Pre‐copulation intervals,copulation frequencies,and initial progeny sex ratios in two biotypes of whitefly,Bemisia tabaci

The whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae) is a species complex, and its systematic classification requires controlled crossing experiments among its genetic groups. Accurate information on pre‐copulation intervals, copulation frequencies, and initial frequency of egg fertilization of newly emerged adults is critical for designing procedures for collecting the virgin adults necessary for these experiments. In the literature, considerable variation is reported between B. tabaci populations, with respect to the length of the pre‐copulation interval and the initial frequency of egg fertilization. Here, we used a video‐recording method to observe continuously the copulation behaviour of the Mediterranean/Asia Minor/Africa (B biotype) and the Asia II (ZHJ1 biotype) groups of B. tabaci. We also recorded the initial frequency of egg fertilization, as determined by the sex of the progeny. When adults were caged in female–male pairs on leaves of cotton plants, the earliest copulation events occurred 2–6 h after emergence; at 12 h after emergence 56–84% of the females had copulated at least once, and nearly all (92–100%) had copulated at least once by 36 h after emergence. Both females and males copulated repeatedly. Approximately 80 and 20% of copulation events occurred during the photophase and scotophase, respectively. By 72 h post‐emergence, the females of the B and ZHJ1 biotypes had copulated on average 6.1 and 3.9 times, respectively. When adults were caged in groups on plants 1–13 h after emergence, 30–35% of the eggs deposited during this period were fertilized, and approximately 90% of females were fertilized by the end of the 13 h. Although timing of copulation differed in detail between the two genetic groups, the results demonstrate that B. tabaci adults can start to copulate as early as 2–6 h post‐emergence and the majority of females can become fertilized on the day that they emerge.     

云南山楂茎尖的离体培养及其无性系快速繁殖

用云南山楂(Crataegus scabrifolia(Franch.)Rehd.)成年树茎尖和实生芽两种不同发育阶段的材料为外殖体,诱导它们休眠芽萌动,丛生芽条并诱导芽条生根。实验结果如下:1.以成年态的云南山楂侧芽为外植体,培养在附加IAA 0.1—0.5mg/l+6-BA 1-2mg/l的MS培养基上可诱导芽的萌发;将芽继代培养在附加0.5—1mg/l 6-BA的SH或MS培养基上,40天后芽数增殖4—6倍;将芽条截下置于1/2MS培养基上,附加不同浓度的IAA或IBA,可得到50—80％的生根率。2.以实生芽为外殖体,在相同条件下,则20天后芽数增殖便可获4—6倍;98％以上生根。结果表明:云南山楂的幼年态要比成年态易脱分化和再分化。     

香荚兰种子的无菌萌发试验

香荚兰(Vanilla planifolia)是兰科、香荚兰属植物,主产于湿热地区。香荚兰的果实是国际上重要的食用香料的原料。大约在1960年,我国引入香荚兰试栽。生产上,通常用扦插法繁殖;但如用种子繁殖,虽然结实较晚(约7至8年开始结实,较扦插苗晚4—5年),但结实期长,盛产期可维持约15年。而且,在杂交育种过程中,一定要用种子繁殖。     

Isolation and characterization of a Mr = 110,000 glycoprotein localized to the hepatocyte bile canaliculus

A Mr = 110,000 glycoprotein, GP 110, was partially purified using wheat germ agglutinin-Sepharose affinity chromatography from a bile canalicular-enriched membrane fraction denoted N2u of rat liver. This fraction was subjected to preparative sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and the Mr = 110,000 polypeptide was excised and used as an immunogen in rabbits. The antisera were found to specifically recognize a Mr = 110,000 polypeptide, named GP 110, in the N2u membrane fraction. In isolated hepatocytes, GP 110 was readily accessible to cell surface iodination catalyzed by lactoperoxidase at 4 degrees C and was judged by immunoprecipitation studies to contain about 2% of total radioactivity incorporated into externally oriented proteins of the cell. Immunoprecipitated GP 110 was shown by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis to migrate with an approximate pI of 4.9. Indirect immunofluorescence on frozen liver sections demonstrated that GP 110 was primarily localized in the bile canaliculus. In corroborative studies employing subcellular fractionation, it was found that GP 110 was enriched nearly 19-fold in P2, a plasma membrane fraction primarily derived from the sinusoidal domain, and 44-fold in N2u. In contrast, only low levels of GP 110 were present in endoplasmic reticulum, mitochondrial, cytosolic, and nuclear-enriched fractions of liver. The physiological function of GP 110 is as yet unknown; antisera to it did not immunoprecipitate other known bile canalicular proteins of similar molecular weights. GP 110 was found to be extensively glycosylated relative to other known membrane proteins; approximately 33% of the apparent molecular weight appear to be carbohydrate. In agreement, limited removal of N-linked carbohydrate chains indicated that there are approximately eight chains/GP 110 polypeptide. Neuraminidase treatment of GP 110 resulted in a desialylated Mr = 85,000 polypeptide suggesting that the majority of carbohydrate chains on GP 110 are of the complex type.     

Characterization and sequence analysis of a developmentally regulated putative cell wall protein gene isolated from soybean

A cDNA clone, pTU04, which hybridizes to two different sizes of mRNA on Northern blots was isolated from soybean suspension culture cell poly(A) RNA. Northern analysis reveals that meristematic tissue produces a 1050-nucleotide mRNA while quiescent mature cells produce primarily a 1220-nucleotide mRNA homologous to pTU04. The cDNA and its corresponding genomic clone have been partially characterized. The nucleotide sequence of the gene predicts a proline-rich protein, designated SbPRP1, which contains a signal peptide sequence and 43 repeats of a sequence consisting primarily of Pro-Pro-Val-Tyr-Lys (CCA-CCA-GTT-TAC-AAG). From nuclease S1 and hybrid-select translation analyses, the cDNA clone pTU04 appears to represent the mRNA for the mature tissue 1220-nucleotide RNA observed on Northern blots. Although there is no direct proof that the encoded protein is a cell wall protein, it has the properties similar to previously isolated cell wall proteins: 1) it is very basic with a high content of Pro, Tyr, and Lys; 2) it has similar hydropathic properties; and 3) its repeating unit shares sequence homology with that of more highly characterized cell wall proteins, generally termed extensin (Chen, J., and Varner, J. E. (1985) EMBO J. 4, 2145-2151; Smith, J. J., Muldoon, E. P., Willard, J. J., and Lamport, D. T. A. (1986) Phytochemistry 25, 1021-1030.     

The induction of a specific form of cytochrome P-450 (P-450j) by fasting

In previous work we have demonstrated that liver microsomal N-nitrosodimethylamine demethylase (NDMAd) activity is increased in rats by fasting, and we have postulated that this is due to the induction of a specific form of cytochrome P-450. This communication provides evidence for such a hypothesis. Fasting for 24 and 48 h caused 59 and 116% increases, respectively, in NDMAd activity in male rats, and fasting for 48 h caused a 63% increase in female rats. These increases were accompanied by corresponding increases of cytochrome P-450j (P-450ac) determined by immunoblotting. Fasting for 24 and 48 h also increased the mRNA for P-450j by 153 to 250%, as determined by hybridization with a cDNA probe of this cytochrome. The results suggest that fasting affects the gene expression of P-450j.