No description available.

The effect of transferring fish from water at pH 7.0 to either more acid or more alkaline conditions was to reduce the maximum critical velocity of the fish. In water of pH 4.0, 5.0, and 10.0, the maximum critical velocity was only 54.5%, 66.5%, and 61% respectively of that recorded for fish in the water of pH 7.0. Thus, both acid and alkaline conditions in the water reduce the aerobic swimming capacity of trout. Exposure to acid conditions increased mucus secretion and this was associated with an increase in coughing and breathing frequency in resting fish. Coughing rate increased from 41/hr to 592/hr; and respiration frequency increased from 81/min to 104/min when fish were transferred from water at pH 7.0 to water at pH 4.0. In comparing fish exposed to acid and alkaline waters, the results indicates that fish have a greater capacity to regulate blood pH in acid than in alkaline conditions. The gill potential was strongly dependent on water pH, being negative in neutral water, but positive in acid water and more negative in alkaline solution. Catecholamine levels increased significantly during acid exposure, but were not altered during alkaline exposure. The increasing catecholamine levels appeared at different time periods in different fish during acid exposure and seemed to be associated with the death of the fish. Na⁺ and C1⁻ ion concentrations in plasma decreased significantly after 24hrs of acid exposure, but did not change significantly in alkaline water. This may indicate that ionoregulatory disturbance in plasma is one of the reasons for the decrease in the maximum critical velocity in acid water, but not in alkaline water. / Science, Faculty of / Zoology, Department of / Graduate

The cellular regulation of acidification and intracellular ph (pHi) was studied in the integument of Rana pipiens, a model renal epithelium. Acidification was enhanced by : (1) chronic metabolic acidosis, (2) high salinity adaptation, and (3) ibuprofen treatment.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

Presently, plastic surgeons do not have a methodology for non-invasive, real-time assessment of wound tissue properties. It is of extreme importance to objectively determine the health of wound tissue and the level of bacterial infection before surgical closure of the wound is attempted. Wounds that possess significant areas of low blood perfusion and high levels of bacteria will not be successfully grafted. Thus, this research aims at identifying and testing a measurable parameter for the assessment of tissue properties in acute and chronic wounds. Tissue pH, which is easily measured, has been proven to detect the presence of tissue ischemia. In this research, the variations of tissue pH levels in patient wounds and the relationship between tissue pH and bacteria levels were explored. Micro-combination pH electrodes were tested; software algorithms for acquiring and processing raw tissue pH data were developed; and calibration, sterilization, animal, and clinical protocols were designed. Animal and clinical studies were performed. Small variations in tissue pH values were found within patient wounds and between patient cases. A qualitative relationship between tissue pH levels and bacterial contamination was identified. As the bacterial contamination, rises, the averaage tissue pH level tends to decrease. A methodology that clinicians can use to efficiently measure tissue pH in wounds was developed. This research provides preliminary work in an area that has not been previously explored. It was shown that tissue pH measurements can be acquired efficiently, non-invasively, and with no discomfort to the patient. The incorporation of tissue pH measurements into the evaluation of wounds will contribute to providing an objective measure of the health of the tissue and aid plastic surgeons in the development of patient treatments.

The concept of maximal oxygen consumption (VO2 max) implies that there is a limit to the amount of oxygen that can be consumed by an organism in a given time. Many attempts have been made to delineate exactly what factor or factors are limiting to VO2 max. Current models focus on the steps over which oxygen must traverse in order to get from the ambient air to the mitochondria. However, no model has addressed the issue of whether or not carbon dioxide flux may impose a limit to VO2 max. Impedance of carbon dioxide flux may have a deleterious effect on intracellular pH, which in turn, may effect mitochondrial oxidative performance.

Phosphate is an essential but often growth-limiting nutrient for bacteria. At low concentrations of phosphate in the growth medium, bacteria induce high-affinity uptake systems for phosphate, and this is usually the ABC-type phosphate specific transport system Pst. In the fully sequenced genomes of pathogenic species of mycobacteria, several copies of the genes encoding for the Pst system (pstSCAB) have been identified and some of these genes have been shown to be virulence factors. The reasons for the presence of multiple copies of pst genes in pathogenic mycobacteria are not understood, and phosphate transport by these bacteria, as well as the gene regulation involved, is poorly characterised. The fast-growing M. smegmatis contains only a single copy of the pst operon, but we recently identified a gene locus containing three genes, phnDCE, which encode for a putative ABC-type phosphate/phosphonate transport system, and a gene, phnF, which encodes for a putative transcriptional regulator of the HutC subfamily of GntR like regulators. To identify a function for the PhnDCE transport system and to characterise high-affinity phosphate transport in M. smegmatis, we created allelic exchange mutants in phnD and pstS, as well as a phnD pstS double deletion mutant. All three mutants failed to grow in minimal medium containing 10 mM phosphate, while the wildtype was able to grow in the presence of micromolar phosphate concentrations. No differences were observed in complex growth medium. Steady-state levels of [��P]-phosphate uptake were approximately 25% lower in all mutant strains as compared to the wildtype. Kinetics of phosphate uptake in the wildtype strain when grown at low phosphate concentrations (50 [mu]M P[i]) were biphasic, suggesting the presence of two inducible transport systems with apparent K[m] values of 16 [mu]M P[i] and 64 [mu]M P[i], respectively. Analysis of the kinetics of phosphate transport in the mutant strains led us to the proposition that the Pst system has an apparent Km value of ca. 16 [mu]M P[i], and the Phn system has an apparent Km of ca. 60 [mu]M P[i]. A third inducible phosphate transport system, which was active in the double mutant strain, had an apparent K[m] of ca. 90 [mu]M P[i]. Uptake of phosphate in all strains was not inhibited by the presence of excess phosphonates or phosphite, suggesting that all three transport systems were specific for phosphate. The study of phosphate transport in the presence of various metabolic inhibitors revealed that uptake by the Phn and Pst systems is driven by ATP-hydrolysis, consistent with ABC-type transport, while the third, unidentified transport system may be driven by the proton motive force. We showed that phnDCE formed an operon, and that the promoter area of the operon lies within 200 bp of the start of phnD. To investigate the regulation of the phn and pst genes, β-galacosidase activities of strains carrying transcriptional lacZ-fusions of the pstSCAB, phnDCE and phnF promoter areas, and levels of mRNA of the phn and pst genes were studied. All genes were induced when phosphate concentrations fell below a threshold value of 30 [mu]M, which coincided with a shift in the growth characteristics of M. smegmatis. Expression of the pst operon appeared to be controlled directly by the PhoPR two-component regulatory system, while the phn operon may be under direct or indirect control by PhoPR. To identify a role for PhnF in the regulation of phn gene expression, we created a phnF deletion mutant. PhnF appeared to repress transcription of phnDCE and phnF under phosphate-replete conditions. We identified two putative binding sequences for PhnF in the intergenic region between phnD and phnF with the sequence TGGTATAGACCA, which is similar to the proposed recognition consensus for HutC-like transcriptional regulators. Using site-directed mutagenesis of these sequences, we demonstrated that they are required for the repression of phnDCE and phnF. To prove PhnF binding to these potential binding sites, we attempted to express the M. smegmatis PhnF protein in E. coli, but could not obtain soluble recombinant protein. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays of the phnDCE promoter fragment using cell-free crude extracts of M. smegmatis were not successful. We propose that Pst and Phn both constitute high-affinity phosphate specific transport systems of M. smegmatis, and that a third inducible phosphate transport system is present in this bacterium. PhnF is required for repression of phnDCE and phnF transcription under phosphate-replete conditions, while induction of the pst operon, and possibly the phn operon, under phosphate-limited conditions involves the PhoPR system.

Graduation date: 1994