Lam, E., Fukuda, H., Greenberg, J., eds. Programmed cell death in higher plants

‘For everything there is a season . . . a timeto build up and a time to break down . . . a timeto live and a time to die.’ The quotation comes from the work of a Jewish scholar writingunder the pen name Ecclesiastes or The Preacher, several centuriesBC. His words capture the theme of the book under review here:that death is part of life and may be regulated by factors thatinclude time and season. Programmed cell death in higher plantsis a hardback reprint of a special edition of Plant MolecularBiology, devoted to scholarly     

Van der Heijden, M.G.A. and Sanders, I.R. (eds) Microrhizal ecology

In his foreword to the volume, Philip Grime says: ‘Themost significant challenge for ecologists at the present timeis to continue to exploit the many current opportunities forpenetration into detailed mechanisms but simultaneously to activelypromote integration . . . within ecological research.Mycorrhizal ecology is uniquely positioned . . . toprovide a lead.’ The volume, edited by van der Heijdenand Sanders, thus aims to meet the twin needs of scaling up,from detailed molecular science to the ecosystem, and demonstratingthat the plant, as found in nature, is itself a community oforganisms that interact with other such     

Theodoropoulos, D.I. Invasion biology. Critique of a pseudoscience.

The back cover of this book states that ‘contrary to theclaims of the nativists, research shows that man-dispersed speciesincrease biological diversity, benefit ecosystems, and act asan important force for healing the planet’. This is anuncompromising statement, and David Theodoropoulos divides hisdevelopment of the arguments supporting this statement intothree parts. Part I (Chapters 1–6) is ‘Nature, Dispersaland Reaction’. Part II (Chapters 7 and 8) is ‘Why?Psychology, Politics and Pseudoscience’. Part III (Chapters9–11) is ‘Humanity and Diversity’. There isalso an ‘Introduction’ including a summary of findingsand ‘An outline for a new theory of anthropogenic dispersal’,     

Ayala, F.J., Fitch, W.M. and Clegg, M.T. Variation and evolution in plants and microorganisms: toward a new synthesis 50 years after Stebbins

In January 2000, an impressive cohort of evolutionary biologistsconvened in Irvine, California, to celebrate the 50th anniversaryof the publication of G. Ledyard Stebbins’ Variation andevolution in plants. The brief introductory appreciation ofStebbins by Peter Raven describes Variation as ‘the mostimportant book on plant evolution of the 20th century’(p. 5). This strongly worded claim is not entirely without justification.Among the ‘New Synthesists’, Stebbins achieved forbotanists what Theodosius Dobzhansky (later to be a colleagueof Stebbins at UC Davis) had previously achieved for geneticists,Ernst Mayr for zoologists and G. G. Simpson for palaeontologists.Admittedly, the     

CORRECTIONS, VOLUME 29

Part 1, under the frontispiece portrait of Dr. N. B. Eales,the words ‘President 1948–1951’ should havebeen added. Page 103, line 49, for ‘Newton Collection’ read‘Norman Collection (Canon Norman)’. 185, line 37, for ‘capillaris’ read ‘capillacca’. 188, Table 1, for ‘bemoralis’. read ‘nemoralis’. 188, Table 2, for ‘Cochlicella acuta (Müll)? ventrosa(Fér.)’ read ‘Cochlicella ventrosa (Fér.)’. 191, line 24, for ‘araheo-’ read ‘archeo-’.     

Alberts, B., Johnson, A., Lewis, J., Raff, M., Roberts, K. and Walter, P. Molecular biology of the cell. 4th edn.

First edition, 1983; 2nd edition, 1989; 3rd edition, 1994; 4thedition, 2002. Any book that appears in so many editions insuch a relatively short space of time must be doing somethingright. And so it is, for Molecular Biology of the Cell (‘MBoC’as the authors refer to it) is arguably setting the pace—andthe standard—that other textbooks on the subject mustaspire to. Although not familiar with the previous incarnationsof MBoC, I do note that the line-up     

Anther Culture of Lolium temulentum, Festuca pratensis and Lolium x Festuca Hybrids. I. Influence of Pretreatment, Culture Medium and Culture Incubation Conditions on Callus Production and Differentiation

This study was conducted with Lolium temulentum, Festuca pratensis,and the two hybrids L. multiflorum x F. pratensis ‘Elmet’and L. perenne x F. pratensis ‘Prior’. In a comparisonof various durations (7–42 d) of pretreatment at 4 or7 °C the highest yield of microspore-derived callus of L.temulentum was obtained after pretreatment of spikes at 7 °Cfor 28 d, conditions which also proved optimal for panicle pretreatmentwith F. pratensis. For ‘Elmet’, durations of 21–42d were optimal, and for ‘Prior’ the responses tendedto decline with increasing duration. In L. temulentum addition of charcoal (1–2 g l^–1)to medium containing 2, 4-D and KN wa     

The Growth and Carbon Economy of Selection Lines of Lolium perenne cv. S23 with Differing Rates of Dark Respiration: 1. Grown as Simulated Swards During a Regrowth Period

Simulated swards of each of two selection lines of Lolium perennecv. S23 with ‘fast’ and ‘slow’ ratesof ‘mature tissue’ respiration were establishedin growth rooms at 20/15 °C day/night temperatures and studiedover four successive regrowth periods of 46, 30, 26 and 53 daysduration. The ‘slow’ line outyielded the ‘fast’,both in harvestable shoot (above a 5 cm cut) and in root andstubble. Its advantage increased over successive regrowth periodsto 23 per cent (total biomass). Gas analysis measurements onthe entire communities (including roots), during the final regrowthperiod, showed that the ‘slow’ line had a 22–34per cent lower rate of dark respiration per unit dry weight.This enabled it to maintain its greater mass of tissue for thesame cost in terms of CO₂ efflux per unit ground area. Halfthe extra dry weight produced by the ‘slow’ line,relative to the ‘fast’, could be attributed to itsmore economic use of carbon. The rest could be traced to a 25per cent greater tiller number which enabled the ‘slow’line to expand leaf area faster (though not at a greater rateper tiller), intercept more light and fix more carbon, earlyin the regrowth period. Lolium perenne L., ryegrass, respiration, maintenance respiration, tiller production, simulated swards, canopy photosynthesis, carbon economy     

Effects of Flooding and Drainage and their Alternation on the Growth and Uptake of Nutrients by Rice (Oryza sativa L., indica, var. IR-8)

Continuous flooding of the soil (‘flooded’ treatment)gave best growth of IR-8 variety of rice whereas soil drainedfor 4 weeks and then flooded for 8 (‘drained and flooded’treatment) resulted in poorest growth and chlorotic plants.Plants grown in the continuously drained soil (‘drained’treatment) and those in the soil flooded for 4 weeks and thendrained for 8 (‘flooded and drained’ treatment)showed intermediate growth. There were no differences in therelative water content of plants growing in the various treatments.Analyses of plant tissues showed that a consideration of therelative concentration of Fe, Mn, and P in the shoots is mostclosely related to the performance of rice under various culturalconditions. An increase in the concentration of Fe in the planttissues following flooding was correlated with the best growth(‘flooded’ treatment) unless it was accompaniedby high level of Mn (as in the ‘drained and flooded’treatment) which may have proved toxic, e.g. by interferencewith Fe metabolism as was evidenced by chlorosis. Measurementsof oxidation-reduction potentials, oxygen diffusion rates, andthe concentration of exchangeable and soluble Fe and Mn in thesoils have shown that the ‘drained and flooded’treatment caused the most extreme reducing conditions. Floodingaccompanied by the development of extreme reducing conditionsled to a greater accumulation of Mn in the shoots (‘drainedand flooded’ treatment) whereas flooding accompanied bythe maintenance of oxidizing conditions (‘flooded’treatment) resulted in a lower uptake of Mn. Growth of riceplants for 4 weeks in the drained soil did not fit them forthe reduced conditions which developed during subsequent flooding(‘drained and flooded’ treatment).     

The Potassium Relations of Lemna minor L.: I. POTASSIUM UPTAKE AND PLANT GROWTH

A simple expression has been derived to predict the rate ofnet K uptake into exponentially growing plants of Lemna minor.Net uptake predictions are in good quantitative agreement withmeasurements of ‘steady-state’ K influx, indicatingthat, in the ‘steady state’, K movements in theplant are essentially undirectional and that efflux is small.This close matching of inward K movement to the demands of theexpanding tissue is temporarily disturbed if plants are transferredto media of different K status. Uptake rates in the ‘step-up’are initially enhanced and then fall gradually towards a new‘steady-state’ rate. In contrast, the ‘step-down’causes an initial depression of uptake and then rates increasegradually towards the new ‘steady-state’ rate. Itis argued that these changes in uptake rates are associatedwith alterations in the cytoplasmic K content.     

Karnosky, D.F., Ceulemans, R., Scarascia-Mugnozza, G.E., Innes, J.L., (eds.) The impact of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases on forest ecosystems. IUFRO Research Series 8

This book is the eighth in a series of monographs publishedby CABI in association with the International Union of ForestryResearch Organisations (IUFRO), and is the third report of theIUFRO Task Force on Environmental Change. The report has beencompiled by an impressive array of editors, and comprises 11 chapterswritten by a total of 28 authors, drawn from a range ofrecent experimental projects in Europe     

Dris, R., Abdelaziz, F.H. and Jain, S.M. Plant nutrition: growth and diagnosis

Is research on plant mineral nutrition still necessary wheninorganic fertilizers are readily available? The simple answeris ‘yes’! The use of inorganic fertilizers depletesnatural resources and can impose a heavy financial and environmentalcost. For example, reserves of rock phosphate (the primary sourceof P for fertilizers) are diminishing whilst the production,transport     

Studies on Mature Seeds of Cuscuta pedicellata and C. campestris by Electron Microscopy

The seeds of Cuscuta pedicellata have been investigated by transmissionand scanning electron microscopy. Additional observations havebeen made on seeds of C. campestris by SEM only. The seed coatconsists of an outer single epidermis, two different palisadelayers, and an inner multiparenchyma layer. The outer epidermalwall in C. pedicellata has a thick cuticle and zones rich inpectic substances. The thicker ‘U-shaped’ cell wallsin the outer palisade layer are strengthened by a wall layerof hemicellulose. The inner palisade layer has thick walledcells with a ‘light line’. The inner cell wall ofthe compressed multiparenchyma layer has a thin cuticle. A fairlythick cuticle is positioned directly on the endosperm surface.The aleurone cell walls are different from the remaining endospermwalls. The latter are thick and believed to be of galactomannans.There is a ‘clear’ zone between the plasmalemmaand the cell wall in the aleurone cells. The embryo cells arepacked with lipids and proteins. In Cuscuta campestris mostendosperm has been absorbed during the seed development. Theembryo apex has two minute leaf primordia. The features of theCuscuta seeds are discussed in relation to functional and environmentalconditions. Cuscuta pedicellata, Cuscuta campestris, seed, seed coat, cuticle, cell walls, endosperm, aleurone cells, galactomannan, embryo, TEM, SEM     

ERRATA

WARBURG, M. R., 1965. On the water economy of some Australianland snails. Proc. malac. Soc. Lond. 36, 297–305. Page 298: second line from bottom, should read ‘within± 1 µg for Themapupa’. Page 300: Fig. 2 legend, should read ‘Evaporative waterloss from Sinumelon remissum (a), Pleuroxia sp. (b) and Themapupaadelaidae (c)’. Page 300: section 4 heading, should read ‘Continuous curvesfor water loss’. Page 301: second line, for ‘Fig. 9’ read ‘Fig.3’. Page 301: Table 1, last line, for ‘0.120024’ read‘0.12024’. Present address: Israel Institute for Biological Research, Ness-Ziona,Israel.     

Instant notes in plant biology, 2nd edn. * Lack A, Evans D. 2005. * Oxford: Taylor and Francis. {pound}18.99 (paperback). 351 pp.

The ‘InstantNotes’ series from Bios will probably be familiar to manyreaders. The series' success is evident in the second editionsthat are appearing, e.g. the current volume—albeit nowunder the Taylor and Francis label. Content This book does what it says on the label; it provides noteson (probably) all of the topics within the compass of present-day‘plant biology’. Primarily, it deals with anatomy,growth and development, physiology, reproduction, and economicuses and ecology of flowering plants (angiosperms). However,it does cover other phyla of the Kingdom Plantae (principallyin two ‘taxonomy/evolution’ sections), and algae(along     

Diurnal Phototropism in Leaves of Lavatera cretica L. under Conditions of Simulated Solar-Tracking

Diurnal laminar reorientation was followed in solar-trackingleaves of Lavatera cretica L. under simulated conditions. Asimulated ‘sun’ was moved over the lamina in a 180?arc in the vertical plane of the mid-vein, at an angular velocityof 15? h^–1 in a regime of 12-h photoperiods. In one groupof plants the petioles of the experimental leaves were arrangedto face ‘sunrise’, while in the other they werearranged to face ‘sunset’. At ‘sunrise’,the laminae in both groups, which were inclined towards theanticipated direction of ‘sunrise’, changed theirelevation towards the rising ‘sun’, resulting inprogressive reduction in the angle of incidence (AI) of lighton the laminar surface (AI= differential between laminar and‘solar’ elevation). As a result, laminar and ‘solar’elevation converged, and laminar reorientation gradually ceased,until the ‘solar’ elevation had passed the normalto the laminar surface (AI=0?). laminar reorientation was thenresumed, but its direction was reversed to follow the directionof ‘solar’ reorientation. During most of the remaining‘day’, laminar elevation (LE) trailed that of the‘sun’ by an average of 11?-14?. Laminar reorientationthen anticipated ‘sunset’ by starting to slow down60 to 90min in advance. During the 12-h dark period, the laminareoriented towards the anticipated direction of the subsequent‘sunrise’. The time-course of nocturnal reorientationwas qualitatively different in the two groups of experimentalplants. The time-course of diurnal phototropism under naturaland simulated conditions is analysed and compared and differencesand similarities between them are discussed. Key words: Diurnal phototropism, solar-tracking, vectorial excitation     

Plant Morphology: The Historic Concepts of Wilhelm Troll, Walter Zimmermann and Agnes Arber

Recent molecular systematic and developmental genetic findingshave drawn attention to plant morphology as a discipline dealingwith the phenotypic appearance of plant forms. However, sincedifferent terms and conceptual frameworks have evolved overa period of more than 200 years, it is reasonable to surveythe history of plant morphology; this is the first of two paperswith this aim. The present paper deals with the historic conceptsof Troll, Zimmermann and Arber, which are based on Goethe'smorphology. Included are contrasting views of ‘unity anddiversity’, ‘position and process’, and ‘morphologyand phylogeny’, which, in part, are basic views of currentplant morphology, phylogenetic systematics and developmentalgenetics. Wilhelm Troll established the ‘type concept’and the ‘principle of variable proportions’. Hehas provided the most comprehensive overview of the positionalrelations of plant forms. Agnes Arber started from the universaldynamics of life and attempted to describe all structures asprocesses. She paid attention to ‘repetitive branching’,‘differential growth’, and ‘parallelism’.As a result she has recently been rediscovered by developmentalbotanists. Walter Zimmermann rejected any metaphysical influenceon plant form and instead called for objective procedures. Hewas mainly interested in phylogenetic ‘character transformation’and the ‘reconstruction of genealogical lines’.Guided by the example of flower-like inflorescences, a futurepaper will deal with functional and developmental constraintsinfluencing plant forms. Recent morphological concepts (‘trialectical’,‘continuum’/‘fuzzy’, ‘processmorphology’) will be discussed and related to currentmorphological and developmental genetic research. Copyright2001 Annals of Botany Company Plant form, plant morphology, natural philosophy, homology, phylogeny, Goethe, Troll, Arber, Zimmermann, typology, character transformation, differential growth, complementarity     

Freezing tolerance, protein composition, and abscisic acid localization and content of pea epicotyl, shoot, and root tissue 3

The freezing tolerance of many plants, such as pea (Pisum sativum),is increased by exposure to low temperature or abscisic acidtreatment, although the physiological basis of this phenomenonis poorly understood. The freezing tolerance of pea shoot tips,root tips, and epicotyl tissue was tested after cold acclimationat 2C, dehydration/rehydration, applications of 10^–4M abscisic acid (ABA), and deacclimation at 25C. Tests wereconducted using the cultivar ‘Alaska’, an ABA-deficientmutant ‘wil’, and its ‘wildtype’. Freezinginjury was determined graphically as the temperature that caused50% injury (T₅₀) from electrical conductivity. Endogenous ABAwas measured using an indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay,and novel proteins were detected using 2-dimensional polyacrylamidegel electrophoresis. The maximum decrease in T₅₀ for root tissuewas 1C for all genotypes, regardless of treatment. For ‘Alaska’shoot tips and epicotyl tissue, exogenous ABA increased thefreezing tolerance by –1.5 to –4.0C, while coldtreatment increased the freezing tolerance by –7.5 to–14.8C. Cold treatment increased the freezing toleranceof shoot tips by –9 and –15C for ‘wil’and ‘wild-type’, respectively. Cold acclimationincreased endogenous ABA concentrations in ‘Alaska’shoot tips and epicotyls 3- to 4-fold. Immunogold labeling increasednoticeably in the nucleus and cytoplasm of the epicotyl after7 d at 2C and was greatest after 30 d at the time of maximumfreezing tolerance and soluble ABA concentration. Cold treatmentinduced the production of seven, three, and two proteins inshoot, epicotyl, and root tissue of ‘Alaska’, respectively.In ‘Alaska’ shoot tissue, five out of seven novelproteins accumulated in response to both ABA and cold treatment.However, only a 24 kDa protein was produced in ‘wil’and ‘wild-type’ shoot and epicotyl tissues aftercold treatment. Abscisic acid and cold treatment additivelyincreased the freezing tolerance of pea epicotyl and shoot tissuesthrough apparently independent mechanisms that both resultedin the production of a 24 kDa protein. Key words: Pisum sativum, cold acclimation, immuno-localization     

The Effects of Salinity upon Galactosyl-Glycerol Content and Concentration of the Marine Red Alga Porphyra purpurea (Roth) C.Ag.

Changes in the major alcohol-soluble, low molecular weight carbohydratesof P. purpurea, O--D-galactopyranosyl-(1-2)-glycerol (‘floridoside’)and O--D-galactopyranosyl-(1-1)-glycerol (‘isofloridoside’),have been examined in response to salinity variation. ‘Floridoside’is shown to vary in absolute amount, increasing in hypersalineand decreasing in hyposaline media. ‘Isofloridoside’content per cell does not change in a similar manner. Responsesare almost identical under light or dark conditions, ‘floridoside’changes being complete within 24 h. Decreasing the externalwater potential using ionic and non-ionic solutes has the sameeffect upon galactosyl-glycerol content. The amount of ‘floridoside’synthesized, and degraded under hypersaline and hyposaline conditionsrespectively is shown to be insufficient to restore cell volumeto its original value. It is therefore suggested that the primaryfunction of ‘floridoside’ increases in concentratedsea-waters is that of a compatible solute, serving to protectthe cell during periods when the external salt content is increaseddramatically.     

O'Neill, S.D., Roberts, J.A. Plant reproduction. Annual plant reviews vol. 6

This is the sixth volume of these periodic reviews, collectedtogether on this occasion by two members of the Editorial Board.This is not a ‘Symposium Volume’ in the sense thatit does not celebrate a meeting or a festschrift. If the reviewerseeks some alternative rationale, or even apologium, for theproduction of a multi-authored assemblage of this kind, he doesso in vain. In the absence of any preface, commentary or generaldiscussion, it is hard to discern the aims of the editorialpanel when this book was planned, or the extent to which thecontributors fulfilled