We have investigated the volume-activated transport of organic solutes in flounder erythrocytes. Osmotic swelling of cells suspended in a Na(+)-free medium led to increased membrane transport of taurine, glucose, and uridine. For each compound there was a significant lag period (1-2 min at 10 degrees C) between cell swelling and activation of the flux. The volume-activated fluxes of each of the...

TonEBP (tonicity-responsive enhancer binding protein) is a transcription factor that promotes cellular accumulation of organic osmolytes in the hypertonic renal medulla by stimulating expression of its target genes. Genetically modified animals with deficient TonEBP activity in the kidney suffer from severe medullary atrophy in association with cell death, demonstrating that TonEBP is essential...

The detection, stabilization, and repair of stress-induced damage are essential requirements for cellular life. All cells respond to osmotic stress-induced water loss with increased expression of genes that mediate accumulation of organic osmolytes, solutes that function as chemical chaperones and restore osmotic homeostasis. The signals and signaling mechanisms that regulate osmoprotective gen...

The identity and concentrations of intracellular organic solutes were determined by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy for two strains of aerobic, gram-negative bacteria isolated from Mono Lake, Calif., an alkaline, moderately hypersaline lake. Ectoine (1,4,5,6-tetrahydro-2-methyl-4-pyrimidinecarboxylic acid) was the major endogenous solute in both organisms. Concentrations of ectoine vari...

A liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS, electrospray ionisation) method has been developed for the quantification of nitrogenous osmolytes (N-osmolytes) in the particulate fraction of natural water samples. Full method validation demonstrates the validity of the method for measuring glycine betaine (GBT), choline and trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) in particulates from seawater. Limits ...

Cyanobacteria contribute significantly to the maintenance of flooded rice field fertility. In this investigation, the protective effect of osmolytes and antioxidative enzymes was studied on the paddy field cyanobacterial biofertilizer; Anabaena variabilis exposed to Malathion pesticide. With increasing concentration of malathion the test organism showed increased free radical mediated toxicity....

Listeria monocytogenes accumulates low molecular weight compounds (osmolytes, or compatible solutes) in response to chill stress. This response has been shown to be responsible, in part, for the chill tolerance of the species. Among the osmolytes tested to date, glycine betaine, gamma-butyrobetaine and carnitine display the strongest cryoprotective effect. These osmolytes are not synthesized in...