Dissection of the pheromone-modulated flight of moths using single-pulse response as a template

The upwind flight of male moths to conspecific females is mediated by the chemical and structural characteristics of a pheromone plume. We describe the reaction of maleCadra cautella, the almond moth, to the interception of single pulses of sex pheromone, the smallest structural units of odour plumes. Following loss of a pheromone plume, males cast, that is fly a crosswind course without progressing upwind. The response of casting males to interception of a pulse of 0.25 s duration was, after a delay of 0.21±0.07 s, to turn and briefly fly straighter upwind, resulting in average net upwind displacements of 18 cm in a 50 cm s^–1 wind. Upwind progress in the single-pulse response was the result of steering more upwind and an increase in airspeed, although average ground speed remained unchanged. During the last third of the surge, males turned crosswind, returning to casting flight. These behavioural reactions to pheromone contact and loss support the phasic-tonic model of odour-modulated flight, in which an underlying tonic counterturning rhythm, expressed upon pheromone loss, is briefly overridden by phasic upwind surges, expressed upon interception of the pheromone filament. The surge portion of the cast-surge-cast response was diminished and more crosswind if individual pulses were shorter (0.02 s), probably due to sub-optimal contact with pheromone. The cast-surge-cast response to interception of a single 0.25 s pulse was used as a template to interpret the form of flight tracks in plumes of known structure. The template matched portions of flight tracks of males flying in plumes of low pheromone pulse frequency, thus reflecting the male's pattern of pulse encounter. In plumes ensuring a high frequency of pulse interception, only the upwind surge portion of the template was expressed, resulting in nearly straight upwind flight tracks. Similar nearly straight upwind flight tracks occurred in flights along plumes of low pulse frequency with large volume. Thus flight tracks of maleC. cautella to point sources of pheromone depend on both the frequency and the size of filaments encountered.     

Cl−/HCO 3 − exchanger is operative in isolated enterocytes from rat jejunum

Enterocytes isolated from rat jejunum were tested for the existence of a Cl^–/HCO ₃ ^– exchange, previously evidenced in basolateral membrane vesicles but not in brush border. Cells were found to retain functional integrity and transport capabilities long enough to allow Cl^– fluxes to be measured. Both efflux and uptake experiments indicate that a Cl^–/HCO ₃ ^– antiport, inhibited by 4,4-diisothiocyanostilbene-2-2-disulfonic acid (DIDS), is functional under resting conditions.     

Studies of a key protein in the mechanism of the excitation-contraction coupling process of frog skeletal muscle,using phenylglyoxal

The excitation-contraction (E-C) coupling process in single twitch fibres from frog toe muscle was inhibited selectively by phenylglyoxal (PGO), a specific guanidyl modifying reagent. A new protein (31.5 kDa), which has PGO-binding ability and seems to play a key role in the E-C coupling process, was solubilized from transverse tubule membrane-junctional sarcoplasmic reticulum complexes (TTM-JSR) of frog skeletal muscles, using¹⁴C-PGO. The monoclonal antibody against this protein applied extracellularly inhibited the E-C coupling process of the single fibres. This protein appears to constitute the very first step of input for E-C coupling. It is considered to behave as an indispensable part of an electrometer to measure membrane potentials. Therefore, the name electrometrin is suggested for the new protein.     

Differential sensitivity to ethidium bromide of replicative DNA synthesis and bleomycin-induced unscheduled DNA synthesis in permeable mouse sarcoma cells1

Summary Replicative DNA synthesis in permeable mouse sarcoma cells was more sensitive to ethidium bromide (EtBr) than bleomycin-induced unscheduled DNA synthesis (UDS). A similar difference in sensitivity to EtBr was observed between DNA polymerases and . The difference in sensitivity to EtBr of replicative DNA synthesis and UDS in the present system seems to reflect mainly the sensitivity difference between DNA polymerases and .Acknowledgments. The authors wish to thank Nippon Kayaku Co. (Tokyo, Japan) for providing copper-free bleomycin A₂. This research was supported in part by a grant from the Japan Ministry of Education, Science and Culture.     

Cyclophosphamide-impaired regulation of hepatic heme metabolism

Summary Im male rats hepatic cytochromes b₅ and P-450 were reduced at different times after treatment with cyclophosphamide (CP) (200 mg/kg i.p. for 3 days). In contrast, microsomal heme did not change until 48 h after the last dose of CP, leading to accumulation of heme in a non-cytochromal form. Parallel to the above changes the heme metabolism showed derangement: -aminolaevulinate synthase, the rate-limiting enzyme in heme synthesis, was depressed and heme oxygenase, the enzyme which catalyzes the oxidative degradation of heme, was increased.     

Potentiating action of hexoprenaline on14C-aminopyrine uptake by isolated rat parietal cells

Summary Hexoprenaline potentiated the¹⁴C-aminopyrine uptake (a reliable index of H⁺ generation) of isolated rat gastric cells stimulated by 10^–6–10^–4 mol/l carbachol, and inhibited that in response to 10^–4 mol/l histamine without and in the presence of propranolol. It is concluded that hexoprenaline acts as a partial agonist on parietal cell H₂-receptors and that -adrenoceptor activation may functionally modualte gastric acid secretion.Acknowledgments. S. Maliski, Institute of Rheumatology, Warszawa, held a fellowship of the Alexander v. Humboldt-Foundation. The study was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. The skilful technical assistance of Mrs R. Maier and Mr R. Beer is gratefully acknowledged.     

Pineal-related changes in cyclic AMP levels of rat medial basal hypothalamus

Summary Pinealectomy (Px) in adult male rats resulted in increased cyclic AMP accumulation by medial basal hypothalamic (MBH) explants 3 and 7 days after surgery. 24 h after superior cervical ganglionectomy (Gx) an augmented MBH cyclic AMP accumulation was observed. The effects of Px and Gx were additive, as revealed in animals subjected to Gx 3 days after Px.This study was supported by grants from the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET) (N^o 6638) and from the Fundación Alberto J. Roemmers, Argentina.