Effect of inoculum rate on mycorrhizal growth responses in pot-grown onion and clover

Summary White clover and onion plants were grown from seed in pots of sandy loam above pads of mycorrhizal inoculum soil at 0.17–1.40 g/pot (equivalent to 250–2000 kg/ha) and harvested on four occasions. In sterilized soil increasing inoculum rates increased the onset and size of the mycorrhizal growth response of white clover. In unsterilized soil the indigenous mycorrhizal fungi greatly stimulated growth of both clover and onion. Nevertheless, all mycorrhizal inoculum rates further stimulated shoot growth in onion (92% increase over all harvests), while only the highest inoculum rate significantly stimulated clover growth (52% increase).     

The effect of tadpoles on algal growth in temporary, rain-filled rock pools

SUMMARY.

• 1 Small, temporary, rain-filled rock pools in Malawi, Central Africa, are colonized by algae, insect larvae and tadpoles. Algal growth in these pools is largely controlled by nutrient supply, flushing rate and the presence of tadpoles.
• 2 Dissolved nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations were usually high following filling but subsequently declined. Nitrogen supply may limit algal growth at times. The flushing rate of the pools is an over-riding factor in determining the population size of floating algae.
• 3 Experiments and field observations showed that tadpoles apparently, paradoxically, promoted the growth of the epineustic and phytoplanktonic algae on which they grazed. The explanation of this paradox probably has in the transfer, by the tadpoles, of nutrients from the sediments to the overlying water. This nutrient enrichment stimulates the growth of the epineuston and phytoplankton.

     

Genome informatics: taming the avalanche of genomic data

A report on the fourth Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory/Wellcome Trust Conference on Genome Informatics, Hinxton, UK, 22-26 September 2004.     

Changes in the Distribution of Pectin Methylesterase across Leaf Abscission Zones of Phaseolus vulgaris

Determinations of pectin methylesterase in abscission zonesand surrounding parts of Phaseolus leaves have shown a relativelyhigh activity in young tissues, which decreases as the leafgrows older. The greatest fall occurs in the pulvinus. In non-senescent leaves, the enzyme activity is higher in pulvinithan elsewhere and there is a gradient of activity across theline of abscission from the pulvinus to the petiole or stem.During senescence this gradient falls, and is generally reversedat abscission. Data suggest that the advent of abscission maybe linked to the steepness of this gradient. If abscission of leaves or isolated abscission zones is acceleratedby appropriate treatments there is a more rapid decrease inpectin methylesterase activity than in the controls, and a morerapid fall in the gradient across the line of abscission. Ifabscission is retarded the enzyme activity is sustained andthe gradient is maintained or increased. The results are discussed in relation to the changes that mayoccur in the pectic constituents of cell walls during senescenceand abscission, and in relation to some of the known effectsof auxins on pectin metabolism.     

Statistical properties of the variation at linked microsatellite loci: implications for the history of human Y chromosomes [published erratum appears in Mol Biol Evol 1997 Mar;14(3):354]

It has recently been suggested that observed levels of variation at microsatellite loci can be used to infer patterns of selection in genomes and to assess demographic history. In order to evaluate the feasibility of these suggestions it is necessary to know something about how levels of variation at microsatellite loci are expected to fluctuate due simply to stochasticity in the processes of mutation and inheritance (genetic sampling). Here we use recently derived properties of the stepwise mutation model to place confidence intervals around the variance in repeat score that is expected at mutation-drift equilibrium and outline a statistical test for whether an observed value differs significantly from expectation. We also develop confidence intervals for the time course of the buildup of variation following a complete elimination of variation, such as might be caused by a selective sweep or an extreme population bottleneck. We apply these methods to the variation observed at human Y-specific microsatellites. Although a number of authors have suggested the possibility of a very recent sweep, our analyses suggest that a sweep or extreme bottleneck is unlikely to have occurred anytime during the last approximately 74,000 years. To generate this result we use a recently estimated mutation rate for microsatellite loci of 5.6 x 10(-4) along with the variation observed at autosomal microsatellite loci to estimate the human effective population size. This estimate is 18,000, implying an effective number of 4,500 Y chromosomes. One important general conclusion to emerge from this study is that in order to reject mutation-drift equilibrium at a set of linked microsatellite loci it is necessary to have an unreasonably large number of loci unless the observed variance is far below that expected at mutation-drift equilibrium.