The study of the genetic effects in generation of pea plants cultivated during the whole cycle of ontogenesis on the board of RS ISS

Results of studies on growth and development of offspring of two genetically marked dwarf pea lines planted during the whole ontogenesis cycle in the Lada space greenhouse on board of Russian Segment of International Space Station (RS ISS) are presented. The offspring of M1 and M2 plants grown from seeds formed during space flight was examined under conditions of Earth-based. Cultivation. It had been shown that growth and developmental characteristics, frequency of chromosome aberrations in primary root meristem and level of molecular polymorphism revealed in individual plants via RAPD method show no significant differences between offspring of "space-grown" and control seeds.     

A genetic discontinuity in root-nodulating bacteria of cultivated pea in the Indian trans-Himalayas

Evolutionary relationships of 120 root‐nodulating bacteria isolated from the nodules of Pisum sativum cultivated at 22 different locations of the trans‐Himalayan valleys of Lahaul and Spiti in the state of Himachal Pradesh of India were studied using 16S rRNA gene PCR‐RFLP, ERIC‐PCR, sequencing of 16S rRNA, atpD, recA, nodC and nifH genes, carbon‐source utilization pattern (BIOLOG?), and whole‐cell fatty acid profiling. The results demonstrated that all isolates belonged to Rhizobium leguminosarum symbiovar viciae (Rlv). Isolates from the two valleys were clearly separated on the basis of ERIC fingerprints, carbon‐source utilization pattern, and whole‐cell fatty acid methyl esters. Phylogenetic analysis of atpD, recA, nodC and nifH genes revealed a common Rlv sublineage in Spiti valley. Lahaul valley isolates were represented by three sequence types of atpD and recA genes, and four sequence types of nodC and nifH genes. Genotypes from the two valleys were completely distinct, except for two Lahaul isolates that shared nodC and nifH sequences with Spiti isolates but were otherwise more similar to other Lahaul isolates. Isolates from the two highest Spiti valley sites (above 4000 m) had a distinctive whole‐cell fatty acid profile. Spiti valley isolates are closely related to Rlv sublineages from Xinjiang and Shanxi provinces in China, while Lahaul valley isolates resemble cosmopolitan strains of the western world. The high mountain pass between these valleys represents a boundary between two distinct microbial populations.     

Tryptophan synthase activity,tryptophan and serine contents in pea (Pisum sativum L.) plants during their ontogenesis

Considerable changes in tryptophan synthase aotivity occur during the ontogenesis of pea plants (Pisum sativum L.) in their individual parts. Maximal tryptophan synthase activity is connected with the vigorous growth period of the individual organs and of the entire plant. The content of free serine which is present in excess and is one of the substrates in the reaction catalyzed by tryptophan synthase, also changes, as well as the content of free tryptophan, the product of the reaction. The changes in the contents of these amino acids do not correspond to the variation in tryptophan synthase activity and mainly follow the alterations in the total nitrogen metabolísm. The limiting factor in the biosynthesis ofL-tryptophanin vivo is probably the availability of the aromatic precursor, above all of indole-3-glycerophosphate. The content of bound tryptophan also shifts in the pea plants owing to the enrichment of proteins in older parts of pea plants with this amino acid.     

Quantifying the dynamics of light tolerance in Arabidopsis plants during ontogenesis

The amount of light plants can tolerate during different phases of ontogenesis remains largely unknown. This was addressed here employing a novel methodology that uses the coefficient of photochemical quenching (qP) to assess the intactness of photosystem II reaction centres. Fluorescence quenching coefficients, total chlorophyll content and concentration of anthocyanins were determined weekly during the juvenile, adult, reproductive and senescent phases of plant ontogenesis. This enabled quantification of the protective effectiveness of non‐photochemical fluorescence quenching (NPQ) and determination of light tolerance. The light intensity that caused photoinhibition in 50% of leaf population increased from ～70 μmol m^?2 s^?1, for 1‐week‐old seedlings, to a maximum of 1385 μmol m^?2 s^?1 for 8‐week‐old plants. After 8 weeks, the tolerated light intensity started to gradually decline, becoming only 332 μmol m^?2 s^?1 for 13‐week‐old plants. The dependency of light tolerance on plant age was well‐related to the amplitude of protective NPQ (pNPQ) and the electron transport rates (ETRs). Light tolerance did not, however, show a similar trend to chlorophyll a/b ratios and content of anthocyanins. Our data suggest that pNPQ is crucial in defining the capability of high light tolerance by Arabidopsis plants during ontogenesis.     

Effect of manganese application on the activity of phosphate-dissolving bacteria in a calcareous soil cultivated with pea plants

Summary A study was undertaken to investigate the effect of Mn-application on the activity of PDB in a calcareous soil. Mn was applied to the soil at two rates 5 and 10 ppm in the presence and absence of inoculation with PDB. Although the effect of 5 ppm Mn on the counts of PDB and P-uptake by pea plants was slight, 10 ppm Mn markedly proliferated PDB and increased P-uptake by 16 and 5% of control in inoculated and non-inoculated soils respectively. re]19750821     

Long-term effects of drought on wild and cultivated plants in the Negev desert

Summary The relation between daily maximal rates of net photosynthesis and plant water status was studied during a dry season on irrigated and non-irrigated, naturally growing, perennial wild plants.Species were examined which differ in phenology, leaf anatomy and morphology: Hammada scoparia, Artemisia herba-alba, Zygophyllum dumosum, and Reaumuria negevensis. Prumus armeniaca which was growing in the run-off farm at Avdat and which has mosomorphic leaves was included in the comparison. All plants differed in their seasonal change in plant water status, and in their seasonal change in daily maximal net photosynthesis. Rates of CO₂ uptake were not uniquely related to simultanously measured leaf water potentials. Daily maximal rates of net photosynthesis of non-irrigated plants, and the difference between maximal CO₂ uptake of irrigated and non-irrigated plants were examined in relation to pre-dawn water potential. Maximal net photosynthesis rates decreased very rapidly with decrease in pre-dawn water potential or, for Hammada scoparia, they decreased even with a constant level of pre-dawn water potential. Consequently, it was considered necessary to include both time and water potential in a parameter bar day describing the accumulated drought stress of the plants. All species showed the same relation between relative maximal net photosynthesis and drought experience as determined by cumulative daily addition of pre-dawn water potentials for the non-irrigated plants since the last rain.     

Fluoranthene-induced production of ethylene and formation of lysigenous intercellular spaces in pea plants cultivated in vitro

The effect of increasing concentration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) fluoranthene (FLT; 0.1, 1 and 5 mg l⁻¹) on the growth, ethylene production and anatomy of stems of 21-day-old pea plants cultivated in vitro in MS medium, with or without FLT, enriched with 0.1 mg l⁻¹ indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) or with combination of 0.1 mg l⁻¹ IAA + 0.1 mg l⁻¹ N⁶-benzyladenine (BA) were investigated. The low concentration of 0.1 mg l⁻¹ FLT, in both IAA- and IAA + BA-treated plants, significantly stimulated the growth of pea callus, while higher concentrations 1 mg l⁻¹ and especially 5 mg l⁻¹ FLT significantly inhibited it. Pea shoots were significantly influenced only after application of 5 mg l⁻¹ FLT in IAA treatment. Significantly increased production of ethylene was found in IAA + BA treatments in all concentrations of FLT, whereas in IAA treatments in 1 and 5 mg l⁻¹ FLT. The lysigenous aerenchyma formation in the cortex of pea stems significantly increased in all FLT treatments and its highest proportion was found in plants exposed to 1 mg l⁻¹ FLT.     

Changes in the content of endogenous IAA and cytokinins in cotyledons of etiolated pea seedlings during their ontogenesis

The inhibitive growth-correlative effect of cotyledons of pea seedlings decreases during their ontogenesis till the age of 14 days. This decrease is associated with an increase in the level of endogenous cytokinins on the one hand and a decrease of endogenous IAA on the other. This is in harmony with the fact that the correlative-inhibiting effect of pea cotyledon upon the growth of its axillary bud can be weakened by exogenous cytokinin and amplified by exogenous IAA.     

Characterization of the antioxidant system during the vegetative development of pea plants

The antioxidative system was studied during the development of pea plants. The reduced glutathione (GSH) content was higher in shoots than in roots, but a greater redox state of glutathione existed in roots compared with shoots, at least after 7 d of growth. The 3-d-old seedlings showed the highest content of oxidised ascorbate (DHA), which correlated with the ascorbate oxidase (AAO) activity. Also, the roots exhibited higher DHA content than shoots, correlated with their higher AAO activity. The activities of antioxidant enzymes were much higher in shoots than in roots. Ascorbate peroxidase (APX) activity decreased during the progression of growth in both shoots and roots, whereas peroxidase (POX) activity strongly increased in roots, reflecting a correlation between POX activity and the enhancement of growth. Catalase activity from shoots reached values nearly 3 or 4-fold higher than in roots. The monodehydroascorbate reductase (MDHAR) activity was higher in young seedlings than in more mature tissues, and in roots a decrease in MDHAR was noticed at the 11^th day. No dehydroascorbate reductase (DHAR) was detected in roots from the pea plants and DHAR values detected in seedlings and in shoots were much lower than those of MDHAR. In shoots, GR decreased with the progression of growth, whereas in roots an increase was seen on the 9^th and 11^th days. Finally, superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity increased in shoots during the progression of growth, but specific SOD activity was higher in roots than in shoots.     

Heritable variability induced by the in vitro culture and genetic improvement of cultivated plants

Abstract

Genetic variability is found among plants derived from in vitro cultures of somatic cells. A number of different factors, such as the pre-existing genetic variation developed in vivo during tissue differentiation, the variation induced during the in vitro culture and also the selection for specific genotypes during plant regeneration, are considered as possible causes of the phenomenon.

The nature of the genetic changes induced in somaclones (variation in chromosome number, gross and cryptic chromosomal rearrangements, transposition of genetic elements, gene amplification and somatic gene rearrangements) is also discussed.     

Dynamics of the nuclear envelope during cell cycle in plants

Stereology of Allium cepa root meristem cells was done to evaluate changes in the nuclear envelope during cell cycle. A naturally synchronous population was labelled as binucleate by caffeine inhibition of cytokinesis. Growth of the nuclear envelope preferentially occurs from mid G2 to the next mid G1, most probably in relation to the reforming sister nuclei after mitosis. On the other hand, the number of nuclear pores doubles from mid G1 to mid G2, their growth rate being higher in the first half of interphase (from mid G1 to mid S). Hence, the new nuclear envelope probably lacks nuclear pores, which appear later.     

Allelopathic effects of ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia L.) on cultivated plants

During the past years ragweed has been coming to the forefront of interest in Hungary and in other European countries as well because its serious health risk. Results of the 5th National Weed Survey has proven that ragweed is the most important weed species on Hungarian field lands, its coverage shows a rising tendency in cereals moreover it not only occurs in cultivated plants. Allelopathic effects of aqueous extracts derived from different parts of ragweed plants (air dried leafy stems, seeds) on the germination and growth of other cultivated plants [maize (Zea mays L.), winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), rye (Secale cereale L.), oat (Avena sativa L.)] were studied. The extracts made for the trials were prepared with distilled water. Petri dishes were used for the germination experiments and distilled water was used as a control treatment. The seven days long experiment was carried out within a Binder-type thermostat under dark conditions. The germination percentage was checked in every two days and the growth of sprouts was evaluated after a week counting the germinated seeds and measuring the length of the radicle and plumule. The measured data were statistically analysed and the effect of extracts on germinating and length of sprouts were assessed.