STUDIES ON PLANT GROWTH-REGULATING SUBSTANCES

The cress-root test and the maize-root segment tests, both of which depend on the measurement of root-growth inhibition, have been used to assess the growth-regulating activity of a wide range of phenoxyalkanecarboxylic acids. The results are presented and compared with those obtained with the same compounds in other tests in which shoot tissues were employed. The results are also discussed in relation to current theories on mode of action and structure/activity relationship. These studies included the 'α-hydrogen' effect, the activity of stereoisomers and activity of homologues of seventeen series of ω-phenoxyalkanecarboxylic acids, considered in relation to their degradation within the tissues by β-oxidation. Earlier findings were largely confirmed. Compounds which had previously been shown to be active in shoot tests such as the wheat-cylinder, the pea-curvature and the pea-segment tests, were found to be active in the root-growth inhibition tests and, furthermore, the degree of activity was usually similar.
It is concluded that the two root tests investigated are of real value in assessing the activity of phenoxy acids in studies on the relationships between chemical structure and plant growth-regulating activity.     

Phylogenetic affinities and inter-island differentiation in the Vitelline Warbler Dendroica vitellina, a West Indian endemic

The Vitelline Warbler Dendroica vitellina is endemic to the Cayman Islands and Swan Islands in the West Indies. This study examined the phylogenetic affinities of the Vitelline Warbler and assessed mitochondrial differentiation among the three Cayman Island populations. Species-level phylogenetic analyses based on 3639 nucleotides of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence were used to place the Vitelline Warbler in the larger Dendroica radiation. These analyses confirmed that the Vitelline Warbler is the sister taxon of the Prairie Warbler Dendroica discolor, a species that breeds in continental North America. The magnitude of mitochondrial differentiation between these sister taxa (2.4%) supports their current classification as separate taxonomic species. Additional comparisons based on the 1041-nucleotide NDII gene sequence from 26 Vitelline Warblers provided evidence of within-species genetic structure. NDII haplotypes from Grand Cayman vs. Cayman Brac/Little Cayman differed by 6–10 nucleotide substitutions, and no haplotypes were shared among these island groups, supporting the current separation of the Cayman Island populations into two subspecies. These patterns support the biogeographical scenario that the Vitelline Warbler was derived from a mainland population of the Prairie Warbler. This may have occurred due to a loss of migration in ancestral populations or from over-water dispersal of a mainland resident population.     

Recruitment, kin and the spatial genetic structure of a caddisfly Plectrocnemia conspersa in a southern English stream

1. Our objectives were to examine small‐scale patterns in oviposition and genetic relatedness in a population of the stream‐dwelling caddis Plectrocnemia conspersa and, in particular, to look for any evidence of the spatial proximity of close kin and, therefore, ‘patchy recruitment’. 2. In order to examine the distribution of related larvae at the beginning of the aquatic phase, we searched the stream for egg masses. Spatially and temporally structured samples of larvae were then collected from the stream over four sample dates within one generation. The genetic relatedness of these field‐collected larvae, estimated using six polymorphic microsatellite loci, was subsequently compared with that of larvae reared from individual egg masses in the laboratory. 3. Egg masses were laid in clusters or ‘hot spots’ along the stream. The mean relatedness coefficient within reared egg masses ranged from 0.327 to 0.525, and differed significantly from that estimated for the population as a whole (0.070), indicating that the markers were sufficiently powerful to identify groups of siblings. Each egg mass was likely to be the progeny of one father, although the possibility of a small contribution from a second male could not be excluded for a few masses. 4. Mean relatedness within the spatially structured groups of larvae in the stream, even those in close proximity to each other, did not differ from the background population level estimate, suggesting that siblings disperse away from each other very quickly and that kin structure does not persist over time. 5. Changes in spatial genetic structure late in the larval life indicated that neighbouring larvae were less closely related than the population overall, possibly suggesting some direct or indirect means of avoiding kin when approaching the onset of pupation. 6. Our counts of egg masses suggested that survival through the egg stage and early larval life was apparently very high (>50%) for a non‐social insect, and may be a consequence of the colonial net that is briefly occupied by first instar larvae. 7. The number of egg masses laid in the stream (approximately 400 in the sample year), the lack of a spatial genetic structure showing evidence of families even early in larval life, and the high survival of eggs and early instar larvae, all refute the ‘patchy recruitment hypothesis’ for this species.     

VARIATIONS IN THE INTESTINAL FLORA OF RATS ON PURIFIED DIETS. I. THE EFFECT OF PYRIDOXINE DEFICIENCY ON THE LEVEL OF COLI-AEROGENES ORGANISMS

SUMMARY: Presumptive counts were made of several groups of intestinal organisms in caecal and rectal contents of rats fed on purified diets with and without adequate levels of pyridoxine. In the absence of pyridoxine the numbers of coli-aerogenes bacteria were higher in the caecal contents of rats fed on a purified diet containing glucose. This might not have been so if the diet had contained starch instead of sugar.