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Biomedical subjects

E M Barnes

Publications and source records attributed to E M Barnes.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1980

Manipulation of the crop and intestinal flora of the newly hatched chick.

The ceca of newly hatched chicks obtained either from commercial hatcheries or from a carefully controlled experimental hatchery have been shown to contain high numbers of a variety of microorganisms. Fecal streptococci, clostridia, enterobacteria, pediococci, and occasionally Pseudomonas aeruginosa have all been isolated, but never lactobacilli. After the chick has been on feed for 1 day, the numbers of lactobacilli in the crops and ceca are quite variable; by the 3rd day, however, large numbers are present throughout the alimentary tract. Lactobacilli could be established after 1 day by incorporating them in the feed or by treating the chicks with 0.5 ml of a broth culture. Spraying the eggs before hatching did not lead to their early establishment. Lactobacilli given alone to the newly hatched chick failed to prevent the establishment of Salmonella. However, when the chicks were given a complex mixture of facultative anaerobes and anaerobes which had been isolated from an adult bird, cecal colonization with Salmonella was prevented. The possible importance of the facultative anaerobes, particularly Streptococcus faecalis, in lowering the redox potential to encourage the growth of the anaerobes is discussed.

Animal Feed↗
PubMed1980

Proton-coupled calcium transport by intact cells of Azotobacter vinelandii.

Addition of ionophores to resting aerobic cultures of Azotobacter vinelandii OP resulted in 45Ca2+ uptake (Km = 60 microM Ca2+; Vmax 1.1 nmol/min per mg of cell protein) which was inhibited by cations (La3+ greater than Mn2+ greater than Sr2+ greater Ba2+). The rate of Ca2+ entry correlated with the magnitude of a transmembrane proton gradient (inside acid) which developed in the respective order: valinomycin less than tetrachlorosalicylanilide less than nigericin less than gramicidin D less than tetrachlorosalicylanilide plus valinomycin. A process of calcium-proton exchange (antiport) is responsible for calcium accumulation under these conditions.

Anaerobiosis↗
PubMed1979

Factors affecting the incidence and anti-salmonella activity of the anaerobic caecal flora of the young chick.

Thirty-two different types of anaerobic bacteria isolated from chickens have been tested for anti-salmonella activity in vitro. Under the conditions of the test only Bacteroides hypermegas and a Bifidobacterium sp. were shown to inhibit the salmonellas and this was attributed to the production of volatile fatty acids (VFA's) coupled with a low pH. When these organisms were tested in newly hatched chicks no inhibition of S. typhimurium occurred. Possible explanations for this observation are considered. The pH value and concentration of VFA's in the caecal material were determined in chicks from 0-84 days. In vitro tests with S. typhimurium indicated that, whilst the organism would be able to multiply at the pH and concentration of VFA's found during the first few days after hatching, the rapid increase in VFA concentration during the first 21 days would make this increasingly difficult. The significance of the developing caecal flora in relation to VFA production and pH is discussed. Because certain feed additives are known to influence the carriage of salmonellas, the sensitivity of various caecal anaerobes to these compounds was determined in vitro, generally at 1, 10 and 100 microgram/ml. The additives tested included flavomycin, furazolidone, nitrovin, tetracyline, tylosin, sulphaquinoxaline, virginiamycin and zinc bacitracin. All the organisms tested were inhibited by 100 microgram/ml furazolidone; none were inhibited by 500 microgram/ml sulphaquinoxaline. Changes occurring in the VFA concentration, pH value and microflora of the caeca of chicks fed for 49 days or longer on a normal starter diet or the same diet containing 10 or 100 mg/kg nitrovin have been compared. When the chicks were fed on the diet containing 100 mg/kg nitrovin, the Gram-negative non-sporing anaerobes were eliminated as a significant part of the caecal flora. However, the VFA concentration combined with a low pH in chicks from 2 weeks onwards was still sufficient to inhibit salmonella multiplication. Other possibly interrelated factors which might lead to an increased salmonella carrier rate in the nitrovin-treated chickens are discussed.

Anaerobiosis↗
PubMed1978

Respiration-coupled calcium transport by membrane vesicles from Azotobacter vinelandii.

Membrane vesicles, isolated from osmotic lysates of Azotobacter vinelandii spheroplasts in Tris-acetate buffer, rapidly accumulate calcium in the presence of an oxidizable substrate. The addition of D-lactate to vesicles increases the rate of calcium uptake by 34-fold; L-malate, NADH, NADPH, and reduced phenazine methosulfate are nearly as effective as lactate. The intravesicular calcium pool which accumulates under these conditions is rapidly discharged by isotopic exchange or in the presence of respiratory inhibitors, uncouplers, or EGTA. The uptake rates for calcium follow Michaelis-Menten kinetics yielding a Km of 48 microM and a V max of 45 nmoles/min/mg membrane protein. Initial rates of EGTA-induced calcium efflux also follow saturation kinetics, giving a V max identical to that for calcium entry; but the Km for exodus is 14 mM, assuming that free calcium accumulates in vesicles. The difference in the affinity of calcium for the entry and exit processes observed during respiration is sufficient to account for the estimated 150-fold calcium concentration gradient achieved under steady-state conditions. The uptake system is specific for calcium as opposed to other cations, but zinc and lanthanum are effective competitors. Calcium uptake is blocked when electron is inhibited by exposure of vesicles to p-chlormercuriphenylsulfonate, hydroxyquinoline-N-oxide, or cyanide, or under anoxic conditions. Divalent cation ionophores (A23187 and X537A) and proton ionophores (CCP and gramicidin D) also block calcium transport effectively. The electrogenic potassium ionophore valinomycin has no effect on lactate-dependent calcium uptake in the presence of potassium; but ionophores which induce electroneutral exchange of protons for sodium or potassium (monensin and nigericin, respectively) did block calcium transport in the presence of the appropriate cation. The fluorescence intensity of quinacrine (an amine probe) in the presence of A. vinelandii membrane vesicles is reduced by 25% on addition of lactate; the quenching is blocked by CCP. This indicates that a pH gradient (inside acid) is developed across the vesicle membrane during lactate oxidation. These results indicate that these membrane preparations contain vesicles of inverted topology (with respect to the intact cell) and suggest that calcium transport occurs by means of electroneutral calcium/proton antiport.

Azotobacter↗
PubMed1977

Isolation of membrane vesicles with inverted topology by osmotic lysis of Azotobacter vinelandii spheroplasts.

Membrane vesicles were prepared from Azotobacter vinelandii spheroplasts by lysis in either potassium phosphate (pH 7.0) or Tris1-acetate (pH 7.8) buffers. These 2 types of preparations differ considerably in their properties: 1) Examination by scanning electron microscopy reveals that the Pi vesicles consist primarily of closed structures 0.6-0.8 micrometer in diameter with a rough or particulate surface similar to that of spheroplasts. The Tris vesicles are significantly smaller, 0.1-0.3 micrometer in diameter, and have a much smoother surface structure. 2) Antisera from rabbits immunized with A. vinelandii lipopolysaccharide antigen will agglutinate Pi vesicles but not Tris vesicles. 3) Tris vesicles have a fourfold higher specific activity of latent H+-ATPase than Pi vesicles. After exposure to Triton X-100 similar ATPase activities are observed for both types of vesicles. 4) Pi vesicles transport calcium in the presence of ATP or lactate at less than 30% of the rats observed for Tris vesicles. 5) Tris vesicles have less than 22% of the transport capacity of Pi vesicles for accumulation of labeled sucrose and less than 3% of the capacity for valinomycin-induced uptake of rubidium observed during respiration. 6) Quinacrine fluorescence intensity is reduced by 30% during lactate oxidation and 20% during ATP hydrolysis by Tris vesicles. Under similar conditions, fluorescence in Pi vesicles is quenched by only 7% and less than 2%, respectively. These findings suggest that Pi vesicles have the normal orientation of the intact cell whereas Tris vesicles have an inverted topology.

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗
PubMed1977

Generation of a transmembrane electric potential during respiration by Azotobacter vinelandii membrand vesicles.

Membrane vesicles isolated from Azotobacter vinelandii strain O by lysis of spheroplasts in potassium of sodium phosphate buffer develop a transmembrane electric potential during respiration. The magnitude of this potential was determined by three independent methods: (i) fluorescence of 3,3'-dipropylthiodicarbocyanine and 3,3'-dihexyloxacarbocyanine; (ii) uptake of 86Rb+ in the presence of valinomycin; and (iii) uptake of [3H]triphenylmethyl phosphonium. In method (i), the relative fluorescence of these cyanine dyes in the presence of intact cells or derived vesicles is quenched during oxication of electron donors. A linear relationship between this quenching and a potassium diffusion potential was employed to calibrate the probe response. In method (ii), the steady-state concentration ratio of rubidium across the vesicle membrane during oxidation of L-malate was converted to potential by the Nernst equation. In method (iii), the steady-state concentration ratio of this lipophilic cation was likewise converted to a potential. With the exception of 3,3'-dihexyloxacarbocyanine fluorescence, these methods gave good agreement for the potential developed during L-malate oxidation by membrane vesicles. A value of 75 to 80 mV (inside negative) was obtained for vesicles prepared in potassium phosphate, and 104 mV (inside negative) was obtained for vesicles prepared in sodium phosphate. Electrogenic expulsion of hydrogen ion was observed during L-malate oxidation, and the amount of proton exodus was greater in potassium rather than the sodium-containing vesicles. This indicates the presence of a sodium-proton antiport mechanism. In addition, D-glucose uptake was observed during development of a potassium diffusion potential that was artificially imposed across the vesicle membrane. These observations suggest the presence of a glucose-proton symport mechanism in accordance with the principles of Mitchell.

Azotobacter↗
PubMed1976

ATP-dependent calcium transport in isolated membrane vesicles from Azotobacter vinelandii.

Membrane vesicles from Azotobacter vinelandii O prepared by osmotic lysis of spheroplasts in tris (hydroxymethyl) aminomethane/acetate buffer (pH 7.8) contain a latent adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase). The ATPase can be activated when the vesicles are incubated in the presence of an electron donor (D-lactate) and a mixture of adenosine diphosphate and inorganic phosphate or by controlled treatment with trypsin. After the ATPase is activated, the membrane vesicles in the presence of adenosine triphosphate accumulate calcium but not glucose or rubidium (in the presence of valinomycin). ATP-dependent calcium uptake follows Michaelis-Menten kinetics with a Km of 48 muM and a Vmax of 20 nmol/min/mg of membrane protein and is highly specific for calcium over cations magnesium, barium, lanthanum, sodium, potassium, and lithium. The calcium accumulated in the presence of ATP is freely exchangeable with external calcium and is rapidly released in the presenceof uncouplers or ATPase inhibitors. Calcium uptake in the presenceof ATP is blocked by dicyclohexylcarbodiimide, ADP, p-chloromercuriphenylsulfonate, by the proton-conducting ionophores m-chlorophenylcarbonylcyanide hydrazone, nigericin, monensin, and gramicidin D, but not by potassium cyanide, anoxia, or valinomycin (in the presence of potassium). Measurements of the external pH of vesicle suspensions reveal that protons are actively taken up by the membranes during hydrolysis of ATP. These results suggest that vesicles prepared under these conditions have a topology which is inverted with respect to the intact cell and that calcium is accumulated by means of proton antiport.

Adenosine Diphosphate↗
PubMed1976

Hypoxanthine transport by cultured Chinese hamster lung fibroblasts.

The uptake of hypoxanthine by Chinese hamster lung fibroblasts grown in tissue culture was studied in wild type clones and 8-azaguanine-resistant mutant clones devoid of hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase. Wild type fibroblasts rapidly accumulate [3H]hypoxanthine from the medium and over 80% of the intracellular radioactivity is found in acid-soluble nucleotides. The phosphoribosyltransferase-deficient clones accumulate much lower levels of hypoxanthine and over 85% of the intracellular 3H label is associated with chemically unaltered hypoxanthine. The internal level of hypoxanthine in the mutant clones rapidly approaches but does not exceed that present in the medium. Wild type and phosphoribosyltransferase-deficient cells take up hypoxanthine at almost identical initial rates at external hypoxanthine levels from 2 to 300 muM. Analysis of these data reveals two transport systems that obey the Michaelis-Menten relationship. These differ markedly in affinity, yielding average Km values of 20 and 600 muM for both cell types. Hypoxanthine transport by both low and high affinity transport systems is blocked by p-chloromercuriphenylsulfonate and N-ethylmaleimide. Counter-transport of hypoxanthine was demonstrated in phosphoribosyltransferase-deficient fibroblasts. It is concluded that hypoxanthine is transported into Chinese hamster cells by means of carrier-mediated processes (facilitated diffusion) that operate independently of phosphoribosylation.

4-Chloromercuribenzenesulfonate↗