7-Nitroindazole Enhances Amphetamine-Evoked Dopamine Release in Rat Striatum. An in Vivo Microdialysis and Voltammetric Study

The intracellular second messenger nitric oxide (NO) is implicated in a variety of physiological functions, including release and uptake of dopamine (DA). In the described study, in vivo microdialysis and differential pulse voltammetric techniques were used to determine the involvement of NO in release of DA and its metabolites (dihydroxyphenylalanine, DOPAC; homovanillic acid, HVA) in neostriatum of freely moving rats. While the NO donor molsidomine (30.0 mg/kg; MOLS) and neuronal NO synthase- (nNOS-) inhbitor 7-nitroindazole (10.0 mg/kg; 7-NI) had no effect on the basal in vivo microdialysate level of DA, 7-NI specifically enhanced D,L-amphetamine- (1.0 mg/kg i.p.; AMPH) evoked release of DA. Basal or AMPH effects on DOPAC and HVA levels were not influenced by MOLS or 7-NI. Findings indicate that nitrergic systems have an important role in mediating effects of AMPH on dopaminergic systems

A novel plasmid pIJB1 possessing a putative 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetate degradative transposon Tn5530 in Burkholderia cepacia strain 2a

A 102-kb plasmid, pIJB1, was isolated from Burkholderia cepacia strain 2a, which is able to use 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetate (2,4-D) as a sole carbon source, and a physical map of the plasmid has been established. It was observed that spontaneous loss of a 37-kb fragment of the plasmid after growth in nonselective medium occurred, generating a plasmid of diminished size, pIJB2. The deletion event is concomitant with the loss of the 2,4-D dissimilatory phenotype, indicating that at least some of the 2,4-D degradative genes are on the missing fragment. The missing fragment is flanked by two identical 4.3-kb insertion sequences (IS) and shows a typical composite transposon structure of 41-kb in size, designated Tn5530. The mutant plasmid pIJB2 possesses a single copy of the IS element

Estimation of environmental flows in semi-natural lowland rivers - the Narew basin case study

This paper discusses a new environmental flow method based on the adapted building block approach. A four-step procedure is outlined in this paper: (1) selecting biota of interest and organizing a team of specialists; (2) selecting river reaches of interest; (3) defining flow requirements of selected biota; (4) defining environmental flow indicators. The focus is placed on two elements of river and wetland ecosystems: fish and floodplain wetland vegetation. The method is applied to identify changes in the environmental flow indicators between 1976-83 (“past”) and 2001-08 (“present”) in 16 selected river reaches of the Narew basin, a large semi-natural lowland catchment situated in northeastern Poland. The results indicate that hydrological conditions for fish and floodplain wetland vegetation were significantly better in the past period compared to the present