[Demographic characteristics of dog population in Switzerland]. / Demographie der Hundepopulation in der Schweiz.

Dog Registration data from three Cantons, patient data of 13 veterinary practices and registrations in the Swiss Dog Pedigree Book were collected, analysed and compared to results of a commercial household survey, to assess demographic characteristics of dog population in Switzerland. The proportion of "pure-bred" dogs was different depending on how the term was used, varying from 24% regarding registrations in the Swiss Dog Pedigree Book, to 75% regarding dogs with only one breed recorded in Veterinarian's patient-history-management systems. Most popular breeds were dogs called "German Shepherd/Shepherd", followed by the Labrador and Golden Retriever. Comparison of different data sources suggested regional differences in popularity of breeds. The average life expectancy was estimated on 10.5 and 11 years. Sex distribution was equal. One third of all male dogs and half of the female dogs were neutered. Regardless sex, neutering was more common in cross-bred dogs than in "pure-bred" dogs (OR = 1.9). Some bias in all sources had to be considered and there was a major concern regarding definition of breeds. However, the study was able to add different parameters out of different sources to a homogenous picture of demographic data of dog population in Switzerland.

Identification of a 2,6-dichloroisonicotinic-acid-sensitive protein kinase from tobacco by affinity chromatography on benzothiadiazole-sepharose and NIM-metal chelate adsorbent.

In the search for the target site of inducers of systemic acquired resistance (SAR), a BTH-binding protein kinase (BBPK) has been identified from tobacco by affinity chromatography on benzothiadiazole-sepharose (CGA 324041-sepharose) and NIM-metal chelate affinity resin. The substrate selectivity of the isolated enzyme (phosphorylation of histone type III-S, I kappa B alpha,IkB alpha S32A/S36A and NIM1) suggested a possible BBPK-mediated regulation of NIM1 in tobacco. The measurement of the effect of different SAR-inducers showed an inhibition of BBPK by 2,6-dichloroisonicotinic acid (INA) and, to a lower extent, by benzothiadiazoles and salicylic acid. Comparison between BBPK cell-free inhibition and in vivo PR-1 induction revealed that BBPK could be the target site of INA.

Involvement of cinnamyl-alcohol dehydrogenase in the control of lignin formation in Sorghum bicolor L. Moench.

The lignin structure and enzyme activities of normal and brown-midrib (BMR-6) mutant lines of Sorghum bicolor have been compared to identify the enzyme(s) involved in the reduction of the lignin content of the mutant. The results indicate that cinnamyl-alcohol dehydrogenase (CAD) and caffeic acid O-methyltransferase are depressed in the BMR-6 line, whereas the structural modifications correspond only to a reduction of CAD activity. Apparently, the change in the Sorghum lignin content, caused by depression of CAD activity, is accompanied by the incorporation of cinnamaldehydes into the core lignin.

Studies on N-glycosylation by elongating tissues and membranes from pea stems.

Glucosamine and mannose were incorporated into oligosaccharides linked to either polar membrane-lipids or to asparagine residues of endogenous proteins in apical growing tissues of the etiolated pea stem. The glycolipids were subject to turnover in pulse-chase tests and protein-linked oligosaccharides accumulated with time, as expected for a precursor-product relationship. The newly formed glycoproteins were hydrolyzed by endo-beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase H to oligosaccharides in the same size range as those released by dilute acid from the lipid-linked oligosaccharides formed during the pulse. The glycoproteins were also partly degraded to free N-acetylglucosamine by beta-N-acetylhexosaminidase. Affinity of the carbohydrate moiety of the protein for concanavalin A increased between the beginning and the end of the chase, indicating processing following core glycosylation.The addition of UDP-N-acetyl-[(14)C]glucosamine plus external peptide acceptors (derived from carboxymethylated alpha-lactalbumin) to membrane preparations from the pea stem resulted in peptide glycosylation at the expense of lipid-linked oligosaccharide. Glycosylation of endogenous protein acceptors did not take place via lipid intermediates but directly from the sugar nucleotide substrate. Tunicamycin inhibited glycosyltransfer to both glycolipids and added peptides, but not to endogenous protein. It is concluded that limiting factors for N-glycosylation by pea membranes in vitro could include the unavailability of endogenous acceptors or the inability to fully elongate and internalize lipid precursors, but is not due to any limitation in capacity for N-glycosylation.

Influence of external factors on callose and cellulose synthesis during incubation in vitro of intact cotton fibres with [(14)C]sucrose.

Seed clusters, with adhering fibres, from individual locules of 36-d-old fruit capsules of Gossypium arboreum L. were fed with [(14)C]sucrose in vitro. The fibres synthesised, under standard conditions, (1→3)-ß-D-glucan (callose) and (1→4)-ß-D-glucan (cellulose) in the ratio of approx. 2:1. Under a great variety of different conditions this product ratio remained more or less constant, even when total glucan synthesis was strongly inhibited with 2,4-dinitrophenol or phloretin, or when stimulated with abscisic acid. In attempts to favour cellulose synthesis, no conditions were found where the ratio was substantially reduced. On the other hand, the ratio could be appreciably increased by inhibiting cellulose synthesis, e.g. with 2,6-dichlorobenzonitrile or coumarin, by anionic detergents such as sodium dodecyl sulphate, by low temperatures, or by increasing the osmotic strength of the incubation medium up to conditions causing plasmolysis. Specific degradation of callose, during incubation of the seed clusters, by exogenous exo-(1→3)-ß-D-glucanase significantly diminished incorporation of radioactivity into cellulose.

Glucan synthesis by intact cotton fibres fed with different precursors at the stages of primary and secondary wall formation.

Seed clusters of individual locules from fruit capsules of Gossypium arboreum L. with adhering intact fibres were fed with radioactive uridinediphosphoglucose (UDPG), guanosinediphosphoglucose (GDPG), glucose and sucrose. The incorporation into high molecular weight glucans of the fibres was studied. For primary wall fibres, UDPG at 1 mM was by far the best precursor, whereas sucrose was the best precursor for secondary wall fibres. No competition was observed between the incorporation of glucose from UDPG and from sucrose when the two were fed simultaneously to secondary wall fibres, indicating that their metabolic pathways are well separated when they are fed from the apoplast. Inhibitors of respiratory ATP-formation strongly inhibited incorporation of sucrose but not that of UDPG. Sucrose incorporation was studied at five different stages of development of the cotton fibres. At the stage of most intense secondary wall formation the incorporation rate was about 300 times that during primary wall formation (24 days post anthesis (DPA)). Incorporation from 1 mM UDPG or GDPG by secondary wall fibres (35 DPA) was less than twice that of primary wall fibres (22 DPA), indicating that the two sugar nucleotides are not readily used as precursors for secondary wall cellulose when they are fed to the exterior of intact cells. The high molecular weight non-cellulosic glucans formed from UDPG and sucrose at 5 and 1,000 µM were solubilized in strongly alkaline solutions or dimethyl-sulfoxide (DMSO) and were partially characterized by degradation with an exo-ß-1,3-glucanase. After feeding for one hour, at most 1/3 of the radioactivity in high molecular weight material was found in cellulose and at least 2/3 in ß-1,3-glucan. The proportions varied little for fibres in the age range of 30 to 48 DPA when sucrose was the precursor although the total incorporation varied by a factor of about four. The fact that at all stages of secondary wall formation ß-1,3-glucan is synthesized at a very high rate, but that the total amount in the cell wall does not exceed 2% in the later stages of wall formation, can be interpreted in terms of a high turnover of this polysaccharide if it is assumed that wound effects are negligible in the system under study.