Ultrastructure of the Eyespot and its Possible Significance in Phototaxis of Tetracystis excentrica*†

SYNOPSIS. The eyespot of the zoospore of Tetracystis excentrica (a green alga) has been studied by light and electron microscopy. In Tetracystis the eyespot consists of about 110 osmiophilic granules which form a plate in the anterior third of the cell. The granules are about 80 Å in diameter and are found in the outermost portion of the chloroplast; they commonly show hexagonal close packing and a hexagonal shape. The granules are confined positionally by the chloroplast envelope and an inner thylakoid. The plasmalemma over the eyespot is thickened and is separated from the chloroplast envelope by a 50 mμ space. The eyespot of Tetracystis is compared with others reported in the literature and the possible functional significance of these studies is discussed. The possibility that the eyespot plate in Tetracystis serves as a shading device rather than the primary photoreceptor is considered.     

Microsatellite markers developed from Theobroma cacao L. expressed sequence tags

Theobroma cacao L. expressed sequence tags (ESTs) were converted into useful genetic markers for fingerprinting individuals and genetic linkage mapping. Primers were designed to microsatellite‐containing ESTs. Twenty‐two T. cacao accessions, parents of various mapping populations segregating for disease resistance and crop yield characteristics, were tested. Twenty‐seven informative loci were discovered with 26 primer pairs. The number of detected alleles ranged from two to 11 and averaged 4.4 per locus. All 27 markers could be mapped into at least one of the existing F₁ or F₂ populations segregating for agronomically important traits.     

Delay and failure in treatment seeking after first onset of mental disorders in the World Health Organization's World Mental Health Survey Initiative

Data are presented on patterns of failure and delay in making initial treatment contact after first onset of a mental disorder in 15 countries in the World Health Organization (WHO)''s World Mental Health (WMH) Surveys. Representative face-to-face household surveys were conducted among 76,012 respondents aged 18 and older in Belgium, Colombia, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Lebanon, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, People''s Republic of China (Beijing and Shanghai), Spain, and the United States. The WHO Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) was used to assess lifetime DSM-IV anxiety, mood, and substance use disorders. Ages of onset for individual disorders and ages of first treatment contact for each disorder were used to calculate the extent of failure and delay in initial help seeking. The proportion of lifetime cases making treatment contact in the year of disorder onset ranged from 0.8 to 36.4% for anxiety disorders, from 6.0 to 52.1% for mood disorders, and from 0.9 to 18.6% for substance use disorders. By 50 years, the proportion of lifetime cases making treatment contact ranged from 15.2 to 95.0% for anxiety disorders, from 7.9 to 98.6% for mood disorders, and from 19.8 to 86.1% for substance use disorders. Median delays among cases eventually making contact ranged from 3.0 to 30.0 years for anxiety disorders, from 1.0 to 14.0 years for mood disorders, and from 6.0 to 18.0 years for substance use disorders. Failure and delays in treatment seeking were generally greater in developing countries, older cohorts, men, and cases with earlier ages of onset. These results show that failure and delays in initial help seeking are pervasive problems worldwide. Interventions to ensure prompt initial treatment contacts are needed to reduce the global burdens and hazards of untreated mental disorders.     

Phloem Mobility of Boron is Species Dependent: Evidence for Phloem Mobility in Sorbitol-rich Species

Boron is generally considered to be phloem immobile or to haveonly limited phloem mobility in higher plants. Evidence suggests,however, that B may be mobile in some species within thePyrus,Malus andPrunusgenera. These genera utilize sorbitol as a primarytranslocated photosynthate and it has been clearly demonstratedthat B forms stable complexes with sorbitolin vitro.In the researchpresented here we demonstrate, further, that B is freely phloemmobile inPyrus, MalusandPrunusspecies and suggest that thisis mediated by the formation and transport of B-sorbitol complexes. The pattern of B distribution within shoot organs and the translocationof foliar-applied, isotopically-enriched¹⁰B was studied in sixtree species. Results demonstrate that in species in which sorbitolis a major sugar (sorbitol-rich), B is freely mobile while inspecies that produce little or no sorbitol (sorbitol-poor) Bis largely immobile. The sorbitol-rich species used here werealmond [Prunus amygdalusB. syn.P. dulcis(Mill.)], apple (MalusdomesticaB.) and nectarine (Prunus persicaL. B. var.nectarinaM.),sorbitol-poor species included fig (Ficus caricaL.), pistachio(Pistacia veraL.) and walnut (Juglans regiaL.). In sorbitol-richspecies foliar applied¹⁰B was transported from the treated leavesto adjacent fruit and specifically to the fruit tissues (hull,shell or kernel) that developed during the experimental period.Whereas, foliar-applied¹⁰B was rapidly translocated out of leaves,only a small percentage of the¹¹B present in the leaf at thetime of foliar application was retranslocated. In sorbitol-richspecies, B concentrations differed only slightly between oldand young leaves while fruit tissue had significantly greaterB concentrations than leaves. In contrast, sorbitol-poor specieshad significantly higher B concentrations in older leaves thanyoung leaves while fruit tissue had the lowest B concentration.This occurred irrespective the source of plant B (soil, solutionor foliar-applied). In a subsequent experiment the growth ofapple trees in solutions free of applied B was maintained solelyby foliar applications of B to mature leaves. These resultsindicate that B is mobile in species that produce significantamounts of sorbitol. We propose that the mobility of B in thesespecies is mediated by the formation of B-sorbitol complexes. Almond; Prunus amygdalus ; apple; Malus domestica; nectarine; Prunus persica; fig; Ficus carica; pistachio; Pistacia vera; walnut; Juglans regia; boron; phloem mobility; deficiency; toxicity; inductively coupled plasma-mass; spectrometer