Cytoplasmic free calcium in Riccia fluitans L. and Zea mays L.: Interaction of Ca2+ and pH?

In cells of Zea mays (root hairs, coleoptiles) and Riccia fluitans (rhizoids, thalli) intracellular Ca²⁺ and pH have been measured with double-barrelled microelectrodes. Free Ca²⁺ activities of 109–187 nM (Riccia rhizoids), 94–160 nM (Riccia thalli), 145–231 nM (Zea root hairs), 84–143 nM (Zea coleoptiles) were found, and therefore identified as cytoplasmic. In a few cases (Riccia rhizoids), free Ca²⁺ was in the lower millimolar range (2.3±0.8 mM). A change in external Ca²⁺ from 0.1 to 10 mM caused an initial and short transient increase in cytoplasmic free Ca²⁺ which finally levelled off at about 0.2 pCa unit below the control, whereas in the presence of cyanide the Ca²⁺ activity returned to the control level. It is suggested that this behaviour is indicative of active cellular Ca²⁺ regulation, and since it is energy-dependent, may involve a Ca²⁺-ATPase. Acidification of the cytoplasmic pH and alkalinization of the vacuolar pH lead to a simultaneous increase in cytoplasmic free Ca²⁺, while alkalinization of pH_c decreased the Ca²⁺ activity. Since this is true for such remote organisms as Riccia and Zea, it may be concluded that regulation of cytoplasmic pH and free Ca²⁺ are interrelated. It is further concluded that double-barrelled microelectrodes are useful tools for investigations of intracellular ion activities in plant cells.Symbols and abbreviations _m, _m membrane potential difference, changes thereof - PVC polyvinylchloride     

异细胞质八倍体小黑麦的获得及其细胞遗传

改变小黑麦细胞质有可能增加减数分裂的稳定性,提高小黑麦的结实率与籽粒饱满度。作者以不同细胞质的“中国春”小麦与黑麦杂交,F_1幼苗用秋水仙素加倍获得双二倍体、或以八倍体小黑麦为父本与F_1杂交,获得异细胞质八倍体小黑麦(Triticale 8x)8个品系。实验结果表明:细胞质不同的“中国春”小麦与黑麦杂交结实率差异显著,出苗率亦不同,F_1株型多为两亲的中间型,花药不开裂,个别组合出现雄蕊雌化现象,有的组合表现生长弱性,减数分裂中期Ⅰ常出现1至数个末端交叉的棒状二价体,其数量在不同组合间差异显著,表明异细胞质对染色体配对有影响。D类细胞质对改进八倍体小黑麦的结实率可能有一定的作用。     

Analysis of dynamic and stationary pattern formation in the cell cortex

We study a sol-gel mechanochemical model for cellular cytoplasm. Using conservation equations and a force balance equation, we derive equations for the sol-gel dynamics. Regular perturbation analysis suggests the growth of patterns which may be either dynamic or stationary, depending on parameter values. Nonlinear analysis, which indicates that these patterns remain bounded, is confirmed by numerically solving the mechanochemical equations. We use these analytical and numerical results to model two different biological problems: the dynamic formation of filopodia in nerve growth cones, and the growth of microvilli in epithelial cells.     

Cytoplasmic effects on the tissue culture response of wheat (Triticum aestivum) callus

Summary Calli were initiated from immature embryos of eight lines of hexaploid wheat (Triticum aestivum L. em. Thell) with different cytoplasms, the euplasmic nuclear donor Chinese Spring and seven alloplasmic lines derived from wild relative species of the genera Triticum and Aegilops. The calli were found to differ in their initial growth rates, their sensitivity to 2,4-D and their ability to organise shoot primordia, demonstrating that the cytoplasm can significantly affect the behaviour of tissues in culture. The potential for improving the responses of tissues in culture by cytoplasmic changes is noted.     

不同环境下家蚕产量构成因素的通径分析及育种对策的探讨

利用52个家蚕品种在春秋两个季节的试验资料,对万头茧层量及其构成因素作了通径分析。结果表明:不同环境下,诸因素对万头茧层量的作用不完全相同,主要表现为幼虫生命率和茧层率在不同季节中的作用相对地变化。结合育种实践指出:(1)春用蚕品种的选育应在保证生命率的前提下努力提高茧层率和全茧量,而夏秋用品种的选育应在保证茧层率的前提下努力提高生命率和全茧量。 (2)为提高选择效果,春蚕期育种应以选择茧层率为主,夏秋期育种应以选择生命率为主。     

异细胞质中国春小麦与八倍体小偃麦杂交的细胞遗传研究

用5个异细胞质“中国春小麦”分别和八倍体小偃麦中_2、中_3,中_5杂交。F_1植株性状为两亲的中间型。D型细胞质和B型细胞质的作用基本相同。S型和G型细胞质严重影响F_1的育性,但二者表现不同,S型细胞质仅削弱花粉育性,而G型细胞质使有些杂交组合的F_1雄性完全不育。在中_3、中_5核基因组中存在G型细胞质雄性不育的育性恢复基因。M~t型细胞质可使所有杂交组合F_1植株大型化和抽穗期延长10—15天。此外,细胞遗传学分析表明,M~t型细胞质能促进同源染色体配对,而G型细胞质则促进部分同源染色体配对。G型细胞质对花粉母细胞减数分裂Ⅱ影响较大,产生许多异常四分体,最终引起雄性不育。上述杂交组合经连续回交,已育成异细胞质的八倍体小偃麦品系。     

Distribution of the flavohaemoglobin, HMP, between periplasm and cytoplasm in Escherichia coli

Abstract The subcellular distribution of the soluble flavohaemoglobin (HMP) of Escherichia coli has been determined. Cells over-expressing HMP from the cloned hmp gene on a multicopy plasmid were fractionated by osmotic shock and lysozyme treatment. Spectral analysis of subcellular fractions showed the CO-binding haemoprotein to be cytoplasmic. However, Western blotting using antibody raised to purified HMP revealed approximately 30% of the protein to be periplasmic in the over-expressing strain. Western analysis also revealed substantial levels of periplasmic HMP in a strain expressing only chromosomally encoded protein but none in an hmp mutant. The results are discussed in relation to protein function and the similar distribution reported for Vitreoscilla globin.     

Intracellular location of catalase-peroxidase hydroperoxidase I of Escherichia coli

The catalase-peroxidase hydroperoxidase I of Escherichia coli has been confirmed to be located in the cytoplasm using two independent methods. Catalase activity was found predominantly (> 95%) in the cytoplasmic fraction following spheroplast formation. The cytoplasmic enzyme glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and the periplasmic enzyme alkaline phosphatase were used as controls. The second method of immunogold staining for the enzyme in situ revealed an even distribution of the enzyme across the cell.     

French tradition and the rise of Evo-devo

The limited value most French biologists attributed to Darwinism and Mendelism in the first half of the twentieth century, and their conviction that these theories were at best insufficient to explain evolution and development, probably created conditions propitious to the development of Evo-devo at the end of the century. The separation between embryology and evolution did not exist in French biology as it did in American genetics: explanations for these two phenomena were sought equally in the “organization” of the egg. The major contribution of French biologists to Evo-devo was clearly the invention of the notion of the regulatory gene by Jacob and Monod; not the operon model per se, but the introduction of a hierarchy between two different kinds of genes. The consequence, the rise of the developmental gene concept, was not immediate, and required the active role of other biologists such as Antonio Garcia-Bellido, Allan Wilson and Stephen Jay Gould. Various obstacles had to be overcome for this concept of developmental gene to be fully accepted.     

"Live memory" of the cell, the other hereditary memory of living systems

We propose to designate by the term “live memory” of the cell, the cytoplasmic memory. This phenomenon consists of non-genetic memory, but nevertheless includes transmission function, which may be “hereditary” via the ovum, from mother cell to daughter cell, or simply within the same cell from instant t to instant t + 1. To understand this notion of “live memory”, its role and interactions with DNA must be resituated; indeed, operational information belongs as much to the cell body and to its cytoplasmic regulatory protein components and other endogenous or exogenous ligands as it does to the DNA database. We will see in Section 2, using examples from recent experiments in biology, the principal roles of “live memory” in relation to the four aspects of cellular identity, memory of form, hereditary transmission and also working memory.