Interactions between Males of the Lizard Liolaemus tenuis: Roles of Familiarity and Memory

For territorial organisms, recognition of familiar individuals can reduce the frequency and intensity of aggressive encounters (‘dear enemy’ phenomenon), stabilize social systems, and reduce the cost of territory maintenance. Here, we investigated the behavioural events displayed during contests between familiar and unfamiliar individuals in the lizard Liolaemus tenuis (Liolaemidae), a species in which males are territorial. The behaviours recorded were attack, warning, evasion, and submission, and the latencies to the first aggressive (attack or warning) behaviour. Additionally, we assessed the ability of individuals to remember a familiar conspecific after a period without social interaction. Individual males reduced and delayed aggressive behaviour directed towards socially familiar individuals compared with unfamiliar ones. These results suggest that males distinguished between familiar and unfamiliar conspecific males and are in agreement with the ‘dear enemy’ phenomenon. Other behaviours were similar in the contests between familiar and unfamiliar individuals. Recognition of familiar conspecifics was lost after 20 d without social interactions. This may be relevant for interactions with floater males or with neighbours that lose their territory and subsequently attempt to fight for their ex‐neighbour's territory.     

Influence of increased aspartate availability on lysine formation by a recombinant strain of Corynebacterium glutamicum and utilization of fumarate

Aspartate availability was increased in Corynebacterium glutamicum strains to assess its influence on lysine production. Upon addition of fumarate to a strain with a feedback-resistant aspartate kinase, the lysine yield increased from 20 to 30 mM. This increase was accompanied by the excretion of malate and succinate. In this strain, fumaric acid was converted to aspartate by fumarate hydratase, malate dehydrogenase, and aspartate amino transferase activity. To achieve the direct conversion of fumarate to aspartate, shuttle vectors containing the aspA+ (aspartase) gene of Escherichia coli were constructed. These constructions were introduced into C. glutamicum, which was originally devoid of the enzyme aspartase. This resulted in an aspartase activity of 0.3 U/mg (70% of the aspartase activity in E. coli) with plasmid pZ1-9 and an activity of up to 1.05 U/mg with plasmid pCE1 delta. In aspA+-expressing strains, lysine excretion was further increased by 20%. Additionally, in strains harboring pCE1 delta, up to 27 mM aspartate was excreted. This indicates that undetermined limitations in the sequence of reactions from aspartate to lysine exist in C. glutamicum.     

Influence of ethanol on the activities of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A-reductase and squalene-hopene-cyclase in Zymomonas mobilis

Summary The influence of different primary aliphatic alcohols on the activities of two key enzymes in hopanoid biosynthesis of Zymomonas mobilis was investigated. By use of ¹⁴C- and ³H-labelled substrates the enzymes 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA-reductase and squalene-hopenecyclase were detected with activities of 1.6 pmol x (min x mg protein)^-1 and 2.3 pmol x- (min x mg protein)^-1, respectively. Cells grown in the presence of 6% (v/v) ethanol did not show higher activities of these enzymes than cells grown in the presence of 1% (v/v) ethanol. Furthermore, 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA-reductase was not activated by ethanol. However, ethanol activated the squalene-hopene-cyclase when added to the enzyme test system. Besides ethanol, propanol also had a positive effect on the squalene-hopene-cyclase: the enzyme's activity increased 1.7-fold in the presence of either alcohol at a concentration of 6% (v/v). This corresponded with a similar increase of hopanoid content of whole cells when grown in the presence of 6% (v/v) added ethanol or propanol. These results indicated that the squalene-hopene-cyclase has a regulatory function in the alcohol dependent hopanoid biosynthesis of Z. mobilis.Abbreviation HMG-CoA-reductase 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A-reductase     

Mutation induced in vitro on a C-8 guanine aminofluorene containing template by a modified T7 DNA polymerase

We reacted uracil-containing M13mp2 DNA with N-hydroxy-2-aminofluorene to produce a template with N-(deoxyguanosin-8-yl)-2-aminofluorene adducts. This template was hybridized to a non-uracil-containing linear fragment from which the lac z complementing insert had been removed to produce a gapped substrate. DNA synthesis using this substrate with the modified T7 DNA polymerase Sequenase led to an increase in the number and frequency of lac- mutations observed. Escherichia coli DNA polymerase I (Kf) did not yield a comparable increase in mutation frequency or number even though both Sequenase and the E. coli polymerase had similar, low, 3'----5' exonuclease activities as compared to T4 DNA polymerase. We did not observe an increase in mutations when synthesis was attempted on a template reacted with N-acetoxy-2-(acetylamino)fluorene to give N-(deoxyguanosin-8-yl)-2-(acetylamino)fluorene adducts. Both E. coli and T7 enzymes terminate synthesis before all (acetylamino)fluorene lesions. Only some of the putative aminofluorene adducts produced strong termination bands, and there was a difference in the pattern generated by Sequenase and E. coli pol I (Kf) using the same substrate. Analysis of the mutations obtained from Sequenase synthesis on the aminofluorene-containing templates indicated a preponderance of -1 deletions at G's and of G----T transversions.     

Differentiation of somatic embryos from protoplasts isolated from embryogenic suspension cultures of Abies alba L.

Embryogenic suspension cultures of Abies alba were established using an embryogenic suspensor mass culture originating from the zygotic embryo in immature seed explants (Schuller et al. 1989). Protoplasts were isolated from the suspension material. The protoplasts were immobilized in alginate layers in order to follow the development of single protoplasts. During the first days of protoplast culture a modified Kao and Michayluk (1975) medium proved to be necessary for subsequent divisions. The formation of proembryos succeeded within 2–3 weeks when subcultured with a modified Schenk and Hildebrandt (1972) liquid medium. Light, enhanced sugar concentration, and the addition of abscisic acid led to the formation of slightly green torpedo-shaped somatic embryos after 6–8 weeks from protoplast isolation.Abbreviations ABA abscisic acid - BAP N⁶-benzyladenine - 2,4-D 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid - ESM Embryonal suspensor mass (Gupta and Durzan 1986) - KM Kao and Michayluk (1975) - LP (von Arnold and Eriksson 1977) - MES 2-(N-morpholino)ethane-sulfonic acid - NAA 1-naphthalene-acetic acid (sodium salt) - PVP polyvinylpyrrolidone - SH Schenk and Hildebrandt (1972) - Tween 80 polyoxyethylene-sorbitan-monooleate     

Expression of an L-alanine dehydrogenase gene in Zymomonas mobilis and excretion of L-alanine.

An approach to broaden the product range of the ethanologenic, gram-negative bacterium Zymomonas mobilis by means of genetic engineering is presented. Gene alaD for L-alanine dehydrogenase (EC 1.4.1.1.) from Bacillus sphaericus was cloned and introduced into Z. mobilis. Under the control of the strong promoter of the pyruvate decarboxylase (pdc) gene, the enzyme was expressed up to a specific activity of nearly 1 mu mol . min -1 . mg of protein -1 in recombinant cells. As a results of this high L-alanine dehydrogenase activity, growing cells excreted up to 10 mmol of alanine per 280 mmol of glucose utilized into a mineral salts medium. By the addition of 85 mM NH4+ to the medium, growth of the recombinant cells stopped, and up to 41 mmol alanine was secreted. As alanine dehydrogenase competed with pyruvate decarboxylase (PDC) (EC 4.1.1.1.) for the same substrate (pyruvate), PDC activity was reduced by starvation for the essential PDC cofactor thiamine PPi. A thiamine auxotrophy mutant of Z. mobilis which carried the alaD gene was starved for 40 h in glucose-supplemented mineral salts medium and then shifted to mineral salts medium with 85 mM NH4+ and 280 mmol of glucose. The recombinants excreted up to 84 mmol of alanine (7.5 g/liter) over 25 h. Alanine excretion proceeded at an initial velocity of 238 nmol . min-1 . mg [dry weight]-1. Despite this high activity, the excretion rate seemed to be a limiting factor, as the intracellular concentration of alanine was as high as 260 mM at the beginning of the excretion phase and decreased to 80 to 90 mM over 24 h.