A new species of Galearis (Orchidinae: Orchidaceae) from Sichuan,China

A new species, Galearis huanglongensis Q.W.Meng & Y.B.Luo, is described and illustrated. It is similar to Galearis cyclochila (Franch. & Sav.) Soó and Galearis diantha (Schltr.) P.F.Hunt, but differs in having a short spur, two elliptical lateral stigma lobes and distinctly separated bursicles. This new species is known only from the type locality, the Huanglong Valley, Songpan County, western Sichuan, China, growing amongst mosses under alpine shrubs at an elevation of about 3000 m. Based on two years of observations of its population size, the species was categorized as critically endangered CR (B1a, B2a) according to the World Conservation Union (IUCN) Red List Categories and Criteria, Version 3.1. The micromorphology of pollinia and seeds was observed by scanning electron microscopy and compared with that of G. cyclochila and G. diantha. The results supported G. huanglongensis Q.W.Meng & Y.B.Luo as a new species. © 2008 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2008, 158 , 689–695.     

Covalent binding of 4-carbamoylbenzenediazonium chloride to deoxyguanine bases of DNA resulting in apparent irreversible inhibition of poly(adenosine diphosphoribose) polymerase at the nicotinamide binding site

The poly(adenosine diphosphoribose) polymerase activity of isolated liver nuclei was inhibited by 4-carbamoylbenzenediazonium chloride, referred to as 4-diazoniobenzamide, an effect that was dependent on the time of incubation and the concentration of the diazonium compound, with inhibition following first-order kinetics. The inhibition was not reversed by reisolation of nuclei and centrifugal washing, whereas the inhibition by benzamide or 4-aminobenzamide was completely reversible under these conditions. Simultaneous incubation of 4-diazoniobenzamide with benzamide prevented enzyme inhibition. The 4-diazoniobenzoic acid analogue was not inhibitory. The mechanism of action of 4-diazoniobenzamide was traced to a specific covalent binding to dGMP of DNA to form N2-[(4-carbamoylphenyl)azo]-2'-deoxyguanosine 5'-monophosphate. Coenzymic DNA, by tight association with the polymerase protein, fixes the -C(O)NH2 moiety of the adduct at the nicotinamide-binding site of the enzyme.     

Benzamide-DNA interactions: deductions from binding, enzyme kinetics and from X-ray structural analysis of a 9-ethyladenine-benzamide adduct

The interaction of benzamide with the isolated components of calf thymus poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase and with liver nuclei has been investigated. A benzamide-agarose affinity gel matrix was prepared by coupling o-aminobenzoic acid with Affi-Gel 10, followed by amidation. The benzamide-agarose matrix bound the DNA that is coenzymic with poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase; the matrix, however, did not bind the purified poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase protein. A highly radioactive derivative of benzamide, the 125I-labelled adduct of o-aminobenzamide and the Bolton-Hunter reagent, was prepared and its binding to liver nuclear DNA, calf thymus DNA and specific coenzymic DNA of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase was compared. The binding of labelled benzamide to coenzymic DNA was several-fold higher than its binding to unfractionated calf thymus DNA. A DNA-related enzyme inhibitory site of benzamide was demonstrated in a reconstructed poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase system, made up from purified enzyme protein and varying concentrations of a synthetic octadeoxynucleotide that serves as coenzyme. As a model for benzamide binding to DNA, a crystalline complex of 9-ethyladenine and benzamide was prepared and its X-ray crystallographic structure was determined; this indicated a specific hydrogen bond between an amide hydrogen atom and N-3 of adenine. The benzamide also formed a hydrogen bond to another benzamide molecule. The aromatic ring of benzamide does not intercalate between ethyladenine molecules, but lies nearly perpendicular to the planes of stacking ethyladenine molecules in a manner reminiscent of the binding of ethidium bromide to polynucleotides. Thus we have identified DNA as a site of binding of benzamide; this binding is critically dependent on the nature of the DNA and is high for coenzymic DNA that is isolated with the purified enzyme as a tightly associated species. A possible model for such binding has been suggested from the structural analysis of a benzamide-ethyladenine complex.     

大壁虎的染色体及减数分裂联会复合体的研究

大壁虎(Gekko gecko)的染色体数目为2n=38,核型由2对中着丝粒(Nos.1.4.)、3对亚中着丝粒(Nos.2.3.5)及14对端着丝粒和亚端着丝粒(Nos.6—19)染色体组成。一对核仁组织者(NOR_s),位于第7对端着丝粒染色体的末端。同时,本文还对大壁虎的减数分裂以及联会复合体(S.C)的结构和组型,进行了详细的观察和分析。     

Cellular regulation of ADP-ribosylation of proteins. III. Selective augmentation of in vitro ADP-ribosylation of histone H3 in murine thymic cells after in vivo emetine treatment

Thymic cells were isolated at intervals of between 0 and 144 h from mice that received one intraperitoneal injection of emetine (33 mg/kg), and thymus weight, incorporation of [14C]leucine into proteins and [3H]thymidine into DNA in intact thymic cells, as well as initial rates of protein ADP-ribosylation in permeabilized cells [A. Sóoki-Tóth, F. Asghari, E. Kirsten, and E. Kun (1987) Exp. Cell Res. 170, 93] were simultaneously monitored. The effect of emetine as an inhibitor of protein synthesis [F. Antoni, N. G. Luat, I. Csuka, I. Oláh, A. Sóoki-Tóth, and G. Bánfalvi (1987) Int. J. Immunopharmacol. 9, 333] corresponds to the induction of sequential cellular events, such as cell exit and remigration, by other antimitotic agents [C. Penit and F. Vasseur (1988) J. Immunol. 140, 3315] and produces an activation of proliferation of cells reentering into this organ. Proliferation, as demonstrated by a large increase in DNA synthesis and entrance into S phase, was kinetically related to an apparent increase in poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase activity in thymic cells and a highly significant in vitro ADP-ribosylation of histone H3. Since no DNA fragmentation occurred in thymic cells, as tested by a fluorometric technique [C. Birnboim and J. J. Jevac (1981) Cancer Res. 41, 1889], it is probable that a selective activation of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase may have been induced in cells that undergo differentiation and proliferation while repopulating the thymus.     

白腹锦鸡,红腹锦鸡,中国雉鸡SC组型的比较研究

以微铺展—硝酸银染色技术制备三种鸡的SC标本,进行电镜观察。结果表明:三种鸡的SC组非常相似,即2n=82,ZZ/ZW型性别决定,雄性为ZZ。除1号SC和Z-SC为中着丝粒外,其余均为端着丝粒。Z-SC的相对长度有明显的细胞间差异;平均相对长度度介于第3和第4号SC之间。三者SC组型上的差异主要表现在相应SC长度上的不同。并对其亲缘关系及在鸟类进化中的可能地位进行了讨论。此外,在微铺展法制备的锦鸡精母细胞SC标本中还发现了巨大中心粒,这在高等动物尚属首次。