DNA strained breakage repair in ataxia telangiectasia fibroblast-like cells.

Human diploid fibroblast-like cells derived from four patients with the genetic disease ataxia telangiectasia and from two non-mutant donors were examined for the repair of X-ray induced strand breaks in DNA. The ataxia telangiectasia cultures showed no significant differences from the non-mutant cultures in the kinetics and extent of strand repair. This suggests that the increased spontaneous and X-ray induced chromatid aberrations observed in ataxia telangiectasia cells are not caused by a defect in the repair of single strand breaks as might be suspected from a general model of aberration production.

Relaxation measurements on the acetylcholine receptor.

In Electrophorus electroplaques, the agonist-induced postsynaptic conductance depends on membrane potential. During steady exposure to agonists, after a voltage step the conductance relaxes on a millisecond time scale, exponentially approaching a new equilibrium value. The relaxation rate constant k is an instantaneous function of voltage, insensitive to the past or present conductance.

Conductance increases produced by bath application of cholinergic agonists to Electrophorus electroplaques.

When solutions containing agonists are applied to the innervated face of an Electrophorus electroplaque, the membrane's conductance increases. The agonist-induced conductance is increased at more negative membrane potentials. The "instantaneous" current-voltage curve for agonist-induced currents is linear and shows a reversal potential near zero mV; chord conductances, calculated on the basis of this reversal potential, change epsilon-fold for every 62-mV change in potential when the conductance is small.

Chemotaxis-defective mutants of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans.

The technique of countercurrent separation has been used to isolate 17 independent chemotaxis-defective mutants of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. The mutants, selected to be relatively insensitive to the normally attractive salt NaCl, show varying degrees of residual sensitivity; some are actually weakly repelled by NaCl. The mutants are due to single gene defects, are autosomal and recessive, and identify at least five complementation groups.

Effects of the insecticide Zectran (Mexacarbate) on several algae.

Field samples of freshwater algae were examined to determine the effect of the insecticide Zectran on photosynthesis rate. Concentrations of Zectran between 10 and 10(3) parts per billion (ppb) affected neither O2 production nor NaH14CO3 uptake in any of the seven genera tested. However, Zectran at a concentration of 10(4) ppb after 1 hour effected a reduction in photosynthesis of Chroococcus, Oedogonium and in a mixed sample composed of Zygnema,Mougeotia and Spirogyra.

Adaptation to quantum flux by the emerson photosynthetic unit.

The size of the Emerson photosynthetic unit was measured in Chlorella pyrenoidosa strain no. 252 grown at light intensities between 50 and 1000 foot candles. The Emerson photosynthetic unit changed from a minimum size of 1970 molecules chlorophyll a + b/O(2) per flash in cells grown at 1000 foot candles to a maximum size of 3150 molecules chlorophyll a + b/O(2) per flash for cells grown at 50 foot candles.