Lysozyme in eggs of the cotton boll weevil,Anthonomus grandis Boheman (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)

Summary Lysozyme exhibiting bacteriolytic activity was found in boll weevil eggs at a concentration of 2.22 ng of lysozyme per boll weevil egg.     

Pyrrolizidine alkaloids in overwintering monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) from mexico

Summary North American populations of the monarch butterfly,Danaus plexippus, have been found to contain pyrrolizidine alkaloids and their N-oxides. Analytical methods (TLC, GC, and GC/MS) have been developed to isolate, quantitate, and structurally elucidate the alkaloids. Examples of at least two classes of pyrrolizidine alkaloids have been identified, the macrocyclic diesters, senecionine, integerrimine, and seneciphylline, and the monoesters, echinatine, intermedine, and lycopsamine.21 November 1986This work was supported by NSF (Grants BSR-81-19391 and BSR-81-19382), and a Stauffer Chemical Company fellowship. We thank David Hodapp, Mark Stelljes, and Cordula Bruenner for technical help, Dr T.P. Krick, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minn., USA, for assistance in GC/MS analysis of PAs, and Dr J.A. Edgar, CSIRO, Parkville, Victoria, Australia, for samples of authentic reference compounds.     

Induction of brain tumours in high yield by administration of N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea to newborn rats

Zusammenfassung Durch einmalige Verabreichung von 10 mg/kg N-Äthyl-N-Nitrosoharnstoff am 1. Tag nach der Geburt wurden bei 33/34 Ratten 53 Hirntumoren, 9 Tumoren des Rückenmarkes, aber nur 9 im peripheren Nervensystem erzeugt, was eine bedeutend gesteigerte Rate von Hirntumoren bedeutet.

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We thank MissMary Trumper and MissValerie Nash for technical assistance and the Cancer Research Campaign for financial support of C.E.S.     

Effects of thyroidectomy on ovarian compensatory hypertrophy in rats

Résumé Le nombre de corps jaunes dans l'ovaire de rates intactes, hémicastrées, hémicastrées et thyroïprivées fut déterminé. Les corps jaunes de l'animal thyroïprivé et hémicastré furent sensiblement plus petits que ceux de l'animal hémicastré. Cette diminution des corps jaunes se traduit par une diminution concomitante du poids ovarien et pourrait expliquer le blocage partiel de l'hypertrophie compensatrice du reste de l'ovaire.     

A variant associated with nicotine dependence, lung cancer and peripheral arterial disease

Smoking is a leading cause of preventable death, causing about 5 million premature deaths worldwide each year. Evidence for genetic influence on smoking behaviour and nicotine dependence (ND) has prompted a search for susceptibility genes. Furthermore, assessing the impact of sequence variants on smoking-related diseases is important to public health. Smoking is the major risk factor for lung cancer (LC) and is one of the main risk factors for peripheral arterial disease (PAD). Here we identify a common variant in the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor gene cluster on chromosome 15q24 with an effect on smoking quantity, ND and the risk of two smoking-related diseases in populations of European descent. The variant has an effect on the number of cigarettes smoked per day in our sample of smokers. The same variant was associated with ND in a previous genome-wide association study that used low-quantity smokers as controls, and with a similar approach we observe a highly significant association with ND. A comparison of cases of LC and PAD with population controls each showed that the variant confers risk of LC and PAD. The findings provide a case study of a gene-environment interaction, highlighting the role of nicotine addiction in the pathology of other serious diseases.