Possible role of cytokinins in cereals with regard to the resistance to obligate fungus parasites

The cultivars of barley and wheat resistant to mildew had a higher level of free zeatin and its derivatives during the whole ontogeny than the susceptible cultivars. The effect of exogenous application of cytokinins on the growth ofErysiphe graminis DC. was different. Kinetin and benzylaminopurine showed only a slight inhibitory effect. Zeatin and its derivatives completely inhibited growth of this fungus. Presented at the International Symposium “Plant Growth Regulators” held on June 18-22 1984 at Liblice, Czechoslovakia.     

Steady-state sodium absorption and chloride secretion of colon and coprodeum,and plasma levels of osmoregulatory hormones in hens in relation to sodium intake

Summary The plasma levels of four osmoregulatory hormones and their target ion-transport systems in the lower intestines of the domestic fowl were determined in order to elucidate their interrelationship and their setpoints in relation to NaCl intake. White Plymouth Rock hens were adapted to six intake levels of NaCl (0.20±0.02–24.7±1.9 mmoles Na⁺·kg bw^–1·day^–1) for 6 weeks. The Na⁺ absorption and the Cl^– secretion of colon and coprodeum were characterized in vitro by the effects of hexoses, amino acids, amiloride, and theophylline on the short-circuit current (SCC) and electrical potential difference (PD). The NaCl-conserving system of the adult chicken is set at low intake levels of NaCl as the 80% range (quantitized by non-linear, logistic regression analyses) of the change in the plasma [ALDO], the amiloride-inhibitable Na⁺ absorption of coprodeum and colon ( SCC), occurred from 0.18 to 2.3, from 0.9 to 4.3, and from 1.2 to 7.3 mmoles Na⁺·kg bw^–1·day^–1, respectively. These results demonstrate that the amiloride-inhibitable Na⁺ absorption of coprodcum is more closely linked to plasma [ALDO] than that of colon. The aminoacid-Na⁺ coabsorption of colon increased over exactly the same range of Na⁺ intake as the colonic amiloride-inhibitable Na⁺ absorption decreased, whereas the hexose-Na⁺ coabsorption increased at higher levels of Na⁺ intake, from 2 to 11 mmoles Na⁺·kg bw^–1·day^–1. Both these Na⁺ absorption types had reached their maximums at 24.7 mmoles Na⁺·kg bw^–1·day^–1, whereas the plasma [AVT] and plasma [PRL], although significantly increased, apparently had not; their 80% range of change occurred from 9.9 to 99 mmoles Na⁺·kg bw^–1·day^–1, and the main changes in plasma osmolity were predicted to occur from 5.4 to 107 mmoles Na⁺·kg bw^–1·day^–1. These results suggest that these colonic and hormonal variables conserve osmotically-free water and operate at high NaCl intake. The theophylline-induced colonic Cl^– secretion did not change with NaCl intake, whereas the stimulation of SCC in coprodeum decreased with increasing NaCl intake: The main change occurred between 0 and 3.2 mmoles Na⁺·kg bw^–1·day^–1. Thus, all ion-transport capacity disappears in coprodeum with increased dietary NaCl intake, whereas colon maintains its ion-transport capacity (although the nature of the Na⁺ transport changes). It is suggested that hormones defending the extracellular volume and composition are regulated close to zero input and output of both NaCl and water, regardless of whether they are NaCl conserving or free-water conserving. Therefore, changes in their stable plasma concentrations occur at the extremes of tolerable range of NaCl intake.Abbreviation AA aminoacids - ALDO aldosterone - AMI amiloride - AVT arginine vasotocin - bw body weight - CS corticosterone - HEX hexoses - INDO indomethacin - PD potential difference - PRL prolactin - R resistance - SCC short-circuit current - SD standard deviation - SEM standard error of mean - THEO theophylline     

Plasma levels of arginine vasotocin,prolactin, aldosterone and corticosterone during prolonged dehydration in the domestic flowl: effect of dietary NaCl

Three groups of White Plymouth Rock laying hens were adapted to three levels of dietary NaCl: low-NaCl food with tap water (LOW), high-NaCl food (1% NaCl w/w added) with tap water (HT), and high-NaCl food with 0.5% NaCl for drinking (HS). The birds were subjected to water deprivation (dehydration) for 18 days. Blood sampling was done at 2-4 day intervals. Plasma concentrations of arginine vasotocin (AVT), prolactin (PRL), aldosterone (ALDO) and corticosterone (CS) were determined by radioimmunoassay. Plasma osmolality, sodium, chloride, and potassium were also determined. In the normally hydrated hens fully adapted to the diets, there was a stepwise increase from LOW to HS in plasma osmolality (305, 315, 332 mOsm, for LOW, HT and HS, respectively), [Na+] (144, 153, 161 mM) and [Cl-] (109, 119, 127 mM) as well as in [AVT] (6, 14, 18 pg/ml) and [PRL] (16, 24, 34 ng/ml). Regressing [AVT] on osmolality gave a slope of 0.30 pg . ml-1/mOsm and a threshold of 273 mOsm. The slope of [PRL] on osmolality was 0.73 ng . ml-1/mOsm. The correlation coefficient of [AVT] and [PRL] was 0.67. LOW had high [ALDO] (165 pg/ml) which was suppressed to low levels in HT and HS (5-8 pg/ml), while [CS] was the same in all groups (0.9-1.1 ng/ml). Plasma [K+] was decreased in the high-NaCl groups (5.8 mM in LOW, 4.4 and 4.7 mM in HT and HS). Dehydration resulted within 2 days generally in a sharp (5-15%) increase in osmolality, [Na+] and [Cl-], which thereafter increased more slowly during the remaining 16 days in all groups, with the slowest increase in LOW. The levels of osmolality [Na+] and [Cl-] were 5% lower in LOW than in HT and HS, which showed the same levels during the dehydration period. Plasma [AVT] and [PRL] increased 2-4 fold within 2 days of dehydration; [AVT] reached a plateau at 29 pg/ml in all groups, but [PRL] continued to rise in all groups, fastest in LOW, reaching similar levels in all groups after 14-18 days of dehydration, about 85 ng/ml. The correlation coefficient of [AVT] and [PRL] was decreased by half (to 0.32) during dehydration. Plasma [ALDO] increased in all groups with dehydration, 1.7 fold in LOW and 3-6 fold in HT and HS, but the levels reached in HT and HS were only 15-30% of that seen in LOW.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)     

Abundance and biomass estimates of the benthic fauna in Admiralty Bay,King George Island,South Shetland Islands

Summary Quantitative benthic samples were collected along three transects in Admiralty Bay, King George Island, South Shetlands. At each of a total of 18 stations, between 15 and 250 m depth, we took 3 replicate samples with a van Veen grab. Animals collected were classed into major groups. Abundance and biomass per m² was calculated for each sampling site. Considerable population densities and high biomass values were found. Most abundant groups were Bivalvia, Polychaeta and Amphipoda, whereas the largest part of the biomass was due to Ascidiacea, Ophiuroidea, Echinoidea, Polychaeta and Bivalvia. The maximum abundance recorded was 36,000 ind m^-2 while the average was approximately 6500 ind m^-2. Maximum biomass was over 2400 g m^-2 with an average of ca. 700 g m^-2. The contribution to the total biomass by groups such as the Oligochaeta, Cumacea and Tanaidacea was higher in the inner shallow part of Admiralty Bay (Ezcurra Inlet) than in the deeper areas of the bay. Our results confirm the reports on an unusually high density and biomass of the Antarctic sublittoral benthic fauna. Sessile suspension feeders belonging to the Bivalvia, Ascidiacea, sedentary Polychaeta, and vagile scavengers of the Ophiuroidea, Amphipoda and errant Polychaeta are the most significant groups in the Antarctic Ecosystem. The total benthic biomass in Admiralty Bay, based on the present preliminary quantitative data, was estimated to be over 600,000 t. This value is probably still an underestimate.     

Adenosine Triphosphatase Activity at the External Surface of Chicken Brain Synaptosomes

An ATP-hydrolysing activity on the external surface of intact synaptosomes from chicken forebrain has been investigated. The observed ATPase activity was not due to leakage of the intracellular ATPase activities, of artefacts resulting from breakage of the nerve endings during the incubation and isolation periods, or to possible contamination by other subcellular particles. Disruption of the synaptosomes resulted in an approximately 2.5-fold increase of the basal, Mg2+-dependent ATPase activity, suggesting that the plasma membrane was acting as permeability barrier to the substrate. ATP hydrolysis was maximal (0.8 mumol Pi/min/mg protein) at pH 8.2 in a medium containing either Mg2+ or Ca2+ ions. Ouabain (0.2 mM) and oligomycin (2 micrograms/mg protein) had no appreciable effect on this ATPase activity. Kinetic studies of the enzyme revealed an apparent Km value of ATP of approximately 4 x 10(-5) M. These data are consistent with the view that the observed ATP hydrolysis was being catalysed by an ectoenzyme, i.e., an enzyme in the plasma membrane of the nerve endings with its active site facing the external medium. The rapid hydrolysis of the released ATP is a suspected function for this ecto-ATPase.     

Histocompatibility Gene Organization and Mixed Lymphocyte Reaction

TRANSFORMATION of allogenic lymphocytes in mixed cultures depends chiefly on an incompatibility between the lymphocyte donors at the major histocompatibility locus in man (HL-A), mouse (H-2) and rat (H-l)¹. Although the mouse H-2 locus can be divided into several regions each of which controls one or more antigenic specificities² and two or more subloci control HL-A antigens in man³, it is not known whether all parts of the major histocompatibility locus are equally important in eliciting transformation in mixed lymphocyte cultures. We now show that capacity to elicit lymphocyte transformation is different for different parts of the mouse H-2 locus.     

The extent and differences in mitotic activity of the root tip ofVicia faba L.

Mitotic activity does not stop for different meristematic cells of the root apex at the same distance from the initials. The differences are connected with the functional heterogeneity of the apical meristem of the root. The arrangement of vascular bundles,i.e. the alternation of independent xylem and phloem groups, is of major importance. In broad bean roots, the protophloem sieve elements stop dividing first. The centre of the stelei. e. late metaxylem elements stop dividing next. Division in the stele gradually ceases centrifugally, while it ceases centripetally in the peripheral part of the root. The cylindrical region with prolonged cell division includes internal layers of the cortex including endodermis, pericycle and adjoining cells of the stele. Proximally apical meristem is reduced to isolated strands of cells adjacent to the protoxylem poles. Pericycle cells stop dividing last at a distance of approx. 9–10 mm from the initials. The number of the division cycles is limited and is specific for individual cell types. Epidermal and cortical cells divide in broad bean roots transversely approximately seven times, cells of late metaxylem approximately five times. Root apical meristem is an asynchronous cell population with a different duration of the mitotic cycle. We determined local variations in the duration of the mitotic cycle in the apical meristem of broad bean root by means of colchicine-induced polyploidy. The cells of the quiescent centre had the longest mitotic cycle after colchicine treatment. The region of the proper root adjacent to the quiescent centre was mixoploid (2n and 4n). Isolated cells with a long cycle occurred also in the cortex and in the central cylinder. Cells with a division cycle of 18h were found in the root cap, in the epidermis, in the cortex and in the central cylinder. Relatively numerous cells with the shortest division cycle, approx. 12 h, occurred farther of the quiescent centre in the epidermis, in the cortex, in the pericycle, and in adjacent layers of the stele through-out the entire meristematic region. The results derived from the analysis of the apical meristem are discussed in connection with the ontogenesis of different types of cells taking part in the primary structure of the root.     

Der Einfluß einiger Hormone auf die heteroplastische Knorpel- und Knochenbildung im Herzmuskel der Ratte

Zusammenfassung Es wird über histopathologische Untersuchungen des chronologischen Verlaufs an der durchSelyes Ventrikel-Ligatur hervorgerufenen Herzspitzennekrose bei Ratten berichtet. In dem der Nekrose verfallenen Myokard setzt alsbald Organisation ein; dann wandelt sich allmählich das Granulationsgewebe in eine zellarme und faserreiche Narbe um. In den subendokardialen Schichten des Narbengewebes entstehen erst Knorpel-, später Knochenherde. Der Prozeß der Knorpelbildung wird nicht von Verkalkung eingeleitet; vielmehr werden zuerst die Fibroblasten zu Knorpelzellen, um die sich dann sekundär Kalziumsalze ablagern; danach spielt sich eine typische endochondrale Ossifikation ab. Schließlich erscheint Knochenmarkgewebe zwischen den Knochenbalken.Triamcinolon hemmt geringgradig die Bindegewebsproliferation, Thyroxin steigert die Knorpel- und Knochenbildung, während Östradiol diese Vorgänge nicht beeinflußt.

---

The effect of hormones on the heteroplastic cartilage and bone formation in the cardiac muscle of the rat

Summary A chronologic study was made of the histopathologic changes which occur in the cardiac apex of the rat following the application of Selye's ventricular ligature. Organisation in the necrotic cardiac muscle begins soon after ligature. Later, the granulationtissue is gradually replaced by scar tissue which is poor in cells but rich in fibers. In the subendocardial fibrous tissue, cartilage and bone develop. It is emphasized that cartilage formation is not initiated by calcification. Instead, the fibroblasts are converted to cartilage cells and, later, calcium salts are deposited in the matrix. This is followed by endochondral bone formation. Finally, bone marrow appears in the intertrabecular spaces.Triamcinolone mildly hindered connective-tissue proliferation, thyroxine increased cartilage and bone formation, while estradiol did not influence these processes.

---

---

Die Versuche, die diesem Bericht zugrunde liegen, wurden durch das Ministère de la Santé, Québec, die Quebec Heart Foundation, Montreal, das Medical Research Couneil of Canada (Block Term Grant MT-1829) und das USPHS, Child Welfare (Grant HDO 2612-02) unterstützt. Die Autoren danken an dieser Stelle der Firma Lederle Laboratories Div., Pearl River, N.Y., USA für das bei diesen Versuchen verwendete Triamcinolon (Aristocort^®) und der Firma Schering Corporation Ltd., Pointe Ciaire, Quebec, für die Bereitstellung von Estradiol.     

Alternation of respiratory pathways during the development of wheat leaf

P?i vývoji listu p?enice se zmen?uje stupeň inhibice dýchání fluoridem, monojodacetátem a malonátem a poměr mezi radioaktivitami¹⁴CO₂ uvolněného z glukosy-6-¹⁴C a glukosy-l-¹⁴C (C₆/C₁), co? svěd?í o zvět?ování podílu pentosovího cyklu v celkové respiraci. Tato změna v?ak neni zp?sobena absolutním zvět?ením aktivity pentosového eyklu u star?ích list?, nýbr? p?edev?ím poklesem aktivity glykolytického systému. Naproti tomu u list? oddělených od obilky se pri sní?ení vlhkosti atmosféry méní poměr mezi dýchacími cestami v d?sledku aktivace pentosového cyklu. Na základě disproporce mezi procentem glykolytického podílu respirace vypo?tenym ze sní?ení poměru C₆/C₁ p?i inhibici dýchání fluoridem a procentem inhibice dý chání fluoridem bylo diskutováno o mo?ných p?íoinách vysokých poměr? C₆/C₁ u mladých list?, u nich? byly v některých p?ípadech zji?těny hodnoty těchto poměr? dokonce vy??í ne? jedna.