The Importance of Water Vapour for the Circulating Air Flow through Nelumbo nucifera

Aquatic vascular plants depend on an adequate oxygen supplyin order to maintain growth and reproduction in anaerobic environments.Nelumbo nucifera is able to survive with a gas transport systemwhich supplies oxygen to the roots and rhizomes submerged inthe anaerobic sediment. It was possible to demonstrate thatthis gas transport system is based on a purely physical phenomenonThermo-osmotic oxygen transport was first demonstrated on freshleaves with the help of an oxygen-sensitive electrode. A definiteenhancement of oxygen flow was obtained through excised leaveswhen a temperature difference between the ambient and lacunarair was present in light. These leaves were then dried to brittlenessand the enhanced oxygen flow was still detectable. This showsthat not only photosynthetic oxygen, but also atmospheric oxygencan be transported to the buried organs. The absolute flow ofoxygen through dry leaves was much lower than through freshleaves, but the thermo-osmotic transport of oxygen still functioned.Furthermore, the process of thermo-osmosis need not rely ona difference in humidity between the two sides of a porous partition,but may be linked causally to the temperature difference andthe pore size. Key words: Nelumbo nucifera, oxygen transport, thermo-osmosis of gases     

Reduced Polyteny of Ribosomal RNA Cistrons in Giant Chromosomes of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Drosophila hydei</Emphasis><Superscript>*</Superscript>

The polytenization of rRNA cistrons in Drosophila species is studied in an attempt to follow the course of under-representation of heterochromatic compared with euchromatic chromosome regions.     

Covariation of morphological characters in the Triassic ammonoid Czekanowskites rieberi

The Triassic ammonoid Czekanowskites rieberi displays a covariation of morphological charac ters, which is rather common in ammonoids. Its morphological spectrum ranges from laterally compressed, involute, weakly ribbed forms to depressed, semiinvolute, strongly ribbed forms. In order to study this covariation, fifteen axially cut specimens have been analyzed by means of image analysis, which allows us to obtain the ontogenetic record of radii, area and perimeter of the individual whorl cross-sections. A logarithmic model of growth has been applied. Our data indicate that, owing to the covariation, the radii from the origin to the venter and to the umbil ical seam of a given whorl section vary inversely in order to maintain the relative position of the center of gravity of the whorl cross-section both throughout the ontogeny of single specimens and within the population. This influences hydrostatic parameters, such as the position of the center of mass and the orientation and stability of the shell. Since the ontogenetic record of the angular length of the body chamber is not known, we have calculated those hydrostatic varia bles using two mutually exclusive assumptions: (1) the angular length of the body chamber was constant throughout ontogeny and (2) the volume of the body chamber grew monotonically with the revolution angle. Fluctuations of the three hydrostatic variables were always less important in the first assumption. In any case, the spectrum of, for example, theoretical orien tations is comparable to those observed in the species of present-day Nautilus. The range of adult body-chamber length observed in C. rieberi is much narrower than the theoretical adult body-chamber length calculated under the second assumption which indicates that a certain control over this parameter existed in the natural population, probably in order to maintain a narrow range in orientation and stability. The excess or deficit in soft-body weight was probably compensated by inverse variations in shell-wall weight. The main conclusion is that, despite the extreme morphological variability, hydrostatic and, possibly, hydrodynamic properties of the population remained within narrow limits.     

Relationships Between Invertebrate Phyla Based on Functional-Mechanical Analysis of the Hydrostatic Skeleton

SYNOPSIS. The phylogeny of the major groups of deuterostomecoelomates—the chordates,hemichordates and echinoderms—isdiscussed based on a mechanical-functional analysis of the hydrostaticskeleton and associated structures. The basic approach is tofirst establish transformation series of individual featuresand of functional complexes of features and secondto determinetheir "Lesrichtung" by showing the direction of increased economy(i.e., better adaptation) with respect to environmental factors.It is argued that a metameric coelom is primitive with respectto an oligomeric one and that the ancestral form of the deuterostomecoelomates is a metameric, coelomate worm-like animal with acomplex set of circular, transverse andlongitudinal body muscles.The coelom plus the complex body musculature formed the hydrostaticskeleton.The sequence of structural modifications leading to chordatesis: (a) appearance of the notochord; (b) specialization of thedorsal longitudinal muscles with a reduction and disappearanceof the transverse and circular muscles; (c) simultaneous appearanceof the dorsal hollow nerve cord; (d) development of a postanaltail; and (e) appearance and specialization of the branchialbasket with gill slits as a filter feeding apparatus. The primitivechordate would be most similar to the lancelet (Acrania). Tunicatesare advanced chordates specialized forsessile life and lostmost chordate features in the adult, but retained them in thelarvae as adaptations for active dispersal. Enteropneusts (acornworms) are another advanced group specialized for burrowingin fine sediments and that evolved the anterior proboscis asa peristaltic burrowing organ. The notochord was lost as wasthe dorsal nerve cord and segmented conditionof the coelom.A collar originated as a means to prevent discharged water fromre-entering themouth. Pterobranchs arose from enteropneustlikeforms; their major structural changes are reduction of the branchialbasket and modification of the collar into tentacles which areassociated with life in a closed tube. Finally, echinodermsarose from a pterobranch-like ancestor by specializing for sessilelife and feeding with tentacles and by final loss of the branchialbasket. Groups such as the tunicates, hemichordates and echinodermscould be eliminated as ancestral forms within the deuterostomecoelomates because the evolution of acraniates and vertebratesfrom each of these groups would involve the appearance of gillslits before the notochord and/or the evolution of a metamericcoelom from an oligomeric one, both of which are exceedinglyimprobable. Central to the methods used to establish the transformationseries of features and their direction of evolutionary change(Lesrichtung) are functional (mechanical) analysis and adaptiveinterpretation of features; hence, functional-adaptive analysesare an integral and essential part of the methodology of phylogeneticinvestigation.     

Ionic Balance of Root-Shoot Nitrate Transfer in Dwarf Bean

The Dijkshoorn-Ben Zioni model about potassium recycling in higher plants proposes a stoichiometric coupling between the upward transport of nitrate and potassium, and therefore a 1:1 ratio of these ions in the xylem sap. Phaseolus vulgaris grown in media with different NO₃: K⁺ ratios, however, only rarely showed equimolar concentrations of the two ions in the bleeding sap. Ratios between 0.2 and 11 were observed and the ratios between concentrations of the ions in the exudate and in the external solution were positively correlated. An analysis of the major inorganic constituents of the exudate revealed an ionic balance that requires negligible amounts of charges from organic molecules.     

Effect of Plant Growth Regulators on Nitrate Utilization by Roots of Nitrogen-Depleted Dwarf Bean

We examined the effect of pretreatments (18 h at 5 µmoldm^–3) with abscisic acid, the ethylene-releasing substance‘Ethephon’, gibberellic acid, indoleacetic acid,kinetin and zeatin on nitrate uptake and in vivo nitrate reductaseactivity (NRA) in roots of nitrogen-depleted Phaseolus vulgarisL. Nitrate uptake showed an apparent induction pattern witha steady state after about 6 h, in all treatments. The nitrateuptake rate after 6 h was unaffected or at most 30% lower aftertreatments with the plant growth regulators. Gibberellic acid, kinetin and zeatin induced substantial NRAin roots in the absence of nitrate, whereas Ethephon enhancedNRA only during nitrate nutrition. Kinetin-induced NRA (Ki-NRA)was maximal after a pretreatment at 1 µmol dm^–3,and showed a lag phase of 6–8 h. Ki-NRA was additive tonitrate-induced NRA (NO^–₃-NRA) for at least 24 h, independentof the induction sequence. After full induction, Ki-NRA approximated20% of NO-₃-NRA. Abscisic acid counteracted the developmentof Ki-NRA, but not of NO^–₃-NRA. Cycloheximide and tungstatewere equally effective to suppress the development of nitratereductase activity after supply of kinetin or NO^–₃. Our data are consistent with the operation of two independentenzyme fractions (Ki-NRA and NO^–₃-NRA) with apparentlyidentical properties but with separate control mechanisms. Theabsence of major effects of plant growth regulators on the time-courseand rate of nitrate uptake suggests that exogenous regulators,and possibly endogenous phytohormones are of minor importancefor initial nitrate uptake. The differential effect of someregulators on nitrate uptake and root NRA furthermore indicatesthat the processes of uptake and reduction of NO^–₃ arenot obligatory or exclusively coupled to each other.     

Cell Wall Solubilization in Pedicel Abscission of Begonia Flower Buds

Effects of metabolic inhibitors and growth regulators on the course of abscission and on the activities of cell wall solubilizing enzymes were studied in pedicel explants of Begonia flower buds. Actinomycin D, chloramphenicol and 2,4-dinitrophenol slightly retarded abscission, whereas cycloheximide exerted a strong inhibition if applied until 10.5 h after explant excision. Indoleacetic acid retarded and ethylene promoted abscission and cell wall solubilization. However, the activities of cell wall solubilizing enzymes did not correspond with the course of abscission. No polygalacturonase and pectic acid and pectin transeliminases could be detected in the abscission zone during abscission, whereas a low pectin methylesterase activity did not change. Endo- and exocellulase activities did not increase until about 10 h after the onset of abscission, indicating that they are the result rather than the cause of abscission.