Seasonal Evolution of the Quality of Fresh Glasshouse Tomatoes under Mediterranean Conditions, as Affected by Air Vapour Pressure Deficit and Plant Fruit Load

Changes in yield and quality of fresh tomatoes in response toair vapour pressure deficit (VPD) and plant fruit load werestudied under Mediterranean summer conditions. Plants thinnedto three or six fruits per truss were grown in two compartments,one at a VPD below 1.5 kPa, the other without VPD control. Theseasonal trend in fruit yield and quality was assessed fromApril to September by weekly measurement of number, fresh weightand dry matter content of harvested fruits, together with theoccurrence of blossom-end-rot (BER) and cracking. On two occasions,in July and September, sugar and acid content was measured atthree ripening stages. The seasonal decrease in fresh yieldwas attenuated at low VPD, because of higher individual fruitfresh weight, especially at low fruit load. Low VPD decreasedoccurrence of BER but like low fruit load, it increased fruitcracking. Fruit dry matter content was lower at low VPD, butwas unaffected by fruit load. Sugar content and the ratio ofsugars:acids was increased at high VPD and low fruit load, withinteractive effects depending on season and ripening stage.The influence of VPD on acid content differed with fruit loadand also changed during ripening and between seasons. Resultsshowed that water was the main limiting factor for growth offruits picked in July; at this time, reducing fruit load topromote mean fruit size had negative effects on BER and cracking.Reducing VPD reduced BER but had a negative effect on crackingand diluted both the dry matter and sugar content. For fruitsharvested later in summer, these negative effects were attenuatedbecause fruit growth was also carbon limited. Copyright 2000Annals of Botany Company Lycopersicon esculentum Mill., tomato, water and carbon stress, yield, quality, dry matter, sugar, acid, BER, volatile composition     

Extracellular secretion of levansucrase from Zymomonas mobilis in Escherichia coli

Secretion of levansucrase from Zymomonas mobilis in Escherichiacoli by glycine supplement was investigated. A significant amount of levansucrase (about 25% of total activity) was found in intact whole-cells. Cell fractionation experiments showed that levansucrase was found both in the periplasmic space and in the cytoplasmic fraction of E. coli. None or only trace amounts of levansucrase was detected in the extracellular culture broth at 24 h of cultivation and it accrued with the increasing concentration of glycine in the culture medium and duration of the culture period. Optimal glycine concentration for the maximum secretion of levansucrase was in the range of 0.8-1%, in which approximately 20-50% of levansucrase was released into the extracellular fraction at 24 h of cultivation, although glycine retarded the bacterial growth.     

Interacting Effects of Discharge and Channel Morphology on Transport of Semibuoyant Fish Eggs in Large,Altered River Systems

Habitat fragmentation and flow regulation are significant factors related to the decline and extinction of freshwater biota. Pelagic-broadcast spawning cyprinids require moving water and some length of unfragmented stream to complete their life cycle. However, it is unknown how discharge and habitat features interact at multiple spatial scales to alter the transport of semi-buoyant fish eggs. Our objective was to assess the relationship between downstream drift of semi-buoyant egg surrogates (gellan beads) and discharge and habitat complexity. We quantified transport time of a known quantity of beads using 2–3 sampling devices at each of seven locations on the North Canadian and Canadian rivers. Transport time was assessed based on median capture time (time at which 50% of beads were captured) and sampling period (time period when 2.5% and 97.5% of beads were captured). Habitat complexity was assessed by calculating width∶depth ratios at each site, and several habitat metrics determined using analyses of aerial photographs. Median time of egg capture was negatively correlated to site discharge. The temporal extent of the sampling period at each site was negatively correlated to both site discharge and habitat-patch dispersion. Our results highlight the role of discharge in driving transport times, but also indicate that higher dispersion of habitat patches relates to increased retention of beads within the river. These results could be used to target restoration activities or prioritize water use to create and maintain habitat complexity within large, fragmented river systems.     

The Expanded mtDNA Phylogeny of the Franco-Cantabrian Region Upholds the Pre-Neolithic Genetic Substrate of Basques

The European genetic landscape has been shaped by several human migrations occurred since Paleolithic times. The accumulation of archaeological records and the concordance of different lines of genetic evidence during the last two decades have triggered an interesting debate concerning the role of ancient settlers from the Franco-Cantabrian region in the postglacial resettlement of Europe. Among the Franco-Cantabrian populations, Basques are regarded as one of the oldest and more intriguing human groups of Europe. Recent data on complete mitochondrial DNA genomes focused on macrohaplogroup R0 revealed that Basques harbor some autochthonous lineages, suggesting a genetic continuity since pre-Neolithic times. However, excluding haplogroup H, the most representative lineage of macrohaplogroup R0, the majority of maternal lineages of this area remains virtually unexplored, so that further refinement of the mtDNA phylogeny based on analyses at the highest level of resolution is crucial for a better understanding of the European prehistory. We thus explored the maternal ancestry of 548 autochthonous individuals from various Franco-Cantabrian populations and sequenced 76 mitogenomes of the most representative lineages. Interestingly, we identified three mtDNA haplogroups, U5b1f, J1c5c1 and V22, that proved to be representative of Franco-Cantabria, notably of the Basque population. The seclusion and diversity of these female genetic lineages support a local origin in the Franco-Cantabrian area during the Mesolithic of southwestern Europe, ∼10,000 years before present (YBP), with signals of expansions at ∼3,500 YBP. These findings provide robust evidence of a partial genetic continuity between contemporary autochthonous populations from the Franco-Cantabrian region, specifically the Basques, and Paleolithic/Mesolithic hunter-gatherer groups. Furthermore, our results raise the current proportion (≈15%) of the Franco-Cantabrian maternal gene pool with a putative pre-Neolithic origin to ≈35%, further supporting the notion of a predominant Paleolithic genetic substrate in extant European populations.     

Tissue distribution and molecular heterogeneity of bovine thiol:protein-disulphide oxidoreductase (disulphide interchange enzyme)

1. The distribution of thiol:protein-disulphide oxidoreductase (disulphide interchange enzyme) in 17 bovine tissue extracts was determined by rocket immunoelectrophoresis and by measuring the reductive cleavage of insulin. 2. The relative concentration (per mg total protein) was found to be in the order: Pancreas greater than liver greater than lymph node greater than testes, fat tissue greater than parotid gland, brain, spleen, lung greater than small intestine, spinal cord, large intestine, kidney greater than paunch, aorta greater than skeletal muscle greater than heart. 3. The distribution of specific activity showed a similar pattern, irrespectively of whether glutathione or L-cysteine was used as cosubstrate. 4. The concentration varied 200-fold and the specific activity 400-fold between pancreas and heart muscle, respectively. 5. Crossed immunoelectrophoresis demonstrated that a fast-migrating form of the enzyme was the only one present in almost all tissues, but 15% of the enzyme in liver was a slow-migrating form and 50% in heart muscle a medium-migrating form. 6. The lung contains a species having partial immunological identity to the enzyme. 7. Purified enzyme from bovine liver has a somewhat lower mobility than the fast-migrating form in extract. 8. The results seem to support the general view that the enzyme is involved in synthesis of disulphide-bonded extracellular proteins, although the presence of the enzyme in tissues like fat, brain, spinal cord, skeletal muscle and heart indicates other cellular functions as well.     

Mechanism of the change in erythrocyte osmotic resistance in rats exposed to valinomycin: the features seen in spontaneous hypertension

Introduction of valinomycin into erythrocyte incubation medium increased the cell stability to water-induced hemolysis. In these conditions the erythrocytes of spontaneously hypertensive and normotensive (control) rats release 63.2 +/- 1.5% and 80.9 +/- 1.6%, respectively, of the total hemoglobin content. Valinomycin effect is completely abolished with K+ substitution for Na+ and is independent of extracellular Ca2+ concentration. Valinomycin had no effect on human erythrocyte osmotic stability. It has been shown that valinomycin-induced kinetics of Na+ and K+ redistribution was different in human and rat erythrocytes. The distinctions are thought to be related to specific anion transport mediated by the third band protein--the main component of membrane cytoskeleton.     

Mechanism of the binding of 2-(4'-hydroxyphenylazo)benzoic acid to bovine serum albumin

The mechanism of the binding of 2-(4'-hydroxyphenylazo)benzoic acid (HABA) to bovine serum albumin was studied by relaxation methods as well as the binding isotherm using gel chromatography. A single relaxation was observed over a wide range of HABA concentration except at the extremes of high concentration where another slow process was observed. The concentration dependence of the reciprocal relaxation time of the fast process decreased monotonically with increase in concentration of HABA at constant polymer concentration. The data were analyzed on the basis of Brown's domain structure model and were found to be consistent with a sequential binding mechanism. The azohydrazon tautomerism of HABA was identified with the intramolecular step of the complex. The activation parameters of the step, determined from the temperature dependence of the relaxation time of the fast process, showed that this step is rate limited by an enthalpy barrier in both forward and backward directions. Comparison of the activation parameters with those of other serum albumin-ligand systems suggests that there is an enthalpy-entropy compensation in the activation process of the intramolecular step with the compensation temperature at about 270 K; the enthalpy-entropy compensation is thought to be related to the hydrophobic nature of the ligand.