Adventitious in vitro plantlet formation from immature floral stems of Crinum macowanii

Adventitious shoots and plantlets were regenerated in vitro from floral stem explants of Crinum macowanii (Bak.) (bush lily). The length (age) of the floral stem as well as the orientation and position of the explant disc in the floral stem were the most important factors affecting shoot regeneration. The highest number of shoots were regenerated when immature floral stems of 70–100 mm were used as starting material, using the middle or basal parts of the stem, and orientating the discs with their proximal ends on the medium. Combinations of kinetin (4.65 M) and either indoleacetic acid (0.57 M) or naphthaleneacetic acid (0.54 M), or a combination of benzyladenine (4.44 M) and 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (0.45 M) resulted in the highest numbers of shoots being regenerated. Although a slight degree of callus formation was noticed on the cut-edges of the discs, shoot formation did not occur via callus, but directly from the floral stem epidermis. Unrooted shoots were rooted on MS-medium containing 0.17 M sucrose.Abbreviations BA benzyladenine - IAA indoleacetic acid - IBA indolebutyric acid - NAA naphthaleneacetic acid - 2,4-d 2,4 dichlorophenoxyacetic acid     

苏南丘陵主要森林类型碳循环研究──含量与分布规律

苏南丘陵主要森林类型碳循环研究含量与分布规律阮宏华姜志林高苏铭１）（南京林业大学森林资源与环境学院,２１００３７）ＰｒｅｌｉｍｉｎａｒｙＳｔｕｄｉｅｓｏｆＣａｒｂｏｎＣｙｃｌｉｎｇｉｎＴｈｒｅＴｙｐｅｓｏｆＦｏｒｅｓｔｓｉｎｔｈｅＨｉｌｙＲｅｇｉｏ...     

New species of the genus Mahinda Krombein, 1983 (Hymenoptera,Chrysididae, Amiseginae)

Three new species of Mahinda are described, bo from Vietnam, borneensis from Malaysian Borneo and sulawesiensis from northern Sulawesi. A key to the three known species is provided including the previously described species, saltator Krombein, 1983.     

百合细胞中内生菌的发现

在健康的百合鳞茎、地上茎、叶和幼胚等组织的细胞中发现了“内生菌”。通过光学显微镜、电镜和组培等观察,“内生菌”不影响百合细胞的正常分裂和分化,再生植株健壮。这些细菌还能随着宿主细胞的分裂转移到子细胞。“内生菌”椭圆形或近圆球形。电镜切片菌壁厚,单层,均质,为典型革兰氏阳性菌壁结构。电镜观察结果与光学显微镜观察内生菌的革兰氏染色反应是一致的。     

Sexual reproduction in the arum lily family,with emphasis on thermogenicity

Summary Floral thermogenicity, which is found in several representatives of half a dozen angiosperm families, is most pronounced in the Araceae. It is based on the operation of an alternative, cyanide-resistant electron transport chain which, in contrast to the classic cytochrome oxidase system, produces little ATP; most of the energy originally locked up in the respiratory substrate usually starch — is therefore liberated in the form of heat. The biological function of this (biochemically wasteful) system is to release the heat to serve as a volatilizer for the floral odors (often containing aliphatic amines, indole and skatole) that attract the insect pollinators. This makes the survival value of thermogenesis (for the plant species) immediately clear. Thermogenicity is under tight biological control, as demonstrated by the fact that the same ceiling temperature is always reached, regardless of ambient temperature. In Eastern skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus), which flowers very early in spring, that ceiling is about 20° C, in tropical forms such as Xanthosoma robustum and Philodendron selloum, it lies in the 42°–44° C range. In several instances, e.g., in Arum and in Sauromatum, the voodoo lily, thermogenicity manifests itself as a flare-up of only a few hours' duration, a respiratory explosion that can lead to rates of metabolism that compare favorably with those of a hovering hummingbird. The metabolic peak is always reached at a particular time of day, which is different for the different arum lily species, and thus reduces competition for pollinators. The odors that accompany the heat are also very characteristic, appealing to different pollinator classes and further reducing such competition. In the voodoo lily and in Arum, the primary site for the production of both heat and odor is the naked appendix of the inflorescence, which acts as a specialized osmophore or odor carrier. The first explosion may be followed by another one several hours later, which manifests itself in the floral chamber of the inflorescence and is under strict photoperiodic control. In Sauromatum, the first metabolic explosion is triggered by a plant hormone, originally referred to as calorigen, which originates in the primordia of the staminate flowers and moves from there into the appendix where it exerts its action after a lag-time of about a day — an indication that synthesis of new enzymatic protein (through unblocking of certain genes?) may well be involved. In 1987, calorigen was shown to be identical with salicylic acid. This compound was already known to induce flowering in certain duck-weeds, Lemnaceae, which until recently were regarded as belonging to the same family as arum lilies. In certain water lilies (Nymphaeaceae), thermogenicity is combined with a pollination syndrome very similar to that of Arum and Sauromatum but involving temporary trap flowers.Dedicated to the memory of A.W.H. van Herk, pioneer in the study of arum lilies, superb lecturer, and unselfish human being     

Vacuolar sorting receptors (VSRs) and secretory carrier membrane proteins (SCAMPs) are essential for pollen tube growth

Vacuolar sorting receptors (VSRs) are type‐I integral membrane proteins that mediate biosynthetic protein traffic in the secretory pathway to the vacuole, whereas secretory carrier membrane proteins (SCAMPs) are type‐IV membrane proteins localizing to the plasma membrane and early endosome (EE) or trans‐Golgi network (TGN) in the plant endocytic pathway. As pollen tube growth is an extremely polarized and highly dynamic process, with intense anterograde and retrograde membrane trafficking, we have studied the dynamics and functional roles of VSR and SCAMP in pollen tube growth using lily (Lilium longiflorum) pollen as a model. Using newly cloned lily VSR and SCAMP cDNA (termed LIVSR and LISCAMP, respectively), as well as specific antibodies against VSR and SCAMP1 as tools, we have demonstrated that in growing lily pollen tubes: (i) transiently expressed GFP‐VSR/GFP‐LIVSR is located throughout the pollen tubes, excepting the apical clear‐zone region, whereas GFP‐LISCAMP is mainly concentrated in the tip region; (ii) VSRs are localized to the multivesicular body (MVB) and vacuole, whereas SCAMPs are localized to apical endocytic vesicles, TGN and vacuole; and (iii) microinjection of VSR or SCAMP antibodies and LlVSR small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) significantly reduced the growth rate of the lily pollen tubes. Taken together, both VSR and SCAMP are required for pollen tube growth, probably working together in regulating protein trafficking in the secretory and endocytic pathways, which need to be coordinated in order to support pollen tube elongation.     

The effects of different blend ratios and temperature on the active space of the Oriental fruit moth sex pheromone

Abstract The wing-fanning activation response of male Oriental fruit moths (OFM), Grapholita molesta (Busck), in the field to the three-component pheromone containing the female-produced ratio of components (Z8-12:OAc + 6% E8-12:OAc + 3% Z8-12:OH) was compared with the response to blends containing 2,10 and 20% E with 3% OH, and the 6% E blend containing 30 and 100% OH. Comparisons were made over three temperature ranges: 15–17, 20–21 and 26–28^oC. Both the maximum response distance and male response specificity were significantly altered by changes in odour quality as well as temperature. For blends containing different Z/E ratios the maximum response distance increased significantly with temperature. Response specificity was most pronounced at the 20–21^oC range, with males displaying a lower threshold for the natural 6% E ratio, evidenced by the fact that fewer males responded and at closer distances to the source with off-ratios. At 26–28^oC response specificity for the Z/E ratios was much reduced, primarily due to more males activating to off-ratios. With blends containing different proportions of Z8-12:OH in the 6% E blend, increasing temperature increased the maximum response distance for all treatments, but in addition increasing the proportion of OH alone from 3% to 30% significantly increased the maximum response distance over the three temperature ranges tested. This increase occurred without affecting the proportion of responders or the distribution of response distances around the mean value. However, with 100% OH added to the blend, whereas male response was high at 20–21^oC, the distribution of response distances was significantly more variable than with 3% or 30%, and male response was eliminated or very low at 15–17^oC and 26–28^oC. Our results support previous studies showing that peak response levels in this species are dependent on male perception of the natural blend of components, and that males have a high degree of specificity for the qualitative properties of the pheromone. However, the present results also extend those of previous flight tunnel tests in which response specificity was most pronounced in the upwind flight phase of the sequence, by showing that male OFM also display a     

Oral Immunization of Mice with Lily Pollen Expressing HBsAg

Lily pollen was developed to express HBsAg by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. A double prime-boost strategy combining parenteral and oral HBsAg boosters was found to increase antibody titer levels 10-fold, as compared to a single process of priming and boosting. Lily pollen may prove a tool for oral vaccine development.     

Isolation and characterization of microsatellite loci in the threatened wild toad lily Tricyrtis flava (Liliaceae)

Twelve polymorphic microsatellite loci were isolated and characterized from the threatened toad lily Tricyrtis flava. The number of alleles ranged from three to 17, and the observed and expected heterozygosities ranged from 0.35 to 0.96 and from 0.50 to 0.93, respectively, in a population of T. flava. We also tested cross‐species amplifications of the markers in three other species of Trycyrtis sect. Flavae. Most of 12 markers developed for T. flava were successfully amplified in the species of sect. Flavae and will be useful for population genetic studies of these species.