Über die Einwirkung des Schilddrüsenhormons auf die Ossifikation

Summary Larvae ofSalamandra salamandra quadrivirgata Dürigen and tadpoles ofXenopus laevis Daud, treated with a percutaneous application of thyroxin, show a more intensive calcification of their skeletal system after a precocious metamorphosis. The calcified area of bones is increased; additional centres of calcification can be distinguished in quite a number of other skeletal elements. By thyroxin-soaked agar implants in the hindlimbs ofAmbystoma mexicanum, deposition of calcium salts is furthered in the bones of the leg treated, as well as in the adjacent pelvic girdle, thus demonstrating that the thyroid hormone exerts a direct effect upon calcification. It is supposed that during normal metamorphosis the thyroid gland plays an equal part in the process of calcification in the skeletal system.     

Rapid freshening of the deep North Atlantic Ocean over the past four decades

The overflow and descent of cold, dense water from the sills of the Denmark Strait and the Faroe Shetland channel into the North Atlantic Ocean is the principal means of ventilating the deep oceans, and is therefore a key element of the global thermohaline circulation. Most computer simulations of the ocean system in a climate with increasing atmospheric greenhouse-gas concentrations predict a weakening thermohaline circulation in the North Atlantic as the subpolar seas become fresher and warmer, and it is assumed that this signal will be transferred to the deep ocean by the two overflows. From observations it has not been possible to detect whether the ocean's overturning circulation is changing, but recent evidence suggests that the transport over the sills may be slackening. Here we show, through the analysis of long hydrographic records, that the system of overflow and entrainment that ventilates the deep Atlantic has steadily changed over the past four decades. We find that these changes have already led to sustained and widespread freshening of the deep ocean.     

Künstliche Niere mit Kapillarsystem für den Stoffaustausch

Summary A particularly efficient removal of urea and similar substances by dialysis in an artificial kidney is obtained if both blood and dialyzing liquid are allowed to flow in countercurrent through channels a few hundredths of a mm thick and separated from each other by a membrane about 1/100 of a mm thick. In order practically to realize the flow required, about two thousand of these narrow channels, each of a length of about 2 cm, are arranged parallel to form a capillary net system.Four elements, each consisting of 2000 narrow channels, are needed in order to obtain a clearance of 80 ml/min. The quantity of blood needed to fill the elements is about 5 cm³ for each element.

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Vorgetragen am Kongress der «3^o riunioni medico chirurgiche internazionali», Turin 1957.     

Plant recognition of symbiotic bacteria requires two LysM receptor-like kinases

Although most higher plants establish a symbiosis with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, symbiotic nitrogen fixation with rhizobia is a salient feature of legumes. Despite this host range difference, mycorrhizal and rhizobial invasion shares a common plant-specified genetic programme controlling the early host interaction. One feature distinguishing legumes is their ability to perceive rhizobial-specific signal molecules. We describe here two LysM-type serine/threonine receptor kinase genes, NFR1 and NFR5, enabling the model legume Lotus japonicus to recognize its bacterial microsymbiont Mesorhizobium loti. The extracellular domains of the two transmembrane kinases resemble LysM domains of peptidoglycan- and chitin-binding proteins, suggesting that they may be involved directly in perception of the rhizobial lipochitin-oligosaccharide signal. We show that NFR1 and NFR5 are required for the earliest physiological and cellular responses to this lipochitin-oligosaccharide signal, and demonstrate their role in the mechanism establishing susceptibility of the legume root for bacterial infection.     

A receptor kinase gene of the LysM type is involved in legume perception of rhizobial signals

Plants belonging to the legume family develop nitrogen-fixing root nodules in symbiosis with bacteria commonly known as rhizobia. The legume host encodes all of the functions necessary to build the specialized symbiotic organ, the nodule, but the process is elicited by the bacteria. Molecular communication initiates the interaction, and signals, usually flavones, secreted by the legume root induce the bacteria to produce a lipochitin-oligosaccharide signal molecule (Nod-factor), which in turn triggers the plant organogenic process. An important determinant of bacterial host specificity is the structure of the Nod-factor, suggesting that a plant receptor is involved in signal perception and signal transduction initiating the plant developmental response. Here we describe the cloning of a putative Nod-factor receptor kinase gene (NFR5) from Lotus japonicus. NFR5 is essential for Nod-factor perception and encodes an unusual transmembrane serine/threonine receptor-like kinase required for the earliest detectable plant responses to bacteria and Nod-factor. The extracellular domain of the putative receptor has three modules with similarity to LysM domains known from peptidoglycan-binding proteins and chitinases. Together with an atypical kinase domain structure this characterizes an unusual receptor-like kinase.     

Positional identification of Ncf1 as a gene that regulates arthritis severity in rats

The identification of genes underlying quantitative-trait loci (QTL) for complex diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, is a challenging and difficult task for the human genome project. Through positional cloning of the Pia4 QTL in rats, we found that a naturally occurring polymorphism of Ncf1 (encoding neutrophil cytosolic factor 1, a component of the NADPH oxidase complex) regulates arthritis severity. The disease-related allele of Ncf1 has reduced oxidative burst response and promotes activation of arthritogenic T cells. Pharmacological treatment with substances that activate the NADPH oxidase complex is shown to ameliorate arthritis. Hence, Ncf1 is associated with a new autoimmune mechanism leading to severe destructive arthritis, notably similar to rheumatoid arthritis in humans.     

RGM is a repulsive guidance molecule for retinal axons

Axons rely on guidance cues to reach remote targets during nervous system development. A well-studied model system for axon guidance is the retinotectal projection. The retina can be divided into halves; the nasal half, next to the nose, and the temporal half. A subset of retinal axons, those from the temporal half, is guided by repulsive cues expressed in a graded fashion in the optic tectum, part of the midbrain. Here we report the cloning and functional characterization of a membrane-associated glycoprotein, which we call RGM (repulsive guidance molecule). This molecule shares no sequence homology with known guidance cues, and its messenger RNA is distributed in a gradient with increasing concentration from the anterior to posterior pole of the embryonic tectum. Recombinant RGM at low nanomolar concentration induces collapse of temporal but not of nasal growth cones and guides temporal retinal axons in vitro, demonstrating its repulsive and axon-specific guiding activity.     

Über die Struktur pflanzlicher Karotinkriställchen

Summary Crystals of carotene in plant cells (carrot root, corona ofNarcissus etc.) have been attributed to the orthorhombic or the hexagonal system. However, an optical investigation showed that they have a lower symmetry. In the case of the crystals in the corona ofNarcissus, the structural identity with synthetic-carotene is proved by X-ray and electron diffraction analysis. Although the geometry of the electron diffraction patterns is almost indistinguishable from hexagonal, its reflections can be identified with those from the planes of the monoclinic lattice of-carotene. The face of the plate-shaped crystals corresponds to (102).