The genetic variation of compatibility in Biomphalaria glabrata and Schistosoma mansoni

Interactions between different Biomphalaria glabrata stocks and Schistosoma mansoni strains were studied. A series of inbred stocks of B. glabrata were characterized as to genetic variations in susceptibility at different ages to a series of different S. mansoni strains. A series of inbred strains of S. mansoni were characterized as to genetic variations in infectivity for B. glabrata stocks at different ages. Also described is a process of selection for substrains from a single S. mansoni isolate that differ genetically in snail infectivity.     

MAJOR CLADES OF THE ANGIOSPERMS

Abstract— Our knowledge of fundamental angiosperm interrelationships is still very incomplete. The absence of a narrowly circumscribed gymnosperm outgroup, ideally the sister group, makes character evaluation, necessary for a cladistic analysis, difficult. According to current views the superorder Magnoliiflorae with a number of other groups, for example the monocotyledons, may represent a complex of families near the base of the angiosperms. Interrelationships of groups within the monocotyledons are much better understood than those between groups within the dicotyledons. A cladogram of monocotyledon orders based on earlier work by R. Dahlgren, H. T. Clifford, and F. N. Rasmussen is presented. A data matrix for a sample of the angiosperms with 61 characters for 49 taxa, mostly magnoliifloran and related families, is presented. The characters are polarized mainly according to the current view that the primitive angiosperm morphotype is a woody dicotyledon with strobiloid flowers. As an alternative the matrix is adjusted following W. C. Burger's conjecture that the primitive angiosperm was a herbaceous monocotyledon with trimerous flowers. Both matrices were run in a computerized parsimony analysis, resulting in numerous equally parsimonious solutions. This result is illustrative of the great homoplasy in the available character information, and also of how little actually is known about fundamental angiosperm interrelationships or phylogeny.     

Assignment of orthologous relationships among mammalian alpha-globin genes by examining flanking regions reveals a rapid rate of evolution

In order to study the relationships among mammalian alpha-globin genes, we have determined the sequence of the 3' flanking region of the human alpha 1 globin gene and have made pairwise comparisons between sequenced alpha-globin genes. The flanking regions were examined in detail because sequence matches in these regions could be interpreted with the least complication from the gene duplications and conversions that have occurred frequently in mammalian alpha-like globin gene clusters. We found good matches between the flanking regions of human alpha 1 and rabbit alpha 1, human psi alpha 1 and goat I alpha, human alpha 2 and goat II alpha, and horse alpha 1 and goat II alpha. These matches were used to align the alpha-globin genes in gene clusters from different mammals. This alignment shows that genes at equivalent positions in the gene clusters of different mammals can be functional or nonfunctional, depending on whether they corrected against a functional alpha-globin gene in recent evolutionary history. The number of alpha-globin genes (including pseudogenes) appears to differ among species, although highly divergent pseudogenes may not have been detected in all species examined. Although matching sequences could be found in interspecies comparisons of the flanking regions of alpha- globin genes, these matches are not as extensive as those found in the flanking regions of mammalian beta-like globin genes. This observation suggests that the noncoding sequences in the mammalian alpha-globin gene clusters are evolving at a faster rate than those in the beta-like globin gene clusters. The proposed faster rate of evolution fits with the poor conservation of the genetic linkage map around alpha-globin gene clusters when compared to that of the beta-like globin gene clusters. Analysis of the 3' flanking regions of alpha-globin genes has revealed a conserved sequence approximately 100-150 bp 3' to the polyadenylation site; this sequence may be involved in the expression or regulation of alpha-globin genes.      

Sequence analysis of mitochondrial DNA in a mouse cell line resistant to chloramphenicol and oligomycin.

A mouse L-cell line, designated 111-OB3, is described which is resistant to two drugs, chloramphenicol and oligomycin. The cells contain two types of mitochondrial DNA molecules, in roughly equal proportions, which differ in that one is cleaved by endonuclease EcoRI at a novel site within the coding sequence for subunit 6 of the mitochondrial ATPase (ATPase-6). Sequence analysis reveals that the cleavage site was created by a single transversion which predicts a replacement of valine in the wild-type ATPase-6 by glutamic acid. The replacement occurs in a hydrophobic amino acid sequence which is highly conserved in mouse, human, and bovine proteins. The position of the replacement is similar to a substitution observed in one class of yeast mutants resistant to oligomycin. Both of the mitochondrial DNA molecules in 111-OB3 also have a single nucleotide change in the gene encoding the large (16S) rRNA. These observations are consistent with the hypothesis that oligomycin resistance in mammalian cells can be cytoplasmically determined and can result from alterations in ATPase-6. The appearance of the mutation before selection in oligomycin suggests a model for the origin of mitochondrial mutations in mammalian cells.     

P48-Triggered transmembrane signaling transduction of human monocytes:mobilization of calcium ion and activation of protein kinase C(PKC)

INTRODUCTI0NThedifferentiati0nofcelIsalongthemonocyte-macr0phagepathwayandthesig-nalsinvo1vedinthesecel1sacquiringtheabilitytokilltum0rcellsarenotfllllyundersto0d.Wehavebeenstudingamoleculewhichappearst0beanimportantmemberofthecytokinenetworkinvo1vedintheregulati0nmonocyteactivation.ThiscytokinetermedP48wasisolatedfr0mthehllmannullcellleukemiacell1ineReh.IthasbeenpurifiedtohomogeneityandfOundtobedistinctfrominterferongamma,col0nystimulatingfactors(CSFs)andTNFalphaalldbeta[1,2].Func-ti…     

Interaction of workplace demands and cardiovascular reactivity in progression of carotid atherosclerosis: population based study.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the combined influence of workplace demands and changes in blood pressure induced by stress on the progression of carotid atherosclerosis. DESIGN: Population based follow up study of unestablished as well as traditional risk factors for carotid atherosclerosis, ischaemic heart disease, and other outcomes. SETTING: Eastern Finland. SUBJECTS: 591 men aged 42-60 who were fully employed at baseline and had complete data on the measures of carotid atherosclerosis, job demands, blood pressure reactivity, and covariates. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Change in ultrasonographically assessed intima-media thickness of the right and left common carotid arteries from baseline to 4 year follow up. RESULTS: Significant interactions between workplace demands and stress induced reactivity were observed for all measures of progression (P < 0.04). Men with large changes in systolic blood pressure (20 mm Hg or greater) in anticipation of a maximal exercise test and with high job demands had 10-40% greater progression of mean (0.138 v 0.123 mm) and maximum (0.320 v 0.261 mm) intima-media thickness and plaque height (0.347 v 0.264) than men who were less reactive and had fewer job demands. Similar results were obtained after excluding men with prevalent ischaemic heart disease at baseline. Findings were strongest among men with at least 20% stenosis or non-stenotic plaque at baseline. In this subgroup reactive men with high job demands had more than 46% greater atherosclerotic progression than the others. Adjustment for atherosclerotic risk factors did not alter the results. CONCLUSIONS: Men who showed stress induced blood pressure reactivity and who reported high job demands experienced the greatest atherosclerotic progression, showing the association between dispositional risk characteristics and contextual determinants of disease and suggesting that behaviourally evoked cardiovascular reactivity may have a role in atherogenesis.     

Resistance to the cowpea weevil (Callosobruchus maculatus) larva in pods of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata)

Thirty cowpea, Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walpers, cultivars were evaluated as intact pods to determine if any possessed resistance to the cowpea weevil, Callosobruchus maculatus (Fabr.). Pod resistance was measured as pre-establishment larval mortality (PreM); those larvae dying after egg hatch but before penetrating into the seeds, and as post-establishment within-seed mortality (PostM); those larvae dying after penetrating into the seeds. Among the 30 varieties examined, PreM ranged from 57.9% to 99.4% and PostM ranged from 6.7% to 82.6%. Ten varieties exhibited total intact pod mortality (mortality from egg hatch to adult emergence from the seed) greater than 95%.Physical measurements were made of several pod and seed characteristics to ascertain whether the observed pod resistance was due to seed factors, pod-wall factors, or to interactions between the pod and seeds. Although resistance to breakage (from handling plus pod dehiscence) is a necessary characteristic for overall pod protection against C. maculatus; other factors are also important. Among the other pod and seed characteristics measured to identify major resistance factors, seed coat thickness was the one most highly correlated with pod resistance. Our results suggest that interactions between pod-wall and seed coat characteristics play a large role in pod resistance of cowpeas to C. maculatus.     

The effect of two proteinase inhibitors, E-64 and the Bowman-Birk inhibitor, on the developmental time and mortality of Acanthoscelides obtectus

An artificial bean seed system was used to evaluate the effects of a cysteine proteinase inhibitor (E-64) and a serine proteinase inhibitor (Bowman-Birk inhibitor) on the developmental time and mortality of the common bean weevil, Acanthoscelides obtectus (Say). These inhibitors were incorporated into artificial bean seeds on which the insect fed. To better understand the mode of action of these inhibitors, free amino acids were also added to the seeds, alone and in combination with the inhibitors. E-64 was found to be highly effective in delaying development and increasing mortality of the insect. Both effects were directly related to the concentration of E-64. Bowman-Birk inhibitor had little effect on these parameters. Assays of gut proteolytic activity of insects reared on artificial seeds with various levels of E-64 demonstrated a direct relationship between E-64 concentration in the diet and reduction of gut proteolytic activity. Free amino acid supplementation to the diet did not prevent inhibition of gut proteolytic activity by E-64, but did reverse its effects on developmental time and mortality, strengthening the hypothesis that E-64 operates by inhibition of essential digestive proteinase activity.

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Résumé Des grains artificiels de haricot ont été utilisés pour évaluer les effets sur la durée de développement et la mortalité d' Acanthoscelides obtectus. Say d'inhibiteurs de la protéinase de la cystéine (E-64) et de la protéinase de la sérine (l'inhibiteur de Bowman-Birk). Ces inhibiteurs avaient été incorporés dans les grains artificiels. Pour mieux comprendre leur voie d'action, des acides aminés libres étaient ajoutés à ces graines, seuls ou combinés aux inhibiteurs. E-64 a très efficacement retardé le développement et accru la mortalité; ces 2 effets étaient liés à sa concentration. L'inhibiteur de Bowman-Birk a eu peu d'effets sur ces paramètres. Des expériences sur l'activité protéolytique du tube digestif d'insectes élevés sur des graines artificielles avec différentes concentrations de E-64 ont montré une relation directe entre la concentration en E-64 et la réduction de l'activité protéolytique. L'addition d'acides aminés libres dans l'aliment n'a pas empêché l'inhibition de l'activité protéolytique par E-64, mais a inversé ses effets sur la durée de développement et la mortalité, renforçant l'hypothèse que E-64 agit en inhibant l'activité protéinase digestive essentielle.

     

Performance of a new dynamic model for predicting diurnal time courses of stomatal conductance at the leaf level

Under natural conditions, plants are subjected to continuous changes of irradiance that drive variations of stomatal conductance to water vapour (g_s). We propose a dynamic model to predict the temporal response of g_s at the leaf level using an asymmetric sigmoid function with a unique parameter describing time constants for increasing and decreasing g_s. The model parameters were adjusted to observed data using Approximate Bayesian Computation. We tested the model performance for (1) instant changes of irradiance; or (2) continuous and controlled variations of irradiance simulating diurnal time courses. Compared with the two mostly used steady‐state models, our dynamic model described daily time courses of g_s with a higher accuracy. In particular, it was able to describe the hysteresis of g_s responses to increasing/decreasing irradiance and the resulting rapid variations of intrinsic water‐use efficiency. Compared to the mechanistic model of temporal responses of g_s by Kirschbaum, Gross & Pearcy, for which time constants were estimated with a large variance, our model estimated time constants with a higher precision. It is expected to improve predictions of water loss and water‐use efficiency in higher scale models by using a small number of parameters.