In vitro culture of adult and juvenile bud explants of Passiflora species

Cultivar E23, an F1 hybrid of P. edulis and P. edulis f. flavicarpa is usually propagated by shoot-tip grafting. Various media were tested to evaluate the potential of E23 for in vitro propagation. Adult tissue was difficult to culture and did not respond to media containing low (<10 µM) concentrations of growth regulators. Growth of adult buds on intact stem sections was promoted by 1 week of dark incubation on MS basal medium plus 150 µM 2iP, 200 µM adenine sulphate and 17.1 µM IAA (3 mg l^–1), and further developed into shoots on MS medium plus 4.9 µM 2iP (1 mg l^–1) and 5.7 µM IAA (1 mg l^–1). By contrast, juvenile shoots of E23, and Passiflora species: edulis f. flavicarpa, edulis, alata, caerulea, mollissima, coccinea, herbertiana and suberosa grew rapidly on MS medium plus 10 µM kinetin and 5 µM IAA. Rapid multiplication was achieved on MS plus 20 µM BA, 10 µM kinetin, 5 µM IAA, and roots initiated on MS plus 5 µM IAA.Abbreviations IAA indole-3-acetic acid - 2iP N6-iso pentenyl adenine - BA N6-benzyl adenine     

巨噬细胞对氧化和丙二醛修饰的低密度脂蛋白结合与降解特性的比较研究

用Cu~(2+)(引发氧化修饰)和脂质过氧化降解产物丙二醛对低密度脂蛋白(LDL)进行修饰,分别测定了巨噬细胞系P~(300)D_1和小鼠腹腔巨噬细胞对两种被修饰LDL的结合量(包括内移量)和降解量。结果显示:LDL经氧化修饰和丙二醛修饰后被两类巨噬细胞的结合量与降解量均高于正常LDL,在修饰程度相近(琼脂糖电泳迁移率相近)时,两类巨噬细胞对氧化修饰LDL的结合量与降解量高于丙二醛修饰的LDL。竞争性抑制结果显示,丙二醛修饰的LDL和乙酰化修饰的LDL均可部分抑制巨噬细胞对氧化修饰LDL的结合与降解。     

Expression of two cytochromes P450 involved in carcinogen activation in a human colon cell line

Cytochrome P450 is known to cause carcinogen activation and correspondingly increased cancer risk in animal models. In order to determine whether P450 in the colon may be involved in cancer development in the human, the human colon cell line LS174T was examined for the presence of various cytochromes P450. Two isozymes of P450 were identified in the human cell line. Expression of P450IAl or IA2 was increased by treatment of the cell line with benzanthracene; the induction was demonstrated by an increase in RNA hybridizing to a probe for P4501Al and by ethoxyresorufin deethylation activity. Western analysis of microsomes isolated from human colon tissue also demonstrated the presence of P4501A1, as well as a form which cross-reacted to an antibody to human P450IIC9. Another isozyme, P450IIE1, was identified by polymerase chain reaction amplification of RNA from LS174T cells. These results underscore the presence of cytochromes P450 in colonic tissue and provide a basis for the involvement of isozyme-specific P450 mediated reactions in carcinogenesis of the colon.Some of the data presented here were taken from a thesis submitted by D.K.H. in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Ph.D. degree in the University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.     

HLA antigens in Brazilian patients with paracoccidioidomycosis

Eighty patients with paracoccidioidomycosis were typed for 43 HLA specificities from loci A, B, C and DR. A highly significant increased frequency of HLA-B40 (relative risk 29.2) and HLA-Cw 1 (relative risk 8.8) were found in patients compared to control subjects. The frequencies HLA-A2, B7 and B21 were also increased in patients and haplotypes-B40-Cw1 and -A2-B40 were positively correlated with the disease. DR antigen frequencies were not significantly altered in the patients and evidence of a protective effect was not found for any of the 43 antigens tested. These findings further support the involvement of the HLA system in the genetic susceptibility to paracoccidioidomycosis and the importance of ethnic variability in this association.     

Degranulation of eosinophilic granule cells induced by capsaicin and substance P in the intestine of the rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss Walbaum)

Summary Adult rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) were injected intraperitoneally with capsaicin, substance P, serotonin, or a control of saline vehicle or bovine serum albumin (0.5 g/g body weight). Fish were sacrificed 30 min and 1,2 and 4 h post-injection, the gut was dissected out, and a small section of the upper intestine was processed for electron microscopy. A significant proportion of eosinophilic granule cells (EGCs) of the intestine were in close association with non-myelinated neuronal bundles in all fish (4 fish per treatment and time period), but there was no significant difference between treatment or time, suggesting that the association was unaffected by these factors. Close examination of EGC ultrastructure showed that fish treated with capsaicin and substance P exhibited limited degranulation of the EGCs in the stratum compactum and extensive crinophagic-like degranulation in the lamina propria. Cells of the lamina propria contained characteristic multivesicular-like bodies. The degranulation was reminiscent of both mast cell degranulation and endocrine cell crinophagy. EGCs of fish treated with serotonin or a control were unaffected, suggesting that the serotoninergic neurons, believed to be involved in gut motility, were not responsible for degranulation. It is apparent that EGCs of the trout intestine may be under nervous control, as has been demonstrated previously for mammalian mast cells.     

Neurofilament protein triplet immunoreactivity in the dorsal root ganglia of the guinea-pig

Summary Immunoreactivity for the neurofilament protein triplet was investigated in neurons of the dorsal root ganglia of the guinea-pig by using a battery of antibodies. In unfixed tissue, nearly all neurons in these ganglia demonstrated some degree of neurofilament protein triplet immunoreactivity. Large neurons generally displayed intense immunoreactivity, whereas most small to medium-sized neurons showed faint to moderate immunoreactivity. Double-labelling immunofluorescence demonstrated that most antibodies to the individual subunits of the neurofilament protein triplet had the same distribution and intensity of labelling in sensory neurons. Increasing durations of tissue fixation in aldehyde solutions selectively diminished neurofilament protein triplet immunoreactivity in small to medium-sized neurons. Double-labelling with neurofilament protein triplet antibodies in combination with antibodies to other neuronal markers, such as neuron-specific enolase, substance P and tyrosine hydroxylase, showed that tissue processing conditions affect the degree of co-localization of immunoreactivity to the neurofilament protein triplet and to these other neuronal markers. These results indicate that, with a judicious manipulation of the duration of tissue fixation, neurofilament protein triplet immunoreactivity can be used in combination with other neuronal markers to distinguish groups of neurons according to their size and chemical coding.     

Ammonia rhythm in Microcystis firma studied by in vivo 15N and 31P NMR spectroscopy

Cultures of the cyanobacterium Microcystis firma show rhythmic uptake and release of ammonia under conditions of carbon limitation. The massive removal of ammonia from the medium during the first light phase has little impact on the intracellular pH: a pH shift of less than 0.2 U towards the alkaline can be measured by in vivo ³¹P NMR. Furthermore, the energy status of the cells remains regulated. In vivo ¹⁵N NMR of M. firma, cultivated either with labelled nitrate or ammonia as the sole nitrogen source, reveals only gradual differences in the pool of free amino acids. Additionally both cultivation types show -aminobutyric acid, acid amides and yet unassigned secondary metabolites as nitrogen storing compounds. Investigating the incorporation of nitrogen under carbon limitation, however, only the amide nitrogen of glutamine is found permanently labelled in situ. While transamination reactions are blocked, nitrate reduction to ammonia can still proceed. Cation exchange processes in the cell wall are considered regarding the ammonia disappearance in the first phase, and the control of ammonia uptake is discussed with respect to the avoidance of intracellular toxification.Abbreviations GABA -aminobutyric acid - GOGAT glutamate synthase - GS glutamine synthetase - MDP methylene diphosphonate - MOPSO 3-(N-morpholino)-2-hydroxy-propanesulfonic acid - NDPS nucieoside diphosphosugars - NOE nuclear Overhauser effect - NMR nuclear magnetic resonance For convenience, the term ammonia is used throughout to denote ammonia or ammonium ion when there is no good evidence as to which chemical species is involved     

Pathogenicity of Bursaphelenchus xylophilus on Pines in Minnesota and Wisconsin

The pinewood nematode, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, was inoculated into established native jack and red pines (Pinus banksiana and P. resinosa) and exotic Austrian pine (P. nigra) in Minnesota and Wisconsin forests during summer 1981. The nematode isolates did not kill established nonstressed pine trees growing in the forest. However, the same nematode isolates killed pine seedlings under greenhouse conditions. Girdling the main stem of some trees to induce stress resulted in the death of the majority of inoculated and noninoculated branches of Austrian and jack pines, but no branch death was observed on red pine. Greater numbers of nematodes were extracted from branches of inoculated, girdled trees than from nongirdled trees. The mean number of nematodes extracted from branches of inoculated, nongirdled trees was 0.3 - 14 nematodes per gram of wood.     

Phosphorus deficiency induced by nitrogen input in Douglas fir in the Netherlands

Summary A re-examination of earlier NPK fertilization experiments in Douglas fir stands on sandy soils shows the effects of high nitrogen input by air pollution during the last 10–15 years on plant nutrition at these sites. In 1960, experimental plots showed a positive growth reaction to nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium fertilization. All suffered from severe phosphorus deficiency in 1984, low phosphorus in the needles was invariably accompanied by a high nitrogen content, with all N/P ratios between 20 and 30. The same conclusion emerges from an independent investigation of nutrient status of a selection of Douglas fir stands. Hence, if stand productivity and a balanced nutrient status of the trees is to be maintained, the increase in atmospheric input of nitrogen calls for supplementary fertilization. Given the current N/P ratios in the needles, a positive growth response to phosphorus fertilization is to be expected.