An adenyl cyclase deletion mutant (cya) of E. coli failed to exhibit a heat-shock response even after 30 min at 42 °C. Under these conditions, heat-shock protein synthesis was induced by 10 min in the wild-type strain. These results suggest that synthesis of heat-shock proteins in E. coli requires the cya gene. This hypothesis is supported by the finding that a presumptive cyclic AMP receptor protein (CRP) binding site exists within the promotor region of the E. coli htp R gene. In spite of the absence of heat-shock protein synthesis, when treated at 50 °C, the cya mutant is relatively more heat resistant than wild type. Furthermore, when heat shocked at 42 °C prior to exposure at 50 °C, the cya mutant developed thermotolerance. These results suggest that heat-shock protein synthesis is not essential for development of thermotolerance in E. coli.

Several amino-acid synthetic enzymes, belonging to arginie, glutamine, leucine, lysine and phenylalanine biosynthesis, respectively, were investigated under conditions of reduced availability of any one of 16 out of the 20 amino acids represented in proteins. The enzymes showed simultaneous derepression under each condition, albeit to different degrees. Derepression was abolished and the remaining basal enzyme levels reduced by mutations at the cpc-1 locus which governs general amino-acid control in Neurospora. Glutamine synthetase was shown to be under cpc-1 and additional controls. The evidence emphasizes the global nature of general amino-acid control.

Transmission ratio distortion due to the mouse t complex is thought to be due to harmful effects of trans-acting distorter genes acting on a responder, with the t complex form of the responder being relatively resistant to this harmful action of the distorters. Previous work had indicated that naturally occurring t haplotypes differed in their responders or in distorters lying near the responder, with the result that animals doubly heterozygous for two responder-carrying haplotypes transmitted these haplotypes unequally. In the present work t haplotypes could be divided into three types on the basis of their transmission when doubly heterozygous with the responder-carrying partial haplotype tlowH. The majority, t0, t6, tw1, tw2 and tw73, were transmitted equally with tlowH, a second group, including tw5 and two haplotypes derived from it, were transmitted less frequently than tlowH, and the single member of a third group, t32, was transmitted in excess of tlowH This last result suggests that the underlying differences are in the responder itself, rather than in the distorters. Search for differences among t haplotypes in distorters produced some equivocal results possibly resulting from effects of genetic background. In particular, results of others suggesting presence of a fourth distorter, Tcd-4, were not confirmed.

The tw5 haplotype is a recessive mutation which is lethal when homozygous in mouse embryos following implantation. This series of studies was undertaken to determine the effect of the tw5/tw5 genotype on embryos developing in vitro. Blastocyst embryos from + / tw5inter se matings were compared with control blastocysts obtained from matings between T/ + and + / + females and + / tw5 males for their abilities to continue development in vitro in two culture media. The data show that there are no significant differences between the percentages of experimental and control blastocyst embryos which attach and outgrow or which contain inner cell masses on any day of culture up to equivalent gestation day 21 in either media. These findings show that the life span of cells from tw5 / tw5 embryos can be extended significantly by in vitro culture.

The mouse mutant curly tail is thought to be inherited as an autosomal recessive (ct/ct) with incomplete penetrance so that approximately 60% of ct/ct individuals exhibit the curly tail (CT) phenotype. By outcrossing ct/ct with mouse stock carrying specific heterozygous combinations of Robertsonian (Rb) chromosomes, trisomy 16 (Ts16) and Ts19 mouse fetuses (and their chromosomally balanced littermates) were derived which were heterozygous for the ct gene. All of the Ts16 (ct/Rb;Rb) fetuses, studied between days 14–19 gestation had tail malformations, 86% of which were tail flexion defects (TFD) apparently very similar to the curly tail phenotype. Neither Ts19 nor any of the chromosomally balanced (ct/Rb) littermates from both experimental crosses showed any type of tail or other spinal malformation. At the 27–29 somite stage of development, Ts16 (ct/Rb;Rb) fetuses did not show any significant delay in the closure of the posterior neuropore (PNP) compared with their littermate controls, suggesting that the tail malformation observed in Ts16 (ct/Rb;Rb) occur as a result of mechanisms which differ significantly from those thought to be responsible to causing the curly tail malformation.

The present investigation primarily deals with the inheritance of a pigmeat quality trait, the Napole technological yield (RTN), a measure of cooked weight to fresh weight. This trait as well as lean percentage at 100 kg liveweight and fattening length from 20 to 100 kg liveweight were recorded on 3459 offspring from 67 sires and 433 dams, and 3052 offspring from 64 sires and 405 dams in Penshire (P66) and Pen Ar Lan (P77) composite lines respectively. The hypothesis of a major 2-allele locus contributing to RTN was tested by use of a segregation analysis method. Highly significant likelihood ratios (mixed vs. polygenic transmission models) lead us to conclude that a major gene RN− exerting an unfavourable effect on RTN is segregating in both lines. Maximum likelihood estimates of the parameters under the hypothesis of mixed (monogenic + polygenic) inheritance show that the difference between the means of the 2 homozygotes amounts to about 3 phenotypic standard deviations of the trait, whereas the complete dominance of RN− cannot be rejected. The frequency of RN− is about 0·6 in both lines. These results are discussed in connection with the previously reported ‘Hampshire effect’ on pigmeat quality, as the Hampshire breed is a common component of the foundation stock of the 2 composite lines under study.

A method is presented for the prediction of rate of inbreeding for populations with discrete generations. The matrix of Wright's numerator relationships is partitioned into ‘contribution’ matrices which describe the contribution of the Mendelian sampling of genes of ancestors in a given generation to the relationship between individuals in later generations. These contributions stabilize with time and the value to which they stabilize is shown to be related to the asymptotic rate of inbreeding and therefore also the effective population size, where N is the number of individuals per generation and μr and are the mean and variance of long-term relationships or long-term contributions. These stabilized values are then predicted using a recursive equation via the concept of selective advantage for populations with hierarchical mating structures undergoing mass selection. Account is taken of the change in genetic parameters as a consequence of selection and also the increasing ‘competitiveness’ of contemporaries as selection proceeds. Examples are given and predicted rates of inbreeding are compared to those calculated in simulations. For populations of 20 males and 20, 40, 100 or 200 females the rate of inbreeding was found to increase by as much as 75% over the rate of inbreeding in an unselected population depending on mating ratio, selection intensity and heritability of the selected trait. The prediction presented here estimated the rate of inbreeding usually within 5% of that calculated from simulation.

Estimates of the activities (Vmax) of six enzymes involved in de novo fat synthesis were made in replicated lines of mice differing in fat content. These lines had been selected high and low for 20 generations with three replicates each of Fat, Control and Lean lines and for a further eight generations high and low as an unreplicated line. The activities of ATP-citrate lyase (ACL), acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC), fatty acid synthetase (FAS), cytoplasmic malate dehydrogenase (MDH), malic enzyme (ME) and pyruvate kinase (PK) were determined in vitro in both liver and gonadal fatpad tissues taken at ages five and ten weeks. The activities of ACL, ACC, FAS and ME were significantly higher in the Fat than the Lean lines, and the differences were more pronounced at the earlier age and in the gonadal fatpad where activities in the Fat lines were higher by factors of 3·5, 2·4, 2·5 and 3·5 respectively. The activity of PK was unchanged in each tissue. MDH activity was significantly lower in adipose tissue in the Fat lines than the Lean lines at age ten weeks but not at age five weeks or in liver tissue. Results from replicates indicated that random genetic drift affected enzyme activities but nevertheless significant changes in activity were associated with the direction of selection. The changes in enzyme activity reported here are similar to those known to be associated with major mutations causing obesity in mice.