Inducible Formation of Glutamate Dehydrogenase in Rice Plant Roots by the Addition of Ammonia to the Media

The activity of glutamate dehydrogenase (l-glutamate: NAD oxidoreductase, EC 1.4.1.2.; GDH) of rice plants changes in response to the nitrogen source supplied to the culture solution. The activity of NADH-GDH(aminating) in roots is rapidly increased by the addition of ammonia, whereas the activity in shoots is much less affected by nitrogen supply. The activity increased with increasing concentration of ammonia at least up to 14.3 mM. In roots GDH activity was found in both the mitochondrial and soluble fractions. The increase of NADH-GDH activity caused by the ammonia treatment occurs mainly in the latter fraction. The new band with GDH activity was detected on the zymogram of polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and this inducible enzyme is active with both NAD and NADP. On the other hand, the constitutive enzyme activity active with NAD is also increased by the ammonia treatment. The increase of enzyme activity is prevented by the addition of cycloheximide or chloramphenicol to culture medium. The incorporation of ¹⁴C-leucine(U) into GDH proteins was also studied using polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Higher radioactivity was found in induced samples than in non-induced ones. These results show that the increase of GDH activity in roots by ammonia treatment seems to depend on de novo protein synthesis.     

Inhibitory Effects of Oxygen on the Germination of Oryza sativa L. Seeds

Some workers have reported that the breaking of seed dormancyin rice (O. sativa L.) is usually enhanced by higher oxygentension, whereas others have shown that rice seed dormancy canbe broken by incubation under anaerobic conditions. This articleaims to clarify this paradox. The results show that high oxygentensions inhibit seed germination for a certain period afterharvest in Japonica rice, whereas Indica rice cultivars arenot inhibited by oxygen at any stage. Oxygen inhibition, seed germination, aquatic plants, Japonica rice, Indica rice     

Pollination by fungus gnats in four species of the genus Mitella (Saxifragaceae)

The first example of pollination by fungus gnats in the eudicots is reported. The genus Mitella (Saxifragales) is characteristically produces minute, inconspicuous, mostly dull-coloured flowers with linear, sometimes pinnately branched, petals. To understand the function of these characteristic flowers, we studied the pollination biology of four Mitella species with different floral traits and different sexual expression: dioecious M. acerina , gynodioecious M. furusei var. subramosa , and hermaphroditic M. stylosa var. makinoi and M. integripetala. Flower-bagging experiments showed that wind pollination did not occur in the dioecious and gynodioecious species. Two years of observations of flower visitors at six study sites in Japan revealed that the principal pollinators of all four Mitella were specific species of fungus gnats (Mycetophilidae), which landed on the flowers with their long spiny legs settling on the petals. Characteristically, numerous pollen grains were attached to the fungus gnats in specific locations on the body. Although, on average, 1.3–2.6 fungus gnats visited each inflorescence per day, the fruit set of both bisexual and female flowers exceeded 63%. These results suggest that fungus gnats are highly efficient pollinators of Mitella spp., and that Mitella flowers are morphologically adapted to pollination by fungus gnats.  © 2004 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society , 2004, 144 , 449–460.     

PROCESS OF FUNCTIONAL SEX REVERSAL OF THE GONAD IN THE FEMALE GUPPY, POECILIA RETICULATA, TREATED WITH ANDROGEN BEFORE BIRTH

In the guppy, Poecilia reticulata , ovarian differentiation occurs during the embryonal life by 14 days after the preceding parturition. Testicular differentiation begins with the appearance of prominent aggregations of stroma cells in the gonadal hilus occurring by 18 days following the last parturition.
Oral administration of methyltestosterone (400 μ/g diet) to gravid guppies, begun 13–15 days after the preceding parturition and continued until the end of gestation, induced a male-type aggregation of somatic cells in the hilus of ovaries of female embryos. Gonads of newly born, androgenized females still had developing oocytes but were always provided with atypical clusters of stroma cells in their hilus. The gonads of affected female offspring developed successively into definite testes within 20 days after birth, displaying a precocious differentiation of the hilar stroma into sperm ducts and testicular interstitium, a concomitant initiation of spermatogenesis, and a conspicuous degeneration of oocytes. A successful masculinization of the somatic element, which may occur prior to that of the germ cells, in androgen-affected embryonic ovaries seems to be essential for the functional sex reversal of genetic females in the guppy.     

Size-dependent mortality in a Neotropical savanna tree: the role of height-related adjustments in hydraulic architecture and carbon allocation

Size-related changes in hydraulic architecture, carbon allocation and gas exchange of Sclerolobium paniculatum (Leguminosae), a dominant tree species in Neotropical savannas of central Brazil (Cerrado), were investigated to assess their potential role in the dieback of tall individuals. Trees greater than ∼6-m-tall exhibited more branch damage, larger numbers of dead individuals, higher wood density, greater leaf mass per area, lower leaf area to sapwood area ratio (LA/SA), lower stomatal conductance and lower net CO₂ assimilation than small trees. Stem-specific hydraulic conductivity decreased, while leaf-specific hydraulic conductivity remained nearly constant, with increasing tree size because of lower LA/SA in larger trees. Leaves were substantially more vulnerable to embolism than stems. Large trees had lower maximum leaf hydraulic conductance ( K _leaf) than small trees and all tree sizes exhibited lower K _leaf at midday than at dawn. These size-related adjustments in hydraulic architecture and carbon allocation apparently incurred a large physiological cost: large trees received a lower return in carbon gain from their investment in stem and leaf biomass compared with small trees. Additionally, large trees may experience more severe water deficits in dry years due to lower capacity for buffering the effects of hydraulic path-length and soil water deficits.     

CHANGES IN THE ELECTROPHORETIC MOBILITY OF PRESUMPTIVE ECTODERM CELLS TREATED WITH MESODERMAL INDUCING SUBSTANCES

Using gastrula ectoderm of Cynops pyrrhogaster , the electrophoretic mobility (EPM) of cells was measured. Before EPM measurement, the cells were treated with either LiCl or swimbladder tissue, which are known to possess endo- and mesodermal inducing activity. The EPM of the treated cells increased after 48 hr. A significant difference was observed between the control and experimental series. In addition to the measurements of EPM, histological sections of the explants were examined. Before obvious tissue differentiation occurred in the explants, definitive changes in the EPM values were recorded at 48 and 72 hr after treatment.     

Bombyx acid cysteine proteinase

Summary

Three kinds of yolk proteins (vitellin, egg-specific protein and 30 k-proteins) are found in silkmoth eggs and have been well characterized. Essentially these proteins are considered to be amino acid reserves for developing embryos. Since at an early stage of egg development the cysteine proteinase accounts for the majority of the total proteinase activity, it may be involved in the degradation of yolk proteins. The enzyme is stored in the eggs as an inactive pro-form, indicating that the activation of the enzyme might be one of the key steps in yolk protein degradation. To investigate at the molecular level how yolk proteins degradation takes place, we have studied Bombyx acid cysteine proteinase (BCP) during an early period of embryonic development. We summarize how proteinases are regulated and are involved in the degradation of Bombyx yolk proteins during embryogenesis. These will be discussed mainly in light of recent results obtained from eggs of the silkmoth, Bombyx mori.     

Age-Related Alterations in the Biochemical and Functional Properties of the Bladder in Type 2 Diabetic GK Rats

Previous studies have demonstrated that experimental type 1 diabetes induced by streptozotocin causes alterations in the biochemical and functional properties of several receptor systems in the rat bladder. However, the exact mechanism involved in the pathophysiology of voiding dysfunction in type 2 diabetic patients is unknown. Because the GK rat is a widely accepted genetically determined rodent model for human type 2 diabetes, we investigated diabetes-induced changes in the bladder smooth muscle of the GK rats at several time points. Male GK rats and age-matched Wistar rats, as controls, were maintained for 4, 8, 16, and 32 weeks. Contractile responses to KCl, carbachol, ATP, and electrical field stimulation (EFS) were measured by using the isolated muscle bath techniques. Acetylcholine (ACh) release induced by EFS from bladder muscle strips was measured by using high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with a microdialysis procedure. Maximum contractile responses to carbachol and ATP, the release of ACh, and tissue sorbitol levels were similar in bladders from GK and control rats until 8 weeks of age. At 16 weeks of age, however, the contractile responses to carbachol and ATP, and tissue sorbitol levels were increased, and the EFS-induced ACh release was decreased in GK rats compared with controls. Although the maximum contractile responses to EFS were unchanged until 16 weeks of age, they were decreased in 32-week-old GK rats, compared with controls. Our data indicate the presence of age-related alterations in the biochemical and functional properties of the bladder in type 2 diabetic GK rats.     

Reproductivity of early males of the temperate paper wasp Polistes rothneyi iwatai

In Polistes paper wasps, haploid early males can mate with early emerging females and leave viable offspring. In contrast, diploid early males are eventually sterile because they contribute triploid offspring via diploid sperm. Clarifying the ploidy of early males is important for determining whether early male production is a reproductive strategy for the species. We examined the mating behavior and the ploidy of early males in the Japanese paper wasp, Polistes rothneyi iwatai van der Vecht. Thirteen early males from four colonies were all diploid. Two of the nine early males (22.2%) attempted to mate with females, but only one individual (11.1%) was successful (the female's spermatheca contained spermatozoa). These results suggest that although most early males of P. rothneyi iwatai do not produce offspring, their mating may be linked to the occasional production of triploid females.     

Factors influencing adult emergence from soil and the vertical distribution of burrowing scarab beetles Dasylepida ishigakiensis

The present study investigates the emergence of adult white grub beetles Dasylepida ishigakiensis Niijima et Kinoshita (Coleoptera: Scrabaeidae) from soil as well as their burrowing behaviours. ‘Standby behaviour’ (i.e. adults come to the soil surface where they expose their heads) is shown in the field and, along with emergence behaviour, is entrained by LD photocycles. These 24‐h rhythms persist after transfer to continuous light conditions for 2 days. By contrast, beetles transferred from LD photocycles to continuous dark conditions fail to show standby behaviour; thus, it appears to be manifested only in the presence of illumination. Under dark conditions, beetles emerge completely from the soil directly at the time when standby behaviour is otherwise expected to occur. Emerged adults then burrow back into the soil before dawn. Virgin and mated males, as well as virgin females, which are expected to emerge from the soil for mating on later evenings, burrow to a relatively shallow depth (<2 cm), whereas mated females burrow deeper (2–10 cm). Soil properties such as moisture, grain size, topography and temperature influence the burrowing behaviour and the depths that the beetles reach.