Luminescent Systems in Apogonid Fishes from the Philippines

Luminescence has been discovered in five apogonid fishes from the Philippine Islands. The luminescent organ systems, which are of two types, are morphologically different from the systems in the Japanese cardinal fish, Apogon ellioti, and in the apogonid genus Siphamia. Extracts of the organs all show a luciferin-luciferase type of reaction and cross-react with extracts of Apogon ellioti, Parapriacanthus ransonneti, and Cypridina hilgendorfii.

Muscle pathology in cytochrome c oxidase deficiency

Muscle biopsies from 16 patients with cytochrome c oxidase (CCO) deficiency were examined morphologically. Two siblings had the fatal infantile form. The muscle of the older sister at the age of 5 months had numerous ragged-red fibers (RRF) and increased numbers of lipid droplets; at 28 days the brother had no RRF suggesting that the RRF formed later than 28 days. The muscle pathology in two patients with the benign infantile form improved as they grew older; numbers of RRF, lipid droplets and glycogen particles decreased and CCO activity increased in the second biopsy. In the encephalomyopathic form, RRF were seen in 5 of 12 muscles mostly in patients more than 6 years of age. Muscle spindles and blood vessel walls in the biopsies from three patients with rapid clinical aggravation had no CCO activity, suggesting that enzyme activity differed from tissue to tissue (tissue specificity).