Isolation,identification, and bioassay of chemicals affecting nonpreference carrot-root resistance to carrot-fly larva

Roots of the carrot cultivars Vertou L.D. (resistant) and Long Chantenay (susceptible) were subjected to detailed chemical analysis to identify extracts and compounds influencing larval host-finding (preference/non-preference) behavior and to compare concentrations of these compounds in resistant and susceptible cultivars. Vertou yielded threefold less volatile material in headspace extracts of pureed roots. Extracts of chopped root in methanol, steam, hexane, and chloroform were inactive in behavioral assays. However, ether extracts were active and their hydrocarbon and carbonyl-rich fractions contained potent attractants. The principal constituent of the carbonyl-rich fraction of each cultivar was the carotatoxin complex comprising the neurotoxin falcarinol (carotatoxin), falcarindiol, and falcarindiol monoacetate, the latter compound here reported for the first time from carrot. Falcarinol (50 and 100 g) was active in a behavioral assay, and all three ingredients of the complex were potent electrophysiological stimuli, eliciting maximum single unit responses to source concentrations of 10 ng. Furthermore, the complex was more abundant by about 1000 g/root in Long Chantenay. As this comprised extra amounts of 70, 862, and 110 g of falcarinol, falcarindiol, and falcarindiol monoacetate, respectively, the observed differences seem both behaviorally and physiologically relevant. It is generally accepted that coevolution has transformed the role of many toxins into host-location cues, but this seems a relatively rare example of a neurotoxin (falcarinol) evincing, in decreased concentrations, nonpreference host resistance. This evolved response to a toxin present in large concentrations is contrasted with that totrans-2-nonenal, which paralyses and kills the larva and is present in only trace amounts in the root.     

Relationship between the structures of S-acyl thiol compounds and their rates of hydrolysis by pancreatic lipase and hepatic carboxylic esterase

About 100 S-fatty acyl thiol compounds designed as substrates for pancreatic lipase [EC 3.1.1.3] were synthesized and tested for susceptibility to hydrolysis by hog pancreatic lipase and hog hepatic carboxylic esterase [EC 3.1.1.1] using 5,5'-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid) as a chromogenic reagent to determine the hydrolytic rates of their S-acyl bonds. In general, the hydrolytic rates of S-acyl bonds by the lipase were fast with thioglycerol type thiol moieties, slow with dithioethyleneglycol type or monothiol type, and negligible with thiopolyol type. As for the acyl moieties, the hydrolysis of the S-acyl bonds was fast with C3-5 acyl groups, followed by C6-8 acyl groups, and the rate decreased as the acyl chain length deviated from these values or branched. On the other hand, the hydrolysis of S-acyl bonds by the esterase occurred with all types of S-acyl esters except for esters of long S-acyl chains. Of all the compounds tested with the lipase, the rate of hydrolysis of S-acyl bond was maximum with 2,3-dimercaptopropan-1-ol tributyroate [I], high with 3-mercaptopropane-1,2-diol tributyroate [II], but negligible with the analogous compound, 1,3-dimercaptopropan-2-ol tributyroate. Compounds [I] and [II] may be practically useful as substrates for lipase assay in human serum samples pretreated with phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride, a potent inhibitor against both serum arylesterase [EC 3.1.1.2] and hepatic esterase, which attack [I] and [II].     

Type II superconductors containing magnetic impurities

A theoretical study is made on the equilibrium as well as on the dynamical properties of type II superconductors containing magnetic impurities. The Kondo effect associated with the impurity spins is taken into account within the pole approximation, which has been used previously by Müller-Hartmann and Zittarz in their calculation of the superconducting transition temperature. In this approximation we have still the additive law of the different pair-breaking mechanisms for the transition temperature; the sum of the pair-breaking parameters due to magnetic impurities and due to magnetic fields is a universal function of the temperature. Since the pair-breaking parameter arising from magnetic impurities has the maximum atTT _K , the upper critical fieldH _c2 (T) reflects the Kondo effect in the system. The ₂(T) parameter, which describes the magnetization as well as the flux-flow resistivity of the vortex state, is obtained. WhenT _K /T _c0 >1, ₂(T) increases as the temperature decreases, but whenT _K /T _c0 <1, ₂(T) first increases as the temperature decreases, then passing a maximum and decreasing at low temperatures, which is in sharp contrast to that obtained previously where the impurity scattering was treated with the Born approximation (i.e., the Kondo effect was completely neglected.) A brief discussion of the density of states in the gapless region is also given, which reflects the Kondo effect in an interesting way.     

Simple determination of residual anticoccidial drugs (diclazuril and nicarbazin) in chicken tissues by HPLC

A simple and rapid determination of anticoccidial drug residues, diclazuril (DCZ) and nicarbazin (NCZ), in chicken tissues has been developed. DCZ and NCZ were extracted with acetonitrile from chicken liver, muscle, and fat. The extract was rinsed with n-hexane saturated with acetonitrile and then evaporated. The residue was dissolved in 1.4 mL of acetonitrile-methanol (1:1), then 1.0 mL of n-hexane saturated with acetonitrile-methanol (1:1) was added, and the mixture was partitioned by the addition of 0.6 mL of water. DCZ and NCZ in the aqueous layers were determined by HPLC on an Xterra RP-18 column with acetonitrile-0.5% ammonium acetate containing 0.01 mol/L tetra-n-butylammonium hydrogen sulfate (43:57) as the mobile phase. The mean recoveries (n = 5) of DCZ and NCZ spiked in chicken tissues at the maximum residue levels were 92.0-95.6% (CV 2.4-3.0%) and 87.3-89.4% (CV 1.7-2.8%), respectively. The detection limits of DCZ and NCZ were 0.01 and 0.004 microgram/g, respectively.     

Determination of captafol,cyhexatin, 1-naphthylacetic acid and quintozene in apple,Japanese pear and melon by simultaneous extraction

A simple and rapid method is described for the determination of the non-registered pesticides, captafol, quintozene (PCNB), cyhexatin and 1-naphthylacetic acid (NAA), in fruits. These pesticides were extracted with acidified acetone, then captafol and PCNB were purified with a Florisil mini column and analyzed by GC-ECD. Cyhexatin was ethylated with ethylmagnesium bromide, and the ethyl derivative was analyzed by GC-FPD (Sn filter). NAA was purified with liquid-liquid extraction and determined by HPLC equipped with a fluorescence detector. These analytes were identified with GC/MS or LC/MS. The minimum identified concentration of the pesticides was below 0.2 ng per injection, which corresponds to a detection limit of below 0.02 microgram/g in the original samples. Recoveries of the pesticides spiked at 0.1 microgram/g into apple, Japanese pear and melon were greater than 61%.     

Optical topography: practical problems and new applications

We will briefly review the present status of optical topography and then discuss the method of improving practicality, i.e., the signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio and the spatial resolution in observations of higher-order brain functions. The optimum wavelength pair improved the S/N ratio sixfold for deoxyhemoglobin, and new configurations of light irradiation and detection positions doubled the spatial resolution. We also report on developing application fields of optical topography. This modality will bridge the gap between natural sciences, neuroscience, and pedagogy, and show actual real-time brain activity.     

Superconducting Gap Structure of YNi2B2C Determined by Thermal Conductivity

In order to determine the superconducting gap structure of the borocarbide superconductor YNi₂B₂C, we have measured the angular variation of the c-axis thermal conductivity _zz in magnetic field rotated within the ab-planes. A clear fourfold symmetry with narrow cusps was observed in the angular variation of _zz . These results provide a strong evidence that the gap function has point nodes which are located along the a- and b-axes of the crystal.     

Field-induced spin density waves in Bechgaard salts in the presence of normal impurities

We study theoretically the effect of the quasiparticle scattering in field-induced spin density waves (FISDW) in Bechgaard salts in a high magnetic field. The effects of scattering are introduced by a random impurity model similar to the one used by Zittartz in his analysis of the charge density wave. Within the single-gap approximation and weak impurity scattering, we find that the FISDW with normal impurities is similar to a superconductor with magnetic impurities. From this analogy the thermodynamics as well as the electronic thermal conductivity and the sound attenuation coefficient of the FISDW are obtained.On leave of absence from Nankai University, China.