Photocontrol of the hypocotyl hook opening of Sinapis alba seedlings. Involvement of phytochrome and a high irradiance response

Baumgartner, N. and Fondeville, J. C. 1989. Photocontrol of the hypocotyl hook opening of Sinapis alba seedlings. Involvement of phytochrome and a high irradiance response.
A statistical evaluation of the hypocotyl hook opening (hook opening index) was used for measurement of the hook angle in lots of etiolated Sinapis alba L. cv. Albatros seedlings. Studies of the kinetics for hook opening were carried out in continuous fluorescent white, blue and red light (6, 15 and 40 μmol m^-2s^-1) with 2-day-old dark-grown seedlings. At the beginning of the irradiation period the photoresponse in red light was the opposite to that in blue (low photon fluences). Blue rapidly induced the hook opening (in less than 20 min), while red produced hook tightening (photon fluences up to 70 mmol m^-2), which precedes the normal progressive hook opening. For low fluences, the data were consistent with the involvement of phytochrome and a specific blue light photoreceptor. A phytochrome effect was observed in the hook opening, dependent upon a high irradiance response (HIR). This HIR (like that for the inhibition of the hypocotyl elongation) was characterized by a wavelength response curve with maxima in the blue and far-red regions of the spectrum.     

Species diversities analyzed by density and cover in an early volcanic succession

To evaluate alpha diversities, various variables such as density, cover, volume, and weight have been used. However, density is often a distinct variable from the remaining three. To clarify differences in diversity measured by those two kinds of variables, the data collected in fourteen 2×5 m permanently-marked plots on Mount Usu, Japan, which erupted during 1977 and 1978 in growing seasons from 1983 to 1989 was analyzed, using Shannon's species diversity (H) that is represented as a result of combination of species richness and evenness (J). H and J were evaluated by density (density H and J) and cover (cover H and J). Cover H and J were significantly lower than density H and J, indicating that cover H has different characteristics from density H. Those differences are due to differences in evenness, because species richness is the same. The rank orders of species density are different from those of cover. The predominance of a few perennial herbs greatly decreases cover evenness, while seedling establishment success influences density evenness. Therefore, I propose that, during the early stages of succession on harsh environments such as volcanoes, density diversity represents seedling establishment success rate while cover diversity expresses vegetative reproduction success rate.     

高压静电场分离水稻、油菜及芝麻种子对萌发期生物效应的影响

落入高压静电场内的水稻、芝麻及油菜种子,在场的作用下,即产生沿电场方向的位移,在同一跌落高度下,重量基本相同的种子,其分离距离产生很大的差异,且分离距离与种子的发芽率及发芽势的改善程度存在着较为明显的相关关系,研究中证实,种子活力强度得到提高,其α淀粉酶活性、蛋白酶活性、脂肪酶活性及电导率得到明显的改善。     

二种稻飞虱对寄主及氮肥、密度适应性的比较研究

本试验采用二因素最优设计,研究了白背飞虱[Sogatellafurcifera（Horvath）]和褐飞虱[Nilaparvatalugens(Stal）]的种群数量同栽插密度及施氮水平的关系,并考察了它们对寄主品种的适应性。结果表明：二种飞虱对寄主品种的适应性除受到品种自身特性的影响外,还随寄主生育状况及管理水平对田间小气候的影响而变化,表现出时间状态的差异;并得出了二种稻飞虱种群数量同施氮水平和栽插密度关系的回归方程。     

高压静电场处理沙棘插条生根状况的初步研究

用高压静电场处理沙棘插条研究生根状况,方法简便易于处理,该装置适于进行大规模的处理,从目前研究表明：高压静电场对沙棘插条有正刺激效应,并以电场强度为３．９ｋｖ／ｃｍ,时间为４０分钟处理最佳。     

Cell wall synthesis in cotton roots after infection with Fusarium oxysporum

Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. vasinfectum penetration hyphae infect living cells in the meristematic zone of cotton (Gossypium barbadense L.) roots. We characterized wall modifications induced by the fungus during infection of the protodermis using antibodies against callose, arabinogalactan-proteins, xyloglucan, pectin, polygalacturonic acid and rhamnogalacturonan I in high-pressure frozen, freeze-substituted root tissue. Using quantitative immunogold labelling we compared the cell walls before and after hyphal contact, cell plates with plasmodesmata during cytokinesis, and wall appositions induced by fungal contact. In the already-existing wall, fungal contact induced only minor modifications such as an increase of xyloglucan epitopes. Wall appositions mostly exhibited epitopes similar to the cell plate except that wall appositions had a much higher callose content. This study shows that wall appositions induced by Fusarium oxysporum hyphae are the result of normal cell wall synthesis and the addition of large amounts of callose. The appositions do not stop fungal growth.     

The growth and nutrient utilization of the insect cell line Spodoptera frugiperda Sf9 in batch and continuous culture

The growth of the Spodoptera frugiperda cell line Sf9 was studied in batch and continuous culture. The results of batch cultivations showed that glucose was the preferred energy and carbon source limiting the cell density in both TNM-FH and IPL-41 media. Continuous culture using IPL-41-based feeding medium with different glucose (2.5, 5 and 10 g l⁻¹) and yeast extract concentrations (4, 8 and 16 g l⁻¹) showed that in serum-supplemented medium the maximum cell density was limited by glucose and yeast extract concentration. The transition to glucose limitation caused a decrease in growth rate and viability. A high cell density culture (18 × 10⁶ ml⁻¹) was obtained using a glucose concentration of 10 g l⁻¹ and a yeast extract concentration of 8 g l⁻¹ in the feeding medium. A yeast extract concentration of 16 g l⁻¹ inhibited growth. Unlike mammalian cell cultures, lactate, alanine and ammonia were not involved in growth inhibition. Lactate did not accumulate under aerobic conditions. Ammonia accumulation, if observed, was insignificant. The level of alanine synthesized and excreted into the culture medium never reached an inhibitory level. During glucose limitation alanine did not accumulate and ammonia was released. However, even in the presence of glucose significant amounts of Asp, Glu, Gln, Asn, Ser, Arg and Met were utilized for energy production. The amino groups of these amino acids were transferred to pyruvate or used for nucleic acid synthesis and excreted in the form of alanine into the culture medium. The consumption of His, Lys, Thr, Gly, Val, Leu, Phe, Tyr, Trp and Ile by growing Sf-9 cells was almost equal to their concentration in the biomass.     

Fatty acid composition of vitellogenin from four teleost species

The fatty acid compositions of vitellogenin and liver from cod (Gadus morhua), rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), turbot (Scophthalmus maximus) and wolffish (Anarhichas lupus) were determined. Vitellogenin was isolated from plasma of estradiol-17-treated fish by precipitation with EDTA-Mg²⁺ and distilled water or by high-performance ion-exchange chromatography. In all investigated species, vitellogenin contained 16–18% (w/w) lipid, in which polyunsaturated fatty acids, predominantly 20:5 (n-3) and 22:6 (n-3), comprised about 50% of the total fatty acids. The proportions of saturated, monounsaturated, polyunsaturated and (n-3) fatty acids in vitellogenin of the different species were generally similar, although the relative content of specific fatty acids was distinctive for each species. The distribution of fatty acids in total lipids of vitellogenin was highly consistent among individual females of each species. In contrast, liver fatty acid composition varied considerably, both within and between species. Altogether, the differences in the fatty acid composition of vitellogenin and liver from each species indicate that a specific selection of fatty acids occurs during the lipidation of vitellogenin.Abbreviations BHT butylated hydroxytoluene - E-17 estradiol-17 - EDTA ethylenedinitrilo tetra-acetic acid disodium salt dihydrate - FA fatty acids - FAME fatty acid methyl esters - HDL high density lipoproteins - PUFA polyunsaturated fatty acids - SD standard deviation - TLC thin-layer chromatography - VHDL very high density lipoproteins - VLDL very low density lipoproteins - v/v volume per volume - w/v weight per volume - w/w weight per weight