Adhesion of bacillus spores in relation to hydrophobicity

R önner , U., H usmark , U. & H enriksson , A. 1990. Adhesion of bacillus spores in relation to hydrophobicity. Journal of Applied Bacteriology 69 , 550–556.
The adhesion of spores of five different Bacillus species to solid surfaces of different hydrophobicity was evaluated. The spore surface hydrophobicity was measured using hydrophobic interaction chromatography (HIC). A large variation in hydrophobicity was found among the spores of the different species tested. The degree of adhesion of spores to the solid surfaces was consistent with the results obtained using the HIC method. The most hydrophobic spores, according to the HIC method, adhered in a much larger extent to the hydrophobic surfaces. Furthermore, spores generally adhered to a greater extent to hydrophobic and hydrophilic surfaces than did the vegetative cells.     

Adhesion of bacillus spores in relation to hydrophobicity

The adhesion of spores of five different Bacillus species to solid surfaces of different hydrophobicity was evaluated. The spore surface hydrophobicity was measured using hydrophobic interaction chromatography (HIC). A large variation in hydrophobicity was found among the spores of the different species tested. The degree of adhesion of spores to the solid surfaces was consistent with the results obtained using the HIC method. The most hydrophobic spores, according to the HIC method, adhered in a much larger extent to the hydrophobic surfaces. Furthermore, spores generally adhered to a greater extent to hydrophobic and hydrophilic surfaces than did the vegetative cells.     

Desiccation tolerance in red and green gametophytes of Jamesoniella colorata in relation to photoprotection

This study tests the hypothesis that red-leaved gametophytes of the liverwort Jamesoniella colorata (Lehm.) Schiffn., which are found in relatively dry habitats, are more desiccation tolerant than their green counterparts, which are found in moister environments, through superior photoprotective systems. The potential role of red foliar pigments in relation to water deficits is investigated by measuring cell water-relations, oxidative damage and photosynthetic responses. The presence of red pigments, or other cellular constituents, did not affect cell water-relations during dehydration and thus appear not to be involved in cell osmotic regulation. During drying, both colour morphs showed a similar non-photochemical quenching activity and did not experience significant oxidative damage, as measured by the amounts of ascorbate, malondialdehyde and photosynthetic pigments. However, the levels of oxidative damage increased directly upon rewetting the gametophytes, especially in low light conditions (25 μmol m⁻² s⁻¹). The efficiency of photosystem II only recovered partially after severe water deficits in both phenotypes. However, the red gametophytes recovered faster and more completely from mild water deficits than did the greens. Moreover, they experienced significantly less photobleaching after rehydration in low light. It is suggested that red pigments and/or carotenoids in these gametophytes improve desiccation tolerance by alleviating photooxidative damage.     

Deposition of airborne mercury from six Swedish chlor-alkali plants surveyed by moss analysis

The local contamination of airborne mercury caused by six Swedish chlor-alkali plants was studied by analyses of mercury accumulated in moss. Samples of the carpet-forming moss, Hypnum cupressiforme, were collected from an area radiating 15 km from each plant site. For the most part the sampling localities were distributed along five transects emanating from the emission source. The mercury content of the dry moss tissue was determined by neutron activation analysis.The fall-out pattern determined at each plant was found to be somewhat similar. The highest mercury levels, 1,000–15,000 ng/g, were obtained within close proximity to the plants; as the distance increased, the mercury level decreased. The background level of the region (90–150 ng/g) was reached at distances ranging from 9 to 15 km from the plant site. Estimates of the annual fall-out indicated that only a minor part of emitted mercury (usually ≲10%) was deposited locally. The major part seems to spread over very large areas and probably contributes to the global circulation as well as to regional background deposition.     

Aperture development in spores of the moss,Trematodon longicollis Mx.

Summary Young spores of the mossTrematodon longicollis Mx. are highly polar. Immediately after meiotic cytokinesis an extensive system of microtubules associated with the single plastid develops under the entire distal face. Following exine initiation on the distal surface a microtubule system is elaborated at the site of aperture development on the proximal surface. Both plastid and nucleus move from distal to proximal pole and are attached to microtubules of the proximal system. Microtubules underlie the plasma membrane as it withdraws from the exine in the initiation of both the surrounding annulus and central aperture pore. The central pore enlarges to form a bowl-shaped concavity in which a fibrillar plug develops basipetally. The annulus expands into a fibrillar-filled protrusion surrounding the central pore. The mature aperture consists of a central pore plug covered by a thin roof of exine and separated from the surrounding annulus by exine lamellae. The aperture of the mature spore is obscured by development of the ornate exine and is not a prominent feature of the mature spore surface.     

Germination of Cistus ladanifer seeds in relation to parent material

Variability in seed germination behaviour of Cistus ladanifer L. (rockrose), a Cistaceous species widely distributed in the Mediterranean Basin, was studied in a central Spanish population under controlled conditions. No correlation between seed moisture content and germination was found. Great variability in germination was found among seeds of the population studied, not only between seeds belonging to different mother plants, but also between those collected from different capsules on the same plant. In most cases, seeds preheated at 100 °C for 30 minutes showed a significant increase in germination. This germination behaviour is related to fire regimes as this plant is a typical shrubby element of the mediterranean shrublands. Percent germination did not vary significantly after several months of seed storage at room temperature. In the same way, no difference was found in final germination percentage of seeds stored under room temperature vs. seeds stored under cold conditions.     

Germination of spores of mycelial fungi in relation to exogenous dormancy

Comparative analysis of germination of asexual sporulation spores (conidia and sporangiospores) and of specific features of dormancy release was carried out for ascomycete mycelial fungi Aspergillus tamarii VKM F-64 and A. sydowii VKM F-441, as well as for zygomycete fungi Cunninghamella echinulata VKM F-663 and Umbelopsis ramanniana VKM F-582. The spores of these strains were shown to be in a state of exogenous dormancy and differed in lag phase duration and germination rate, which depended on the presence of nutrients in the medium. Only the strain C. echinulata VKM F-663 exhibited 100% spore germination, with the germination rate and lag phase duration not depending on the composition of the medium. While in A. tamarii strain VKM F-64, the total number of spores germinating on rich and poor media was also almost the same, in the absence of nutrients lag phase duration increased and the germination rate decreased. For strains U. ramanniana VKM F-582 and A. sydowii VKM F-441, the degree of spore germination in the absence of nutrients in the medium was considerably lower than on the rich medium, while the lag phase was longer. These data indicate that the spores of C. echinulata VKM F-663 are in the state of exogenous dormancy, which does not require for release any compounds except water. The spores of U. ramanniana strain VKM F-582 and of the Aspergillus strains exhibited another variant of exogenous dormancy, which required for release, apart from water, also the sources of carbon and nitrogen. Thus, the character of dormancy release may differ even within a single genus (Aspergillus).     

Deposition of callose in relation to abscission of citrus leaves

When leaves of Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck cv. Shamouti senesce, they become more susceptible to abscission and the proximal 2 mm of their lamina-petiole abscission zones exhibit callose deposition. The degree of senescence, assayed with the DAR-WIN image processor (Telewski et al. 1983), was positively correlated in a linear fashion with callose deposition. Explant of non-senescing leaves were observed. Excision of the leaf at the stem-petiole junction induced callose deposition throughout the petiole, but not in the lamina. Callose deposition began immediately upon excision and reached a maximum at 3 h. It then decreased slightly and remained at the same level for up to 5 days. Exogenous compounds that decrease callose deposition, e.g. laminarase and 2-deoxy-D-glucose, inhibited the rate of abscission of explants. Compounds that promote callose deposition, e.g. uridine diphosphoglucose and mannose, increased the rate of abscission of explants. Exogenous callose, e.g. laminarin, increased the rate of abscission. It is not known how callose might be causally involved in promoting abscission.     

八种青藓科植物蒴齿及孢子的超微形态研究

利用扫描电镜观察了八种青藓科植物孢子及蒴齿的形态,青藓科植物的孢子纹饰多以芽孢状和瘤状突起为主,孢子的大小、外壁纹饰的差异显示了不同种之间的遗传分化及系统演化。青藓属外齿层腹面中部分为四种类型:光滑无疣、颗粒状疣、短刺状小疣、棒状和芽孢状疣,外齿层中上部的特征属与属之间存在差异,该研究可为分类鉴定提供一定的依据。     

Variation of vertebral number in juvenile Oncorhynchus mykiss in relation to upstream distance from the ocean

Vertebral counts in fishes are set early in development by a complex interaction of genetic and environmental factors. Recently, R. M. McDowall showed that vertebral counts can differ between diadromous and non-diadromous galaxiids, and suggested similar life history-based variation might also occur in the closely related Salmonidae. We examined variation in vertebral counts of juvenile rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, from within a single large basin where anadromous and non-anadromous forms co-occur. Juveniles were collected at 29 sites within the Klamath River basin using a nested sampling design. Mean vertebral counts varied among regions, among complexes within regions, and among sites within complexes. Regression showed that mean vertebral counts decreased with increasing distance from the ocean. This decrease could not be explained by differences in temperature within the basin during early development. However, the decrease is consistent with the expectation that non-anadromous forms have fewer vertebrae and are more common at sites distant from the ocean, and suggests that further study of the relationship between vertebral counts and life history form in O. mykiss is warranted.

Exploring morphological evolution in relation to habitat moisture in the moss genus Fissidens using molecular data generated from herbarium specimens

Morphological evolution in mosses has long been hypothesized to accompany shifts in microhabitats, which can be tested using comparative phylogenetics. These lines of inquiry have been developed to include target capture sequencing, which can yield phylogenomic scale data from herbarium specimens. Here, we test the relationship between taxonomically important morphological characters in the moss genus Fissidens, using a 400-locus data set generated using a target-capture approach in tandem with a three-locus phylogeny generated using Sanger sequencing. Phylogenetic trees generated using ASTRAL and Bayesian inference were used to test the monophyly of subgenera/sections. These trees provide the basis for ancestral character state reconstructions and phylogenetic correlation analyses for five morphological characters and characters related to the moisture habitat, scored from the literature and by specimen inspection. Many of these characters exhibit statistically significant phylogenetic signal. Significant correlations were found between the limbidium (phyllid/leaf border of the gametophyte) and habitat moisture niche breadth, which could be interpreted as the more extensive limbidium enabling species to survive across a wider variety of habitats. We also found correlations between costa anatomy, peristome morphology, and the limbidium, which could reflect the evolutionary recruitment of genetic networks from the gametophyte to the sporophyte phase. The correlation found between average habitat moisture and the sexual system indicates that dioicous and polyoicous species are more likely to be found in moist habitats and that these higher moisture levels could be particularly, reproductively advantageous to species with separate sexes.     

Deposition of spores and other particles on vegetation and soil

The rate of deposition of 20–30 μm diameter particles, including spores and pollen grains, on plant and other surfaces, is determined, first, by the frequency at which particles strike the surfaces and, secondly, by the proportion retained on the surface rather than rebounding into the airstream. Spores and pollen grains tagged with a radioactive marker were used to show that the impaction efficiency on leaves and stems depends very much on whether or not the surfaces are sticky or moist. If they are, the rate of deposition may approach that predicted aerodynamically. If the plant surfaces are dry, there is saltation of some spores and the effective rate of deposition is greatly reduced.     

Isolation of protoplasts from fern prothallia and their regeneration to gametophytes

Protoplasts were isolated enzymatically from prothallia ofLygodium japonicum. The protoplasts grown in a culture medium containing 0.6 M mannitol and 0.05 M sucrose began to divide within 8 days of culture, and after 30 days 10-cell clusters were present. When the cell-clusters were transferred into fresh media followed by sequential reduction of mannitol concentration, they developed rhizoids and protonemata. The reduction of mannitol concentration to 0.3 M resulted in the regeneration of a common gametophyte within 50 days of culture, and subsequently the regenerated gametophytes produced sporophytic leaves and roots.     

Occurrence of pollen and spores in relation to present-day vegetation in a Dutch heathland area

Abstract. Pollen, spores and fungal remains in moss cushions along a transect, traversing a Betula-Quercus forest and a surrounding heathland, were analysed in order to study the relation between present-day vegetation and recent pollen deposition. Pollen and spores are divided into local types from plant species encountered along the transect and regional types, not present along the transect. Relative percentages and absolute concentration of the palynomorphs were estimated. Radiocaesium activity in the moss was measured to assess the minimal duration of palynomorph accumulation (i.e. the age of the moss samples). The absence of simultaneous trends in the regional pollen types indicates that the samples do not have major differences in age. The moss represents the later stages in the heath mosaic cycle. This is supported by the radiocaesium content of the moss. Thus, in this case the concentration values of regional pollen approach deposition values. The values of the local pollen types calculated on such a rather constant regional pollen flux is considered to represent real differences in the local deposition. The local pollen types can be arranged topographically into five groups characteristic of the local vegetation types and their ecotones. The arrangement of the curves of types from phyco-, zoo-, and myco-coenoses suggests their possible origin, either locally from the heath area or from the Betula-Quercus forest, or regionally from elsewhere. Analyses and topographical arrangement of the curves of unknown types contribute in this way to their identification and their possible source of origin.     

Dual mechanisms of ion absorption in relation to long distance transport in plants

The characteristics of ion transport to the shoots of young corn seedlings were studied with respect to the nature of the isotherm through a wide concentration range, the competitive influence of closely related ions upon the transport of a given ion, and the influence of the counter-ion. Both with respect to ³⁶Cl and ⁸⁶Rb transport, the characteristics of the process in every way resemble uptake by non-vacuolate root tips wherein the plasma membrane is the only membrane involved in absorption, and where system 1 — of the 2 systems which can be shown to participate in absorption by vacuolate tissue — is the only system operative. Net ion uptake by the roots per se was shown to display both the high affinity (system 1) and low affinity (system 2) mechanisms. It is concluded that the symplastic theory of ion movement to the xylem is valid, and that the contention that system 1 operates at the plasma membrane while system 2 functions at the tonoplast is strengthened.