Mouse germ cells and LSD-25

Acute and chronic studies of male and female meiosis in an Imperial-Chemical-Industries-derived strain of mice were carried out with LSD-25. Over a wide range of doses claimed to be effective in teratogenesis and male meiosis in the mouse and in the production of chromosome damage in leucocyte cultures of human blood, no convincing effect was detected on the chromosomes of first or second meiotic divisions, nor in those of the bone-marrow or of the few spermatogonial metaphases that were studied.

The role of nutrients and pH in reversing fungistasis of conidia of Trichoderma viride

Increases in germination of conidia of Trichoderma viride in the presence of soil was demonstrated with 5 of 16 amino acids tested. Only slight increases in germination occurred with selected mono-, di-, and tri-saccharides.Fungistasis of the test conidia was partially annulled when the pH of the spore suspension was adjusted to pH 0.3–0.4 and 1.3–1.4 before addition to agar discs over soil. The pH change was transitory and nearly reached an equilibrium with the soil within 6 to 8 h. Significant changes in the effectiveness of nutrients in reversing fungistasis occurred when the pH of the spore suspension was adjusted before addition to soil. Spore germination increased two- to four-fold with alanine, aspartic, and glutamic acids when the pH was adjusted in the range pH 1.3–1.4 to 5.5–6.5. Glucose increased spore germination only slightly, regardless of pH, but enhanced germination when combined with alanine and aspartic acid. In the presence of glucose, the molar concentration of the amino acids necessary to reverse fungistasis completely or partially was reduced.

Comparison of viability of strains of Neurospora after storage in liquid nitrogen

The survival of mutant and wild type macroconidia of Neurospora was compared after the conida, in the "air dry" state, had been frozen rapidly to −196 °C in liquid nitrogen and thawed rapidly. The 16 isolates of Neurospora were compared after 3 months' storage in liquid nitrogen with 7-day-old control cultures. Eleven of the 16 isolates showed no significant difference from 7-day-old controls in the pattern of germination after 8 hours' incubation. In the remainder, those spores germinating did so at a rate comparable to that of the controls, but the final proportion germinating was 5.0–19.0% lower.