The effect of sedimentation and microbial nitrogen regeneration in a plankton community: a simulation investigation

A computer simulation model was developed to investigate nitrogenfluxes associated with microbial interactions in plankton communities.A short time scale was used, appropriate to the build-up anddecline of phytoplankton blooms in temperate shelf waters aftera mixing or upwelling event. The model depicts a continuum ofevents, many of which have been observed in coastal, upwellingand oceanic systems, including two phytoplankton peaks correspondingto ‘new production’ and ‘regenerated production’.It predicts that nitrogen loss through sedimentation of phytoplanktonand faeces may result in a smaller bloom with a delayed onsetand prolonged duration. Microbial regeneration of nitrogen wasfound to be important in sustaining the middle stages of a phytoplanktonbloom, whereas micro- and meso-zooplankton regeneration occurredtowards the end of the bloom.     

In vitro assessment of the toxicity of metal compounds

A review of in vitro mutagenesis assessment of metal compounds in mammalian and nonmammalian test systems has been compiled. Prokaryotic assays are ineffective or inconsistent in their detection of most metals as mutagens, with the notable exception of hexavalent chromium. Mammalian assay systems appear to be similarly inappropriate for the screening of metal compounds based upon the limited number of studies that have employed those compounds having known carcinogenic activity. Although of limited value as screening tests for the detection of potentially carcinogenic metal compounds, the well-characterized in vitro mutagenesis systems may prove to be of significant value as a means to elucidate mechanisms of metal genotoxicity.     

Cl- transport in apical plasma membrane vesicles isolated from bovine tracheal epithelium

Gradually altered synthetic entities were employed as molecular probes, and arachidonic acid, ADP, human alpha-thrombin and the Ca2+ ionophore A23187 as aggregation-inducing agents, in a comprehensive study on the response profile of human blood platelets with an emphasis on the effects of exogenous and increased intracellular Ca2+. Corroborating further previous conclusions, some representative carbamoylpiperidine derivatives, at concentrations effecting substantial inhibition of ADP-induced aggregation, failed to retain that effect when 5.0 mM Ca2+ was introduced into the otherwise identical test medium; reference compounds chlorpromazine and propranolol registered corresponding inhibitory patterns. At increased concentrations the compounds' inhibitory potency was regenerated even in the presence of 5 mM Ca2+. In fact, in sufficiently high concentrations, the compounds were even capable of inhibiting aggregation elicited by 15 microM of the ionophore A23187; so did chlorpromazine and propranolol. Another set of congeners revealed the striking sensitivity of ionophore A23187-induced human blood platelet aggregation to the surface active potencies of inhibitor molecules. The loss in inhibitory potency was directly related to the lesser hydrophobic character of the molecule.     

Trace elements in rock salt and their bioavailability estimated from solubility in acid

In this study, 18 partly commercially available samples of rock salt from Austria, Germany, Pakistan, Poland, Switzerland, and Ukraine were investigated with respect to their content of trace elements using instrumental neutron activation analysis. Elements detected were Al, Ba, Br, Ca, Ce, Cl, Co, Cr, Cs, Eu, Fe, Hf, La, Mn, Na, Rb, Sb, Sc, Sm, Sr, Ta, Tb, Th, and Zn, some of them only in individual cases. An estimation of the bioavailability of these trace elements was performed by dissolving an equivalent of the sodium chloride samples in diluted hydrochloric acid (simulating stomach acid), filtering off the insoluble components, and analyzing the evaporated filtrate. It could be shown that in most cases bioactive trace elements like Fe can be found in rock salt in the form of almost insoluble compounds and are therefore not significantly bioavailable, whereas thorium, for example, was partly bioavailable in two cases. A significant contribution to the recommended daily intake of metal trace elements by using rock salt for nutrition can be excluded.     

Entropy-driven polymerization of protein from the E66 strain of tobacco mosaic virus

Protein of the tobacco mosaic virus mutant E66 has lysine replacing asparagine of the type strain, vulgare, at position 140. Thus, E66 protein should have one more positive or one less net negative charge than vulgare at pH 6 to 7. To investigate the effect of charge, a comparative study of the polymerization of E66 and vulgare proteins at pH 6.0, 6.2, 6.4, 6.6, and 6.8 at ionic strengths 0.15, 0.10, and 0.05 was made by turbidimetry. Polymerization of E66 protein always proceeded at a lower temperature than vulgare. However, the extent of polymerization was much lower in E66, especially at the higher ionic strengths. Sedimentation velocity results paralleled those from turbidity measurements in that E66 protein polymerizes at lower temperatures than vulgare; the 20 S component is more abundant in E66 protein. Osmotic pressure measurements also show that E66 protein is more polymerized than vulgare, especially at lower pH values. Hydrogen ion titrations of E66 protein were carried out from pH 8 to 5 and back to pH 8 in 0.10 m KCl at three temperatures, 4, 10, and 15 °C. These titrations were reversible when carried out slowly. The isoionic point is near pH 5; thus the charge at pH 7.5 is ?3. The reversible titration results were correlated with the aggregates present at the various pH values and temperatures, determined from the areas under the schlieren peaks in sedimentation velocity experiments. It is found that hydrogen ion binding at the three pH values is correlated with the disappearance of the smallest aggregates and is independent of the type of higher polymer formed. To investigate the effect of ionic strength and pH on the characteristic temperature corresponding to an optical density increment of 0.01 by the method used previously for vulgare, two sets of turbidity measurements were carried out. In the first one the ionic strength was changed from 0.025 to 0.15 in increments of 0.025 at pH 6.0 and 6.4. In the other set, the ionic strength was kept constant at 0.10 and the pH changed from 5.9 to 6.7 in increments of 0.1 pH units. When the analysis of these data was carried out, $\text{Δ}\text{H}{}^1\text{= 30}\text{kcal/mol}$ was obtained. For the salting out constant a value of 1.7 was found, compared to 2.2 for vulgare, a result consistent with the fact that E66 should be less hydrophobic than vulgare. The electrical work term ΔW_el also turns out to be about one-half that for vulgare, which is expected from the lower net negative charge on E66 protein.