ONTOGENY OF THE STEM-NODE-LEAF VASCULAR CONTINUUM OF AUSTROBAILEYA

Developmental study of the stem-node-leaf vascular continuum of Austrobaileya scandens White reveals that the vasculature within each leaf originates from a single procambial strand, that becomes separated into two strands only at the junction of leaf and stem. At lower levels in the stem the two strands become incorporated into independent portions of the stele. At later stages of development the solitary vascular bundle within the young leaf undergoes considerable lateral growth, resulting in an essentially continuous arc of vascular tissue. Ontogenetic evidence indicates that the vascular bundle in the midrib of the lamina should be regarded as a fundamentally single bundle and not interpreted as two bundles that have undergone various degrees of secondary fusion. A condition of two totally separate bundles extending the entire length of the leaf was not encountered. Our observations confirm the characterization of Austrobaileya as an example of “second rank” level of leaf vasculature. Nodal anatomy emphasizes the extremely isolated taxonomic position of Austrobaileya within the primitive dicotyledons.     

VASCULAR PATTERNS IN STEMS OF THE CYCLANTHACEAE

A survey was made of the distribution of stem vascular bundles in representatives of ten genera of the tropical monocotyledonous family Cyclanthaceae. Films of series of serial transverse sections were used to reconstruct the stem vasculature. Each leaf trace, followed in a basipetal direction from its level of insertion at the stem periphery, describes an obliquely downward course, initially contacting from 1 to 4 (or more) existing axial bundles. The associated bundles form a compound vascular bundle in which the original bundles initially remain discrete, most commonly in a tetrapolar arrangement, with four separate strands. Followed further in the basipetal direction, the strands eventually fuse partly or completely, usually to form a collateral or amphivasal axial bundle which participates in a new structural cycle. Quantitative variation between different taxa includes a simple pattern in Ludovia, in which only bipolar bundles are developed. More elaborate forms have multipolar bundles with more than four separate strands. A systematically useful observation is that stem vasculature in Cyclanthus, representing the subfamily Cyclanthoideae, does not differ significantly from that in subfamily Carludovicoideae although there are some distinctive structural features.     

不同茎径甘蔗品种茎尖原生分生组织不同区域细胞分裂频率差异

为探明甘蔗茎尖原生分生组织不同区域细胞分裂频率差异及其与茎径和株高的关系,对6个不同茎径品种5个不同生长时期的甘蔗茎尖进行石蜡连续纵切片显微观察,发现甘蔗茎尖原生分生组织各区域细胞分裂频率有明显差异:周缘分生区细胞(3.89%)原体原始细胞区(2.67%)髓分生区(1.46%)原套原始细胞区(1.30%),以上差异均达到显著水平;各区域细胞分裂频率与甘蔗茎径均呈正相关,其中髓分生区和原套原始细胞区细胞分裂频率与茎径的相关系数较大,分别为r~2=0.856*、r~2=0.925*;各区域细胞分裂频率与甘蔗株高均呈负相关,其中原体原始细胞区细胞分裂频率与株高相关系数r~2=-0.728*。结果表明对原生分生组织各区域细胞分裂频率的精确量化,可以揭示甘蔗茎尖原生分生组织各区细胞与其特征的内在联系和不同区域细胞活动能力差异是甘蔗茎增粗的细胞学基础。     

Leaf vasculature in sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.)

The vascular system of the leaves of Saccharum officinarum L. is composed in part of a system of longitudinal strands that in any given transverse section may be divided into three types of bundle according to size and structure: small, intermediate, and large. Virtually all of the longitudinal strands intergrade, however, from one type bundle to another. For example, virutually all of the strands having large bundle anatomy appear distally in the blade as small bundles, which intergrade into intermediates and then large bundles as they descend the leaf. These large bundles, together with the intermediates that arise midway between them, extend basipetally into the sheath and stem. Most of the remaining longitudinal strands of the blade do not enter the sheath but fuse with other strands above and in the region of the blade joint. Despite the marked decrease in number of bundles at the base of the blade, both the total and mean cross-sectional areas (measured with a digitizer from electron micrographs) of sieve tubes and tracheary elements increase as the bundles continuing into the sheath increase in size. Linear relationships exist between leaf width and total bundle number, and between cross-sectional area of vascular bundles and both total and mean cross-sectional areas of sieve tubes and tracheary elements.     

Permeability and Ultrastructure of Bundle Sheath Cells Isolated from C4 Plants: Structure-Function Studies and the Role of Plasmodesmata

Bundle sheath cells from leaves of C₄ plants can be isolated as strands surrounding vascular tissue. In this form these cells are highly permeable to metabolites and, as a consequence, they have a variety of experimental uses. The present paper reports on anatomical and ultrastructural features of isolated bundle sheath cell strands in relation to their integrity and permeability. This analysis shows that the cells retain a high degree of structural integrity during isolation. The plasmodesmata that originally connected the bundle sheath cytosol with mesophyll cells are apparently also retained in their entirety. However, at the external surface (mesophyll side) a membranous sac was commonly observed protruding from the end of plasmodesmata. The functional integrity of cells and the molecular weight exclusion limit for entry of compounds was assessed by following plasmolysis and cytorrhysis induced by polyethylene glycol solutions of varying molecular weights. Other evidence for the retention of cell compartment semipermeability is also provided.     

八角莲组织培养的器官发生途径研究

为探究小檗科植物八角莲组织培养的器官发生方式,该研究以八角莲离体叶片、叶柄在MS培养基上诱导产生的愈伤组织、不定芽、不定根为对象,用连续石蜡切片技术分析八角莲组织培养的器官发生途径。结果表明:八角莲愈伤组织形成的解剖学特征是靠近表皮的薄壁细胞经激素刺激恢复分裂能力,继续培养形成拟分生组织。拟分生组织可形成许多分化中心。通过对八角莲组织培养产生的不定芽细胞组织学观察发现芽原基起源于愈伤组织外侧的几层薄壁细胞,芽原基背离愈伤组织中央生长形成不定芽,故八角莲脱分化形成的芽起源方式为外起源。而八角莲的根原基起源于组织深处髓部薄壁细胞和部分维管形成层细胞,进而形成类似球形或楔形并朝韧皮部突起的根原基轮廓,根原基继续发育会突破表皮生成不定根,起源方式为内起源。八角莲离体再生途径为器官发生型,在组培苗生长过程中先诱导形成不定芽,再诱导形成不定根,在愈伤组织上形成维管组织将不定芽和不定根连接成完整植株。     

盾叶薯蓣根状茎的发育解剖学和组织化学研究

盾叶薯蓣根状茎顶端的生长点由鳞片包被,其衍生细胞分化为原表皮、基本分生组织和散生的原形成层束,以后分化为表皮、基本组织和散生的维管束构成的初生结构。根状茎顶端下方的原表皮内存在初生增厚分生组织,其细胞不断向内分裂和其衍生细胞的体积增大使根状茎能够迅速增粗。分化完成的根状茎主要由周皮、基本组织和散生的维管束构成。周皮由木栓层、木栓形成层和栓内层组成;基本组织由薄壁细胞组成;维管束属于有限维管束。薯蓣皂甙主要存在于基本组织薄壁细胞中。原分生组织和原形成层不含薯蓣皂甙,维管束的木质部和韧皮部中的韧皮纤维也无薯蓣皂甙的分布,韧皮部的生活细胞和维管束鞘细胞有薯蓣皂甙的积累。近顶端的基本分生组织细胞内薯蓣皂甙不形成液滴,随着细胞分裂逐渐停止,细胞内开始形成含薯蓣皂甙的液滴,反映皂甙是在成熟细胞内积累。其中,有小型维管束分布的基本组织中薯蓣皂甙的积累与分布最丰富,两年生根状茎中薯蓣皂甙的含量比一年生的高。     

Sucrose partitioning between vascular bundles and storage parenchyma in the sugarcane stem: a potential role for the ShSUT1 sucrose transporter

A transporter with homology to the SUT/SUC family of plant sucrose transporters was isolated from a sugarcane (Saccharum hybrid) stem cDNA library. The gene, designated ShSUT1, encodes a protein of 517 amino acids, including 12 predicted membrane-spanning domains and a large central cytoplasmic loop. ShSUT1 was demonstrated to be a functional sucrose transporter by expression in yeast. The estimated K_m for sucrose of the ShSUT1 transporter was 2 mM at pH 5.5. ShSUT1 was expressed predominantly in mature leaves of sugarcane that were exporting sucrose and in stem internodes that were actively accumulating sucrose. Immunolocalization with a ShSUT1-specific antiserum identified the protein in cells at the periphery of the vascular bundles in the stem. These cells became lignified and suberized as stem development proceeded, forming a barrier to apoplasmic solute movement. However, the movement of the tracer dye, carboxyfluorescein from phloem to storage parenchyma cells suggested that symplasmic connections are present. ShSUT1 may have a role in partitioning of sucrose between the vascular tissue and sites of storage in the parenchyma cells of sugarcane stem internodes.     

甘蔗茎尖离体培养褐变影响因素及细胞区室结构分析

该研究通过综合分析对甘蔗(ROC 22)茎尖离体培养褐变不同条件因素的影响以及褐变细胞区室结构的变化,探讨了甘蔗茎尖离体培养褐变的机理机制。结果表明:不同芽位茎尖诱导成活率具有明显差异,随着芽位的增加,诱导成活率不断降低;不同季节取芽对外植体茎尖总酚类物质含量无明显影响;但不同芽位及不同催芽天数,外植体芽的总多酚含量明显不同,随着催芽天数的增加,不同芽位的多酚含量呈现由低升高的趋势;蔗芽在培养4周时多酚含量较低,适宜进行采芽接种培养;从褐变甘蔗茎尖的解剖结构变化分析,褐变甘蔗茎尖细胞离体培养初期细胞核结构出现变形,线粒体有肿胀拉长,部分液泡膜开始分解;中后期质壁分离更为严重,胞质中出现大量溶酶体,线粒体等细胞器全分解,细胞膜、液泡膜、核膜、线粒体膜的双层膜结构出现破损和缺口;而正常发育的茎尖细胞,能基本保持细胞核的形态结构,只有少量的溶酶体出现。因此,可以推测细胞核和线粒体结构变形以及膜系统的大量破损是甘蔗茎尖培养褐变死亡的原因。     

Complexity untwined: The structure and function of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) shoot phloem

Cucurbit phloem is complex, with large sieve tubes on both sides of the xylem (bicollateral phloem), and extrafascicular elements that form an intricate web linking the rest of the vasculature. Little is known of the physical interconnections between these networks or their functional specialization, largely because the extrafascicular phloem strands branch and turn at irregular angles. Here, export in the phloem from specific regions of the lamina of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) was mapped using carboxyfluorescein and ¹⁴C as mobile tracers. We also mapped vascular architecture by conventional microscopy and X-ray computed tomography using optimized whole-tissue staining procedures. Differential gene expression in the internal (IP) and external phloem (EP) was analyzed by laser-capture microdissection followed by RNA-sequencing. The vascular bundles of the lamina form a nexus at the petiole junction, emerging in a predictable pattern, each bundle conducting photoassimilate from a specific region of the blade. The vascular bundles of the stem interconnect at the node, facilitating lateral transport around the stem. Elements of the extrafascicular phloem traverse the stem and petiole obliquely, joining the IP and EP of adjacent bundles. Using pairwise comparisons and weighted gene coexpression network analysis, we found differences in gene expression patterns between the petiole and stem and between IP and EP, and we identified hub genes of tissue-specific modules. Genes related to transport were expressed primarily in the EP while those involved in cell differentiation and development as well as amino acid transport and metabolism were expressed mainly in the IP.     

Distribution of carboxylation and decarboxylation enzymes in isolated mesophyll cells and bundle sheath strands of C 4 plants

Mature leaves of Cyperus rotundus, Cyperus polystachyos, Digitaria decumbens, and Digitaria sanguinalis were separated, using pectinase and cellulase, into pure preparations of mesophyll cells and bundle sheath strands. Assays on these distinct leaf cell types show a clear compartmentation of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase, >98%, into mesophyll cells and of ribulose-1, 5-diphosphate carboxylase and malic enzyme, >98%, into the bundle sheath strands. The results clearly establish that the major CO₂ uptake in mesophyll cells is via a β-carboxylation and that both a decarboxylation and a carboxylation reaction occurs in the bundle sheath strands of plants using C₄-dicarboxylic acid photosynthesis.     

Infection Process of Burkholderia glumae Before Booting Stage of Rice

Burkholderia glumae is a well‐known pathogen for causing bacterial panicle blight of rice. In this study, the infection process of B. glumae in rice plants at different growing stages was tracked by means of real‐time fluorescence quantitative PCR. Burkholderia glumae tended to colonize at the growing point of rice plants, and the biomass of population was 10⁴ to 10⁸ CFU/g. The most intensive colonization was detected in the upmost leaf in the two‐leaf period. However, after the two‐leaf period, the population of pathogens decreased significantly, and they successfully recovered in the booting stage and broke out in panicles. We also illustrated the incubation location of B. glumae by presenting the infection pattern in the seedling and tillering stage of rice. Under fluorescent microscopy, the gfp‐labelled pathogens were first found in the vascular bundle of lateral roots, taproots and injured cells, then they were observed in the root hairs, epidermal cells and main root cap. The pathogens in the vascular bundle laterally dispersed towards the epidermal cells. By spray application of a bacterial suspension, the pathogens landed on the leaf sheaths and leaves, colonized in the epidermal hairs and leaf hairs, or invaded into the cells through the stomas. At the same time, the pathogens from the vascular bundle of the roots spread into the vascular bundle of leaf sheaths and leaves, which caused the leaves to curl and wilt, beginning from the tip.     

A distinct type of cyclin D, CYCD4;2, involved in the activation of cell division in Arabidopsis

The Arabidopsis genome encodes 10 D-type cyclins (CYCD); however, their differential role in cell cycle control is not well known. Among them, CYCD4;2 is unique in the amino acid sequence; namely, it lacks the Rb-binding motif and the PEST sequence that are conserved in CYCDs. Here, we have shown that CYCD4;2 suppressed G1 cyclin mutations in yeast and formed a kinase complex with CDKA;1, an ortholog of yeast Cdc28, in insect cells. Hypocotyl explants of CYCD4;2 over-expressing plants showed faster induction of calli than wild-type explants on a medium containing lower concentration of auxin. These results suggest that CYCD4;2 has a promotive function in cell division by interacting with CDKA;1 regardless of the unusual primary sequence.     

濒危植物缙云黄芩茎叶发育过程的解剖学研究

应用石蜡切片法对濒危植物缙云黄芩茎和叶的发育过程进行解剖学观察,同时获取不同发育阶段的叶表皮,观察其微形态特征,为地方特有珍贵物种资源的保护和利用提供理论参考。结果表明:(1)缙云黄芩的茎尖生长锥呈半球状,由原套和原体构成,是发育的起点。(2)茎的发育经历原分生组织、初生生长、次生生长,木质化程度加深,表面腺毛消失,非腺毛数量增加,最终形成成熟茎的结构。(3)叶源于叶原基,之后分化出原表皮、基本分生组织、原形成层,最终形成成熟的叶肉和叶脉;叶片成熟时栅栏组织占比大大缩减,叶片内腔隙极大;叶柄中央维管束与叶片主脉结构相似,突起处的维管束简化。(4)缙云黄芩的叶表皮气孔指数变化幅度较小,整体略有降低,气孔密度则先骤降后缓慢降低,腺毛逐渐消失,非腺毛逐渐增加。     

Tissue-specific expression of the rolA gene mediates morphological changes in transgenic tobacco

The spatial and temporal activity of the entire and individual promoter domains of the rolA gene of Agrobacterium rhizogenes was investigated and correlated with the distinctive features of the phenotypes of transgenic tobacco plants. The GUS assay was performed in the presence of an oxidative catalyst during the development of transgenic plants expressing chimeric genes containing the -glucuronidase coding sequence under the control of the different promoter domains. In situ hybridization was also used on transgenic plants harbouring rolA under the control of the entire or deleted promoter. This paper demonstrates for the first time that the entire rolA promoter, composed of domains, A, B and C, is silent in seeds, then activated at the onset of germination in the cotyledons and in the elengation zone of the radicle and is finally expressed throughout the vegetative and floral phases. Domains B+C, which were sufficient to induce wrinkled leaves and short internodes, were active in all the stem tissues, but only in the companion cells of the phloem strands of the leaves. Domain C, which specified a dwarf phenotype with normal leaves, was weakly expressed in the stem vascular bundles and in the leaf internal phloem. These results indicate that the vascular bundles are the primary targets for the generation of the short internode phenotype. Furthermore, the local expression of rolA in the stem vascular bundles induced a size reduction of the surrounding parenchyma cells, suggesting the existence of some diffusible factor(s) associated with the expression of the rolA gene.     

Bud formation in leaves,leaf fragments and midrib pieces of Heloniopsis orientalis (Liliaceae)

Summary Isolated leaves, leaf fragments and pieces of the midrib portion devoid of lamina, of Heloniopsis orientalis were grown on an inorganic nutrient medium without organic nutrients and growth regulators in order to investigate their regenerative ability. Bud formation in intact, attached leaves occurs only at the tip, in isolated leaves at the tip and the base, whereas leaf fragments cut transversely at a distance from the tip and isolated midrib pieces form numerous shoot buds in a random distribution. Lamina fragments lacking midrib frequently fail to regenerate even after a long time of culture. It is suggested that endogeneous growth regulators in the leaf, especially the vascular tissues, play an important role in bud initiation. Very young leaves of Heloniopsis are capable forming buds and roots when isolated from the mother plants.     

VASCULAR CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE AERIAL STEM OF PRIONIUM (JUNCACEAE)

The aerial stem of Prionium has been studied by motion-picture analysis which permits the reliable tracing of one among hundreds of vascular strands throughout long series of transverse sections. By plotting the path of many bundles in the mature stem, a quantitative, 3-dimensional analysis of their distribution has been made, and by repeating this in the apical region an understanding of vascular development has been achieved. In the mature stem axial continuity is maintained by a vertical bundle which branches from each leaf trace just before this enters the leaf base. Lateral continuity results from bridges which link leaf traces with nearby vertical bundles. Development of the provascular system involves a meristematic cap into which the blind ends of vertical bundles can be followed. Leaf traces are produced continuously in association with developing leaf primordia for a period of over 30 plastochrones; they connect with the vertical bundles in the meristematic cap and so establish the essential vascular configuration which is later reorientated through about 90° by overall growth of the crown. The last bundles to differentiate from the leaf do so outside the meristematic cap and thus fail to make contact with the axial system; they appear in the mature axis as blind-ending cortical bundles. Prionium is only distantly related to palms and its vascular histology is quite different. Nevertheless, the course of vascular bundles and the origin of this pattern in the stem resembles that of a palm. It is suggested that we are examining the fundamental pattern of vascular development in large monocotyledons.