Management of a harem breeding colony of rhesus monkeys to reduce trauma-related morbidity and mortality

A management procedure was developed for a harem breeding colony of rhesus monkeys to reduce trauma-related injuries and deaths resulting from the periodic removal of pregnant monkeys for research and their subsequent return to the population. Lower morbidity and mortality rates, a reduced mean conception interval, and a higher mean conception rate occurred when monkeys were maintained in permanent harems to which returning females were reintroduced compared to new social groups formed from aggregates of unfamiliar animals.     

Tetanus toxin as a tool for studying epilepsy

The use of tetanus toxin, injected into the hippocampus of the rat, to produce an "animal model" of chronic limbic epilepsy is described. This model has yielded information complementary to that derived from other animal models and has several important advantages: while it involves spontaneous seizures, it occurs without gross damage to the brain ; it is eventually reversible in terms of fits and the overall reappearance of the EEG. It can therefore be used to look both at the effects of ongoing epilepsy and also at the long-term changes in brain function induced by previous epilepsy. Evidence is presented that the toxin probably remains localised at the site of injection. The information which has so far been obtained with this model on the relation between epilepsy and abnormal behaviour is summarised. In particular, it appears that the epilepsy produces long-term deficits in the animals' ability to learn and remember of a sort which suggest that an enduring malfunction has been induced in the hippocampus. The significance of the findings for clinical research and for future investigation of the nature of epilepsy are described. It is emphasised that the neurotoxins may be usefully exploited not only for investigating the molecular basis of neuronal mechanisms but also for inducing long-lasting plastic changes in integrated brain function.     

Aging in the musculoskeletal system of rhesus monkeys: I. Passive joint excursion

In order to describe ontogenetic change in the musculoskeletal system of rhesus monkeys, 126 Macaca mulatta from Cayo Santiago, ranging in age from 7 months to 21 years, were examined under anesthesia. Passive joint excursions were measured at the wrist, elbow, shoulder, hip, and knee. Mean ranges of excursion at these joints differed significantly between age groups and by sex. The potential for most movements appeared to decrease approximately 25 degrees over the first two decades of the macaque life span, and males generally showed less potential for movement than females in all age groups. These results are similar to those obtained for humans and are consistent with patterns of positional behavior, trauma, and osteoarthritis observed in this rhesus monkey population. Thus, to fully describe the locomotor strategy of rhesus monkeys, age- and sex-related variation in locomotor anatomy and functional capacity must be considered.     

Nucleus-associated microtubules help determine the division plane of plant epidermal cells: avoidance of four-way junctions and the role of cell geometry

To investigate the spatial relationship between the nucleus and the cortical division site, epidermal cells were selected in which the separation between these two areas is large. Avoiding enzyme treatment and air drying, Datura stramonium cells were labeled with antitubulin antibodies and the three-dimensional aspect of the cytoskeletons was reconstructed using computer-aided optical sectioning. In vacuolated cells preparing for division, the nucleus migrates into the center of the cell, suspended by transvacuolar strands. These strands are now shown to contain continuous bundles of microtubules which bridge the nucleus to the cortex. These nucleus-radiating microtubules adopt different configurations in cells of different shape. In elongated cells with more or less parallel side walls, oblique strands radiating from the nucleus to the long side walls are presumably unstable, for they are progressively realigned into a transverse disc (the phragmosome) as broad, cortical, preprophase bands (PPBs) become tighter. The phragmosome and the PPB are both known predictors of the division plane and our observations indicate that they align simultaneously in elongated epidermal cells. These observations suggest another hypothesis: that the PPB may contain microtubules polymerized from the nuclear surface. In elongated cells, the majority of the radiating microtubules, therefore, come to anchor the nucleus in the transverse plane, consistent with the observed tendency of such cells to divide perpendicular to the long axis. In nonrectangular isodiametric epidermal cells, which approximate regular hexagons in section, the radial microtubular strands emanating from the nucleus tend to remain associated with the middle of each subtending cell wall. The strands are not reorganized into a single dominant transverse bar, but remain as a starlike array until mitosis. PPBs in these cells are not as tight; they may only be a sparse accumulation of microtubules, even forming along non-diametrical radii. This arrangement is consistent with the irregular division patterns observed in epidermal mosaics of isodiametric D. stramonium cells. The various conformations of the radial strands can be modeled by springs held in two-dimensional hexagonal frames, and by soap bubbles in three-dimensional hexagonal frames, suggesting that the division plane may, by analogy, be selected by minimal path criteria. Such behavior offers a cytoplasmic explanation of long-standing empirically derived "rules" which state that the new cell wall tends to meet the maternal wall at right angles. The radial premitotic strands and their analogues avoid taking the longer path to the vertex of an angle where a cross wall is already present between neighboring cells.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)     

Localization of sequences regulating ancestral and acquired sites of esterase6 activity in Drosophila melanogaster

We have broadly defined the DNA regions regulating esterase6 activity in several life stages and tissue types of D. melanogaster using P- element-mediated transformation of constructs that contain the esterase6 coding region and deletions or substitutions in 5' or 3' flanking DNA. Hemolymph is a conserved ancestral site of EST6 activity in Drosophila and the primary sequences regulating its activity lie between -171 and -25 bp relative to the translation initiation site: deletion of these sequences decrease activity approximately 20-fold. Hemolymph activity is also modulated by four other DNA regions, three of which lie 5' and one of which lies 3' of the coding region. Of these, two have positive and two have negative effects, each of approximately twofold. Esterase6 activity is present also in two male reproductive tract tissues; the ejaculatory bulb, which is another ancestral activity site, and the ejaculatory duct, which is a recently acquired site within the melanogaster species subgroup. Activities in these tissues are at least in part independently regulated: activity in the ejaculatory bulb is conferred by sequences between -273 and -172 bp (threefold decrease when deleted), while activity in the ejaculatory duct is conferred by more distal sequences between -844 and -614 bp (fourfold decrease when deleted). The reproductive tract activity is further modulated by two additional DNA regions, one in 5' DNA (-613 to -284 bp; threefold decrease when deleted) and the other in 3' DNA (+1860 to +2731 bp; threefold decrease when deleted) that probably overlaps the adjacent esteraseP gene. Collating these data with previous studies suggests that expression of EST6 in the ancestral sites is mainly regulated by conserved proximal sequences while more variable distal sequences regulate expression in the acquired ejaculatory duct site.      

Intraspecific diversity in the fungal speciesChaunopycnis alba: Implications for microbial screening programs

Intraspecific variation among 84 isolates of the anamorphic fungusChaunopycnis alba from 26 different geographical locations was analyzed by investigating optimal growth temperatures, differences in the production of secondary metabolites and presence or absence of the cyclosporin synthetase gene. The genetic diversity was assessed using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD). Analysis of these data showed high genetic, metabolic and physiological diversity within this species. Isolates from the Antarctic represented the most homogeneous group withinC. alba and together with isolates from the Arctic these polar strains differed from alpine, temperate and tropical strains by low optimal growth temperatures and by low production of secondary metabolites. Isolates from tropical climes were characterized by high optimal growth temperatures and by the production of comparatively diverse metabolite spectra. Most of the isolates that were similar in the combination of their physiological and metabolic characters were also genetically related. Isolates from different geographical origins did not show many similarities, with the exception of the cyclosporin A-producing isolates, and large diversity could be observed even within a single habitat. This leads us to the suggestion that for pharmaceutical screening programs samples should be collected from a diversity of different geographical and climatic locations. For the selection of strains for screening the RAPD assay seems to be the most powerful tool. It reflected the highest intraspecific diversity and the results corresponded well with the other characteristics.     

Reproductive performance, population dynamics and anthropometrics of the free-ranging Cayo Santiago rhesus macaques

This report summarizes demographic data collected on the Cayo Santiago colony of rhesus monkeys from 1976-1983 and compares the results with those from 1959-1964 [8,9]. For males and nonpregnant/nonlactating, pregnant, and lactating females mean (+/- 1 SD), body weights, crown-rump lengths, and ponderal indices are tabulated for each age on a large (n = 586) single sampling of this free-ranging population of macaques.