Autogamy in Allogromia laticollaris (Foraminifera)

SYNOPSIS. The life cycles of 2 strains of Allogromia laticollaris (CSH and TPA) raised on experimentally restricted diets have been studied. Cloned cultures of the strains differed in nutritional requirements for continuous reproduction. The TPA strain was more fecund. Both strains have a basically apogamic (asexual) life cycle; only occasionally were gamonts (sexually reproducing individuals) produced. They were autogamous (self-fertilizing) and fusion of the gametes took place within the parental test.
We found in CSH clones a regular alternation of vesicularly nucleated and compactly multinucleated diploid generations. The details of the life cycle of either strain are not known well enough to be able to construct life cycle diagrams more meaningful than that of Arnold. The 2 strains studied differ in cytologic and nuclear detail from each other and from the strain studied by Arnold.     

Effects of phenolic substances on metabolism of exogenous indole-3-acetic acid in maize stems

Four-day-old stem segments of Zea mays L. cv. Seneca 60 were treated sequentially with phenolic substances and indole-3-acetic [2-¹⁴C] acid ([2-¹⁴C]IAA). Formation of bound IAA was rapid, but a pretreatment with p-coumaric acid, ferulic acid or 4-methylumbelliferone decreased the level of bound IAA. The decrease is not likely related to the effect of the phenolics on enzymic oxidation of IAA, since the level of free IAA was not limiting and the activity of ferulic acid in enzymic oxidation of IAA is different from that of p-coumaric acid and 4-methylum-belliferone. Apparently these compounds inhibited the formation of bound IAA and consequently caused an accumulation of free IAA. In contrast, caffeic acid, protocatechuic acid and 2,3-dihydro-2, 2-dimethyl-7-benzofuranol had little effect. After the uptake of IAA there was a slow but steady incorporation of the radioactivity into the 80% ethanol-insoluble, 1 M NaOH-soluble fraction. Phenolic substances also affected this process. The compounds which are cofactors of IAA-oxidase increased the incorporation while those which are inhibitors of IAA-oxidase decreased the incorporation. Results suggest that the phenolics also affected the enzymic oxidation of IAA in vivo in the same way as in vitro.     

Tracer Experiments in Feeding Littoral Foraminifera*†‡

SYNOPSIS. Tracer technic has proved to be an excellent tool in the study of predator-prey relationships among the foraminifera. More than fifty axenic species of protists including diatoms, dinoflagellates, chlorophytes, chrysophytes, cyanophytes, bacteria and yeasts were tested as potential food for Allogromia sp (NF), A. laticollaris, Am. monia beccarii, Quinqueloculina spp, Rosalina floridana, Anomalina sp, Elphidium sp, Spiroloculina hyalina, Globigerina bulloides, and Globorotalia truncatulinoides. Although many types of potential food are present in the environment, foraminifera select only certain organisms. The yeasts, cyanophytes, dinoflagellates, chrysophytes and most bacteria tested were not eaten. Selected species of diatoms, chlorophytes and bacteria were eaten in large quantity. Three additional factors affect feeding: the “age” of the food organism, the “age” of the foraminifer or its position in the life cycle, and the concentration of the food. Feeding by foraminifera on most food is erratic below a concentration of 10³ organisms and is approximately directly proportional to concentration within a range of 10³-10⁶ organisms per 10 ml experimental tube. A natural bloom of Protelphidium tisburyensis was analyzed. A high concentration of 6 species of diatoms characterized the community. A “bloom”-feeder hypothesis for foraminiferal nutrition is presented.     

Membrane Systems of Crab Fibers

An electron microscopic study of internal and surface-connectedmembrane systems of leg muscle of the crab shows that thereare three kinds of surface-connected membrane systems in additionto an intracellular sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR). One is a systemof large infoldings of the sarcolemma referred to as clefts.These are longitudinally-oriented, flattened infoldings of boththe plasma membrane and the fibrous sheath of the fiber, andwere probably seen earlier with the light microscope. Extendinginto the fiber both from these clefts and from the free fibersurface are two systems of tubules of much smaller caliber,the Z tubules and the A tubules. The Z tubules are located,as their name indicates, near the Z lines of the myofibrils,and are thought to be attached to them mechanically. The A tubulesare found in pairs, near the ends of each A band, and are closelybound to the SR in two-part structures called dyads. Local-activationexperiments, like those done earlier by Huxley and Taylor, suggestthat the A tubules are involved in excitation-contraction coupling;no such experimental suggestion of function exists for the Ztubules.     

鱼类卵子发育能力的进一步研究

作者中的二人[Tung,and Tung.(童第周与叶毓芬)1944;Tung,Chang,andTung.(童第周、张致一与叶毓芬)1945]曾以分割的方法,研究金鱼(Carassiusauratus)卵子的发育能力。他们将2至8细胞时期的金鱼卵子,在去膜后,用玻璃针,按第一次或第二次的分裂平面,将整个卵子分割为二半。每半含有半数分裂球,一半卵黄,和一半未流入分裂球的细胞质。分割后,每半都能继续发育,但产生下列6种不同的情形:(1)二半都发育为完整的,一半大小的胚胎;(2)一个为完整的胚胎,另一个为不完整的胚胎;(3)一个为完整的胚胎,另一人为囊胚;     

东亚飞蝗Locusta migratoria manilensis Meyen循环系统和排泄器官的解剖和组织构造

接着东亚飞蝗消化系统和生殖系统之后,现在把循环系统的解剖和组织构造整理出来以供参考,由于排泄器官相当分散,与循环系统又有一定的连系,所以也附带在本文中叙述。 前人对于昆虫的循环系统研究工作可以参考的有 Albrecht(1953)所著飞蝗解剖一书;Snodgrass(1903)作过 Dissosteria carolina 的内部解剖;Hodge(1936、1939、1940)对     

蓖麻蚕变态期神经系统的变化及脑的胆碱酯酶活性研究

蓖麻蚕在变态期间,脑及腹神经索产生了一系列的变化。脑外部形态的显著变化是体积的增大,视叶的出现及脑与食管下神经节的愈合。由幼虫上簇开始至成虫羽化,共约19天。在此期间,脑的宽度由0.93毫米增至2.48毫米。视叶出现于幼虫上簇后第四天,即化蛹前一天;发育至化蛹后第七天,食管下神经节完全与脑愈合成环状。幼虫脑组织比较简单,视叶尚未显明分化,只是在脑的两侧前方有成团的神经细胞聚合而成的“原基”,成虫视叶组织即由这些原基分化而来。蕈体尚不完整,仅蕈体柄显明。化蛹后,视觉中枢的三个纤维区——神经节层,外髓和内髓——都已出现,中心体也清楚可见。化蛹后第九天,视叶的三个纤维区之间的交叉纤维显明地出现,其它各部分如中心体、脑桥体、腹体及嗅觉中枢都完全分化出来。脑构造的复杂化也明显表现在内部组织的分化上。 腹神经索的变化主要是缩短和神经节的合并。最显著的缩短阶段是在预蛹期,整条神经索由原来的43毫来缩短为29毫米。食管下神经节与脑愈合,腹部第一二神经节并入后胸神经节,第六、七、八神经节合并成一大型的复合神经节,这样便由原来的八个腹神经节减少了一半。胸部三个神经节则因菱形区的消失而互相靠拢。 从化蛹后第九天起至成虫羽化,除了脑的体积稍有增大以外,整个中枢神经系统基本上没有多大变化。 在整个变态期间,脑ChE的活性渐进增高,酶的水解率(微克分子Ach毫克脑/30分钟)开始时为0.078微米,最后至第十八天竟增至0.485微米,总共约增长六倍左右。     

几种梨虎学名的订正

我国虎象属Rhynchites Schneider常见的几个种,在学名方面,非常混乱,在分布和形态描述方面,也有混淆或错误。作者根据手头的标本和文献所进行的研究,作了订正。其结果如下: 1933年荒川保雄把我国东北的梨虎鉴定为日本苹虎Rhynchites heros Roel.,把我国东北的杏虎鉴定为欧洲苹虎Rhynchites bacchus L.,1937年潼沃求又把东北的梨虎鉴定为Rhynchites coreanus Kono(coreanus是koreanus之误——作者)。有的甚至认为梨虎     

Short- and Long-Term Effects of Salinity on Leaf Growth in Rice (Oryza sativa L.)

Addition of 50 mM NaCl to Oryza sativa L. had little effectupon the time of leaf initiation, but leaf mortality prior tothe normal phase of senescence was increased and the onset ofsenescence was advanced. There was no significant effect uponthe day-to-day pattern of growth, nor upon the ultimate length,of leaves that were developing at the time of, or shortly after,salinization with 50 mM NaCI. Leaves that developed after prolongedexposure of the plants to salinity were shorter. Addition ofNaCl, KC₁ or mannitol to the root medium brought about a cessationof leaf elongation within one minute. Growth at a reduced raterestarted abruptly after a lag period that depended upon theexternal concentration. Elongation rate recovered its originalvalue within 24 h after exposure to 50 mM NaCl, though not athigher concentrations. Addition of NaCl at concentrations upto 100 mM elicited no short-term effects upon photosyntheticgas exchange. Na uptake contributed to osmotic adjustment ofthe growing zone. When plants were rapidly exposed to 50 mMNaCl, no change in turgor pressure was detectable in the growingzone with the resolution of the miniature pressure probe used(about 70 kPa). It is concluded that the initial growth reductionin rice caused by salinization is due to a limitation of watersupply. A clear distinction is made between the initial effectsof low salinity which are recoverable and the long-term effectswhich result from the accumulation of salt within expanded leaves. Key words: Leaf elongation, gas exchange, photosynthesis, water relations