Responses of various crop species and cultivars to fertilizer application

Summary Crop response to fertilizer application depends not only on the level of available plant nutrients in the soil but is also related to crop physiology and morphology. For a well balanced nutrition the rate of nutrient supply to the roots must correspond with the rate of nutrient required for growth. Species or cultivars with a high growth rate generally respond more favourably to fertilizer application than those with low growth rates. An analogous relationship holds for the biomass produced per unit soil surface. Thus modern rice and wheat cultivars tolerate a more dense spacing than older ones. Due to the dense stand the yield and particularly the grain yield of the modern varieties may be several times higher than those of older cultivars, and therefore also the nutrient requirement, especially the demand for N and P, is higher for the modern cultivars.Modern cereal cultivars are characterized by a high crop index which means that after flowering a high proportion of grain filling material must be produced by photosynthesis. Assimilation and translocation of photosynthates are favoured by K⁺. Thus in particular modern cultivars require a high K⁺ content for optimum grain filling.Nutrient exploitation of soils by plant roots depends on root morphology and root physiology. Grasses generally have much longer roots than dicots. Thus the rate of K⁺ and phosphate uptake per unit root length is lower for grasses than for dicots. It is for this reason that dicots respond earlier to a K⁺ and phosphate dressing than grasses.Species living symbiotically with Rhizobium may depress the rhizosphere pH considerably and thus promote the dissolution of phosphate rock.     

Die photochemische Aktivität von Chloroplasten Aus unterschiedlich mit Kalium ernährten Pflanzen

Zusammenfassung Es wurde der Einflu? des Kaliumern?hrungszustandes auf die Photoreduktion und auf die Photophosphorylierung an aufgebrochene Chloroplasten vonSpinacia oleracea, Vicia faba undHelianthus annuus untersucht. Chloroplasten von Pflanzen mit hoher K-Versorgung zeigten erh?hte Photoreduktions-und Photophosphorylierungsraten. Hierbei wurde die Phosphorylierung st?rker beeinflu?t als die Reduktion. Dementsprechend war das P/2e⁻-Verh?ltnis kaliumarmer Pflanzen erniedrigt. Zugaben von Kaliumchlorid (0–100 mM KCl) zum Inkubationsmedium erh?hten die Photophosphorylierungs-und die Photoreduktionsrate. Dieser Effekt war jedoch unabh?ngig vom Kaliumern?hrungszustand, und die ziemlich niedrigen Phosphorylierungs-und Reduktionsraten Kalium armer Chloroplasten konnten durch Zugaben von Kaliumchlorid nicht auf das Niveau von Chloroplasten mit guter Kaliumversorgung gebracht werden. Es wird angenommen, da? die günstige Wirkung einer guten Kaliumern?hrung auf Photophosphorylierung und Photoreduktion auf gesteigerte Ionenfluxe (Protonen und Kalium) durch Thylakoidmembranen zurückgeht. Weiterhin dürfte Kalium auch die Aktivit?t und die Wirksamkeit der beteiligten Enzyme beeinflu?st haben.

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Summary The influence of the potassium nutritional status upon the photoreduction and photophosphorylation was studied with “broken” chloroplasts ofSpinacia oleracea, Vicia faba andHelianthus annuus. Chloroplasts from plants with a high K supply showed increased rates of photoreduction and photophosphorylation. The latter process was more affected than the photoreduction. Therefore the P/2e⁻ ratio was lower for plants poor in potassium. Additions of potassium chloride (0 to 100 mM) to the incubation medium increased the photophosphorylation and photoreduction rates. But this effect appeared to be independent of the potassium nutrition status, while the rather low rates of photophosphorylation and photoreduction of the chloroplasts poor in potassium could not be overcome by the addition of potassium chloride. It is assumed, that the favorable effect of an adequate potassium nutrition upon photophosphorylation and photoreduction is brought about by enhanced ion fluxes (protons and potassium) through the thylakoid membranes and also by higher activities and efficiencies of enzymes involved

     

Sensing based on assessment of non-monotonous effect determined by target analyte: Case study on pore-forming compounds

A new and exciting biosensing avenue based on assessment of the non-monotonous, concentration dependent effect of pore formation is discussed. A novel kinetic model is advanced to relate surface plasmon resonance (SPR) data with actual concentrations of interacting partners. Lipid modified L1 sensor chip provide the accessible platform for SPR exploration of peptide–membrane interaction, with POPC and melittin as model systems. We show that quantitative assessment of the interaction between an antimicrobial peptide and lipid modified sensors is capable to provide both sensing avenues and detailed mechanistic insights into effects of pore-forming compounds. The proposed model combined with appropriate design of the experimental protocol adds a new depth to the classic SPR investigation of peptide–lipid interaction offering a quantitative platform for detection, improved understanding of the manifold facets of the interaction and for supporting the controlled design of novel antimicrobial compounds. This biosensing approach can be applied to an entire set of pore-forming compounds including antimicrobial peptides and exo-toxins.     

Changes in physiological and neuroendocrine properties during thermal adaptation of golden hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus)

Summary Golden hamsters raised at 22°C were adapted in the early summer for 3 weeks to either 28°C or 5°C. To achieve profound changes the photoperiod was also shortened from 14 h to 11 h during adaptation to cold. During the investigation body weight, food consumption, water intake, urine production, and osmolality, as well as secreted amounts of noradrenaline (NA) and dopamine (DA), were recorded in each animal before, during, and after the adaptation period. In another group of golden hamsters the brains were processed for immunocytochemical detection of arginine-vasopressin (AVP) and corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) in the third week of adaptation to a cold or warm environment. In warm-adapted animals food and water consumption and urine production remained unchanged or were only slightly reduced. NA and DA secretion were reduced by 50%. The AVP-immunoreactivity reflected an antidiuretic state in these animals. In fibers influencing the adrenal axis, AVP-immunoreactivity was weak compared to CRF fibers. Food and water consumption, urine production, and DA secretion increased two-fold during cold adaptation. Daily secreted amounts of NA increased nine-fold. AVP-immunoreactivity was weak in projections to the neurohypophysis. Fibers influencing the adrenal axis, however, displayed strong AVP-immunoreactivity in comparison to that of CRF. The immunocytochemically determined patterns of AVP and CRF distribution indicated an activation of the osmoregulative axis in the warm-adapted animals and of the adrenal axis in the cold-adapted golden hamsters.Abbreviations NA noradrenaline - DA dopamine - AVP argininevasopressin - CRF corticotropin releasing factor - SON supraoptic nucleus     

Digitonin-Permeabilized Cells Are Exocytosis Competent

Release of norepinephrine from PC12 cells can be stimulated by free Ca2+ in micromolar concentrations after permeabilization with 10 micrograms/ml of digitonin. This release is time and temperature dependent, half-maximal at 0.3 microM Ca2+, and, after washing out of endogenous ATP, half-maximal at about 0.5 mM MgATP when exogenously added. Similar results were obtained with bovine adrenal chromaffin cells using the same protocol. Support for the idea that the mechanism of release from both permeabilized cell types is still exocytosis is demonstrated at the electron microscopic level by immunolabeling chromaffin granule membrane antigens that were introduced into the plasma membrane following stimulation. Electron micrographs furthermore demonstrate that chromaffin granules retain typical dense cores after permeabilization, indicating that leakiness of catecholamines from the granules was not a major factor. Pores, formed by digitonin in the plasma membranes, were utilized to introduce antibodies into such exocytosis-competent cells. Anti-actin and anti-chromaffin granule membrane antibodies show a staining pattern similar to conventionally fixed and stained preparations. Our results demonstrate that pores formed by digitonin do not impair the process of exocytosis although they are big enough to allow macromolecules to pass in both directions. The digitonin-permeabilized cell is therefore an ideal in vitro system with which to study the fusion process between chromaffin granules and the plasma membrane.     

Effects of phospholipase C on human erythrocytes

Summary Previous studies have shown that the bacterial exoenzyme phospholipase C permanently alters the chemical structure of erythrocyte ghosts. The present investigation has shown some of the functional, chemical and structural changes that sequentially occur when intact human red blood cells are lysed by this enzyme. Following exposure to the enzyme, membrane phospholipids were hydrolyzed with the removal of lipid phosphorus. This resulted in a shrinkage of cell size, sphering, and increased susceptibility to osmotic stress. Progressive hemolysis ensued, leaving ghosts which were characterized by focal electron-dense areas intimately associated with each membrane. These findings illustrate that the degradation of exposed phospholipids results in chemical and morphological damage to the cell membrane, which in turn alters its functional capabilities and results in lysis of the cell. Finally, these data support a newly proposed structural model of the cell membrane. Presented in part at the Midwest Meeting of the American Federation of Clinical Research, Chicago, Illinois, 1968. Research Trainee, Division of Hematology and Oncology. Reprint requests (Dept. of Medical Microbiology). John and Mary R. Markle Scholar in Academic Medicine. Present address: Department of Medicine, University of Missouri School of Medicine, Columbia, Missouri 65201.     

Zum Tode Erwin Baur's

Ohne ZusammenfassungVortrag, gesprochen für die Deutsche Welle am 4. Dezember 1933, 22, 20 Uhr.     

Preparative scale enantioseparation of 1-cyclohexyl-1-phenylethyl hydroperoxide and 1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-1-naphthyl hydroperoxide on a modified cellulose stationary phase

The analytical and preparative scale optical resolution of 1-cyclohexyl-1-phenylethyl hydroperoxide and 1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-1-napthyl hydroperoxide has been achieved by chiral HPLC on a cellulose tris(3,5-dimethylphenyl carbamate) stationary phase coated on silica gel. The method has been used to obtain several hundred milligrams of highly enriched enantiomers (%ee >98) which were characterized by [α]_D and circular dichroism spectra, respectively. Configurational assignments were achieved for 1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-1-naphthyl hydroperoxide enantiomers. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.