The effects of rapid cooling on the mechanical and electrical activities of the guinea pig taenia coli and circular muscle of the stomach were investigated. Lowering the temperature from 32 degrees to 10 degrees C (cold shock) depolarized the membrane and increased the membrane resistance in both tissues. However, in the taenia coli, an initial reduction of membrane resistance was observed. In ...

Trehalose accumulates dramatically in microorganisms during heat shock and osmotic stress and helps protect cells against thermal injury and oxygen radicals. Here we demonstrate an important role of this sugar in cold-adaptation of bacteria. A mutant Escherichia coli strain unable to produce trehalose died much faster than the wild type at 4 degrees C. Transformation of the mutant with the otsA...

While genotype-environment interaction is increasingly receiving attention by ecologists and evolutionary biologists, such studies need genetically homogeneous replicates-a challenging hurdle in outcrossing plants. This could be potentially overcome by using tissue culture techniques. However, plants regenerated from tissue culture may show aberrant phenotypes and "somaclonal" variation. Here, ...

During cold periods ectotherms may improve low temperature tolerance via rapid cold hardening (RCH) over a period of hours and/or long-term cold acclimation (LTCA) during days, weeks or months. However, the effect of duration and the major underlying mechanisms of these processes are still not fully understood. In the present study, the molecular and biochemical responses to RCH (1-3 h) and LTC...

One commonly used, yet little understood method for transferring DNA into cells is the temperature shock transformation method (TST) that exposes competent bacteria to successive temperatures (4C and 42C). This study tested the effect of the gene for the heatstable nucleoid structuring protein (H-NS) on the efficiency of the TST method in an effort to find a way to improve the transformation ef...

In response to cold, Escherichia coli produces cold shock proteins (CSPs) that have essential roles in cold adaptation as RNA chaperones. Here, we demonstrate that Arabidopsis cold shock domain protein 3 (AtCSP3), which shares a cold shock domain with bacterial CSPs, is involved in the acquisition of freezing tolerance in plants. AtCSP3 complemented a cold-sensitive phenotype of the E. coli CSP...

Stored cut lettuce gradually turns brown on the cut section after several days of storage, because cutting induces phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) activity, the biosynthesis of polyphenol is promoted, and the polyphenols are oxidized by polyphenol oxidase. Here, the effect of heat shock treatment at 50 degrees C for 90 s on the quality of cut lettuce during cold storage was examined. The heat...

Survival and molting incidence were studied after heat (40 degrees C) and cold (0 degree C) shocks in specimens of Panstrongylus megistus with the aim of establishing its response to temperature stress under laboratory rearing conditions and to understand occasional changes in the biological characteristics of specimens captured in nature. The response to the thermal shocks was found to vary as...

DNA microarray was used as a tool to define the heat- and cold-shock stimulons in Yersinia pestis. Heat shock dramatically enhanced the transcription of genes encoding major heat-shock proteins (MHSPs) that are important for cell survival against the heat. Many other genes were also greatly up-regulated, but their roles in heat-shock response need to be elucidated. Meanwhile, heat shock retarde...