Kinds Of Nuclei Research Articles

The influence of melt temperature on the crystal orientation of polypropylene containing talc

Constructing oriented crystals in products is one of the effective means to endow semi-crystalline polymers with high performance or special function. For polypropylene (PP), introduction of flake-like talc is a feasible method to induce the formation of oriented PP crystals. In this work, the influence of melt temperature (Ts) on the crystal orientation of talc-filled PP was investigated by characterizing the crystal orientation of PP containing in-plane oriented talc after cooling from different Ts located at Domain I and Domain II. It was found that the crystal orientation of sample remarkably varied at different Ts, in which it kept stable in Domain I, while increased and then decreased in Domain II with decreased Ts. By analyzing the nuclei at different Ts, a probable mechanism for varied crystal orientation at different Ts was proposed: In Domain I, only inherent foreign substances and talc existed in the melt, where the former and the latter induced the formation of isotropic and oriented PP crystals, respectively. In high temperature range of Domain II, some oriented crystal fragments stabilized by talc also survived in melt leading to the generation of oriented PP crystals. In low temperature range of Domain II, in addition to the oriented crystal fragments, some isotropic one remained in melt resulting in the formation of isotropic PP crystals. The competitive growth of these various kinds of nuclei at different Ts determined the final crystal orientation of talc-filled PP.

Context-aware learning for cancer cell nucleus recognition in pathology images.

Nucleus identification supports many quantitative analysis studies that rely on nuclei positions or categories. Contextual information in pathology images refers to information near the to-be-recognized cell, which can be very helpful for nucleus subtyping. Current CNN-based methods do not explicitly encode contextual information within the input images and point annotations. In this article, we propose a novel framework with context to locate and classify nuclei in microscopy image data. Specifically, first we use state-of-the-art network architectures to extract multi-scale feature representations from multi-field-of-view, multi-resolution input images and then conduct feature aggregation on-the-fly with stacked convolutional operations. Then, two auxiliary tasks are added to the model to effectively utilize the contextual information. One for predicting the frequencies of nuclei, and the other for extracting the regional distribution information of the same kind of nuclei. The entire framework is trained in an end-to-end, pixel-to-pixel fashion. We evaluate our method on two histopathological image datasets with different tissue and stain preparations, and experimental results demonstrate that our method outperforms other recent state-of-the-art models in nucleus identification. The source code of our method is freely available at https://github.com/qjxjy123/DonRabbit. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Spatial and temporal disequilibrium of nuclear distribution in heterothallic Morchella importuna

Our previous study found that isolates from morel stipes showed a large proportion of mating type deletion, which implied the nuclear evolution and spatial heterogeneity. In this paper, the specific mating type genes of Mat1-1-1 and Mat1-2-1 in Morchella importuna were analyzed using the relative quantitative method of qRT-PCR to study the uneven nuclear distribution in morel life cycle. The results demonstrated obvious unbalanced distribution of two karyotypes in tested commercially cultivated strains and stipe issue isolates from cultivated ascocarps. The ratio of two mating type genes in tissue isolates from different parts of the ascocarps (base soil, inside and surface of stipe, inside and outside of cap pit) was also different. The disequilibrium also existed in primordium, young ascocarp and mature ascocarp. Moreover, the imbalance in different positions of mature ascocarp (base of stipe, middle of stipe, junction of stipe and cap, middle of cap, and top of cap) gradually converged from bottom to top with the largest difference in base of stipe and almost equal distribution of two mating types in morel caps, which indicated that the deviation of two kinds of nuclei in sexual reproduction stage slowed down. More than half of the protoplast regenerated strains from the heterokaryotic M04 strain were homokaryotic, with the dominant Mat1-1-1 genotype accounted for 85.7%. Overall, the Mat1-1-1 genotype nucleus dominated in all samples from different stage of the life cycle. The imbalance of nuclear distribution during the life cycle of M. importuna may imply the evolutionary-driven nuclear-level selection. This is the first study of spatial and temporal disequilibrium of nuclear distribution in macro-ascomycetes. For scale cultivation, it is necessary to perform genotype integrity testing in potential cultivated strains to ensure the existence of both mating type genes. • The two mating-type genes representing the karyotypes showed an obvious disequilibrium in the whole life cycle of Morchella importuna. • Serious disequilibrium even appear in tissue isolates, making it necessary to detect the integrity of mating type genes on isolates during spawn production. • The uneven distribution of the karyotype reflects the competition at the nuclear level.

A strategy for complete telomere-to-telomere assembly of ciliate macronuclear genome using ultra-high coverage Nanopore data

Ciliates contain two kinds of nuclei: the germline micronucleus (MIC) and the somatic macronucleus (MAC) in a single cell. The MAC usually have fragmented chromosomes. These fragmented chromosomes, capped with telomeres at both ends, could be gene size to several megabases in length among different ciliate species. So far, no telomere-to-telomere assembly of entire MAC genome in ciliate species has been finished. Development of the third generation sequencing technologies allows to generate sequencing reads up to megabases in length that could possibly span an entire MAC chromosome. Taking advantage of the ultra-long Nanopore reads, we established a simple strategy for the complete assembly of ciliate MAC genomes. Using this strategy, we assembled the complete MAC genomes of two ciliate species Tetrahymena thermophila and Tetrahymena shanghaiensis, composed of 181 and 214 chromosomes telomere-to-telomere respectively. The established strategy as well as the high-quality genome data will provide a useful approach for ciliate genome assembly, and a valuable community resource for further biological, evolutionary and population genomic studies.

Atomic size adjusted calculation of the magnetically induced current density

The continuous set of gauge transformations for calculations of magnetically induced current densities has been investigated in details. Atomic size adjustments have been inserted employing the Bragg-Slater atomic radii and considering the bond critical points determined by the electron density distribution. By means of extensive calculations on a set of selected molecules and adopting a well suited series of basis sets, it is shown that these adjustments provide a systematic improvement of the approximate current density and related properties such as the magnetic shielding constants, which are calculated by integration for different kinds of nuclei and in nucleus independent positions.

Hidden genomic evolution in a morphospecies-The landscape of rapidly evolving genes in Tetrahymena.

A morphospecies is defined as a taxonomic species based wholly on morphology, but often morphospecies consist of clusters of cryptic species that can be identified genetically or molecularly. The nature of the evolutionary novelty that accompanies speciation in a morphospecies is an intriguing question. Morphospecies are particularly common among ciliates, a group of unicellular eukaryotes that separates 2 kinds of nuclei—the silenced germline nucleus (micronucleus [MIC]) and the actively expressed somatic nucleus (macronucleus [MAC])—within a common cytoplasm. Because of their very similar morphologies, members of the Tetrahymena genus are considered a morphospecies. We explored the hidden genomic evolution within this genus by performing a comprehensive comparative analysis of the somatic genomes of 10 species and the germline genomes of 2 species of Tetrahymena. These species show high genetic divergence; phylogenomic analysis suggests that the genus originated about 300 million years ago (Mya). Seven universal protein domains are preferentially included among the species-specific (i.e., the youngest) Tetrahymena genes. In particular, leucine-rich repeat (LRR) genes make the largest contribution to the high level of genome divergence of the 10 species. LRR genes can be sorted into 3 different age groups. Parallel evolutionary trajectories have independently occurred among LRR genes in the different Tetrahymena species. Thousands of young LRR genes contain tandem arrays of exactly 90-bp exons. The introns separating these exons show a unique, extreme phase 2 bias, suggesting a clonal origin and successive expansions of 90-bp–exon LRR genes. Identifying LRR gene age groups allowed us to document a Tetrahymena intron length cycle. The youngest 90-bp exon LRR genes in T. thermophila are concentrated in pericentromeric and subtelomeric regions of the 5 micronuclear chromosomes, suggesting that these regions act as genome innovation centers. Copies of a Tetrahymena Long interspersed element (LINE)-like retrotransposon are very frequently found physically adjacent to 90-bp exon/intron repeat units of the youngest LRR genes. We propose that Tetrahymena species have used a massive exon-shuffling mechanism, involving unequal crossing over possibly in concert with retrotransposition, to create the unique 90-bp exon array LRR genes.

First Cytogenetic Analysis of Eratigena agrestris (Araneae: Agelenidae) From Turkey.

In this study, chromosomal characteristics of Eratigena agrestris (Agelenidae) were investigated for the first time. Karyotype features including diploid chromosome number, sex chromosome system, chromosome morphology, and meiotic behavior were obtained from specimens collected in two localities of Mediterranean region. A spreading method including dissection, hypotonization, fixation, and staining was used to prepare the chromosome slides. In a total, 10 adult males were used due to having high numbers of dividing cells. Cytogenetical results showed that the diploid chromosome number and sex chromosome system was 2n♂ = 42 (X1X20). The sex chromosomes were identified tentatively. All chromosomes were telocentric. Relative chromosome lengths of autosomal pairs ranged between 5.65 and 3.32%, and relative chromosome lengths of X1 and X2 were 5.33 and 4.19%, respectively. In the first meiotic division stages, bivalents usually had one chiasma, but some had two chiasmata. At the end of the meiosis, two kinds of nuclei, with or without sex chromosomes, have occurred. These results contribute to a better characterization of the Agelenidae cytogenetic.

Polynuclear CdII Polymers: Crystal Structures, Topologies, and the Photodegradation for Organic Dye Contaminants

To systematically explore the effect of polynuclear complexes on photocatalytic degradation of the organic dyes, a series of coordination complexes containing CdII clusters, formulated as {[Cd3L2(H2O)5]·H2O}n (1), {[Cd3L2(hbmb)(H2O)2]·2.5H2O}n (2), {[Cd3L2(btbb)(H2O)2]·2EtOH·1.5H2O}n (3), and {[Cd6L4(bipy)2(H2O)6]·3H2O}n (4) (H3L = 3,4-bi(4-carboxyphenyl)-benzoic acid, hbmb = 1,1′-(1,6-hexane)bis(2-methylbenzimidazole), btbb = 1,4-bis(2-(4-thiazolyl)benzimidazole-1-ylmethyl)benzene, 4,4′-bipy = 4,4′-bipyridine), have been designed and synthesized. Complex 1 based on trinuclear CdII clusters exhibits a new (3,3,6)-connected 3D framework. 2 belongs to a (3,3,8,8)-connected tfz-d topology net with pillar-layered frameworks assembled by two kinds of trinuclear CdII clusters. 3 is a 3D pillar-layered framework, which features a (3,8)-connected tfz-d net based upon one kind of trinuclear CdII cluster. 4 presents a new 3D (3,6,10)-connected framework with dinuclear and tetranuclear clusters. The photocatalytic properties of complexes 1–4 have been studied in detail. Remarkably, 1–4 all reveal good photocatalytic activity in MB/MO degradation. The optical energy gap calculated by the diffuse reflectivity spectra of 1–4 are consistent with their degradation rates. Moreover, the experimental results further demonstrate that the cluster complexes containing different kinds of nuclei may exert different impact on the decomposition of disparate organic dyes.

Experimental investigation of ≈130 keV kinetic energy antiprotons annihilation on nuclei

The study of the antiproton (\(\bar {p}\)) annihilation cross section on nuclei at low energies (eV-MeV region) has implications for fundamental cosmology as well as for nuclear physics. Concerning the former, different models try to explain the matter/antimatter asymmetry in the universe assuming the existence of the so-called “islands” where antinucleon-nucleon annihilations occur in the border region (Cohen et al. Astrophys. J. 495, 539–549, 1998), while, from the nuclear physics point of view, the annihilation process is a valuable tool to evaluate the neutron/proton ratio in order to probe the external region of the nucleus (Gupta et al. Nucl. Phys. B 70(3), 414–424, 1974). The existing data of antinucleon-nucleon (or -nucleus) annihilation cross-sections are mainly confined to energies above ≈1 MeV, while the cross section measured at LEAR in the 80’s-90’s (mostly with light targets Agnello et al. Phys. Lett. B 256, 349–353, 1991; Bertin et al. Phys. Lett. B 369, 77–85, 1996; Bertin et al. Phys. Lett. B 414, 220–228, 1997; Zenoni et al. Phys. Lett. B 461, 405–412, 1999; Bianconi et al. Phys. Lett. B 481, 194–198, 2000; Bianconi et al. Phys. Lett. B 492, 254–258, 2000) showed an unexpected behaviour for energies below 1 MeV (Bianconi et al. Phys. Lett. B 483, 353–359, 2000; Bianconi et al. Phys. Rev. C 62, 014611-7, 2000; Batty et al. Nucl. Phys. A 689, 721–740, 2001). The results showed a saturation with the atomic mass number against the A2/3 trend which is observed for higher energies (being A the target mass number). The ASACUSA collaboration at CERN recently measured antiproton annihilation cross section on different kinds of nuclei with a \(\bar {p}\) kinetic energy of 5.3 MeV (Bianconi et al. Phys. Lett. B 704, 461–466, 2011; Corradini et al. Nucl. Instr. Methods A 711, 12–20, 2013). Such results proved compatibility with the black-disk model with the Coulomb correction. But till now experimental difficulties prevented the investigation at energies below ≈1 MeV. In 2012, the 100 keV region has been investigated for the first time (Aghai-Khozani et al. Eur. Phys. J. Plus 127, 125–128, 2012). We present here the first preliminary results of this experiment.

The scope for nuclear selection within Termitomyces fungi associated with fungus-growing termites is limited.

BackgroundWe investigate the scope for selection at the level of nuclei within fungal individuals (mycelia) of the mutualistic Termitomyces cultivated by fungus-growing termites. Whereas in most basidiomycete fungi the number and kind of nuclei is strictly regulated to be two per cell, in Termitomyces mycelia the number of nuclei per cell is highly variable. We hypothesised that natural selection on these fungi not only occurs between mycelia, but also at the level of nuclei within the mycelium. We test this hypothesis using in vitro tests with five nuclear haplotypes of a Termitomyces species.ResultsFirst, we studied the transition from a mixture of five homokaryons (mycelia with identical nuclei) each with a different nuclear haplotype to heterokaryons (mycelia with genetically different nuclei). In vitro cultivation of this mixture for multiple asexual transfers led to the formation of multiple heterokaryotic mycelia, and a reduction of mycelial diversity over time. All heterokaryotic mycelia contained exactly two types of nucleus. The success of a heterokaryon during in vitro cultivation was mainly determined by spore production and to a lesser extent by mycelial growth rate. Second, heterokaryons invariably produced more spores than homokaryons implying that homokaryons will be outcompeted. Third, no homokaryotic ‘escapes’ from a heterokaryon via the formation of homokaryotic spores were found, despite extensive spore genotyping. Fourth, in contrast to most studied basidiomycete fungi, in Termitomyces sp. no nuclear migration occurs during mating, limiting the scope for nuclear competition within the mycelium.ConclusionsOur experiments demonstrate that in this species of Termitomyces the scope for selection at the level of the nucleus within an established mycelium is limited. Although ‘mate choice’ of a particular nuclear haplotype is possible during mating, we infer that selection primarily occurs between mycelia with two types of nucleus (heterokaryons).

Chromosome studies in the genus Pterotricha (Gnaphosidae) from Turkey

The diploid chromosome set and male meiosis of two spider species belonging to the family Gnaphosidae from Turkey are described. Both Pterotricha kochi and Pterotricha lesserti exhibited the diploid chromosome number as 2n♂=22 and X1X20 sex chromosome type. All chromosomes were acrocentric. During the first meiotic division, both species had ten autosomal bivalents and two sex chromosomes that were positively heteropycnotic. At the second meiotic division, two kinds of nuclei were determined, with or without sex chromosome. These data will contribute to our knowledge of the evolution of the genus Pterotricha.

Ultrasound Stimulated Nucleation and Growth of a Dye Assembly into Extended Gel Nanostructures

A squaraine dye functionalized with a bulky trialkoxy phenyl moiety through a flexible diamide linkage (GA-SQ) capable of undergoing self-assembly has been synthesized and fully characterized. Rapid cooling of a hot solution of GA-SQ to 0 °C results in self-assembled precipitates consisting of two types of nanostructures, rings and ill-defined short fibers. The application of ultrasound modifies the conditions for the supersaturation-mediated nucleation, generating only one kind of nuclei and prompting the formation of crystalline fibrous structures, inducing gelation of solvent molecules. The unique self-assembling behavior of GA-SQ under ultrasound stimulus has been investigated in detail by using absorption, emission, FT-IR, XRD, SEM, AFM and TEM techniques. These studies reveal a nucleation growth mechanism of the self-assembled material, an aspect rarely scrutinized in the area of sonication-induced gelation. Furthermore, in order to probe the effects of nanoscale substrates on the sonication-induced self-assembly, a minuscule amount of single-walled carbon nanotubes was added, which leads to acceleration of the self-assembly through a heterogeneous nucleation process that ultimately affords a supramolecular gel with nanotape-like morphology. This study demonstrates that self-assembly of functional dyes can be judiciously manipulated by an external stimulus and can be further controlled by the addition of carbon nanotubes.

Modeling of Nucleated Cells and their Variety Effect on Light Holographic Characteristics Based on VirtualLab Technique

The phase images of cells and tissues are of great importance for obtaining their morphological and dynamics information. However, because of the uniform optical path-length of a light field passing through the inhomogeneous cells whose nuclei’ shape and structure are different but with equivalent physical thickness, we can not identify their subgroup just from their phase images, since their wrapped phase images have similar shape. Thus we put out a new idea that uses their scattering distributions as a auxiliary criterion for identifying cells with different nuclei structure. We built the ellipsoidal models to denote the cells’ external shape and placed three kinds of nuclei, such as hexahedron, cylinder and spheroid, into the center of ellipsoids to compose nucleated leucocytes. Employing the VirtualLab software to carry out the simulations, we first prove that, for cells with different nuclei structures, their wrapped phase distributions indeed have similar shape. Then after analyzing the results of scattering simulations, we obtain some important scattering characteristics related with their different nuclei’ shape and structures which are very useful for helping us to identify blood cells’ subgroup and can also provide good guidance for experimental research on inhomogeneous cells.

Mineralogical and micromorphological characteristics of Si-Fe-Mn oxyhydroxides from the PACMANUS hydrothermal field, Eastern Manus Basin

The mineralogical and micromorphological characteristics of Si-Fe-Mn oxyhydroxides from the dacite-hosted PACMANUS hydrothermal field were analyzed. The samples are poorly crystallized Si-Fe-Mn oxyhydroxides with minor birnessite, todorokite, nontronite, goethite, and opal-A. There are some microtextures which are rather like fossil microbes such as the filamentous silica and the hollow pipes. Flakes of nontronite crystals are found either forming a honeycomb texture or distributed on the surface of the hollow pipes. Nontronite is the product precipitated from low-temperature hydrothermal fluids, and microbes may play a role in its formation. Si-Fe-Mn oxyhydroxides have two kinds of nuclei: Si-Mn nuclei and Si nuclei, both enveloped by the similar Si-Fe outer layer, existing in the rod-shaped oxyhydroxide and spheroidal oxyhydroxide, respectively. In the Si-Mn nuclei, the concentration of SiO2 is between 39.32 wt% and 86.31 wt%, and MnO concentration is between 4.97 wt% and 27.01 wt%, but Fe2O3 concentration is very low (0.54 wt%–3.43 wt%). In the Si nucleus the concentration of SiO2 is 90.17 wt%, but concentration of MnO and Fe2O3 are low, with 0.06 wt% and 3.47 wt%, respectively. The formation of the Si-Mn nucleus is closely related to microbes, whereas the Si nucleus is of inorganic origin.

Unfavoredαdecay from ground state to ground state in the range53≤Z≤91

Within the density-dependent cluster model, we have systematically investigated partial $\ensuremath{\alpha}$-decay half-lives of ground-state (g.s.)-to-g.s. transitions. Emphasis is placed on the unfavored $\ensuremath{\alpha}$ transitions in the range $53\ensuremath{\le}Z\ensuremath{\le}91$ of both odd-$A$ and odd-odd nuclei. The $\ensuremath{\alpha}$-preformation factor is estimated by means of the multiplication of the valence proton and neutron numbers ${N}_{P}{N}_{N}$, in addition to the constant formation factor for one kind of nuclei. By introducing a centrifugal term, the previous empirical relation for $\ensuremath{\alpha}$-decay half-lives of our group is improved to reproduce a large number of experimental data including these unfavored transitions. Whatever concerns the theoretical calculation or the analytical expression, the agreement between theory and experiment is satisfied. This indicates that these studied unfavored g.s.-to-g.s. $\ensuremath{\alpha}$ decays can be reasonably described within the present approach extended from the treatment of favored ones.

A further study on chromosome minimization by protoplast fusion in Aspergillus oryzae

Our goal in this work was to develop a method to minimize the chromosomes of Aspergillus oryzae, to arrive at a deeper understanding of essential gene functions that will help create more efficient industrially useful strains. In a previous study, we successfully constructed a highly reduced chromosome 7 using multiple large-scale chromosomal deletions (Jin et al. in Mol Genet Genomics 283:1-12, 2010). Here, we have created a further reduced chromosome A. oryzae mutant harboring a reduced chromosome 7 and a reduced chromosome 8 both of which contain a large number of non-syntenic blocks. These are the smallest A. oryzae chromosomes that have been reported. Protoplast fusion between the two distinct chromosome-reduced mutants produced a vigorous and stable fusant which was isolated. PCR and flow cytometry confirmed that two kinds of nuclei, derived from the parent strains, existed in this fusant and that the chromosome DNA per nucleus was doubled, suggesting that the fusant was a heterozygous diploid strain. By treating the cell with 1 μg/ml benomyl, cell nuclei haploidization was induced in the stable diploid strain. Array comparative genomic hybridization and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis confirmed that the reduced chromosomes 7 and 8 co-existed in the haploid fusant and that no other chromosomal modifications had occurred. This method provides a useful tool for chromosome engineering in A. oryzae to construct an industry-useful strain.

Functional Study of Genes Essential for Autogamy and Nuclear Reorganization in Paramecium

Like all ciliates, Paramecium tetraurelia is a unicellular eukaryote that harbors two kinds of nuclei within its cytoplasm. At each sexual cycle, a new somatic macronucleus (MAC) develops from the germ line micronucleus (MIC) through a sequence of complex events, which includes meiosis, karyogamy, and assembly of the MAC genome from MIC sequences. The latter process involves developmentally programmed genome rearrangements controlled by noncoding RNAs and a specialized RNA interference machinery. We describe our first attempts to identify genes and biological processes that contribute to the progression of the sexual cycle. Given the high percentage of unknown genes annotated in the P. tetraurelia genome, we applied a global strategy to monitor gene expression profiles during autogamy, a self-fertilization process. We focused this pilot study on the genes carried by the largest somatic chromosome and designed dedicated DNA arrays covering 484 genes from this chromosome (1.2% of all genes annotated in the genome). Transcriptome analysis revealed four major patterns of gene expression, including two successive waves of gene induction. Functional analysis of 15 upregulated genes revealed four that are essential for vegetative growth, one of which is involved in the maintenance of MAC integrity and another in cell division or membrane trafficking. Two additional genes, encoding a MIC-specific protein and a putative RNA helicase localizing to the old and then to the new MAC, are specifically required during sexual processes. Our work provides a proof of principle that genes essential for meiosis and nuclear reorganization can be uncovered following genome-wide transcriptome analysis.

Interspezifische Variabilität bei hypotrichen Ciliaten1

Interspecific variability in hypotrichous ciliates The genome organization of hypotrichous ciliates differs fundamentally from those of most other eukaryotic organisms. Every cell has two kinds of nuclei as is characteristic for ciliatese small generative micronuclei (Mi) whose DNA has a high molecular weight and which is organized in chromosomes, and vegetative macronuclei (Ma) which are very rich in DNA. The macronuclear DNA consists of so-called “gene-sized” DNA pieces, an organization which is not found in any other organism. This extraordinary genome organization offers a convenient experimental approach for studying evolutionary divergence at different molecular levels: 1. whole genomes, 2. subfractions of genomes, and 3. enzyme proteins. The comparison of unfractionated genomic DNA of hypotrichous ciliates by Dna-DNA hybridizations has yielded an unsuspected result: species that are closely related according to their morphology show an unusually low amount of sequence homology. The underlying reason might be that hypotrichous species separated early in eukaryotic evolution. Whereas the morphology of “closely related” species has changed only little, molecular evolution has led to major genomic changes that reflect the great evolutionary age of the species. The separation of native macronuclear DNA by gel electrophoresis produces species-specific DNA banding patterns based on different copy numbers of individual “gene-sized” DNA pieces in different species. These banding patterns allow the discrimination of sibling species which are morphologically very similar or even undistinguishable. Higher taxa can also be identified by means of DNA banding patterns. Cloned α- and β-tubulin genes were used in hybridization experiments to study the evolutionary divergence of individual DNA sequences in different hypotrichous species. The unusual Magenome organization makes such an analysis especially convenient. Characteristics of individual genes such as length number of sequence variants, copy number, and pattern of restriction sites can be compared with this method. The digestion of Mi-DNA with restriction endonucleases reveals differences in the repetitive DNA fraction of those genomes. Specific differences can be detected between closely related species and even between different populations of one species. The comparison of evolutionary divergence at the DNA level was supplemented by a comparison at the protein level. Enzyme electrophoresis proved to be a suitable method for the identification of otherwise indistinguishable species. Genetic ivergency (D-values) was estimated on the basis of allozyme data and a dendrogram was constructed reflecting the amount of genetic similarity between the species investigated. The discussion considers advantages and disadvantages of molecular characteristics for attacking taxonomic, phylogenetic, and evolutionary problems.

超急冷したＮｉ‐ＣおよびＮｉ‐Ｃ‐Ｍｇ系合金と合金中の球状黒鉛の観察

Liquid Ni-C and Ni-C-Mg alloys (12.5 at% C) were solidified ultra-rapidly using twin rollers at various cooling speeds. A number of spheroidal graphite (S.G.) with a diameter of a few micron meters were observed by TEM in both of the alloys. At each center of S.G. in Ni-C alloy, a small different phase was recognized, in which some of the calcium, silicon, aluminum, potassium, magnesium and oxygen were detected. The result shows that S.G. in Ni-C alloy could be formed through heterogeneous nucleation on a nucleus formed from the impurities of graphite reagent. In contrast, S.G. in Ni-C-Mg alloy did not contain such kind of nucleus, having shown more roundish shape than that in Ni-C alloy. Supersaturated carbon in nickel has a tendency to crystallize at the surface of bulk nickel, which was recognized through carbon films precipitated on surface of all the samples. Accordingly, the S.G. in Ni-C-Mg alloy could be formed through nucleation at the interface between magnesium bubble and nickel, and growing up to the center. X-ray diffraction of both alloys proved two types of nickel containing 1.2-1.3% C and 7.5-8.5% C, respectively. In case of Ni-C alloy solidified at a rather slow cooling speed, Ni3C in addition to the two nickel phases was confirmed. For the samples solidified at a most rapid cooling speed, only one type of nickel containing 1% C was shown. The electron diffraction of carbon film on nickel surface showed that basal plane of graphite preferentially covered the nickel.

Distance measurements between paramagnetic centers and a planar object by matrix Mims electron nuclear double resonance

Frequency-domain electron nuclear double resonance (ENDOR), two time-domain electron nuclear double resonance techniques, and electron spin echo envelope modulation spectroscopy are compared with respect to their merit in measurements of small hyperfine couplings to nuclei with intermediate gyromagnetic ratio such as 31P. The frequency-domain Mims ENDOR experiment is found to provide the most faithful line shapes. In the limit of long electron-nuclear distances of more than 0.5 nm, sensitivity of this experiment is optimized by matching the first interpulse delay to the transverse relaxation time of the electron spins. In the same limit, Mims ENDOR efficiency scales inversely with the sixth power of distance. Hyperfine splittings as small as 33 kHz can be detected, corresponding to an electron-31P distance of 1 nm. In systems, where a certain kind of nuclei is distributed in a plane, measurements of intermolecular hyperfine couplings can be analyzed in terms of a distance of closest approach of a paramagnetic center to that plane. By applying this technique to spin-labeled lipids in a fully hydrated lipid bilayer it is found that for a fraction of lipids, chain tilt angles can be 25 degrees larger than the mean tilt angle of the lipid chains. This model of all-trans hydrocarbon chains with a broad distribution of tilt angles is also consistent with orientation selection effects in high-field ENDOR spectra.