Analysing partitioning of recently fixed and of reserve carbon in reproductive Phaseolus vulgaris L. plants

Abstract. Partitioning of recently-fixed carbon among plant organs and subsequent distribution of reserve carbon were studied by supplying whole shoots of bean plants ( Phaseolus vulgaris L.) with ¹⁴C-labelled CO₂ of constant specific radioactivity throughout a photoperiod. The gain of tracer carbon in each part revealed net accumulation of recently-fixed carbon from direct fixation, import or both. Growth rate coefficients describing the present pattern of plant growth were calculated from ratios of tracer carbon to total carbon present in plant organs and were used to project future plant form. The period 10–20 d after the start of flowering was marked by a major increase in partitioning of recently-fixed carbon to reproductive growth. Growth rates for the plant and its parts during this period were projected on the basis of growth rate coefficients and were found to be similar to rates measured by gravimetric growth analysis. Changes in tracer carbon recovered in individual organs after chase periods of various lengths revealed net decreases for leaves and stems. About 9% of the carbon distributed to fruits came from reserves even in the absence of obvious stress. Respiratory loss during the chase period was determined from the progressive drop in recovery of the original tracer carbon. The methods are being applied to measure current net accumulation rates in studies of sink organ physiology, and to compare partitioning of recently-fixed and of stored carbon in several plant species under defined growth conditions.     

有机磷杀虫剂使家蝇中毒后对酯酶的抑制作用

本文研究了乐果、敌百虫和TOCP等三种药剂对家蝇胆碱酯酶与脂族酯酶的体内抑制与中毒症状之间的关系。试验以家蝇为材料,用上述药剂的LD₅₀剂量处理后观察其在不同时间内的中毒症状,并用Warburg测压法分别在不同时间内测定家蝇头部和胸腹部胆碱酯酶和脂族酯酶的抑制情况 所得结果表明:无论头部和胸腹部胆碱酯酶的抑制程度都与中毒症状密切相关。当家蝇中毒倒伏时胆碱酯酶的活性最低。脂族酯酶的抑制作用与中毒症状虽有一定的关系,但是单独抑制脂族酯酶不表现出任何症状。因此,可以认为有机磷杀虫剂的主要中毒作用是抑制胆碱酯酶,虽然也可能是两种酶同时受抑制的作用。     

Net and Steady-state Cation Fluxes in Chlorella pyrenoidosa

The addition of K⁺ to Chlorella cells grown so as to be abnormallyrich in Na⁺ induces a net Na⁺ efflux and a concomitant uptakeof K⁺. The net Na⁺ extrusion shows first-order kinetics withtime constants of about 10 min for illuminated cells, and occursat rates in the region of 10 to 15 pmol cm1² s. The correspondingtime course for the net K⁺ influx also approximates to first-orderkinetics but is more complicated because it not only involvesa K⁺/Na⁺ component but also a K⁺/H⁺ exchange. The H⁺ extrusionusually represents less than 20 per cent of the net cation movementand may account both in magnitude and in rate for the differencebetween K⁺ and Na⁺ movements. The magnitudes of the net K⁺ andNa⁺ fluxes differed from steady-state flux rates in normal highK⁺-containing cells being as much as 20 times greater for K⁺and over 100 times greater for Na⁺. There is some indicationthat K⁺ competes for Na⁺ entry into Na⁺-rich cells, suggestingthat both the Na⁺/Na⁺ and K⁺/Na⁺ exchanges may share the sameentry site. The K⁺/Na⁺ exchange rates saturate at low externalK⁺ concentrations; the half-maximum rate was at about 0.2 mMK⁺. The Na⁺/K⁺ exchange is sensitive to temperature and between0 and 25 °C an activation energy of about 25 k cal/molewas calculated from the Arrhenius equation.