Introgression of cotton leaf curl virus-resistant genes from Asiatic cotton (Gossypium arboreum) into upland cotton (G. hirsutum).

Cotton is under the constant threat of leaf curl virus, which is a major constraint for successful production of cotton in the Pakistan. A total of 3338 cotton genotypes belonging to different research stations were screened, but none were found to be resistant against the Burewala strain of cotton leaf curl virus (CLCuV). We explored the possibility of transferring virus-resistant genes from Gossypium arboreum (2n = 26) into G. hirsutum (2n = 52) through conventional breeding techniques. Hybridization was done manually between an artificial autotetraploid of G. arboreum and an allotetraploid G. hirsutum, under field conditions. Boll shedding was controlled by application of exogenous hormones, 50 mg/L gibberellic acid and 100 mg/L naphthalene acetic acid. Percentage pollen viability in F(1) hybrids was 1.90% in 2(G. arboreum) x G. hirsutum and 2.38% in G. hirsutum x G. arboreum. Cytological studies of young buds taken from the F(1) hybrids confirmed that they all were sterile. Resistance against CLCuV in the F(1) hybrids was assessed through grafting, using the hybrid plant as the scion; the stock was a virus susceptible cotton plant, tested under field and greenhouse conditions. All F(1) cotton hybrids showed resistance against CLCuV, indicating that it is possible to transfer resistant genes from the autotetraploid of the diploid donor specie G. arboreum into allotetraploid G. hirsutum through conventional breeding, and durable resistance against CLCuV can then be deployed in the field.

Adenosine modulation of fat cell responsiveness to insulin and oxytocin.

We have investigated the effects of adenosine on the stimulation of glucose oxidation and lipogenesis by oxytocin and insulin in rat epididymal adipocytes. The addition of adenosine deaminase (1 U/ml) to the assay medium reduced the maximal oxytocin response (glucose oxidation and lipogenesis) to between 25 and 50% of the maximum response in control cells. The maximal response to insulin was not appreciably affected under these conditions. The addition of adenosine (10 or 30 microM) increased the cell sensitivity to oxytocin by elevating the maximum rate of oxytocin-stimulated glucose metabolism. Adenosine also increased the cell sensitivity to insulin by decreasing its ED50. A change in ED50, however, was observed only when control or adenosine-treated cells were compared to adenosine deaminase-treated cells; but not when control and adenosine-treated cells were compared. On its own, adenosine also caused an appreciable increase in both glucose oxidation and lipogenesis (ED50 approximately equal to 3 microM adenosine). The difference in the effect of adenosine on oxytocin action, compared with the effect on insulin action, points to differences in the mechanisms by which insulin and oxytocin stimulate glucose metabolism in adipocytes.

Oxytocin resistance in Brattleboro rat adipocytes and comparative studies on insulin or oxytocin responsiveness in normal rat adipocytes.

We have evaluated factors, other than genetic, which might be related to the lack of an oxytocin-mediated insulinlike response (glucose oxidation; lipogenesis) in adipocytes from Brattleboro rats, homozygous for the diabetes insipidus trait (HoDI rats). The manoeuvres used in an attempt to restore the glucoregulatory responses to oxytocin in HoDI cells (increased glucose in the fat pad digestion medium; increased calcium concentration in the oxidation assay; estrogen treatment; use of [1-14C]glucose as substrate; inclusion of adenosine in the assay medium; vasopressin replacement therapy) uniformly failed to result in oxytocin activation of HoDI adipocytes. In contrast, the contractile responses of estrogenized HoDI rat uteri were indistinguishable from those of estrogenized normal rats. We conclude that the nonresponsiveness of the Brattleboro adipocytes to the glucoregulatory actions of oxytocin is not due to factors related to the conditions of the bioassay. On the other hand, in normal fat cells (from Sprague-Dawley and Long Evans rats), oxytocin responsiveness was augmented by a number of the manoeuvres mentioned above, most notably by the inclusion of either calcium (10 mM) or adenosine (10 microM) in the assay medium. Nonetheless, the maximum oxytocin responsiveness of adipocytes from Long Evans or Sprague-Dawley rats, under all conditions of assay, was still only a fraction (less than 20%) of the maximal response to insulin. The effect of adenosine on oxytocin action (increased sensitivity, without an effect on the maximum response) is in keeping with the previously observed effects of this nucleoside on the action of insulin; our results thus pointed to a new parallel in the action of insulin and oxytocin.

Oxytocin action: lipid metabolism in adipocytes from homozygous diabetes insipidus rats (Brattleboro strain).

Oxytocin, like insulin, stimulates glucose oxidation in normal rat adipocytes. Fat cells from homozygous Brattleboro rats that exhibit diabetes insipidus (HoDI animals) and that have a normal number of oxytocin receptors, however, are unable to respond to oxytocin in terms of glucose oxidation. We now report that in adipocytes from HoDI animals that are responsive to insulin, oxytocin was also unable to stimulate lipogenesis. In contrast, oxytocin like insulin was able to inhibit epinephrine-stimulated lipolysis in adipocytes from HoDI animals. Thus, in HoDI adipocytes, the results indicate that the receptor-effector system is only partially defective.

Inability of oxytocin to activate pyruvate dehydrogenase in the Brattleboro rat.

Oxytocin has insulin-like activity in that it stimulates lipogenesis and increases pyruvate dehydrogenase activity. However, in adipocytes from homozygous Brattleboro rats oxytocin is incapable of stimulating lipogenesis or pyruvate dehydrogenase activity, although insulin stimulation of both processes is normal and the antilipolytic activity of oxytocin is normal. Thus, the Brattleboro rat provides a new genetic model for the study of oxytocin action, wherein recognition of the chemical mediator is partially defective.