The variability of critical species ofLotus L. in Iran and in the neighbouring countries I. the circle ofL. corniculatus L. andL. gebelia Vent.

The region of Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and the neighbouring countries is important for some groups of the speciesLotus L., especially those of the circle ofL. corniculatus L. andL. gebelia Vent. The first group is represented by the speciesL. corniculatus L. with 4 subspecies (3 of which are important for this region), andL. tenuis Waldst. etKit. which here attains the eastern boundary of the continuous area of distribution, and by the eastern speciesL. krylovii Schischk. etSerg. andL. rechingeri Chrtková-?ertová. The second group is represented by the speciesL. gebelia Vent.,L. michauxianus Ser. in DC. andL. libanoticus Boiss. their areas of distribution covering mostly those regions. Most of the species show considerable variability within the species.     

Root-shoot ratio in irrigated plants

Relationship between roots and shoots ofPimpinella saxifraga L.,Petroselinum hortense Hoffm.,Lactuca sativa L., andBeta vulgaris subsp.esculenta (Salisbury) Gürke var.altissima Roessig was studied in irrigated and non-irrigated plants. It was found that the irrigation water did not influence distinctly the root-shoot ratio of the experimental plants. From the statical point of view, this relationship could be expressed by the following quantitative ratios for irrigated and non-irrigated plants: 3∶1 forPimpinella saxifraga L., 2∶1 forPetroselinum hortense Hoffm., 9∶1 forLactuca sativa L., and 1∶1 for beetroot. From the dynamic point of view it is possible to state that this ratio changes in the course of individual development. With plants cultivated for their aerial parts, it increased with age, while with plants cultivated for their roots, it decreased with age. The irrigation water produced much greater morphological changes (the shape and the surface area) in the root and shoot system of experimental plants.     

Flechtensystematische Studien IV. Die GattungGyalidea Lett

Im Artikel wird die ursprüngliche Gattungsdiagnose derGyalidea Lett. um die Merkmale der Pilzkomponente ergänzt. Die angenommenen verwandtschaftlichen Beziehungen derGyalidea zu der FamilieAsterothyriaceae werden diskutiert. Alle bisher festgestellten Arten mit Übersichten der revidierten Proben werden kurz beschrieben. Neue Taxa und Kombinationen:Gyalidea dodgei spec. n.,G. epiphylla spec. n.,G. mayaguezensis spec. n.,G. portoricensis spec. n.,G. fritzei (Stein) comb. n.,G. fritzei var.rivularis (Eitn.) comb. n.,G. hyalinescens (Nyl.) comb. n.,G. lecideopsis var.convarians (Nyl.) comb. n.,G. lecideopsis var.stigmatoides (Nyl.) comb. n.,G. mexicana (B. de Lesd.) comb. n. undG. subscutellaris (Vězda) comb. n.     

Some chromosome numbers of the CzechoslovakLeguminosae

Chromosome numbers of the Czechoslovak species of the genusLotus, from various localities have been determined. The paper includes the speciesLotus uliginosus Schkuhr,L.tenuis Waldst. etKit. andL. borbásii Ujhelyi.     

Studies in the taxonomy of the Polypores II

The following genera are redefined:Albatrellus S. F. Gray,Heterobasidion Bref.,Haploporus Bond. et Sing. ex Sing.,Fomitopsis P. Karst. andRigidoporus Murrill two new subgenera are described:Polyporus subgen.Dendropolyporus Pouz. (type:Polyporus umbellatus) andRigidoporus subgen.Neooxyporus Pouz. (type:Polyporus latemarginatus); the genusOxyporus (Bourd. etGalz.)Donk is classified as a subgenus of the genusRigidoporus,Murrill and the generaBjerkandera P. Karst. andLeptoporus quél. are classified as subgenera of the genusTyromyces P. Karst. The new subfamilyAlbatrelloideae Pouz. (genera:Albatrellus andGrifola) is described and 14 new specific combinations are made. The new genusIrpicodon Pouz. (type:Irpex pendulus) is proposed.     

Differentiation of species in Gonioloboceras

The type specimen ofGonioloboceras goniolobum (Meek), rediscovered by Spath in the British Museum, is the foundation for a more accurate comparative study of this and other species ofGonioloboceras.Gonioloboceras described asG. goniolobum byElias in 1938 is differentiated asGonioloboceras schmidti, new species. Suture sets (new term) for several growth stages inG. goniolobum (Meek),G. welleriSmith,G. schmidtiElias, G.eliasiMiller &Owen, andG. asiaticumLibrovitch are assembled and used for differentiation of the species.The Kazakhstan goniatite faunule containingG. asiaticum is considered of very late Pennsylvanian age.     

Beiträge zur Sedimentation und fossilführung des hunsrückschiefers 14.Viriatellina fuchsi (Kutscher, 1931) im Hunsrückschiefer und im Tentaculitenknollenkalk thüringens

The new genusViriatellina Bou?ek, 1964 unites the two older species namedNovakia gemündina Runzheimer, 1932 andTentaculites fuchsi Kutscher, 1931. ThusViriatellina gemuendina (Runzheimer) is cancelled, on the other handViriatellina fuchsi (Kutscher) remains valid. RecentlyViriatellina fuchsi (Kutscher) has been found in the tentaculitiferous limestone of Thuringia.     

Karyo-taxonomic study of the genus<Emphasis Type="Italic">Pseudolysimachion</Emphasis> (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Scrophulariaceae</Emphasis>) in the Czech Republic and Slovakia

Flow cytometry was used to determine ploidy levels in the Czech and Slovak taxa of the genusPseudolysimachion (W.D.J. Koch)Opiz (=Veronica auct. p.p.,Scrophulariaceae). In total, 123 populations from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine (one locality), Austria (one locality) and Hungary (one locality) were analyzed. InP. maritimum (L.)Á. Löve etD. Löve andP. spicatum (L.)Opiz, two cytotypes were found: diploid (2n=2x=34) and tetraploid (2n=4x=68). In both species the tetraploid cytotype predominated (P. maritimum: 41 tetraploid populations out of 45;P. spicatum: 57 tetraploid populations out of 58). The two cytotypes ofP. maritimum have no taxonomic significance because ploidy level is not obviously correlated with morphology, distribution pattern or ecology. Tetraploid populations ofP. spicatum belong to two morphologically different subspecies, subsp.spicatum and subsp.fischeri Trávní?ek. The diploid cytotype (one population only) should be provisionally classified as a third subspecies ofP. spicatum, which is morphologically similar to the Asian subsp.porphyrianum (Pavlov)Trávní?ek. Only diploid plants (2n=2x=34) ofP. orchideum (Crantz)Wraber were found; all 13 populations that were analyzed belong toP. orchideum s.str. One diploid population sample ofP. spurium subsp.foliosum (Waldst. etKit.)Holub (2n=2x=34) and one tetraploid sample ofP. incanum subsp.pallens (Host)Trávní?ek (2n=4x=68) were also analyzed. In addition, three tetraploid populations of hybrid origin were investigated:P. maritimum ×P. spicatum subsp.spicatum (one population) andP. maritimum ×P. spurium subsp.foliosum (two populations). While hybrid plants ofP. maritimum ×P. spicatum arose from tetraploid parental species, plants ofP. maritimum ×P. spurium probably resulted from a cross between tetraploidP. maritimum and diploidP. spurium. The putative origin and evolutionary importance of polyploids in thePseudolysimachion are discussed.     

Die systematische Stellung von Angustiphyllum cuneiforme n. gen. n. sp., einer eigenartigen Tetrakoralle aus dem Mitteldevon Nordspaniens

The newly found tetracoralAngustiphyllum cuneiforme n. gen. n. sp. from theGosseletia-Sandstein (Couvinium) of Candás/Prov. Oviedo (Northern Spain) is described and designed an ancestor of the so called “cuneate corals”Homalophyllum Simpson, 1900,Xenocyathellus Bassler, 1937 andHomalophyllites Easton, 1944 from the Devonian and Mississippian of North-America. Because of their undoubtful genetic relations the whole group of cuneate corals is joined to the subfamily Homalophyllidae n. subfam. within the family ZaphrentoididaeSchindewolf, 1938. Evidently the evolution developed in a progressive orthogenetic manner from the new genesAngustiphyllum (Middle Devonian) toXenocyathellus (higher Middle Devonian) andHomalophyllites (Mississippian), whileHomalophyllum (Middle Devonian) separated from this line in a early stage and thenceforth had its own evolution.     

Glacial relics in the bryoflora of the highlands Českomoravská vrchovina (Bohemian-Moravian Highlands); Their habitat and cenotaxonomic value

The paper sums up the information which the author has so far collected about the habitats and phytocenotic conditions of the glacial relics ofScorpidium scorpioides (Hedw.) Limpr.,Calliergon trifarium (Web. etMohr.) Kindb.,Paludella squarrosa (Hedw.) Bred., andMeesia triquetra (Hook. etTayl.) Aongstr. in the Highlands ?eskomoravská vrchovina (Bohemian-Moravian Highlands) in Czechoslovakia. Simultaneously, it presents a survey of the localities in which the occurrence of these species has been ascertained up to now.     

Glacial relics in the bryoflora of the highlands Českomoravská vrchovina (Bohemian-Moravian Highlands); Their habitat and cenotaxonomic value

The paper sums up the information which the author has so far collected about the habitats and phytocenotic conditions of the glacial relics ofScorpidium scorpioides (Hedw.) Limpr.,Calliergon trifarium (Web. etMohr.)Kindb.,Paludella squarrosa (Hedw.) Brid., andMeesia triquetra (Hook. etTayl.)Aongstr. in the Highlands ?eskomoravská vrchovina (Bohemian-Moravian Highlands) in Czechoslovakia. Simultaneously, it presents a survey of the localities in which the occurrence of these species has been ascertained up to now.     

Characterization of aspartate kinase and homoserine dehydrogenase from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Corynebacterium glutamicum</Emphasis> IWJ001 and systematic investigation of <Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">l</Emphasis>-isoleucine biosynthesis

Previously we have characterized a threonine dehydratase mutant TD^F383V (encoded by ilvA1) and an acetohydroxy acid synthase mutant AHAS^{P176S, D426E, L575W} (encoded by ilvBN1) in Corynebacterium glutamicum IWJ001, one of the best l-isoleucine producing strains. Here, we further characterized an aspartate kinase mutant AK^A279T (encoded by lysC1) and a homoserine dehydrogenase mutant HD^G378S (encoded by hom1) in IWJ001, and analyzed the consequences of all these mutant enzymes on amino acids production in the wild type background. In vitro enzyme tests confirmed that AK^A279T is completely resistant to feed-back inhibition by l-threonine and l-lysine, and that HD^G378S is partially resistant to l-threonine with the half maximal inhibitory concentration between 12 and 14 mM. In C. glutamicum ATCC13869, expressing lysC1 alone led to exclusive l-lysine accumulation, co-expressing hom1 and thrB1 with lysC1 shifted partial carbon flux from l-lysine (decreased by 50.1 %) to l-threonine (4.85 g/L) with minor l-isoleucine and no l-homoserine accumulation, further co-expressing ilvA1 completely depleted l-threonine and strongly shifted carbon flux from l-lysine (decreased by 83.0 %) to l-isoleucine (3.53 g/L). The results demonstrated the strongly feed-back resistant TD^F383V might be the main driving force for l-isoleucine over-synthesis in this case, and the partially feed-back resistant HD^G378S might prevent the accumulation of toxic intermediates. Information exploited from such mutation-bred production strain would be useful for metabolic engineering.     

New subfamily Proschizophoriinae of dalmanellid Brachiopds

Proschizophoria Maillieux is restudied and found to be related to the Silurian genusIdiorthis McLearn and a new genusCordatomyonia, type speciesCordatomyonia shupei, n. sp.Proschizophoria, Idiorthis, andCordatomyonia are united in the new subfamily Proschizophoriinae which is assigned to the dalmanellid family Rhipidomellidae. Rhipidomellidae and its included subfamilies Heterorthinae, Rhipidomellinae, and Proschizophoriinae are emended and newly diagnosed. A new dalmanellid genus,Megasalopina, is proposed for the Lower Devonian species“Dalmanella” elevata Williams & Breger and its allies. It is thought to have been derived from the draboviinid genusSalopina Boucot and therefore belongs to the Schizophoriidae.Dalmanellopsis Khalfin is removed from the synonymy ofLevenea and is shown to be related toSalopina.     

Rational design and analysis of an <Emphasis Type="Italic">Escherichia coli</Emphasis> strain for high-efficiency tryptophan production

l-tryptophan (l-trp) is a precursor of various bioactive components and has great pharmaceutical interest. However, due to the requirement of several precursors and complex regulation of the pathways involved, the development of an efficient l-trp production strain is challenging. In this study, Escherichia coli (E. coli) strain KW001 was designed to overexpress the l-trp operator sequences (trpEDCBA) and 3-deoxy-D-arabinoheptulosonate-7-phosphate synthase (aroG ^fbr ). To further improve the production of l-trp, pyruvate kinase (pykF) and the phosphotransferase system HPr (ptsH) were deleted after inactivation of repression (trpR) and attenuation (attenuator) to produce strain KW006. To overcome the relatively slow growth and to increase the transport rate of glucose, strain KW018 was generated by combinatorial regulation of glucokinase (galP) and galactose permease (glk) expression. To reduce the production of acetic acid, strain KW023 was created by repressive regulation of phosphate acetyltransferase (pta) expression. In conclusion, strain KW023 efficiently produced 39.7 g/L of l-trp with a conversion rate of 16.7% and a productivity of 1.6 g/L/h in a 5 L fed-batch fermentation system.     

Importing statistical measures into Artemis enhances gene identification in the <Emphasis Type="Italic">Leishmania</Emphasis> genome project

Background

Seattle Biomedical Research Institute (SBRI) as part of the Leishmania Genome Network (LGN) is sequencing chromosomes of the trypanosomatid protozoan species Leishmania major. At SBRI, chromosomal sequence is annotated using a combination of trained and untrained non-consensus gene-prediction algorithms with ARTEMIS, an annotation platform with rich and user-friendly interfaces.

Results

Here we describe a methodology used to import results from three different protein-coding gene-prediction algorithms (GLIMMER, TESTCODE and GENESCAN) into the ARTEMIS sequence viewer and annotation tool. Comparison of these methods, along with the CODON USAGE algorithm built into ARTEMIS, shows the importance of combining methods to more accurately annotate the L. major genomic sequence.

Conclusion

An improvised and powerful tool for gene prediction has been developed by importing data from widely-used algorithms into an existing annotation platform. This approach is especially fruitful in the Leishmania genome project where there is large proportion of novel genes requiring manual annotation.

     

Characterization of<Emphasis Type="SmallCaps"> D</Emphasis>-lactic acid,spore-forming bacteria and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Terrilactibacillus laevilacticus</Emphasis> SK5-6 as potential industrial strains

In this study, we screened and isolated D-lactic acid-producing bacteria from soil and tree barks collected in Thailand. Among the isolates obtained, Terrilactibacillus laevilacticus SK5-6 exhibited good D-lactate production in the primary screening fermentation (99.27 g/L final lactate titer with 0.90 g/g yield, 1.38 g/L?h, and 99.00% D-enantiomer equivalent). Terrilactibacillus laevilacticus SK5-6 is a Gram-positive, endospore-forming, homofermentative D-lactate producer that can ferment a wide range of sugars to produce D-lactate. Unlike the typical D-lactate producers, such as catalase-negative Sporolactobacillus sp., T. laevilacticus SK5-6 possesses catalase activity; therefore, a two-phase fermentation was employed for D-lactate production. During an aerobic preculture stage, a high-density cell mass was rapidly obtained due to aerobic respiration. When transferred to the fermentation stage at the correct physiological stage (inoculum age) and proper concentration of cell mass (inoculum size), T. laevilacticus rapidly converted glucose into D-lactate under anaerobic conditions, resulting in a high final lactate titer (102.22 g/L), high yield (0.84 g/g), and high productivity (2.13 g/L?h). When the process conditions were shifted from an aerobic to an anaerobic environment, unlike other lactate-producing bacteria, the mixed acid fermentation route was not activated in the culture of T. laevilacticus SK5-6 during the fermentation stage when some trace oxygen still remained. Our study demonstrates the excellent characteristics of this isolate for D-lactate production; in particular, a high product yield was obtained without byproduct formation. Based on these key characteristics of T. laevilacticus SK5-6, we suggest that this isolate is a novel D-lactate producer for use in industrial fermentation.     

Cytotaxonomic notes on the generaIndigofera L. andCyamopsis DC.

Continuing cytotaxonomic research in the generaCyamopsis andIndigofera, this time with attention payed for the greater part to East Tropical African species yielded the following results:

1. 1.
   Except for four rather small subsections ofIndigofera proper and the related genusRhynchotropis Harms, information was obtained about all Taxa. Of the 283 species described inGillett'ss monograph, some 80 species, among them a few with subspecies and varieties, now have been cytologically examined.     
   
   

Soluble carbohydrates in developing and mature diaspores of polar Caryophyllaceae and Poaceae

The accumulation of soluble carbohydrates in maturing diaspores of flowering plants comprising Arctic populations of Cerastium alpinum, indigenous Antarctic species Colobanthus quitensis and Deschampsia antarctica, and cosmopolitan Poa annua from the Antarctic was investigated. For comparative purposes, the diaspores of two species of flowering plants growing in the area of Olsztyn (Poland), Poa annua (Poaceae) and Cerastium arvense (Caryophyllaceae) were used. A qualitative and quantitative analysis of soluble carbohydrates conducted by means of high-resolution gas chromatography showed that monosaccharides (glucose and fructose), maltose and sucrose, raffinose, myo-inositol and galactinol are ubiquitous in developing and mature diaspores among investigated species. Moreover, D. antarctica and P. annua caryopses additionally contained stachyose and 1-kestose; the seeds of Caryophyllaceae studied were found to contain d-pinitol and d-ononitol. The development and maturation of the seeds of polar Caryophyllaceae and Poaceae were accompanied by the changes in the concentration of their soluble carbohydrates. During maturation, seeds accumulated galactinol and raffinose family of oligosaccharides (RFOs), except C. quitensis. Although seeds of the studied Caryophyllaceae contained d-pinitol and lower amounts of d-ononitol, they did not accumulate α-d-galactoside derivatives of mentioned cyclitols. P. annua caryopses, occurring in the Antarctic, were found to accumulate considerably higher amounts of sucrose and 1-kestose than those developed in Olsztyn.     

Synthesis of a tetra- and a trisaccharide related to an anti-tumor saponin “Julibroside J<Subscript>28</Subscript>” from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Albizia julibrissin</Emphasis>

Simple and convergent synthesis of a tetra- and a trisaccharide portions of an antitumor compound Julibroside J₂₈, isolated from Albizia julibrissin, that showed significant in vitro antitumor activity against HeLa, Bel-7402 and PC-3M-1E8 cancer cell lines is reported. The tetrasaccharide has been synthesized as its p-methoxyphenyl glycoside starting from commercially available d-glucose, l-rhamnose and l-arabinose. The trisaccharide part has been synthesized from commercially available N-acetyl d-glucosamine, d-fucose and d-xylose using simple protecting group manipulations. Sulfuric acid immobilized on silica has been used successfully as a Brönsted acid catalyst for the crucial glycosylation steps.     

Some new taxa ofPotentilla L.

Five new species and two varieties from the sectionMultifidae are described from the Sino-Himalayan region. They are referred to the affinity ofP. multifida L. andP. griffithii Hook. f.; one of the new species is probably related toP. gerardiana Lindl. and one is intermediate between the species of the sectionsMultifidae andNiveae.