Used of coffe

Ciliates assemble basal bodies in great number at many stages of the life-cycle. In order to understand their assembly mechanisms, we screened a library of monoclonal antibodies directed against pericentriolar material. One of these antibodies, CTR210, was used previously to follow steps of this assembly process: in Paraurostyla, new basal bodies appear along a scaffold of linear structures recognized by this antibody. The very unusual behavior of this antigen deserved confirmation in other species. In the present study, we show by immunofluorescence that, in another phylogenetically very distant species, Euplotes, basal bodies are assembled in the same pathway during division...

The flagellate form of Trichomonas vaginalis (T v) transforms to amoeboid cells upon adherence to converslips. They grow and their nuclei divide without undergoing cytokinesis, yielding giant cells and a monolayer of T v F-actin was demonstrated in Trichomonas vaginalis by fluorescence microscopy using phalloidin and an anti-actin mAb which labelled the cytoplasm of both the flagellate and amoeboid forms. Comparative electrophoresis and immunoblotting established that the actin band has the same 42 kDa as muscle actin, but 2-D electrophoresis resolved the actin band into four spots; the two major spots observed were superimposable with major muscle actin isoforms...

A novel isolation of centrosomes is described and it was used to both generate a centrosome-specific monoclonal antibody and to image with high-resolution low-voltage scanning electron microscopy the surface details of the isolated centrosome. At first mitotic prometaphase, sea urchin zygotes are chilled on ice overnight. While most of the microtubules disassemble, the mitotic centrosomes collapse into aggregated masses. These centrosomes have been isolated, and used to generate a monoclonal antibody, designated 4D2, which is reactive with interphase and mitotic centrosomes...

A study using bipyramid tetse fly traps in the Nola-Bilolo sleeping sickness focus (Central African Republic) reveals ecological and behavioural differences between two vectors, Glossina palpalis palpalis and G. fuscipes fuscipes. The latter species inhabits mainly open water sites and surrounding forest, whereas G. p. palpalis occurs mainly in coffe plantations near villages. Consequently, the man-fly contact differs considerably according to the species. The intensity of trypanosomiasis transmission, estimated by the probable distribution of cases, showed significant positive correlation with the density of the flies...

In heterothallic filamentous ascomycetes, two nuclei of opposite mating type must recognize one another in a plurinucleate cell to form a pair prior to karyogamy. In pseudohomothallic species, two nuclei of opposite mating type must also pair after meiosis to form a binucleate spore. We have examined the cytoskeletal involvement in nuclear pairings by immunofluorescence and drug disruption, using heterothallic and pseudohomothallic species, as well as species without defined mating type (homothallic). Nuclei of species with defined mating type have spindle pole bodies which react with chromatin stains; those of homothallic species do not...

We describe a simple, inexpensive, sensitive and specific modified seroneutralization assay for use on a wide scale to screen for the presence of measles antibodies. After only one reaction (1 h) and a 3-day incubation period at 37 degrees C, the test can be easily read using a rapid, inexpensive methylene blue/phenol staining procedure. The determination of protective antibody titres by modified and standard seroneutralization methods was strongly correlated (corr. coff. = 0.98).

Ambient air was monitored for pesticides at four sites in Coffs Harbour, a coastal town (population about 50,000) surrounded by banana plantations. Air was sampled continuously for five consecutive months during the peak agricultural spraying period using vacuum pumps set to sample one litre per minute through ORBO-42 absorption tubes. Six pesticides were detected: three organochlorines and three organophosphates. The most commonly detected pesticide (14 per cent of all samples) was chlorpyrifos (maximum detected level 208...

Platelets were frozen using glycerol (3% in plasma) as a cryoprotective agent, a rapid cooling rate, and liquid nitrogen for storage. The cryopreserved platelets were thawed at 42 C and infused without washing. The results indicate that the quality of the thawed platelets is equivalent to platelets stored for 24 to 48 hours at room temperature. The availability of HLA phenotyped leukocyte poor platelets can reduce the frequency of sensitization to strong antigens and provide clinically effective platelets for alloimmunized patients...

The technique using the IBM 2991 blood cell processor is an effective technique for the concentration of mononuclear cells from large volumes of bone marrow. The marrow cells are layered on to Ficoll Metrizoate using the IBM processing set. The mononuclear cells and CFU-GM recoveries are in close relationship with the hematocrit of the cell suspension processed. Twenty two bone marrows have been collected and purified according to this protocol. The mononuclear cell recovery is an average of 78,3% (range: 44-92%) and the CFU-GM recovery is in average of 67,5% (range: 40-89%)...

Determination of experimental conditions which allow the evaluation of the variations in the ratio of non polymerized and polymerized forms of actin and tubulin during the reorganization of the cytoskeletal cell system is of most valuable importance. In order to prepare cell homogenates which would reflect the in vivo situation, we tested in vitro a lysis medium which stabilized both microfilaments and microtubules, which were determined by DNase inhibition assays and colchicine binding assays respectively...

Extracts from rat brain tissue have been shown to give rise to a gel which exhibits the following features. It is mainly enriched in actin and in a high-molecular-weight protein with polypeptide chains of 235 and 240 kDa, which we identified as fodrin. Tubulin is also a major component of the gel but it appears to be trapped non-specifically during the gelation process. Gelation is pH-, ionic strength- and Ca2+-concentration-dependent, and is optimal under the conditions which promote the interaction between polymerized actin and fodrin...

A mouse monoclonal antibody generated against Drosophila intermediate filament proteins (designated Ah6/5/9 and referred to herein as Ah6) is found to cross-react specifically with centrosomes in sea urchin eggs and with a 68-kDa antigen in eggs and isolated mitotic apparatus. When preparations stained with Ah6 are counterstained with a human autoimmune serum whose anti-centrosome activity has been established, the immunofluorescence images superimpose exactly. A more severe test of the specificity of the antibody demands that it display all of the stages of the centrosome cycle in the cell cycle: the flattening and spreading of the compact centrosomes followed by their division and the establishment of two compact poles...

We report an isolation procedure of trans-Golgi vesicles (GVs) from rat parotid glands. Various organelle markers were used, particularly galactosyl transferase as a trans-Golgi marker, to test the purity of the GV fraction. A quantitative in vitro binding assay between microtubules and GVs is described. The vesicles were incubated with taxol-induced microtubules, layered between 50% and 43% sucrose cushions and subjected to centrifugation. Unlike free microtubules which were sedimented, the GV-bound microtubules co-migrated upward with GVs...