In situ localization of micropollutants and associated stress response in Populus nigra leaves

Micropollutants and emerging organic contaminants (EOCs) have been widely studied in terms of persistance, removal, human risk assessment, toxicology, etc. Mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) offers the possibility of following the fate of a single pesticide in a plant leaf or a drug in the whole body of an animal, organ by organ. However, the admissibility of chronic low doses of complex mixtures for the ecosystem has not been assessed. How do micropollutants diffuse in the environment? How do living organisms cope with chronic exposure to a low dose of diverse micropollutants? Is there a cocktail effect or a chance for hormesis? Combining mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) and targeted and nontargeted liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (LC-MS), we attempt to answer these questions. We investigate the diversity of micropollutants at the exit of a water treatment facility, their diffusion in sludge and black poplar (Populus nigra), and their impact on a living organism. We reveal a specific tissue localization of micropollutants in peripheral leaf tissues, and an associated stress response from the plant, with stress hormones and tissue degradation markers induced in the plant growing near the water efflux.

128 NEURONATIN TRANSCRIPT ANALYSES AS MARKER TO CONFIRM SUCCESSFUL FERTILIZATION IN BOVINE BLASTOCYSTS

In humans, intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) has become widely applied to overcome infertility. In addition to its clinical usefulness, ICSI is also a valuable research tool for studying fundamental aspects of gamete interaction during fertilization. Oocyte activation is a prerequisite for decondensation of the sperm head and formation of the male pronucleus regardless of whether the spermatozoon enters the oocyte by injection or by fertilization. In several species, the injection procedure itself is sufficient to activate the oocyte. However, the bovine oocyte is rarely activated by the mechanical stimulation of injection alone. Therefore, additional stimuli are required during ICSI, which may also initiate parthenogenetic development. Because blastocyst origin, either via IVF or after parthenogenetic activation, could not be distinguished at the morphological level via microscopic evaluation, the paternal genome needs to be determined, employing a molecular approach. Therefore, the aim of this study was to validate the expression of neuronatin (NNAT) mRNA, a paternally expressed gene, via RT-PCR, to verify whether bovine blastocysts were generated by fertilization or parthenogenesis. Bovine cumulus-oocyte-complexes were recovered from abattoir-derived ovaries by the slicing method. After 24 h of maturation, fertilization was achieved using a standard protocol. Presumptive zygotes were cultured in SOFaa for a period of 8 days. To generate parthenogenetic blastocysts, oocytes were activated, employing the following protocol. After 24 h of maturation, the oocytes were exposed to 5 µM ionomycin for 5 min and were then incubated in 1.9 mM 6-dimethylaminopurine for 4 h. Afterwards, treated oocytes were cultured in SOFaa for 8 days. Blastocysts from both experimental groups (IVF-derived and parthenogenetic) were stored at −80° until analysis. RT-PCR was performed as described previously (Stinshoff et al. 2014 Reprod. Fertil. Dev. 26, 502–510) for 6 embryos stemming from the IVF-group and 3 embryos out of the chemical-activated group. The NNAT mRNA was expressed in 5 blastocysts stemming from the IVF group; one blastocyst did not show NNAT mRNA expression, suggesting that it was derived from parthenogenesis. Conversely, NNAT mRNA could not be detected in all blastocysts derived from chemical activation, indicating that only the maternal genome was present. These results clearly demonstrate that NNAT mRNA expression is a reliable method to prove the paternal participation in early bovine embryo development.

Elevated water temperature increases the levels of reo-like virus and selected innate immunity genes in hemocytes and hepatopancreas of adult female blue crab, Callinectes sapidus

Seasonal changes in water temperature directly affect the aquatic ecosystem. The blue crab, Callinectes sapidus, inhabiting the Chesapeake Bay has been adapted to seasonal changes of the environmental conditions. In this, the animals halt their physiological process of the growth and reproduction during colder months while they resume these processes as water temperatures increase. We aimed to understand the effect of the elevated temperatures on a disease progression of reo-like virus (CsRLV) and innate immunity of adult female C. sapidus. Following a rise in water temperature from 10 to 23 °C, CsRLV levels in infected crabs rose significantly in hemocytes and multiple organs. However, in hemocytes, the elevated temperature had no effect on the levels of three innate immune genes: Cas-ecCuZnSOD-2, CasPPO and CasLpR three carbohydrate metabolic genes: CasTPS, CasGlyP; and CasTreh and the total hemocyte counts (THC). Interestingly, the hemocytes of CsRLV infected animals exposed to 23 °C for 10 days had significantly elevated levels of Cas-ecCuZnSOD-2 and CasTPS, compared to those of the uninfected ones also exposed to the same condition and compared to hatchery-raised females kept at 23 °C. Despite the lack of changes in THC, the types of hemocytes from the animals with high CsRLV levels differed from those of uninfected ones and from hatchery animals kept at 23 °C: CsRLV-infected crabs had hemocytes of smaller size with less cytosolic complexity than uninfected crabs. It therefore appears that the change in temperature influences rapid replication of CsRLV in all internal tissues examined. This implies that CsRLV may have broad tissue tropism. Interestingly, the digestive tract (mid- and hindgut) contains significantly higher levels of CsRLV than hemocytes while hepatopancreas and ovary have lower levels than hemocytes. Innate immune responses differ by tissue: midgut and hepatopancreas with upregulated Cas-ecCuZnSOD-2 similar to that found in hemocytes. By contrast, hepatopancreas showed a down-regulated CasTPS, suggesting carbohydrate stress during infection.

Microwave photon counter based on Josephson junctions

We describe a microwave photon counter based on the current-biased Josephson junction. The junction is tuned to absorb single microwave photons from the incident field, after which it tunnels into a classically observable voltage state. Using two such detectors, we have performed a microwave version of the Hanbury Brown-Twiss experiment at 4 GHz and demonstrated a clear signature of photon bunching for a thermal source. The design is readily scalable to tens of parallelized junctions, a configuration that would allow number-resolved counting of microwave photons.

Fatty acids in eleven species of blue-green algae: geochemical significance

Analyses of the total lipids of 11 species of blue-green algae showed a simple but qualitatively variable fatty acid composition. The species can be grouped in three categories on the basis of their oleic, linoleic, and linolenic acid content. One species was unusual in that the ten-carbon acid accounts for one-half of its total fatty acid. Branched chain acids are absent in the algae, but are major components of marine bacteria. The geochemical significance of the data is discussed.

Personal Problem-Solving Scoring of TAT Responses: Known-Groups Validation

Two studies employed a known-groups validation strategy to evaluate a Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) scoring system purported to measure personal problem-solving skills, the Personal Problem-Solving System (PPSS). In Study 1 clinicians rated the records of 46 mental health outpatients for the presence of personal problem-solving skills deficits. Verbatim TAT transcripts from these patients were blindly scored using the PPSS. Participants predicted to demonstrate problem-solving deficits obtained lower PPSS scores. In Study 2 a psychiatric sample (n = 47) and a community-based comparison group (n = 47) completed a life history questionnaire, a checklist of problems currently experienced, a measure of psychiatric symptoms, and responded to 3 TAT cards. TAT responses were again blindly scored using the PPSS. In contrast to the comparison group, psychiatric patients checked a greater number of current problems, endorsed more psychiatric symptoms, and obtained lower scores on the PPSS. A discriminant function analysis using PPSS scores correctly classified 72% of these participants. PPSS scores predicted group membership even after controlling for differences in age, education, the number of problems experienced, and psychiatric symptoms. This combination of variables correctly classified 92% of the participants. Results of both studies are interpreted as supporting the discriminant validity of the PPSS.

The medical treatment of battered wives

Knowledge gained from a literature summary was tested against data obtained from a national volunteer sample of 1,000 battered women recruited primarily through solicitation by an advertisement in Woman's Day magazine. In comparison with other help-sources (social service agencies, the clergy, the police, lawyers, women's groups, shelters), medical personnel were found to have been used fairly frequently, but they were seen by the battered women as less effective than any other group. Quotes taken from indepth interviewers with 146 of the battered wives are used to bring life to the comparative statistics. Specific reasons for the low effectiveness ratings of the medical profession are considered, and ways to improve service delivery ratings are discussed.

Identification and characterization of genes determining receptor binding and pilus length of Escherichia coli type 1 pili

We describe the identification and characterization of two genes and their gene products responsible for determining receptor binding and pilus length in type 1-piliated Escherichia coli. One gene, pilE, conferred the ability of piliated cells to agglutinate guinea pig erythrocytes. The other gene, pilF, determined pilus length, in that mutants having lesions in pilF had very long pili. The two genes were detected after Tn5 mutagenesis of a cloned segment of DNA that normally complemented a pilE lesion in the chromosome. Thus, lesions in pilE or pilF on the cloned segment resulted in mutants having the PilE- phenotype (piliated but unable to agglutinate erythrocytes). Introduction of the plasmid-encoded mutant alleles of pilE and pilF into the chromosome followed by electron microscopic examination of the mutants showed that only lesions in pilF conferred the striking increase in pilus length. Mutations in pilF could be complemented in trans by the original cloned segment to produce cells with parental-length pili. Minicell transcription and translation of the cloned pilE and pilF genes having representative Tn5 insertion mutations showed that the pilE gene product was a protein of ca. 31 kilodaltons and that the pilF gene product was a protein of ca. 18 kilodaltons. We believe that the pilF gene product may act as a competitive inhibitor of pilus polymerization. Thus, pilus length may be controlled by the ratio of pilin to pilF gene product present within the cell.

Receptor-binding function of type 1 pili effects bladder colonization by a clinical isolate of Escherichia coli

The role of type 1 pili in promoting bladder colonization was examined by constructing two mutant strains of a clinical Escherichia coli isolate. One mutant was isogenic to the parental strain save for a lesion in a gene required for pilus receptor binding; the other mutant was isogenic save for a lesion in the gene encoding the pilus structural subunit. Using mixed infections of the parental and mutant strains in an ascending rat cystitis model, we found that type 1-piliated mutants that lacked the receptor-binding function were as ineffective in bladder colonization as were mutants lacking the entire organelle.

[Column chromatographic enrichment of "glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase vienna" (author's transl)]

Further biochemical investigations were performed in a case of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency--called the "Vienna" deficiency variant on account of its biochemical characterization. It was found that the "Vienna" deficiency variant shows increased enzyme protein at a reduced specific activity. Gel filtration on Sephadex-G-200 produced a molecular weight identical with that of the normoenzyme; the different cochromatographic behaviour on hydroxylapatite appears attributable to a sequence modification of the amino acids.