A toxic dipeptide from the defense glands of the colorado beetle

The Colorado beetle is protected against predators by the secretions of defensive glands located on the pronotum and the elytra. The single major compound of the secretion was identified as gamma-L-glutamyl-L-2-amino-3(Z),5-hexadienoic acid by spectroscopic and chemical methods. This compound, which contains a nonprotein beta,gamma- unsaturated amino acid, is toxic to ants (Myrmica rubra) at a concentration 10(-2) molar, which is less than its estimated concentration in the secretion (1.8 x 10(-1) molar).     

Age of the earliest african anthropoids

The earliest fossil record of African anthropoid primates (monkeys and apes) comes from the Jebel Qatrani Formation in the Fayum depression of Egypt. Reevaluation of both geologic and faunal evidence indicates that this formation was deposited in the early part of the Oligocene Epoch, more than 31 million years ago, earlier than previous estimates. The great antiquity of the fossil higher primates from Egypt accords well with their primitive morphology compared with later Old World higher primates. Thus, the anthropoid primates and hystricomorph rodents from Fayum are also considerably older than the earliest higher primates and rodents from South America.     

Optical experiments and weak interactions

Recent optical experiments have demonstrated cases in which mirror symmetry in stable atoms is broken during absorption of light. These results, which are in contradiction with quantum electrodynamics, support the theory of unification of the electromagnetic and weak forces. The interpretation of these experimental results is based on exchanges of weak neutral Z(0) bosons between the electrons and the nucleus of the atom. The information obtained from low-energy experiments is different from, but complementary to, the results of high-energy experiments. Sensitive measurements in a simple, reliably computable atom are in quantitative agreement with the standard electroweak theory and put stringent constraints on alternative models. Attaining sufficient accuracy in the experiments and the computations for the electroweak radiative corrections to manifest themselves is now the challenge for experimenters and theorists.