A COMPARISON OF ROOT CAP CELLS OF EPIPHYTIC,TERRESTRIAL AND AQUATIC PLANTS

Outer cells from the root cap of Cattleya orchids are characterized by their secretory activity. They are arranged in layers intercalated with layers of secretory product and form a protective mantle over the root tip. The ultrastructure of these cells is similar to those of terrestrial roots (for example Zea mays) in that they are characterized by copious quantities of endoplasmic reticulum and numerous dense-staining prevacuolar bodies. In contrast, most root cap cells of water hyacinth and duckweed are highly vacuolate with no dense-staining prevacuolar bodies. The endoplasmic reticulum is sparse and dictyosomes are small and without secretory activity.     

植物多糖的凹形结构与生物活性关系

简述了植物多糖的生物活性与结构 ,讨论了植物多糖的生物活性与结构的关系 ,提出了凹形结构是多糖产生生物活性的基础     

FORMATION,STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION OF CARTILAGE

Improved investigative techniques including electron microscopy, isotope tracings and improved histochemistry have greatly increased knowledge of the function of cartilage as a body tissue. Highly complex and delicate enzyme systems contained in the cartilage cell are involved in cartilage matrix formation and in the processes of calcification and cartilage repair. Heat, various drugs, freezing, and changes in the chemical environment damage or destroy these enzyme systems and interfere with the growth and function of cartilage. Hyaline cartilage to be transplanted must be handled with great care to preserve the cellular enzyme systems—otherwise the graft will be resorbed and clinical failure will result.     

STRUCTURE, COMPOSITION AND BIOGENESIS OF PRASINOPHYTE SCALES

The species composition of phytoflagellates in the Salton Sea has recently been the subject of intense investigation as part of an analysis of the Salton Sea ecosystem. The Salton Sea, an inland sea occupying 980 km² in southern California, has become a major stopping point for migratory birds along the Pacific Flyway. The increasing salinity of the sea, currently at 44 gm L⁻¹, and its eutrophic condition (average depth is nine meters, with a high nutrient load contributed by agricultural drainage from the surrounding farmlands) have contributed to a stressed ecosystem. Massive fish kills and bird kills, including such endangered birds as the brown pelican, have become a recurring problem. Although previous investigations have noted the presence of at least two phytoflagellates implicated in fish mortality, little attention has been paid the to the identities of the smaller flagellates observed growing in the sea and their possible contribution to the fish and bird population mortality. Using freshly collected field samples as well as enrichment culture techniques, we report the occurrence of several genera of cryptomonads in the Salton Sea, including representatives from the genera Chroomonas , Hemiselmis , Leucocryptos , Plagioselmis , Storeatula and Teleaulax.     

天然胶乳脂质的磷脂组成与分布

本文采用单向硅胶薄层色谱对“红星1号”（抗风品系）和“9－110”（抗寒品系）两种无性系天然橡胶胶乳脂质的磷脂组成进行定性分析,分离出8种磷脂组分,已检出6种,发现两种是从来没检出过的磷脂组分,此外用薄层色谱扫描和“吸光度比例系数校正法”对两种品系天然胶乳总脂,橡胶相和底层脂质中各种磷脂组分的分布进行了快速定量分析。     

THE COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE OF BACTERIAL SPORES

The composition of the insoluble "integuments" and soluble "contents" fractions of spores of four Bacillus species of widely differing heat resistance were compared. Electron microscopy of thin sections was also used to determine and compare the morphological structures in the integument preparations. The soluble fractions of the thermophiles, B. coagulans and B. stearothermophilus, had a higher content of hexose and dipicolinic acid. The hexose content of both fractions of the four species was related to heat resistance. Integument fractions consisted chiefly of protein together with variable amounts of the mucopeptide constituents, α, ε-diaminopimelic acid (DAP) and hexosamine. In the thermophiles the DAP and hexosamine were found chiefly in the insoluble integuments fractions, while in B. cereus and B. subtilis most of this material was soluble. Integument preparations, containing mainly protein with little mucopeptide, consisted chiefly of outer and inner spore coats, while preparations having more mucopeptide contained also residual cortical material and a cortical membrane (possibly the germ cell wall). The results suggest that spore integuments consist of mainly proteinaceous outer and inner coats together with variable amounts of residual cortex and cortical membrane which contain the mucopeptide material.     

THE TRANSPORT AND FUNCTION OF SILICON IN PLANTS

A number of lines of evidence (M_r, number of -OH groups, measured fluxes at inner mitochondrial membranes) suggest the intrinsic P_Si(OH)₄ of about 10^-10 m s^-1 in the plant cell plasmalemma. While relatively low, such a P_Si(OH)₄ could maintain the intracellular concentration of Si(OH)₄ equal to that in the medium for a phytoplankton cell of 5 μm radius growing with a generation time of 24 h. Such passive entry could not account for SiO, precipitation such as is required for scale (Chrysophyceae) or wall (Bacillariophyceae) production in terms of either the generation of a super-saturated solution or the quantity of SiO₂ required; active transport occurs at the plasmalemma (and possibly at an internal membrane) of such cells. The energy required for silicification, even in a diatom with an Si/C ratio of 0.25, is only some 2% of the total energy (as NADPH and ATP) needed for growth; the energy cost of leakage of Si(OH)₄ due to the intrinsic permeability of lipid bilayers to Si(OH)₄ is never more than 10% of the cost of silicification. In vascular land plants the entry of Si from the soil into the xylem can involve a flux ratio (mol Si/m³ water) that is less than (e.g. Leguminoseae) equal to (e.g. many Gramineae) or greater than (e.g. Oryza, Equisetum) the concentration (mol m^-3) in the bathing solution. Even the low influx of the Leguminoseae cannot be accounted for by the ‘lipid solution’ value of PS(OH)₄, but requires entry coupled (phenomenologically) to water influx with a reflexion coefficient of about 0.9. The situation in most Gramineae is described by such a coupling with a reflexion coefficient near O, while the accumulation of Si (relative to water) in Oryza and Equisetum involves an apparent reflexion coefficient which is negative, i.e. an active transport system stoichiometrically related to water flux. Even in Leguminoseae with a transpiration-stream concentration of Si(OH)₄ of only 20 mmol m^-3 (cf. the soil solution at 200 mmol m^-3), the fact that only I % of the water in the xylem is retained in the plant means that Si(OH)₄ at transpirational termini approaches saturation; super-saturation, and precipitation of SiO, occurs in Gramineae and Equisetum. SiO₂ precipitation occurs mainly near transpirational termini but can also occur in the xylem vessels and endodermis of roots, for example. Si(OH)₂ mobility in the phloem seems to be very restricted. The energy costs of SiO₂ relative to organic compounds as structural and defensive materials are in the ratio of 1:10-1:20 (on the basis of weight of material). The relative rarity of SiO₂ as a structural material is discussed in the context of the evolution of Si(OH)₄-transport mechanisms.     

CONSTRAINTS ON REPRODUCTIVE INVESTMENT: A COMPARISON BETWEEN AQUATIC AND TERRESTRIAL SNAKES

Life-history theory predicts that “costs” of reproduction may be important evolutionary determinants of reproductive investment; previous studies on reptiles indicate that decrements to maternal mobility may be among the most important components of such costs. Biomechanical models suggest that reproductive investment in aquatic snakes may be constrained by the important locomotory role of the posterior part of the body during swimming: carrying eggs or offspring in this region would more seriously impair locomotory efficiency in swimming than in terrestrial lateral undulation. If this constraint is important, aquatic snakes would be expected to have lower clutch masses relative to body mass than terrestrial species and to carry the clutch in a more anterior position (commencing at the same proportion of maternal body length anteriorly, but not extending as far posteriorly). Comparisons between aquatic and terrestrial snakes of several families confirm these predictions. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that this pattern of reduced reproductive investment has evolved independently in each of the four ophidian lineages that contain marine species (acrochordids, homalopsine colubrids, laticaudid sea snakes, and hydrophiid sea snakes). Although it thus seems likely that these patterns represent adaptations to aquatic versus terrestrial life, the nature of the selective forces involved remains speculative. The hypothesis based on locomotory impairment of gravid females has better empirical support than any alternative hypothesis, as it successfully predicts modifications in the position of the clutch within the female's body, as well as overall reduced reproductive investment.     

SHAPE AND FUNCTION OF THE SHELL: A COMPARISON OF SOME LIVING AND FOSSIL BIVALVE MOLLUSCS

• 1 The review is mainly concerned with Carboniferous non-marine Anthracosiidae and Myalinidae, of which only the shells are known, and with certain unspecialized non-byssate suspension-feeding bivalves which had smooth shells and burrowed shallowly.
• 2 Limited experimental evidence and observation of living bivalves suggest that in certain Recent siphonate species and in some members of the non-siphonate Anthracosiidae the shape of the shell was functionally related to movement through the sediment in the same way. Predicted optimum shapes of shells for downward burrowing and for upward near-vertical movement in sands and silts were apparently realized in the Anthracosiidae, which constituted a series of highly variable opportunistic assemblages. It is stressed, however, that the shape of the shell always appears to be a compromise between several functional requirements.
• 3 In both the early Anthracosiidae and in several analogous Recent marine genera, orientation of the long axis of the shell was the same for downward burrowing and for upward pushing, that is near the vertical, with posterior end upward.
• 4 Invasion of the Pennine late-Namurian delta took place when marine bivalves pushed upward, thereby avoiding sedimentation from delta lobes moving seaward relatively swiftly. The evolution of Carbonicola occurred at about this time (the Marsdenian Age) when the bivalves acquired a smooth elongate shell of ‘streamlined’ form, having a hinge plate with swellings and depressions on it (later to evolve into teeth). All these features tend to characterize the active shallow burrowers of today.
• 5 Entry into soft-bottom eutrophic conditions of fresh water is characterized in several unionids by increase in height/length (H/L or w/m) ratio of shell, in anterior end/length (A/L) and in obesity (T/L) (see Fig. 2, centre). These changes also took place in established faunas of Carbonicola characteristic of richly carbonaceous shales, in faunas of supposed Anthraconaia in more carbonaceous sediments of mid-and late-Carboniferous times in the U.S.A. and in Anthraconauta of the British late Carboniferous (Westphalian C and D). The genus Anthracosphaerium epitomizes the culmination of these trends in the Anthracosiidae, and species of the genus were probably epifaunal or shallowly infaunal active burrowers on soft bottoms in Westphalian upper A and B time.
• 6 Two contrasting patterns of growth characterize the shells of the widely variable unionid Margaritifera margaritifera. In the first, dorsal arching of the shell, with straightening and reflexion of the ventral margin, provides increased weight but decreased ligamental strength. In the second, in which the ‘hinge line’ tends to remain straight while the dorsal margin becomes more rounded and obesity increases, there is increased metabolic efficiency for active surface movement. The maintenance of these trends within the species, which may be regarded as secondarily opportunistic, affords a means of insurance for survival within the highly variable environments of fresh water. The same trends are recognizable in established faunas of Carbonicola, where it is likely that they performed the same function, as well as in Mesozoic and Cenozoic Unionidae.
• 7 The functional explanation outlined in paragraph (6) may be extended to provide an ecological meaning for Ortmann's ‘Law of Stream Distribution’, which states that obesity of unionid shells increases downstream. This applies broadly, within a fairly wide range of variation, a fact which again suggests ‘insurance’ of faunas against the variable hazards of fresh-water habitats.
• 8 In bivalves having considerable thickness of shell in relation to their size, and having strong umbonal development, specific gravity of the living bivalve is correlated with H/L and T/L ratios of the shell, as in the venerid Venerupis rhomboides. In this species, differences in the specific gravities of the bivalves, as well as their shape, appear to be functionally related to shallowly infaunal burrowing in different substrates.
• 9 The conclusions of paragraphs 6 and 8 provide a functional explanation, in terms of selection, for the palaeoecological ‘law’ of Eagar (1973), which is applicable to established faunas of Carbonicola in mid-Carboniferous time, and relates variational trends in two main groups of shells primarily to increases in the relative water velocities of the palaeoenvironments.
• 10 Where the growth of relatively unspecialized bivalve shells has been measured, allometric relationships have usually been found in H-L and T-L scatters. Logarithmic lines have two inflexions and linear scatters a sigmoidal form. A similar pattern of allometric growth has been found in both Carbonicola (H-L) and Anthraconauta (m-w). These patterns appear to be related to the optimum requirements of water-borne larvae, the initial byssal phase of settlement, when ability to burrow quickly is essential, and the main period of growth and activity. It is herein suggested that the final second inflexion, which indicates a falling off of gain in H/L and T/L ratios, may be a genetically controlled modification of the growth pattern which counteracts the operation of the ‘cube-square rule’ (of Thompson, 1942) and prolongs productive life.
• 11 Patterns of relative growth of the shell may be significantly modified by conditions of the habitat; both T/L and H/L ratios may be increased, with general reduction in size, in the less ‘favourable’ habitats. Both these ratios have been similarly modified, the one in the ‘natural laboratory’ of a lake formed by the damming up of streams, and the other in transplant experiments with living Venerupis. In both these latter cases, phenotypic changes took place in the same direction as those expected on the basis of natural selection. Direct response to environmental factors cannot therefore be ruled out as an agent in similar changes noted in Carbonicola and supposed Anthraconaia in paragraphs (5) and (9) and may have been operative in those of paragraphs (7) and (8).

     

THE STRUCTURE OF FISH GILLS IN RELATION TO THEIR RESPIRATORY FUNCTION

1. The general structure of the gills of different fishes is compared and it is concluded that, though essentially the same, there are certain differences by which they can be recognized. Possible ways in which they may have evolved from one another are considered. 2. A detailed account is given of the structure of the secondary lamellae, where gaseous exchange takes place, and it is shown that two epithelial sheets are separated by a vascular axis mainly composed of pillar cells overlain by a basement membrane on each side. Blood pathways through the gills are discussed in relation to their respiratory function. 3. The embryonic development of gills is described and evidence regarding homo-logies of different structures, particularly the pillar cells, is reviewed. 4. The gills of fish having different modes of life show variations in (a) the number of arches, (b) the number and length of the gill filaments, and (c) the size and frequency of the secondary lamellae. Ways in which measurements of gill area may be carried out and some of the complications involved are reviewed and a summary given of measurements made for a wide variety of species. Measurements of the thickness of the water-blood barrier are also discussed; the more active fish generally have thinner water-blood barriers and larger gill areas. 5. The different mechanisms of gill ventilation are summarized and characteristics of gill resistance in elasmobranchs and teleosts are compared. Gas exchange is discussed in relation to available techniques and the current terminology and symbols, and to indicate the value of analogies between gill exchangers and systems studied by engineers. 6. It is outlined how studies of the functioning of gills during coughing, parasitic infection, and in polluted waters add to knowledge of their role in respiration.