The effect of dehydration on the neurohypophyseal blood flow in rats with hereditary diabetes insipidus

Summary Neurohypophyseal blood flow increases in water-deprived rats. This increase is independent of vasopressin release, since it occurs even in rats with hereditary defect of hypothalamic vasopressin synthesis.Acknowledgment. The technical assistance of D. Vilimovská is acknowledged.     

Dissociation of glucocorticoid effects of C-21 steroids at high concentrations in thymocytes

Summary A dissociation between inhibition of RNA synthesis and cell lysis was observed when thymocytes of adrenalectomized rats were incubated with high concentrations of pregn-4-ene-11-ol-3, 20-dione and pregna-1,4-diene-11-ol-3,20-dione. In contrast, no dissociation of these effects was found with the typical glucocorticoids cortisol and corticosterone, nor with their 1,4-diene analogs under the same conditions.Acknowledgments. This work was supported by grants from the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas de la República Argentina to the Instituto de Biologia y Medicina Experimental and the Programa de Regulación Hormonal y Metabólica as well as by financial help from the Secretaría de Ciencia y Tecnología.     

The effect of daily evening isoproterenol administration on reproductive organ growth in male rats treated neonatally with testosterone propionate

Summary Daily evening injections of isoproterenol extended the period of high pineal N-acetyltransferase activity and retarded the growth of testes, seminal vesicles and prostate in rats treated neonatally with testosterone propionate.The authors are grateful to Mrs Marie Svobodová for her skillful technical assistance.     

Isoprotenerol induction of pineal serotonin N-acetyltransferase in normotensive and spontaneously hypertensive rats

Zusammenfassung Verabreichung von Isoprotenerol, eines -adrenergen Agonisten, induziert einen signifikant höheren Anstieg der Aktivität der Serotonin-N-Acetyltransferase in der Epiphyse von spontan hypertensiven, im Vergleich mit normotensiven, Rattenmännchen. Derselbe Unterschied wurde auch bei Weibchen beobachtet, jedoch liegen die Aktivitätswerte bei spontan hypertensiven Männchen allgemein höher. Die durch Isoprotenerol erhöhte Induktion der Serotonin-N-Acetyltransferase erzeugt hinsichtlich der Catecholamine in den Pinealozyten von spontan hypertensiven Ratten eine veränderte Reaktivität der Achse -Rezeptor-Adenylzyklasesystem-Serotonin-N-Acetyl transferase.     

The effect of D-6-methyl-8-[β-isopropylaminoethyl] ergoline-I on the lactation in nursing rats

D-6-Methyl-8-[-isopropylaminoethyl] ergoline-I [VÚFB-10726], beginning from the dose of 0.05 mg/kg p.o., suppresses lactation through the inhibition of prolactin secretion in nursing rats.     

Alternative splicing and genome complexity.

Alternative splicing of mRNA allows many gene products with different functions to be produced from a single coding sequence. It has recently been proposed as a mechanism by which higher-order diversity is generated. Here we show, using large-scale expressed sequence tag (EST) analysis, that among seven different eukaryotes the amount of alternative splicing is comparable, with no large differences between humans and other animals.     

The influence of ethylene on primary attraction of the olive beetle,Phloeotribus scarabaeoides (Bern.) (Col., Scolytidae)

Two experiments have been carried out to verify the effect of ethylene on the primary attraction ofPhloeotribus scarabaeoides under both laboratory and field conditions. The experiments were based on the enhancement of ethylene production by olive branches and trunks after the application of (2-chloroethyl)phosphonic acid. Under laboratory conditions, the beetles' response was strongly stimulated on the treated branches. Under field conditions, the treatment aided the location of the olive wood by the flying beetles, and the attack density was significantly greater in the treated wood at the end of the experiment.     

The coconut pathosystem: weed hosts of nymphs of the American palm Cixiid Haplaxius crudus (Hemiptera: Fulgoroidea)

Lethal yellowing (LY) of coconut palm (Cocos nucifera L., Arecaceae) is a disease of economic importance that is caused by the phytoplasma ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma palmae’ and is transmitted by the planthopper Haplaxius crudus (Van Duzee) (Hemiptera: Cixiidae). This study explores the weeds used by H. crudus nymphs and other Cixiidae in a coconut pathosystem in southern Mexico. Nymphs were collected directly from the root system of each weed by hand or with the help of a vacuum after carefully opening the culm. This study included 11 species of weeds: nine Poaceae [Brachiaria decumbens Stapf, B. humidicola (Rendle) Schweick, B. mutica (Forssk.) Stapf, Digitaria abyssinica (Hochst. Ex A. Rich.) Stapf, Eustachys petraea (Sw.) Desv., Leersia hexandra Sw., Panicum laxum Sw., P. maximum Jacq., Paspalum notatum Flüggé]; one Cyperaceae [Cyperus ligularis L.], and one Portulacaceae: [Portulaca pilosa L.]. Brachiaria mutica, E. petraea, B. humidicola, P. maximum were identified as the principal host species for H. crudus nymphs. Brachiaria decumbens, D. abyssinica, and C. ligularis are new host records for the nymphs of H. crudus. Additionally, it was found that H. crudus may coexist with its cogeners H. skarphion Kramer (Cixiidae) and H. caldwelli Kramer (Cixiidae), on B. mutica. On C. ligularis, H. crudus may coexist with Oecleus snowi Ball (Cixiidae) nymphs. These results suggest that in the coconut pathosystem there is a complex of multitrophic interactions that should be considered in integrated management of LY.     

The Shwachman-Bodian-Diamond syndrome protein mediates translational activation of ribosomes in yeast

The autosomal recessive disorder Shwachman-Diamond syndrome, characterized by bone marrow failure and leukemia predisposition, is caused by deficiency of the highly conserved Shwachman-Bodian-Diamond syndrome (SBDS) protein. Here, we identify the function of the yeast SBDS ortholog Sdo1, showing that it is critical for the release and recycling of the nucleolar shuttling factor Tif6 from pre-60S ribosomes, a key step in 60S maturation and translational activation of ribosomes. Using genome-wide synthetic genetic array mapping, we identified multiple TIF6 gain-of-function alleles that suppressed the pre-60S nuclear export defects and cytoplasmic mislocalization of Tif6 observed in sdo1Delta cells. Sdo1 appears to function within a pathway containing elongation factor-like 1, and together they control translational activation of ribosomes. Thus, our data link defective late 60S ribosomal subunit maturation to an inherited bone marrow failure syndrome associated with leukemia predisposition.