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Improved retroviral transduction efficiency of vascular cells in vitro and in vivo during clinically relevant incubation periods using centrifugation to increase viral titers.

Vascular cells are an important target for gene transfer because of their potential to deliver gene products both locally and systemically. Direct retroviral gene transfer to vascular cells in vivo has been limited by inefficient rates of transduction. We hypothesized that vascular cell transduction efficiency (TE), during short retroviral incubation periods, is significantly improved in vitro and in vivo using centrifugation to increase viral titer. Furthermore, we hypothesized a linear relationship between concentration of viable viral particles (measured as colony-forming units (CFUs)/cell) and retroviral TE during short incubation periods. Cultured rat pulmonary artery endothelial cells (RPAECs), rat aortic smooth muscle cells (RSMCs), and human iliac artery endothelial cells (HIAECs) demonstrated a strong correlation between TE and high concentrations of virus (> 100 CFU/cell) during retroviral incubation periods of 10 to 60 minutes. High titers, and thereby high concentrations, were achieved by centrifugation and resuspension in a fraction of the original volume. Titers was consistently increased tenfold, for a twentyfold increase in concentration by volume. A 20-minute incubation with a Moloney murine leukemia-derived retroviral vector coding for human placental alkaline phosphatase, pLJhpAP, at a concentration of 1150 CFU/cell yielded TEs of 10.6% +/- 0.7%, 40.4% +/- 1.6%, and 15.1% +/- 2.0% for RPAECs, RSMCs, and HIAECs, respectively. A similar effect was shown using the Moloney murine leukemia-derived MFGlacZ retroviral vector, coding for Escherichia coli beta-galactosidase. Increased titer and concentration had no effect on target cell viability, as shown by trypan blue exclusion. Although RSMCs had the most cells transduced in a given incubation period (p < 0.05), RPAECs had the highest replication rate (p < 0.05), suggesting the importance of factors other than cell cycle on retroviral TEs during short, clinically relevant incubation periods. In subsequent in vivo experiments, gene transfer was achieved in the rat carotid artery during a 20-minute incubation period infusing the concentrated pLJhpAP retrovirus after carotid balloon injury. Rats infused with virus 2 days after balloon injury exhibited hpAP activity (0 to 10 cells/section/rat) in the neointima of five out of six rats. Rats infused 4 days after balloon injury exhibited hpAP activity (0 to 25 cells/section/rat) in the media and adventitia of five out of five rats. Control rats that received the balloon injury alone or the balloon injury and unconcentrated retrovirus exhibited zero hpAP activity. We conclude that the TE of retroviral-mediated gene transfer to vascular cells in vitro and in vivo can be improved during short, clinically relevant incubation periods using centrifugation to increase retroviral titer, and thereby concentration of viable viral particles.

Alkaline Phosphatase↗

Comparative assessment of the access of albendazole, fenbendazole and triclabendazole to Fasciola hepatica: effect of bile in the incubation medium.

The work reported here describes the comparative ability of albendazole (ABZ), fenbendazole (FBZ) and triclabendazole (TCBZ) to penetrate through the tegument of mature Fasciola hepatica, and the influence of the physicochemical composition of the incubation medium on the drug diffusion process. The data obtained from the trans-tegumental diffusion kinetic studies were complemented with the determination of lipid-to-water partition coefficients (octanol-water) for the benzimidazole (BZD) anthelmintic drugs assayed. Sixteen-week-old F. hepatica were obtained from untreated artificially infected sheep. The flukes were incubated (37 degrees C) over 60 and 90 min in incubation media (pH 7.4) prepared with different proportions of ovine bile and Krebs' Ringer Tris (KRT) buffer (100, 75, 50, 25 and 0% of bile) containing either ABZ, FBZ or TCBZ at a final concentration of 5 nmol/ml. After the incubation time expired, the liver fluke material was chemically processed and analysed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to measure drug concentrations within the parasite. Additionally, the octanol-water partition coefficients (PC) for each molecule were calculated (as an indicator of drug lipophilicity) using reversed phase HPLC. The 3 BZD molecules were recovered from F. hepatica at both incubation times in all incubation media assayed. The trans-tegumental diffusion of the most lipophilic molecules ABZ and FBZ (higher PC values) tended to be greater than that observed for TCBZ. Interestingly, the uptake of ABZ by the liver flukes was significantly greater than that measured for TCBZ, the most widely used flukicidal BZD compound. This differential uptake pattern may be a relevant issue to be considered to deal with TCBZ-resistant flukes. Drug concentrations measured within the parasite were lower in the incubations containing the highest bile proportions. The highest total availabilities of the 3 compounds were obtained in liver flukes incubated in the absence of bile. Altogether, these findings demonstrated that the entry of the drug into a target parasite may not only depend on a concentration gradient, the lipophilicity of the molecule and absorption surface, but also on the physicochemical composition of the parasite's surrounding environment.

Albendazole↗

Mechanistic studies on the bioactivation of diclofenac: identification of diclofenac-S-acyl-glutathione in vitro in incubations with rat and human hepatocytes.

Diclofenac, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, is metabolized to diclofenac-1-O-acyl glucuronide (D-1-O-G), a chemically reactive conjugate that has been implicated as playing a role in the idiosyncratic hepatoxicity associated with its use. The present studies investigated the ability of diclofenac to be metabolized to diclofenac-S-acyl-glutathione thioester (D-SG) in vitro in incubations with rat and human hepatocytes and whether its formation is dependent on a transacylation-type reaction between D-1-O-G and glutathione. When diclofenac (100 microM) was incubated with hepatocytes, D-SG was detected in both rat and human incubation extracts by a sensitive LC-MS/MS technique. The initial formation rate of D-SG in rat and human hepatocyte incubations was rapid and reached maximum concentrations of 1 and 0.8 nM, respectively, after 4 min of incubation. By contrast, during incubations with rat hepatocytes, the formation of D-1-O-G increased over 30 min of incubation, reaching a maximum concentration of 14.6 microM. Co-incubation of diclofenac (50 microM) with (-)-borneol (400 microM), an inhibitor of glucuronidation, led to a 94% decrease in D-1-O-G formation, although no significant decrease in D-SG production was observed. Together, these results indicate that diclofenac becomes metabolically activated in vitro in rat and human hepatocytes to reactive acylating derivatives that transacylate glutathione forming D-SG, but which is not solely dependent on transacylation by the D-1-O-G metabolite. From these results, it is proposed that reactive acylating metabolites of diclofenac, besides D-1-O-G, may be significant in the protein acylation that occurs in vivo and therefore also be important with regard to the mechanism(s) of diclofenac-mediated idiosyncratic hepatotoxicity.

Acylation↗

Effect of chronic incubation of CaCo-2 cells with eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5, n-3) and oleic acid (18:1, n-9) on triacylglycerol production.

CaCo-2 monolayers, cultured for 1 week after reaching confluence, were incubated with micellar solutions of fatty acids for up to 7 days. These conditioned cells were incubated acutely (5 h) with eicosapentaenoic acid and oleic acid, and the levels of cell-associated and secreted triacylglycerol were determined. With acute addition of oleic acid, both cell-associated and secreted triacylglycerol were decreased in cells chronically exposed to eicosapentaenoic acid. This effect was observed after as little as 2 days of chronic incubation with eicosapentaenoic acid. A further decrease was found when these cells were incubated acutely with eicosapentaenoic acid, regardless of which radioisotopes were used to label precursors in the incubation media. The secretion of both labelled and total triacylglycerol and apolipoprotein B was reduced approximately 50% in cells incubated chronically with eicosapentaenoic acid. The amounts of triacylglycerol and apolipoprotein B within the cells were not decreased by chronic exposure to eicosapentaenoic acid. Our data indicate that CaCo-2 cells chronically incubated with eicosapentaenoic acid secrete significantly less triacylglycerol than cells incubated chronically with oleic acid. When eicosapentaenoic acid was also included acutely, triacylglycerol secretion was reduced even more. We conclude that chronic exposure of eicosapentaenoic acid to this intestinal cell type reduces the rate of chylomicron secretion and may help explain the decreased postprandial lipaemia observed in humans taking fish oil supplements.

Adenocarcinoma↗

Expression of fos-like immunoreactivity in the hypothalamus of the ring dove (Streptopelia risoria) at the onset of incubation.

Fos immunocytochemistry was used in the ring dove (Streptopelia risoria) to identify areas in the forebrain and hypothalamus which might be involved in the expression of incubation behaviour and the associated changes in neuroendocrine function. In this species, both sexes participate in incubation which becomes fully established after laying the second egg in the two egg clutch. The eggs hatch after 14-15 days incubation. Observations were made in both sexes 16-18 h after laying the first egg, 3-5 h after laying the second egg, and after 12-14 days of incubation. Non-breeding birds were used as controls. Fos-labelled cells were observed in several forebrain areas in both sexes irrespective of reproductive status but their numbers did not change during incubation. In the hypothalamus, very few fos-labelled cells were seen in non-breeding birds but appeared in both sexes in the nucleus preopticus medialis after egg laying and after 12-14 days of incubation. Fos-labelled cells also appeared in the nucleus tuberis (=arcuate nucleus) in both sexes after laying the first or second egg and less abundantly, after 12-14 days incubation. Additionally, in males only, fos-labelled cells were seen after the laying of the first and second eggs in the rostral area of the nucleus tuberis close to the walls of the third ventricle. These observations suggest that the fos-labelled cells in the nucleus preopticus medialis may be involved in the expression of incubation behaviour while those in the nucleus tuberis may be involved in the regulation of gonadotrophin or prolactin secretion.

Animals↗

Sperm pre-incubation prior to insemination affects the sex ratio of bovine embryos produced in vitro.

The objective of the present study was to determine whether sperm incubation prior to oocyte insemination in vitro affects the sex ratio of resulting blastocyst. Cumulus-oocyte-complexes (COCs) collected from slaughterhouse ovaries were matured in vitro and inseminated with frozen-thawed semen of three proven artificial insemination (AI) bulls pre-incubated in vitro in Sperm-Talp for 6 and 24 h. On day-9 blastocysts were collected and processed for sex determination. More than 80% of blastocyst were successfully sexed. There were no significant differences in cleavage and blastocyst rates using sperm pre-incubated for 6 h as compared with the 0-h pre-incubation control group. The cleavage and blastocyst rates were significantly lower in the 24-h pre-incubation group. The male to female ratio, when compared with the theoretical 1 : 1, differed significantly in favour of females among hatched (viable) blastocysts derived from sperm pre-incubated for 24 h prior to insemination as well as among all blastocytsts in the 6-h group. Moreover, when the sperm treatment was considered, the sex ratio was affected only among hatched blastocysts in 24-h pre-incubation group. It was concluded that prolonged sperm pre-incubation influences the rate of development and the sex ratio among hatched blastocysts.

Animals↗

Abbreviated incubation times for human prions in mice expressing a chimeric mouse-human prion protein transgene.

Transgenic (Tg) mouse lines that express chimeric mouse-human prion protein (PrP), designated MHu2M, are susceptible to prions from patients with sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD). With the aim of decreasing the incubation time to fewer than 200 days, we constructed transgenes in which one or more of the nine human residues in MHu2M were changed to mouse. The construct with murine residues at positions 165 and 167 was expressed in Tg(MHu2M,M165V,E167Q) mice and resulted in shortening the incubation time to approximately 110 days for prions from sCJD patients. The construct with a murine residue at position 96 resulted in lengthening the incubation time to more than 280 days for sCJD prions. When murine residues 96, 165, and 167 were expressed, the abbreviated incubation times for sCJD prions were abolished. Variant CJD prions showed prolonged incubation times between 300 and 700 days in Tg(MHu2M) mice on first passage and incubation times of approximately 350 days in Tg(MHu2M,M165V,E167Q) mice. On second and third passages of variant CJD prions in Tg(MHu2M) mice, multiple strains of prions were detected based on incubation times and the sizes of the protease-resistant, deglycosylated PrP(Sc) fragments. Our discovery of a previously undescribed chimeric transgene with abbreviated incubation times for sCJD prions should facilitate studies on the prion species barrier and human prion diversity.

Amino Acid Substitution↗

Different AIDS incubation periods and their impacts on reconstructing human immunodeficiency virus epidemics and projecting AIDS incidence.

The objective of this study was to investigate heterogeneity in incubation distributions in different cohorts and to assess the sensitivity of back-calculated infection rates to different assumptions about incubation times from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection to AIDS diagnosis. Incubation distributions were estimated by using data from three different cohort studies. These and one other published incubation model were used as inputs for a back-calculation procedure that reconstructed smooth HIV-infection rates from AIDS incidence among adults in the United States, allowing for changes over time in incubation. Incubation estimates from the different cohorts differed substantially. The cumulative HIV incidence estimates that result from using the different incubations are very different, but the back-calculated models all produce good fits to the observed diagnosis counts. We conclude that systematic differences in incubation times of different groups add substantially to the uncertainty inherent in using the back-calculation method to reconstruct HIV epidemics and project future numbers of AIDS cases.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗

Refined estimate of the incubation period of severe acute respiratory syndrome and related influencing factors.

Many epidemiologists have agreed that a refined estimate of the incubation period of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) would need a sample size of about 200 cases and appropriate statistical methods enabling the inclusion of cases with defined periods of exposure. However, no such studies have been reported so far. Besides, determinants of the SARS incubation period remain unclear. In this study, 209 probable SARS cases with documented episodes of exposure between March 1 and May 31, 2003, in mainland China were included. A nonparametric method was used to analyze these data with defined periods of exposure to obtain the refined estimate of the SARS incubation period. Furthermore, the authors also explored the influence of various factors on the SARS incubation period by analysis of variance, linear regression analysis, and analysis of covariance. The estimates of mean and variance of the SARS incubation period were 5.29 days and 12.33 days(2), respectively; 90% of patients would have an incubation period of less than 11.58 days with a probability of 0.8, and 99% of patients would have an incubation of less than 22.22 days with a probability of 0.9. The affected area showed a highly significant effect on the incubation period (p < 0.001), but the contact pattern, occupation, gender, and age did not.

Analysis of Variance↗

Delimiting the location of the scrapie prion incubation time gene on chromosome 2 of the mouse.

Scrapie is a transmissible neurodegenerative disease caused by unusual pathogens called prions. The interval between inoculation and illness for experimental mouse scrapie is dramatically influenced by an incubation time gene (Prn-i) that is linked to Prn-p, the structural gene for prion protein (PrP). Although prion proteins from mouse strains with short and long scrapie incubation times differ by two amino acids, mice with discordant disease phenotype and Prn-p genotype occur in segregating crosses, suggesting recombination between Prn-p and a distinct incubation time locus. In addition, expression of Prn-pb transgenes from long incubation time mice shortened, rather than prolonged, incubation time. In this study, mice carrying chromosomes with meiotic crossovers near Prn-p were analyzed for scrapie incubation time phenotype. The results indicated that Prn-i (should it exist) must lie within an interval 0.67 cM proximal and 0.22 cM distal to Prn-p. The results also suggest that the cumulative effects of other genes, rather than meiotic recombination, were responsible for the putative recombinants of earlier studies. However, the effect of Prn-pb transgene expression in abbreviating scrapie incubation time was mitigated when the transgenes were transferred to mice with an endogenous long incubation time allele. Thus, Prn-pb transgenes and Prn-i may modulate scrapie pathogenesis by different mechanisms.

Alleles↗

Co-incubation of human spermatozoa with Chlamydia trachomatis serovar E causes premature sperm death.

The aim of this work was to investigate the effect of elementary bodies (EB) of Chlamydia trachomatis serovars E and LGV on sperm motility, viability and acrosomal status. Highly motile preparations of spermatozoa from normozoospermic patients were co-incubated for 6 h with 0.54x10(6) EB per ml. At 1, 3 and 6 h of incubation, sperm motility was determined by computer-assisted semen analysis (CASA) and the proportion of dead cells determined by the hypo-osmotic swelling (HOS) test. Acrosomal status was also examined using a standard monoclonal antibody assay. In the absence of EB, the percentage of motile spermatozoa remained >69% over the 6h incubation and the proportion of dead spermatozoa at <12%. However, during the incubation with EB of serovar E there was a significant decline in the percentage of motile spermatozoa (P < 0.05), and a corresponding increase in the proportion of dead spermatozoa (P < 0.05) at all time-points. However, following incubation with serovar LGV, only the percentage of dead spermatozoa after 6 h incubation was significantly different from the control (P < 0.05). The amount of acrosome-reacted spermatozoa remained unchanged (<16%) in all incubations at all time-points. Dose-response experiments indicated that increasing the concentration of EB to 2.5x10(6) per ml did not significantly alter the results. Furthermore, co-incubation of spermatozoa with dead EB (killed by heat treatment) abolished the chlamydia-mediated response, indicating that the effect is a result of the live organism and not soluble components or membrane elements. These data suggest that a detrimental effect on sperm function by some serovars may be an as yet unrecognized component of infertility problems.

Acrosome Reaction↗

Influence of storage days on the distribution for time of embryonic mortality during incubation.

Breakout analysis of 11,254 chicken eggs that failed to hatch was used to assess the influence of storage days on the distribution for time of embryonic mortality during incubation and on reproductive efficiency. Eggs were collected over 30 d, stored from 2 through 18 d, and incubated in two hatches. For each storage day within hatch, proportions of embryonic mortality during each of the 21 d of incubation, among embryos that did not survive incubation, were fitted by a diphasic Weibull distribution. Multivariate analysis was used to assess the influence of hatch and storage days within hatch on parameters of the distribution and on two measures of reproductive efficiency, proportions of embryonic mortality during incubation among all eggs incubated P(mort) and among fertile eggs incubated P(mort/fert), and to obtain partial correlation coefficients. Storage days influenced the distribution for time of embryonic mortality in each hatch, but the effect was different for each hatch. As the number of storage days increased, P(mort) and P(mort/fert) increased. Partial correlations showed that P(mort) and P(mort/fert) decreased as the proportion of embryos that died during the first phase decreased and as duration of the second phase increased. The shape of the distribution for time of mortality during incubation influenced reproductive efficiency. Factors that influence the shape of this distribution, other than hatch and storage days within hatch, should be studied to increase reproductive efficiency in the poultry industry.

Animals↗

Endocrine changes in the incubating and brooding turkey hen.

Turkey hens were allowed to incubate eggs and to hatch and rear young. Plasma prolactin (Prl) levels increased prior to the start of continuous incubation and rose sharply as incubation progressed to reach a peak of 1178.2 +/- 221.8 ng/ml (mean +/- SEM) just before hatching. Prl levels then fell precipitously before the hens left the nest, and returned to preincubation levels (36.8 +/- 3.4 ng/ml) by the time the poults were 2 weeks old. These results show that the high plasma concentrations of Prl found during incubation are not initiated or maintained only by the stimulus of nesting. We suggest that the decline in Prl levels at the end of incubation could be related to the pipping and hatching of eggs, and the consequent shift to maternal behavior. Plasma growth hormone (GH) levels were significantly increased in hens which were brooding poults, but not in hens incubating eggs. An elevenfold, 1-day increase in plasma GH was observed immediately after the hens left the nests. Mean plasma GH levels rose from 12.0 +/- 4.7 ng/ml on the day that the hens left the nests to 133.0 +/- 32.0 ng/ml on the following day, and then declined to 23.1 +/- 9.6 ng/ml after an additional day. There were no significant changes in plasma thyroxine levels during laying, incubation and brooding. Plasma glucose concentration was significantly depressed during incubation.

Animals↗

A new view of avian life-history evolution tested on an incubation paradox.

Viewing life-history evolution in birds based on an age-specific mortality framework can explain broad life-history patterns, including the long incubation periods in southern latitudes documented here. I show that incubation periods of species that are matched phylogenetically and ecologically between Argentina and Arizona are longer in Argentina. Long incubation periods have mystified scientists because they increase the accumulated risk of time-dependent mortality to young without providing a clear benefit. I hypothesize that parents of species with low adult mortality accept increased risk of mortality to their young from longer incubation if this allows reduced risk of mortality to themselves. During incubation, songbird parents can reduce risk of mortality to themselves by reducing nest attentiveness (percentage of time on the nest). Here I show that parents of species with lower adult mortality exhibit reduced nest attentiveness and that lower attentiveness is associated with longer incubation periods. However, the incubation period is also modified by juvenile mortality. Clutch size variation is also strongly correlated with age-specific mortality. Ultimately, adult and juvenile mortality explain variation in incubation and other life-history traits better than the historical paradigm.

Aging↗

Cost of reproduction in a long-lived bird: incubation effort reduces immune function and future reproduction.

Life-history theory predicts that increased current reproductive effort should lead to a fitness cost. This cost of reproduction may be observed as reduced survival or future reproduction, and may be caused by temporal suppression of immune function in stressed or hard-working individuals. In birds, consideration of the costs of incubating eggs has largely been neglected in favour of the costs of brood rearing. We manipulated incubation demand in two breeding seasons (2000 and 2001) in female common eiders (Somateria mollissima) by creating clutches of three and six eggs (natural range 3-6 eggs). The common eider is a long-lived sea-duck where females do not eat during the incubation period. Mass loss increased and immune function (lymphocyte levels and specific antibody response to the non-pathogenic antigens diphtheria and tetanus toxoid) was reduced in females incubating large clutches. The increased incubation effort among females assigned to large incubation demand did not lead to adverse effects on current reproduction or return rate in the next breeding season. However, large incubation demand resulted in long-term fitness costs through reduced fecundity the year after manipulation. Our data show that in eiders, a long-lived species, the cost of high incubation demand is paid in the currency of reduced future fecundity, possibly mediated by reduced immune function.

Analysis of Variance↗

Genetic control of scrapie: incubation period and plaque formation in I mice.

The host component of control of scrapie incubation period in the mouse is manifested largely through the action of the Sinc gene. Only one mouse strain (VM) has been found that is p7p7 (prolonged incubation for ME7 agent) and two other strains have been derived from VM. All other strains, designated s7s7, have a short incubation for ME7. In the present study, the I strain was shown to fulfil the criteria that are characteristic of mouse strains with the p7 allele of Sinc: a comparatively long incubation period for ME7 and a short incubation period for 22A, the incubation period for F1 hybrid mice (s7s7 X p7p7) either fell between the incubation periods for the parental strains (with ME7) or were longer than either parent (with 139A and 22A), amyloid plaques occurred following injection of ME7 and 87V but not after 22A or 139A, lesion profiles for four scrapie strains were similar in I mice and p7p7 mouse strains, and injection of 87V led to disease in less than 300 days. Finally, allelism tests using F1 hybrid mice (I X a p7p7 mouse strain) and progeny of backcrosses between these F1 mice and I mice failed to reveal the segregation of additional major genes affecting scrapie incubation period.

Alleles↗

Comparison of the effects of anaerobic and micro-aerophilic incubation on resistance of Helicobacter pylori to metronidazole.

To assess the influence of incubation conditions on the resistance of Helicobacter pylori this study compared the effect of micro-aerophilic and anaerobic incubation followed by micro-aerophilic incubation on the measurement of metronidazole resistance of 102 H. pylori isolates, by both disk diffusion and Epsilometer (E)-tests. Anaerobic incubation for 24 h before micro-aerophilic incubation for 48 h consistently increased metronidazole activity in both assay methods. Although statistically significant, this was microbiologically less significant, as only 4 of 102 isolates gave discrepant readings (all four were resistant in micro-aerophilic conditions but susceptible in anaerobic/micro-aerophilic conditions). In all four cases variation was by a few millimeters in zone size (i.e., all were close to the cut-off point). There was 100% agreement between disk diffusion and E-test results. Of 104 observations (52 duplicate assays: 13 strains, two atmospheric conditions, two methods of determining resistance) there was 100% intra-observer and inter-observer agreement with regard to susceptibility and resistance status for both E-test and disk diffusion methods. Anaerobic incubation followed by micro-aerophilic incubation had little effect on the estimation of prevalence of metronidazole resistance and seemed to add little, if any, significant advantage over micro-aerophilic incubation alone.

Aerobiosis↗

Influence of auxin and incubation on the relative level of polyribosomes in excised soybean hypocotyl.

The influence of incubation and auxin (2,4-D) on polyribosome level in soybean hypocotyl was studied.A marked drop in the relative level of polyribosomes in excised apical or meristematic tissue (0 to 5 millimeters below the cotyledons) occurred during incubation. The addition of auxin to the incubation medium did not affect polyribosome level. A similar decrease in polyribosome level occurred in excised elongating tissue (5 to 15 millimeters below cotyledons) during incubation. Auxin, however, caused a small but highly reproducible stabilization of polyribosomes in this tissue. There was a rapid, but small, auxin-independent increase in polyribosomes of basal or nongrowing hypocotyl (from 20 to 40 millimeters below cotyledons) during incubation, followed by a larger auxin-dependent increase in polyribosomes. While auxin is known to cause an increase in total ribosomes during incubation of the excised basal hypocotyl, the observed transformation from monoribosomes to polyribosomes was not dependent on new ribosome synthesis.Protein synthetic activity (poly U-directed phenylalanine incorporation) of the 80S monoribosomes at low Mg(2+) levels increased during incubation of the excised basal hypocotyl. The increase in ribosome activity was biphasic (an initial auxin-independent phase followed by an auxin-dependent increase in activity) correlating with the biphasic increase in polyribosomes. The enhanced activity of 80S monoribosomes was related, at least in part, to an increase in the level of peptidyl-tRNA associated with the ribosome population. Removal of peptidyl-tRNA from the ribosomes reversed the auxin effect.The hypothesis is advanced that the increase in polyribosomes in response to incubation and to auxin is preceded by and dependent upon the activation of 80S monoribosomes. This activation is in addition to a requirement for continued RNA synthesis, at least in part mRNA, for the transition from monoribosomes to polyribosomes.

Journal Article↗