Effects of irradiation level on leaf growth of sunflower

Sunflower, Helianthus annuus L. cv. INRA 6501, plants were grown in a gravel culture subirrigated with Hoagland nutrient solution, at photosynthetically active radiation levels of 15, 30 and 60 W m^-2 at a daylength of 16 h, a temperature of 20°C and a relative humidity of 60% throughout. Development of the plant and growth of the leaves were measured. High irradiance accelerated development proportionally in all phases from germination, through leaf initiation, primordial flower formation and the maturation of all plant organs until anthesis. High irradiance levels stimulated the expansion of the growing shoot, which produced more and larger primordia. Under constant conditions the ratio between leaf initiation rate and mature length of a leaf remained constant, although the growth patterns [relationship between relative growth rate (RGR) and organ age] of successive leaves were not similar. Consequently, it may be assumed that, as in poplar, the increasing size of the growing shoot reflects the increase of the vascular system of sunflower. The growth patterns of the leaves depend on the developmental stage of the plant and, in the young primordial stage, also on irradiance level. In the linear phase of growth the growth pattern is independent of irradiance level.     

Organogenesis in pepper tissue cultures

Knowledge concerning in vitro growth and developmental responses of bell and chile peppers (Capsicum annuum L.) has been limited. Shoot and root organogenesis in cultures of seedling explants was restricted to primary cultures or those less than three months old under 12-and 16-h photoperiod at 25°C. Shoot organogenesis was extended to 5 months under continuous light at 25°C, and to 8 months under continuous light at 28.5°C. Murashige and Skoog basal media containing 0.05mg/l each of IAA and BA promoted shoot elongation and rooting of some explant sources, while 0.05-4 mg/l IAA with 10–50 mg/l BA promoted adventitious shoot bud formation. Glucose was superior to sucrose as the carbon source. Leaf discs collected from greenhouse-grown plants regenerated shoots for at least 2 months. Incubation environment, carbon source, explant source, growth regulator treatment and passage number were not independent variables as demonstrated by statistical analysis. The plant regeneration techniques described here have useful but limited applications, not extending to unorganized callus or cell suspension cultures.Journal article no. 1151 of the New Mexico Agricultural Experiment Station.     

Propagation in vitro of the apple rootstock M4: effect of phytohormones on shoot quality

The quality of shoots in cultures of the apple rootstock, M4, was used as a criterion for the selection of an optimum medium. The frequency of shoots in defined shoot clases was monitored for each of five media, which differed in the type and concentration of phytohormone. Media containing BA (1.15 mg l^-1) and IBA (either 0.15 or 0.20 mg l^-1) produced the maximum number of shoots that were desirable for transplantation and acclimatization.     

Cytokinins in the leaves of Ginkgo biloba. II. Metabolism and transport of 8 (14C) zeatin applied to shoot explants

Irrespective of their age, leaves of Ginkgo biloba metabolised applied 8 (¹⁴C) zeatin to compounds of similar chromatographic properties. Glucosylation is apparently not a normal feature of cytokinin metabolism in immature leaves. However, the application of zeatin to these leaves did result in the formation of metabolites which co-chromatographed with glucosylated cytokinins. As far as cytokinin metabolism is concerned therefore, this application of excess zeatin allowed immature leaves to behave as mature or senescing leaves. Overall metabolism was fastest in immature leaves. From the metabolites formed it would appear as if oxidation, which resulted in the formation of a metabolite which co-eluted with N-(purin-6-yl)glycine, was also important in immature leaves. In senescing leaves glucosylation was the major form of metabolism. Extraction and re-application of the polar metabolites (formed from zeatin) to mature leaves resulted in the formation of compounds which co-chromatographed with zeatin. This suggests that these compounds could serve as precursors for zeatin or could be hydrolysed to form zeatin.Very little of the applied radioactivity was exported from the leaves irrespective of their physiological age. When the metabolites, obtained after zeatin application to mature leaves, were extracted and reapplied to the leaves, export of radioactive material was much improved. The results suggest that should cytokinins such as zeatin be translocated to mature leaves of this deciduous gymnosperm their export from the leaves would be unlikely unless first metabolised. In all probability the metabolites concerned are cytokinin glucosides.The financial support of the C.S.I.R., Pretoria, is gratefully acknowledged.     

Cytokinin-induced switch in development in excised cotyledons of radiata pine cultured in vitro

Cotyledons of Pinus radiata D. Don were cultured under shoot-forming (plus cytokinin) and elongating (minus cytokinin) conditions. Using. autoradiographic and precursor incorporation techniques, the sites and rate of macromolecular synthesis were examined during the first five days in culture. Active incorporation of ³H-thymidine, ³ H-uridine and ³H-leucine occurred. In shoot-forming cotyledons the incorporation became preferentially located in the epidermal and sub-epidermal cell layers in contact with the medium. In elongating cotyledons, in contrast, incorporation was randomly distributed, and the amount of incorporation declined with time. Biochemically, differences in DNA, RNA and total protein synthetic patterns were observed. In elongating cotyledons the rates of RNA and protein synthesis were higher during the first 48 h than in shoot-forming tissues, after which the synthetic rates were similar. Two peaks of newly formed DNA were observed in both tissues. These findings indicate that the cytokinin-induced changes in developmental pathways began within 24 h in culture.     

Population genetics theory of concerted evolution and its application to the immunoglobulin V gene tree

Summary The previous simple model for treating concerted evolution of multigene families has been revised to be compatible with various new observations on the immunoglobulin variable region family and other families. In the previous model, gene conversion and unequal crossing-over were considered, and it was assumed that genes are randomly arranged on the chromosome; neither subdivision nor correlation of gene identity and chromosomal distance were considered. Although this model satisfactorily explains the observed amino acid diversity within and between species, it fails to predict the very ancient branching of the mouse immunoglobulin heavy chain V-gene family. By incorporating subdivided structure and genetic correlation with chromosomal distance into the simple model, the data of divergence may be satisfactorily explained, as well as the rate of nucleotide substitution and the amino acid diversity. The rate at which a V-gene is duplicated or deleted by conversion or by unequal crossing-over is estimated by the new model to be on the order of 10^–6 per year. The model may be applicable to other multigene families, such as those coding for silkmoth chorion or mammalian kallikrein.Contribution no. 1560 from the National Institute of Genetics, Mishima, 411 Japan     

Colony formation and plant regeneration from mesophyll protoplasts of Solanum etuberosum

A procedure for the culture of Solanum etuberosum mesophyll protoplasts with subsequent shoot regeneration is described. Several factors affected protoplast yield, colony formation, and shoot regeneration from in vitro plants. A protoplast isolation medium with 0.6 M sucrose produced twice the yield as one with 0.3 M sucrose. uowever, a higher concentration of osmoticum was inhibitory to colony development unless it was diluted into a lower osmoticum medium in a bilayer system. A 16 hour light/8 hour dark photoperiod for stock plants allowed twice the protoplast yield compared to plants grown under continuous light but no effect was found on subsequent colony formation or shoot regeneration. The concentrations of four major salts in the protoplast plating medium were critical for a high frequency of colony formation from protoplasts. Levels of 0.25 × or 1 × were considerably better than 4 ×. Fast colony formation, but at a lower efficiency, was obtained with a monolayer plating method. A bilayer plating system allowed a higher efficiency but colonies developed more slowly. For the best treatments, the frequency of colony formation from protoplasts ranged from 2.4 to 3.6 × 10^-3 with 37% to 66% of the colonies producing shoots ten weeks after protoplast isolation.Cooperative investigation of the USDA-ARS and the Wisconsin Agric. Exp. Stn.     

Influences of medium consistency and shoot density on in vitro shoot proliferation of Populus alba × P. grandidentata

The in vitro shoot proliferation of Populus alba × P. grandidentata was affected by the medium consistency and shoot density, but not by three sizes of vessels. After 4 weeks of culture, the fresh weight and number of shoots per explant on liquid medium were significantly greater than those on agar-solidified medium. In particular, 3.2 shoots, 7 mm or longer per explant, were produced on liquid medium compared with 1.6 shoots per explant or agar-solidified medium. The fresh weight per explant after 4 weeks of culture on liquid medium and agar-solidified medium were 0.68 and 0.25 g, respectively. Increasing the number of shoots per vessel slowed the growth of the explants as measured by fresh weight and the number of shoots produced. There was little difference in the number of shoots produced between vessels with 1 or 2 shoots per vessel, but there were many fewer shoots produced when 3 shoots were placed in each vessel.Journal Paper No. J-11977 of the Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station, Ames, Iowa. Project 2210.     

Nutrition of winter wheat during the life cycle. I. Yield and accumulation of dry matter and minerals

Mineral uptake by winter wheat (Trilicum aestivum L. cv. Martonvasari 8) was studied throughout the life cycle. Accumulation of macronutrients (i.e. total nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, magnesium and calcium) and the water content of roots and shoots of plants grown in complete nutrient solution were higher than those of plants grown in two types of soils. The supply of macronutrients was in some cases limiting for soil-grown plants as revealed by a comparison of available and accumulated amounts of these nutrients. Their supply was abundant, however, for solution-grown plants. This led to a doubling of grain yield for the latter plants with a three fold increase in accumulation of dry matter and a five-fold increase in fresh weight. The efficiency ratios of solution-grown plants to soil-grown plants were approximately 1 for N and Na, 0.5 for Mg and Ca, and 0.3 for P and K.