鹅掌楸种子和胚胎发育的研究

应用控制授粉、软 X-射线法、常规石蜡制片法和荧光检测等手段,研究了鹅掌楸(Lirio-dendron chinense(Hemsl.)Sarg.胚胎发育和控制授粉与结籽率的相关性。控制授粉后2小时花粉萌发,6小时萌发率最高,柱头可授期持续30小时左右。花粉管借助于柱头毛之间的分泌物进入柱头沟,经花柱沟、珠孔塞和珠心冠原进入胚囊,行珠孔受精。授粉后2周,胚乳为2至3细胞厚的狭组织;第6周,胚乳充满胚囊腔,珠心随之解体殆尽;第7到8周,球形胚、心形胚发生;第14到16周,子叶形成;第22周种子或熟,胚乳丰富。单株自然授粉结籽率不足1%。控制授粉后,单个聚合果的最高结籽率可达39%,9个聚合果的平均结籽率为17.7%。     

Reversible inhibition of osteoclastic activity by bone-bound gallium (III).

Gallium(III) is a new therapeutic agent for hypercalcemia. Ga3+ reduces osteoclast action, but how it inhibits the cell's physiology is unknown. In vivo, 7-12 microM Ga(III) reduces calcium release from bone, but surprisingly, 10-100 microM Ga3+ added to isolated avian osteoclasts did not reduce their degradation of L-(5-3H)-proline bone. 3H-proline labels bone collagen specifically, and collagenolysis is an excellent indicator of bone dissolution because collagen is the least soluble component of bone. Ga(III) greater than 100 microM inhibited osteoclasts in vitro, but also killed the cells. To resolve this apparent conflict, we measured 67Ga distribution between bone, cells, and media. Gallium binds avidly but slowly to bone fragments. One hundred micrograms of bone clears 60% of 1 microM gallium from 500 microliters of tissue culture medium, with steady state at greater than 24 h. Osteoclasts on bone inhibited gallium binding capacity approximately 40%, indicating a difference in available binding area and suggesting that osteoclasts protect their substrate from Ga binding. Less gallium binds to bone in serum-containing medium than in phosphate-buffered saline; 30% reduction of the affinity constant suggests that the serum containing medium competes with bone binding. Consequently, the effect of [Ga] on bone degradation was studied using accurately controlled amounts of Ga(III) pre-bound to the bone. Under these conditions, gallium sensitivity of osteoclasts is striking. At 2 days, 100 micrograms of bone pre-incubated with 1 ml of 1 microM Ga3+, with 10 pmoles Ga3+/micrograms bone, was degraded at 50% the rate of control bone; over 50 pM Ga3+/micrograms bone, resorption was essentially zero. In contrast, pre-treatment of bone with [Ga3+] as high as 15 microM had no significant effect on bone resorption rate beyond 3 days, indicating that gallium below approximately 150 pg/micrograms bone acts for a limited time and does not permanently damage the cells. We conclude that bone-bound Ga(III) from medium concentrations less than 15 microM inhibits osteoclasts reversibly, while irreversible toxicity occurs at solution [Ga3+] greater than 50 microM.     

An endemic brackish water faunule from the middle jurassic of southern qinghai province,China

An endemic brackish water faunule consisting of three taxa of bivalves,Hudsonella sinensis (Chen) n. gen.,Hudsonella sp., andProtocardia hepingxiangensis Chen & Lin occurs in the Bajocian of the southern Qinghai province, China.Hudsonella sinensis is a very variable species with a hinge structure characteristic of the subfamily Pachydontinae of the family Corbulidae. According to both geochemical data (stable carbon isotopes and the strontium/barium ratio) and ecological data the faunule lived in a brackish water embayment of mesohaline salinity (5#x2013;18 per mil) burrowing in soft substrate.     

Correlation between cell wall extensibility and the content of diferulic and ferulic acids in cell walls of Oryza sativa coleoptiles grown under water and in air

Rice ( Oryza sativa L. cv. Sasanishiki) coleoptiles grown under water achieved greater length than those grown either in air or under water with constant air bubbling. The extensibility of cell walls in coleoptiles grown under water was larger than that in the other treatments. Per unit length of the coleoptile, the content of ferulic and diferulic acids ester-linked to hemicelluloses was higher in air and bubbling type coleoptiles than in water type ones. The extensibility of the coleoptile cell walls correlated with the content of diferulic acids per unit length and per hemicellulose, suggesting that the enhancement of the formation of diferulic acid bridges in hemicelluloses in air or under water with air bubbling makes the cell walls mechanically rigid; thereby inhibiting cell elongation in rice coleoptiles. In addition, the ratio of diferulic acid to ferulic acid was almost constant irrespective of coleoptile age, zone and growth conditions, suggesting that the feruloylation of hemicelluloses is rate-limiting in the formation of diferulic acid bridges in the cell walls of rice coleoptiles.     

Role of magnesium in combination with liming in alleviating acid-soil stress with the aluminium-sensitive sorghum genotype CV323

An experiment to study the effects of Mg nutrition on root and shoot development of the Al-sensitive sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) genotype CV323 grown in pots of sandy loam under different acid soil stress is reported. This experiment had a factorial design: four rates of liming were combined with four rates of Mg fertilization. When no Mg was added, the pH of the soil solutions (collected in ceramic cups) increased from 4.0 (unlimed) to 4.2, 4.7 and 5.9 at the increasing rates of liming. After 30 days of growth dry matter yields of the limed treatments were 40%, 115% and 199% higher than that of the unlimed treatment. Without liming and at the highest liming rate, adding Mg did not affect plant biomass significantly. At the two intermediate levels of liming, however, 11.3 mg extra Mg per kg soil increased dry matter yield to the same levels as found at the highest liming rate. Concentrations of Mg in the soil solution rose after Mg was added and fell when lime was added, but adding both Mg and lime increased Mg concentrations in the plant shoots. In plants of the limed treatments, dry matter yield was correlated closely with the Mg concentration in the shoot. This was not so in the unlimed treatment. Furthermore, in the unlimed treatments root development was inhibited, but reduced Mg uptake by the plants resulted mainly from the direct effect of Al- (or H-) ions in the soil solution rather than from impaired root development. It is concluded that Mg fertilization counteracted the interfering effects of Al- and H ions on Mg uptake.     

Overnight (1 mg) dexamethasone suppression testing reliably distinguishes non-cushingoid obesity from Cushing's syndrome.

To determine the sensitivity of the overnight 1-mg dexamethasone suppression test in diagnosing Cushing's syndrome, we evaluated the cortisol responses of 55 subjects (25 non-obese individuals with body mass index less than 25 kg/m2, 20 obese individuals with body mass index greater than 30 kg/m2, and 10 patients with surgically proven Cushing's syndrome) following ingestion of 1 mg dexamethasone at midnight. The basal 8 AM plasma cortisol levels among non-obese and obese individuals and patients with Cushing's syndrome were 310 +/- 85, 377 +/- 91, and 813 +/- 270 nmol/L, respectively. Following 1 mg of dexamethasone, Cushing's syndrome patients showed minimal suppression of cortisol to 609 +/- 180 nmol/L (P = 0.79). Non-obese and obese individuals suppressed to 18.7 +/- 6.0 nmol/L (P less than 0.001) and 22 +/- 7.1 nmol/L (P = 0.003), respectively. The results demonstrated similar cortisol responses to overnight dexamethasone suppression in obese and non-obese groups, and clearly distinguished these subjects from those with Cushing's syndrome. Obesity is not a confounding factor in the 1-mg dexamethasone suppression test.     

Purification and characterization of an endopeptidase from Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris Wg2.

An endopeptidase has been purified to homogeneity from a crude cell extract of Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris Wg2 by a procedure that includes diethyl-aminoethane-Sephacel chromatography, phenyl-Sepharose chromatography, hydroxylapatite chromatography, and fast protein liquid chromatography over an anion-exchange column and a hydrophobic-interaction column. Gel filtration and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis indicated a molecular mass of the purified enzyme of 70,000 Da. The endopeptidase can degrade several oligopeptides into various tetra-, tri-, and dipeptides. The endopeptidase has no aminopeptidase, carboxypeptidase, dipeptidase, or tripeptidase activity. It is optimally active at pH 6.0 to 6.5 and in the temperature range of 30 to 38 degrees C. The enzyme is inactivated by the chemical agents 1,10-phenanthroline, ethylenedinitrilotetraacetate, beta-mercaptoethanol, and phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride and is inhibited by Cu2+ and Zn2+. The ethylenedinitrilotetraacetate- or 1,10-phenanthroline-treated enzyme can be reactivated by Co2+. Immunoblotting with specific antibodies raised against the purified endopeptidase indicated that the enzyme is also present in other Lactococcus spp., as well as in Lactobacillus spp. and Streptococcus salivarius subsp. thermophilus.     

Analysis of Pteridium ribosomal RNA sequences by rapid direct sequencing

A total of 864 bases from 5 regions interspersed in the 18S and 26S rRNA molecules from various clones of Pteridium covering the general geographical distribution of the genus was analysed using a rapid rRNA sequencing technique. No base difference has been detected amongst the three major lineages, two of which apparently separated before the breakup of the ancient supercontinent, Pangaea. These regions of the rRNA sequences have thus been conserved for at least 160 million years and are here compared with other eukaryotic, especially plant rRNAs.     

The somitogenetic potential of cells in the primitive streak and the tail bud of the organogenesis-stage mouse embryo.

The developmental potency of cells isolated from the primitive streak and the tail bud of 8.5- to 13.5-day-old mouse embryos was examined by analyzing the pattern of tissue colonization after transplanting these cells to the primitive streak of 8.5-day embryos. Cells derived from these progenitor tissues contributed predominantly to tissues of the paraxial and lateral mesoderm. Cells isolated from older embryos could alter their segmental fate and participated in the formation of anterior somites after transplantation to the primitive streak of 8.5-day host embryo. There was, however, a developmental lag in the recruitment of the transplanted cells to the paraxial mesoderm and this lag increased with the extent of mismatch of developmental ages between donor and host embryos. It is postulated that certain forms of cell-cell or cell-matrix interaction are involved in the specification of segmental units and that there may be age-related variations in the interactive capability of the somitic progenitor cells during development. Tail bud mesenchyme isolated from 13.5-day embryos, in which somite formation will shortly cease, was still capable of somite formation after transplantation to 8.5-day embryos. The cessation of somite formation is therefore likely to result from a change in the tissue environment in the tail bud rather than a loss of cellular somitogenetic potency.     

Characterization of a human cervical carcinoma-associated antigen by lectin binding and immuno-electron microscopy

Summary The specific binding and nature of the epitope recognized by monoclonal antibody (Mab) 1H10, which binds an antigen expressed on human cervical tumors, was characterized by enzyme digestion, lectin competition assay and immuno-electron microscopy. Membrane homogenates of CaSki cervical carcinoma cells were digested with various enzymes, then analysed by SDS-PAGE and immunoblotting. Cells grown on coverslips were treated with various enzymes and in situ binding of Mab 1H10 to cells was analysed by electron microscopy. The ability of lectin-conjugates to block Mab 1H10 binding to CaSki cells was also examined. Treatment of samples with sodium periodate abrogated antigen recognition by Mab 1H10. Neuraminidase and hyaluronidase digestion decreased but did not eliminate Mab 1H10 binding to cells in situ. Chondroitinase ABC digestion, in contrast, removed Mab 1H10 binding sites both in vitro and in situ. Trypsin and chymotrypsin digestion of cell membrane homogenates decreased the molecular weight of the Mab 1H10 antigen but did not decrease the binding intensity. Wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) strongly bound to CaSki cells and partially blocked Mab 1H10 binding, indicating that the antigen contains N-acetyl-galactosamine residues at or near the epitope recognized by Mab 1H10. Ricinus communis agglutinin (RCA) exhibited a similar binding pattern to WGA. However, concanavalin A bound only weakly to CaSki cells and was ineffective at blocking Mab 1H10 binding. The tumor-associated antigen recognized by Mab 1H10 is concluded to be a chondroitin sulphate glycoprotein or proteoglycan rather than a mucopolysaccharide or lipoprotein.