Subcellular Biochemistry: Volume 5

399 Pages·1978·13.705 MB·English

by  D. E. Buetow, W. M. Wood (auth.), Donald B. Roodyn (eds.)

Subcellular
Biochemistry
5
Volume
ADVISORY EDITORIAL BOARD
J. ANDRE Laboratoire de Biologie Cellulaire, 4 Faculte des Sciences, 91 Orsay, France
D. L. ARNON Department of Cell Physiology, Hilgard Hall, University of California,
Berkeley, California 94720, USA
J. BRACHET Laboratoire de Morphologie Animale, Faculte des Sciences, Universite
Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium
J. CHAUVEAU Institut de Recherches Scientifiques sur Ie Cancer, 16 Avenue Vaillant
Couturier, 94 Ville Juif, Boite Postale 8, France
C. de DUVE Universite de Louvain, Louvain, Belgium and The Rockefeller University,
New York, NY 10021, USA
M. KLINGENBERG Institut flir Physiologische Chemie und Physikalische Biochemie,
Universitiit Miinchen, Goethestrasse 33, Miinchen 15, Germany
A. LIMA-de-FARIA Institute of Molecular Cytogenetics, Tornavagen 13, University of
Lund, Lund, Sweden
O. LINDBERG The Wenner-Gren Institute, Norrtullsgatan 16, Stockholm, VA, Sweden
V. N. LUZIKOV A. N. Belozersky Laboratory for Molecular Biology and Bioorganic
Chemistry, Lomonosov State University, Building A, Moscow 117234, USSR •
H. R. MAHLER Chemical Laboratories, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47401,
USA
M. M. K. NASS Department of Therapeutic Research, University of Pennsylvania School
of Medicine, Biology Service Building, 3800 Hamilton Walk, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
19104, USA
A. B. NOVIKOFF Department of Pathology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Yeshiva
University, Eastchester Road and Morris Park Avenue, Bronx, NY 10461, USA
R. N. ROBERTSON Research School of Biological Sciences, P. O. Box 475, Canberra City,
A.C.T. 2601, Australia
P. SIEKEVITZ The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10021, USA
F. S. SJOSTRAND Department of Zoology, University of California, Los Angeles, Califor
nia 90024, USA
A. S. SPIRIN A. N. Bakh Institute of Biochemistry, Academy of Sciences of the USSR,
Leninsky Prospekt 33, Moscow V-71, USSR
D. von WETTSTEIN Department of Physiology, Carlsberg Laboratory, Gl. Carlsbergvej
10, DK-2500, Copenhagen, Denmark
V. P. WHITTAKER Abteilung flir Neurochemie, Max-Planck Institut fLir Biophysikalische
Chemie, D-3400 Gottingen-Nikolausberg, Postfach 968, Germany
A Continuation Order Plan is available for this series. A continuation order will bring
delivery of each new volume immediately upon pl.lblication. Volumes are billed only upon
actual shipment. For further information please contact the publisher.
Subcellular
Biochemistry
5
Volume
Edited by
Donald B. Roodyn
University College London
London, England
PLENUM PRESS • NEW YORK AND LONDON
ISBN-13: 978-1-4615-7944-1 e-ISBN-13: 978-1-4615-7942-7
DOl: 10.1 007/ 978-1-4615-7942-7
This annual series is a continuation of the journal Sub-Cellular Biochemistry,
Volumes 1 to 4 of which were published quarterly from 1972 to 1975
© 1978 Plenum Press. New York
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1s t edition 1978
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted,
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming,
recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher
Contributors
Michel Bergeron Departement de Physiologie, Universite de Montreal,
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
B. B. Biswas Department of Biochemistry, Bose Institute, Calcutta
700009, India
D. E. Buetow Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of
Illinois, Urbana, Illinois 61801, U.S.A.
Philip Hohmann Department of Experimental Biology, Roswell Park
Memorial Institute, Buffalo, New York 14263, U.S.A.
S. K. Malhotra Biological Sciences Electron Microscopy Laboratory,
University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada T6G 2E9
Hilton H. Mollenhauer Veterinary Toxicology and Entomology Research
Laboratory, USDA, ARS, College Station, Texas 77840, U.S.A.
D. James Morrt~ Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy
and Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, West
Lafayette, Indiana 47907, U.S.A.
Gordon Parry Biodynamics Laboratory, University of California, Berke
ley, California 94720, U.S.A.
Pranab Roy Department of Biochemistry, Bose Institute, Calcutta
700009, India
Pierre Sassier Departement de Physiologie, Universite de Montreal,
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
W. M. Wood Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of
Illinois, Urbana, Illinois 61801, U.S.A.
v
Aims and Scope
SUBCELLULAR BIOCHEMISTRY aims to bring together work on a wide
range of topics in subcellular biology in the hope of stimulating progress
towards an integrated view of the cell. In addition to dealing with conven
tional biochemical studies on isolated organelles, articles published so far
and planned for the future consider such matters as the genetics, evolution,
and biogenesis of cell structures, bioenergetics, membrane structure and
functions, and interactions between cell compartments, particularly
between mitochondria and cytoplasm and between nucleus and cytoplasm.
Articles for submission should be sent to Dr. D. B. Roodyn, Depart
ment of Biochemistry, University College London, Gower Street, London
WCIE 6BT, U.K., and are best sent in the period February to April
inclusive of each year. There are no rigid constraints as to the size of the
articles and in general they should be between 9,000 and 36,000 words, with
an optimum size of about 20,000 words. Although articles may deal with
highly specialized topics, authors should try as far as possible to avoid
specialist jargon and to make the article as comprehensible as possible to
the widest range of biochemists and cell biologists. Full details of the
preparation of manuscripts are given in a comprehensive Guide for Con
tributors which is available from the Editor or Publishers on request.
vii
Preface
The transition from the quarterly Sub-Cellular Biochemistry to the annual
SUBCELLULAR BIOCHEMISTRY is a good opportunity to restate the
aims and scope of this publication. They were originally given (in Volume 1
No. 1) as follows:
This review and essay journal ... brings together work on a wide range of topics
in sub-cellular biochemistry in the hope of stimulating progress towards an
integrated view of the cell. It deals with the biochemistry and general biology of
nuclei, mitochondria, lysosomes, peroxisomes, chloroplasts, cell membranes,
ribosomes, cell sap, flagellae and other specialized cell components. In addition
to articles dealing with conventional biochemical studies on sub-cellular struc
tures, the journal publishes articles on the genetics, evolution and biogenesis of
cell organelles, bioenergetics, membrane behaviour and the interaction between
cell structures, particularly between nucleus and cytoplasm.
The first four volumes (in the quarterly format) fulfilled many, but not all, of
these stated aims, and it is hoped that further articles in the new annual
series will soon fill any deficiencies in the range of topics covered. Over the
years we have intentionally not interpreted the title of the publication in a
too literal sense. Although we have included specific articles on individual
subcellular fractions (and certainly hope to do so again) the publication is
definitely not only concerned with studies on the biochemistry of isolated
cell fractions. The primary target is the "integrated view of the cell."
Ultimately this must mean bringing together the results from a very wide
range of different techniques and disciplines.
Just as we have not been too literal in our interpretation of the title, so
we have not been too strict in the format and arrangement of the articles
published. They have extended all the way from very short review letters to
massive reviews sometimes taking up a whole issue. Similarly some of the
articles have been essentially factual and descriptive, whereas others have
endeavored to be controversial or even polemical. We hope that these
ix
x Pr€fac€
tendencies will continue in the annual series. In this issue, although the
layout of the various articles has been standardized to have a uniform
appearance throughout the book, the articles vary greatly in size and we
trust that authors in future will feel quite free to organize their articles as the
subject under consideration dictates, free from any constraints imposed by
the publication.*
The articles published in this volume well illustrate the general aims
and direction of SUBCELLULAR BIOCHEMISTRY. We start with a
massive review on "The Mitochondrial Translation System" by D. E.
Buetow and W. M. Wood. Such has been the progress in this burgeoning
field that a review covering the recent research in the topic in a comprehen
sive way must have the necessary elbow room, and we are happy to
provide it. The use of large and extensive tables is a convenient way of
collating and systematizing studies on subcellular fractions and the authors
have made skillful use of this technique. Another interesting aspect of this
article is that although the topic is superficially a "straightforward" one,
dealing with one specific property of mitochondria, in fact all sorts of
questions of evolution and the interaction between cell compartments are
raised; this has occurred in many of the articles previously published-the
nature of modern cell biochemistry is such that it is becoming increasingly
difficult to treat subjects adequately in narrow terms.
This effect is shown in the second article by P. Hohmann on the role of
the HI histones. At one level the articles asks a very specific question: what
is the function of a particular type of histone? However, in order to answer
this the author is lead to consider broad questions of chromosomal control
and function. We are pleased to include the author's suggestions as to the
role of HI histones in order to stimulate further discussion and research in
this interesting topic. The next article, by P. Sassier and M. Bergeron, deals
with cell proliferation in the small intestine epithelium. At first sight this
might appear to a rather "physiological" subject for our pUblication. It
turns out that the intestinal epithelial system is an excellent model for
studying cells at various stages of the cell cycle. A fundamental strategic
problem in all biochemical research is the choice of tissue. One wonders
how many well-intentioned experiments on rat liver or E. coli have not
been particularly fruitful, not because the techniques were inadequate, but
because the choice of starting material posed insuperable problems for that
particular problem. Thus the more we advertise the particular technical
advantages of different biological systems (particularly those that are not
"The inclusion offul! reference citations, including the title of the reference, is a bonus that we
ask of authors; it is quite optional and we are grateful to those authors who go to the trouble to
produce such lists. However, we fully understand the position of those who find it too
difficult.
Preface xi
often used) the more we can help our colleagues to marry the right tissue
with the right problem.
The next article, by B. B. Biswas and Pranab Roy on "Plant Growth
Substances as Modulators of Transcription," illustrates another aspect of
the dangers of imbalance in biochemical research. Although there is a
massive literature on the fundamental biochemical and cellular effects of
hormones in animals, the effects of plant hormones has not received
anywhere near this sort of attention. This reflects a general tendency in
which biochemists appear to tum more readily to animal or microbial
systems than to plants. Whether the reasons are primarily educational or
simply that few laboratories have the facilities for the growth of plants
under reasonably controlled conditions, it is nevertheless striking how
poorly current biochemical research makes use of the extraordinary profu
sion of the plant kingdom, making up as it does a good proportion of the
total biomass of the planet. It is hoped that the article by Biswas and Roy
will help to correct this situation.
The next two articles complement each other. "Molecular Structure of
Biological Membranes: Functional Characterization" by S. K. Malhotra
deals with the very important question of how one membrane differs from
another. Some years ago (under the now famous stimulus of the exposition
of the "fluid mosaic model" by Singer and Nicolson) all the talk was on
"membranes." It seemed that every other paper and textbook dealt in
some way or another with "biomembrane research." Unfortunately what
may be true for one membrane may not be true for another. The wide
spread citation in the literature of the term "unit membrane" (originating
from J. D. Robertson) mistakenly lead many to think that the cell is some
sort of continuum of more or less identical membranes, differing here and
there by the apposition of a few granules or ribosomes, or perhaps by some
local "thickening." However, there is now no doubt at all that while
different membranes possess certain common features, there are also very
considerable differences between them. The problem is therefore to estab
lish with certainty precisely what is general to all membranes and con
versely what are the precise and specific properties of a given membrane.
Malhotra's article is an important stimulus to discussion of this very
fundamental question.
G. Parry's article on "Membrane Assembly and Turnover" is primar
ily concerned with problems of biosynthesis and assembly and the question
of membrane identity is secondary. Nevertheless it does arise since it is, of
course, impossible to understand precisely how membranes are assembled
if we do not know how one membrane differs from another. There is an
interacting process in research on membrane structure and biogenesis: the
more we know about the fine organization of individual types of membrane,
the more meaningful can be our experiments on biogenesis. Conversely, an