Response of Douglas fir seedlings to phosphorus fertilization and influence of temperature on this response

Summary Effects of P fertilizers on growth of Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var.menziesii (Mirb.) Franco.) seedlings were examined in pots and nursery beds. In pot experiments levels of P equivalent to 300 kg/ha were adequate for maximum growth over 14–18 weeks and resulted in available soil P levels of 80 ppm after 15 weeks' growth. Maximum growth in pots was obtained with shoot P concentrations of 0.18%–0.20%, with higher values at lower temperatures, but the optimum concentration for one-year old (1-0) nursery seedlings was 0.16% P. Growth of seedlings was greatly restricted at a soil temperature of 5°C and an air temperature of 12°C. At a soil temperature of 10°C and an air temperature of 14°C seedling P requirement was greater than at soil and air temperatures of 20°C.Comparison showed that monammonium phosphate was more effective than calcium superphosphate in stimulating growth in pots and nursery. Triple superphosphate was also effective in the nursery. Diammonium phosphate, potassium dihydrogen phosphate and phosphoric acid had no advantages as P sources in the nursery. Available P levels of 100–130 ppm, in the loamy sand and sandy loam nurseries studied, and needle P concentrations of 0.18%, when sampled in October, were associated with maximum growth of two-year old (2-0) seedlings.P fertilization decreased root/shoot ratio, but did not alter the allometric relationship of shoot to root. Improving P status from a low level increased root growth capacity in 2-0 seedlings and P fertilization of potted seedlings increased dry weight/height ratio. Uptakes per seed bed ha of 236 kg N, 31 kg P, 81 kg K and 73 kg Ca by 2-0 seedlings were comparable with, or greater than, uptake rates of agricultural crops. Recoveries of 6–11% of P from fertilizer were recorded in the nursery.     

Macro nutrient cation uptake by plants

Summary In pot experiments with barley, mustard, leek, lettuce and spinach, and in a field experiment with 30 cultivars of barley uptakes of K, Mg, Ca, Na and N were studied at varying concentrations and activities of these cations in the soil solution.The sum of macro cations (K, Mg, Ca, Na) in meq per 100 g aerial plant parts were independent of the chemical composition of the soil solution, but dependent on plant species and on the N concentration in the plant.The ratios of mean net inflows of Mg, Ca and K into plants and corresponding cation activity ratios (a_Mg/a_Ca and ) in the soil solution were linearly related and highly correlated under conditions in which growth rate and/or rate of incorporation into new tissues constituted the rate determining step of cation uptake. Consequently, mean net inflows of K, Mg and Ca were independent of ion concentration and ion activity of K, Mg or Ca in the soil solution under the conditions of constant activity ratio.The results agree with the concept that plants have a finite cation uptake capacity, and that plants are in a equilibrium-like state with the activities of K, Mg, and Ca ions in the soil solution. The results indicate that both ratios and content of exchangeable cations should be considered in our evaluation of soil test data.     

Modulation of platelet responsiveness through selective phosphorylation of plasma membrane proteins: Antagonistic eeffects of cyclic AMP and cyclic GMP

³²P phosphorylation of plasma membranes from human blood platelets, under conditions that closely resemble physiological ones (endogeneous phosphate donors and intact platelets in homologous plasma), result in the incorporation of the label mainly in a membrane glycoprotein of apparently high molecular weight (greater than 400 000). Dibutyryl cyclic AMP, an inhibitor of platelet aggregation, specifically increases the degree of phosphorylation of this glycoprotein. Moreover, it has been found that prostaglandin E₁ one of the most potent inhibitors of platelet aggregation which also increases phosphorylation of the same glycoprotein, is significantly more effective than cyclic AMP.Cyclic GMP does not have any apparent effect on platelet aggregation. However, incubation of platelet-rich plasma with both cyclic GMP and cyclic AMP results in a partial recovery of the platelet responsiveness towards ADP-induced aggregation. Coincidently, the degree of phosphorylation of the high molecular weight glycoprotein under these conditions, although still higher than in controls (no nucleotides added), is significantly decreased as compared with cyclic AMP-treated cells. Furthermore, cyclic GMP inhibits the cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase activity in isolated platelet plasma membranes.These results suggest a central role for this membrane phosphoglycoprotein in the triggering of platelet aggregation and, furthermore, suggest that modulation of its degree of phosphorylation may be exerted through some cyclic AMP/cyclic GMP relationship, which in the basal state might be critical for platelet responsiveness.     

Effect of soil moisture and clipping stresses on the nutrient (N,P and K) concentration,uptake and use efficiency in one temperate and two tropical grasses

Summary The concentration, uptake and element use efficiency of N, P and K in one C₃ annual (Polypogon monspeliensis) and two C₄ (Echinochloa colonum, an annual, andDichathium annulatum, a perennial) grasses were determined during winter and summer seasons in monocultures raised in field plots at three moisture levels,viz. full, half and one-fourth of field capacity. At each moisture regime the plants were clipped thrice at moderate and severe levels corresponding to 40 and 80% of live green. The concentration of these elements was characteristic of the growth habit of these plants;e.g. the build up of concentration was maximum in leaf of the annuals while it was comparable in crown and leaf of Dichanthium. The N level was maximum in Polypogon. The nutrient use effiency was comparable in the two annuals and maximum K and N use were obtained in Polypogon and Dichanthium, respectively.     

Structural changes in (Na+ + K+)-ATPase accompanying detergent inactivation

Structural changes in the purified $\text{(}\text{Na}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{+ K}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{)-ATPase}$ accompanying detergent inactivation were investigated by monitoring changes in light scattering, intrinsic protein fluorescence, and tryptophan to β-parinaric acid fluorescence resonance energy transfer. Two phases of inactivation were observed using the non-ionic detergents, digitonin, Lubrol WX and Triton X-100. The rapid phase involves detergent monomer insertion but little change in protein structure or little displacement of closely associated lipids as judged by intrinsic protein fluorescence and fluorescence resonance energy transfer. Lubrol WX and Triton X-100 also caused membrane fragmentation during the rapid phase. The slower phase of inactivation results in a completely inactive enzyme in a particle of 400 000 daltons with 20 mol/mol of associated phospholipid. Fluorescence changes during the course of the slow phase indicate some dissociation of protein-associated lipids and an accompanying protein conformational change. It is concluded that non-parallel inhibition of $\text{(}\text{Na}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{+ K}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{)-ATPase}$ and $\text{p-}\text{nitrophenylphosphate}$ activity by digitonin (which occurs during the rapid phase of inactivation) is unlikely to require a change in the oligomeric state of the enzyme. It is also concluded that at least 20 mol/mol of tightly associated lipid are necessary for either $\text{(}\text{Na}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{+ K}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{)-ATPase}$ or $\text{p-}\text{nitrophenylphosphatase}$ activity and that the rate-limiting step in the slow inactivation phase involves dissociation of an essential lipid.     

Effect of algal growth on the availability of phosphorus,iron and manganese in rice soils

Summary Laboratory experiments were conducted to study the effect of algal growth on the change of (I) pH, (II) available phosphorus and (III) solubility of iron and manganese content in five waterlogged alluvial rice soils of West Bengal, India. The results showed that the algal growth initially caused an increase in the soil pH, which later declined to the original value in some of the soils. The available phosphorus content decreased upto 90 days of their growth and began to increase towards the later period of incubation. The drastic fall of water soluble plus exchaneable manganese content of the soils due to algal growth was accompanied by similar increase in reducible manganese content. No appreciable change in water soluble plus exchangeable ferrous iron content was encountered but theN-NH₄OAC(pH 3) extractable iron due to algal growth progressively decreased with the progress of the incubation period.     

Nodulation and growth ofLablab purpureus (Dolichos lablab) in relation to rhizobium strain,liming and phosphorus

Summary Greenhouse experiments were done with two purposes: (1) to identify strains of rhizobia effective and acid-tolerant in symbiosis withLablab purpureus, and (2) to determine whether soil acidity or the symbiotic condition increased the phosphate requirement for growth.Five rhizobial strains were tested in one neutral soil, two acid soils, and the two acid soils limed to pH 6.6. In the neutral and limed soils, three of the strains were effective (CB1024, CB756, TAL169), but only two strains (CB756, TAL169) remained effective in acid soil.Strain CB756 and plus-N treatments were further compared in a factorial trial involving combinations of five levels of P with lime, no lime and CaCl₂ treatments, applied to an acid soil. Some of the treatments were also applied to plants inoculated with CB1024. Between the N-fertilized and CB756 treatments there was no clear difference in growth response to applied P, and the critical internal concentration of P for 95% of maximal growth was the same (0.22% shoot dry weight). Increasing P beyond levels needed for maximal growth increased nodulation and N concentration in plants inoculated with CB756. It lowered N concentration in N-fertilized plants. There was evidence suggesting that the P requirement of symbiotic plants increased if the soil was acid, or if CB756 were replaced by CB1024 as microsymbiont; but the critical statistical interactions were not significant.     

Spectrophotometric titrations of micellar Schiff''s bases prepared from pyridoxal 5′-phosphate

Electron absorption and equilibrium of the Schiffs bases prepared between pyridoxal 5′-phosphate (PLP) and dodecylamine (DODA) or some other shorter chain amines have been studied in nonionic and cationic micellar solutions with various pH of the bulk solution. In the presence of the nonionic (Triton X-100) micelles the Schiffs bases formed between PLP and DODA were embedded into the micelles because the absorption occured at 335 nm, indicative of the nonpolar milieu. This absorption was constant at pH 5–10. At pH 3–5, the tautomeric form absorbing at 415 nm appeared. This resembles the titration of glycogen phosphorylate or that of Schiffs bases in methanol. Short chain amines absorbed at 415 nm, which is typical of Schiffs bases in aqueous solutions. Tryptophan also absorbed first at 415 nm but the absorption changed to 325 nm with a half-time of ～20 min. This was interpreted as being due to formation of the cyclic structure catalysed by micelles. The pH-dependent equilibrium constant of the reaction between PLP and DODA in Triton X-100 solution had a maximum at pH9, the value being 3500 M^?1, about ten times greater than the value of ethylamine at the same pH. Spectral properties of PLP-DODA imines in the cationic micelles (cetyltrimethylammonium bromide) resembled those in the nonionic micelles, except that at low pH the absorption peak in the 415 nm region did not appear. The equilibrium constant of PLP-DODA had maximum at pH 9, the value being as high as 118000 M^?1. Different properties of nonionic and cationic micelles and the design of micellar model systems of PLP enzymes are discussed.     

Ultracentrifugation in polyethylene tubing: An efficient method to concentrate protein solutions on the microliter scale

An ultracentrifugation procedure is described to concentrate protein solutions on the microliter scale. Protein solutions were centrifuged in U-shaped lengths of polyethylene tubing at 160 000 × g for 15 h and thereafter fractionated by cutting the tubing. The method can be performed in a conventional ultracentrifuge and needs no special equipment.