scholarly journals HEAT DENATURATION STUDIES OF RAT LIVER MITOCHONDRIAL DNA

1972 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 393-406 ◽  
Author(s):  
David R. Wolstenholme ◽  
Robert G. Kirschner ◽  
Nicholas J. Gross
Keyword(s):  
Mitochondrial Dna ◽  
Electron Microscope ◽  
High Temperatures ◽  
Rat Liver ◽  
Heat Denaturation ◽  
Similar Length ◽  
Patterns Of Distribution ◽  
Supercoiled Form ◽  
Strand Separation ◽  
Open Circular

The effect of progressive denaturation of open circular molecules (component II) and supercoiled covalently closed circular molecules (component I) of rat liver mitochondrial DNA has been followed by heating in the presence of formaldehyde and examination in the electron microscope. After heating at 49°C, two, three, or four regions of strand separation were visible in 25% of the component II molecules. Comparisons of the patterns of distribution of these regions in individual molecules indicated that they occurred at at least three specific positions around the molecule. Also, these regions, which were assumed to be rich in adenine and thymine, were within a segment which was less than 50% of the length of the molecule. After heating at 50°C, up to 14 regions of strand separation were observed, but when comparisons were made no clear groupings were found. At 51°C, component II molecules were completely separated into a single-stranded circle and a single-stranded linear piece of similar length. Strand separation was accompanied by shortening of the molecule. At 70°C, single-stranded circles had a mean length of 2.7 µ, compared with 5.0 µ for native molecules. Progressive heating of component I molecules resulted first in conversion to an open circle (I') and then to a second supercoiled form (I''). Visualization of further denaturation products of component I was prevented by crosslinking of the molecule by formaldehyde at high temperatures.

scholarly journals Localization of the ribonucleotide sites in rat liver mitochondrial deoxyribonucleic acid

1978 ◽  
Vol 169 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
D M Lonsdale ◽  
I G Jones
Keyword(s):  
Mitochondrial Dna ◽  
Electron Microscope ◽  
Rat Liver ◽  
Deoxyribonucleic Acid ◽  
Ribonuclease A ◽  
Single Strand ◽  
Ribonuclease H ◽  
Ribonuclease T1 ◽  
Dna Endonuclease ◽  
Calf Thymus

Supercoiled rat liver mitochondrial DNA is relaxed by treatment with ribonucleases A, T1 or H. All the supercoiled mitochondrial DNA is sensitive to ribonuclease H and ribonuclease A, but only 35% of the supercoiled population is sensitive to ribonuclease T1. Removal of the ribonucleotides with calf thymus ribonuclease H, followed by denaturation of the mitochondrial DNA and analysis of the single-strand fragment lengths in the electron microscope, showed that the ribonucleotides were randomly located on both strands of the DNA. Endonuclease-S1 digestion of mitochondrial DNA after removal of the ribonucleotides reveals that no unique fragments are produced and ribonucleotides are randomly distributed with respect to one another. The average number of ribonucleotide sites per molecule was estimated to be between 8 and 13. Two possible mechanisms for the origin of ribonucleotide sites are discussed.

scholarly journals An Electron Microscope Study of Basophile Substances of Frozen-Dried Rat Liver

1958 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 291-300 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry Finck
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Electron Microscope ◽  
Rat Liver ◽  
Microscope Study ◽  
Electron Microscope Study ◽  
Freeze Drying ◽  
Light And Electron Microscopy ◽  
Enzyme Treatment ◽  
Dense Granules ◽  
Homogeneous Matrix

Small pieces of liver from rats subjected to different dietary regimes were fixed by freeze-drying, and postfixed by in vacuo heating and denaturation with alcohol. Specimens were digested with ribo- or deoxyribonuclease, and stained with gallocyanin-chromalum, azure II, the Feulgen procedure or alcoholic platinic tetrabromide. Some specimens were reserved as controls of the effects of enzyme treatment. Stained and unstained specimens were embedded in methacrylate and examined by light and electron microscopy. Basophilic and Feulgen-positive substances, after contact with watery reagents, were found by electron microscopy to exist as small dense granules embedded in a less dense homogeneous matrix, forming the walls of submicroscopic vacuoles. These granules were absent after digestion with nucleodepolymerases. In specimens (unstained, or stained with platinic tetrabromide) which had not passed through water, the dense (basophile) substances in nuclei and cytoplasm were found to exist, not as granules, but as ill defined submicroscopic concentrates which blended imperceptibly into the homogeneous matrix of the vacuolar walls. Objections to the use of stains for improving contrast conditions in electron microscopy of tissues are discussed, and it is concluded that the reagents do not necessarily produce the observed increases in contrast by selectively stabilizing certain structures. The concept of microsomes as pre-existing distinct morphological entities in intact (unhomogenized) cells is thought to be inconsistent with the distribution of basophile substances in frozen-dried liver.

scholarly journals Analytical study of microsomes and isolated subcellular membranes from rat liver. VI. Electron microscope examination of microsomes for cytochrome b5 by means of a ferritin-labeled antibody.

1976 ◽  
Vol 71 (2) ◽  
pp. 551-564 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Remacle ◽  
S Fowler ◽  
H Beaufay ◽  
A Amarcostesec ◽  
J Berthet
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscope ◽  
Rat Liver ◽  
Sucrose Gradient ◽  
Analytical Study ◽  
Cytochrome B5 ◽  
Liver Microsomes ◽  
Rat Liver Microsomes ◽  
Microscope Examination ◽  
Group B ◽  
Isopycnic Centrifugation

The distribution of cytochrome b5 in rat liver microsomes, and in two microsomal subfractions isolated by density equilibration in a linear sucrose gradient, was studied under the electron microscope by means of a ferritin-labeled hybrid anti-cytochrome b5/anti-ferritin antibody. Results of this study show that cytochrome b5 is present in essentially all microsomal vesicles derived from endoplasmic reticulum (ER), whether rough or smooth. Thus, the dissociation of ER constituents into two groups (b and c), achieved by subfractionating microsomes by isopycnic centrifugation (Beaufay, H., A. Amar-Costesec, D. Thines-Sempoux, M. Wibo, M. Robbi, and J. Berthet. 1974. J. Cell Biol. 61:213-231), does not reflect the association of each group with distinct microsomal particles but reflects rather an enzymatic heterogeneity of the ER: the ratio of group c to group b enzymes increasing with the density and ribosome load of the particles.

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