Taxonomy of cucurbit-infecting tobamoviruses as determined by serological and molecular hybridization analyses

A number of cucurbit-infecting tobamoviruses have been reported in the past but there is confusion about their identity and relationships. Cucumber viruses 3 (CV3) and 4 (CV4) were originally described in the United Kingdom whereas the watermelon (W) and cucumber (C) 'isolates' of cucumber green mottle mosaic virus (CGMMV) came from Japan. The results of serological studies and RNA-cDNA analyses have shown that CV3, CV4 and CGMMV-W are very closely related, whereas CGMMV-C is quite different. It is concluded that there are two distinct tobamoviruses that infect cucurbits; they are only very remotely related to each other and to a number of other tobamoviruses. It is suggested that the name CGMMV be retained to include the isolates or strains CV3, CV4 and CGMMV-W, and that a new name, kyuri green mottle mosaic virus (KGMMV), be given to CGMMV-C.

Cell cycle-dependent repair of double-strand DNA breaks in a gamma-ray-sensitive Chinese hamster cell

A Chinese hamster cell mutant has been isolated which is extremely sensitive to killing by gamma-irradiation in the G1 and early S phases of the cell cycle (LD50 of 20 vs. 250 rads for parent), but which has nearly normal resistance in late S. The mutant cell is able to repair single-stranded DNA breaks introduced by gamma-radiation. However, in comparison to its parental cell, the mutant is deficient in the repair of double-stranded DNA breaks produced by gamma-irradiation during the sensitive G1-early S period, while in the resistant late S period, the repair is nearly the same for both cell types. This correlation between gamma-ray sensitivity and repair strongly suggests that an inability to repair double-strand DNA breaks in G1 is the basis for the hypersensitivity of the mutant to killing by gamma-rays in this phase of the cell cycle. It also provides direct evidence in mammalian cells that the ability to repair double-strand DNA breaks induced by ionizing radiation is an important biochemical function in cell survival and supports the hypothesis that unrepaired double-strand breaks are a major lethal lesion in mammalian cells. A plausible explanation for the appearance of the cell cycle phenotype of the mutant is that in normal cells there are at least two pathways for the repair of double-strand breaks, one of which functions primarily in late S phase, and the other, either throughout the cell cycle or only in the G1 and early S phases.

Factors affecting the assay of histone H1 and polylysine by binding of Coomassie blue G

Although a mixture of calf thymus histones or the H2B and H4 fractions gave values in the Bradford assay that were similar to those for bovine serum albumin, low values were obtained with histone H1 and polylysine. The assay was found to be more sensitive for histone H1 and polylysine if the phosphoric acid concentration in the reagent was decreased or the polypeptide solutions contained low concentrations of nonionic detergents. Substitution of perchloric acid or hydrochloric acid for phosphoric acid and alcohol in the Coomassie blue G reagent provided an assay that was similar in sensitivity for histone H1 and a total histone mixture. It was suggested that the degree of metachromasia with Coomassie blue G may serve as a probe of conformational changes in histone H1.

A rapid and simple method for the quantitative determination of tolerance development to opiates in the guinea-pig ileum in vitro

The rate and degree of tolerance development of morphine, normorphine and methadone were assessed in vitro on the guinea-pig ileum. After the half-maximal concentration to inhibit electrically induced contractions (IC50) for each compound was determined, tolerance to a fixed concentration representing 0.5, 1 or 2 times its IC50 was induced by incubation at 37 degrees C for 1, 2 or 4 hr. The IC50 was then redetermined and the ratio of the IC50 after and before incubation provided a quantitative index of the degree of tolerance development to each agonist. For any given concentration or time, morphine induced the highest, whereas normorphine the intermediate and methadone the lowest degree of tolerance. Tolerance to opiates was associated with some degree of physical dependence as evidenced by the fact that the application of naloxone at the end of each experiment elicited a muscular contraction. Specificity of tolerance development to opiates was demonstrated by several experiments. Coincubation of morphine with naloxone under the same conditions resulted in an inhibition of tolerance development. The stereospecificity of the process was demonstrated by the fact that levorphanol and I-methadone induced a high degree of tolerance, whereas, under the same conditions the less active d-isomers, dextrorphan and d-methadone, did not. Moreover, subsensitivity to acetylcholine, norepinephrine and adenosine monophosphate did not develop in the presence of tolerance to morphine. The validity of this method for investigating mechanisms involved in tolerance and physical dependence was further demonstrated by obtaining data compatible with earlier experiments in vivo that cyclic AMP enhances tolerance development and cycloheximide inhibits this phenomenon. The present method should facilitate studies on the mechanisms involved in opiate tolerance and physical dependence development.

Reverse transcriptase as the major determinant for selective packaging of tRNA's into Avian sarcoma virus particles

Mutants of avian sarcoma virus which lack a functional DNA polymerase were found to be nonselective in the incorporation of host cell tRNA's into virus particles. In contrast, mutants which possess a functional DNA polymerase but lack the viral genome RNA contained a specific subset of the host cell tRNA population, indistinguishable from that of the wild-type virus. Thus the reverse transcriptase, and not the viral RNA, is probably the major factor determining which tRNA's are incorporated into avian sarcoma virus particles. Supporting evidence was obtained in an in vitro binding assay between purified reverse transcriptase and unfractionated cellular tRNA's. However, the subset of tRNA's which associated with the genome in the 70S complex was determined primarily by the viral RNA. In the absence of DNA polymerase, the 70S RNA complex in mature virus particles contained the normal complement of associated tRNA's with the exception of tRNATrp, the primer for RNA-directed DNA synthesis.

Methionine-enkephalin antagonism and endorphin potentiation of narcotic-induced analgesia

Intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) administration of subanalgesic doses of beta- and leucine-endorphin in mice 15 min before subcutaneous morphine injection, significantly enhanced the analgesic effects of the morphine as measured by the tail-flick assay. A similar effect was seen with levorphanol analgesia but not enhancement of leucine- or methionine-enkephalin analgesia by beta-endorphin was observed. The same doses of the endorphins did not affect the development of single-dose morphine tolerance and dependence. Leucine-enkephalin failed to affect morphine analgesia, tolerance or dependence development, while low doses of methionine-enkephalin administered i.c.v. were observed to have an antagonistic effect on morphine analgesia without affecting tolerance or dependence development. Neither endephalin had any effect on beta-endorphin analgesia.