The 
Lazarette 
Gazette 
NEWS FROM. The University of Texas at.Austin MARINE SCIENCE INSTITUTE Port Aransas, Texas 78373-1267 
(512-749-6760 -fax 512-749-6777) 
Vol. 4, Issue 1, 6 January 1995 
In this issue of Lazarette Gazette -· _Charles Warneford Laldley, Ph.D. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . cover Charles·Laidley: Studies on the Plasma Sex-Steroid Binding Protein 
in the Spotted.Seatrout (Cynoscion nebulosus) ............. 2 Nineteen new publications by MSI faculty and star( .................... ~ . . 5 Regular se~ions: students -p .. 1, abstract -p. 2, personnel p. 3, egabrag woes __;_ p. 4, irish pennants -p. 5, trip reports & travel-· p. 5, publications -p. 5, letters -p. 6, tony's tidings 
-p. 7, editor's note -p. 8 , · , 
·Charles Warneford Laidley earns Ph.D. -Charles Laidley has finished his Ph.D. and will be departing -Port Aransas soon to take a Post-doctoral appointment at Berkeley. While at UT, Charles .studied under the direction of Drs. Peter Thomas and Clark Hubbs. The title of his dissertation is Studies on the plasma sex-steroid binding protein in the spotted seatrout (<Zrnoscion nebulosus). Dr. Laidley was born in Trenton, Ontario, Canada and completed high school in Ottawa. He received both his B.Sc. and his M.Sc. from the University of Guelph, in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. The M.Sc. was under the direction of Professor John 
F. Leatherland and he also trained in aquatic toxicology at the Canadian Center for Inland Waters in Burlington, Ontario under Drs. Uwe Borgmann and Peter Hodson. The focus of his research is endocrine regulation of reproduction and the mechanisms by which environmental toxicants act to disrupt these processes. At Berkeley, Charles will be in the Environmental Chemistry and Toxicology Laboratory where he will study the mechanisms of toxic chemical action in humans and other vertebrates. Charles: I loved my stay in Port Aransas. I met lots.ofgreat people and had tremendous amounts offun. I enjoyed playing roller-blade hockey, volleyball, softball, and windsurfing. Please come visit me in California. · 
STUDIES ON THE PLASMA SEX-STEROID BINDING PROTEIN 
IN THE SPOTTED SEATROUT (Cynoscion nebulosus) 

Charles Warneford Laidley; Ph.D. 
Supervisors: Peter Thomas and Clark Hubbs 

A sex-steroid binding protein (SBP) that binds both androgens and estrogens was identified in the plasma of the spotted seatrout, Cynoscion nebulosus. Scatchard analysis revealed a single steroid-binding component with a dissociation constant (Kn) of 5.99 ± 0.13 nM for testosterone and 3.13 nM ± 0.11 nM for 17~-estradiol (n=95). The plasma SBP concentration ranged from 200 to 800 nM with a mean binding capacity of 400 ± 11 nM. Competition studies demonstrated that the seatrout SBP had very high affinity for a number of estrogens and androgens, with exception of the potent male androgen, 11-ketotestosterone, and little affinity for other physiological steroids including the stress steroid, cortisol, and the maturation-inducing steroid, 17a,20~,21-trihydroxy-4-pregnen-3-one. The rates of steroid association and dissociation were extremely rapid, with a tYt of less than 30 seconds for ligand association and 90 seconds for ligand dissociation. 
Plasma SBP concentration and binding affinity did not differ significantly (P < 0.05) between male (n=14) and female (n=81) spotted sea.trout. SBP levels increased with the stage of ovarian recrudescence in the females, withthe lowest levels (approx. 300 nM) in regressed females and the highest levels of (approx. 470 . nM) in females with fully developed ovaries. In addition, the affinity of this protein for plasma steroids decreased approximately 50% in association with the onset ofhepaticvitellogenesis. This change in binding affinity and the fact that the concentration of this blood protein was nearly one-hundred fold greater than that necessary to bind 100% of the circulating sex steroids, suggests that this protein may have additional 
functions to that of acting as a steroid-carrier protein. 
The seatrout SBP was purified to homogeneity by acetone precipitation, ammonium sulphate precipitation, anion exchange chromatography, gel filtration chromatography, preparative electrophoresis and reverse phase HPLC. The 2400-fold purified protein demonstrated a slight increase in binding-affinity following the preparative PAGE step, suggesting that the shift in steroid-binding affinity seen in the seasonal study may be mediated through cofactors that modify the affmity of the SBP for testosterone and estradiol. The purified SBP migrated as a single band with a molecular mass of 135 kDa on native PAGE and as several closely spaced bands with molecular masses of 49 to 52 kDa on SDS-PAGE. These bands centered at 50 kDa were shown to consist of a single protein with an N-terminus having little "homology" to any presently known protein sequences. Moreover, the amino acid.composition also appears substantially different from that of previously characterized SBPs. However, there were two regions within the N-term.inus of the seatrout SBP that demonstrated slight sequence "similarity" with a wide range of known proteins including the N-term.inus ofthe non-secretory form of the intracellular precursor to the human SBP and with several viral proteins including that of the HIV virus type 1. 
The seatrout SBP was an extremely stable molecule. Itmaintained greater than 70% of its binding activity after 3 weeks storage at 4°C and was stable for 20 minutes at temperatures up to 50°G. However, removal of endogenous steroid or divalent ions such as ca•• resulted in a complete loss of steroid-binding activity associated with dissociation of the dimeric protein into monomeric subunits. Steroid-binding activity was restored by re-addition steroid and calcium resulting in a recombination of the SBP subunits into a single 135 kDa protein. 
MS! Employees Proud Parents of-...:. 
P .A.LS.D. -TIIlRD SIX WEEKS HONOR ROLLS 
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H.G. OLSEN ELEMENTARY A HONOR ROLL third grade: Jennifer Seguin, James Cantu, Dani Buskey, Jack Montagna fifth grade: Karli Dunton, Jo Anna Jackson, Stephanie Tinnin, 

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H.G. OLSEN ELEMENTARY AIB HONOR ROLL 
first grade: Paul Burgess 
fourth grade: Lauren Kalke 
fifth grade: Brince Abel, Alex Segw:ri, Ashley Harris, Nikki Buskey, 



Tess Montagna 
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BRUNDRE'IT MIDDLE SCHOOL A HONOR ROLL 
sixth grade: Rachel Pearson, Sarah Seguin 
seventh grade: Nathan Dunton, Kate Montagna 


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BRUNDRETT MIDDLE SCHOOL AIB HONOR ROLL 


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sixth grade: Sean Cantu 
seventh grade: Chris Kalke, Patricia Tinnin 
eighth grade: Daniel Jackson, Matt Pearson 

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HIGH SCHOOL A HONOR ROLL 
twelfth grade: Jill Thompson 


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HIGH SCHOOL AIB HONOR ROLL 
twelfth grade: Robert Benton 



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P .A.I.S.D. -FIRST SEMESTER HONOR ROLLS 
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H.G. OLSEN ELEMENTARY A HONOR ROLL 
third grade: Jennifer Seguin 
fifth grade: Karli Dunton, JoAnna Jackson, Stephanie Tinnin 


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H.G. OLSEN ELEMENTARY AIB HONOR ROLL 
third grade: Dani Buskey, Jack Montagna, James Cantu 
fourth grade: Lauren Kalke 
fifth grade: Nikki Buskey, Alex Seguin 


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BRUNDRE'IT MIDDLE SCHOOL A HONOR ROLL 
sixth grade: Rachel Pearson, Sarah Seguin · 
seventh grade: Nathan Dunton, Chris Kalke, Patricia Tinnin 


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BRUNDRE'IT MIDDLE SCHOOL AIB HONOR ROLL 
sixth grade: Sean Cantu 
seventh grade: Kate Montagna 
eight grade: Daniel Jackson, Matt Pearson 


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HIGH SCHOOL A HONOR ROLL twelfth grade: Jill Thompson 

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HIGH SCHOOL A!B HONOR ROLL twelfth grade: Robert Benton 


I loved my stay in Port A. -Charles Laidley's statement was really, I loved my stay in Port Aransas. 
The previous issue Matt Cottrell said, I have really enjoyed my time here in Port A. I just put the two 
together to make a cutesy little rhyme. Connie Chung told me the media needs to be honest, and I should 
tell you. It appears to.be unanimous among those featured in the Lazarette Gazette-they all loved Port 

A. It wasn't always so. Sorting through old records (as we ·make space for the telecommunications classroom), I have found more negative than positive said about Port A., e.g. in 1952, Director Gordon Gunter: Dr. Hedgpeth and Mr. Burkenroad are both on leave. Whether or not they will return is problematical, for neither one likes the isolation ofthis location. Parenthetically, one hit Port Aransas took was as accurate as the official (Cowboys/Packers) ruling Irvin caught the ball on the bounce when it never got closer than three fEret to the ground. A group of high muckedy-i:nucks was discussing an MSI Research Scientist/Faculty member who, without benefit of prior approval, moved to Austin. Sympathy was expressed inasmuch as the poor guyjust had to do it because his family couldn't stand Port Aransas. Being ·familiar with Port Aransas as they knew they were,.they felt that was certainly understandable! But lam aware of one small problem-this fellow-and his family didn't live in Port Aransas. He commuted to MSI each day from another small town. Oh well--even the local news media can't keep straight between Port Aransas and Aransas Pass. Daughter Jill just received back her registration packet from The University of Texas at Austin. Instead of Port Aransas the registrar's office had typed in Port Arthur. While on a . personal note, in my time with MSI, I have one major regret-that I waited seven years before moving from Corpus Christi to Port Aransas. I missed a lot of good old-time Port Aransas between 1960 and 1967. While folks like Port A for the obvious reasons of beach, surf, bays, gulf, -fishing, boating, etc., this is not the point. First, there is basketball! Two weeks back two games featured Port A. old timers against the high school varsity and the really old timers against thejunior varsity. Believe me, these games were great, and you would not have had to· live most of your life in Port Aransas to have loved it. The Marlin Classic 
·Basketball. Tournament was between Christmas and New Years. Ifyou can't always get to Vail or Aspen over the holidays (or to Palmer Station in the Antarctica ala Tony Amos), this is not a bad second choice. Not·only did both the boys and girls win the tournament, the boys knocked off the number one rated class A team in the state. The feeling in the gym during that game was absolutely electric. I enjoyed it more than when UT knocked off Arkansas in the Darrell Royal days to take the national football championship. To basketball add Ken Dunton's youth soccer, another Port Aransas institution. And there is volleyball, the Cub Scout Pack, Boy Scout Troop, Girl Scouts, .Little League, etc. Norman Rockwell, why did you.leave us without putting Port Aransas on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post? More seriously, there is the Port Aransas Independent School District · which rates accolades. The ·Elementary School, the Middle School, the High School, and the District as a whole were all recognized (a rating, next to the top) by the TEA this year. Few other schools in South Texas were recognized at all; and no other districts had a. clean sweep. The last six valedictorians at Port A. High School have gone to The University of Texas at Austin. One or two more and maybe the folks in the registrars office will know it is Port Aransas and not Port Arthur. Whether others learn the difference between Port Aransas. and Aransas Pass we can only hope. 
-John Thompson 
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Mike Dibble, UTMSI, Inorganic nitrogen uptake by two kelp species, Laminaria solidungula and Laminaria saccharina in the Alaskan High Arctic, January 4, 1995. 

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Dr. Ralph PledgerIDr. David Mitchell, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, UV damage and DNA repair in marine systems, January 6, 1995. 


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·Gas charge tickets -Please follow this procedm~:· GIVE ALL GAS CHARGE TICKETS TO VICKI ROBERSON; INDICATE ON THE TICKE'r IF THE GAS WAS FOR A BOAT. We need all the tickets because some of the oil companies are no longer supplying copies to us when we are billed. We need it marked for boat so the gas charge can go against boat use (while if the gas goes in a vehicle the cost is covered by the mileage charge). Vicki will see to it that Mark gets the information . 
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Travel ending between December 24 and January 13 
+TonyAnws, November 19-.January 4:, Antarctica, install tide gauge at Palmer Station iri. Antarctica; join RIV POLAR DUKE for cruise-SANTA CLAUS; install research equipment on RIV SURVEYOR for upcoming cruise (Santiago-Valparaiso-Santiago). 
+Paul Montagna, January·S-10, College Station, Texas, attend meeting at TAMU to prepare final report for the GOOMEX program. 
New listings since October, 1994 
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Brinkmeyer, R.L. and G.J. Holt. (in press). Response of red drum larvae to graded levels of menhaden · oil semipurified microparticulate diets. The Progressive Fish-Culturist 57: 

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Buskey, E.J., J.O. Peterson and J.W. Ambler. (in press). The role of photoreception in the swarming behavior of the copepod Dioithona oculata. Mar. Beh. and Physiology. . 

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Chen, F. and C.A. Suttle. (in press). Amplification of DNA polymerase gene fragments from viruses infecting microalgae. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 

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Chen, F. and C.A. Suttle. (in press). Nested PCR with three highly degenerate primers for amplification and identification of DNA from related organisms. BioTechniques .. 

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Czerny, A.B. and K.H. Dunton. (in press). The effects of in situ light reduction on the growth of two subtropical seagrasses, Thalassia testudinum and Halodule wrightii. Es_tuaries. 

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Davis, D.A. and C.R. Arnold. (in press). Effects of two extrusion processing conditions on the digestibility of four cereal grains for Penaeus vannamei. Aquaculture. 

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Davis, D.A., L. Castro and C.R. Arnold. (in press). Evaluation of nutrient retention (nitrogen phosphorus) and growth response of red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) to commonly used commercial feeds. J. of the World Aquaculture Society. 

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Davis, D.A. and A.L. Lawrence. (in press). Minerals. J. of the w_orld Aquaculture Society. 

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Davis, D.A. and D.M. Gatlin, III. (in press). Dietary mineral requirements of fish and shrimp. CRC Reviews. 

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De Yoe, H., A~ Chan, and C.A. Suttle. (in press). Phylogeny of Aurecoccus arwphagefferens (Chryosophyceae) and a morphologically similar bloom-forming alga from Texas as determined by 18S rDNA sequencing analysis. J. of Phycology. 

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Dunton, K.H. and P;K. Dayton. (in press). The Biology of High'. Latitude Kelp. In: Symposium on the Ecology of Fjords and Coastal Waters, Tromsf), Norway, December 5-9, 1994. 

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Henley, W.J. and KH. Dunton. (in press). A seasonal comparison of carbon, nitrogen and pigment content in Laminaria solidungula and L .. saccharina (Laminariales, Phaeophta) in the Alaskan Arctic. J. Phycol. 

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Hoff, G.R. and L.A. Fuiman. (in press). Environmentally induced variation in elemental composition of red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) otoliths. 

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Jirsa, D.O., D.A. Davis and C.R. Arnold. (in press). Effects ofdietary nutrient density on water quality and growth of red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) in closed systems. Aquaculture. 

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Kaczmarska-Ehrman, I. and A.M. Chan. (in press). Navicula pulchripora, a new species of diatom isolated from the coastal waters of Texas, USA. Diatom Research. 

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Montagna, P.A. (in press). Rates of metozoan meiofaunal microbivory: a review. Vie et Milieu. 

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Montagna, P.A., J.E. Bauer, D.·Hardin and R.B. Spies. (in press). Meiofaunal and microbial trophic interactions in a natural submarine hydrocarbon seep. Vie et Milieu. 

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Pakulski, J.D., R. Benner, R. Amon, B. Eadie and T. Whitledge. (in press). Community metabolism and nutrient cycling in the Mississippi River plume: evidence for intense nitrification at intermediate salinities~ Marine Ecology Progress Series. · 

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Williams, A.S., D.A. Davis and C.R. Arnold. (in press). Density dependent growth and survival of two · penaeid shrimp, Penaeus. setiferus and Penaeus vannamei. J. of the World Aquaculture Society. 


-compiled by Patty Baker 
•First, a big HI to Ruth Grundy, Curly, John Thompson, and any others who remember the graduate student who dug up halfofMustang Island to study fiddler crabs (Larry Powers, 1973-1977, Ph.D., 1975). I was a student ofLarry Gilbert and George Bittner in Austin, overlapping with another ofGeorge's students, Milt Charlton (1972-73). I worked on BLM projects with Carl Oppenheimer and Bill Brogden from 19751977. In 1978 I returned for the summer with a class of animal behavior students from the American Museum of Natural History (New York). 
To catch you up with what has happened since I left UTMSI: I accepted a joint appointment with City 
College and the American Museum in New York from 1977-1981, continuing field work with fiddler crabs 
in South Carolina, teaching for USC at Beaufort or working at Georgetown in the summers. In 1981 I 
moved to Mobile, Alabama, did some environmental work for the U.S. Army Corps ofEngineers, then cross
trained into the medical laboratory field. From 1984-88, I taught medical lab courses at the University of 
Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, then took the Chair position in the Med Tech department at 
University ofSouth Alabama in Mobile. I left there in 1993 to be the Dean ofHealth, Arts and Sciences at 
the Oregon Institute of Technology in Klamath Falls, Oregon. Now I am putting together a high tech 
environmental program and returning to some marine biology interests. So the circle closes once more. 

I have thoroughly enjoyed your newsletter and I echo Richard Moore's comment about all those old people 
in the photos at Pat's retirement party. By the way, if you need other photos taken during the '70's at 
UTMSI, I have a number of B&W (negatives) and color slides. I hope to visit the "megacenter" (will I 
recognize it?) next time> I'm in Texas. My best to you all for a job very well done! 
(Lawrence W. Powers, Ph.D., 1975. Larry's current address is: Dr. Lawrence W. Powers, Dean, School of Health, Arts and Sciences, 
Oregon Institute of Technology, Klamath Falls, OR 97601, Phone: 503-885-1183, Fax: 503-885-1823) 

Weather Report December 19--January 8 
-Andi Wickham 


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