Isoenzymes of glutamate-oxalacetate transaminase in the larvae of silkwormsBombyx mori infected with nuclear polyhedrosis virus

Summary Nuclear polyhedrosis virus infection induced changes in the activity and isoenzyme pattern of glutamate-oxalacetate transaminase in the larvae of silkworm,Bombyx mori.The author wish to thank the director of CSRTI, Mysore for providing the virus preparation and the silkworm larvae.     

The M-superfamily of conotoxins: a review

The focus of this review is the M-superfamily of Conus venom peptides. Disulfide rich peptides belonging to the M-superfamily have three loop regions and the cysteine arrangement: CC–C–C–CC, where the dashes represent loops one, two, and three, respectively. Characterization of M-superfamily peptides has demonstrated that diversity in cystine connectivity occurs between different branches of peptides even though the cysteine pattern remains consistent. This superfamily is subdivided into five branches, M-1 through M-5, based on the number of residues in the third loop region, between the fourth and fifth cysteine residues. M-superfamily peptides appear to be ubiquitous in Conus venom. They are largely unexplained in indigenous biological function, and they represent an active area of research within the scientific community.     

Contributions to the cytology of Indian scorpions

Zusammenfassung Die Chromosomenzahl vonHeterometrus scaber ist 96. WirdPalamnaeus swammerdami mit Colchicin (0,2%) behandelt, so ziehen sich die Chromosomen in der Prämetaphase I zusammen.Buthus tamulus (aus Mysore) zeigt weitgehend variable Chromosomenzahl (20–28). Die Lage der Chromosomen in der Metaphase I und Anaphase I weist auf Monozentrie, Bizentrie und Holokinetie.     

Structure of victorin C,the major host-selective toxin fromCochliobolus victoriae

Summary The predominant host-selective toxin fromCochliobolus victoriae, victorin C, is a peptide with an apparent mol. wt of 796, representing a cyclic array of the subunits1–6. The structure of the toxin has now been established as in16 through analysis of the degradation products generated by enzymic and non-enzymic partial hydrolysis. The presence of a hydrated aldehydo group requires for victorin C the composition C₃₁H₄₅O₁₃N₆Cl₃ with an amended mol. wt of 814, for which independent experimental support has been secured.     

Chloroplast nucleoids in a unicellular hot spring algaCyanidium caldarium and related algae

Summary Algal chloroplast nucleoids were compared by epifluorescent microscopy.Cyanidium caldarium strain RK-1 or 001 has a rod-shaped chloroplast nucleoid whileCyanidium caldarium (Chroococcidiopsis sp.) strain M-8 or 002 has a circular chloroplast nucleoid along the periphery of a multilobed chloroplast.     

Interchange trisomics in pearl millet

Summary In the progeny of interchange heterozygotes ofPennisetum typhoides, 2 interchange trisomic plants were obtained. These were selfed over 2 generations and the cytology of the parents, s₁ and s₂ plants was studied. The types of multiple associations in the s₁ and s₂ generations differed from those of the parent. A significant decrease in mean chiasma frequency was noted in s₁ and s₂.Acknowledgment. The author is grateful to Prof. em. J. V. Pantulu, Department of Botany, Andhra University, Waltair, for his suggestions and encouragement.     

Does ammonium uptake influence xylem sap composition inPhaseolus vulgaris L. andGlycine max (L.) Merill?

The question of whether ammonium uptake influences the occurrence of ureides in legumes has been addressed in this study by investigating threeP. vulgaris genotypes as well as one cultivar ofGlycine max. All plants were raised in sand culture during the dry season in northern Thailand and irrigated daily with nitrogen-free nutrient solution, or the same solution containing 12 mol m^–3 nitrogen in the form of (NH₄)₂SO₄ or KNO₃, each treatment consisting of different proportions of either compound. Regression analyses of xylem sap composition relative to ammonium vs. nitrate supply of plants harvested at V4, R1 and R6 indicated close positive correlations of xylem amino nitrogen content and negative correlations with xylem nitrate content and ammonium supply. Statistically significant correlations between relative xylem ureide content and ammonium availability could be established for theP. vulgaris cultivar Brilliant up to stage R1, but not for the other plants investigated. It was concluded that at least for some genotypes of common bean a relationship exists between ureide production and ammonium uptake by the root system. Since the extent to which ureide production is stimulated remains quite small, its relevance to the xylem solute technique for measurement of N₂ fixation may be limited. Nevertheless, due to the possibility of large genotypic differences in the impact of ammonium on ureide production, this factor must be considered in calculations if N₂ fixation is to be determined in soils containing significant amounts of ammonium, e.g. in paddy fields.     

Chromosome studies and chromatographic analysis of free amino acids in two species of coleoptera

Résumé Le nombre des chromosomes diploïdes est de 20 dans les deux espèces de Coléoptères TénébrionïdesGonocephalum depressum etScleron sp. Il y a 18 autosomes et 2 chromosomes sexuels. Ils s'observent dans les acides amino libres. Dasns leScleron sp., il n'a en a que 14. La systématique de ces espèces est discutée sur la base de leurs caractères biochimiques.

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The author is grateful to Dr.A. R. Kasturi Bai, Central College, Bangalore (S. India), for her valuable suggestions and guidance. He is grateful to the Principal, Central College, Bangalore, for permitting him to work in the Zoology Department, Central College, and the Principal, Maharani's College, Bangalore, and the Director of Collegiate Education in Mysore, Bangalore, for the encouragement.     

Über Struktur und Aktivität der den H2O2-Zerfall katalysierenden Cu2+-Komplexe. — VI. Differenzierung von nativer RNS und nativer DNS bzw. denaturierter DNS auf Grund der katalytischen Eigenschaften

Summary The catalysis of H₂O₂ decomposition by Cu²⁺-complexes of RNA and DNA has been investigated. It is shown that both complexes decompose H₂O₂, but only the Cu²⁺-RNA-system shows peroxidative activity too, e.g. only in this case the nucleotide bases are degraded. Thermal denaturation of DNA also leads to a Cu²⁺-complex with peroxidative activity, the latter being dependent on the degree of denaturation.

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V. Mitteilung:S. Petri, H. Sigel undH. Erlenmeyer, Helv. chim. Acta49, 1778 (1966).

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12. Mitteilung überMetallionen und H ₂ O ₂; 11. Mitteilung:H. Ch. Curtius, P. Anders, R. Zell, H. Sigel undH. Erlenmeyer, Helv. chim. Acta49, 2256 (1966).     

Heilmittelchemische Studien mit Dien-Additionsprodukten V: Über die coronardilatierenden Eigenschaften einer neuen Klasse von Aminen

Summary The addition productsof 2 M N-alkyl substituted maleinimides with 1M asymmetric diphenylethylen and some of its substitution products were reduced with LiAlH₄ to give amines of the structure V. These substances produce coronary dilation on the isolated guinea-pig heart perfused according to the method of Langendorff, a few of them being more active than papaverin. On the barbiturate anaesthetized dog, however, the activity was much less than that of papaverin after intraarterial injection and was entirely absent on intravenous application. High doses caused lowering of the blood pressure. The limited value of the Langendorff heart preparation for screening coronary dilators is emphasized.

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IV. Mitteilung: I.Molnar, Helv. Chim Acta49, 586 (1966).     

Prostaglandin (15S)-PGA2 derivatives in the gorgonianPlexaura homomalla (Esper), formakükenthali Moser

Summary The lipid fraction, 17%, of air-driedPlexaura homomalla formakükenthali, collected in the Caribbean at Puerto Rico, yielded 50% of its weight as the mammalian prostaglandin (15S)-PGA₂ methyl ester. The freeze-dried gorgonian yielded (15S)-PGA₂ largely as the acetate of the methyl ester. (15S)-PGA₂ was also obtained from material collected at St. Croix and at South Caicos. Field observations indicate thatPlexaura kükenthali may be a species separate fromPlexaura homomalla and that it is abundant on some shallow water reefs in the Caribbean. Prostaglandins could not be detected in the lipid fraction of eggs isolated fromPlexaura homomalla (Esper) formahomomalla.Acknowledgments. We gratefully acknowledge support from the Office of Sea Grant, NOAA, Department of Commerce (Grant 047-158-44067), and the use of facilities at the Isla Mayagues Marine Laboratory of the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez, the West Indies Laboratory of Fairleigh Dickinson University at St. Croix, U.S.V.I., and the Marine-Biologisch Instituut at Curacao. Special thanks to Dr. F.M. Bayer, Curator, Department of Zoology, National Museum of Natural History-Smithsonian Institution for checking identity of gorgonians used in this study.     

On the possible mode of action of neurohormones on cholinesterase activity in the ventral nerve cord of scorpion,Heterometrus fulvipes

Summary It is shown that K_m of ChE is not affected by the neurohormones but V_max is increased and decreased in presence of acceleratory and inhibitory neurohormones respectively. Hence it is suggested that the neurohormones might modulate the enzyme activity by altering the maximal velocities (V_max) rather than affecting the enzyme affinity (K_m) towards the substrate.Acknowledgment. The present study was carried out at S. V. University, Tirupati, A. P. India, and the authors are highly beholden to Prof. K. S. Swami, Head of the Department of Zoology, S. V. University, for his kind help and encouragement. Thanks are also due to the University Grants Commission, New Delhi, India, for placing one of them (N. V.) as a National Research Associate which made the present work possible.     

On the inhibition of alcoholic fermentation inBrettanomyces yeasts under anaerobic conditions

Zusammenfassung Der «negative Pasteureffekt» inBrettanomyces-Hefen kann durch O₂, Gärprodukte der Hefen, Diäthyläther, Aldehyde, Ketone und andere Carbonylverbindungen, sowie durch DPN beseitigt werden.

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The author expresses his thanks to Prof.T. Wikén for stimulating interest, to Mr.C. J. E. A. Bulder for kindly supplying the respiration-deficient strain ofBr. claussenii, and to MissH. Brakman for valuable technical assistance. The author is indebted to the Koninklijke Nederlandsche Gist- en Spiritusfabriek N. V., Delft, for a gift of pure DPN and DPNH. Part of the work was supported by the Delfts Hogeschoolfonds and by the Netherlands Organization for Pure Research (Z. W. O.).     

Chemical analysis of the pheromone blends produced by males and females of the neotropical moth,Mocis megas (Guénée) (Lepidoptera,Noctuidae, Catocalinae)

Summary Pheromonal secretions produced by females and males of the noctuid moth,Mocis megas (Guénée) have been analyzed by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (EI (electron impact) and CI (chemical ionization)). The female sex pheromone was a blend of (Z,Z,Z) 3,6,9 heneicosatriene (55%) and (Z,Z) 3,6-cis-9S, 10R-epoxyheneicosadiene (45%). Male secretion produced at the level of a prothoracic organ was a blend of two unsaturated major hydrocarbons: (Z,Z) 6,9 heneicosadiene, (64%) and (Z,Z,Z) 3,6,9 heneicosatriene (24%) and C₁₉, C₂₀ and C₂₂ homologues (total ratio 12%), as minor components. The trienic hydrocarbon was present in both sexes. The behavioral role of this male secretion has not yet been elucidated.     

1Alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 inhibits hepatic chromosomal aberrations, DNA strand breaks and specific DNA adducts during rat hepatocarcinogenesis

The possible promoting effect of streptozotocin (STZ; 65 mg/kg body weight, intraperitoneal)-induced diabetes during 2-acetylaminofluorene (2-AAF; 0.04% in basal diet)-initiated hepatocarcinogenesis and modulatory effect of 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D₃ (VD₃; 0.3 μg/0.1 ml in propylene glycol, per os) were investigated by monitoring chromosomal aberrations (CAs), DNA strand breaks and specific DNA adducts in rat liver. VD₃ treatment (twice a week) was started 4 weeks before the 2-AAF regimen and continued throughout the study. Aberrant metaphase chromosomes were counted from the regenerating hepatocytes 15, 30 or 45 weeks after STZ injection, while DNA strand break and adduct assays were performed 45 days post-STZ treatment. Dietary exposure to 2-AAF elicited a substantial increase in CAs and elevated the extent of DNA strand breaks and formation of N-(deoxyguanosin-8-yl)-2-aminofluorene. A promoting effect of STZ was evident from CAs coupled with DNA strand break analysis. VD₃ treatment substantially reducted 2-AAF+STZ-induced CAs as well as DNA strand breaks and adducts. Thus, VD₃ appears to be effective in suppressing liver-specific early chromosomal as well as DNA damage during the process of rat hepatocarcinogenesis initiated with 2-AAF and promoted by STZ contributing to its promise as a cancer chemotherapeutic agent. Received 27 April 2001; accepted 22 May 2001     

Experimenteller Nachweis der autochthonen Automatie der Lymphgefässe

Summary It is shown that the peristaltic activity of the isolated mesenterial-lymph vessels of mammals (Cavia porcellus L.) is provoked by two different stimuli:1. by extension (internal pressure of the vessel: 2–25 cm H₂O); 2. by temperature (biokinetic Temperature-Space of 23°; between 22–45°C).Based on these experiments, the autochthonous automaticy of the lymph vessels has been proved.

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Meiner Assistentin, FrauDora Rathenow-Mercier, danke ich für hervorragende Mitarbeit, der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft für die apparative Unterstützung.     

High K+-induced release of somatostatin from the cortical preparation of rat brain

Summary Release of endogenous somatostatin (SRIF) from the rat cerebral cortical slices incubated in Krebs-bicarbonate buffer was increased from the basal rate of 3.4±0.6% of the total SRIF content in 15 min at [K⁺]_o=5.6 mM, to 13.1±1.6% upon raising the [K⁺]_o to 56.6 mM. The high-K⁺ evoked SRIF release was absent when Ca⁺⁺ in the medium was replaced by Mn⁺⁺. The isolated synaptosomes from rat cerebral cortex contain 13.2±3.1 ng SRIF/mg protein compared to 0.33±0.01 ng/mg protein in the cortical tissue as a whole, suggesting that nerve terminals are the main source of the peptide released upon membrane depolarization.The study was supported by a grant from the Medical Research Council of Canada. Results of this work have been published in part as abstracts: Can. Physiol.9, 45 (1978), and Fedn Proc.37, 665 (1978).The authors are greatly indebted to Dr M. Gotz and the Ayerst Research Laboratories for the most generous supply of the synthetic somatostatin.     

Genotoxic effects of dithane M-45 on the bone marrow cells of mice in vivo

Genotoxic effects of dithane M-45 were studied on the bone marrow cells of male albino mice (Lacca strain) in vivo. Different doses (30 mg, 40 mg and 300 mg/kg b.wt) of dithane M-45 were injected intraperitoneally and their effects were investigated after time intervals of 1, 2, 5 and 10 days. The chromosomal aberrations observed in the bone marrow cells of male mice after treatment with dithane M-45 were fragments, rings, dicentric chromosomes, terminal chromatid deletions, chromatid gaps and breaks. In addition to these chromosomal aberrations, physiological effects such as uneven stretching of chromatin material, end-to-end chromosomal associations, exchange configurations, clumping, stickiness and centromeric associations were also observed.     

Characterization of the host-specific toxins produced byHelminthosporium sacchari,the causal organism of eyespot disease of sugarcane

Summary Investigation of the host-specific toxin complex fromH. sacchari has led to the isolation of 3 isomeric glycosidic components C₃₉H₆₄O₂₂, each active at 2×10^–11 moles. The 3 isomers consist of 4 galactose units linked to an aglycone residue C₁₅H₂₄O₂.Acknowledgments. The Boyce Thompson-Cornell group thanks J.F. Rissler, University of Maryland, A.K. Bose, Stevens Institute of Technology, R. Barker and A. Serriani, Cornell University, and C. Grinnalds and J. Golay, Boyce Thompson Institute for help with various aspects of this work. Supported in part by a grant to V.M. from the US Department of Agriculture (8100720). The Zürich group thanks Dr G.A. Strobel, Department of Botany and Microbiology, Montana State University, Bozeman, for supplying a potent toxin-producing strain (M 36), a susceptible clone of sugarcane (51 NG 97), and a reference sample of helminthosporoside, Dr. K. Hostettmann and Mme M. Hostettmann-Kaldas, Pharmazeutisches Institut ETH Zürich, for assistance in developing the DCC separation and Sandoz A.G., Basel, for financial support.     

Genotoxic effects of dithane M-45 on the bone marrow cells of mice in vivo

Summary Genotoxic effects of dithane M-45 were studied on the bone marrow cells of male albino mice (Lacca strain) in vivo. Different doses (30 mg, 40 mg and 300 mg/kg b.wt) of dithane M-45 were injected intraperitoneally and their effects were investigated after time intervals of 1, 2, 5 and 10 days. The chromosomal aberrations observed in the bone marrow cells of male mice after treatment with dithane M-45 were fragments, rings, dicentric chromosomes, terminal chromatid deletions, chromatid gaps and breaks. In addition to these chromosomal aberrations, physiological effects such as uneven stretching of chromatin material, end-to-end chromosomal associations, exchange configurations, clumping, stickiness and centromeric associations were also observed.