Artificial seeds of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.). Induction of desiccation tolerance in somatic embryos

Summary The use of somatic embryos from cell culture systems in the clonal propagation of plants would be greatly facilitated if the somatic embryos could be dried and stored in a dormant state similar to true seeds. A cell culture system was developed for alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) line RL34 which gave high yields of somatic embryos in an approximately synchronized pattern. These somatic embryos were treated with abscisic acid (ABA) at the cotyledonary stage of development to induce desiccation tolerance. With no visual preselection, approximately 60% of the dried embryos converted into plants upon reimbibition. When high quality embryos were selected prior to drying, 90 to 100% conversion rates were observed. The timing of the application of ABA in terms of embryo development was critical with an optimum being at cotyledonary stage spanning approximately 4 days; thus, synchronized embryo development is required for optimal expression in bulk samples. The vigor of the seedlings from dried somatic embryos was greater than those from embryos which had not been dried, but remained substantially lower than those from true seeds.     

Fine-grain pattern in Southern Cape plateau forests

Abstract. Regeneration levels, size class distributions and a nearest neighbour technique were used to describe apreliminary dynamics frameworkfortheplateauforests. Taken over a large area, most of the canopy dominants have a negative exponential distribution of stems > 10 cm dbh per size class. In small (0.04 ha) plots, if present as more than one stem, most species are present as both canopy (> 25 cm dbh) and understorey (10–15 cm dbh) individuals. The canopy dominants maintain their rank in the bank of advance regeneration (> 5 cm height < 10 cm dbh). However, relative numbers of all regeneration of most canopy individuals are not strongly correlated with canopy closure or local abundance of conspecific adults. The mean area of nearest neighbour polygons of canopy individuals around saplings of the more common species are small. In conclusion, most species appearto be shade tolerant and locally persistent conferring a fine grain on this forest. We support recent questioning of universality of the gaps/non gaps paradigm.     

The impact of food quantity on UV-B tolerance and recovery from UV-B damage in Daphnia pulex

UV-B (290 nm) tolerance of Daphnia pulex, conditioned to four different food levels (Chlorophyta), was tested under standardized conditions with an artificial radiation source. Parameters measured were survival, percentage of egg bearing Daphnia and the number of juveniles produced after irradiation. UV-B tolerance of Daphnia pulex was found to be significantly improved with increasing food concentrations at all three parameters. The impact of the four different food concentrations on the photoreactivation system was tested with simultanous UV-B and white-light irradiation of Daphnia. Survival rate improved significantly with increasing food levels compared to solely UV-B irradiation. Photoreactivation had no effect on the reproductive parameters.     

Distribution and ecology of freshwater sponges in Connecticut

A survey of Connecticut lakes and rivers revealed the presence of 7 species of freshwater sponge: Spongilla lacustris, Ephydatia muelleri, Eunapius fragilis, Anheteromeyenia ryderi, A. argyrosperma, Corvomeyenia carolinensis, and Corvospongilla novaeterrae in order of decreasing frequency of occurrence. Corvomeyenia carolinensis has not been reported previously beyond its type locality in South Carolina. In addition, microscleres of Spongilla lacustris, Anheteromeyenia-like megascleres, Ephydatia muelleri-like megascleres, and smooth megascleres (amphioxeas), which could not be assigned to a particular species, were found in surface sediments from lake cores. Spongilla lacustris inhabiting small rivers produced brown, thick-capsuled gemmules during the summer and yellow, thin-capsuled gemmules during the fall. The thick-capsuled gemmules, but not the thin-capsuled gemmules, are tolerant of desiccation; and populations of Spongilla lacustris and Ephydatia muelleri survived severe drying of their habitats during the summer.     

急性低氧对大鼠血液中儿茶酚胺及血小板聚集性的影响

健康ＳＤ雄性大鼠,体重２５０－３００ｇ,麻醉、气管插管,用人工呼吸机经气袋供气,自发吸入氧浓度为９％的氧氮混合气,用高效液相色谱－电化学联合检测法及电阻法检测循环血液中儿茶酚胺及全血血小权聚集性的动态变化。结果：急性低氧１５ｍｉｎ时血液中肾肾上腺素（Ａ）浓度及全血血小板聚集性显著增加（Ｐ〈０．０１）,而去甲肾上腺素（ＮＡ）浓度虽有所增加,但无统计学意义（Ｐ〉０．０５）;复氧１５ｍｉｎ时血液中儿茶酚     

Is the Mg2+-ATP-dependent proton pumping activity of the synaptic vesicles a factor involved in the cerebral hypoxia?

The changes in the Mg²⁺-dependent V-type ATPase activity and the Mg²⁺-ATP-dependent H⁺ pumping activity of the synaptic vesicles from the cerebral cortex of rats submitted to intermittent chronic (4 weeks) mild or severe hypoxia were evaluated. The adaptation to the chronic severe hypoxia increases both the ATPase and the H⁺ pumping activities which are inhibited by NEM with an exponential relationship between the IC₅₀ values and the in vivo O₂ concentration. The Mg²⁺-dependent increase in H⁺ pumping activity of synaptic vesicles from the rats subjected to in vivo chronic hypoxia may be antagonized by nigericin (dissipating ΔpH) and by FCCP (dissipating ΔpH and Δ_ΨSV). In contrast, valinomycin (dissipating the Δ_ΨSV and facilitating an enhancement in ΔpH) increases in vitro the H⁺ pumping activity that is inhibited by the addition of high concentration of K gluconate (reducing the rate of K⁺ efflux). The preincubation of vesicles from hypoxic rats with FCCP, but not with nigericin, inhibits the valinomycin-increased H⁺ pumping activity.l-glutamate increases the H⁺ pumping activity in synaptic vesicles from the cerebral cortex of chronic hypoxic rats, whereas other amino acids (i.e.,l-aspartate andl-homocysteate) and glutamate analogs (i.e., quisqualate and ibotenate) are ineffective. The adaptation to both chronic intermittent severe hypoxia and in vivo treatment with posatireline causes a decrease in the Mg²⁺-ATPase activity consistent with the decrease in the H⁺ pumping one of the synaptic vesicles. The addition of nigericin into incubation medium magnifies the decrease in the H⁺ pumping activity, while the addition of FCCP is ineffective, suggesting that the treatment with posatireline interferes with the Δ_ΨSV component in the of the synaptic vesicles from rats submitted to chronic hypoxia. The results of the in vivo and in vitro experiments suggest that in the synaptic vesicles from hypoxic rats the Δ_ΨSV component in may be most effective in increasing the Mg²⁺-ATP-dependent H⁺ pumping activity.     

Purification and characterization of xylanase from alkali-tolerant Aspergillus fischeri Fxn1

Abstract Alkali-tolerant Aspergillus fischeri Fxn1 produced two extracellular xylanases. The major xylanase ( M _r 31000) was purified to electrophoretic homogeneity by ammonium sulfate precipitation, anion exchange chromatography and preparatory PAGE. Xylose was the major hydrolysis product from oat spelt and birch wood xylans. It was completely free of cellulolytic activities. The optimum pH and temperature were 6.0 and 60 °C, respectively. pH stability ranged from 5 to 9.5 and the t_{1 / 2} at 50 °C was 490 min. It had a K _m of 4.88 mg ml⁻¹and a V _max of 588 μmol min⁻¹ mg⁻¹. The activity was inhibited (95%) by AlCl₃ (10 mM). This enzyme appears to be novel and will be useful for studies on the mechanism of hydrolysis of xylan by xylanolytic enzymes.     

寄主植物对瓜蚜酯酶活性及其耐药性的影响

寄主植物对瓜蚜无翅胎生雌蚜体重、体色、体内酯酶活性均有明显影响。取食笋瓜、南瓜、瓠子、黄瓜和冬瓜的瓜蚜,体重依次增加,体色渐深,而体内羧酸酯酶活性依次渐低。取食不同奇主植物的瓜蚜对杀虫剂的耐药性与其体内酯酶活性呈正相关。瓜蚜体内羧酸酯酶活性（X）与乐果对瓜蚜的LC50（Y）附会Y=8．3827X－67．8530（r=0．952）,与功夫菊酯对瓜蚜的LC50（Y）附合Y=1．040X－28．89（r=0．985）的线性关系。