钙和钙调素对玉米幼苗抗旱性的调控

用２０ｍｍｏｌ／ＬＣａＣｌ２浸种处理能显著提高玉米种子在干旱胁迫下的萌发率。改善玉米幼苗的生长状况,减轻胚根在干旱胁迫下的膜伤害,提高其活力和玉米幼苗在强干旱迫下的存活率。     

THE OCCURRENCE OF WALL PAPILLAE IN ROOT EPIDERMAL CELLS OF AXENICALLY GROWN SEEDLINGS OF ZEA MAYS

Lens-shaped wall papillae, resembling those known to form in response to fungi or mechanical damage, occur in root epidermal cells of axenically grown seedlings of Zea mays. Papillae are most common in the tabular epidermal cells but also occur in younger cells. Not all tabular cells have papillae, and they are more frequent in some seedlings. Where present, there is usually only one papilla per cell and it lies against the outer periclinal wall just proximal to an emerged root hair or near the position where a hair would be expected to form. Electron micrographs show that a papilla is structurally heterogeneous. Papillae fluoresce strongly in the presence of aniline blue even in freeze-substituted material.     

THE ULTRASTRUCTURE OF GRANA IN MESOPHYLL PLASTIDS OF ZEA MAYS

The compartments of the grana of mesophyll plastids of Zea mays are extensively interconnected. In median sections of grana, 16.5% of compartment margins were involved in a Y-shaped conjunction of the loculi of two consecutive compartments with the loculus of an attached fret. Various configurations accounted for the remainder of the compartment margins seen in median sections of grana. Tangential views of grana and serial sections revealed an oblique relationship between the frets and the grana. Analysis of serial sections allows the conclusion that the components of the fretwork are helically wound around a granum.     

LIMITATIONS OF PHOTOSYNTHESIS IN DIFFERENT REGIONS OF THE ZEA MAYS LEAF

The progressive development of the photosynthetic apparatus occurring along the length of the Zea mays leaf offers a convenient system with which to examine the limitations to photosynthetic CO₂ assimilation during biogenesis of a C₄ leaf. Changes in light-induced O₂ evolution and CO₂ assimilation, chlorophyll content, activity of PEP-carboxylase, NADP-malic enzyme and the 'R5P system' (consisting of d -ribose-5-phosphate-keto isomerase, ATP- d -ribulose-5 phosphate 1-phosphotransferase and d -ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase) and fluorescence emission characteristics were examined along the length of the second leaf of 7-day-old plants grown under a diurnal light regime. The results suggest that the major limitation to CO₂ assimilation in the leaf sheath lies within the chlorenchyma and is either energy supply for carboxylation or the capacity of key photosynthetic enzymes. In the leaf blade stomatal resistance to CO₂ diffusion constitutes a major fraction of the total leaf resistance to CO₂ assimilation implicating the stoma as the major limiting factor to photosynthetic CO₂ assimilation.     

C-BAND HETEROCHROMATIN AND DNA CONTENT IN ZEA MAYS

The number of mitotic chromosomal C-bands, the percent of the genome comprised of C-band heterochromatin, and genome size (4C DNA content) were determined for 22 North American inbred and open-pollinated lines of Zea mays. The number of C-bands ranged from 0 in Tama Knobless Flint to 18 in Zapolate Grande. The percent C-band heterochromatin ranged from 0% in Tama Knobless Flint to 16.9% in Tx601. Genome size varied over 23%: Gaspe Flint had the lowest DNA content (9.82 pg), and Zapolate Grande had the highest (12.12 pg). Genome size and the amount of heterochromatin were significantly correlated. The corn lines were assigned to five maturity zones encompassing a south-to-north range from Mexico to Canada. Significant negative correlations were detected between the amount of C-band heterochromatin and maturity zones, and between DNA content and maturity zones among the lines. It is speculated that the simultaneous selection by man for earlier maturation and plant size may be related to the lower DNA content of corn varieties adapted to higher latitudes. Such selection for larger plants may have been achieved through selection for more cells, which could result from the shorter mitotic cycle time that correlates with reduced DNA amount.     

DYNAMICS OF ARBUSCULE DEVELOPMENT AND DEGENERATION IN A ZEA MAYS MYCORRHIZA

A quantitative light and electron microscope study of developing and degenerating mycorrhizal arbuscules of Glomus fasciculatum in Zea mays was carried out in order to estimate three parameters during the colonization cycle. These were: 1) V_v(f,c), the fraction of the host cell volume occupied by a volume of fungus; 2) V_v(cy,c), the fraction of the host cell volume occupied by host cytoplasm; 3) S_v(pr,c), the surface-area-to-volume ratio of the host protoplast to the whole host cell. Uninfected cortical cells had an S_v(pr,c) of 0.13 μm²/μm³. As the fungus penetrates the cell wall, the protoplast invaginates, causing a decrease in protoplast volume and an increase in protoplast S_v. The S_v(pr,c) of a cell containing a mature arbuscule is 1.275 μm²/μm³. Because of the shrinkage of the protoplast, the S_v of the protoplast to its own volume rather than the original cell volume is 2.55 μm²/μm³, or almost a 20-fold increase. Total cell size is unaffected. When the arbuscule is mature, the fungus occupies 42% of the cell, with 24% as 1-μm-diam branches, and 18% as trunk. Arbuscular branch formation progresses at a linear rate and is the most important factor in causing the increased host S_v. The correlation coefficient for V_v(br,c) the volume fraction for arbuscular branches, vs. Sv(pr,c) is r = 0.932 (P < 0.001). Degeneration of the arbuscule is marked by a rapid decrease in branches, host S_v, and host cytoplasm. The trunk develops and degenerates at a slower rate than the branches.     

ULTRASTRUCTURE OF THE LAMELLAE AND GRANA IN THE CHLOROPLASTS OF ZEA MAYS L

The fine structure of the chloroplasts of maize (Zea mays L.) has been investigated by electron microscopic examination of ultrathin sections of leaves fixed in buffered osmium tetroxide solutions. Both the parenchyma sheath and mesophyll chloroplasts contain a system of densely staining lamellae about 125 A thick immersed in a finely granular matrix material (the stroma), and are bounded by a thin limiting membrane which often appears as a double structure. In the parenchyma sheath chloroplasts, the lamellae usually extend the full width of the disc-shaped plastids, and grana are absent. The mesophyll chloroplasts, however, contain numerous grana of a fairly regular cylindrical form. These consist of highly ordered stacks of dense lamellae, the interlamellar spacing being ca. 125 A. The grana are interlinked by a system of lamellae (intergrana lamellae) which are on the average about one-half as numerous as the lamellae within the grana. In general, this appears to be due to a bifurcation of the lamellae at the periphery of the granum, but more complex interrelationships have been observed. The lamellae of the parenchyma sheath chloroplasts and those of both the grana and intergrana regions of the mesophyll chloroplasts exhibit a compound structure when oriented normally to the plane of the section. A central exceptionally dense line (ca. 35 A thick) designated the P zone is interposed between two less dense layers (the L zones, ca. 45 A thick), the outer borders of which are defined by thin dense lines (the C zones). Within the grana, the C zones, by virtue of their close apposition, give rise to thin dense intermediate lines (I zones) situated midway between adjacent P zones. A model of the lamellar structure is proposed in which mixed lipide layers (L zones) are linked to a protein layer (P zone) by non-polar interaction. Chlorophyll is distributed over the entire lamellar surface and held in the structure by van der Waals interaction of the phytol "tail" with the hydrocarbon moieties of the mixed lipide layers. The evidence in favour of the model is briefly discussed.