Conjugation of enzymes to immunoglobulins using dimaleimides.

A method is described for coupling enzymes to immunoglobulins using sulphydryl derivatives of the proteins and a dimaleimide which is relatively water-soluble. Parameters affecting the performance of the conjugates have been examined including level of sulphydryl incorporation, ratio of enzyme/immunoglobulin and nature of dimaleimide used. Peroxidase-immunoglobulin conjugates made by the dimaleimide method have been compared with those made by the periodate oxidation method and found to have a superior performance.

Preparation of prereduced anaerobically sterilized media and their use in cultivation of anaerobic bacteria.

Several modifications of the roll-tube method have made it simpler for routine use in the isolation and growth of anaerobic bacteria. These include use of a check valve for the production of prereduced anaerobically sterilized media; a Salvarsan tube under oxygen-free gas pressure for the dispensing of molten prereduced anaerobically sterilized agar medium; a Kelly infusion bottle with a graduated pipette side arm (also under gas pressure) for quantitative delivery of fluid prereduced anaerobically sterilized media; and screw-capped prescription bottles for the cultivation of anaerobes. Colonies of Bacteroides melaninogenicus were easily identified and counted by this method.

Expression of a mutation affecting F incompatibility in the integrated but not the autonomous state of F.

Previously we have described a mutant Hfr strain in which incompatibility between the integrated F factor and an autonomous F-prime (F') factor was abolished. The mutation (inc) was located in the integrated F factor. F-prime factors isolated from the mutant Hfr strain have the same incompatibility behavior as those isolated from normal Hfr strains.

[Gene activity during embryogenesis of the earthworm Eisenia foetida ((3H)uracil autoradiography and actinomycin D treatment) (author's transl)].

Embryos of Eisenia foetida (Spiralia) have been cultivated with [3H]uracil precursor of RNA at different stages of development from egg to gastrula. The results show that ribonucleic acid synthesis detected by autoradiography begins precociously. During segmentation messenger RNAs are produced by interphase nuclei and liberated in cytoplasm cyclically at mitosis.

Non-physician development of problem lists from office records.

It has been argued that conversion of office records to the problem-oriented medical record entails a prohibitive cost in money and physician time. This study reports an evaluation of the cost of preparing problem lists from existing ambulatory patient records by non-physician personnel. The problem lists constructed by non-physician personnel were judged by physicians to be accurate, and the cost was much less than that required when physicians reviewed charts and prepared problem lists themselves.

Description of an incompatibility mutant of Escherichia coli.

A mutant Hfr strain of Escherichia coli which has an impaired incompatibility function but is normal for other F factor functions has been isolated. This Inc(-) Hfr permits the maintenance and transfer of both the integrated F factor and an F' factor. F' factors have been isolated from the integrated F factor of the Inc(-) Hfr strain.

Invitro formation of assimilatory reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate: nitrate reductase from a Neurospora mutant and a component of molybdenum-enzymes.

An active Neurospora-like assimilatory NADPH-nitrate reductase (EC 1.6.6.

Chromosomal integration of F' factors in recombination-deficient Hfr strains of Escherichia coli.

In matings between F' donors and recombination-deficient Hfr recipients, we isolated progeny which transferred both episomal markers and Hfr markers early and with high frequency. A number of these progeny had two integrated sex factors. Investigation of these double Hfr strains showed that the F' nearly always integrated in a homologous region of the chromosome.

Characterization of a beta-galactosidase formed between a complementary protein and a peptide synthesized de novo.

In a cell-free system, phi80dlac can be transcribed, and the resulting ribonucleic acid can be translated to yield a product which interacts with an enzymatically inactive z protein to produce active enzyme. The inactive z protein is produced by Escherichia coli strain 21, which contains a deletion in the first part of the gene for beta-galactosidase and appears to exist as a dimer. The enzyme formed in the cell-free system appears to be composed of one strain 21 z protein dimer and one newly synthesized polypeptide chain with a molecular weight of about 3 x 10(4).