Mycorrhizae of Entoloma saepium: parasitism or symbiosis?

The mycorrhizae of Entoloma saepium on Rosa sp. are comprehensively described and compared to other mycorrhizae of the genus Entoloma, as well as to similar unidentified mycorrhizae known from the literature. E. saepium appears to be more a parasite than a symbiont, as it invades and almost completely destroys the root meristem and young root cells.Considered as part IL of the series Studies on ectomycorrhizae; part XLVIII: Waller and Agerer (1993)     

MORPHOLOGICAL DIFFERENTIATION AND GENETIC COHESIVENESS OVER A MICROENVIRONMENTAL GRADIENT IN THE MARINE SNAIL LITTORINA SAXATILIS

The marine gastropod Littorina saxatilis has different ecotypes in shores only a few meters apart. This has both taxonomic and evolutionary implications. Here we report on an extreme type of within-shore dimorphism in shell characters. In the wave-exposed rocky shores in northwestern Spain, we found one form of L. saxatilis in the upper-level barnacle zone. It had a white, ridged shell, with black bands in the grooves. Another form confined to the lower-shore mussel belt had a smooth shell that was either white and tessellated or darkly colored. These two forms cooccured in a narrow midshore zone together with individuals that had combined characters, but were present in low frequencies (11%–29%). We used principal-component analysis of metric shell characters to study variation in shell size and shape. We found that the upper-shore form was larger than the lower-shore form. We also found small but significant differences in shell shape. Experiments in a common laboratory environment suggested the differences in shell ornamentation and color are inherited, but the individuals did not develop the morph-specific characters until a shell height of about 3 mm. The occurrence of mainly two distinct forms may suggest the presence of two species that hybridize. An analysis of five polymorphic enzyme loci in populations of snails from three geographically separated sites indicated, however, that there was no positive correlation between morphological distances and genetic distances among populations on a geographic scale (tens of kilometers). Thus, we rejected the hypothesis of two species. However, on a microgeographic scale (meters), genetic differentiation between groups with the same form was less than differentiation between forms. This indicated a partial barrier to gene flow between the two forms, and preliminary mate choice data suggested this was caused by nonrandom mating in the midshore zone of overlap.     

Immunogenicity and immunosensitivity of ex vivo human carcinomas: interferon γ and tumour necrosis factor α treatment of tumour cells potentiates their interaction with autologous blood lymphocytes

Human carcinoma cells vary appreciably in the expression of MHC class I, class II, ICAM-1 (CD54) and B7 (CD80) molecules. Short-term in vitro exposure of ex vivo carcinoma cells to interferon and tumour necrosis factor elevated/induced the surface expression of MHC class I, class II and ICAM-1, but only rarely of B7. We found that cytokine treatment elevated the cytotoxic susceptibility and the stimulatory potential of ex vivo tumour cells. This was demonstrated (a) by the increased frequency and elevated level of auto-tumour lysis and (b) by induction of DNA synthesis and generation of cytotoxic lymphocytes in autologous mixed lymphocyte/tumour cell culture (MLTC). The MHC class I and ICAM-1 molecules on the tumour cells were required for interaction with the lymphocytes as indicated by the inhibitory effect of specific mAb both in the stimulation and in the cytotoxic tests. While the cytokine-induced increases in MHC and ICAM-1 on the low-expression tumours were probably important for the modification of functional interaction with the autologous lymphocytes, it is likely that alterations in other properties of tumour cells were also induced which contributed to the phenomenon. This was indicated by the results obtained with several tumours, which expressed indigenously high levels of these molecules but activated the autologous lymphocytes only after cytokine treatment. In several experiments the untreated targets that did not activate the lymphocytes were sensitive to the cytotoxicity of the effectors activated in MLTC. The results show that the afferent and efferent arms of the immune response have different requirements for functional interactions between lymphocytes and tumour cells.     

Radiation induced chromosomal instability in human T-lymphocytes

Chromosomal instability in proliferating mammalian cells is characterized by a persistent increase of chromosomal aberrations and rearrangements occurring de novo during successive cell generations. Recent results from many laboratories using a variety of cells and cytogenetic end points show that this phenotype can be induced by low as well as high LET irradiation. A typical feature of chromosomal instability in primary human G₀-lymphocytes exposed to γ-irradiation at both high dose rate (45 Gy h⁻¹) and low dose rate (0.024 Gy h⁻¹) is the appearance of novel aberrations in the clonal progeny of the irradiated cell, many generations after the exposure. The same phenotype was observed in lymphocytes that were allowed to recover for 5 days in G₀ after the radiation exposure, as well as in hprt-mutant T cell clones. These results demonstrate that neither the acute genotoxic stress caused by high dose rate as compared to low dose rate irradiation, nor a hypothesized conflict between mitogen induced growth stimulation and growth arrest due to radiation damage, seem to be critical conditions for the development chromosomal instability in these cells. In contrast to observations in other cells, no evidence of a persistent decrease of cloning ability was observed in the progeny of radiation-exposed human lymphocytes, and no alteration was observed in their sensitivity to a second radiation exposure. Furthermore, the frequency of CA-repeat length variation at three loci was not increased in the progeny of X-irradiated T cells as compared to non-irradiated cells, which indicates that microsatellite instability is not part of the chromosomal instability phenotype in human T-lymphocytes.     

Aerobic and anaerobic degradation of furan-3-carboxylate by Paracoccus denitrificans strain MK33

An organism identified as Paracoccus denitrificans was isolated from an enrichment culture with furan-3-carboxylate as its sole source of carbon and energy. The organism degraded furan-3-carboxylate under aerobic and — in the presence of nitrate - under anaerobic conditions. The aerobic degradation was initiated by an oxygenase reaction to form probably 2-hydroxy-3-furoate. Under anaerobic conditions the first intermediate was 3-furoyl-CoA which was reduced by NADPH to probably 4,5-dihydro-furoyl-CoA. Succinic semialdehyde was an intermediate in both aerobic and anaerobic mechanism of furan-3-carboxylate.Abbreviations F-3-C furan-3-carboxylate - 3-FCoA 3-furoyl-CoA     

Effects of SO2 on photosynthesis and ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase in pine tree seedlings

Fumigations of 4–7 week old seelings of Pinus silvestris , with ca 400 μg SO₂ m^-3 for 4–5 days resulted in a decrease both in net photosynthetic rate and in the levels of ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase activity of the primary needles. The effect on net photosynthesis was reversible. No visible damages were observed on the needles. Lower concentrations, ca 200 μg SO₂ m^-3, for ca 6 days inhibited net photosynthesis reversibly. The effect on net photosynthesis was not the result of stomata closure or of increased respiration. A dose-response relation for the inhibition of net photosynthesis and ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase is suggested. A similar relation was observed for the chlorophyll content of the needles. The reversible inhibition of photosynthesis was evident only at high quantum flux density, and the quantum yield of photosynthesis at rate limiting quantum flux was not affected. This was also suggested from an experiment with Scots pine in the field.     

Effects of bud removal in Scots pine (Pinus silvestris) seedlings

One- and two-“year”-old seedlings of Pinus silvestris L., from which the buds had been removed, were studied for five weeks during the second and third growth period, respectively. Intact seedlings were used as controls. The seedlings were cultivated under controlled conditions in a climate chamber. The growth of the seedlings was determined and the one-“year”-old needles assayed for changes in net photosynthesis and ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase activity and in the levels of protein, Kjeldahl nitrogen, chlorophyll and starch. In the control the carboxylase activity and the content of protein, Kjeldahl nitrogen and starch in the needles increased in the beginning of the “summer” and decreased during the shoot growth period. The starch content was higher after bud removal (decapitation), since the carbohydrate could not be utilized for the growth of the new shoot. Decapitation did not affect the growth rate of the roots. The content of Kjeldahl nitrogen and total and soluble protein in the needles was higher in the decapitated seedlings during the period of shoot elongation in the control. Total nitrogen, but not protein, reached high levels, indicating accumulation of non-protein compounds. The general course of the chlorophyll pattern was not affected. Higher ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase activity than in the control was observed in the later part of the experimental periods. The higher levels of protein and nitrogen as well as of carboxylase activity after decapitation support the interpretation that soluble protein, including the carboxylase, and possibly other nitrogen compounds in the older needles are used for growth of the shoot. The loss of protein and nitrogen and of carboxylase activity in the control did not seem to be due to mineral deficiency in the substrate. Despite higher levels of carboxylase activity and similar chlorophyll concentrations, light-saturated net photosynthesis was lower after decapitation. The ratio between photosynthesis and photorespiration was not affected.     

Nordic equiseticolous Pyrenomycetes

The Pyrenomycete flora on Equisetum has been studied, mainly on Nordic material. With regard to frequency and host specificity these fungi can be divided into three groups, viz. 1) true Equisetum fungi; 2) common species but not restricted to Equisetum; 3) accidental species. An annotated list is given of the two first categories which comprise the following taxa. 1: Didymosphaeria equiseti–hiemalis, Phaeosphaeria berlesei, P. equiseti, Mycosphaerella equiseti, M. equiseticola, Scirrhia castagnei, S. silvalica , and probably Didymella equisetina. 2: Phaeosphaeria eustoma, P. fuckelii, Mycosphaerella cf. aspidii.
Two new taxa and one new combination are published, viz. Phaeosphaeria equiseti (Karst.) L. & K. Holm comb, nov., P. equiseti var. lindii L. & K. Holm var. nov., Scirrhia silvalica L. & K. Holm sp. nov.