Changing Patterns of Distribution of the Products of Photosynthesis in the Tomato Plant with Respect to Time and to the Age of a Leaf

Two series of experiments were conducted with tomato plantsgrown in a glasshouse. In the first series the second leaf ofa young plant was exposed to ¹⁴CO₂ for periods up to a maximumof 4 h and the distribution of the ¹⁴C-products was determinedeither at intervals of 10 and 30 min, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 12,and 24 h, or 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, and 15 days after the ¹⁴CO₂was initially supplied. Seventeen per cent of the containedradioactive carbon was exported during the first day and a further23 per cent during the following week. At the death of the leaf44 per cent of the carbon originally fixed was present in thedead structure. There is evidence that the roots re-export alarge proportion of the carbon products originally imported. In the second series the tenth leaf of a plant was suppliedwith ¹⁴CO₂, and 24 h later the relative amounts of radioactivitywere determined for every leaf, internode, and fruit truss andfor the roots and shoot apex. The plants were selected so thatleaf 10 was always immediately below truss 1. The experimentwas performed seven times, each time at a different stage bothin the life-cycle of the leaf and the development of the plant.There were differences in the total amounts of radioactivityfound at the end of each experiment but these differences werenot random. The pattern of distribution of the ¹⁴C exportedby leaf 10 changed as the plant developed. The percentage ofthe ¹⁴C initially fixed which was exported by leaf 10 rose toa peak early in its life and then fell sharply but the distributionof ¹⁴C exported followed a different pattern. For a long periodthere was a heavy accumulation of ¹⁴C in the internode immediatelybelow leaf 10 but later in development this was less evidentand the proportions reaching the roots increased. The internodeabove leaf 10 never showed the same degree of accumulation.Truss I dominated the distribution patterns during the phaseof its active growth. These results are discussed and a hypothesisto account for the changing patterns of distribution is presented.     

Abscisic Acid Inhibition of Gibberellic Acid and Cyclic 3',5'-Adenosine Monophosphate Induced α-Amylase Synthesis

The induction of α-amylase synthesis in barley aleurone by cyclic 3′,5′-adenosine monophosphate or GA₃ was inhibited by abscisic acid. The concentration of ABA required to inhibit α-amylase induction by the cyclic nucleotide in the extract was one-fiftieth to one hundredth of that required for GA₃-induced α-amylase. It is concluded that the effects of ABA on GA₃ and cyclic nucleotide induced α-amylase synthesis in the aleurone are independent and indirect.     

Evolution of Hoxa-11 Expression in Amphibians: Is the Urodele Autopodium an Innovation?

In this paper we present preliminary results on the expressionof Hoxa-11 in the frog Xenopus laevis and the newt Notophthalmusviridescens. In amniote limbs, Hoxa-11 is expressed exclusivelyin the prospective zeugopodium and is involved in the developmentof zeugopodial character identity. While the Hoxa-11 expressionpattern in Xenopus is similar to those described in mice andchick, the newt Notophthalmus has a phase of autopodial Hoxa-11expression starting with the development of digit III. Expressionis particularly strong in the buds of the postaxial digits.This Hoxa-11 expression pattern is unique among tetrapods andadds to the list of developmental peculiarities of urodele limbdevelopment, which also include an anterior to posterior polarityof digit development. We propose a scenario to explain the evolutionaryorigin of urodele limb development. We assume that recent urodelesare derived from a lineage of amphibians which underwent partialdigit reduction, leaving only two digits intact, most likelydigits III and IV according to Morse's law. This implies thaturodele digits I and II are homologous to amniote digits IIIand IV, and that the postaxial digits of urodeles are an evolutionaryinnovation (re-invention). Supporting evidence for this homologyhypothesis is found in the developmental connections betweenthe basale commune and the postaxial zeugopodial element.     

Sugar preferences of "black rats", Rattus rattus L.

The choice of "black rats", Rattus rattus L ., for common sugars - sucrose, jaggery, glucose, fructose and lactose are described. In laboratory colonies, the sugars were preferred in the order glucose > sucrose > jaggery > fructose > lactose; but in another sequence - sucrose > jaggery > glucose > fructose > lactose, in the free living colonies. The discrepancy is accounted for by the characteristics of sugars which influence consummatory behaviour in the two situations.     

Rubisco Activity: Effects of Drought Stress

Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) activityis modulated in vivo either by reaction with CO₂ and Mg²⁺ tocarbamylate a lysine residue in the catalytic site, or by thebinding of inhibitors within the catalytic site. Binding ofinhibitors blocks either activity or the carbamylation of thelysine residue that is essential for activity. At night, inmany species, 2-carboxyarabinitol-1-phosphate (CA1P) is formedwhich binds tightly to Rubisco, inhibiting catalytic activity.Recent work has shown that tight-binding inhibitors can alsodecrease Rubisco activity in the light and contribute to theregulation of Rubisco activity. Here we determine the influencethat such inhibitors of Rubisco exert on catalytic activityduring drought stress. In tobacco plants, ‘total Rubiscoactivity’, i.e. the activity following pre-incubationwith CO₂ and Mg²⁺, was positively correlated with leaf relativewater content. However, ‘total Rubisco activity’in extracts from leaves with low water potential increased markedlywhen tightly bound inhibitors were removed, thus increasingthe number of catalytic sites available. This suggests thatin tobacco the decrease of Rubisco activity under drought stressis not primarily the result of changes in activation by CO₂and Mg²⁺ but due rather to the presence of tight-binding inhibitors.The amounts of inhibitor present in leaves of droughted tobaccobased on the decrease in Rubisco activity per mg soluble proteinwere usually much greater than the amounts of the known inhibitors(CA1P and ‘daytime inhibitor’) that can be recoveredin acid extracts. Alternative explanations for the differencebetween maximal and total activities are discussed.     

The Effect of Light Intensity, Day Length, and Temperature on Fatty Acid Synthesis and Desaturation in Vicia faba L.

Some effects of light intensity, day length, and temperatureon the fatty acid composition of the major glycerolipids ofleaves of Vicia faba L. (cv. Giant Windsor) were observed. Increasinglight intensity caused an increase in the relative concentrationsof 16 : 1 in PG and 18 : 3 in MGDG and DGDG. Increasing daylength during growth (and continuous illumination of leaf tissue)had no effect on 16 : 1 in PG but caused a decrease in the 18: 3 content of PG, PC, MGDG, and DGDG. Since the quantitiesof these lipids increased under these conditions, the decreasewas not due to photodestruction but to the differences in therelative rates of biosynthesis and desaturation of fatty acids.Incubation of leaf tissue in the dark for 4 d had little effecton the fatty acid composition of MGDG, DGDG, and PG. Temperaturealso controls fatty acid synthesis and desaturation. Above theoptimum growth temperature (20 °C), the 18 : 3 content ofMGDG, DGDG, PG, and PC decreased. In mature leaf tissue, thedegree of unsaturation of MGDG may be modified upward in responseto temperature changes. When plants were grown at 30 °Cand transferred to 20 °C the level of 18 : 3 in MGDG ofthe leaf tissue increased to levels found in plants grown onlyat 20 °C. The level of 18 : 3 in MGDG does not decreaseas rapidly when plants grown at 20 °C were transferred to30 °C. This suggests that the lower temperature induceddesaturation of 18 : 2 to 18 : 3.     

Quality Assurance of Sterilized Products: Verification of a Model Relating Frequency of Contaminated Items and Increasing Radiation Dose

Values of the y -radiation resistance parameters ( k and n of the 'multi-hit' expression) for Bacillus pumilus E601 spores and Serratia marcescens cells have been determined and the constancy of values for a given test condition demonstrated. These organisms, differing by a factor of about 50 in k value, have been included in a laboratory test system for use in verification of a model describing the dependence of the proportion of contaminated items in a population of items on radiation dose. The proportions of contaminated units of the test system at various y-radiation doses have been measured for different initial numbers and types of organisms present in units either singly or together. Using the model, the probabilities of contaminated units for corresponding sets of conditions have been evaluated together with associated variances. Measured proportions and predicted probabilities agree well, showing that the model holds in a laboratory contrived situation.