Ibaraki Virus,an Agent of Epizootic Disease of Cattle Resembling Bluetongue

Replication of Ibaraki virus was not inhibited by 5-iodo-2′-deoxyuridine, indicating that the virus is an RNA virus. The virus was resistant to ether, chloroform and deoxycholate, sensitive to trypsin, very labile at acidic pH but stable at pH 6.4 or higher, and was resistant to repeated freezing and thawing. The virus was readily inactivated at 56 C or higher, was fairly stable at 37 C, and very stable at 4 C, while it rapidly lost infectivity when stored frozen at —20 C. The virus was readily sedimented by centrifugation at 40 000Xg for 60 min. It readily passed through membrane filters of 200 mμ pore size, passed through 100 μfilters but only with some titer loss and did not through 50 mμ filters. In these tests, the bluetongue virus used as a control behaved in the same manner as Ibaraki virus. These findings provide additional evidence for the similarity of Ibaraki virus to bluetongue virus which had been previously demonstrated on the basis of seasonal incidence, symptomatology and pathology of the diseases caused by these viruses and the behavior of the viruses in cell cultures, embryonated eggs and laboratory animals. The present study, however, provided no evidence for any serological relation between these two viruses. More Information is needed to reach a final decision on the classification of Ibaraki virus, particularly regarding the morphology of the virion, the doublestrandedness of the viral RNA and other basic features.     

Bovine Diarrhea Virus

Five strains of bovine diarrhea virus were isolated from Japanese cattle using bovine tissue cultures. These are the first isolations of this virus from Japanese cattle to be reported. Of importance is the finding that the new isolates, which are non-cytopathogenic, induce an exaltation of Newcastle disease virus in bovine testicular cell culture. This finding has provided a laboratory tool whereby the assay of the virus and its neutralizing antibody can readily be performed.     

PISTIL DEVELOPMENT AND PARIETAL PLACENTATION IN THE PSEUDOMONOMEROUS OVARY OF ZELKOVA SERRATA (ULMACEAE)

Development of female flowers in Zelkova serrata was observed using epi-illuminated microscopy and scanning electron microscopy, with particular attention given to placentation. After the inception of staminodial primordia, the floral apex becomes flat, and the first and subsequently the second carpel primordia appear at opposite comers of the pistil primordium. Inside each carpel primordium a fossette forms. Through differential growth this depression becomes clear and the carpel wall encircles one side of the future placental region. The placental region is detectable even in early stages, but clear signs of ovule inception appear late when the placental region is elevated onto one side of the ovary wall by intercalary growth. Although the relative size of the two carpels varies among flowers, the placental position always appears to be the border between the two carpels and the floral apex. This suggests that the placentation of Zelkova is parietal. The ovule position in tricarpellate ovaries also suggests an evolutionary derivation from ovaries with parietal placentation. Parietal placentation appears to be the original condition in Urticales.     

Immunochemistry of the HLA class II molecules isolated from a mouse cell transfected with DQ alpha and beta genes from a DR4 haplotype

Cells from a mouse B lymphoma were transfected by DQ alpha and DQ beta genes derived from a DR4 haplotype. Quantitatively, the resulting expression of human class II molecules was similar to that of human B lymphoblastoid cell lines. Qualitatively, the transformant class II molecules differed from normal class II molecules in their carbohydrate moiety. As for their antigenic specificity, they were shown to carry two determinants previously identified on DQ molecules controlled by DR4 haplotypes, i. e., DQw3 and DCHON. The transformant molecules did not carry a third DR4-associated specificity, DC5 (equivalent to TA10), and must possess a structure allelic to DC5. However, no corresponding alloantigenic specificity was detected by a screening of relevant alloantisera.     

Production of β-mannosidase and β-mannanase by an alkalophilic Bacillus sp.

Summary An alkalophilic bacterium producing high amounts of the cell-associated -mannosidase and extracellular -mannanase was isolated from soil. The isolate (AM-001) that grew well in alkaline pH media was identified as a strain of Bacillus sp. The optimal cultivation temperature for enzyme production was 31° C for -mannosidase and 37° C for -mannanase with the optimum production medium composed of 1% konjac powder, 0.2% yeast extract, 2% Polypepton, 0.1% K₂HPO₄, 0.02% MgSO₄ · 7H₂O and 0.5% Na₂CO₃. Optimum pH and temperature for -mannosidase were 7.0 and 55° C, and for -mannanase were 9.0 and 65° C.     

Tyrosine Hydroxylase Is Activated and Phosphorylated on Different Sites in Rat Pheochromocytoma PC12 Cells Treated with Phorbol Ester and Forskolin

Abstract: Incubation of rat pheochromocytoma PC12 cells with 4β-phorbol-12β-myristate-13α-acetate (PMA), an activator of Ca²⁺/phospholipid-dependent protein kinase (protein kinase C), or forskolin, an activator of adenylate cyclase, is associated with increased activity and enhanced phosphorylation of tyrosine hydroxylase. Neither the activation nor increased phosphorylation of tyrosine hydroxylase produced by PMA is dependent on extracellular Ca²⁺. Both activation and phosphorylation of the enzyme by PMA are inhibited by pretreatment of the cells with trifluo-perazine (TFP). Treatment of PC 12 cells with l-oleoyl-2-acetylglycerol also leads to increases in the phosphorylation and enzymatic activity of tyrosine hydroxylase; 1, 2-diolein and 1, 3-diolein are ineffective. The effects of forskolin on the activation and phosphorylation of the enzyme are independent of Ca²⁺ and are not inhibited by TIT⁵. Forskolin elicits an increase in cyclic AMP levels in PC 12 cells. The increases in both cyclic AMP content and the enzymatic activity and phosphorylation of tyrosine hydroxylase following exposure of PC 12 cells to different concentrations of forskolin are closely correlated. In contrast, cyclic AMP levels do not increase in cells treated with PMA. Tryptic digestion of the phosphorylated enzyme isolated from untreated cells yields four phosphopeptides separable by HPLC. Incubation of the cells in the presence of the Ca²⁺ ionophore ionomycin increases the phosphorylation of three of these tryptic peptides. However, in cells treated with either PMA or forskolin, there is an increase in the phosphorylation of only one of these peptides derived from tyrosine hydroxylase. The peptide phosphorylated in PMA-treated cells is different from that phosphorylated in forskolin-treated cells. The latter peptide is identical to the peptide phosphorylated in dibutyryl cyclic AMP-treated cells. These results indicate that tyrosine hydroxylase is activated and phosphorylated on different sites in PC 12 cells exposed to PMA and forskolin and that phosphorylation of either of these sites is associated with activation of tyrosine hydroxylase. The results further suggest that cyclic AMP-dependent and Ca²⁺/ phospholipid-dependent protein kinases may play a role in the regulation of tyrosine hydroxylase in PC 12 cells.     

A case of von Recklinghausen's disease associated with pheochromocytoma and papillary carcinoma of the thyroid gland

A 58-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital complaining of headache, dizziness and intermittent elevation of blood pressure. Multiple café-au-lait spots and neurofibromas had appeared on the back and the limbs since the age of 30 years. At the age of 54 years she underwent total thyroidectomy because of papillary carcinoma of the thyroid gland. On admission, the levels of plasma norepinephrine and epinephrine, urinary norepinephrine and normetanephrine were all within the normal range. However, urinary excretion of metanephrine was markedly increased to 1.49 +/- 0.45 (Mean +/- SD) mg/day and that of epinephrine was also slightly increased. The computed tomographic scans of the abdomen and the scintigraphy with 131I-metaiodobenzylguanidine revealed a tumor mass in the region of the right adrenal gland. The tumor was histologically confirmed to be pheochromocytoma at the operation. In her family history, her mother and one of her two sisters had von Recklinghausen's disease and another sister suffered from follicular carcinoma of the thyroid gland. As far as we know, this paper is the first report of a patient with von Recklinghausen's disease associated with both pheochromocytoma and non-medullary carcinoma of the thyroid gland, and her family.