Development and maturation of surghum seeds on detached panicles grown in vitro

Summary A procedure for culturing detached panicles of sorghum, Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench, was developed to achieve flowering, fertilization, and subsequent seed development and maturation in vitro. Sixteen sorghum genotypes (five high and eleven low in tannin) were tested for their ability to develop normally in culture. Panicles collected one to two days before the initiation of anthesis were cultured in flasks containing liquid medium. Contamination and medium darkening were the major obstacles encountered. Up to 55% of the panicles cultured reached physiological maturity in vitro. The frequency of seed set ranged from 30 to 97% depending upon genotype and medium. Seed and glume color were normal. Seed produced in vitro resembled those grown in vivo and germinated well, but were smaller than normal (100 kernel weight reached 50 to 70% of the control). Grain polyphenols were synthesized in the cultured panicles. Seed of high tannin genotypes produced in vitro were lower in total phenols and tannins and higher in flavan-4-ols and the 3-deoxyanthocyanidin pigments than control seed. This technique can be used for harvesting late-maturing stocks and for various sorghum studies.     

Hydrolysis of phosphatidylcholine couples Ras to activation of Raf protein kinase during mitogenic signal transduction.

We have investigated the relationship between hydrolysis of phosphatidylcholine (PC) and activation of the Raf-1 protein kinase in Ras-mediated transduction of mitogenic signals. As previously reported, cotransfection of a PC-specific phospholipase C (PC-PLC) expression plasmid bypassed the block to cell proliferation resulting from expression of the dominant inhibitory mutant Ras N-17. In contrast, PC-PLC failed to bypass the inhibitory effect of dominant negative Raf mutants, suggesting that PC-PLC functions downstream of Ras but upstream of Raf. Consistent with this hypothesis, treatment of quiescent cells with exogenous PC-PLC induced Raf activation, even when normal Ras function was blocked by Ras N-17 expression. Further, activation of Raf in response to mitogenic growth factors was blocked by inhibition of endogenous PC-PLC. Taken together, these results indicate that hydrolysis of PC mediates Raf activation in response to mitogenic growth factors.     

大仓鼠和黄胸鼠的肺皮蒸发失水及其和地理分布的关系

栖息于荒漠环境的哺乳动物,往往具有非凡的节水能力例如:更格卢鼠科(Heteromyidae),仓鼠科(Cricetidae)、跳鼠科(Dipodidae)和鼠科(Muridae)的许多种类能不饮水。仅食取干燥的植物种子,依靠有限的预成水(preformed water)和代谢水在荒漠于热的环境中,保持水平衡而长期存活(Vaughan,1978)。五十年代至七十年代以来,Sehmidt-Nielsen(1950、1952、1964)和MacMillen(1967、1969、1970、1972、1975)等许多国外学者,对上述荒漠啮齿类曾作了大量的研究,发现它们对于荒漠的干旱炎热环境在形态、生理、生态和行为方面有一系列相似的适应特征。节约肺皮蒸发失水就是这些适应特征之一。肺皮蒸发失水是哺乳动物水分代谢中重要的失水途径(Chew,1965),根据现有资料上述荒漠啮齿类中除少数鼠科种类的蒸发失水率不同作者报道的结果有较大出入外(Daily,1981;Shkolnik,1969),大多数种类在这方面的节水能力比非荒漠种类强。     

不同细胞周期大鼠肝实质细胞癌细胞粘弹特性研究

以胸腺嘧啶核苷和秋水仙碱顺序阻断法及胸腺嘧啶核苷双阻断法分别获得同步化Ｇ１期和Ｓ期细胞,从细胞周期角度出发,采用微管吸吮技术对大鼠肝实质细胞癌细胞的粘弹特性进行了测定并以标准线性固体模型对实验数据进行了拟合,结果表明：该细胞具有高弹性和低粘性的总体特征;Ｇ１期细胞与Ｓ期细胞相比具有高Ｋ１值和低μ值的特点,从而显示Ｇ１期细胞比Ｓ期细胞具有更大的强度和更快的被动变形能力。这些结果不仅反映了同步化细胞存在的细胞骨架状态的周期性差异,也提示Ｇ１期细胞可能比Ｓ期细胞更适于在血流中存活和转移。