Role of cell wall of groundnut roots in solubilizing sparingly soluble phosphorus in soil

Groundnut showed a superior ability to take up P from a soil with low P fertility compared with sorghum and soybean. This ability was not related to its better root development or production of root exudates capable of solubilizing iron-and aluminum-bound P. In efforts to determine the role of roots per se, we found that root cell walls from groundnut showed a higher P-solubilizing activity than those from soybean or sorghum. This finding corresponds well with observations in field and pot experiments using a soil with low P availability. The reaction site of P-solubilizing activity is stable against heating and enzyme digestion by cellulase and pectinase. This is probably the first evidence to demonstrate that cell walls of plant roots are involved in P-solubilizing activity. ei]Section editor: H Marschner (deceased 21 September 1996)     

Glutelin accumulation and changes in the levels of its mRNA in the superior and inferior spikelets of rice ear during ripening

Glutelin accumulation in the apical spikelet of the top primary branch (superior spikelet) and the second spikelet of the lowest secondary branch (inferior spikelet) of the ear of the rice plant (Oryza sativa L.) was characterized during grain filling.In the superior spikelet, the accumulation of dry matter and nitrogen started immediately after flowering and rapidly reached the maturation level by 20 days after heading (DAH). At 7 DAH, total RNA content had already reached its maximum level and glutelin mRNA content 70% of its maximum. The increase in glutelin mRNA was followed by a rapid increase in glutelin between 7 and 16 DAH.In the inferior spikelet dry matter, nitrogen and glutelin accumulation were low immediately after flowering and increased only after grain filling of the superior spikelet was almost complete. Total RNA and glutelin mRNA increased much later at slower rates than in the superior spikelet.It is very likely that the retardation of dry matter, total nitrogen and glutelin accumulation in the inferior spikelet is due to retardation of differentiation and development of endosperm tissue, and to glutelin gene expression in endosperm cells. It is suggested that the delayed development resulted from limited partitioning of nutrients to the inferior spikelet at the early stage of ripening.     

The first report of the non-indigenous Chydorus brevilabris Frey, 1980 (Crustacea: Cladocera) in Asian freshwaters

Limnology - Chydorus sphaericus (O.F. Müller, 1776) (Crustacea: Cladocera) sensu stricto is distributed in Europe: C. sphaericus-like organisms in other regions represent a group of...     

Clonal expansion of superantigen-reactive T cells is resistant to FK506 in mice with AIDS.

Subcutaneous injection of FK506 (10 mg/kg of body weight) completely blocked the clonal expansion of staphylococcal enterotoxin A (SEA)-reactive T cells in healthy (control) mice after SEA injection but did not disturb it in mice with murine AIDS (MAIDS) caused by infection with LP-BM5 murine leukemia virus. MAIDS mice are characterized by utilization of a FK506-insensitive pathway for clonal expansion of superantigen-reactive T cells.     

Dielectric analysis of mitochondria isolated from rat liver II. Intact mitochondria as simulated by a double-shell model

The dielectric dispersion of isolated intact mitochondria in suspension has been measured between 10 kHz and 500 MHz. In isotonic KCI media at 4°C, the mitochondria maintained their characteristic ‘double membrane’ structure as examined by electron microscopy, and the observed dispersion curves were successfully simulated in terms of a superposition of two sub-dispersions having different characteristic frequencies and different permittivity magnitudes. Taking these observations into account we analyzed the dispersion data on the basis of a ‘double-shell’ model in which two concentric shells are meant to represent the mitochondrial outer and inner membranes. The analyses by a computerized curve-fitting method revealed that: (i) electric capacities for the outer and the inner membrane are 1.7 and 0.5 μF/cm², respectively, (ii) relative permittivity for the inner compartment (or the equivalent homogeneous matrical space) = 50–60, (iii) outer compartment-to-external conductivity ratio = 0.4–0.6, and (iv) inner compartment-to-external conductivity ratio = 0.14. The implications of these parameter values are discussed with due attention paid to the limitations inherent in our ‘double-shell’ model approach.     

Relation between Nitrogen and Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate Carboxylase in Rice Leaves from Emergence through Senescence

The relation between N content and ribulose-l,5-bisphosphate(RuBP) carboxylase protein was examined in the 12th leaf bladeof rice. Plants were grown under different amounts of N afterthe emergence of the 12th leaf blade. RuBP carboxylase proteinincreased with leaf N during leaf expansion. The synthesis ofRuBP carboxylase predominated during this period, and changesin the amounts of carboxylase synthesized until leaf death paralleledchanges in the N influx to the leaves. When the carboxylasereached its maximum content, the proportion of RuBP carboxylaseto leaf N was 27 to 28% irrespective of N treatment. As theleaf senesced, however, this proportion differed significantlywith the treatment. It was higher in the N-deficient leaf thanin the N-sufficient leaf. This was due to different patternsof RuBP carboxylase degradation for the treatments during senescence.RuBP carboxylase was degraded actively during the early stageof senescence in the N-sufficient leaf, whereas its degradationproceeded almost constantly in the N-deficient leaf during senescence. (Received October 17, 1983; Accepted January 27, 1984)     

Cloning and characterization of the alkaline phosphatase positive regulator gene (phoB) of Escherichia coli

Summary The positive regulator gene (phoB) for alkaline phosphatase of Escherichia coli was cloned into the EcoRI site of pBR322 from the E. coli chromosome by a shotgun method. phoB was then constructed in vitro by replacing the C fragment of gtC by the phoB chromosomal fragment obtained from the hybrid plasmid. When the phoB mutant was lysogenized by phoB, the lysogen became PhoB⁺. The integration site of the phage was identified by P1 phage transduction to be around phoB site on the chromosome. From these results, we conclude that the cloned gene is phoB and not a gene which suppresses phenotypically phoB mutation when it is in a multi-copy state. The restriction map was constructed. Based on this information, several PhoB deletion plasmids and smaller PhoB⁺ plasmids were constructed in vitro. By examining PhoB phenotype when these plasmids were introduced into phoB mutant, we could define the phoB gene locus in 2 kb on the restriction map of the cloned chromosomal fragment. Cells carrying the multi-copy phoB gene produced alkaline phosphatase qualitatively under normal phosphate regulation. The phoB gene product was identified by the maxicell method as a protein with a molecular weight of approximately 31,000 daltons.     

Responses in rectal and skin temperatures to centrifugal forces in rats of different ambient temperatures

Effects of centrifugation upon rectal (T_re) and tail skin temperatures (T_s) were studied in male Wistar rats at varying ambient temperature (T_a) using a centrifuge which was placed in a climatic chamber. Centrifugal forces of Gz of 3.0 were imposed on rats which were suspended at horizontal body position using a newly developed mesh suits holding method in the animal box placed on the rotating arm of the centrifuge. Headwards or tailwards forces were applied according to the experimental design. No significant difference of the responses was observed between the two force directions.Centrifugations imposed at different T_a of 15, 20, 25, 30 and 32.5C resulted in falls in T_re accompanied by rises in tail T_s at the cooler environments, while rises in T_re accompanied by falls in T_s in the warmer environments. The T_a at which the response pattern of T_re and T_s was reversed (critical ambient temperature) was 26.8±2.3 (mean and SE) and 27.9±2.8C, respectively. Tolerance to centrifugation was markedly increased in cooler environments than in wanner ones. It was suggested that the increased skin pressure due to centrifugation exerted some inhibitory effects upon central thermoregulatory ability.