Effects of fire season on flowering of forbs and shrubs in longleaf pine forests

Summary Effects of variation in fire season on flowering of forbs and shrubs were studied experimentally in two longleaf pine forest habitats in northern Florida, USA. Large, replicated plots were burned at different times of the year, and flowering on each plot was measured over the twelve months following fire. While fire season had little effect on the number of species flowering during the year following fire, fires during the growing season decreased average flowering duration per species and increased synchronization of peak flowering times within species relative to fires between growing seasons. Fires during the growing season also increased the dominance of fall flowering forbs and delayed peak fall flowering. Differences in flowering resulting from variation in fire season were related to seasonal changes in the morphology of clonal forbs, especially fall-flowering composites. Community level differences in flowering phenologies indicated that timing of fire relative to environmental cues that induced flowering was important in determining flowering synchrony among species within the ground cover of longleaf pine forests. Differences in fire season produced qualitatively similar effects on flowering phenologies in both habitats, indicating plant responses to variation in the timing of fires were not habitat specific.     

Physiological integration among ramets of Lathyrus sylvestris L.

Summary Lathyrus sylvestris is a pioneer legume often found in disturbed habitats. Mainly reproduced through vegetative propagation, this clonal species presents a system of ramets that remain connected for several years. The existence of carbon transfer among ramets within a clone has been studied using ¹⁴C in situ. Assimilate translocation from primary to secondary ramets was observed in all clones when the primary ramet was exposed to ¹⁴CO₂. The amount of transfer ranged from trace up to 90% of the total ¹⁴C incorporated. However, in only half of the clones there was consistent enrichment of the secondary ramet (5 to 89%) suggesting that interramets transfer of carbon may be facultative. Furthermore, when significant export occurred from the primary ramet, it was always principally towards only one ramet even when the clone included more than one. The transfer of ¹⁴C from secondary to primary ramets was shown to be significant only when photosynthesis of the latter was decreased by shading. In this case import of carbon was never more than 60% of the incorporated ¹⁴C.No correlation was found between age or size of the ramets and the intensity of transfer. The shading effect let suppose that transfers are mainly driven by carbon limitation due to changing environmental conditions and not to the state of ramet maturity. The adaptative advantage of such facultative physiological integration between ramets of a clone is discussed.     

Measurements of genetic variability for symbiotic dinitrogen fixation in fieldgrwon fababean (Vicia faba L.) using a low level15N-tracer technique

Before starting a breeding program aimed at improving the nitrogen nutrition ofVicia faba, the authors tried an alternative technique to the acetylene reduction assay, to measure some genetic variability in the plant material. The quantity of dinitrogen fixed by several cultivars ofVicia faba was estimated using a low enrichment¹⁵N tracer method and high precision¹⁵N mass spectrometry. The fababeans were cultivated for two years in two different soils. The percentage of fixed dinitrogen in the seed varied between genotypes from 40 to 83% of the total nitrogen and was positively correlated with the total seed nitrogen (r=0.64 to 0.86). A highly significant positive correlation was also found between the total seed nitrogen and the quantity of fixed dinitrogen in the seed (r=0.95 to 0.99). The technique used to measure dinitrogen fixation proved to be useful and reliable enough to discriminate between various genotypes, grown over a period of two years in two different soils. However, several non-fixing control plants showed significant differences in their¹⁵N enrichment and the problem of choosing a good reference plant was raised and discussed.     

Growth and development of maxipak wheat as affected by soil salinity and moisture levels

The effect of soil salinity and soil moisture on the growth and yield of maxipak wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) was studied in a lath-house experiment in whih, chloride-sulphate salt mixtures were used to artificially salinize a sandy loam soil from Al-Jadyriah Baghdad. Five soil salinity levels of ECe's equal to 1.7 (Control) 4.2, 5.8, 8.1, 9.4 and 11.0dSm^–1 were prepared and used at 3 levels of available soil moisture depletion, namely, 25, 50, and 75% as determined by weight. Both growth (vegetative) and yield components were studied throughout the growing season.Results showed that increasing the soil salinity from 1.7 to 11.0 dSm^–1, and decreasing the available soil water from 75 to 25% resulted in independent and significant decreases in Mazipak wheat growth and yield components at different stages of plant development. Root growth showed more sensitivity to both available soil water and soil salinity level than other components. It has been concluded that at soil salinity levels of more than 8.0 dSm^–1, available soil water became a limiting factor on wheat growth and the maintenance of 75% of available soil water during the growth period is recommended to obtain satisfactory grain yield.     

Voltage-dependent channels permeable to K+ and Na+ in the membrane ofAcer pseudoplatanus vacuoles

Summary The patch-clamp technique in whole-cell configuration was used to study the electrical properties of the tonoplast in isolated vacuoles fromAcer pseudoplatanus cultured cells. In symmetrical KCl or K₂ malate solutions, voltage- and time-dependent inward currents were elicited by hyperpolarizing the tonoplast (inside negative), while in the positive range of potential the conductance was very small. The specific conductance of the tonoplast at –100 mV, in 100mm symmetrical KCl was about 160 S/cm². The reversal potentials (E _rev) of the current, measured in symmetrical or asymmetrical ion concentrations (cation, anion or both) were very close to the values of the K⁺ equilibrium potential. Experiments performed in symmetrical or asymmetrical NaCl indicate that Na⁺ too can flow through the channels. NeitherE _rev nor amplitude and kinetics of the current changed by replacing NaCl with KCl in the external solution. These results indicate the presence of hyperpolarization-activated channels in tonoplasts, which are permeable to K⁺ as well as to Na⁺. Anions such as Cl^– or malate seem to contribute little to the channel current.     

水稻原生质体产生细胞团的冰冻保存和冻后再生植株形成

水稻(Oryza sativa L.)原生质体产生的细胞团加上10-20％的二甲亚枫(DMSO)和10-20％的蔗糖,置于液氮中保存。冻后细胞生存率达到对照的40-50％。存活的细胞在附加2×10~(-5)mol/l 2,4-D 的Linsmier-Skoog(Ls)固体培养基上再生长,然后将形成的愈伤组织块转到附加10~(-6)mol/l NAA,4×10~(-6)mol/l 激动素和10~(-6)mol/l 2 IP 及8％的蔗糖的 LS培养基上分化出芽并形成植株。     

青天葵野生变家栽的探讨——Ⅰ.生物学特性的观察

青天葵是广西特产药材,过去一直处于野生状态,药源日渐枯竭.供不应求。作者通过调查和研究,掌握了它的生态条件和生物学特性。实践证明,青天葵由野生变为人工栽培是可能的。     

桑树叶肉原生质体培养再生植株

近年来,木本植物原生质作诱导再生植株的研究越来越受到国内外学者关注。但在林木树种中,迄今成功的种类仍然不多,在文     

小麦体细胞再生株（R1）的染色体变异分析

本文研究了普通小麦(Triticum aestivum)、“宁麦三号”等5个基因型的体细胞再生株(R_1)减数分裂各期的染色体异常行为。结果表明:再生株 R_1代有丝分裂时表现为染色体数量上的变异,最常见的有2n-2类型,其次是2n-1类型,也有少数为2n 1和2n-4等变异类型;再生株 R_1花粉母细胞减数分裂过程中出现单价体、多价体、染色体桥、落后染色体、断片和微核等异常现象,并与各基因型细胞遗传程度上差异有关。     

Isolation of plant DNA: A fast,inexpensive, and reliable method

We describe here a simple method to isolate DNA of high molecular weight from a wide variety of plant materials, such as trees, herbaceous plants, cell suspension cultures, calli, seeds, dried embryos, ferns and lichens. The crucial step of the extraction is the use of an acidic extraction medium. When necessary, the sample was separated on a fast RPC-5 column providing us with highly purified DNA suitable not only for restriction endonuclease analyses but also for PCR experiments, RLFP analyses, or detection of adducts.