Effect of relative humidity on the free-living stages of Strongyloides papillosus (Rhabdiasoidea: Nematoda)

The eggs and larvae are affected by the changes in the humidity level around them. The eggs do not develop below 87% relative humidity at 30 degrees C and 25 degrees C. At sub-developmental rel. hum. they remain viable for 30 h at 81%, but at 73% rel. hum. level they do not survive beyond 18 h. Survival of larvae in 100% rel. hum. is longer at 30 degrees C than at 25 degrees C and 35 degrees C, and also they exhibit a poor resistance to desiccation.     

Effects of raised and lowered incubation temperatures on the sexual differentiation in the embryos of Emys orbicularis L. (Chelonien)]

Eggs of Emys orbicularis L. were incubated at 18 and 19 degrees 5C during the period of sexual differentiation of the gonads of the embryos; genital glands of testicular structure and retrogressed Müllerian ducts were observed in all cases, like in the embryos issued from eggs incubated at 25 +/- 1 degrees C and 27,5 +/- 0,5 degrees C. On the contrary, the sexual phenotype is female in all the embryos which developed at 35 degrees C, as it is the case between 29 and 30 degrees C.     

Effect of heat treatment on the ATPase activity of various sarcoplasmic reticulum preparations.

Ca2+-stimulated ATPase activity of sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) preparations is activated after a short period of preincubation at temperatures between 40 and 45 degrees C, but for temperatures higher than 48 degrees C pronounced denaturation is observed. Heat denaturation is decreased if Mg2+ or K+ are present during heat treatment.     

Phospholipid antigens acquired by the young forms of Schistosoma mansoni]

Immunofluorescence studies provide evidence of cardiolipin fixation at the schistosomulum's surface, following incubation with liposomes (cardiolipin-lecithin or cardiolipin-lecithin added with cholesterol). Fixation occurs at 37 degrees C as well as at 0 degree C whether proteins were present or not. Several washes do not remove cardiolipin fixation.     

Lack of participation of cytoplasmic choline in the synthesis of acetylcholine in the striatal synaptosomes of the rat]

Synaptosomes prepared from Rat striatum were loaded with (14C) choline at 0 degrees C in the course of a 60 min. preincubation. After the removal, by washing, of the extracellular molecules, synaptosomes were incubated 5 min. at 37 degrees C in the presence of (3H) choline. The measurement of the amounts of (3H) ACh and of (14C) ACh formed allowed us to conclude that the acetylation of the molecules of choline was directly coupled to their passage through the synaptosomal membrane.     

Acid release at meiotic maturation of oocytes in the polychaete annelid Sabellaria alveolata.

ABout 1 pmole of acid per egg is released when prophasic oocytes undergo maturation under the action of sperm, proteases or ionophore A 23187. No similar acid release occurs at fertilization of matured oocytes. These findings are compared with data on Urechis and sea urchin.     

Inhibition of the reinitiation of meiosis in Xenopus laevis oocytes by three natural antiproteases: antipain, chymostatin, and leupeptin]

Oocytes incubated for 1 hr. in saline containing 1 mg/ml of antipain, leupeptin or chymostatin do not reinstate meiosis when progesterone or ionophore A 23187 are added. On the contrary such oocytes remain able to undergo meiosis when injected with cytoplasm of maturing oocytes (MPF), with Rabbit phosphorylase kinase or with Beef protein kinase. These results demonstrate that the loss of responsiveness to progesterone or ionophore is not due to toxic effects but rather to some interference with a key event which occurs prior to MPF action.     

Heat shock enhances thermotolerance of infective juvenile insect-parasitic nematodesHeterorhabditis bacteriophora (Rhabditida: Heterorhabditidae)

Insect-parasitic nematodes possess many of the attributes of ideal biological control agents, but intolerance to extreme temperatures can restrict their use. We examined whether heat-shock treatments could improve nematode survival and infectivity at temperatures that normally inhibit their activity (35 and 40°C). Nematodes exposed to a sub-lethal temperature (35°C) for 3 h with a latency period of 1–2 h at 25°C killed insects at 35 and 40°C. Correlative evidence was obtained between increased thermotolerance and the synthesis of 70-kDa heat-shock proteins (hsps). These results provide the first evidence of hsp synthesis in the development of thermotolerance and biological activity in the non-feeding, developmentally arrested, infective juvenile nematodes.     

Coating of centrospheres by reticulum cisternae and formation of spindle residues in segmentation mitosis under the action of an antitubulin substance: nocodazole]

When cleaving eggs are treated by nocodazole the reticulum cisternae coat the centrospheres instead of the chromosomes, as normally occurs at the late anaphase. At the same time the spindle is reduced to a common mass or spindle remnant, constituted of unorientated and fragmented microtubules which embed the kinetochores, i. e. the star configuration of the chromosomes. This action is quite similar to that of chloralhydrate but is different from that of colchicine.     

Infertility of the hamster oocyte having matured in vitro]

The comparative study of fertilization, with the same sperm sample, of in vitro matured oocytes and freshly ovulated ones, shows a new aspect of mammalian oocyte maturation. While 80% of freshly ovulated oocytes are fertilized, in vitro matured eggs are not fertilizable. They present the ability to be penetrated by spermatozoa 4 to 6 hrs. only after HCG injection. This is therefore not on tubal influence but depends on an oocyte specific factor which appears during the end of intrafollicular maturation.     

Variations des taux d'ecdystéroïdes au cours du développement deBombyx mori; rapport entre ces variations et les phases de croissance et de morphogenèse

Summary During the development ofBombyx mori (monovoltin race) ecdysteroid levels were determined in oocytes, eggs, and haemolymph of larvae, and in the haemolymph of pupae. In haemolymph, the only RIA reactive materials are ecdysone and ecdysterone. In oocytes and eggs, other ecdysteroids are also detected. During larval instars, the ecdysteroid levels are low whereas they are very high during morphogenetic periods. During embryonic diapause, the ecdysone titer decreases during the cessation of morphogenesis.     

Receptor-mediated transport and deposition of complement component C3 into developing chicken oocytes

Immunological resistance of the chick embryo is dependent upon IgG present in the yolk of the layed egg. Here we show that complement factor 3 (C3), a key component of the humoral complement system, is a yolk component of chicken eggs. C3 is transported into oocytes by LR8-mediated endocytosis. LR8 also binds and transports other major yolk components such as vitellogenin, very-low-density lipoprotein, and α₂-macroglobulin. Expression studies of LR8 during chicken development and oocyte maturation, in combination with studies on the uptake of individual yolk components, suggest the following model for oocyte maturation in the chicken: all oocytes present in the ovary contain high levels of LR8 mRNA and protein long before the onset of oocyte maturation. Selected oocytes gain access to yolk precursors, and LR8 binds, internalizes, and deposits the major yolk components in the ratio of their relative abundance in the accessible pool.Received 9 May 2005; received after revision 6 June 2005; accepted 13 June 2005     

Acid release at meiotic maturation of oocytes in the polychaete annelidSabellaria alveolata

Summary About 1 pmole of acid per egg is released when prophasic oocytes undergo maturation under the action of sperm, proteases or ionophore A 23187. No similar acid release occurs at fertilization of matured oocytes. These findings are compared with data onUrechis and sea urchin.     

In vitro fertilization of mouse and hamster eggs after freezing and thawing

Summary Mouse eggs (12–14%) and hamster eggs (87–94%) appear normal upon thawing after having been stored for 30 min to 25 h at –70°C and –196°C. While 89–98% of the normal appearing hamster eggs are capable of fertilization in vitro, only 4–13% of the mouse eggs can be fertilized. The ability of fertilized eggs to develop in culture and their viability upon transfer to pseudopregnant recipients is under investigation.This work was supported by grants from the U.S. Public Health Service and the Ford Foundation. Sincere thanks are due to Prof.Y. Nishikawa of Kyoto University, Japan, for advice and to Mrs.Rose Bartke and Ms.D. M. Hunt for assistance.     

Adenosine and its derivatives released by neocortex synaptosomes of the guinea pig

Nerve endings (synaptosomes) prepared from guinea-pig neocortex were loaded with [14C] adenosine at 37 degrees C during a 30 min incubation. After the removal of the extracellular adenosine, the preparations were superfused and adenosine derivatives were analyzed in the superfusion fluid. The measurement of the amounts of [14C] nucleotides released in the presence or absence of metabolic inhibitor allowed us to conclude that adenosine and to a smaller extent inosine, are the molecules released from the synaptosomes during superfusion.     

Periodate oxidation of lymphocyte membrane glycoconjugates]

Mouse spleen cells free of erythrocytes were suspended in PBS at a concentration of 2 X 10(7) cells/ml and mixed with an equal volume of sodium periodate in PBS for 10 min. at 4 degrees C to give a final concentration of periodate ranging from 10(-4) M to 5 X 10(-3) M. The cells were then washed and suspended (60 X 10(6) ml) in PBS containing 3H-labelled sodium borohydrate and incubated for 30 min, at 23 degrees C. Following this, the cells were washed and the pellets treated with H2SO4 0.1 N for 60 min. at 80 degrees C. Compounds liberated by such treatment, were identified by chromatography as derivates of sialic acid. The data provide direct evidence that the mitogenic effect of sodium periodate is associated to the oxidation of the sialic acid residues on the lymphocyte membrane.     

Interaction of epidermal growth factor with human fibroblasts in culture: an autoradiographic study at the ultrastructural level]

The potent mitogen epidermal growth factor (EGF) binds to specific receptors on human fibroblasts. In the present study we have used a quantitative EM autoradiographic approach to visualize the events involved in the binding process. When 125I-EGF is incubated at 4 degrees C for 120 min, labeled EGF primarily localizes to the plasma membrane of the fibroblast but when incubated at 37 degrees C for 120 min., over 2/3 of the labeled material is internalized by the cell. The internalized radioacitivity is primarily localized to lysomes. These studies demonstrate a temperature-dependent internalization of EGF following initial binding to specific plasma membrane receptors.     

Génétique et évolution des Nématodes libres. Perspectives tirées de l'étude deCaenorhabditis elegans

Summary Free-living nematodes are endowed with a set of properties that make them specially attractive for experimental work. Geneticists and evolutionists may be especially interested in their easy cultivation, great fecundity and polymorphism. As an example, some results are brought concerningCaenorhabditis elegans and related species: (1) Sex determination occurs as the expression of a genic balance involving differences in the number of chromosomes. The alternatives gynogenesis, amphimixis, or auto-heterofecundation take a prominent place in the reproductive processes of these species. (2) Polyploidy may be obtained by heat-shock, giving rise to individuals showing characteristic chromosomal unbalance and variability. (3)C. elegans, which cannot normally be raised at a higher temperature than 22°C, has been gradually adapted to temperatures up to 24.5°C. This acclimatization implies an adaptive transformation of the ovarian physiology; this effect is obtained after long training, taking more than 1000 generations. Study of the process of acclimatization shows that its genetical basis may be partly of a non-genic nature, partly of a genic type. Hypotheses are developed for explaining this phenomenon and for the understanding of the evolution from free-living to parasitic nematodes.     

A thermosensitive inhibitor of the replication of polyomavirus, an extract from BHK2I cells transformed by the Tsa mutant of this virus

BHK21 cells transformed by wild type or Ts3 mutant polyoma virus contain an inhibitor of polyoma virus replication when grown at permissive (36 degrees C) as well as non-permissive temperature (39 +/- 0.5 degrees C). Cells transformed by the Tsa mutant contain the inhibitor at the permissive but not at the non-permissive temperature. The inhibitor reappears in the latter cells however, upon shift from the non-permissive to the permissive temperature. If a reversible protein inhibitor (methionyl-adenylate, reversible inhibitor of the aminoacyl-t-RNA synthetase) is applied during the temperature shift experiments, the inhibitor does not reappear indicating that new protein synthesis is required for the recovery of its activity.     

Telomeres and meiosis in health and disease

Meiotic dysfunction increasingly afflicts women as they age, resulting in infertility, miscarriage and handicapped offspring. How aging disrupts meiotic function in women remains unclear, but as women increasingly delay childbearing, this issue becomes urgent. Telomeres, which mediate aging in mitotic cells, may also mediate aging during meiosis. Telomeres shorten during DNA replication. In mammals, oocytes remain quiescent, but their precursors replicated during fetal oogenesis. Moreover, eggs ovulated from older women entered meiosis later during fetal oogenesis than eggs ovulated when younger, and therefore underwent more replications. Telomeres also shorten from reactive oxygen, which triggers a DNA repair response, so the prolonged interval between fetal oogenesis and ovulation in some women would further shorten telomeres. Mice normally do not exhibit age-related meiotic dysfunction (interestingly, their telomeres are manyfold longer than telomeres in women), but genetic or pharmacologic shortening of mouse telomeres recapitulates the reproductive aging phenotype of women. This has led to a telomere theory of age-related meiotic dysfunction in women, and underlined the importance to human health of a mechanistic understanding of telomeres and meiosis.