Growth, proline accumulation and water relations of NaCl-selected and non-selected callus lines of Dactylis glomerata L

Sodium chloride-tolerant calli were selected from leaf-derived embryogenic calli of Dactylis glomerata L. on agar solidified medium supplemented with 200 mM NaCl, a concentration lethal to non-selected calli. Growth characteristics, water relations and proline accumulation pattern were compared in selected and non-selected lines. The objective was to gain an understanding of the mechanism(s) of tolerance in the NaCl-tolerant line. Growth in the selected line, as expressed in terms of tolerance index (ratio of fresh wt. on NaCl medium:fresh wt. on NaCl free medium x 100), was greater than that of the non-selected line at all levels of NaCl between 50 and 300 mM. There was no significant difference in proline accumulation in the selected and non-selected lines. Maintenance of turgor by osmotic adjustment was observed in the non-selected line despite decreased growth. In contrast, the selected line lost either the need or the ability to adjust osmotically. There was little or no increase in symplastic osmolality in the selected line when exposed to NaCl. Presumably, selection was made for a salt-excluding tissue that has lost the ability to accumulate solutes and adjust turgor with NaCl stress.     

Factors controlling somatic embryogenesis

Histological and ultrastructural, molecular and elemental distribution changes were investigated during the induction of direct somatic embryogenesis using theCamellia japonica leaf culture system. In this culture system, direct somatic embryogenesis is induced in a controlled way in a specific leaf region (leaf blade) within a leaf. Embryogenic and non-embryogenic leaf regions have characteristic energy-dispersive X-ray spectra already before induction. According to these results electron probe X-ray microanalysis (EPMA) can be a tool for early diagnosis of embryogenic competence. Histological studies showed that severe fluctuations in the number of calcium oxalate crystals and in starch accumulation occur after induction but only in induced tissues. Changes in the cell wall composition of competent cells occur shortly after the induction treatment. The induction of morphogenesis is linked to the appearance of callose covering the surface cells of induced leaves and calluses. A 2^nd deposition of material (cutin) is necessary for normal somatic embryogenesis to occur. The involvement of lipid transfer proteins in the appearance of cutin in the embryogenic regions of the explant is suggested.     

Cell competence forAgrobacterium-mediated DNA transfer inPisum sativum L.

Distribution and properties of pea (Pisum sativum L.) cells, competent forAgrobacterium-mediated transformation were analysed byin situ histochemical detection of GUS (-glucuronidase) activity, 4 d after inoculation with engineeredAgrobacterium tumefaciens. The vector system consisted of the hypervirulent disarmed strain EHA101 and the binary plasmid pIBGUS, carrying an intron-containing, 35S-promotor drivengusA (oruidA) gene and two selectable marker genes. Cells competent for transformation were mainly restricted to the dedifferentiating cells neighbouring the vascular system of cotyledon and epicotyl explants. A standardized assay was developed, allowing determination and quantification of factors influencing number and distribution of competent cells. In etiolated seedlings, competence for transformation decreased with the distance of the epicotyl explant from the shoot apex and was specifically induced by the exogenous application of auxins. Transient expression ofgusA afterAgrobacterium-mediated DNA transfer was dramatically reduced upon application of cell-cycle and DNA replication inhibitors aphidicolin, colchicine and nalidixic acid. GUS expression after direct DNA transfer of double-stranded plasmid DNA (via PEG into protoplasts or via particle bombardment of epicotyl segments) was independent of cell-division/DNA replication.A GUS-positive mutant of EHA101 was constructed to allowin situ analysis of attaching bacteria within the plant tissue. Attachment and invasion was inhibited by well-developed cuticula but was restored after chloroform treatment of the tissue surface. Moreover, no correlation was found between distribution of attaching bacteria and the pattern of transformation-competent cells.     

Allozyme variability and phylogenetic relationships in the cultivated potato (Solanum tuberosum) and related species

Gene frequencies at 13 isozyme loci were determined in three South American taxa of cultivated potatoes [the diploid group (gp.) Stenotomum, the diploid subgroups (subgp.) Goniocalyx, and the tetraploid gp. Andigena ofS. tuberosum], in the diploid weed speciesS. sparsipilum, and in most of the main cultivars now raised in the Northern Hemisphere (the tetraploid gp. Tuberosum ofS. tuberosum). High levels of genetic variability (mean number of alleles per locus, percentage of polymorphic loci, and mean heterozygosity) were detected, being higher in tetraploid potatoes. An equilibrium among the evolutionary factors which increase genetic variability and artificial selection for maximum yield would explain the high uniformity of heterozygosity values we observed in both Andigena (0.36 ± 0.02) and Tuberosum (0.38 ± 0.01) cultivars.—The low value of genetic distance (D = 0.044) between Stenotomum and Goniocalyx does not support the status of species forS. goniocalyx.—In most isozyme loci, the electromorphs of gp. Andigena were a combination of those found in both gp. Stenotomum andS. sparsipilum, suggesting an amphidiploid origin of gp. Andigena from that two diploid taxa. The presence in Andigena of unique electromorphs, which were lacking in both gp. Stenotomum andS. sparsipilum, suggests that other diploid species could be also implied in the origin of tetraploid Andean potatoes. Furthermore, since Andigena were more related to Stenotomum (D = 0.052) than toS. sparsipilum (D = 0.241), the autopolyploidization of Stenotomum individuals and the subsequent hybridization with gp. Andigena may also have occurred. Thus, our study suggests a multiple origin (amphidiploidy, autoploidy, and hybridization at tetraploid level) of gp. Andigena.—Most of the electromorphs of gp. Tuberosum were also found in gp. Andigena; both the direct derivation of that group from the Andean tetraploid potatoes and the repeated introgression provided by breeding programmes could explain this result. However, the allele c of Pgm-B, present in 30 out of 76 Tuberosum cultivars from Northern Hemisphere as well as in 3 Chilean Tuberosum cultivars, lacks in the 258 Andigena genotypes sampled, suggesting that Chilean germplasm could have taken part in the origin of at least the 39% of the potato cultivars from Europe and North America analyzed here.—The distanceWagner procedure provides an estimate of a 30% of heterogeneity in the evolutionary divergence shown by different groups of cultivated potatoes. Diploid groups show a higher (22.5%) evolutionary rate than tetraploids, which can be attributed to both tetrasomic inheritance and facultative autofecundation that exists in Andigena and Tuberosum groups. Thus, artificial selection acting since 10000 years has not resulted in a higher rate of molecular evolution at the isozyme level in the tetraploids.     

Summer dispersal and survival of juvenile Great Tits in southern Sweden

Summary Movements and survival of 506 first-brood Great Tit nestlings that fledged in mid-June in an oak wood in southern Sweden were studied by intensive trapping in that wood and in several neighbouring woods between 17 July and 10 September 1977. A total of 1177 captures of 508 individuals was made.Two periods of summer dispersal can be distinguished: the first period, one to one- and-one-half months after fledging, lasts longer in females and results in females moving farther away from their birthplace than males; and the second period in early September. There was no effect of brood-size, fledging date or size on dispersal movements. There is, however, a nest effect in that siblings tend to be more alike in the distance moved than non-siblings.The summer mortality rate is constant but high (13% per week). It is not affected by brood size or fledging date, but during the first month after fledging large individuals survive better than smaller ones. The summer mortality rate of dispersers (birds moving between woods) is not higher than that of non-dispersers.The results contradict two hypotheses proposed to explain when and how postfledging mortality occurs. The mortality rate is not higher during the first month after fledging, as Perrins' and Lack's hypothesis predicts. Since only 22% of the young are still alive at the beginning of September, autumn territorial behaviour cannot be the main factor causing juvenile losses, as proposed by Kluyver.There is some circumstantial evidence that Great Tits compete for food during the summer, and that food therefore could be in short supply, as suggested by Perrins.The observed differential dispersal of adults and young, and of male and female juveniles, may be the result of the dominance relationships in the family flock and later in the summer flocks, with subordinate individuals moving farthest.     

Xanthones et C-glucosides flavoniques du genre Gentiana (section Cyclostigma)

Xanthones with a uniform 1,3,7,8-oxidation pattern, the C-glycosides isoorientin and isovitexin, and in some cases mangiferin, were isolated from the aerial parts of G. nivalis, G. brachyphylla, G. favrati, G. rostani, G. utriculosa and G. schleicheri Kunz. The distribution of these compounds within the section Cyclostigma is given. Comparison of phenolic patterns in other sections of Gentiana is made.     

Differences in relative growth rate in 11 grasses correlate with differences in chemical composition as determined by pyrolysis mass spectrometry

Summary Eleven grass species varying in potential relative growth rate (RGR) were investigated for differences in chemical composition by pyrolysis mass spectrometry. The spectral data revealed correlations between RGR and the relative composition of several biopolymers. Species with a low potential RGR contained relatively more cell wall material such as lignin, hemicellulose, cellulose, polysaccharide-bound ferulic acid and hydroxyproline-rich protein, whereas species with a high potential RGR showed relatively more cytoplasmic elements such as protein (other than those incorporated in cell walls) and sterols.