Inheritance of Strain Instability (Sectoring) in the Commercial Button Mushroom, Agaricus bisporus

The button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus, is a commercially important cultivated filamentous fungus. During the last decade, the button mushroom industry has depended mainly on two strains (or derivatives of these two strains). Using one of these highly successful strains (strain U1) we examined the phenomenon of strain instability, specifically, the production of irreversible sectors. Three “stromatal” and three “fluffy” sectors were compared with a healthy type U1 strain and with a wild-collected isolate. Compost colonization and fruit body morphology were examined. The main objective of this study, however, was to examine the meiotic stability of the sectored phenotype. Single basidiospores were isolated and subjected to a grain bioassay in which the ability to produce sectors was measured. Our results were as follows: (i) basidiospore cultures obtained from a wild-collected isolate showed no tendency to produce sectors; (ii) approximately 5% of the basidiospore cultures obtained from healthy type U1 strains produced irreversible sectors in the grain bioassay; (iii) the five primary sectors examined produced basidiospore cultures, half of which produced normal-looking growth in the grain bioassay and half of which produced some degree of sectoring; and (iv) the one sectored isolate that represented the F2 generation gave ratios similar to the 1:1 ratio observed for the F1 cultures.     

Quantitative floral development in Pseudolysimachion (Scrophulariaceae): intraspecific variation and comparison with Veronica and Veronicastrum

Intraspecific variation in floral development was studied in four morphologically distinct strains of Pseudolysimachion longifolium and two of P. spicatum. Size increase of whole buds from living plants of P. longifolium was followed in absolute time. Growth rates were homogeneous within inflorescences and within individual plants, and significantly different between individual plants. Organ growth trajectories (plotted as organ size over gynoecium size) differed little among individuals of Pseudolysimachion belonging to morphologically distinct strains; variation was most pronounced in the calyx. Corolla tube as well as calyx and corolla lobe measurements varied more during the early stages of development than near maturity, suggesting constraints on mature flower form. In addition to intraspecific variation, floral development in Pseudolysimachion was compared with that in related Veronica chamaedrys and Veronicastrum virginicum, using data from a previous study. Mature flowers of Pseudolysimachion have long corolla tubes similar to those of Veronicastrum and long corolla lobes similar to those of Veronica. The trajectories of most organs of Pseudolysimachion were intermediate between those of Veronica and Veronicastrum in position as well as in type of curve, i.e., different trajectories lead to similar end products; thus, the shapes of the mature organs are not strictly homologous and not indicative of close relationship.     

Hopped Beer: The Case For Cultivation

The history of hops, hopped beer, and hop cultivation is unclear and ambiguous. An assessment of the available literature reveals many contradictions, especially regarding the first use of hops in beer and the earliest incidence of hop cultivation. Historically, hops were used for a variety of purposes; now their primary use is as a preservative and flavoring in beer. Hop cultivation is poorly documented, but was certainly undertaken by the 10th century, most probably in response to the demand generated by beer-brewing. After comparing the literature and investigating source material, a chronology of hop use in beer and hop cultivation is proposed.     

EPR characterization of oxide supported transition metal ions: Relevance to catalysis

EPR spectroscopy is a powerful tool to identify at a molecular level, the different steps of catalyst preparation, and of catalytic reactions:

1. Deposition of paramagnetic transition metal ions onto a support is monitored, and the coordination sphere of the metallic center is characterized by EPR.
2. The catalyst is also characterized after activation (thermal oxidation or reduction):

- the distribution among the different sites in zeolites can be determined;

- the dispersion of the active phase may be appreciated;

- the unsaturation degree of the active site may be evaluated using probe molecules such as water or¹³C enriched carbon monoxide.

1. The catalytic mechanisms can be investigated by studying the elementary steps of the catalytic reaction, as illustrated for methanol oxidation over Mo/SiO₂ catalysts whose EPR results have extended the reaction mechanism proposed on the basis of kinetic data. In addition, reaction intermediates may be isolated inquasi-in situ conditions as in the case of olefin oligomerization catalyzed by Ni/SiO₂ systems.

     

Fruiting of ectomycorrhizal basidiomycetes on unburned and prescribed burned hard-pine/hardwood plots after drought-breaking rainfalls on the Allegheny Mountains of southwestern Virginia

A headfire upward along the crest to the peak of a foothill during February 1988 had been prescribed to lower the possibility of a wildfire during the dry season on the Jefferson National Forest. Some surface litter plus annual and perennial stems on one-half of a stand of Pinus pungens/P. rigida had been destroyed. Subsequent development of ectomycorrhizal sporophores of basidiomycetes was recorded regularly within equal areas of burned and unburned portions and within a nearby unburned stand of P. virginiana. Each plot had a few ectomycorrhizal hardwoods, mainly Quercus spp. First fruiting was noted under burned P. pungens 3 weeks after a general rain in mid-July and after 4 weeks under both. By the end of November, when fruiting ceased, 138 separable taxa had been collected of which 95 had been identified. A list of the fungi and data on current and previously reported host associations, occurrence on each of the substrates, times and frequencies of fruiting, periodicity of genera, and variations in weather conditions are presented.     

TGGE and HIEF: a comparison of two methods in the detection of carriers of the Z mutation of the alpha-1-antitrypsin gene

Alpha-1-antitrypsin (-1-AT) deficiency can lead to juvenile liver cirrhosis and lung emphysema in adulthood. The deficiency Z allele is caused by a base transition. Temperature gradient gel electrophoresis (TGGE) and hybrid isoelectric focusing (HIEF) were used to detect carriers of the Z mutation of the -1-AT gene. The resulting data were compared. To verify carriers at the sequence level, a manual nonradioactive sequencing strategy was established. Among our sample of carriers of the Z mutation, two were not detected by HIEF that could be identified by TGGE. DNA of all TGGE identified individuals harboring the Z mutation of the -1-AT gene were sequenced nonradioactively. All carriers harbored a G to A transition at position 11.940. This mutation is described to cause the altered protein.