variable logistic model.

Conclusion

Increasing IL-4 and IL-12p40 production by BAL cells are biomarkers for AFB in sputum of patients who present with radiographically advanced TB. They likely reflect less effective immune control of pathways for controlling TB, leading to patients with increased infectiousness.     

Dietary Ethanol Mediates Selection on Aldehyde Dehydrogenase Activity in Drosophila melanogaster

Ethanol is an important environmental variable for fruit-breedingDrosophila species, serving as a resource at low levels anda toxin at high levels. The first step of ethanol metabolism,the conversion of ethanol to acetaldehyde, is catalyzed primarilyby the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH). The second step,the oxidation of acetaldehyde to acetate, has been a sourceof controversy, with some authors arguing that it is carriedout primarily by ADH itself, rather than a separate aldehydedehydrogenase (ALDH) as in mammals. We review recent evidencethat ALDH plays an important role in ethanol metabolism in Drosophila.In support of this view, we report that D. melanogaster populationsmaintained on ethanol-supplemented media evolved higher activityof ALDH, as well as of ADH. We have also tentatively identifiedthe structural gene responsible for the majority of ALDH activityin D. melanogaster. We hypothesize that variation in ALDH activitymay make an important contribution to the observed wide variationin ethanol tolerance within and among Drosophila species.     

Detection of quorum sensing signals in the haloalkaliphilic archaeon Natronococcus occultus

Bacteria communicate at high cell density through quorum sensing, however, there are no reports about this mechanism in archaea. The archaeon Natronococcus occultus produces an extracellular protease at the end of growth. Early production of protease activity was observed when a low density culture was incubated with late exponential conditioned medium suggesting the presence of factor(s) inducing this activity. Conditioned medium and ethyl acetate extracts corresponding to the transition from exponential to stationary phase showed a positive signal in Agrobacterium biosensor. We report the detection of potential autoinducer molecules of the acylated homoserine lactone type in the archaeon N. occultus. These molecules may be responsible for the production/activation of extracellular protease.