Cell cycle-dependent dynamics of cytoskeleton involving mitochondrial redistribution in hamster embryos.

Mitochondria-cytoskeleton interactions were studied in the hamster embryos during interphase and M phase of the cell cycle. Two-cell embryos were cultured for 1 h with nocodazole, cytochalasin D or in a combination of both inhibitors and then centrifuged at 10,000 × g for 2 min. The control embryos were only centrifuged with no inhibitor treatment. Centrifuged embryos were fluorescently stained to examine the distribution of active mitochondria and nuclear configuration. In the control 2-cell embryos, most mitochondria were accumulated at the perinuclear region with some at the cell cortex. Neither each inhibitor nor centrifugation did affect the distribution of mitochondria in interphase blastomeres. However, mitochondria were spun down towards the centrifugal pole in 71% (n = 41) of the interphase blastomeres treated with centrifugation following a combination of nocodazole plus cytochalasin D, suggesting that both microtubules and microfilaments may involve in mitochondrial redistribution during interphase of the cell cycle. In contrast, when M-phase blastomeres were treated with all drug treatments applied, including cytochalasin D, mitochondria had been usually dislocated in a unipolar cluster, suggesting that microfilaments, not microtubules, may involve in the mitochondrial redistribution during M phase of the cell cycle. The data indicate that microfilaments function in mitochondrial redistribution regardless of the stages of the cell cycle and that microtubules may strongly associate with mitochondria during the interphase but dissociate from them during the M phase.

A 37-kDa peroxidase secreted from liverworts in response to chemical stress.

A peroxidase was purified from the culture medium of a suspension culture of Marchantia polymorpha (liverwort) after treatment with bornyl acetate, which acts as a chemical stress agent to the cells. The peroxidase was characterised as a glycoprotein of molecular mass 37-kDa having a pl of about 10 and an optimal pH of 6.5. The peroxidase was thermally stable at 50 degrees C for up to 60 min. The partial amino acid sequence of the peroxidase was determined and found to be dissimilar to the amino acid sequences of other higher plant peroxidases. The oxidative polymerization of lunularin by this peroxidase was examined and the formation of a dimer, a trimer and a tetramer was demonstrated by negative ion Fast Atom Bombardment (FAB)-mass spectroscopy of the reaction products.

Histamine-producing bacteria in decomposing skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis).

Spoilage in skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis) was studied under controlled conditions by incubating whole, fresh fish in seawater at 38 degrees C, the optimum temperature for histamine formation. Bacterial isolates were obtained from the loin tissue of a decomposing tuna containing 134 mg of histamine per 100 g and a total anaerobic count of 3.5 x 10(5)/g after incubation for 24 h. Over 92% of the 134 isolates obtained were facultatively or obligately anaerobic bacteria. Eighteen isolates produced histamine in culture media containing histidine, and these were identified as Clostridium perfringens, Enterobacter aerogenes, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus mirabilis, and Vibrio alginolyticus. Histidine decarboxylase activity of several isolates was measured in a tuna broth medium and with resting cells suspended in a buffered histidine solution.