The effect of plant-hormone pretreatments on ethylene production and synthesis of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid in water-stressed wheat leaves

Excised wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) leaves, when subjected to drought stress, increased ethylene production as a result of an increased synthesis of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) and an increased activity of the ethyleneforming enzyme (EFE), which catalyzes the conversion of ACC to ethylene. The rise in EFE activity was maximal within 2 h after the stress period, while rehydration to relieve water stress reduced EFE activity within 3 h to levels similar to those in nonstressed tissue. Pretreatment of the leaves with benzyladenine or indole-3-acetic acid prior to water stress caused further increase in ethylene production and in endogenous ACC level. Conversely, pretreatment of wheat leaves with abscisic acid reduced ethylene production to levels produced by nonstressed leaves; this reduction in ethylene production was accompanied by a decrease in ACC content. However, none of these hormone pretreatments significantly affected the EFE level in stressed or nonstressed leaves. These data indicate that the plant hormones participate in regulation of water-stress ethylene production primarily by modulating the level of ACC.Abbreviations ABA abscisic acid - ACC 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid - BA N⁶-benzyladenine - EFE ethylene-forming enzyme - IAA indole-3-acetic acid     

Microsatellite markers for the heavily exploited canary (Sebastes pinniger) and other rockfish species

The isolation and characterization of nine polymorphic microsatellite loci (eight tetranucleotide and one dinucleotide) from the canary rockfish Sebastes pinniger are described. Polymorphism at these loci revealed from six to 28 alleles, with expected heterozygosities ranging between 0.42 and 0.88, enabling high‐resolution genetic population structure investigation for this overfished species in the northeastern Pacific. They also amplify in 13 other congeneric species, providing highly variable loci for research on other rockfishes.     

Altered drug translocation mediated by the MDR protein: Direct,indirect, or both?

Overexpression of the MDR protein, or p-glycoprotein (p-GP), in cells leads to decreased initial rates of accumulation and altered intracellular retention of chemotherapeutic drugs and a variety of other compounds. Thus, increased expression of the protein is related to increased drug resistance. Since several homologues of the MDR protein (CRP, ltpGPA, PDR5, sapABCDF) are also involved in conferring drug resistance phenomena in microorganisms, elucidating the function of the MDR protein at a molecular level will have important general applications. Although MDR protein function has been studied for nearly 20 years, interpretation of most data is complicated by the drug-selection conditions used to create model MDR cell lines. Precisely what level of resistance to particular drugs is conferred by a given amount of MDR protein, as well as a variety of other critical issues, are not yet resolved. Data from a number of laboratories has been gathered in support of at least four different models for the MDR protein. One model is that the protein uses the energy released from ATP hydrolysis to directly translocate drugs out of cells in some fashion. Another is that MDR protein overexpression perturbs electrical membrane potential () and/or intracellular pH (pH_i) and therebyindirectly alters translocation and intracellular retention of hydrophobic drugs that are cationic, weakly basic, and/or that react with intracellular targets in a pH_i, or -dependent manner. A third model proposes that the protein alternates between drug pump and Cl^– channel (or channel regulator) conformations, implying that both direct and indirect mechanisms of altered drug translocation may be catalyzed by MDR protein. A fourth is that the protein acts as an ATP channel. Our recent work has tested predictions of these models via kinetic analysis of drug transport and single-cell photometry analysis of pH_i, , and volume regulation in novel MDR and CFTR transfectants that have not been exposed to chemotherapeutic drugs prior to analysis. This paper reviews these data and previous work from other laboratories, as well as relevant transport physiology concepts, and summarizes how they either support or contradict the different models for MDR protein function.     

Construction of a genome-anchored,high-density genetic map for melon (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Cucumis melo</Emphasis> L.) and identification of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Fusarium oxysporum</Emphasis> f. sp. <Emphasis Type="Italic">melonis</Emphasis> race 1 resistance QTL

Key message

Four QTLs and an epistatic interaction were associated with disease severity in response to inoculation with Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. melonis race 1 in a recombinant inbred line population of melon.

Abstract

The USDA Cucumis melo inbred line, MR-1, harbors a wealth of alleles associated with resistance to several major diseases of melon, including powdery mildew, downy mildew, Alternaria leaf blight, and Fusarium wilt. MR-1 was crossed to an Israeli cultivar, Ananas Yok’neam, which is susceptible to all of these diseases, to generate a recombinant inbred line (RIL) population of 172 lines. In this study, the RIL population was genotyped to construct an ultra-dense genetic linkage map with 5663 binned SNPs anchored to the C. melo genome and exhibits the overall high quality of the assembly. The utility of the densely genotyped population was demonstrated through QTL mapping of a well-studied trait, resistance to Fusarium wilt caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. melonis (Fom) race 1. A major QTL co-located with the previously validated resistance gene Fom-2. In addition, three minor QTLs and an epistatic interaction contributing to Fom race 1 resistance were identified. The MR-1 × AY RIL population provides a valuable resource for future QTL mapping studies and marker-assisted selection of disease resistance in melon.

     

Dry Heat or Gaseous Chemical Resistance of Bacillus subtilis var. niger Spores Included Within Water-soluble Crystals

Inclusion of spores of Bacillus subtilis var. niger in water-soluble crystals increased the resistance of the spores to dry heat and to a gaseous mixture of methyl bromide and ethylene oxide. Resistance of spores in glycine crystals to dry heat at 125 C was increased 5 to 24 times compared to unprotected spores. There appeared to be a positive correlation between the size of the crystal and the degree of resistance. The resistance to dry heat of spores included in sodium chloride crystals was about six times greater than unprotected spores. A gaseous mixture of methyl bromide (964 mg/liter) and ethylene oxide (642 mg/liter) at 37% relative humidity was ineffective in sterilizing spores enclosed within these water-soluble crystals, as was ethylene oxide alone. However, if the relative humidity was sufficiently high to dissolve the crystals during exposure to the vapor, viable-spore counts were drastically reduced or were negative. The surfaces of crystals grossly contaminated with dry spores were sterilized by exposure to gaseous ethylene oxide. Sterilization of heat-labile or moisture-labile materials with a critical requirement for sterility, as in planetary probes or drugs, may be complicated by the presence of spores in naturally occurring water-soluble crystals. This phenomenon is similar to the protection afforded spores entrapped in solid plastics.     

Nonlinear sequence-dependent structure of nigral dopamine neuron interspike interval firing patterns.

Firing patterns of 15 dopamine neurons in the rat substantia nigra were studied. These cells alternated between two firing modes, single-spike and bursting, which interwove to produce irregular, aperiodic interspike interval (ISI) patterns. When examined by linear autocorrelation analysis, these patterns appeared to reflect a primarily stochastic or random process. However, dynamical analysis revealed that the sequential behavior of a majority of these cells expressed "higher-dimensional" nonlinear deterministic structure. Dimensionality refers to the number of degrees of freedom or complexity of a time series. Bursting was statistically associated with some aspects of nonlinear ISI sequence dependence. Controlling for the effects of nonstationarity substantially increased overall predictability of ISI sequences. We hypothesize that the nonlinear deterministic structure of ISI firing patterns reflects the neuron's response to coordinated synaptic inputs emerging from neural circuit interactions.     

Genetics of gene expression characterizes response to selective breeding for alcohol preference

Numerous selective breeding experiments have been performed with rodents, in an attempt to understand the genetic basis for innate differences in preference for alcohol consumption. Quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis has been used to determine regions of the genome that are associated with the behavioral difference in alcohol preference/consumption. Recent work suggests that differences in gene expression represent a major genetic basis for complex traits. Therefore, the QTLs are likely to harbor regulatory regions (eQTLs) for the differentially expressed genes that are associated with the trait. In this study, we examined brain gene expression differences over generations of selection of the third replicate lines of high and low alcohol‐preferring (HAP3 and LAP3) mice, and determined regions of the genome that control the expression of these differentially expressed genes (_deeQTLs). We also determined eQTL regions (_rveQTLs) for genes that showed a decrease in variance of expression levels over the course of selection. We postulated that _deeQTLs that overlap with _rveQTLs, and also with phenotypic QTLs, represent genomic regions that are affected by the process of selection. These overlapping regions controlled the expression of candidate genes (that displayed differential expression and reduced variance of expression) for the predisposition to differences in alcohol consumption by the HAP3/LAP3 mice.     

Pseudostructural inhibitors of G protein signaling during development

Heterotrimeric G proteins mediate signal transduction pathways to control development in fungal, plant, and animal cells. A recent study in the July issue of Molecular Cell identifies three proteins that, while not displaying sequence similarity to G protein subunits, appear to act as structural mimics of a Gbetagamma dimer to negatively regulate pseudohyphal growth in budding yeast.     

The Active Transport of Sodium by Ghosts of Human Red Blood Cells

The outflux of Na²⁴ from prelabeled ghosts was measured under various conditions. Prelabeling was accomplished by hypotonic hemolysis of intact human cells in the presence of tracer Na²⁴. The resultant ghosts when subsequently washed were found to retain 10 to 20 per cent of the initial Na²⁴. Separate experiments indicated that this trapped amount resides in only a portion of ghosts comprising the total population. The characteristics of the outflux of this residual Na²⁴ indicated that the ghost system closely resembles intact red cells. The outflux of Na from ghosts could be divided into three components: active and passive transport and exchange diffusion. The active transport system, necessarily driven by metabolism, required the presence of K in the extracellular phase and was blocked by strophanthidin. The concentration dependence of the Na pump flux on the external K and internal Na appeared the same in ghosts as in intact cells. Certain other features of this ghost system are also discussed.