SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS COMMONLY USED

Use acronyms and abbreviationssparingly to avoid impeding comprehension of the text. Abbreviations may be used as a convenience in place of certain unwieldy chemical names. Use only well known abbreviations or acronyms: ATP, RNA. Standard chemical symbols (Ca, NaOH) and the abbreviations listed for units of measure may be used without definition. Define other abbreviations at the point of introduction, giving the acronym in parentheses. Spell out abbreviations and symbols that begin a sentence.

Avoid using abbreviations in the title and abstract, other than those standard for international usage. Titles and abstracts are frequently translated into other languages and undefined acronyms may be confusing.

Units of Measure	Units of Length	Units of Mass
Prefixes to the names of units

mega (106)	M	meter	m	gram	g
kilo(103)	k	centimeter	cm	milligram	mg
deci (101)	d	millimeter	mm	microgram	mg
centi (10-2)	c	micrometer	µm
milli (10-3)	m	nanometer	nm	Units of Time
micro (10-6)	µ	Ångstrom (0.l nm)	Å	second	sec
nano (10-9)	n			minute	min
pico (10-12)	p			hour	h
femto (10-15)	f			day	d

A

absorbance (at 340 nm)	A (A340)	arithmetic mean of the sample	x
active ingredient	a.i.	aryl hydrocarbon	Ah
adenosine 5'-mono-,di-,triphosphate	AMP, ADP, ATP	arylhydrocarbon hydroxylase	AHH
alternating current	AC	atomic absorption	AA
ampere	A or amp	atomic mass unit	amu
analysis of variance	ANOVA	average	avg. (tables)
approximately	approx. or ~ (with numbers)

B

bequerel bioaccumulation factor biochemical oxygen demand bioconcentration factor

Bq (1 Ci =3.7 x 1010) BAF BOD BCF

biological oxygen demand boiling point bovine serum albumin British thermal unit

BOD b.p. BSA BTU

C

calorie cation exchange capacity chemical oxygen demand cholinesterase coefficient of correlation coefficient of multiple correlation coefficient of variation coenzyme A and its acetyl derivatives concentration

cal CEC COD ChE r R CV CoA acetyl concn. (tables only)

conductivity (inverse of resistance) confidence interval counts per minute/second cultivar Curie cyclic adenosine 3':5'- monophosphate cytidine 5'-mono-,di-, triphosphate cytochrome

mho CI cpm/cps cv. Ci cAMP CMP, CEP, CTP Cyt

D-E

degree absolute (Kelvin) degree Celsius or centigrade degrees of freedom deoxyribonuclease deoxyribonucleic acid deuterium diameter 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid diethylaminoethyl direct current discriminating function disintegreations per minute dissolved organic carbon

K °C df DNase DNA 2H diam. (in tables) 2,4-D DEAE DC DF dpm DOC

dissolved oxygen dry weight effective concentration, 50% population effective dose, 50% population Einstein (s) electrode potential electron volt equation equation equilibrium constant equivalent ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid

DO dry wt (in tables) EC50 ED50 E Eh eV Eqn. (in parentheses) K eq EROD EDTA

F-G

farad Figure foot candle fresh weight gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

f Fig. (parentheses only) ft-c fresh wt (tables only) GC-MS

gas-liquid chromatography glutathione and its oxidized form gravity

GLC GSH, GSSG g (5,000g)

H-L

half-life N-2-hydroxyethylpiperazine- N'-1-ethanesulfonic acid high-performance liquid chromatography inductively coupled plasma infrared inner diameter international unit joule kilocalorie

t1/2 HEPES HPLC ICP IR id IU J kcal

least significant difference lethal concentration, 50% population lethal dose, 50% population level of significance (probability of wrongfully rejecting the null hypothesis) logarithm (natural/base e) lowest-observed-effect concentration

LSD LC50 LD50 P   ln LOEC

M-N

mass spectrometry mass-to-charge ratio mean of the population melting point Michaelis constant milliequivalent(s) mixed function oxidase mole (a gram molecule) molecular weight

MS m/z µ mp Km meq MFO mol mol wt

nicotinamide ademine dinucleotide and its reduced form no-observed-effect concentration normal (concn.) not detected not significant number

NAD (or NAD+) NADH   NOEC N ND NS No. (tables and parentheses)

O-P-Q

octanol/water partition coefficient ohm (resistance) optical density organic carbon partition coefficient orthophosphate outer diameter partition coefficient Pascal (unit of pressure) percent per mil

Kow ‡ OD Koc Pi od Kp Pa; 100kPa = 1 bar % %o (with numerals and in tables)

picocurie picogram polychlorinated biphenyl polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon polyethylene glycol polyvinyl chloride pounds per square inch precipitate pyrophosphate quantitative structure-activity relationship

pCi pg PCB PAH PEG PVC psi ppt (tables) PPi QSAR

R-S

rate constant relative humidity retardation factor revolutions per minute/second ribonuclease messenger RNA nuclear RNA ribosomal RNA transfer RNA sample variance

k RH RF rpm/rps RNase mRNA nRNA rRNA tRNA s2

sodium dodecyl sulfate species statistical datum derived in chi-square test statistical datum derived in Student's t test standard deviation of population standard deviation of series standard error of mean

SDS sp. (when part of binomial) c2 t Ó SD SE

T-U-V-W

Three-letter symbols should be used, but only in representing polymers of sequences and in tables and figures.

alanine arginine asparagine aspartic acid cycteine glutamine Glycine histidine hydroxylysine hydroxyproline isoleucine

Ala Arg Asn Asp Cys Glu Gly His Hyl Hyp Ile

leucine lysine methione ornithine proline serine threonine tryptophan tyrosine valine

Leu Lys Met Orn Pro Ser Thr Trp Tyr Val

Symbols for Sugars

Derivatives of Sugar

arabinose 2-deoxyribose fructose fucose galactose glucose mannose ribone xylose

Ara dRib Fru Fuc Gal Glc Man Rib Xyl

N-Acetylglucosamine Glucosamine 1-Deoxygluose 2-Deoxyribose Glucuronic acid Phosphorylate derivatives may be depicted as phosphate derivatives of the parent compounds with P- or P representing phophare, as in glucose-6-P, P-glycerate, fructose-1,6-bisP.

GlcNAc GlcN dGlc dRib GlcUA

Chemical Prefixes

ortho meta para normal secondary tertiary

o m p n sec tert