Reviews

Books reviewed in this article:
Sulfur Nutrition and Assimilation in Higher Plants . Ed. by L. J. D e K ok , J. S tulen , H. R ennenberg , C. B runold & W. E. R auser .
Seed Germination in Desert Plants. By Y. G utterman .
Origin of Land Plants. By L inda E. G raham .
Pleistocene Environments in the British Isles. By R. L. J ones & D. H. K een .     

A mini-review on electrotherapeutic strategy for the plant viral elimination

Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture (PCTOC) - Plants have electrophysiological phenomena and are influenced by external electrical fields too. Plants have been studied for this property since the...     

REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
Respiratory Metabolism in Plants . By H arry B eevers .
Plant Pathology: an Advanced Treatise . Volume 2: The Pathogen. Edited by J. G. H orsfall and A. E. D imond .
Flammenphotometrie . By R. H errmann and C. T. J. A lkemade .
Soil Conditions and Plant Growth . By S ir E. J ohn R ussell .
Bacterial Plant Pathogens . By C. S tapp . Translated by A. S choenfeld .
Die Pflanzliche Zellwand . By A. F rey -W yssling
Maps of Distribution of Norwegian Vascular Plants . Edited by K nut F aegri , O lav G jaerevoll , J ohannes L id , R olf N ordhagen . Volume I. Coast Plants by K nut F aegri .
Les forêts acidophiles du Jura. Materiaux pour le levé géobotanique de la Suisse , Fascicule 38. By J. L. R ichard .
A Symposium on Light and Life . Edited by W illiam D. M celroy and B entley G lass .
Woody Plants of Ghana . By F. R. I rvine .     

REVIEWS

Termites and Termite Control . C harlks A. K ofoid .
Virus Diseases of Plants . By J ohn G rainger .
Plants and Human Economics . By R onald G ood .
P aul S orauer . Handbuch der Pflanzenkrankheiten . Herausgegeben von Dr O. A ppel .
The Toxicology of Plants in South Africa . By D. G. S teyn .     

Intrapopulation gender variation in common ragweed (Asteraceae: Ambrosia artemisiifolia L.), a monoecious,annual herb

Summary We measured variation in gender among individuals within populations of ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia) in an abandoned old-field and in the greenhouse. There was great variability in sex expression, from all-female to approximately 78% male. Plants differed significantly in gender in different locations within the field. Plants in an area abandoned from agriculture one year previously were more male than plants in a nearby area abandoned four years previously. In the greenhouse, soil moisture treatments and levels of attack by spittlebugs (Philaenus spumarius) did not affect gender. Height was positively correlated with relative maleness in both populations. Plants with greater shoot weight were relatively more male in the greenhouse, but not in the field. The gender variation we observed either has a genetic basis or is controlled by environmental variables other than those we investigated.     

REVIEWS

Books reviewed in this article:
Encyclopedia of Plant Physiology, New Series, Volume 18. Higher Plant Cell Respiration. Ed. by R. D ouce and D. A. D ay
Hormones, Receptors and Cellular Interactions in Plants. Ed. by C. M. C hadwick and D. R. G arrod
Nitrogen Fixation in Plants, Tertiary Level Biology Series. By R. O. D. D ixon and C. T. W heeler     

Book reviews

Book Reviewed in this article: Wildlife Radio Tagging: Equipment, Field Techniques and Data Analysis R. Kenward Genetic Differentiation and Dispersal in Plants. Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Population Biology of Plants at Port-Camarque Edited by P. Jacquard, G. Heim and J. Antonovics. Diseases and Plant Population Biology J. J. Burdon. The Origins of Angiosperms and their Biological Consequences Edited by E. M. Friis, W. G. Chaloner and P. R. Crane.     

Photosynthetic plasticity of populations of Heliotropium curassavicum L. originating from differing thermal regimes

Summary Plants of the widely distributed species Heliotropium curassavicum L. have a large photosynthetic acclimation potential to temperature. There are, however, some differences among the acclimation potentials of populations occupying dissimilar thermal regimes. Plants of populations originating from a cool maritime climate have a greater acclimation potential than plants of populations originating from a desert habitat, which is characterized by large seasonal changes in temperature.     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:
Plant Resources of South East Asia , (PROSEA), No. 10, Cereals. Edited by G.J.H. Grubben and S. Partohardjono.
Flora of Australia, Volume 28, Gentianaks , ed. Annette Wilson.
Shape and Fomi in Plants and Fungi. Linnean Society Symposium Series 16. Edited by D.S. Ingram and A. Hudson
Scottish Plants for Scottish Gardens , Jill, Duchess of Hamilton, ed. Stationery Office Books.     

Plant innate immunity: An updated insight into defense mechanism

Plants are invaded by an array of pathogens of which only a few succeed in causing disease. The attack by others is countered by a sophisticated immune system possessed by the plants. The plant immune system is broadly divided into two, viz. microbial-associated molecular-patterns-triggered immunity (MTI) and effector-triggered immunity (ETI). MTI confers basal resistance, while ETI confers durable resistance, often resulting in hypersensitive response. Plants also possess systemic acquired resistance (SAR), which provides long-term defense against a broad-spectrum of pathogens. Salicylic-acid-mediated systemic acquired immunity provokes the defense response throughout the plant system during pathogen infection at a particular site. Trans-generational immune priming allows the plant to heritably shield their progeny towards pathogens previously encountered. Plants circumvent the viral infection through RNA interference phenomena by utilizing small RNAs. This review summarizes the molecular mechanisms of plant immune system, and the latest breakthroughs reported in plant defense. We discuss the plant–pathogen interactions and integrated defense responses in the context of presenting an integral understanding in plant molecular immunity.     

Plant behaviour and communication

Plant behaviours are defined as rapid morphological or physiological responses to events, relative to the lifetime of an individual. Since Darwin, biologists have been aware that plants behave but it has been an underappreciated phenomenon. The best studied plant behaviours involve foraging for light, nutrients, and water by placing organs where they can most efficiently harvest these resources. Plants also adjust many reproductive and defensive traits in response to environmental heterogeneity in space and time. Many plant behaviours rely on iterative active meristems that allow plants to rapidly transform into many different forms. Because of this modular construction, many plant responses are localized although the degree of integration within whole plants is not well understood. Plant behaviours have been characterized as simpler than those of animals. Recent findings challenge this notion by revealing high levels of sophistication previously thought to be within the sole domain of animal behaviour. Plants anticipate future conditions by accurately perceiving and responding to reliable environmental cues. Plants exhibit memory, altering their behaviours depending upon their previous experiences or the experiences of their parents. Plants communicate with other plants, herbivores and mutualists. They emit cues that cause predictable reactions in other organisms and respond to such cues themselves. Plants exhibit many of the same behaviours as animals even though they lack central nervous systems. Both plants and animals have faced spatially and temporally heterogeneous environments and both have evolved plastic response systems.     

Reviews

Book reviewed in this articles:
The Biology of Frankia atid Actinorhizal Plants . Ed. by C hrista R. S chwintzer and J ohn D. T jepkema .
Seed Dormancy in Grasses. By G. M. S impson .
Plants under Stress. Ed. by H. G. J one s, T. J. F lowers and M. B. J ones .
Plant Resistance to Insects. A Fundamental Approach. By C. M. S mith .
The Vascular Cambium . Edited by M. I qbal     

Relevance of elephant herbivory as a threat to Important Plants in the Addo Elephant National Park, South Africa

Although elephants are recognized as keystone species, the mechanisms of their impacts on biodiversity and community structure are rarely identified. In the Addo Elephant National Park (AENP), South Africa, elephant Loxodonta africana herbivory is apparently responsible for a significant reduction in plant richness, especially among the regionally rare and endemic small succulent shrubs and geophytes (Important Plants). We used faecal analysis to investigate the utilization of Important Plants in elephant diet in the AENP. Ninety plant species were identified in the diet. Only 14 of the 77 ( c . 18%) Important Plants previously thought particularly vulnerable to elephant browsing occurred in the diet, while at least 6% of species for which there are data were avoided. This refutes the generally held belief that elephant herbivory is the major driver of decline among Important Plants, and emphasizes the likely contribution of other mechanisms (e.g. knock-on effects, trampling, zoochory, etc.) to this phenomenon. The accurate prediction of impacts caused by elephants in the AENP and elsewhere, therefore requires an understanding of these previously marginalized mechanisms. By demonstrating appropriate cause-and-effect relationships between elephants and ecosystem change, we will be able to move beyond assuming that all the observed changes are due to elephant herbivory.     

Reviews

Inducible Plant Proteins. Their Biochemistry and Molecular Biology . Society for Experimental Biology Seminar Series, Vol. 49. Ed. by J. L. W ray .
The Action Plant. Movement and Nervous Behaviour in Plants . By P aul S imons .
Plants and Microclimate. A Quantitative Approach to Environmental Plant Physiology , 2nd edn. By H. G. J ones .
Acidic Deposition. Its Nature and Impacts . By F. T. L ast and R. W atling .
Biology of the Grapevine . By M ichael G. M ullins , A lain B ouquet and L arry E. W illiams .
Sweet Potato – An Untapped Food Resource . By J. A. W oolfe .
Algae and Symbioses: Plants, Animals, Fungi, Viruses, Interactions Explored . Ed. by W. R eisser .
Vegetation of New Zealand . By P. W ardle .
Microspores: Evolution and Ontogeny . Ed. by S. B lackmore and R. B. K nox .     

光受体及光信号转导

植物在进化过程中形成了对环境信号反应的能力,光是植物生长发育中的一个重要的环境信号.植物为了更好地生长和发育形成了精密的光信号接收和转导系统.本文介绍近年来光信号接收即光受体和光信号的转导研究进展.     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:
Aquatic communities, swamps and tall-herb fens. British Plant Communities, Vol. 4, ed. J. S. Rodwell
Flore de la Suisse, by D. Aeschimann and H. M. Burdet de Griffon
Intermountain Flora. Vascular Plants of the Intermountain West, U.S.A. Vol 5 (Asterales), by A. Cronquist, A. H. Holmgren, N. Holmgren, J. L. Reveal, and P. K. Holmgren
Scarce Plants in Britain, compiled and edited by A. Stewart, D. A. Pearman & C. D. Preston     

内蒙古珍稀濒危植物濒危现状及优先保护评估

以《中国珍稀濒危保护植物名录》、《中国植物红皮书》、《国家重点保护野生植物名录(第一批)》、《中国物种红色名录》、《中国生物多样性红色名录(高等植物卷)》、《内蒙古珍稀濒危保护植物名录》和《内蒙古珍稀濒危植物图谱》中127种内蒙古珍稀濒危植物为研究对象,通过资料收集及专家咨询,构建了内蒙古珍稀濒危植物受威胁等级、优先保护评估体系.建立了濒危系数、遗传价值系数、利用价值系数、生境系数、繁殖系数5项准则,准则下共设17个指标;运用层次分析法确定指标体系权重,计算出珍稀濒危植物濒危等级及优先保护级别.结果表明: 极危种2种、濒危种13种、易危种37种、近危种44种、无危种31种,分别占总数的1.6%、10.2%、29.1%、34.7%、24.4%.其中,受威胁种(极危、濒危和易危种)共52种,占总种数的40.9%.一级保护植物35种、二级保护植物72种、三级保护植物20种,分别占总数的27.6%、56.7%、15.8%.本评估结果与《中国生物多样性红色名录(高等植物卷)》、《内蒙古珍稀濒危保护植物名录》相比,有75种植物的濒危等级和62种植物的保护级别发生了变化.其中新增了9种植物的濒危等级评估和32种植物的保护级别.     

REVIEWS

Plants and Human Economics . By R onald G ood
Virus Diseases of Plants . By J ohn G rainger .
Chromosomes and Plant Breeding . By C. D. D arlington     

Arsenite and arsenate impact the oxidative status and antioxidant responses in Ocimum tenuiflorum L

Physiology and Molecular Biology of Plants - Biochemical responses of Ocimum tenuiflorum plants were studied upon exposure to arsenite (AsIII) and arsenate (AsV) for 1 to 10 d. Plants...