Stomatal density and aperture length in four plant species grown across a subambient CO2 gradient

Stomatal density, stomatal aperture length, area/leaf, and number of stomata/leaf were measured after the annual C₃ agronomic grasses oats (Avena sativa) and wheat (Triticum aestivum), the C, woody legume honey mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa), and the perennial C₄ grass little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) were grown across a subambient carbon dioxide concentration ([CO₂]) gradient from near 200 to 350 μmol/mol in a growth chamber. The purpose was to determine if the size and density of stomata vary in response to atmospheric [CO₂] during growth, across a subambient [CO₂] range representative of the doubling that has occurred since the last ice age. Changes in stomatal density and aperture length with increasing [CO₂] were small when detected. Stomatal density decreased on adaxial flag leaf surfaces of wheat, and aperture length increased slightly with [CO₂], Leaf area and number of stomata/flag leaf increased by similar proportions with [CO₂] in two wheat cultivars. No consistent relationship between [CO₂] and stomatal density or size was detected in mesquite, oats, or little bluestem. We conclude that individual plants of these species lack the plasticity to significantly alter stomatal density and aperture length in response to increasing atmospheric [CO₂] in a single generation (annuals) or growing season (perennials).     

SOME FACTORS AFFECTING SEXUAL REPRODUCTION OF APHANOMYCES EUTEICHES

Papavizas , G. C, and C. B. Davey . (USDA, ARS, Crops Res. Div., Beltsville, Maryland.) Some factors affecting sexual reproduction of Aphanomyces euteiches. Amer. Jour. Bot. 47(10) : 884–889. Illus. 1960.—Oospores of Aphanomyces euteiches Drechsler were consistently formed in abundance on a medium (SM–2) consisting of mineral salts, D-glucose, thioglycolic acid, Difco “Special Agar-Noble,” and a mixture of amino acids added in proportions found in powdered yeast extract. The isolates of A. euteiches studied differed in their nutritional requirements for sexual reproduction. Isolates 4 and 7 formed oospores abundantly on SM–1 which was smiliar to SM–2 except that DL-glutamic acid was substituted for the amino acid mixture. Isolate 572 did not form oospores on medium SM–1 except when DL-methionine was substituted for thioglycolic acid. Sexual reproduction of isolates 4 and 7 was observed at a wider concentration range of reduced-sulfur-containing compounds than that of isolate 572. Sexual reproduction of the 3 isolates studied was influenced in a dissimilar way by varying concentrations of D-glucose and DL-glutamic acid, or by varying concentrations of D-glucose and of the amino acid mixture. The optimal sugar carbon/amino nitrogen ratio range for sexual reproduction of isolate 572 was about 5–22, whereas that of isolates 4 and 7 was 15–180. The pH range for sexual reproduction was as wide as that for growth. An acid reaction was more favorable than a neutral or alkaline one. The optimal pH range was 4.9–5.4. Vitamins were not essential.     

Ion transfer across lipid membranes in the presence of gramicidin A: I. Studies of the unit conductance channel

The conductance induced by gramicidin A in lipid bilayer membranes has been shown to be made up of discrete, well-defined units. In 0.1 M NaCl, and for 100 mV applied, the integral conductance of the unit channel at 20 °C is 5.8·10⁻¹² Ω⁻¹.     

Letter: crystallographic data fro lysoxyme from bacteriophage T4

The lysozyme of bacteriophage T4 has been crystallized in a form suitable for X-ray diffraction analysis. The space group is P3₁21 or enantiomorph, and the cell dimensions are $\text{a = b = 61.1}\text{A}\text{?}$, $\text{c = 96.3}\text{A}\text{?}$.