Reversible inactivation of the nitrate reductase of rice plants

Summary Studies of the inactivation of the rice nitrate reductase showed that the nitrate-reducing moiety and not the diaphorase moiety was reversibly inactivated by NADH and cyanide. Ferricyanide could reverse the inactivation, and nitrate could protect the enzyme against inactivation. Although the general characteristics of the reversible inactivation of rice nitrate reductase appeared similar to those of the algal nitrate reductase, it was found that the rice enzyme was automatically reactivated when NADH and cyanide were removed. Attempts to isolate inactivated nitrate reductase from ammonium-treated tissue were unsuccessful.     

Rice blast,nyctotemperature, and nitrate reductase

Zusammenfassung Der imperfekte PilzPiricularia oryzae (Erreger von Blattflecken und anderen Schädigungen am Reis) befällt anfällige Sorten bei einer Nachttemperatur von 20°C, jedoch nicht bei einer solchen von 30°C. Die Nachttemperatur beeinflusst den Stickstoffhaushalt. Bei 20°C ist die Aktivität der Nitrat-Reduktase in den anfälligen Sorten (Figur, 1–3) wesentlich höher als bei 30°C; die resistenten Sorten (4–7) zeigen keine Unterschiede. Die Bedeutung der erhöhten Enzymaktivität für den Pilzbefall bleibt im einzelnen noch zu untersuchen.     

Pyridoxine application enhances nitrate reductase activity and productivity ofVigna radiata

Summary Pyridoxine, applied to seeds before sowing or by the spraying of a standing crop of moong (Vigna radiata) significantly enhanced leaf nitrate reductase activity (NRA). Leaf NRA levels, being significantly correlated with seed yield, can be utilized for predicting crop productivity and for adopting corrective measures, if necessary, at an early growth stage.Acknowledgment. This work was partly supported by the award of a Research Fellowship to S.A.A. by the Government of India Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi, which is gratefully acknowledged.     

Structure and function of eukaryotic NAD(P)H:nitrate reductase

Pyridine nucleotide-dependent nitrate reductases (NRs; EC 1.6.6.1–3) are molybdenum-containing enzymes found in eukaryotic organisms which assimilate nitrate. NR is a homodimer with an ∼100 kDa polypeptide which folds into stable domains housing each of the enzyme's redox cofactors—FAD, heme-Fe molybdopterin (Mo-MPT) and the electron donor NAD(P)H—and there is also a domain for the dimer interface. NR has two active sites: the nitrate-reducing Mo-containing active site and the pyridine nucleotide active site formed between the FAD and NAD(P)H domains. The major barriers to defining the mechanism of catalysis for NR are obtaining the detailed three-dimensional structures for oxidized and reduced enzyme and more in-depth analysis of electron transfer rates in holo-NR. Recombinant expression of holo-NR and its fragments, including site-directed mutagenesis of key acative site and domain interface residues, are expected to make large contributions to this effort to understand the catalytic mechanism of NR.     

Effect of nitrate esters of androgen steroids on the succinate oxidase and NADH-Cytochrome C reductase activity of isolated rat liver mitochondria

Résumé Le testostérone et la 5-androstane-17-ol-3-one stimulent l'activité de la succinoxydase des mitochondries intactes et l'activité de la NADH-cytochrome-c-réductase des mitochondries à membranes lésées, extraites du foie du rat blanc. Les nitrates-esters des mÊmes stéroÏdes réduisent l'activité des deux enzymes.     

On the presence of sepiapterin reductase different from folate and dihydrofolate reductase in chicken liver

Résumé Nous avons démontré dans le foie de poussin l'existence d'un ferment qui réduit spécifiquement la sépiaptérine. Il est capable de séparer le ferment de réductase d'acide folique et d'acide dihydrofolique après précipitation fractionnaire de sulfate d'ammonium. Le ferment, réductase de sépiaptérine, se trouve largement dans les foies des mammifères, tels que rat, cochon, lapin, cheval et boeuf.     

Synaptogenesis in hippocampal cultures

Hippocampal cultures offer unique advantages for the study of neuronal development and synaptogenesis. Studies performed on this model enabled dissection of the temporal sequence of events which lead to the differentiation of pre- and postsynaptic compartments. Received 27 January 1999; received after revision 4 March 1999; accepted 5 March 1999     

Paper tools in experimental cultures

The paper studies various functions of Berzelian formulas in European organic chemistry prior to the mid-nineteenth century from a semiotic, historical and epistemological perspective. I argue that chemists applied Berzelian formulas as productive ‘paper tools’ for creating a chemical order in the ‘jungle’ of organic chemistry. Beginning in the late 1820s, chemists applied chemical formulas to build models of the binary constitution of organic compounds in analogy to inorganic compounds. Based on these formula models, they constructed new classifications of organic substances. They further applied Berzelian formulas in a twofold way to experimentally investigate organic chemical reactions: as tools which supplemented laboratory tools and as tools for constructing interpretive models of organic reactions. The scrutiny of chemists' performances with chemical formulas on paper also reveals a dialectic which contributed considerably to the formation of the new experimental culture of synthetic carbon chemistry that emerged between the late 1820s and the early 1840s. In an unintended and unforeseen way, the tools reacted back on the goals of their users and contributed to conceptual development and a shift of scientific objects and practices (‘substitution’) which transcended the originally intended chemical order.     

Nitrate reductase activity in developing wheat ears

Zusammenfassung Die Fruchtstände der Weizenpflanzen reduzieren während ihrer Entwicklung beachtliche Mengen von Nitratstickstoff.     

Behavioural rhythms in cultures of immatureDrosophila melanogaster

Zusammenfassung Die lokomotorische Aktivität von adultenDrosophila melanogaster zeigt einen Tagesrhythmus, der während der dreitägigen Reifungsperiode zunimmt und in Weibchen ausgeprägter ist als in Männchen. Die Periodizität der Putzhandlungen ist weniger ausgeprägt und ändert sich nicht, doch nimmt die Frequenz der Putzhandlungen bei den reifen Fliegen ab. Es wird ein reziproker Zusammenhang zwischen Putzfrequenz und sexueller Aktivität festgestellt.     

Hydroxyproline production in chick fibroblast cultures

Zusammenfassung Kulturen von Hühnerherzfibroblasten wurden nach 10, 21 und 28 Tagenin vitro auf ihren Gehaltan Hydroxyprolin — einer wichtigen Aminosäure des Kollagens — untersucht. Nach 10, bzw. 21 Tagen ist eine signifikante, durch Prolinzugaben nicht beeinflussbare Vermehrung des zu 50% löslichen Hydroxyprolins feststellbar.

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Kantonsspital, Chur.     

Erythrocyte NADH-methemoglobin reductase activity in experimental riboflavin deficiency

Zusammenfassung Bei Ratten mit Riboflavin-Mangel wurde eine normale Aktivität der NADH-abhängigen Methämoglobinreduktase festgestellt.