RESUMEN
alpha-Lactalbumin and lysozyme were each isolated from echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus) milk by gel permeation and ion exchange chromatography. The alpha-lactalbumin modified the action of echidna milk galactosyltransferase to promote the synthesis of lactose but had very little effect on bovine galactosyltransferase. Echidna alpha-lactalbumin is a glycosylated protein with an apparent molecular weight of 20,000 (SDS-PAGE) whose concentration in the milk is very low compared with the concentrations of alpha-lactalbumin in the milk of other species. Its amino acid sequence is more similar to that of another monotreme, the platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus), than to the sequences of eutherian or marsupial alpha-lactalbumins. Echidna milk lysozyme, even at high concentrations, did not promote the synthesis of lactose by either echidna or bovine galactosyltransferase. We conclude that lactose synthesis in the echidna occurs by the same mechanism as that found in the platypus and other mammals.
Asunto(s)
Lactalbúmina/aislamiento & purificación , Lactosa/biosíntesis , Tachyglossidae , Secuencia de Aminoácidos , Animales , Bovinos , Galactosiltransferasas/efectos de los fármacos , Galactosiltransferasas/metabolismo , Lactalbúmina/farmacología , Proteínas de la Leche/metabolismo , Datos de Secuencia Molecular , Muramidasa/aislamiento & purificación , Muramidasa/farmacología , Homología de Secuencia de AminoácidoRESUMEN
European green lizards, Lacerta viridis, show a distinct annual cycle in their day and nighttime selected body temperature (T b) levels when monitored under natural photoperiod. The amplitude between daily photophase and scotophase temperatures varies throughout the year. Highest body temperatures with smallest day/night variation are selected from May through July. Throughout fall, the difference between day and nighttime selected T b levels increases. Lizards inevitably enter a state of winter dormancy which terminates daily rhythmicity patterns. Under natural photoperiodic conditions, cessation of dormancy occurs spontaneously by mid-March, regardless whether high temperatures are available or not. Lacerta viridis respond to an artificial long photoperiod (16 h light, 8 h dark) at all times of the year with modifications in both diel patterns and levels of selected T b to summer-like conditions. When, however, the natural photoperiod at different phases in the annual cycle is held constant for six to eight weeks, T b selection of Lacerta viridis also remains stable at the level corresponding to the prevailing photoperiod. These results implicate that the photoperiod is a more prominent Zeitgeber for seasonal cueing of temperature selection than has been surmised in the past. Further, we suggest that the large variations recorded in daily T b cycles do not imply that this lizard is an "imprecise" thermoregulator, but rather indicates an important integral process necessary for seasonal acclimatization.