Biomedical subjects

M Demarty

Publications and source records attributed to M Demarty.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2000

Secondary ion mass spectrometry imaging of the fixation of 15N-labelled NO in pollen grains.

We used secondary ion mass spectrometry to image cellular targets of nitrogen oxides (widespread air pollutants) in pollen grains of birch (Betula verrucosa Ehrh.) and cockfoot (Dactylis glomerata L.). The pollen samples were exposed to air supplemented with high doses of 15NO. The pollen grains were then fixed, dehydrated using a newly developed 'vapour phase' preparation method and embedded in LRW resin. Semithin sections were then analysed. Imaging was performed in scanning mode. As usual, the two isotopes 14N and 15N were imaged as 12C14N- and 12C15N-, respectively. The isotopic percentages of 15N were quantitatively determined either by image processing or by direct analysis. We show that the preferential areas of NO fixation in the pollen cell are the sporoderm and discrete intracytoplasmic structures that we tentatively describe as globoid-like structures similar to those encountered in seeds.

Air Pollutants↗

PubMed1998

Cambium pre-activation in beech correlates with a strong temporary increase of calcium in cambium and phloem but not in xylem cells.

Using secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), calcium was imaged in cambium cells and in the adjacent secondary phloem and xylem cells during the different phases of cambium functioning in beech (Fagus sylvatica L.). At the end of the period of quiescence, immediately before the resumption of cell divisions (i.e. at the cambium pre-activation phase), a strong temporary increase of calcium concentration was observed to take place in cambium and phloem but not in xylem cells.

Calcium↗

PubMed1992

Localization of methyltransferase activities throughout the endomembrane system of flax (Linum usitatissimum L) hypocotyls.

A microsomal fraction from flax hypocotyls (Linum usitatissimum L) showed a methylation ability from S-adenosyl-methionine on to the cell wall polysaccharides. Two kinds of methylation were found: (i) a methyl esterification of uronic acids in the oxalate extracts and (ii) an O-methylation of the hydroxyl groups in the NaOH extracts. The methyltransferase study showed a rapid decrease of the methyl esterification abilities, whereas the O-methylation on to the hydroxyl groups was maintained throughout the culture duration. The localization of such activities in the flax endomembrane system was performed using isopycnic centrifugation. Enzymic marker tests allowed us to identify the different membrane types. Methyltransferase activities in the different enriched fractions appeared to be associated with the Golgi apparatus for the O-methylation, and with the plasma membrane, Golgi apparatus and endoplasmic reticulum compartments for the carboxymethyl esterification.

Acid Anhydride Hydrolases↗

PubMed1992

Differential extractability of calcium and pectic substances in different wall regions of epicotyl cells in young flax plants.

We applied the simultaneous use of a subtractive method and two imaging techniques (secondary ion mass spectrometry and electron microscopy after PATAg staining) to correlate the distribution of Ca2+ to pectic substances in cell walls of young flax plants. The calcium images were compared with the structural electron microscopy images. This suggests that the linkage of the pectic substances within the wall is mainly by calcium bridges in the intercellular junctions of most types of cells under study (epidermis, subepidermis, fiber layer, and endodermis) and in the outer part (close to the cuticle) of the wall of the epidermal cells. In the primary walls of the various types of cells under study and in the inner part (close to the cytoplasm) of the wall of the epidermal cells, the linkage of the pectic substances would be mainly by covalent bonds. In the middle lamellae of the various cells, and in the intercellular junctions within the cortical parenchyma, both types of linkages apparently coexist. The mechanism of "ionic condensation" may provide an interpretation for the chemical status of the Ca2+ ions which are associated with the pectic components solubilized in boiling water, and which do not seem to contribute to the linkage of these components within the wall.

Calcium↗

PubMed1986

[Demonstration of pectin-lyase in Bacillus subtilis].

After a screening performed on pectinolytic micro-organisms, a strain of B. subtilis was isolated. This strain has a pectic enzyme capable of beta-elimination on highly methylated pectin (degree of esterification = 85%), without the action of a pectinesterase. This activity corresponds to that of a pectin-lyase.

Bacillus subtilis↗

PubMed1981

Compartmental analysis of sulphate transport in Lemna minor L., taking plant growth and sulphate metabolization into consideration.

The compartmental analysis of sulphate transport in cells of Lemna plants has been performed, taking into account the growth of the samples and the metabolization of sulphate into organic thiocompounds during the course of the experiment. The results obtained form efflux and influx experiments are fully consistent with one another. Both unidirectional fluxes between the external medium and the cell wall are very large (order of magnitude of 1 MUMOL/h per g fresh weight of plants). All the other unidirectional fluxes, including the flux of sulphate metabolization, are much smaller (from about 10 to 60 nmol/h per g). Over 70% of the total sulphur of the plant corresponds to that incorporated into organic thio compounds, and over 25% to free sulphate in the vacuola. The pool of free sulphate in the cytoplasm is only about 1% of the total sulphur, and the sulphate content of the cell wall (free spaces) is also about 1%. Two remarks of general relevance have been made concerning the influx curves. First, these curves exhibit a long (several hours), quasi-stationary phase after the first few minutes of absorption, though the slope of this straight line does not correspond to the unidirectional flux of sulphate entry through the plasmalemma (from cell wall to cytoplasm). Second, the Lemna plants seem to be sensitive to the effect of "gas shock'.

Biological Transport↗

PubMed1977

[Regulation and electric excitation of enzyme membranes in vitro].

Enzyme membranes can be activated or inhibited by applying continuous or alternating electrical fields. The field can modify the transport or reaction term of the transport-reaction by action on the displacement of charged species including those giving pH effects or inducing volume flows. A first experimental example is given: the progressive supression of the inhibition of hexokinase by the product when increasing alternating fields are applied. In the same way the apparent optimal pH approaches that of the soluble enzyme. In addition to its theoretical and practical implications electrical regulation can lead to the monitoring of enzyme reaction-driven mechanochemical fibers.

Electric Stimulation↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Hypothesis: hyperstructures regulate bacterial structure and the cell cycle.

A myriad different constituents or elements (genes, proteins, lipids, ions, small molecules etc.) participate in numerous physico-chemical processes to create bacteria that can adapt to their environments to survive, grow and, via the cell cycle, reproduce. We explore the possibility that it is too difficult to explain cell cycle progression in terms of these elements and that an intermediate level of explanation is needed. This level is that of hyperstructures. A hyperstructure is large, has usually one particular function, and contains many elements. Non-equilibrium, or even dissipative, hyperstructures that, for example, assemble to transport and metabolize nutrients may comprise membrane domains of transporters plus cytoplasmic metabolons plus the genes that encode the hyperstructure's enzymes. The processes involved in the putative formation of hyperstructures include: metabolite-induced changes to protein affinities that result in metabolon formation, lipid-organizing forces that result in lateral and transverse asymmetries, post-translational modifications, equilibration of water structures that may alter distributions of other molecules, transertion, ion currents, emission of electromagnetic radiation and long range mechanical vibrations. Equilibrium hyperstructures may also exist such as topological arrays of DNA in the form of cholesteric liquid crystals. We present here the beginning of a picture of the bacterial cell in which hyperstructures form to maximize efficiency and in which the properties of hyperstructures drive the cell cycle.

Bacteria↗