Cytokinin production by plant growth promoting rhizobacteria and selected mutants

One of the proposed mechanisms by which rhizobacteria enhance plant growth is through the production of plant growth regulators. Five plant growth promoting rhizobacterial (PGPR) strains produced the cytokinin dihydrozeatin riboside (DHZR) in pure culture. Cytokinin production by Pseudomonas fluorescens G20-18, a rifampicin-resistant mutant (RIF), and two TnphoA-derived mutants (CNT1, CNT2), with reduced capacity to synthesize cytokinins, was further characterized in pure culture using immunoassay and thin layer chromatography. G20-18 produced higher amounts of three cytokinins, isopentenyl adenosine (IPA), trans-zeatin ribose (ZR), and DHZR than the three mutants during stationary phase. IPA was the major metabolite produced, but the proportion of ZR and DHZR accumulated by CNT1 and CNT2 increased with time. No differences were observed between strain G20-18 and the mutants in the amounts of indole acetic acid synthesized, nor were gibberellins detected in supernatants of any of the strains. Addition of 10(-5) M adenine increased cytokinin production in 96- and 168-h cultures of strain G20-18 by approximately 67%. G20-18 and the mutants CNT1 and CNT2 may be useful for determination of the role of cytokinin production in plant growth promotion by PGPR.     

Plant introductions,hybridization and gene flow

Many regional floras contain a high proportion of recently introduced plant species. Occasionally, hybridization between an introduced species and another species (introduced or native) can result in interspecific gene flow. This may occur even in instances where the F(1) hybrid shows very high sterility, but occasionally produces a few viable gametes. We provide examples of gene flow occurring between some rhododendrons recently introduced to the British flora, and between an introduced and native Senecio species. Neutral molecular markers have normally been employed to obtain evidence of interspecific gene flow, but the challenge now is to isolate and characterize functional introgressed genes and to determine how they affect the fitness of introgressants and whether they improve adaptation to novel habitats allowing introgressants to expand the range of a species. We outline a candidate gene approach for isolating and characterizing an allele of the RAY gene in Senecio vulgaris, which is believed to have introgressed from S. squalidus, and which causes the production of ray florets in flower heads. We discuss the effects of this introgressed allele on individual fitness, including those that originate directly from the production of ray florets plus those that may arise from pleiotropy and/or linkage.     

The antioxidant cocktail,effective microorganism X (EM-X), protects retinal neurons in rats against N-methyl-D-aspartate excitotoxicity in vivo

Injection of the glutamate agonist N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) into the vitreous body of rats resulted in severe degeneration of neurons in the retina, with a loss of 81% of ganglion cells and 43% of non-ganglion cells. The cocktail EM-X is a novel antioxidant drink derived from ferment of unpolished rice, papaya and sea-weeds with effective microorganisms (EM-X). In animals treated with an intraperitoneal injection of EM-X, the loss of ganglion cells was reduced to 55% and that of non-ganglion cells to 34% when compared to untreated NMDA-injected retinas. Cell degeneration resulting from NMDA excitotoxicity, is thought to be mediated via oxidative stress mechanisms. The neuroprotective effect of the EM-X in this system is therefore likely to be due, at least in part, to its flavonoids, saponins, vitamin E and ascorbic content.     

Genotyping of cagA and vacA, Lewis antigen status, and analysis of the poly-(C) tract in the alpha(1,3)-fucosyltransferase gene of Irish Helicobacter pylori isolates

Much work has focused on trying to identify markers in Helicobacter pylori that might allow the eventual disease outcome of an infection to be predicted. In this study we examined the cagA and vacA genotype, and Lewis status in a panel of 43 Irish H. pylori clinical isolates, and investigated a possible correlation with disease pathology. In addition, differences in the poly-(C) tract of the alpha(1,3)-fucosyltransferase gene were examined to identify a possible correlation with gene expression. Only three of 43 isolates were cagA-negative, whereas the remaining 40 isolates, independent of pathology, were cagA-positive. In all the strains we examined, the vacA signal-sequence was type s1a. For the vacA mid-region 12/43 isolates were type m1 and 31/43 isolates were type m2. These data, and examination of isolates from different pathology groups, suggests that there is no correlation between virulence and vacA genotype in the Irish population of H. pylori isolates. Western blotting of whole cell lysates from 32 H. pylori isolates showed 3/32 displayed only the Le(x) epitope, 12/32 only the Le(y), 13/32 both epitopes and 4/32 neither epitope. No apparent association between Lewis phenotype and disease pathology was evident. A range of lengths of poly-(C) tract were observed in the alpha(1, 3)-fucosyltransferase gene, however the length of the tract in an isolate did not correlate with the Lewis structures present. We conclude that future studies on H. pylori pathogenesis should not alone focus on the importance of molecular markers, but also on the host response, including genetic background and immune responsiveness.     

Radar Tracking and Motion-Sensitive Cameras on Flowers Reveal the Development of Pollinator Multi-Destination Routes over Large Spatial Scales

Central place foragers, such as pollinating bees, typically develop circuits (traplines) to visit multiple foraging sites in a manner that minimizes overall travel distance. Despite being taxonomically widespread, these routing behaviours remain poorly understood due to the difficulty of tracking the foraging history of animals in the wild. Here we examine how bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) develop and optimise traplines over large spatial scales by setting up an array of five artificial flowers arranged in a regular pentagon (50 m side length) and fitted with motion-sensitive video cameras to determine the sequence of visitation. Stable traplines that linked together all the flowers in an optimal sequence were typically established after a bee made 26 foraging bouts, during which time only about 20 of the 120 possible routes were tried. Radar tracking of selected flights revealed a dramatic decrease by 80% (ca. 1500 m) of the total travel distance between the first and the last foraging bout. When a flower was removed and replaced by a more distant one, bees engaged in localised search flights, a strategy that can facilitate the discovery of a new flower and its integration into a novel optimal trapline. Based on these observations, we developed and tested an iterative improvement heuristic to capture how bees could learn and refine their routes each time a shorter route is found. Our findings suggest that complex dynamic routing problems can be solved by small-brained animals using simple learning heuristics, without the need for a cognitive map.