Plant tumor reversal associated with the loss of marker chromosomes in tobacco cells

Summary The determination of partial genotype, B/b and D/d, for coat colour in dogs, from phenotypic observations, is discussed. It is shown that the probability of a given genotype can be reliably determined where multiple observations on the mating of a given dog are available.     

An improvement of the diffusion model for assessment of drought stress in plant tissues

The article discusses an improvement of a previously developed method for assessment of ion leakage from plant tissues as a gauge of membrane and cell wall performance under stressful environment. It employs conductometric measurements of the ion efflux from leaves and their quantitative interpretation by a theoretical model based on the laws of diffusion. Experimental data are readily fit with the model and results are in accordance with relative water content of dehydrated barley (Hordeum vulgare) seedlings of two distinct cultivars. Some new parameters obtained from fitting are proposed as reliable indicators of the leaf status. They appear to be helpful in further distinguishing the behavior of two separate cellular structures with respect to their electrolyte permeability. It is concluded that the established method based on the kinetics of ion leakage is adequate for evaluation of contrasting genotypes under normal and stress conditions. Furthermore, it could be used as a simple and powerful tool for routine analysis and screening for drought tolerance in crops.     

Biochemical phenomena associated with the process of leaf senescence in plants: a student problem

A problem for students on the mechanisms of leaf senescence is presented as a series of questions requiring the interpretation of experimental data.     

An Arabidopsis mitochondrial uncoupling protein confers tolerance to drought and salt stress in transgenic tobacco plants

Background

Plants are challenged by a large number of environmental stresses that reduce productivity and even cause death. Both chloroplasts and mitochondria produce reactive oxygen species under normal conditions; however, stress causes an imbalance in these species that leads to deviations from normal cellular conditions and a variety of toxic effects. Mitochondria have uncoupling proteins (UCPs) that uncouple electron transport from ATP synthesis. There is evidence that UCPs play a role in alleviating stress caused by reactive oxygen species overproduction. However, direct evidence that UCPs protect plants from abiotic stress is lacking.

Methodology/Principal Findings

Tolerances to salt and water deficit were analyzed in transgenic tobacco plants that overexpress a UCP (AtUCP1) from Arabidopsis thaliana. Seeds of AtUCP1 transgenic lines germinated faster, and adult plants showed better responses to drought and salt stress than wild-type (WT) plants. These phenotypes correlated with increased water retention and higher gas exchange parameters in transgenic plants that overexpress AtUCP1. WT plants exhibited increased respiration under stress, while transgenic plants were only slightly affected. Furthermore, the transgenic plants showed reduced accumulation of hydrogen peroxide in stressed leaves compared with WT plants.

Conclusions/Significance

Higher levels of AtUCP1 improved tolerance to multiple abiotic stresses, and this protection was correlated with lower oxidative stress. Our data support previous assumptions that UCPs reduce the imbalance of reactive oxygen species. Our data also suggest that UCPs may play a role in stomatal closure, which agrees with other evidence of a direct relationship between these proteins and photosynthesis. Manipulation of the UCP protein expression in mitochondria is a new avenue for crop improvement and may lead to crops with greater tolerance for challenging environmental conditions.     

干旱胁迫对青藏高原6种植物生理指标的影响

以青藏高原6种植物:红花岩黄芪(Hedysarum multijugum Maxim.)、西北沼委陵菜(Comarum salesovianum(Steph.)Asch.et Graebn.)、鲜黄小檗(Berberis diaphana Maxim.)、鲜卑花(Sibiraea laevigata(Linn.)Maxim.)、树锦鸡儿(Caragana arborescens(Amm.)Lam.)、砂生槐(Sophora moorcroftiana(Benth.)Baker)为试材进行干旱胁迫模拟盆栽试验,通过对比6种植物叶片中丙二醛(MDA)、脯氨酸、可溶性蛋白质、叶绿素、可溶性糖、淀粉含量的变化,对供选植物进行抗旱性能分析与评价,为在青藏高原地区筛选优良耐旱植物提供参考依据。设置土壤含水量占田间持水量80%以上为正常水平,50%—70%为轻度干旱,30%—50%为中度干旱,低于30%为重度干旱。研究表明,6种供试植物叶片MDA含量逐渐升高,当土壤含水量占田间持水量12%左右时达到最大值,树锦鸡儿的增幅较另5种苗木最小,而峰值最大。脯氨酸含量都呈增加趋势,其中砂生槐最高,为9981.67mg/g,峰值与对照值相比,砂生槐增加最多为37.43倍,鲜卑花最小为0.49倍。苗木叶片中可溶性蛋白质含量总体表现出现增大后减小的规律,且所有测定值都高于正常水分条件下的含量。6种苗木的叶绿素含量在干旱胁迫下总体呈现先降低再升高最后再降低的趋势,24 d时均低于对照值,下降最多的为西北沼委陵菜(15.43 mg/g)。由于干旱下苗木的光合产物转化受抑,以淀粉形式的累积量减少,所以6种苗木的可溶性糖含量呈上升趋势,而淀粉含量呈下降趋势,通过积累可溶性糖以提高细胞的渗透调节能力。砂生槐、树锦鸡儿的可溶性糖含量增幅与淀粉含量的减少明显高于其余苗木,使其在较低叶水势下仍保持较高的细胞膨压,以减缓水分胁迫的不利影响。主成分分析表明,6种苗木抗旱性由强到弱依次为:树锦鸡儿、红花岩黄芪、砂生槐、鲜黄小檗、鲜卑花、西北沼委陵菜。     

Differential inhibition of photosynthesis during pre-flowering drought stress in Sorghum bicolor genotypes with different senescence traits

Young (16-day-old) Sorghum bicolor plants of a late- and slow-senescing Texas A&M line (B 35) and of an early- and fast-senescing descendant of an Ethiopian landrace (E 36-1) were subjected to drought stress by decreasing the soil water content to 30% field capacity over 6 days. Plant water potentials decreased from − 2 bar (controls) to − 10 to − 18 bar, and this drought stress resulted in: (1) differential phenotypic reactions and (2) differential decreases in photosynthesis rates in the two cultivars. While E 36-1 tended to lose viable leaf area from the leaf tips downwards, B 35 showed a gradual overall drying of the leaf. At the same time, photosynthesis rates decreased from 31.5 ± 1.6 to 12.3 ± 5.0 µmol CO₂ m⁻² s⁻¹ (E 36-1) and from 30.5 ± 1.6 to 3.3 ± 2.6 µmol CO₂ m⁻² s⁻¹ (B 35), respectively. In vitro enzyme activities of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPCase), malate dehydrogenase (MDH) and malic enzyme (ME) on a leaf area basis exceeded the photosynthesis rates. Pyruvate phosphate dikinase (PPDK) activity was close to the photosynthesis rates in control plants and higher than the photosynthesis rates in drought-stressed plants. Thus, none of the enzymes appeared to limit photosynthesis under drought stress, and likely bottleneck enzyme activities of the C3 pathway in the bundle-sheath cells, i.e. ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase (RubisCO) and stromal fructose-1,5-bisphosphatase (sFBPase), also showed sufficient activities to sustain higher photosynthesis rates than those observed in the stressed plants. However, under drought stress, total leaf malate concentrations were higher in B 35 (up to 33.1 µmol g⁻¹ FW) than in E 36-1 (up to 22.4 µmol g⁻¹ FW). In particular, at the presumed cytosolic pH of 7.0–7.3, S. bicolor PEPCase was strongly inhibited by malate. In contrast with the in vitro PEPCase enzyme activities, the A/C_i curves suggested a stronger decrease in the in vivo activity of the enzyme in B 35 under drought stress than in E 36-1. It is therefore suggested that photosynthesis under drought stress may be inhibited differentially through feedback malate inhibition of PEPCase in S. bicolor.     

Combined drought and heat stress in wheat: changes in some heat shock proteins

The influence of combined and individually applied drought and heat stress was studied in two wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars: resistant cv. Katya and susceptible cv. Sadovo. Relative water content decreased and electrolyte leakage increased due to individual and combined application of both stresses. Initial heat shock protein profile has been outlined via SDS electrophoresis of leaf extracts. The results obtained were confirmed by immunoblotting with anti-HSP70 monoclonal antibodies, anti-HSP110 polyclonal antibodies and anti-α β-crystalline polyclonal antibodies. The effect of simultaneously applied water stress and heat shock resembled the alterations in protein expression provoked only by water stress and differed significantly from the changes occurring after the individual application of heat stress.     

转录因子在植物干旱应激中的功能研究进展

转录因子是一种多功能蛋白,在感知应激信号、应答相应应激基因表达及传导应激信号中起着关键作用。干旱是影响植物生长发育的主要非生物胁迫之一。为了适应干旱环境,植物发展了复杂的分子机制,其中转录因子可同时控制多种途径调控干旱应激,是操纵调控和应激响应途径的有力工具。近年来,越来越多的植物转录因子的功能被阐明,了解转录因子在干旱应激的功能,对植物的工程抗旱有重要的实践意义。综述转录因子在植物干旱应激中的功能研究进展,以期为今后转录因子的研究和利用提供理论依据,培育具有较强抗旱能力的植物。     

A dissection of the effects of ethylene,H2O2 and high irradiance on antioxidants and several genes associated with stress and senescence in tobacco leaves

Ethylene and hydrogen peroxide are involved in the modulation of stress responses in plants, but their interrelation is not well understood. This work was designed to find differences between the actions of ethylene and H₂O₂ on antioxidants and senescence markers. Leaves of Nicotiana tabacum were sprayed with H₂O₂ or with ethephon (precursor of ethylene). To find the possible modulation of responses to acute abiotic stress, ethephon- and H₂O₂-sprayed leaves were further subjected to high irradiance (HL). The application of H₂O₂ strongly stimulated ethylene synthesis (ACC). Ethylene and H₂O₂, as single factors, stimulated the trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) and the activity of catalase (CAT), in contrast to HL alone (stimulation of nonspecific peroxidases and the total glutathione pool). However, after combined treatments (ethylene + HL and H₂O₂ + HL), the stimulatory action of H₂O₂ was related to TEAC and CAT activity, while the application of ethylene stimulated the total glutathione pool. Hydrogen peroxide enhanced the expression of the three CAT genes (Cat1, Cat2 and Cat3), in contrast to ethylene (Cat2 and Cat3) and HL (Cat1). In regard to the markers of senescence and pathogenesis the most pronounced difference between the actions of ethylene and H₂O₂, as single factors, was related to NPR1, whereas when leaf spraying was combined with HL, differences were found at WRKY53 and PR1a. HL reversed the stimulatory effects of H₂O₂/ethylene-driven enhancements of the expression of several genes (Cat1, Cat2, NPR1, WRKY53). These results show that multiple stressors, as usually encountered by plants in nature, may largely change those expression patterns of genes determined in a single factor analysis. Moreover, the actions of HL (often considered the internal H₂O₂ trigger) and of exogenous H₂O₂ on gene expression are clearly different.     

园艺植物水分胁迫生理及耐旱机制研究进展

概述了园艺植物在水分胁迫下的生理生化,分子反应及耐旱机制研究进展,并指出尚需进一步研究的问题。     

Effect of water stress on some oxidative enzymes and senescence in Vigna seedlings

Seedlings of Vigna catjang Endl. were subjected to water stress for 6, S and 10 days by withholding water to investigate the activities of some oxidative enzymes and the pattern of senescence in leaves of 17-day-old seedlings undergoing water stress. Increasing duration of stress produced a proportional increase in the activities of IAA-oxidase, AA-oxidase, peroxidase and glycolate oxidase but decreased catalase activity and the contents of both chlorophyll and protein, hastening senescence. Leaf water potential and relative water content were also lowered with incresing duration of stress. Permeability was increased in leaf tissue undergoing water stress for 8 days. Seed treatment with CaCl₂ (10⁻² and 10⁻¹⁴ M ) for 6 h improved the water status of leaves, decreased tissue permeability, activities of oxidative enzymes, decline of chlorophyll and protein contents and delayed senescence compared to untreated water stressed plants.     

Toxigenicity of some fusaria associated with plant and human diseases in the Malaysian peninsula

In the course of a plant disease survey of the Malaysian Peninsula (Malaysia comprises the Malaysian Peninsula, Sabah and Sarawak) during the period 1981-1986, more than 1000 isolates of Fusarium were obtained from diseased plants and seeds. Two further isolates were obtained from patients admitted to hospitals in the same area. The occurrences of F. proliferatum, F. nygamai and F. longipes are new records for the Malaysian Peninsula and the association of F. solani and F. oxysporum var. redolens with human diseases does not seem to have been reported previously. Ten representative species which could be classified into seven sections of the genus were selected for studies of their toxigenicity in liquid cultures and/or on rice. Crude toxin preparations from culture filtrates or extracts of the inoculated rice were tested for toxicity to brine shrimp larvae and tobacco mesophyll protoplasts. The protoplasts were more sensitive than the brine shrimp larvae to the toxin preparations, except those from the isolates of F. solani and F. oxysporum var. redolens obtained from either humans or tobacco. The toxicity of the preparations from rice cultures per g rice was always greater than the toxicity per ml of culture filtrates from cultures grown on Czapek-Dox broth, Czapek-Dox supplemented with 1% (w/v) peptone or Czapek-Dox supplemented with 5% (w/v) tobacco extract. The activity of all toxin preparations was stable to heat. It is concluded that the occurrence of toxigenic species of Fusarium in the Malaysian Peninsula is widespread and that they may pose a serious threat to the health of human, animal and plant populations.     

Associations between plant production and some physiological components of drought resistance in wheat

Abstract. Drought resistance in terms of plant production under conditions of drought stress was previously defined for several spring wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) varieties. Four varieties, differing in their drought resistance by this definition, were compared in their physiological responses to water stress, as induced by polyethylene glycol 6000 in the growth medium.
Drought resistance was associated with osmotic adjustment, total root mass production under stress, maintenance of some stomatal permeability under stress, and maintenance of turgor at a given level of drought stress, by either osmotic adjustment or elevated plant water potential.
Drought resistance was not associated, in this experiment, with plant top growth under stress or non-stress conditions, maximum leaf area per plant, plant transpiration, and total root mass production under non-stress conditions.     

GbMPK3, a mitogen-activated protein kinase from cotton,enhances drought and oxidative stress tolerance in tobacco

Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascades are highly conserved signaling modules found in all eukaryotes, and play significant roles in developmental and environmental signal transduction. In this study, a MAPK gene (GbMPK3), which showed homologous to AtMPK3 and NtWIPK, was isolated from sea-island cotton (Gossypium barbadense) and induced during multiple abiotic stress treatments including salt, cold, heat, dehydration and oxidative stress. Transgenic tobacco (Nicotiana benthamiana) with constitutively higher expression of GbMPK3 was conferred with enhanced drought tolerance, reduced water loss during drought treatment and improved plant height and survival rates after re-watering. Additionally, the gene expression levels and enzymatic activity of antioxidant enzymes were more strongly induced with depressed hydrogen peroxide accumulation in GbMPK3-overexpressing tobacco compared with wild-type under drought condition. Furthermore, observation of seed germination and leaf morphology showed that tolerance of transgenic plants to methyl viologen was improved due to increased antioxidant enzyme expression, suggesting that GbMPK3 may positively regulate drought tolerance through enhanced reactive oxygen species scavenging ability.