Transport of Exogenous D-glucose by the Integument of a Polychaete Worm (Nereis Diversicolor Müller)

1975 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 243-265
Author(s):  
GREGORY A. AHEARN ◽  
JØRGEN GOMME

1. Integumentary exchange of radio-labelled D-glucose in the brackish-water polychaete worm Nereis diversicolor (Annelida; Polychaeta) was investigated. 2. In animals acclimated to 50% sea water, the influx of D-glucose was measured, and shown to occur largely across the outward-facing membranes of the epidermal cells. 3. Transfer of exogenous D-glucose across the outer membranes occurs by facilitated transfer, involving two different transport systems. One of these has a Kt (transport constant) of ⋍ 5 μM, i.e. of the order of magnitude of environmental D-glucose concentrations. The Kt for the other system is at least ten times higher. 4. The D-glucose is rapidly metabolized by the epidermal cells. Small amounts of unmetabolized D-glucose are released to the extracellular fluid, and probably to the medium. 5. The maximal D-glucose outflux through the apical border of the epidermal cells is at least 4 times smaller than the outflux through the baso-lateral border. 6. A maximum value is given for the diffusion permeability of D-glucose through the intercellular spaces of the integument. Applying this figure, the loss by intercellular diffusion was found not to exceed the D-glucose influx into the epidermal cells.

1992 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey G. Duckett ◽  
Roberto Ligrone

The ventral epidermal cells of the photosynthetic, surface-living gametophytes of Lycopodium cernuum, collected from moist shaded banks in Peninsular Malaysia, contain an aseptate fungus. In some cells the hyphae are thick walled and form coils encapsulated by a thin layer of host wall material. In others the fungus is thin walled and shows limited differentiation into larger trunk hyphae and arbuscules. The adjacent host cytoplasm, separated from the fungus by a granular interfacial matrix, contains numerous chloroplasts, mitochondria, and microtubules. The hyphae contact the substratum via the ventral walls of the epidermal cells and the rhizoids are free from infection. In the protocorm and root nodules, aseptate hyphae initially colonize mucilage-filled schizogenous intercellular spaces. Subsequent invasion of the host cells is associated with the development of massive overgrowths of host wall material. The fungal associations in L. cernuum share a mixture of attributes otherwise found in different angiosperm mycorrhizae and in mycotrophic relationships in liverworts. Wall ingrowths are present in both the gametophyte and sporophyte cells in the placenta of L. cernuum. The very limited development of the placenta, compared with L. appressum, certain bryophytes and ferns, the diminutive size, and early senescence of the gametophytes of L. cernuum are all linked to the presence of the protocorm. This massive absorptive organ, homologous to a foot, in terms of its position in sporophyte ontogeny, but external to the parent gametophyte, derives its nutrition partly from photosynthesis and partly from its fungal endophyte. Key words: chloroplasts, Lycopodium, mycorrhiza, pteridophytes, root nodules, symbiosis, transfer cells.


1970 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 425-443
Author(s):  
C. R. FLETCHER

1. Nereis diversicolor tolerates changes in the concentration of calcium and magnesium in its coelomic fluid proportional to the concentrations in the medium between chlorosities of 100-1000 mM/kg of water. 2. In lower salinities both ions are maintained relatively constant providing that the ratios of these ions to chloride in the medium are similar to the ratios in sea water. 3. The ratio of the concentration of calcium in the coelomic fluid to the concentration in the medium is a function of the salinity of the medium but not of the calcium concentration. 4. Both calcium and magnesium are at lower electrochemical potentials in the coelomic fluid than in the medium, indicating that it is not necessary to invoke active uptake. 5. The rate of calcium influx is substantial. 6. In salinities below to mM of chloride/kg of water the urine must contain less calcium than the coelomic fluid. 7. The significance of these results is discussed.


2016 ◽  
Vol 76 (3) ◽  
pp. 577-582 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. S. M. Masuda ◽  
A. Enrich-Prast

Abstract This research evaluated the effect of flooding on the microphytobenthos community structure in a microbial mat from a tropical salt flat. Field samples were collected during four consecutive days: on the first three days the salt flat was dry, on the fourth day it was flooded by rain. In order to evaluate the community maintained in flood conditions, samples from this area were collected and kept in the laboratory for 10 days with sea water. The results of total abundance of microphytobenthos varied from 4.2 × 108 to 2.9 × 109 organisms L–1, total density increased one order of magnitude under the effect of water for both situations of precipitation in the salt flat and in experimental conditions, an increase due to the high abundance of Microcoleus spp. Shannon index (H’) was higher during the desiccation period. Our data suggest that changes in the abundance of organisms were due to the effect of water. The dominance of the most abundant taxa remained the same under conditions of desiccation and influence of water, and there is probably a consortium of microorganisms in the microbial mat that helps to maintain these dominances.


1990 ◽  
Vol 267 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
M P Kolodziej ◽  
V A Zammit

1. The interaction of malonyl-CoA with the outer carnitine palmitoyltransferase (CPT) system of rat liver mitochondria was re-evaluated by using preparations of highly purified outer membranes, in the light of observations that other subcellular structures that normally contaminate crude mitochondrial preparations also contain malonyl-CoA-sensitive CPT activity. 2. In outer-membrane preparations, which were purified about 200-fold with respect to the inner-membrane-matrix fraction, malonyl-CoA binding was largely accounted for by a single high-affinity component (KD = 0.03 microM), in contrast with the dual site (low- and high-affinity) previously found with intact mitochondria. 3. There was no evidence that the decreased sensitivity of CPT to malonyl-CoA inhibition observed in outer membranes obtained from 48 h-starved rats (compared with those from fed animals) was due to a decreased ratio of malonyl-CoA binding to CPT catalytic moieties. Thus CPT specific activity and maximal high-affinity [14C]malonyl-CoA binding (expressed per mg of protein) were increased 2.2- and 2.0-fold respectively in outer membranes from 48 h-starved rats. 4. Palmitoyl-CoA at a concentration that was saturating for CPT activity (5 microM) decreased the affinity of malonyl-CoA binding by an order of magnitude, but did not alter the maximal binding of [14C]malonyl-CoA. 5. Preincubation of membranes with either tetradecylglycidyl-CoA or 2-bromopalmitoyl-CoA plus carnitine resulted in marked (greater than 80%) inhibition of high-affinity binding, concurrently with greater than 95% inhibition of CPT activity. These treatments also unmasked an effect of subsequent treatment with palmitoyl-CoA to increase low-affinity [14C]malonyl-CoA binding. 6. These data are discussed in relation to the possible mechanism of interaction between the malonyl-CoA-binding site and the active site of the enzyme.


Author(s):  
Hikmat Hamid oglu Asadov ◽  
Sima Ajdar gizi Askerova

Pollution of sea waters is one of major attributes of coastal industrial centers and the norming of such emissions is one of major countermeasures. The assimilation capacity of sea waters is a major factor relevant at norming and planning of outflows into sea waters. At present time the synoptical method has been developed, which doesn’t require carrying out long time and repeated observing of the level of pollution of sea waters. This method has formed the basis for developing the integrated synoptical method for calculating sea water assimilation capacity. The suggested method provides for division of the sea waters into separated homogenous water masses. The aim of the study is to develop an inverse integrated synoptical method allowing synthesizing of such an optimum order for loading separate water masses with pollutants upon, at which the calculated total value of assimilation capacity would reach its maximum. The article shows the possibility of utilization of known synoptical method for determining assimilation capacity of sea waters in the inverse order, i.e. for calculating the maximum value of pollutant put into the fixed zone of sea waters, upon a condition of reaching the given amount of assimilation capacity and absence of essential negative effect on ecosystem. The task of calculating an optimum regime function of discrete type, upon which the integrated value of assimilation capacity would reach the maximum value, has been formulated. The solution of analogue equivalent of the formed optimization task is carried out using the Euler equation for a non-conditional variation optimization task, taking into account the accepted limitation condition. The recommendations on optimum loading of different sea water zones with determined type of pollutant have been given.


1982 ◽  
Vol 99 (1) ◽  
pp. 161-173
Author(s):  
R. R. HARRIS ◽  
M. B. ANDREWS

Changes in extracellular fluid (ECF) volume of Carcinus maenas (L.) were studied in vivo during acclimation to low and high environmental salinities. Initial investigations showed that there was a rapid equilibration into this compartment of the ECF markers used ([3H]inulin and [14C]hydroxymethyl inulin). Earlier reports of a relatively slow marker distribution, indicated from clearance curves, can be explained by high clearance rates occurring when frequent blood sampling was carried out. After transfer of the crabs to media hyposmotic to the haemolymph, ECF volumes decreased transiently to 74.8% of the initial volume, but within 40 h in 26% sea water original volumes were restored. Calculation of intracellular water contents suggests that a volume limitation phase precedes the regulatory return to the original volume. In hyperosmotic media, the ECF volumes increased significantly (to a maximum of 143%) but, in contrast to the response in hyposmotic conditions, showed only a partial return to the original volumes.


2020 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 323-342 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. A. Cherian ◽  
E. L. Shroyer ◽  
H. W. Wijesekera ◽  
J. N. Moum

AbstractWe describe the seasonal cycle of mixing in the top 30–100 m of the Bay of Bengal as observed by moored mixing meters (χpods) deployed along 8°N between 85.5° and 88.5°E in 2014 and 2015. All χpod observations were combined to form seasonal-mean vertical profiles of turbulence diffusivity KT in the top 100 m. The strongest turbulence is observed during the southwest and postmonsoon seasons, that is, between July and November. The northeast monsoon (December–February) is a period of similarly high mean KT but an order of magnitude lower median KT, a sign of energetic episodic mixing events forced by near-inertial shear events. The months of March and April, a period of weak wind forcing and low near-inertial shear amplitude, are characterized by near-molecular values of KT in the thermocline for weeks at a time. Strong mixing events coincide with the passage of surface-forced downward-propagating near-inertial waves and with the presence of enhanced low-frequency shear associated with the Summer Monsoon Current and other mesoscale features between July and October. This seasonal cycle of mixing is consequential. We find that monthly averaged turbulent transport of salt out of the salty Arabian Sea water between August and January is significant relative to local E − P. The magnitude of this salt flux is approximately that required to close model-based salt budgets for the upper Bay of Bengal.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 591 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wolfgang Löscher ◽  
Alon Friedman

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a dynamic, highly selective barrier primarily formed by endothelial cells connected by tight junctions that separate the circulating blood from the brain extracellular fluid. The endothelial cells lining the brain microvessels are under the inductive influence of neighboring cell types, including astrocytes and pericytes. In addition to the anatomical characteristics of the BBB, various specific transport systems, enzymes and receptors regulate molecular and cellular traffic across the BBB. While the intact BBB prevents many macromolecules and immune cells from entering the brain, following epileptogenic brain insults the BBB changes its properties. Among BBB alterations, albumin extravasation and diapedesis of leucocytes from blood into brain parenchyma occur, inducing or contributing to epileptogenesis. Furthermore, seizures themselves may modulate BBB functions, permitting albumin extravasation, leading to activation of astrocytes and the innate immune system, and eventually modifications of neuronal networks. BBB alterations following seizures are not necessarily associated with enhanced drug penetration into the brain. Increased expression of multidrug efflux transporters such as P-glycoprotein likely act as a ‘second line defense’ mechanism to protect the brain from toxins. A better understanding of the complex alterations in BBB structure and function following seizures and in epilepsy may lead to novel therapeutic interventions allowing the prevention and treatment of epilepsy as well as other detrimental neuro-psychiatric sequelae of brain injury.


The theory of miscible dispersion is extended to interphase transport systems. As a specific example miscible dispersion in laminar flow in a tube in the presence of interfacial transport due to an irreversible first-order reaction at the wall is analysed by an exact procedure. A new exact dispersion model which accounts for dispersion with interphase transport is derived from first principles. The new concept of an ‘exchange coefficient’ arises naturally. This coefficient depends strongly on the rate of interfacial transport. Such transport also affects the convection and dispersion coefficients significantly. A general expression is derived which shows clearly the time-dependent nature of the coefficients in the dispersion model. The complete time-dependent expression for the exchange coefficient is obtained explicitly and is independent of the velocity distribution in the flow; however, it does depend on the initial solute distribution. Because of the complexity of the problem only asymptotic large-time evaluations are made for the convection and dispersion coefficients, but these are sufficient to give useful physical insight into the nature of the problem. When the rate of the wall reaction approaches zero the exchange coefficient also approaches zero and the other two coefficients approach their proper values in the absence of interfacial transport. At the other extreme of rapid wall reaction rates, the convection coefficient is more than 50 % larger than its value in the absence of interfacial transport and the dispersion coefficient is an order of magnitude smaller than that for zero interphase transport.


2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 703-713 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Stubbins ◽  
C. S. Law ◽  
G. Uher ◽  
R. C. Upstill-Goddard

Abstract. Carbon monoxide (CO) apparent quantum yields (AQYs) are reported for a suite of riverine, estuarine and sea water samples, spanning a range of coloured dissolved organic matter (CDOM) sources, diagenetic histories, and concentrations (absorption coefficients). CO AQYs were highest for high CDOM riverine samples and almost an order of magnitude lower for low CDOM coastal seawater samples. CO AQYs were between 47 and 80% lower at the mouth of the estuary than at its head. Whereas, a conservative mixing model predicted only 8 to 14% decreases in CO AQYs between the head and mouth of the estuary, indicating that a highly photoreactive pool of terrestrial CDOM is lost during estuarine transit. The CDOM absorption coefficient (a) at 412 nm was identified as a good proxy for CO AQYs (linear regression r2 > 0.8; n = 12) at all CO AQY wavelengths studied (285, 295, 305, 325, 345, 365, and 423 nm) and across environments (high CDOM river, low CDOM river, estuary and coastal sea). These regressions are presented as empirical proxies suitable for the remote sensing of CO AQYs in natural waters, including open ocean water, and were used to estimate CO AQY spectra and CO photoproduction in the Tyne estuary based upon annually averaged estuarine CDOM absorption data. A minimum estimate of annual CO production was determined assuming that only light absorbed by CDOM leads to the formation of CO and a maximum limit was estimated assuming that all light entering the water column is absorbed by CO producing photoreactants (i.e. that particles are also photoreactive). In this way, annual CO photoproduction in the Tyne was estimated to be between 0.99 and 3.57 metric tons of carbon per year, or 0.004 to 0.014% of riverine dissolved organic carbon (DOC) inputs to the estuary. Extrapolation of CO photoproduction rates to estimate total DOC photomineralisation indicate that less than 1% of DOC inputs are removed via photochemical processes during transit through the Tyne estuary.


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