scholarly journals AN ANALYSIS OF HETEROCHROMATIN IN MAIZE ROOT TIPS

1967 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 175-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marion Himes
Keyword(s):  
Rna Synthesis ◽  
Root Meristem ◽  
Tritiated Thymidine ◽  
B Chromosomes ◽  
Root Tips ◽  
Metaphase Chromosomes ◽  
Nonhistone Protein ◽  
Normal Maize ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Nucleolar Rna

The B chromosomes of maize are condensed in appearance during interphase and are relatively inert genetically; therefore they fulfill the definition of heterochromatin. This heterochromatin was studied in root meristem cells by radioautography following administration of tritiated thymidine and cytidine, and was found to behave in a characteristic way, i.e. it showed asynchronous DNA synthesis and very low, if any, RNA synthesis. A cytochemical comparison of normal maize nuclei with nuclei from isogenic maize stock containing approximately 15–20 B-chromosomes in addition to the normal complement has revealed the following: (a) the DNA and histone contents are greater in nuclei with B chromosomes; (b) the proportion of DNA to histone is identical with that of nuclei containing only normal chromosomes; (c) the amount of nonhistone protein in proportion to DNA in interphase is less in nuclei with B chromosomes than in normal nuclei. In condensed B chromosomes the ratio of nonhistone protein to DNA is similar to that in other condensed chromatin, such as metaphase chromosomes and degenerating nuclei. The B chromosomes appear to have no effect on nucleolar RNA and protein. Replication of B chromosomes is precisely controlled and is comparable to that of the ordinary chromosomes not only in synthesis for mitosis but also in formation of polyploid nuclei of root cap and protoxylem cells.

scholarly journals INHIBITING EFFECT OF THE NEW CYTOTOXIC ANTIBIOTIC DAUNOMYCIN ON NUCLEIC ACIDS AND MITOTIC ACTIVITY OF HELA CELLS

1965 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 545-550 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Di Marco ◽  
R. Silvestrini ◽  
S. Di Marco ◽  
T. Dasdia
Keyword(s):  
Mitotic Activity ◽  
Rna Synthesis ◽  
Thymidine Incorporation ◽  
Acid Synthesis ◽  
Acetyl Derivative ◽  
Total Inhibition ◽  
Nuclear Rna ◽  
Nucleolar Rna ◽  
Higher Doses

The effect has been studied of Actinomycin D, Daunomycin (Da.), and Da. N acetyl derivative on mitotic activity and on the nucleic acid synthesis of in vitro HeLa cell cultures. The experiments were carried out by means of the radioautographic technique using stripping films. The relative uptake of thymidine-H3 and uridine-H3 was determined by means of the reduced silver grain count present in the nuclei of controls and treated cells. The mitotic activity and thymidine incorporation were noticeably reduced by Daunomycin and Actinomycin, whereas both processes appeared less affected by Da. N acetyl derivative. As regards nuclear RNA synthesis, all three antibiotics at low doses chiefly inhibit nucleolar RNA synthesis. On the other hand, whilst Actinomycin at higher doses causes an almost total inhibition of the synthesis of the whole nuclear RNA, in Daunomycin- and Da. N acetyl derivative-treated cells extranucleolar RNA synthesis is less susceptible to inhibition.

scholarly journals Fine Structure and Staining Behaviour of Heterochromatic Segments in Two Plants

1974 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 505-521
Author(s):  
L. F. LACOUR ◽  
B. WELLS
Keyword(s):  
Fine Structure ◽  
Light Microscope ◽  
Mitotic Cycle ◽  
The Other ◽  
Masking Effect ◽  
Root Tips ◽  
Metaphase Chromosomes ◽  
Differential Reactivity ◽  
Scilla Sibirica ◽  
Electron Microscopes

With the use of the light and electron microscopes, the chromosomes of Fritillaria lanceolata and Scilla sibirica are shown to differ in respect of the heterochromatin they contain. In root meristems of the former, the heterochromatic regions (H-segments) were recognizable at all phases of the mitotic cycle by their slighter opacity to electrons than that of euchromatic parts. This was due both to less tight packing of the chromatin fibrils and lower opacity of the fibrils themselves, even though both had the same diameter, about 3 nm. In root tips of the Scilla, the heterochromatin was invariably of similar opacity to euchromatin and thus only recognizable at telophase and interphase as large chromocentres. The opacity to electrons in the heterochromatin of the 2 species, was at all times closely paralleled by the staining behaviour seen with the light microscope in sections (0.07-0.5 µm in thickness) stained with toluidine blue. The disparity in the Fritillaria, as seen in sections with the light microscope, in respect of the stainability of the hetero- and euchromatin, was masked in Feulgen squash preparations of root tips from plants grown at 18-20 °C; at metaphase by the thickness of the chromosomes and at interphase by the density of the chromocentres. When, on the other hand, the plants were grown for 4 days at 2 °C, the masking effect of thickness was circumvented in metaphase chromosomes by differential super-contraction in euchromatin. The implications of these findings in respect to previous interpretations of the differential reactivity of H-segments to low temperature, as well as the phenomenon of enhanced and reduced fluorescence in these segments with fluorochromes are discussed.

scholarly journals Deoxyribonucleic acid-dependent ribonucleic acid polymerases from murine spleen cells. Increased amounts of the nucleolar species in leukaemic tissue

1973 ◽  
Vol 133 (4) ◽  
pp. 797-804 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donner F. Babcock ◽  
Marvin A. Rich
Keyword(s):  
Rna Synthesis ◽  
Rna Polymerases ◽  
Infected Tissue ◽  
Leukaemia Virus ◽  
Bivalent Cations ◽  
Murine Spleen ◽  
Insoluble Product ◽  
Polymerase I ◽  
Dna Template ◽  
Nucleolar Rna

1. In the spleens of infected mice, the Friend leukaemia virus induces a sharp increase in the ability of subsequently isolated nuclei to incorporate exogenous UTP into an acid-insoluble product. Inhibitor studies indicate that the incremental RNA synthesis proceeds from a DNA template and that both nucleolar and nucleoplasmic activities are involved. 2. The partially purified DNA-dependent RNA polymerases from control and virus-infected tissue are indistinguishable with respect to chromatographic mobility, dependence on bivalent cations, ionic strength, pH and their susceptibility to α-amanitin. The RNA polymerases of the murine spleen resemble the enzymes of other mammalian tissue in these properties. 3. A comparison of the amount of polymerase solubilized from normal and infected tissue correlates with the activity observed in assays of the respective nuclei. These experiments indicated that the increase in nucleolar RNA synthesis after infection is mediated by increased extractable polymerase I activity whereas the change in nucleoplasmic RNA synthesis results from an alteration of chromatin or a chromatin-associated factor.

Studies on Nucleolar RNA Synthesis in Drosophila Melanogaster

1972 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 689-697
Author(s):  
H. M. KRIDER ◽  
W. PLAUT
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Salivary Glands ◽  
Rna Synthesis ◽  
First Generation ◽  
Nucleolus Organizer ◽  
Fifth Generation ◽  
Autoradiographic Analysis ◽  
Temporally Correlated ◽  
Nucleolar Rna ◽  
Nucleolus Organizers

The influence of conditions resulting in bobbed phenotypes on nucleolar RNA synthesis and the formation of constrictions at nucleolus organizers was examined in larval tissues of Drosophila melanogaster. By means of [3H]uridine incorporation and autoradiographic analysis, a mutation at the bobbed locus was shown to limit the rate of nucleolar RNA synthesis in salivary glands of XO larvae. The formation of constrictions at the organizer sites of a 4-nucleolus-organizer stock was monitored in dividing neuroblast cells stained with acridine orange. Loss of the ribosomal cistrons had been reported by other workers when such stocks were maintained for several generations. In the first generation in our work, constrictions were visible at only 2 of the 4 nucleolus organizers. This situation persisted until the fifth generation, when constrictions appeared at all 4 of the organizer sites. An increase in the rate of nucleolar RNA synthesis in the salivary glands was temporally correlated with the appearance of the extra constrictions. We interpret these observations to mean that 2 of the organizers of the 4-nucleolus-organizer stock were caused to function through the loss of ribosomal RNA cistrons; thus the functional status of an organizer would appear to be subject to control.

Effect of Cycloheximide on the Nucleolar RNA Synthesis in Rat Liver

1977 ◽  
Vol 82 (4) ◽  
pp. 1109-1119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toshio ONISHI ◽  
Takashi MATSUI ◽  
Masami MURAMATSU
Keyword(s):  
Rat Liver ◽  
Rna Synthesis ◽  
Nucleolar Rna

scholarly journals NUCLEOLAR AND NUCLEAR RNA SYNTHESIS DURING THE CELL LIFE CYCLE IN MONKEY AND PIG KIDNEY CELLS IN VITRO

1967 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 273-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane L. Showacre ◽  
W. G. Cooper ◽  
D. M. Prescott
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Rna Synthesis ◽  
Kidney Cells ◽  
Pig Kidney ◽  
Rna Labeling ◽  
Cell Life ◽  
Nuclear Rna ◽  
Nucleolar Rna ◽  
Pig Kidney Cells

The incorporation of 5-3H-uridine and 5-3H-cytidine into nucleolar and nonnucleolar RNA in the nucleus of monkey and pig kidney cells was measured in vitro during the cell life cycle. Time-lapse cinematographic records were made of cells during asynchronous exponential proliferation, in order to identify the temporal position of individual cells in relation to the preceding mitosis. Immediately following cinematography, cells were labeled with uridine-3H and cytidine-3H for a short period, fixed, and analyzed by radioautography. Since the data permit correlation of the rate of RNA labeling with the position of a cell within the cycle, curves could be constructed describing the rate of RNA synthesis over the average cell cycle. RNA synthesis was absent in early telophase, and rose very abruptly in rate in late telophase and in very early G1 in both the nucleus and the reconstituting nucleolus. Thereafter, through the G1 and S periods the rate of nuclear RNA synthesis rose gradually. When we used a 10-min pulse, there was no detectable change in the rate for nucleolar RNA labeling in monkey kidney cells during G1 or S. When we used a 30-min labeling time, the rate of nucleolar RNA labeling rose gradually in pig kidney cells. With increasing time after mitosis, the data became more variable, which may, in part, be related to the variation in generation times for individual cells.

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