Effects of pinealectomy and melatonin or 5-methoxytryptamine on testicular LH and PRL receptors in Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus)

The pineal has been previously shown to be an important factor in the regulation of testicular function in photoperiodic mammals. The effects of lack or increase in pineal hormones on testicular hormonal receptors has, therefore, been examined. Pinealectomy decreased the concentration of testicular LH receptors in hamsters exposed to either a long or short photoperiod but had no effect on the concentration of testicular PRL receptors. In animals exposed to a short photoperiod, pinealectomy prevented testicular regression and the concomitant decreases in total LH and PRL receptor contents. Treatment for 12 weeks with either melatonin or 5-methoxytryptamine caused a decrease in testicular PRL receptor levels, whereas the only changes in LH receptor levels were due to melatonin-induced testicular regression. The present results indicate that some of the effects of pineal hormones on the testes are independent of the pineal-induced changes in testes mass and are the consequence of long-term action. Furthermore, testicular function appears to be affected by both the lack or the increase in pineal hormones.     

Thermal denaturation of double-stranded nucleic acids: prediction of temperatures critical for gradient gel electrophoresis and polymerase chain reaction.

A program is described which calculates the thermal stability and the denaturation behaviour of double-stranded DNAs and RNAs up to a length of 1000 base pairs. The algorithm is based on recursive generation of conditional and a priori probabilities for base stacking. Output of the program may be compared directly to experimental results; thus the program may be used to optimize the nucleic acid fragments, the primers and the experimental conditions prior to experiments like polymerase chain reactions, temperature-gradient gel electrophoresis, denaturing-gradient gel electrophoresis and hybridizations. The program is available in three versions; the first version runs interactively on VAXstations producing graphics output directly, the second is implemented as part of the HUSAR package at GENIUSnet, the third runs on any computer producing text output which serves as input to available graphics programs.     

Regional and local variability in recovery of shallow coral communities: Moorea,French Polynesia and central Great Barrier Reef

Coral communities at Moorea, French Polynesia, and on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), Australia, were severely depleted by disturbances early in the 1980s. Corals were killed by the predatory starfish Acanthaster planci, by cyclones, and/or by depressed sea level. This study compares benthic community structure and coral population structures on three disturbed reefs (Vaipahu-Moorea; Rib and John Brewer Reefs-GBR) and one undisturbed reef (Davies Reef-GBR) in 1987–89. Moorea barrier reefs had been invaded by tall macrophytes Turbinaria ornata and Sargassum sp., whereas the damaged GBR reefs were colonised by a diverse mixture of short macrophytes, turfs and coralline algae. The disturbed areas had broadly similar patterns of living and dead standing coral, and similar progress in recolonisation, which suggests their structure may converge towards that of undisturbed Davies Reef. Corals occupying denuded areas at Vaipahu, Rib and John Brewer were small (median diameter 5 cm in each case) and sparse (means 4–8 m^-2) compared to longer established corals at Davies Reef (median diameter 9 cm; mean 18 m^-2). At Moorea, damselfish and sea urchins interacted with corals in ways not observed in the GBR reefs. Territories of the damselfish Stegastes nigricans covered much of Moorea's shallow reef top. They had significantly higher diversity and density of post-disturbance corals than areas outside of territories, suggesting that the damselfish exerts some influences on coral community dynamics. Sea urchins on Moorea (Diadema setosum Echinometra mathaei, Echinotrix calamaris) were causing widespread destruction of dead standing coral skeletons. Overall, it appears that the future direction and speed of change in the communities will be explicable more in terms of local than regional processes.     

Effects of melatonin injections on the ability of golden hamster pituitaries to secrete prolactin and luteinizing hormone

Chronic afternoon (PM) but not morning injections of melatonin (MEL) induced significant reductions in testicular and seminal vesicle weights as well as attenuating serum prolactin (PRL) and luteinizing hormone (LH) levels. Although there were no treatment-induced effects on hemipituitary weights, PM-Mel injections led to significant reductions in in vitro PRL secretion and tended to increase the ability of dopamine to inhibit PRL release. It was also shown that LH-releasing hormone (LHRH) could inhibit in vitro PRL release from hamster pituitaries. Basal or LHRH-stimulated LH secretion from incubated pituitaries was not affected by Mel in vivo. From these results we conclude that properly timed Mel injections do not reduce pituitary's ability to secrete LH but severely attenuate PRL secretion. These findings are similar to those observed in pituitaries from hamsters housed in short-photoperiod conditions.