Responses of free running leaf movements to light,in particular to red and far red light during sunrise and sunset

Summary Daily leaf movements were compared with the intensities and proportions of red and far red light during sunrise and sunset. A linear relationship exists between the inverse of the 1/3 power of the minimum leaf movement against the elapsed time for its occurrence since either sunrise or sunset. A minimum of the ratio of the intensities of red to far red light at 6 min after sunrise and 16 min before sunset are suggested to be related to minimal levels of far red phytochrome and of ATP activity.     

The effect of two forms of light on the development of the neonatal rat retina

Summary The effects of red and far red light on the development of the retinas were studied in the neonatal rat models. Red light appeared to be stimulatory and far red light appeared to be inhibitory.     

Reduction of ferricytochrome c by human red cells

Summary Human red cells reduced extracellular ferricytochrome c to ferrocytochrome c under various conditions, suggesting that ferricytochrome c reducing systems are present at the outer surface of the red cell membrane.     

Reduction of ferricytochrome c by human red cells

Human red cells reduced extracellular ferricytochrome c to ferrocytochrome c under various conditions, suggesting that ferricytochrome c reducing systems are present at the outer surface of the red cell membrane.     

Effects of sham-pinealectomy,performed under white and red light,on the melatonin content of rat pineal glands

Summary Sham-pinealectomy, performed under different light conditions in newborn and adult rats, is followed by changes of pineal activity resulting in variations of melatonin content. The pineal glands of rats sham-operated under white light produce significantly less melatonin. In contrast, glands of rats operated on under red light show a melatonin content corresponding to that of intact rats. This result implies that normal white light causes a disturbance in melatonin production by a non-retinal pathway.     

Night pineal N-acetyltransferase activity in rats exposed to white or red light pulses of various intensity and duration

Summary Night N-acetyltransferase activity is suppressed by red and white light; the red light intensity, however, must be 10 times higher. Short light pulses also suppress night N-acetyltransferase; the higher the light intensity, the shorter the pulse is effective.The authors are grateful to Mrs Marie Svobodová for her skillful technical assistance.     

Enzymatic activities of muscle fibres differentiated,in vitro,from pectoralis major (white) and adductor magnus (red) muscles of chick embryos

Summary Specific activities of NADP isocitrate dehydrogenase and acetylcholinesterase were significantly higher in muscle fibres differentiated, in vitro, from myoblasts of adductor magnus (red) than pectoralis major (white) muscles 10-day-old chick embryos. This is evidence, as far as enzyme activities, are concerned, that myoblasts from different types of skeletal muscles are able to give, in tissue culture, muscle fibres of different properties, even in the absence of nerve supply.Supported by a grant No. 75 7 1641 from the French Délégation à la Recherche scientifique et technique.     

Effect of prolactin on human red cell sodium transport

Incubation of red cells with higher concentrations of prolactin in vitro enhanced the cellular sodium level and produced a significant reduction in erythrocyte membrane adenosine triphosphatase activity. This effect was dose and time-dependent. It is the result of an inhibition of the active sodium pump similar to that produced by ouabain, suggesting altered red cell function and electrolyte balance in hyperprolactinemic states.     

Red cell metabolism in red and grey kangaroos

Glucose utilization, lactate production and glutathione regeneration were measured in the red blood cells of 2 species of Australian Marsupials, Eastern grey Kangaroo (Macropus gigantus) and red kangaroo (Macropus rufus), and were found to be significantly lower in the red blood cells from grey than that of red kangaroos.     

Red cell metabolism in red and grey kangaroos

Summary Glucose utilization, lactate production and glutathione regeneration were measured in the red blood cells of 2 species of Australian Marsupials, Eastern grey kangaroo (Macropus gigantus) and red kangaroo (Macropus rufus), and were found to be significantly lower in the red blood cells from grey than that of red kangaroos.The author wishes to thank Mrs T. Stephens, M. A. Gruca and A. Mulley for help in blood collection and laboratory work. This work was supported by a grant from the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia.     

Biochemical polymorphism and the 2,3-diphosphoglycerate in the sheep red blood cells

Summary There was no significant difference in the level of 2,3-DPG in the red blood cells of sheep of different haemoglobin types (Hb A and Hb B) or potassium types (HK and LK). However, low glutathione (GSH^L) sheep had significantly higher (p<0.01) level of 2,3-DPG in their red blood cells than high glutathione (GSH^H) sheep. There was also significant effect of interactions between glutathione, haemoglobin and potassium types (p<0.05) and glutathione and haemoglobin types (p<0.01) on red cell 2,3-DPG levels.     

Peculiar ruthenium red staining pattern of the human early trophoblast

Summary This paper describes the ruthenium red staining (RRS) pattern observed on the 2 sides, maternal and fetal, of the human early trophoblast. The possibility of a different plasma membrane composition of the 2 sides of the human early trophoblast is discussed.     

Physiological dissection of various effects of ruthenium red dye on Paramecium cells.

Polycationic dye ruthenium red, but not alcian blue, if externally applied to Paramecium cells quickly inhibits their phagocytosis. Ruthenium red combined with the cell surface diminishes frequency and duration of ciliary reversals and gradually inactivates the Ca++ gating mechanism. This effect persists for 1-3 after ruthenium red removal from the culture medium.     

Effect of prolactin on human red cell sodium transport

Summary Incubation of red cells with higher concentrations of prolactin in vitro enhanced the cellular sodium level and produced a significant reduction in erythrocyte membrane adenosine triphosphatase activity. This effect was dose and time-dependent. It is the result of an inhibition of the active sodium pump similar to that produced by ouabain, suggesting altered red cell function and electrolyte balance in hyperprolactinemic states.Acknowledgments. Ovine prolactin was generously supplied by Ferring (Malmö, Sweden) and NPA, NIH (Maryland, USA). Thanks are also due to Prof. S. Dutta, Wayne State University, Detroit, for the gift, of ouabain octahydrate and Dr M. Ramachandran and Prof. S. Ramakrishnan, Department of Biochemistry, JIPMER, Pondicherry, for their encouragement and keen interest in this study.     

Temperature dependence of the deformability of Carp (Cyprinus carpio) red blood cells

Summary Measurements were made of the deformability of the red cells of carp at different temperatures and compared with previous results obtained with another teleost fish (yellowtail) and human red cells. Changes with temperature are similar to those obtained with yellowtail, but interpretation of differences in terms of mean corpuscular volume alone are insufficient to account for the variations, which seem to be mainly due to differences in cellular deformability of the cells themselves.Acknowledgment. We wish to thank Karlheinz Götz for his excellent technical assistance. Reprint requests should be addressed to G.M.H.     

The pharmacological relevance of vital staining with neutral red

The uptake of neutral red into the renin-containing juxtaglomerular granules does not inhibit the release of renin either in basal or in stimulated states of renin secretion. The vasodilating effect of neutral red may be due to a nonspecific binding to noradrenaline-receptors in the vascular smooth muscle cells.     

Histochemical characterization of the red fibres in pigeon pectoralis muscle

Summary Red fibres of the pigeon pectoralis muscle showed high ATPase reaction at pH 9.4. Veronal-acetate pretreatment completely inhibited the ATPase reaction in these red fibres but not in type I fibres of the gastrocnemius. The former are type II red muscle fibres and hence are unlike type I red, the so-called slow-twitch muscle fibres.     

Histochemical characterization of the red fibres in pigeon pectoralis muscle.

Red fibres of the pigeon pectoralis muscle showed high ATPase reaction at pH 9.4. Veronal-acetate pretreatment completely inhibited the ATPase reaction in these red fibres but not in type I fibres of the gastrocnemius. The former are type II red muscle fibres and hence are unlike type I red, the so-called slow-twitch muscle fibres.     

The effect of pyrophosphate and diphosphonates on calcium transport in red cells.

The effect of 0.5 mM pyrophosphate (PPi), disodium ethane-4-hydroxy-1,1-diphosphonate (EHDP) and disodium dichloromethane diphosphonate (Cl2MDP) on the ATP-dependent Ca2+ extrusion from the human red cell ghosts was studied. PPi and Cl2MDP had no effect, when introduced into the cells or added outside to the medium. EHDP slightly increased the calcium concentration in the released cells and slightly decreased the rate constant of the calcium transport, having opposite effects when it was inside or outside the cells. PPi and the 2 diphosphonates were not found to move easily across the red cell membrane.     

Protein bound calcium in piscine red and white muscles

Summary The levels of Ca⁺⁺ and calcium binding properties of sarcoplasmic proteins in red and white muscles of cat fish were compared. The white muscle is characterized by greater water content, ionic calcium and Ca-binding capacity, whereas the red muscle is characterized by a higher calcium sensitive protein content.The authors are grateful to Dr R. Narayana, Director of Instruction (BS & H), University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore for facilities and encouragement.