The metabolism of glucose to 5-oxogluconate by Gluconobacter oxydans subsp. suboxydans (Gluconobacter suboxydans) at different pH values, glucose concentrations and phosphate buffer concentrations was studied. Bacterial growth, gluconic acid accumulation and 5-oxogluconate production were related to both pH and phosphate buffer concentration in the medium. In media containing 2-3% glucose, 0.3% yeast extract and 0.3 M phosphate buffer, the optimal pH range for the bacterial growth was pH 6.4-7.0; the optimal pH range for gluconate production was pH 6.4-6.8; and the optimal pH range for 5-oxogluconate production was pH 6.6-7.0. Lowering the pH to 6.4 favored gluconate accumulation from glucose; an increase in pH after maximum gluconate accumulation increased the yield of 5-oxogluconate from gluconate. A medium with the initial pH below pH 3.5 or above pH 7.5 slowed the metabolic rate of the bacteria. An increase in phosphate buffer over 0.3 M decreased the metabolic rate of the cells. The calculated weight-yield of 5-oxogluconate using 2.0% glucose, 0.3% yeast extract, 0.3 M phosphate, pH 6.75 was approximately 60%.

The nutritional conditions which permit maximum yield of trans-2,3- epoxysuccinic acid by Paecilomyces varioti NPRL 1123 were investigated. Copper and iron ions were added to decationized fermentation media to determine the optimum concentration and ratio of the ions for the accumulation of trans-2,3-epoxysuccinic arid. P-vitamin and amino acid studies were done by single omission of the growth factors in culture media. Organic acids in the cultures were recovered by ether extraction and identified by gas chromatography. In addition to t-ans-2,3-epoxysuccinic acid, succinic acid, malic acid, and tartaric acid were also found in culture filtrates. The results indicated that with a copper-iron ion ratio and concentration of 1 mM:2 mM, there was a maximum yield of trans-2,3-epoxysuccinic acid while the growth of the fungus was slightly inhibited. Deficiencies in biotin, thiamine, glutamic acic, cystine, aspartic acid, or histidine had marked effects on the production of trans-2,3-epoxvsuccinic acid but not on fungal growth.

An X-ray diffraction powder photograph shows a series of lines for each of which a measurement can be made and transformed into the interplanar d value (15). Lines were obtained by the analysis of precipitates from BP plates, but no lines could be obtained from the precipitate collected from SeEy plates even when the sample was exposed to the X-rays for a 20-hr period. The lines from the tellurite sample provided d values that corresponded to neither any known tellurium compound nor to elemental tellurium. These results do not agree with those of many investigators (1, 6, 11, 19, 22) who were able to identify the reduced products produced by microorganisms grown in the presence of tellurite and selenite as being metallic tellurium and selenium. X-ray emission analysis was performed to determine if any selenium or tellurium products had actually been taken up by the bacterial cells. Peaks were obtained for selenium as shown in Figure 2. This demonstrated that seleniun is present in the precipitate obtained from disrupted cells of S. aureus is. 523 grown on SeEy medium. X-ray emission analysis of tellurite product could not conclusively prove that tellurium was in the precipitate since the tellurium peaks were so small that they could not be separated from the background scattering. X-ray emission-semiquantitative analysis was performed on the tellurite product. At TeKα the number of counts per second was 566; at TeKα +0.5 degrees, 548; and at TeKα -0.5 degrees, 552. This indicates a trace amount of tellurium. Although these results did not identify the selenite and tellurite precipitates as t: whether they were organic or inorganic forms, they did establish that the red precipitate was composed of some form(s) of selenium, and the black precipitate was composed of some form(s) of tellurium.

Hemoglobin Zurich is a rare blood condition which causes severe rupturing of erythrocytes upon the administration of sulfonamides. Hemoglobin Zurich is caused by a specific genetic mutation in which there is a single amino acid (histidine) substituted for arginine at position 63 in the beta chain of hemoglobin molecules [β 63 Histidine --> Arginine]. In this study, the membrane proteins of Hemoglobin Zurich erythrocytes were compared to membrane proteins from normal human erythrocytes employing sodium dodecyl sulfatepolyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and visualized by periodic-acid Schiff (PAS) and DZANDU staining. No differences were detected employing these techniques. DNA was isolated from leucocytes of a Hemoglobin Zurich individual, amplified and subsequently seque-Iced by the dideoxynucleotide method. The actual mutation was identified as a substitution of a G at base 188 of the coding region for an A.

Information on family size, sex ratio, and sex by order of birth was obtained from a sample of students at Western Kentucky University during the 1968-69 school year. Participants were white Americans coming primarily from Central Kentucky. Data were obtained on the immediate, maternal, and paternal families from 1,018 students. Sex ratios for the immediate and parental generations were 101.2 and 103.3, respectively. The overall sex ratio for the study was 102.7. These ratios did not differ significantly from he reported secondary sex ratio of 106 in the United States. Correlation coefficients were computed between the sexes of various children within families for the immediate generation. A significant positive correlation was found between the sex of child one and two in families of two or more children. The overall correlation between sexes in successive births was also significant. Correlation coefficients between the sexes of children separated by one, two, or three births were not significant. For complete families of size two, a negative correlation existed between the sexes. This correlation indicated that more families stopped having children when ii both sexes were present in their offspring. The observed combination of sexes within each family did not differ significantly from the expected.

The experimental procedure described in this thesis consisted of a quanitative lipid analysis, a standard measurement of oxygen consumption, and determinations of fresh liver weight, and total body weight. The lipid analysis involved tissue extraction in a Soxlet apparatus (Rawat and Roy, 1958). The oxygen consumption measurements were made using a small animal respirometer, and fresh liver weights and total body weights were determined with an Ainsworth-Type-I0N analytical balance.

NADP+-dependent 5-ketogluconate reductase (D-Gluconate:NADP+ oxidoreductase; E.C.I.I.I.69.) of Gluconoacter suboxydans was examined and determined to be constitutive in nature. Crude, cell -free enzyme extracts were prepared by sonication of cells grown on 2.0'% glucose and 2.0% ethanol in various experiments. The specific activity of 5-ketogluconate reductase in the crude enzyme extracts of cells grown under various conditions was determined. The specific activity remained relatively constant strongly indicating the constitutive nature of the enzyme.

Blackbird and Starling roosts of the 1979-80 winter season were observed in order to obtain as much information as possible concerning roosts in this area. Five species were found to comprise the local roosts: The Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula), Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus), Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater), Rusty Blackbird (Euphagus carolinus), and the Starling (Sturnus vulgaris). Seven categories of activities were observed in roost species: predeparture vocalizations; predeparture staging; roost departure; daily activities; roost return; preroost staging; and settlement into the roost. The Common Grackle appeared to be the species around which the activities of the other species were patterned. Light experiments conducted on Starlings in a barn on the Western Kentucky University farm had no effect on bird movements within the barn. As ambient temperatures decreased, the number of birds in the barn increased, thus revealing the Starling's high adaptability as a species.

It has been shown in studies involving many temperatezone avian species that annual variation in day length is a major environmental factor influencing the timing of seasonal events such as gonadal development, molt, fat deposition, and migration. The mechanism whereby these birds measure day length involves a circadian rhythm of photosensitivity which is entrained by the daily photoperiod. If light occurs such that it coincides with the photosensitive phase of this rhythm, an event such as gonadal recrudescence is induced. This study was carried out in photosensitive White-throated Sparrows in winter and spring of 1982 to explore the possibility that temperature might modify the expression of the circadian rhythm of testicular photosensitivity. Upon treatment with interrupted-night photoperiods, birds held on LD 9:15 at temperatures averaging 27.6 C exhibited a daily rhythm in testicular photosensitivity, whereas birds held on LD 9:15 at temperatures averaging 3.7 C did not show such a daily rhythm. These results support the hypothesis that temperature modifies the timing of certain seasonal events in the White-throated Sparrow by influencing the expression of a circadian rhythm of photosensitivity.

This investigation represents the first electron microscopic study of spore germination in the fern Woodwardia virginica (L.) Smith. Samples of fern spores were induced into synchronous division by a dark, red light and white light sequence and examined for the early events of germination. During early germination the nucleus, which was located in a central position, assumed a pointed trailing end and a broadened amoeboid proximal face while migrating to a proximal position in the spore. At this time the nucleus became spherical, and chromosomes began to condense even before the disruption of the nuclear envelope. Chloroplastid and mitochondrial structure give clues to the phylogenetic position of Woodwardia. It was determined that chloroplast structure in the protonema resembled that for other organisms intermediate between the bryophytes and angiosperms. The mitochondria contained both tubular and flattened cristae, again indicating an intermediate position for the ferns. Scanning electron microscopy was used to study the spore and spore germination through the second mitotic division of the basal cell.