Impaired phytochrome-mediated shade-avoidance responses in the aurea mutant of tomato

Internode extension-growth responses to neighbouring plants and to red to far-red ratios (R:FR) were investigated in wild-type (WT) and aurea (au)-mutant seedlings of tomato grown under natural radiation. The genomic location of the au mutant is not known, but one of its consequences is the reduced phytochrome level. In WT seedlings, internode growth was promoted by the presence of non-shading neighbours reflecting far-red light (FR), the shade of a tall canopy, FR provided as a supplement during the photoperiod, and FR pulses either provided at the end of the day or delayed into the dark period. Supplementary FR during the photoperiod also promoted growth in herbicide-treated partially bleached WT seedlings. The au mutant showed higher background extension-growth rates, but only responded to the most severe treatments: deep shade light and very low R:FR at the end of the day, i.e. au-mutant seedlings were less sensitive than WT seedlings to R:FR signals. Wild-type seedlings were transferred from the glasshouse to a growth room and exposed to white light with two levels of phytochrome-absorbable radiation but similar phytochrome photoequilibria and radiation for photosynthesis. The plants exposed to the lowest level showed a transient increase of internode extension growth rate and a simultaneous reduction of response to FR pulses, i.e. reproduced some of the features of au-mutant seedlings. Phytochrome itself could set the degree of response to Pfr during neighbour detection.     

Photosynthetic carbon fixation in the corollas of Petunia hybrida

Corollas of Petunia hybrida (cv. Hit Parade Rosa) flowers fixed ¹⁴CO₂ under both light and dark conditions. Rates of light fixation were much higher in mature pink corollas than in young, green corollas [57 and 9 nmol (ngchl)¹ min^-1], paralleling the development of chloroplasts in these tissues. Stomatal conductance in corollas was only 12% of that in green leaves, mainly due to the presence of few, and non-functioning stomata in the corolla. The activity and concentration of ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase (EC 4.1.1.39) in corolla extracts were only about 30% (per unit Chi) of those in extracts from green leaves. These results, together with previous results, might indicate a coordinated reduction in activity of systems participating in photosynthesis in corollas. The fixation products following a 6 s pulse with ¹⁴CO₂, were typical of C, plants in both corollas and green leaves, but a higher level of β-carboxylation products was found in the corollas. The activity of phosphoenol-pyruvate carboxylase (EC 4.1.1.31) (per unit protein) was similar in both tissues. Although the total carbon fixed by the corolla constituted only a small part of the metabolites required for flower development, certain photosynthetic metabolites might have a regulatory role in flower development.     

The aurea mutant of tomato is deficient in spectrophotometrically and immunochemically detectable phytochrome

The aurea locus mutant (au ^w) of tomato contains less than 5% of the level of phytochrome in wild-type tissue as measured by in vivo difference spectroscopy. Immunoblot analysis using antibodies directed against etiolated-oat phytochrome demonstrates that crude extracts of etiolated mutant tissue are deficient in a major immunodetectable protein (116 kDa) normally present in the parent wild type. Analyses of wild-type tissue extracts strongly indicate that the 116-kDa protein is phytochrome by showing that this protein: a) is degraded more rapidly in vitro after a brief far-red irradiation than after a brief red irradiation (Vierstra RD, Quail PH, Planta 156: 158–165, 1982); b) contains a covalently bound chromophore as detected by Zn-chromophore fluorescence on nitrocellulose blots; and c) has an apparent molecular mass comparable to phytochrome from other species on size exclusion chromatography under non-denaturing conditions. The demonstration that the aurea mutant is deficient in this 116-kDa phytochrome indicates that the lack of spectrally detectable phytochrome in this mutant is the result of a lesion which affects the abundance of the phytochrome molecule as opposed to its spectral integrity.     

徐长卿种子生活力检测及发芽生物学特性观察

对徐长卿[Cynanchum paniculatum(Bge．)Kitag．]种子生活力与发芽生物学特性进行了观察。结果表明：秋收徐长卿种子贮藏至次年3和4月,生活力分别为87％和80％;种子表面用1％H2O2除菌预处理,有利于正常发芽,发芽率达82％,发芽时间提前1d,第3日出现发芽高峰。温度从15℃至30℃,发芽率逐渐升高;25℃时,种子第2天即开始发芽,出现最短发芽持续时间(5d)和最高发芽势(75％),因此,25℃是徐长卿种子发芽的最适温度。     

Temperature dependence of the germination of tomato seeds

1. 1.|The germination of tomato “C38” seeds exposed to periodical white incandescent light occurs from 6.0° ± 0.2°C to 37.5° ± 0.2°C, being rate-limited for 10.3° T 25.9°C, and elsewhere limited by the germination capacity.

2. 2.|Rate averages are linearly T-dependent outside their optimum range (25.9° T 29.5°C) and rate variances are typically heterogeneous.

3. 3.|The smooth curvilinear Arrhenius plot indicates that diffusion processes cannot be rate-limiting outside the interval 25.9° T 29.5°C, whereas phase transitions and (or) transconformation of proteins may limit the rate above 34.9°C and, by opposite effects, below 15.3°C.

4. 4.|The thermal communication between the environment and the germinating seed proceeds by a temperature signal which is quenched by random thermal noise at T 11.2°C and at T 34.0°C.

激素种类及其浓度对矮牵牛试管苗增殖及生根率的影响

以MS培养基为基本培养基,以矮牵牛试管苗为材料,并用不同浓度的细胞分裂素6-BA、KT、Ad分别与生长素NAA（0．10mg／L）进行配比试验,并用一定浓度的细胞分裂素6-BA、KT、Ad两两分别组合配比试验,探讨了不同浓度的细胞分裂素对矮牵牛试管苗的影响,以及两类生长素IBA和NAA对生根的影响。结果表明,适合于矮牵牛试管苗增殖的培养基有：（1）MS＋1．60mg／L 6-BA＋0．10mg／LNAA;（2）MS＋0．80mg／L 6-BA＋1．60mg／LKT＋0．10mg／L NAA;（3）MS＋0．80mg／L 6-BA＋0．20mg／LAd＋0．10mg／LNAA;（4）MS＋1．60mg／L KT＋0．20mg／L Ad＋0．10mg／L NAA。适合于矮牵牛试管苗生根的培养基有（1）1／2MS;（2）1／ZMS＋0．20mg／L1BA;（3）1／2MS＋0．20mg／LNAA。     

低温胁迫对番茄种子萌发的影响

在人工气候箱中模拟3个低温处理(24h最低/最高温度分别设定为7℃/12℃、5℃/10℃和3℃/8℃),分析了播种后不同天数低温胁迫对番茄种子萌发的影响。结果表明:与对照(18℃/25℃)相比,低温胁迫处理的温度越低影响越大,当日最低温度达到5.0℃、日均温低于10.0℃(相当于低温胁迫处理7℃/12℃)时,对番茄种子萌发的影响较为严重;播种后越早经受低温影响越大,播种后3d内经受低温胁迫,番茄种子发芽势、发芽指数和萌发率均有较大的下降,播种6d后低温胁迫对其萌发指标的影响较小;低温胁迫影响种子萌发的原因主要是低温导致了α-淀粉酶活性下降,相对离子渗漏率增加,从而减缓了番茄种子贮藏物质的降解,影响了番茄种子萌发初期的物质与能量代谢,并增强了细胞膜的透性,导致外渗物增多。     

Photosynthetic characteristics of leaves developed at different irradiances and temperatures: an extension of the current hypothesis

Photosynthetic characteristics at high measurement irradiance were analyzed for single leaves of two C₃ and one C₄ species grown under twenty one combinations of irradiance level, irradiance duration, and air temperature in order to test the idea that photosynthetic characteristies developed by leaves in different environments are controlled by the daily amount of photosynthesis. Photosynthetic rates per unit area and mesophyll conductances at 25°C and air levels of CO₂ and O₂, and parameters for two photosynthesis models were used to characterize the photosynthetic properties of the leaves. Leaves with highest values of the photosynthetic parameters for each species were often developed in environments with irradiance levels below saturation for photosynthesis, and with only 12 hours of irradiance per day. Lower air temperature during growth increased the photosynthetic characteristics for a given irradiance regime. Photosynthetic characteristics had higher correlation coefficients with daily photosynthesis of mature leaves divided by 24-hour leaf elongation rates of young leaves, than with daily photosynthesis alone, indicating that photosynthetic characteristics may be related to a balance between photosynthesis and leaf expansion.     

矮牵牛花药培养及植株再生研究

采用花粉发育双核期的矮牵牛花药,研究不同浓度植物生长调节剂配比及不同浓度蔗糖和麦芽糖对花药诱导率的影响。结果表明,采用6-BA和IBA组合诱导效果较好;NH+6-BA 1.5mg/L+IBA 1.5mg/L花药诱导率较高;麦芽糖诱导效果明显比蔗糖好。     

矮牵牛叶肉原生质体再生壁多糖的形成及转化

用~3H—葡萄糖饲喂矮牵牛叶肉原生质体,发现放射性集中在半纤维素部分,占整个再生壁的83％～90％,而纤维素中约占9％。纸层析分析证明,葡萄糖占半纤维素部分中性糖总量的70％,再生壁主要是由非纤维素葡聚糖组成。原生质体在含有~3H—葡萄糖的培养基中培养4d后,24h追踪表明,部分半纤维素转化成纤维素。加入香豆素,至少3d之内抑制半纤维素向纤维素转化;除去抑制剂,半纤维素含量迅速降低而纤维素增加。所以认为矮牵牛叶向原生质体壁再生过程中半纤维素是合成纤维素的前体。     

A gene controlling rate of anthocyanin synthesis and mutation frequency of the gene An1 in Petunia hybrida

Summary The difference in colour intensity between flowers of sporogenic revertants of the white flowering lines W17 and W28 is caused by an incompletely dominant gene Inl. This gene is not linked to the anthocyanin gene Anl. In the dominant state Inl causes a 50% decrease in colour intensity of selfcoloured red flowers.Chromatographic analysis of anthocyanins of plants homozygous recessive or dominant for Inl showed that the same anthocyanins are produced in both genotypes (cyanidin-3-glucoside and cyanidin-3-diglucoside). Anthocyanin synthesis starts at the same stage of development of the flower in both genotypes. When the bud reaches a length of approximately 45 mm, however, anthocyanin synthesis in the Inl Inl line slows down.No influence of the gene Inl on the concentration of dihydroquercetin-7-glucoside in buds and flowers could be observed, which indicates that the influence of Inl on flower colour development is restricted to the last part of the biosynthesis of anthocyanins, i.e. the conversion of dihydroflavonols into anthocyanins.In addition to Inl having a decreasing effect on flower colour intensity, evidence is produced that the gene Inl also influences the reversion frequency of unstable alleles of the gene Anl.     

The ultrastructure of Cerebropollenites from the Jurassic and Cretaceous of Asia

The dispersed pollen taxon Cerebropollenites recovered from the Jurassic of Afghanistan and Cretaceous of China was investigated ultrastructurally. Cerebropollenites lacks the differentiation of the proximal and distal hemispheres, a faint proximal triradiate mark, and an equatorial fringe, all features found in extant Tsuga, however, the gross pollen morphology, and the wall ultrastructure of Cerebropollenites suggests an affinity with the extant genus Tsuga (Section Micropeuce). The differences observed between Cerebropollenites and Tsuga are no greater than the differences observed between the pollen of the two Sections of Tsuga, Hesperopeuce and Micropeuce. The occurrence of Cerebropollenites in the Jurassic and Cretaceous is, thus far, the only fossil evidence that the genus Tsuga may have been present in the Mesozoic, and suggests that the Pinaceae, which is unequivocally recognized in the Cretaceous, may have had an earlier origin.     

Synthesis of malvidin and petunidin in pigmented tissue cultures ofPetunia hybrida

Summary In petunia cells culturedin vitro anthocyanin synthesis is usually repressed resulting in white/ yellow cells. However, we observed that in petunia strain AK-5000 purple cells appeared at a frequency of about 5 × 10^–5. Analysis of the pigments showed that these cells contained the same anthocyanidins (petunidin and malvidin) as found in corollas of the parental plants. This suggests an induction of anthocyanin synthesis in these cells. In white/yellow cells, from which these pigmented cells originated, we could not observe any of the known precursors of these pigments.     

The effect of light and exogenous gibberellic acid on respiration pathways during germination of tomato seeds

Tomato (Lycopersicon esculenlum Mill. cv. Taiwan Red) seeds are typical lightsensitive seeds where light requirement can be substituted by gibberellic acid (GA₃). During the initial stage of germination, the hexose monophosphate pathway (HMP) in seeds incubated for 24 h under white light or 12 h in 0.3 mW GA₃ solution acidified with 1 M HCI for 1 h in the dark (HCl→GA₃) was much greater than in seeds incubated for 24 h in the dark. The results were obtained from measurements of the respiration rate by man metric method of Warburg with or without iodoacetic acid, and from activities of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.49) and aldolase (EC 4.1.2.13). Although the HMP tended to decrease at the later stage (72 h under white light or in the dark, or 36 h in HCl→GA₃), it remained greater in light- than in dark-incubated seeds. CN-resistant respiration increased from 27–30% to 57–64% of the total respiration in seeds incubated under white light or in HCI→GA₃, while respiration of non-germinating, dark-incubated seeds remained zero. Benzohydrox–amic acid (BHAM), an inhibitor of the alternative pathway, inhibited both respiration and seed germination. It is concluded that the enhancement of HMP and the CN–resistant pathways are both controlled by P_fr, but there is no direct connection between them.