Structure of two biologically active sesquiterpenoid amino-quinones from the marine spongeDysidea avara

Summary The structures of 2 minor constituents of the marine spongeDysidea avara, which induce developmental aberrations in sea-urchin eggs, are described. The structures were confirmed also by a simple synthesis from avarol (1).Acknowledgments. The authors wish to thank Mr A. Crispino for his skillfull laboratory technical assistance. Thanks are also due to Mr C. Di Pinto (NMR) and Mr A. Milone (MS).     

Attraction ofScolytus scolytus (F.) to the components of Multilure,the aggregation pheromone ofS. multistriatus (Marsham) (Coleoptera: Scolytidae)

Summary The attraction ofS. scolytus to the components of Multilure is described. 4-Methyl-3-heptanol is an attractant which is synergised bya-cubebene. Multistriatin appears to be an inhibitor. A combination of 4-methyl-3-heptanol and cubeb oil is more effective as a bait forS. scolytus than Multilure.We thank Mr A. K. Hughes and Mr J. Boswell for their cooperation in allowing us to conduct experiments on Parham Estate; Mr D. Mobbs and Mr C. Thorne for the statistical analyses; Dr J. W. Peacock for samples of mixed isomers of multistriatin and distilled cubeb oil; Mrs J. Allsop and Mr N. J. Fielding for technical assistance. We are grateful to Mr D. Bevan, Dr J. H. Borden, Dr J. F. Grove and Prof. A. W. Johnson for their interest and encouragement.     

Mitochondrial calcium efflux and porcine stress-susceptibility

Summary Mitochondrial Ca²⁺ efflux rates ofM. longissimus dorsi correlate very closely with parameters associated with porcine stress-susceptibility. Experimental data support the measurement of mitochondrial Ca²⁺ efflux to be a very sensitive and reliable method for differentiating porcine stress-susceptibility.Acknowledgments. The autors are grateful to Dr Webb (Edinburgh) and to Dr Monin (Theix) for supplying halothanescreened pigs, to Mr C.C. Ketteridge for technical assistance and to Mr N. F. Doun for drip measurements.     

In vitro inactivation of corpora allata of the bugOncopeltus fasciatus by precocene II

Summary Corpora allata fromOncopeltus fasciatus incubated in vitro in medium containing 10^–5.35 M (1 g/ml) of precocene II lose their ability to secrete juvenile hormone when reimplanted into last instar larvae.Acknowledgments. We thank Mr K. Dorn, Mrs L. Dolezal, Mrs V. Nötzli-Graf, Mr K.H. Trautmann and Mr A. Schuler for technical help, Dr W. Vogel and Dr A. Dübendorfer for valuable discussions.     

Fine structure of modiffied phtoreceptor cells in the pineal of the gobyClevelandia ios (Pisces: Gobiidae)

Summary Photoreceptor cells with a system of long, thi cytoplasmic processes (50–80 nm thick), which amy represent a modification of the outer segment saccules, are described in the pineal of the goby,Clevelandia ios.The author wishes to thank Mr Larry Allen, who helped collect the specmens, and Mr Kyle Kikuchi, who was instrucmental in the preliminary studies.Partial support by Biomedical Research Support Grant (NIH) No. 447-12-000 from the Stritch School of Medicine is gratefully acknowledged.     

Naphthoquinone derivatives from the fungusHendersonula toruloidea

Summary 2 yellow naphthoquinone derivatives were isolated from several pathogenic strains ofHendersonula toruloidea Nattrass. They were identified as 2,7-dimethoxy-6-ethyl-5-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone and 2,7-dimethoxy-5-hydroxy-6-(1-acetoxyethyl)-1,4-naphthoquinone by means of physico-chemical methods.Thanks are due to Mr A.J.M. van Beijnen, Laboratory for Organic Chemistry, State University of Utrecht, for optical rotation measurements.The authors are indebted to Mr C. Versluys, Analytical Laboratory, State University of Utrecht, for measuring the mass spectra.We thank Mr J. W. Marsman, Institute for Organic Chemistry TNO, Utrecht, for the PMR-spectra.     

Evaporative resistance of pulmonary surfactant films

Summary Films of surfactant from the lungs of rabbits, tortoises (Testudo hermanni) and frogs (Rana pipiens) offer resistance to the evaporation of water.I wish to thank Mr G. Bryan for technical assistance.     

Karyotypes of several frogs from Korea,Taiwan and the Philippines

Summary Rana amurensis coreana, R. plancyi chosenica, R. latouchii, R. narina andOoeidozyga laevis have 2n=26 chromosomes,R. kuhlii has 2n=22, andKaloula picta has 2n=28. Males ofR. narina have a conspicuous heteromorphic pair, No. 8, which might play a rôle in sex-determination.Supported in part by a grant from the Japan-American Scholarship Foundation.I wish to thank Dr H.K. Kim, Dr Y.-S. Liang, Dr V. Samson-Carino, Mr C.-S. Wang, Mr P.S. Lin and Mr B. Durusan for their aid in every aspect during the collecting trips.     

Ca-antagonistic substance from soft coral of the genusSarcophyton

Summary A 14-membered ring diterpenoid named cembrane, possessing Ca-antagonistic action on the isolated rabbit aorta, has been isolated from a soft coral of the genusSarcophyton, and its structure established by X-ray and spectroscopic data.The authors thank Mr. Z. Nagahama (Okinawa) for collection of soft corals, Miss R. Abe (the present institute) for her skillful assistance, and Dr. T. Higashijima, Prof. T. Miyazawa (Tokyo University), Mr. T. Hayase and Dr. H. Ohtani (Mitsubishi Chemical Industries Ltd) for¹H and¹³C NMR-measurements.     

Growth ofEchinococcus multilocularis in gerbils exposed to different environmnntal temperature

Summary Gerbils kept at high (35°C) temperature harbored a significantly largerEchinococcus multilocularis cyst biomass than those kept at room (21°C) and low (5°C) temperature. Parasite induced adrenomegaly was observed in all temperature groups.Acknowledgments. I am indebted to Miss Marianne Hardy and Mr Terry Durham for their excellent technical assistance.     

Interspecific protoplast fusion and complementation inaspergilli

Summary Protoplast fusion and nutritional complementation between auxotrophic mutants ofAspergillus nidulans andAspergillus fumigatus has been achieved. It is concluded that the nutritional complementation may be due to interspecific aneuploidy.The authors thank Mr.L. Manczinger and Mr.Gy. Oravecz for producing and characterizing the required mutants; Dr.D. Goldstein for providing the strainA. nidulans R. 21; Dr.D. Kerridge for the wild-type strainA. fumigatus 5085; and Mr.L. Nagy, MissÉva Sziráki and MissMária Pölös for skilful technical assistance.     

Preparation of specific antiserum againstRana esculenta pre-α lens crystallin

Summary Specific antiserum againstRana esculenta lens pre- crystallin was prepared in a rabbit by injecting antigen-antibody precipitate of this crystallin obtained from immunoelectrophoresis ofesculenta total soluble lens proteins against homologous antiserum.Acknowledgments. We thank Mr.A. Wachter for the excellent technical help, Mr.Th. Hulskes and Mr.A. M. v. Egeraat for the illustrations and finally Dr.W. E. Hawkins for valuable discussion.     

Prostaglandin-like substances inPropionibacterium acnes. VI. Characterization of the lipid fraction by gas chromatography in conjunction with mass spectrometry

Summary The lipid fraction ofP. acnes was submitted to stepwise purification followed by bioassay in order to localize the prostaglandin-like material. GC-MS analysis revealed the occurrence of substances having a part but not a total molecule in common with the prostaglandin family, suggesting that prostaglandin-like substances represent a new group of prostaglandin compounds.The competent technical assistance of Mr N. Engström and Mr G.A. de Vogel is gratefully acknowledged.     

Flavonoids from pollens and stigmas of male and female flowers of four species of the genusCucurbita

Summary Differences have been found between the flavonoid patterns of pollens and corresponding stigmas ofCucurbita pepo, C. maxima, C. moschata andC. ficifolia. The major flavonoids ahve been identified as isorhamnetin-3-O-rutinoside isolated from stigmas ofC. pepo is absent in this material.Acknowledgments. The author thanks Dr Chr. Karl (Weleda, Schwäbisch Gmünd) for a sample of isorhamnetin and Mr A. D'Urso (Botanic Institute, University of Catania) for help in acquiring the plant material.     

Bisalbuminemia in a bottlenosed dolphin (Tursiops truncatus)

Summary Bisaluminemia was found in a female bottlenosed dolphin (Turiops truncatus) on routine examination. There is no association with disease.Acknowledgment. I. wish to thank Dr G. W. Jones, Lincolnton, NC for providing me with the dolphin sera and Mr R. Quinlan of Quinlan Enterprises, Lincolnton, NC for providing the animals.     

Improved visualization of wall ultrastructure inSaccharomyces cerevisiae

Riassunto Usando fissativi contenenti TAPO é stata migliorata la visualizzazione dei componenti strutturali della parete cellulare diSaccharomyces cerevisiae; questa é stata paragonato con quella osservata precedentemente inCandida albicans.

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Acknowledgment. The author thanks Mr.B. Pasquetti and Mr.M. Mari for their excellent technical assistence.     

On the phospholipids of adultAncylostoma caninum

Summary The phospholipid composition ofAncylostoma caninum has been examined. Phospholipids amounted to 0.9% of the wet weight of the parasite. Ethanolamine and choline containing lipids comprised about 76% of the total phospholipids. Lysolecithin, sphingomyelin, phosphatidyl inositol and phosphatidyl serine were present in minor amounts. Cerebrosides and sulfatides were also identified.Acknowledgements. We wish to acknowledge the contributions of Mr Ashok Chopra in the initial part of this work. Thanks are due to Mr Adarsh Kumar for skilled assistance.     

Particle aggregates in plasma and intracellular membranes of toad bladder (granular cell)

Summary Freeze-fracture of granular cells of toad urinary bladder (Bufo marinus) reveals the presence, hitherto undescribed, of intramembranous particle aggregates in intracytoplasmic structures (tubules, vacuoles and vesicles) both in resting and vasopressin-stimulated epithelia.This work was supported by grants No. 3.553.75, 3.120.77 and 3.1300.73 from the Swiss National Science Foundation.The authors are indebted to Mrs Marthe Sidler-Ansermet, Miss Jacqueline Rial and Mr Michel Bernard for valuable technical assistance.     

Sex pheromones of the armyworm moth,Spodoptera exempta (Wlk.

Zusammenfassung Es wurden mit gas-chromatographischer Elektroantennogramm-Methode (Z)-9-tetradecenyl-1-acetat und (Z)-9, (E)-12-tetradecadienyl-1-acetat als die Sexuallockstoffe weiblicherSpodoptera exempta (Wlk.) identifiziert.

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Acknowledgment: We are grateful to Mr.C. Rivers, Unit of Insect Virology, University of Oxford Field Station, for supplying insect pupae.     

Solacasine,a new steroidal alkaloid fromSolanum pseudocapsicum possessing antimicrobial activity

Summary Systematic fractionation of alcohol extracts ofSolanum pseudocapsicum. showed that solacasine is the main antibacterial constituent. Based on physiochemical studies, a structure is proposed.The authors are grateful to Dr.R. Foltz, Battelle's Columbus Laboratories, and Mr.E. Fairchild of our laboratories for the mass spectral data, to Mr.Ruey-Ping Leu for the microbiological data, and to the NIH for grant No. AI-09846 in partial support of this work.