ABSTRACT
The effect of the polyamine spermidine on the growth of crown gall tumors was determined using the potato disc bioassay. Addition of lmM spermidine resulted in a 30-50% increase in tumor growth. The spermidine effect was found to be biphasic, with lmM being optimal. Closely related polyamines including spermine, as well as other nitrogen containing compounds such as arginine and alanine, failed to promote tumor growth or inhibited the growth of these tumors. Endogenous levels of spermidine in crown gall tumor tissue were consistently greater than those of corresponding normal potato tissue. Rapidly dividing normal potato tissue derived from buds also contained elevated spermidine levels.
ABSTRACT
A variety of samples consisting of purified compounds (of various origins) and ethanol extracts from plants were assayed for their activity on the growth and initiation of crown-gall tumors on potato disks. The results demonstrated a high correlation between the ability of these compounds to inhibit the initiation and growth of crown-gall tumors on potato disks and their corresponding activity on the mouse P388 leukemia protocol. Of the 21 compounds tested to date, there were two false-positives and one false-negative.
Subject(s)
Antineoplastic Agents , Drug Evaluation, Preclinical/methods , Animals , Cells, Cultured , Mice , Plant Tumors , RhizobiumABSTRACT
Rabbits were injected with cell walls obtained from crown-gall tumor tissue or the corresponding cell walls from normal potato tissue. The serum obtained from rabbits 53 days after they were injected with tumor cell walls contained immunoglobins that reacted with both tumor and normal cell walls as well as with the cells from the inciting strain of Agrobacterium tumefaciens. When this serum was repeatedly absorbed against normal cell walls and the cells of the inciting strain of Agrobacterium tumefaciens, only tumor-specific immunoglobins remained. These immunoglobins did not react with cell walls obtained from meristematic (nontumorous) potato tissue. Yet this same serum reacted with crown-gall tumor cell walls obtained from turnip and carrot discs.
ABSTRACT
Seventeen samples consisting of purified compounds and various ethanol extracts from plant sources were tested for activity on the initiation of crown gall tumors on potato discs. The results demonstrated definite correlation between the ability of these samples to inhibit the formation of crown gall tumors and their activity on the P388 leukemia system in mice. Samples showing only cytotoxic effects in KB cell cultures did not affect tumor initiation in our system. The active materials had no effects on bacterial viability or on the ability of the bacteria to attach to a tumorbinding site.
ABSTRACT
When virulent cells of Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain B6 were exposed to low-level microwave radiation at a frequency of 10,000 MHz and an intensity of 0.58 mW/cm2 for 30 to 120 min, a 30 to 60% decrease in their ability to produce tumors on potato and turnip disks was observed. This microwave exposure did not affect the viability of these bacteria or their ability to attach to a tumor-binding site nor did it induce thermal shock. This loss of virulence was reversible within 12 h.
Subject(s)
Microwaves , Rhizobium/radiation effects , Plant Tumors/etiology , Rhizobium/pathogenicity , VirulenceABSTRACT
The infectivity of Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain B6 was inhibited about 50% when these bacteria were inoculated on potato discs with equal viable cell counts of a weakly virulent strain of A. tumefaciens (B-48) or autoclaved strains of B6 or B-48. Inhibition by B-48 or autoclaved B6 could still be obtained when these cells were added up to a maximum of 10 minutes after the addition of viable B6. Maximum inhibition occurred when these cells were added 10 minutes prior to the addition of B6. There was no inhibition observed when equal cell counts of B6 were added along with a Gram-positive bacterium or yeast cell, while inhibition was observed when these B6 cells were added simultaneously with other Gram-negative cells. These results suggest that a physical, specific bacterial attachment that occurs within 10 minutes is necessary for tumor formation on potato discs.
ABSTRACT
Incubation of embryoless barley (Hordeum vulgare) half-seeds for 24 hours with 0.1 m glutamate or aspartate resulted in the release of 17 to 48% as much alpha-amylase as did incubation with 260 mmum gibberellin. With incubation periods of 48 to 51 hours these amino acids were on the average about half as active as response-saturating concentrations of gibberellin, and in some experiments they were essentially as active. Citric acid cycle intermediates, glycolytic pathway intermediates, and cofactors of these pathways failed to induce alpha-amylase synthesis, while the following compounds were active: asparagine, homoserine, diaminopimelate, isoleucine, methionine, glutamine, ornithine, citrulline, argininosuccinate, and delta-aminolevulinate. However, threonine, lysine, beta-alanine, alanine, gamma-aminobutyrate, alpha-ketobutyrate, proline, arginine, glycine, leucine, and putrescine were inactive. Two patterns were noted in the list of active and inactive compounds: (a) all of the active compounds contain an amino group and are biosynthetically derived from citric acid cycle intermediates; and (b) biosynthetic precursors of the amino acids arginine, proline, threonine, and lysine were active whereas these amino acids were not.
