Further studies on the occurrence of freshwater Microturbellaria in the British Isles

Five new British records of freshwater Microturbellaria are illustrated: Gieysztoria infundibuliformis, Castrada lanceola, Castrada neocomensis, Castrada viridis and Strongylostoma elongatum. These species together with a new species, Macrostomum johni described by Young (1972), are woven into the fabric of the existing key for the group (Young, 1970). All six species were recorded from the littoral zone of lakes in Caernarvonshire, N. Wales. The times of the recordings are indicated.     

Toe pad morphology and mechanisms of sticking in frogs

Sticking ability in frogs was measured on a series of different substrates. Analysis of performance suggests that frogs use two sticking mechanisms: interlocking on rough surfaces and capillarity on smooth surfaces. There is a correlation between morphological specializations of the toe pad and sticking ability, but these morphological features are not unique to arboreal species. Terrestrial species that use leaves as resting sites during times of inactivity have many of the same morphological specializations and stick as well as the strictly arboreal species.     

Sexual swarms in Daphnia magna, a cyclic parthenogen

SUMMARY. Dense swarms were observed in a population of Daphnia magna (Crustacea: Cladocera). The swarms appeared during a sexual period in which females were abundant but males were rare. Each swarm contained several males and large numbers of 'imminently sexual' females, a class of females that was rare except in the swarms. This implies that both sexes respond to attractant stimuli, and that the female response occurs only during a brief critical phase in the ovarian cycle.     

The effect of heat treatment and meristem-tip culture on June Yellows in strawberry

Because there is some evidence that June Yellows (JY) of strawberry may be caused by a pathogenic agent, combinations of heat treatment and meristem-tip culture that are known to eliminate some viruses from tissues were used in attempts to cure affected Cambridge Favourite strawberry plants from JY. None of 397 propagants derived from JY-affected plants subjected to various combinations of these treatments were freed from JY. Indeed, all propagants showed more obvious JY symptoms than the parent plants from which they were derived, suggesting that such treatments may be useful for detecting incipient JY in symptomless strawberry stocks.     

A NEW TECHNIQUE FOR ASSESSING THE CONTACT TOXICITY OF MOLLUSCICIDES TO SLUGS

A technique is described to accurately assess the dermal contactdose-mortality response of molluscicides. The technique involvescarbon dioxide anaesthesia of laboratory reared Deroceras reticulatum(Müller) followed by application of test substances insolution to the dorsal surface. The LD₅₀ of the substances testedwere as follows: Sodium pentachlorophenate, 55.9 ng.mg^–1,Copper sulphate, 124.1 ng.mg^–1, Methiocarb, 314.6 ng.mg^–1and Potassium permanganate, 418.9 ng.mg^–1 body weight. (Received 18 August 1988; accepted 17 December 1988)     

Are Roots a Source of Abscisic Acid for the Shoots of Flooded Pea Plants?

Flooding the soil for 2–5 d decreased stomatal conductancesof pea plants (Pisum sativum L., cv. Sprite) with six or sevenleaves. This coincided with slower transpiration, increasedleaf water potentials and increased concentrations of abscisicacid (ABA) in the leaves. No increase in ABA was found in theterminal 20 mm of roots of flooded plants over the same timeperiod. Small stomatal conductances associated with increases in foliarABA were also found in plants grown in nutrient solution whenaeration was halted, causing the equilibrium partial pressuresof dissolved oxygen to fall below 05 It Pa. No increase in ABAconcentration in young secondary roots of the non-aerated plantswas detected after 24, 48 or 72 h, even when the shoot, thepresumed site of deposition for any ABA from the roots, wasremoved 5–6 h before analysis. Similarly, ABA concentrations in roots were not increased whenthe nutrient solution was de-oxygenated by continuous purgingwith nitrogen gas. The abscisic acid concentration in leaf epidermis,the tissue most likely to be the recipient of any ABA movingin the transpiration stream from oxygen-deficient roots, waslower than in the remaining parts of the leaf when examinedin the mutant Argenteum which possesses easily removable epidermallayers. It is concluded that the leaves of plants subjectedto flooding of the soil or oxygen shortage in the root environmentare not enriched substantially with ABA from the roots. A moreprobable source of this growth regulator is the leaf itself. Key words: Pisum sativum, flooding, roots, hormones, aeration stress, abscisic acid, Argenteum mutant     

UDP-Glucose: Sterol Glucosyltransferase and a Steryl Glucoside Acyltransferase Activity in Amyloplast Membranes from Potato Tubers

Envelope membranes were isolated from potato tuber amyloplastby a discontinuous sucrose density gradient and high speed centrifugation.These membranes catalyzed the transfer of [¹⁴C]glucose fromUDP-[¹⁴C]glucose to endogenous sterol acceptors and, in turn,catalyzed the esterification of steryl glucosides with fattyacids from an endogenous acyl donor. The synthesis of sterylglucosides was stimulated in the presence of Triton. X-100,while formation of acyl steryl glucosides was inhibited by thedetergent. However, in the presence of an added sterol acceptorand Triton X-100, the inhibition of acyl steryl glucoside synthesiswas overcome by the addition of phosphatidylethanolamine. Theenzyme involved in steryl glucoside formation was solubilizedby treatment of the envelope membranes with 0.3% Triton X-100.The solubilized enzyme had an almost absolute requirement forsterol acceptors. Key words: Solanum tuberosum, Sterol glucosylation, Steryl glucoside acylation, Amyloplast membrane