Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

P B Hamilton

Publications and source records attributed to P B Hamilton.

At least 163 records · Page 9Linked to original sources
PubMed1970

Organic compounds in lunar samples: pyrolysis products, hydrocarbons, amino acids.

Lunar fines and a chip from inside a rock pyrolyzed in helium at 700 degrees C gave methane, other gases, and aromatic hydrocarbons. Benzene/methanol extracts of fines yielded traces of high molecular weight alkanes and sulfur. Traces of glycine, alanine, ethanolamine, and urea were found in aqueous extracts. Biological controls and a terrestrial rock, dunite, subjected to exhaust from the lunar module descent engine showed a different amino acid distribution. Interpretation of the origin of the carbon compounds requires extreme care, because of possible contamination acquired during initial sample processing.

Amino Acids↗
PubMed1970

Gluconate catabolism in Rhizobium japonicum.

Gluconate catabolism in Rhizobium japonicum ATCC 10324 was investigated by the radiorespirometric method and by assaying for key enzymes of the major energy-yielding pathways. Specifically labeled gluconate gave the following results for growing cells, with values expressed as per cent (14)CO(2) evolution: C-1 = 93%, C-2 = 57%, C-3 = 30%, C-4 = 70%, C-6 = 39%. The preferential release of (14)CO(2) from C-1 and C-4 indicate that gluconate is degraded primarily by the Entner-Doudoroff pathway but the inequalities between C-1 and C-4 and between C-3 and C-6 indicate that another pathway(s) also participates. The presence of gluconokinase and a system for converting 6-phosphogluconate to pyruvate also indicate a role for the Entner-Doudoroff pathway. The extraordinarily high yield of (14)CO(2) from C-1 labeled gluconate suggests that the other participating pathway is a C-1 decarboxylative pathway. The key enzyme of the pentose phosphate pathway, 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase, could not be demonstrated. Specifically labeled 2-ketogluconate and 2,5-diketogluconate were oxidized by gluconate grown cells and gave ratios of C-1 to C-6 of 2.73 and 2.61, respectively. These compare with a ratio of 2.39 obtained with specifically labeled gluconate. Gluconate dehydrogenase, the first enzyme in the ketogluconate pathway found in acetic acid bacteria, was found. Oxidation of specifically labeled pyruvate, acetate, succinate, and glutamate by gluconate-grown cells yielded the preferential rates of (14)CO(2) evolution expected from the operation of the tricarboxylic acid cycle. These data are consistent with the operation of the Entner-Doudoroff pathway and tricarboxylic acid cycle as the primary pathways of gluconate oxidation in R. japonicum. An ancillary pathway for the initial breakdown of gluconate would appear to be the ketogluconate pathway which enters the tricarboxylic acid cycle at alpha-ketoglutarate.

Acetates↗
PubMed1969

Simple isolation of antimycin A1 and some of its toxicological properties.

An unidentified actinomycete, RTI 246, was found to produce antimycin A(1) in high yield on a high protein cereal medium. The antibiotic compound was extracted from the cells and isolated in pure form by crystallization. It was identified by ultraviolet, infrared, nuclear magnetic resonance, and mass spectroscopy and by alkaline hydrolysis to antimycic acid and a neutral lactone. The intravenous LD(50) was 1.0 mg/kg in white mice, whereas the intraperitoneal LD(50) was 1.50 +/- 0.19 mg/kg. Animals receiving an intraperitoneal injection displayed an incoordination of the hind limbs and impaired reflexes before showing signs of respiratory distress. These findings indicated that antimycin A(1) possesses a neurotoxic property separate from its well-documented property as a respiratory poison.

Actinomycetales↗
PubMed1969

Microbiological metabolism of naphthyridines.

Penicillium adametzi and seven other species convert nalidixic acid, 1,4-dihydro-1-ethyl-7-methyl-4-oxo-1,8-naphthyridine-3-carboxylic acid, to 1,4-dihydro-1-ethyl-7-hydroxymethyl-4-oxo-1,8-naphthyridine-3-carboxylic acid. Forty-seven other species from six orders of fungi seem to achieve the same conversion as judged by chromatographic and spectral evidence. Under special conditions, P. adametzi also produces a second metabolite which was identified as the corresponding 7-carboxylic acid. The metabolic attack on the ring substituent is identical with the pathway previously established with humans. No evidence was obtained for metabolic attack on the naphthyridine nucleus itself.

Ascomycota↗
PubMed1969

Mouse toxicty of fungi of tobacco.

A bioassay for fungal toxins based on the intraperitoneal injection of test materials into mice was used to screen 976 cultures isolated from tobacco and grown in a high-protein baby cereal and also to determine whether samples of tobacco damaged by fungi are more toxic than samples of apparently sound tobacco. Of 236 fungal isolates from noncured tobacco, 79% were lethal when homogenized cultures of these isolates were tested. Forty-nine per cent of 740 fungi isolated from cured tobacco were lethal. Of the genera from which 30 or more isolates were tested, Epicoccum, Alternaria, and Penicillium had the highest percentage of toxic isolates from non-cured tobacco, whereas Epicoccum, Aspergillus, and Alternaria had the highest percentage from cured tobacco. Samples of tobacco naturally infected with brown spot, caused by Alternaria tenuis, did not have a significantly different LD(50) value after 48 hr than comparable disease-free samples. However, animals which died from doses near the LD(50) dose of tobacco infected with Alternaria generally died in 24 to 48 hr with signs associated with a depressant rather than a stimulant, such as nicotine, which caused death in 15 to 30 min. These signs were duplicated by injecting homogenized pure cultures of Alternaria. These studies, although inconclusive with regard to the effects of fungal contaminants on the quality or usability of tobacco, have developed evidence that suggests the advisability of a study on smoke or smoke condensates from moldy and nonmoldy tobacco.

Animals↗