Dusty starburst galaxies in the early Universe as revealed by gravitational lensing.

In the past decade, our understanding of galaxy evolution has been revolutionized by the discovery that luminous, dusty starburst galaxies were 1,000 times more abundant in the early Universe than at present. It has, however, been difficult to measure the complete redshift distribution of these objects, especially at the highest redshifts (z > 4). Here we report a redshift survey at a wavelength of three millimetres, targeting carbon monoxide line emission from the star-forming molecular gas in the direction of extraordinarily bright millimetre-wave-selected sources. High-resolution imaging demonstrates that these sources are strongly gravitationally lensed by foreground galaxies. We detect spectral lines in 23 out of 26 sources and multiple lines in 12 of those 23 sources, from which we obtain robust, unambiguous redshifts. At least 10 of the sources are found to lie at z > 4, indicating that the fraction of dusty starburst galaxies at high redshifts is greater than previously thought. Models of lens geometries in the sample indicate that the background objects are ultra-luminous infrared galaxies, powered by extreme bursts of star formation.

Characterization of a submillimeter high-angular-resolution camera with a monolithic silicon bolometer array for the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory.

We constructed a 24-pixel bolometer camera operating in the 350- and 450-µm atmospheric windows for the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory (CSO). This instrument uses a monolithic silicon bolometer array that is cooled to approximately 300 mK by a single-shot (3)He refrigerator. First-stage amplification is provided by field-effect transistors at approximately 130 K. The sky is imaged onto the bolometer array by means of several mirrors outside the Dewar and a cold off-axis elliptical mirror inside the cryostat. The beam is defined by cold aperture and field stops, which eliminates the need for any condensing horns. We describe the instrument, present measurements of the physical properties of the bolometer array, describe the performance of the electronics and the data-acquisition system, and demonstrate the sensitivity of the instrument operating at the observatory. Approximate detector noise at 350 µm is 5 × 10(-15) W/√Hz, referenced to the entrance of the Dewar, and the CSO system noise-equivalent flux density is approximately 4 Jy/√Hz. These values are within a factor of 2.5 of the background limit.

Messenger RNA for the coat protein of tobacco mosaic virus.

TMV RNA is not an efficient template for translation of the viral coat protein, in spite of containing nucleotide sequences coding for the protein. Efficient translation requires the prior synthesis within infected cells of a smaller RNA carrying only a portion of the information encoded in the whole genome.

Ricinus communis toxin-mediated inhibition of protein synthesis in cell-free extracts of a toxin-resistant variant mouse lymphoma cell line.

Ricinus communis agglutinin II (RCAII, ricin, toxin) at low concentrations inhibits protein synthesis in cell-free extracts, but not in intact cells, of an RCAII-resistant mouse lymphoma variant cell line. The concentration dependence of the inhibition by RCAII was the same in cell-free extracts of both RCAII-resistant variant and RCAII-sensitive parental cells, while intact parental cells are 250 times more sensitive to RCAII toxicity. The onset of RCAII inhibition of cell-free protein synthesis was extremely rapid in both cases, being complete in a few minutes. Under these conditions RCAII inhibits protein synthesis in intact RCAII-sensitive parental cells, but maximal inhibition requires several hours to occur. These results support our previous electron microscopic observations that the variant cells are defective in the uptake of RCAII by endocytosis at low toxin concentrations.

Mechanism of cell entry and toxicity of an affinity- purified lectin from Ricinus communis and its differential effects on normal and virus-transformed fibroblasts.

An affinity-purified plant lectin from Ricinus communis (RCAII) was shown to exhibit differential toxicity toward SV40-transformed 3T3 fibroblasts grown in vitro. When macromolecular synthesis was examined in SV3T3 and 3T3 cells, RCAII suppressed cell protein synthesis in the transformed line at lower concentrations (1/50 to 1/100) compared to the 3T3 line, and these effects were blocked by the RCAII inhibitors D-galactose or lactose. RNA and DNA synthesis and L-leucine transport were relatively unaffected by RCAII concentrations (greater than 1 mug/ml) that completely suppressed protein synthesis in both cell lines. The RCAII-mediated inhibition of cell protein synthesis required incubation times longer than 60 min, but quantitative cell binding studies with 125-I-RCAII indicated that the lectin binds to maximal levels in approximately 5 to 10 min, even at 4 degrees. During 10-min labeling experiments with 125-I-RCAII (1 mug/ml), it was demonstrated that the cell-bound lectin could be almost quantitatively removed from cells up to an additional 15 min after labeling without subsequent inhibition of protein synthesis. However, longer incubation times (greater than 30 min) after RCAII cell labeling and washing resulted in incomplete removal of cell-bound lectin (less than 20 to 30% of cell-bound lectin could be removed after a 60-min incubation). The longer incubation times (greater than 60 min) also resulted in almost complete inhibition of protein synthesis. Ferritin-conjugated RCAII (ferritin-RCAII) was used to follow the fate of the cell-bound lectin. Ferritin-RCAII bound rapidly (less than 10 min) to SV3T3 cell surfaces and could be blocked from labeling with lactose. After a 10-min incubation at 4 degrees in ferritin-RCAII solutions, the ferritin label was exclusively located at the extracellular surface in a random distribution. After washing and incubation at 37 degrees, the ferritin-RCAII induced clustering of its receptors (15 to 30 min) and eventually induced endocytosis (30 to 60 min). Further incubation (greater than 60 min) resulted in a predominantly intracellular localization of ferritin-RCAII inside endocytotic vesicles and free in the cell cytoplasm. That RCAII acts directly on protein synthesis after cell entry was confirmed with rabbit reticulocyte and mouse Krebs II ascites S30 cell-free protein synthesis system in diameter wit