Early blooming's challenges: extended flowering season, diverse pollinator assemblage and the reproductive success of Gynodioecious Daphne laureola

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The scarcity and unpredictability of active pollinators during late winter in temperate areas tends to favour extended flowering seasons and increased floral longevity in early blooming species, which are usually pollinated by diverse sets of insects. Daphne laureola is a gynodioecious woody perennial that flowers from January to April in southern Spain, a period characterized by cold temperatures, frequent rains and irregular snowfalls. METHODS: Pollinators were excluded at four different times during the flowering season in order to determine the effect of decreased exposure to pollinators on fruit set in female and hermaphrodite individuals. The role of nocturnal and diurnal pollination on reproductive success in each gender was simultaneously evaluated by selective exclusion. KEY RESULTS: A 50 % reduction in the flowering period decreased fruit set of females by 50 %, whereas the corresponding decrease in self-compatible hermaphrodites was only approx. 25 %. Day-active hymenopterans and lepidopterans were infrequent visitors, and nocturnal pollinators were inefficient, suggesting that pollen beetles, Meligethes elongatus, were the main pollinators of D. laureola in the study region. CONCLUSIONS: Beetles were less abundant in pollenless females, although discrimination did not apparently result in pollination limitation of female reproduction. A preference of beetles for sunny locations emphasized the relevance of abiotic conditions for pollination of this early blooming shrub.     

Pollen histochemistry and pollen : ovule ratios in Zingiberaceae

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Pollen grains of 37 species from 11 genera in the family Zingiberaceae were examined to assess qualitatively starch or lipid contents; the pollen grain and ovule numbers per flower and pollen : ovule ratios were also counted and calculated. Pollen : ovule ratios were studied to reveal patterns of variation in the Zingiberaceae. METHODS: Freshly open flowers with dehiscing anthers were collected at random from plants growing in natural habitats or in botanical gardens. Presence of lipids or starch in pollen grains was tested by Sudan solution and IKI solution, respectively, and examined under a microscope. To estimate the pollen and ovule numbers per flower, one anther from each bud was carefully dissected and all pollen grains were counted; ovaries were carefully dissected out of each flower and counted. Whenever possible, at least 10-15 buds were used in the determination. KEY RESULTS: Thirty-three of all the 37 species examined had starchy pollen. Starch was not found in only four species and lipid was not found in only one species; among the four tribes in subfamily Zingiberoideae, all species of Zingibereae and Globbeae had pollen with no starch, Alpineae and Hedychieae had pollen with and without starch, whereas, all species of subfamily Costoideae had starchy pollen with abundant lipids. The mean pollen : ovule ratios in the members of the Zingiberaceae investigated range from 3.25 +/- 1.56 to 616.52 +/- 117.83. CONCLUSIONS: The pollen nutrition types seemed not related to mating systems. The pollen : ovule ratios in members of the Zingiberaceae with the same breeding system are noticeably lower than those recorded by previous authors. The lower pollen : ovule ratios in this family are presumed to be related to the highly efficient pollination systems, mediated by pollen which can be quite glutinous and the relatively large stigma area. In most of the Alpinia species the anaflexistylous flowers have much larger numbers of pollen grains and higher pollen : ovule ratios than the cataflexistylous flowers. There are significant differences in mean pollen grain numbers and pollen : ovule ratios between different life forms but ovule numbers are approximately the same.     

Biochemical mechanisms for a possible involvement of the transglutaminase activity in the pathogenesis of the polyglutamine diseases: Minireview article

Summary. Transglutaminases are a family of enzymes which show the common capacity to catalyse the cross-linking of protein substrates. Some members of this family of enzymes are also capable to catalyse other chemical reactions for the cell life. The distribution and the role of these enzymes have been studied in numerous cell types and tissues, but only recently their expression and functions started to be investigated in the Nervous System. One of the main biochemical properties of the Transglutaminase enzymes is to form large protein aggregates that are insoluble in all known protein detergents. Recently, the Transglutaminase activity has been hypothesised to be involved in the pathogenetic mechanisms responsible for the formation of cellular inclusions present in the Corea Major and in other polyglutamine diseases. In this review we describe the biochemical mechanisms by which the Transglutaminases could play a critical role in the physiopathology of the polyglutamine diseases.     

P2X<Subscript>2</Subscript> and P2X<Subscript>3</Subscript> purinoceptors in the rat enteric nervous system

Adenosine 5-triphosphate receptors are known to be involved in fast excitatory postsynaptic currents in myenteric neurons of the digestive tract. In the present study, the distribution of P2X₂ and P2X₃ receptor mRNA was examined by in situ hybridisation while P2X₂ and P2X₃ receptor protein was localised by immunohistochemical methods. In addition, P2X₂ and P2X₃ receptors were colocalised with calbindin and calretinin in the myenteric and submucosal plexus. P2X₂- and P2X₃-immunoreactive neurons were found in the myenteric and submucosal plexuses throughout the entire length of the rat digestive tract from the stomach to the colon. Approximately 60%, 70% and 50% of the ganglion cells in the myenteric plexus of the gastric corpus, ileum and distal colon, and 56% and 45% in the submucosal plexus of the ileum and distal colon, respectively, showed positive immunoreactivity to the P2X₂ receptor. Approximately 10%, 2% and 15% of the ganglion cells in the myenteric plexus of the gastric corpus, ileum and distal colon, and 62% and 40% in the submucosal plexus of the ileum and distal colon, respectively, showed positive immunoreactivity to the P2X₃ receptor. Double-labelling studies showed that about 10–25% of the neurons with P2X₂ immunoreactivity in myenteric plexus and 30–50% in the submucosal plexus were found to express calbindin or calretinin. About 80% of the neurons with P2X₃ receptor immunoreactivity in the myenteric plexus and about 40% in the submucosal plexus expressed calretinin. Approximately 30–75% of the neurons with P2X₃ receptor immunoreactivity in the submucosal plexus expressed calbindin, while none of them were found to express calbindin in the myenteric plexus.     

Basic fibroblast growth factor, neurofilament, and glial fibrillary acidic protein immunoreactivities in the myenteric plexus of the rat esophagus and colon

The enteric nervous system consists of a number of interconnected networks of neuronal cell bodies and fibers as well as satellite cells, the enteric glia. Basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) is a mitogen for a variety of mesodermal and neuroectodermal-derived cells and its presence has been described in many tissues. The present work employs immunohistochemistry to analyze neurons and glial cells in the esophageal and colic enteric plexus of the Wistar rat for neurofilament (NF) and glial fibrillary acidic proteins (GFAP) immunoreactivity as well as bFGF immunoreactivity in these cells. Rats were processed for immunohistochemistry; the distal esophagus and colon were opened and their myenteric plexuses were processed as whole-mount preparations. The membranes were immunostained for visualization of NF, GFAP, and bFGF. NF immunoreactivity was seen in neuronal cell bodies of esophageal and colic enteric ganglia. GFAP-immunoreactive enteric glial cells and processes were present in the esophageal and colic enteric plexuses surrounding neuronal cell bodies and axons. A dense net of GFAP-immunoreactive processes was seen in the ganglia and connecting strands of the myenteric plexus. bFGF immunoreactivity was observed in the cytoplasm of the majority of the neurons in the enteric ganglia of esophagus and colon. The two-color immunoperoxidase and immunofluorescence methods revealed bFGF immunoreactivity also in the nucleus of GFAP-positive enteric glial cells. The results suggest that immunohistochemical localization of NF and GFAP may be an important tool in the study of the plasticity in the enteric nervous system. The presence of bFGF in neurons and glia of the myenteric plexus of the esophagus and the colon indicates that this neurotrophic factor may exert autocrine and paracrine actions in the enteric nervous system.     

Power and control muscles of cicada song: structural and contractile heterogeneity

Sound production in cicadas is powered by a pair of large muscles whose contractions cause buckling of cuticular tymbals and thereby create sound pulses. Sound is modulated by control muscles that alter the stiffness of the tymbals or change the shape of the abdominal resonance chamber. Muscle ultrastructure and contractile properties were characterized for the tymbal muscle and two control muscles, the ventral longitudinal muscle and the tymbal tensor, of the periodical cicada Magicicada septendecim. The tymbal muscle is a fast muscle that is innervated by a single motoraxon. The control muscles are an order of magnitude less massive than the tymbal muscles, but their innervation patterns were considerably more complex. The tensor muscle is innervated by two axons, each of which evokes rather slow twitches, and the ventral muscle is innervated by at least six axons, some of which produce fast and the others slow contractions. Muscle contraction kinetics correlated well with ultrastructure. Fibers of the tymbal muscle and the portions of the ventral muscle thought to be fast were richly supplied with transverse tubules (T-tubules) and sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR); slow portions of the ventral muscle and the tensor muscle had relatively little SR.Abbreviations SR sarcoplasmic reticulum - TTS transverse tubular system - VLM ventral longitudinal muscle     

Infraciliature and myoneme system of Campanella umbellaria (Protozoa, Ciliophora, Peritrichida)

The infraciliature and myoneme system of Campanella umbellaria were revealed using the protargol impregnation technique. The main characteristics of the infraciliature are the peristomial ciliary rows (haplokinety and polykineties), which make four and a half turns around the peristomial disc before plunging into the infundibulum, and the aboral infraciliature, which is made up of the aboral ciliary wreath (trochal band) and the scopula. The myoneme system is composed of: 1) longitudinal fibers, which include 60-84 (mean 72.3) short longitudinal fibers, 40-56 (mean 45.8) medium-length longitudinal fibers, and numerous long longitudinal fibers; and 2) circular fibers, which include 8-12 (mean 9.3) peristomial ring fibers, linking fibers, support fibers, and peristomial disc fibers. The various fibers in C. umbellaria are interconnected to form a single myoneme system that may act as a cell skeleton as well as providing the mechanism by which the zooid contracts and relaxes.     

正常妊娠大鼠的Th2型免疫反应

采用流式细胞仪,^3H-TdR掺入和酶联免疫打点(enzyme-linked immunospot,ELISPOT)方法研究妊娠免疫学指标的改变。妊娠晚期大鼠脾脏单个核细胞表面分子主要组织相容性抗原Ⅱ(MHCⅡ)明显下调,外周血单个核细胞表达CD11c明显减少,共激活分子B7-1和B7-2未见改变;脾脏和外周血单个核细胞中Th2细胞因子IL-10、IL-4表达增多,TGFD阳性细胞数也明显增加,而Th1细胞因子IFNγ的产生未受抑制。此外,脾脏和外周血中单个核细胞的抗原特异性增殖未见改变,而腹腔淋巴结细胞的增殖明显升高。脾脏单个核细胞在妊娠晚期分泌较少的抗原特异性抗体。提示妊娠期性激素具有免疫调节作用,可能与怀孕时Th1细胞介导的自身免疫性疾病得到缓解有关。