Biochemical Responses to Environmental Stress: Proceedings of a Symposium sponsored by the Division of Water, Air, and Waste Chemistry, Microbial Chemistry and Technology, and Biological Chemistry of the American Chemical Society, held in Chicago, Illinoi

163 Pages·1971·3.997 MB·English

by  R. P. Mortlock, W. A. Wood (auth.), I. A. Bernstein (eds.)

Biochemical Responses to
Environmental Stress
Biochemical Responses to
Environmental Stress
Proceedings of a Symposium sponsored by the Divisions of Water,
Air, and Waste Chemistry, Microbial Chemistry and Technology, and
Biological Chemistry of the American Chemical Society, held in
Chicago, Illinois, September 14-15, 1970.
Edited by I. A. ~ernstein
Professor of Environmental and .,
Industrial Health and of Biological Chemistry
The University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan
<±>
Plenum Press· New York-London· 1971
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 79-151618
ISBN-13: 978-1-4684-1919-1 e-ISBN-13: 978-1-4684-1917-7
001: 10.1007/978-1-4684-1917-7
© 1971 Plenum Press, New York
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1 st edition 1971
A Division of Plenum Publishing Corporation
227 West 17th Street, New York, N.Y. 10011
United Kingdom edition published by Plenum Press, London
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All rights reserved
No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form
without written permission from the publisher
PREFACE
In the world outside the laboratory, life goes on in a chang
ing rather than in a constant environment and organisms must
continually accommodate to changes in temperature, light, humidity,
nutrition, etc. Since studies of the enzymatic process, in vitro,
indicate that, in general, biological catalysis can proceed only
over limited ranges of temperature, pH, substrate concentration,
etc., it seems reasonable to assume that biological systems have an
ability to maintain a relatively constant internal milieu in the
face of drastic external environmental change.
This concept, as applied particularly to the mammal, was enun
ciated by Bernard (1878) in the latter part of the last century.
Cannon (1939) designated the phenomenon as homeostasis stating (cf
Potter, 1970) that "in an open system such as our bodies represent,
compounded of unstable material and subjected continually to
disturbing conditions, constancy is in itself evidence that agencies
are acting or are ready to act, to maintain this constancy." He
further proposed that "if a state remains steady, it does so because
any tendency towards change is automatically met by increased
effectiveness of the factor or factors which resist the change."
Considerable evidence (cf Prosser, 1958) suggests that homeo
stasis is a general phenomenon which applies to all living things
and at all levels of biological complexity. Survival in the face
of environmental stress would seem to depend upon the ability of
the organism to respond by appropriate biochemical modulations so
as to maintain homeostasis. Obviously, a stress requiring an
adjustment in excess of a living system's ability to accommodate,
will be toxic or will result in disease.
This symposium focuses on specific examples of environmental
accommodation in microbial and animal systems with particular
emphasis on the molecular mechanisms involved. The studies chosen
for presentation are by no means all the available information on
the subject, nor is the present organization of the material the
first to appear in the literature. Investigators have, in reality,
v
vi PREFACE
been studying environmental effects on biological systems for
decades. It now appears worthwhile to bring their work into
perspective in context of society's demand for control of further
environmental pollution. An understanding of the cell's molecular
mechanisms of response to environmental change and the degree of
stress 'to which the cell can accommodate through these mechanisms,
appears essential to a rational definition of environmental quality
standards.
Although it is already clear that organisms have an extensive
ability to accommodate quickly, it is still necessary to determine
the degree to which this is possible and the degree to which a first
response affects the system's ability to accommodate to a second
stress. The increasingly rapid alteration of the environment
resulting from man's technological development makes it important
to evaluate this latter proposition. Our ability to accommodate to
a particular stress may be seriously limited by prior responses to
other environmental insults.
The homeostatic capabilities of biological systems should not
be taken as an excuse for allowing environmental contamination to
continue unabated. Rather, these abilities should be taken into
account in setting priorities and limits for control of environ
mental pollution.
The Editor has tried to refrain from significantly influencing
either the context or the rhetoric of the presentations in the hope
of providing the reader with a more comprehensive view of the
subject. He does, however, assume complete responsibility for the
choice of contributors believing that the papers do provide a
balanced - even though incomplete - review of the information
relevant to the title of the symposium.
Thanks are due the authors for their cooperation in expedi
tiously providing typed manuscripts. The Editor is especially
grateful for the assistance of Mrs. Barbara Gooding in preparing
the material for submission to the Publisher. Permission from the
following journals to reprint specific figures in the text is
acknowledged with thanks: Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences (US), Science, Biophysical Journal, Nature, Cancer Research,
Journal of Membrane Biology, American Journal of Physiology and
Federation Proceedings.
Ann Arbor, Michigan I. A. Bernstein
November 27, 1970
PREFACE vii
REFERENCES
Bernard, C. 1878. Lecons sur 1es phenomenes 1a vie. Bailliere,
Paris.
Canon, W.B. 1939. The wisdom of the body. Norton, New York.
Potter, V.R. 1970. Intracellular responses to environmental change:
the quest for optimum environment. Environ. Res. 3: 176-186.
Prosser, C.L. The nature of physiological adaptation. p. 167-180.
In C.L. Prosser [Ed], Physiological adaptation. Am. Physiol.
Soc., Washington.
CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS VOLUME
JERE M. BAUER
Department of Internal Medicine
The University of Michigan Medical Center
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104
I. A. BERNSTEIN
Departments of Environmental and Industrial Health
and Biological Chemistry
The University of Michigan Medical Center
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104
ROBERT E. BEYER
Laboratory of Chemical Biology
Department of Zoology
The University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104
THOMAS D. BROCK
Department of Microbiology
Indiana University
Bloomington, Indiana 47401
FRED R. BUTCHER
McArdle Laboratory
University of Wisconsin
Madison, Wisconsin 53706
J. E. DONNELLAN, JR.
Biology Division
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830
M. ESFAHANI
Biochemistry Department
Duke University Medical Center
Durham, North Carolina 27706
x CONTRIBUTORS
DAVID KUPFER
Lederle Laboratories
Division of American Cyanamid Company
Pearl River, New York 10965
R. P. MORTLOCK
Department of Microbiology
University of Massachusetts
Amherst, Massachusetts 01002
VAN R. POTTER
McArdle Laboratory
University of Wisconsin
Madison, Wisconsin 53706
ROBERT D. REYNOLDS
McArdle Laboratory
University of Wisconsin
Madison, Wisconsin 53706
DAVID F. SCOTT
McArdle Laboratory
University of Wisconsin
Madison, Wisconsin 53706
R. S. STAFFORD
Biology Division
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830
SALIH J. WAKIL
Biochemistry Department
Duke University Medical Center
Durham, North Carolina 27706
W. A. WOOD
Department of Biochemistry
Michigan State University
East Lansing, Michigan 48823
CHUNG WU
Departments of Internal Medicine
and Biological Chemistry
The University of Michigan Medical Center
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104
CONTENTS
ABBREVIATIONS xii
GENETIC AND ENZYMATIC MECHANISMS FOR THE ACCOMMODATION
TO NOVEL SUBSTRATES BY AEROBACTER AEROGENES
R. P. Mortlock and W. A. Wood 1
THE RESPONSE OF ESCHERICHIA COLI TO FATTY ACID
SUPPLEMENTS AND THE REGULATION OF MEMBRANE LIPID
SYNTHESIS
Salih J. Wakil and M. Esfahani 15
MICROBIAL ADAPTATION TO EXTREMES OF TEMPERATURE AND pH
Thomas D. Brock 32
PHOTOCHEMISTRY AND PHOTOBIOLOGY OF SPORE-FORMING
BACTERIA
J. E. Donnellan, Jr. and R. S. Stafford 38
INDUCTION OF THE HEPATIC AMINO ACID TRANSPORT SYSTEM
AND TYROSINE AMINOTRANSFERASE IN RATS ON CONTROLLED
FEEDING SCHEDULES
David F. Scott, Fred R. Butcher,
Robert D. Reynolds and Van R. Potter 51
TRANSPLANTABLE TUMORS AS AN INTERNAL STRESS ON HOST
METABOLISM AND RESPONSIVENESS OF TUMORS TO APPLIED
STRESS
Chung Wu and Jere M. Bauer 71
BIOCHEMICAL ASPECTS OF ACCLIMATION TO A COLD
ENVIRONMENT
Robert E. Beyer 94
THE EFFECTS OF CHLORINATED HYDROCARBONS ON THE HEPATIC
MONOOXYGENASE SYSTEM
David Kupfer 119
SUBJECT INDEX 132
xi
ABBREVIATIONS
AMP Adenosine monophosphate
ADP Adenosine diphosphate
ATP Adenosine triphosphate
CoA Coenzyme A
CoQ Coenzyme Q
DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid
FeNH "Non-heme iron"
FP Flavoprotein
NAD Nicotinamide adenine nucleotide
(or diphosphopyridine nucleotide = DPN)
NADH Reduced nicotinamide adenine nucleotide
Pi Inorganic phosphate
RNA Ribonucleic acid
TT Thymine dimer
UT Uracil-thymine dimer
xii