HORMONAL REGULATION ON THE INDUCTION OF {alpha}-AMYLASE ISOZYMES IN THE EMBRYO-LESS ENDOSPERM OF BARLEY

The -amylase induced by helminthosporol and gibberellic acidin the embryo-less endosperm of barley was separated into thethree fractions, 1, 2 and 3, by DEAE-cellulose column chromatography.A maximum amount of the 2. was induced by gibberellic acid andthat of the as by helminthosporol. After rechromatography, the2 induced by gibberellic acid and the as induced by helminthosporolshowed their respective single bands in an electrophoresis agargel zymogram. On the other hand, the ai induced by helminthosporoland gibberellic acid showed three bands. Dihydrohelminthosporic acid, a derivative of helminthosporol,induced the same isozymes as helminthosporol did. (Received May 8, 1967; )     

Subunits of Xanthine Dehydrogenase and Their Differential Appearance in Chick Tissues During Development

Xanthine dehydrogenase (XDH) from adult chick liver comprises two polypeptide chains of different size in a molar ratio of 1: 1. The molecular weights of these subunits were estimated to be 155K (α) and 135K (β) daltons (1). However, XDH isolated from the liver of newly hatched chick was not found to represent the equimolar ratio of these two subunits; that is, the amount of subunit β was lower than that of subunit α. While examamining electrophoretically the change in the amounts of these subunits in the liver, the subunit α was found to appear earlier in the embryonic stage, but β only after hatching. In the kidney, however, both subunits were detected before hatching, being consistent with the fact that XDH exists before hatching in the kidney. The two subunits also appeared differentially in the kidney; i.e., subunit α appeared earlier than subunit β. In either tissue, the rate of increase in XDH activity corresponded to that of subunit β. Thus, the synthesis of two subunits of XDH are separately regulated at least until just after hatching.     

Flipper Bands Modify the Short-Term Diving Behavior of Little Penguins

ABSTRACT Flipper banding has long been the primary method to identify individual penguins, despite studies indicating that it may be detrimental to breeding success and survival. Our objectives were to measure the effects that flipper bands may have on diving performance of little penguins to determine whether the bands may be detrimental. We studied short- and long-term direct effects of flipper banding on diving behavior of free-ranging little penguins (Eudyptula minor) by comparing diving behavior before and after banding and by comparing diving performance of unbanded birds to those that had carried flipper bands for several years, respectively. Recently banded birds displayed increases in multiple variables following banding. Long-term banded penguins did not exhibit differences to their unbanded counterparts in most variables examined. Our findings are useful to those considering or reviewing the use of bands in penguin study and management.     

A portable integrated automatic apparatus for the real-time monitoring of bioluminescence in plants

Real-time monitoring of gene expression by a bioluminescence reporter gene is a powerful method for large-scale, detailed analysis of gene expression in living cells and large-scale screening of mutants. We have developed a portable, compact, integrated automatic bioluminescence-monitoring apparatus that can continuously monitor 960 individual plant seedlings or micro-organism colonies under uniform light conditions at temperatures up to 50 °C. The apparatus gave reproducible and reliable results for both bioluminescence photon counts and period length of bioluminescence rhythms of Arabidopsis reporter strain. Using the apparatus, we measured bioluminescence rhythms in the thermophilic cyanobacterium Thermosynechococcus at temperature up to 43 °C. We also monitored the expression of the flowering regulator gene CONSTANS in Arabidopsis as bioluminescence in high time resolution under different photoperiodic conditions. The high-throughput bioluminescence-monitoring apparatus developed here is a powerful tool for real-time monitoring of gene expression and gene function.     

Developmental morphology of the ovules of Amborella trichopoda (Amborellaceae) and Chloranthus serratus (Chloranthaceae)

The developmental morphology of the outer integument in the pendent orthotropous ovules of Amborella trichopoda (Amborellaceae) and Chloranthus serratus (Chloranthaceae) was studied. In both species the outer integument is semiannular at an early stage and becomes cup-shaped but dorsiventrally somewhat asymmetric at later stages. The outer integument, which is initiated first on the concave and lateral sides of the ovule, differs from that of the anatropous ovules of other basal families with the outer integument semiannular at an early stage or throughout development. The bilateral symmetry of the outer integument is shared by these orthotropous and anatropous ovules. The developmental pattern of the outer integument and ovule incurving characterize the ovule of the Amborellaceae and Chloranthaceae, which is not equivalent to typical orthotropous ovules of eudicots. A phylogenetic analysis of ovule characters in basal angiosperms suggests that anatropous ovules with cup-shaped outer integuments and orthotropous ovules were derived independently in several clades and that the ovules of Amborella and Chloranthus might also be derivative.     

Molecular phylogenetic analysis of Podostemaceae: implications for taxonomy of major groups

The river‐weed family Podostemaceae (c. 300 species in c. 54 genera) shows a number of morphological innovations to be adapted to its unusual aquatic habitat, and its unique or rare bauplan features have been reflected in the traditional (i.e. non‐molecular) classification recognizing numerous monotypic or oligospecific genera. The infrasubfamilial relationships of many genera remained unclear. The present study used molecular phylogenetic analysis of matK sequences for 657 samples (c. 132 species/c. 43 genera). The family was traditionally divided into three subfamilies (Podostemoideae, Tristichoideae and Weddellinoideae). American Podostemoideae were shown to be polyphyletic and divided into four clades, i.e. Ceratolacis, Diamantina, Podostemum and all other genera. Among the podostemoid clades, Diamantina was the first branching clade and a clade comprising Mourera and the Apinagia subclade was then sister to the remainder of the New World and Old World Podostemoideae with low statistic supports. The Old World Podostemoideae comprised four monophyletic clades, i.e. two African clades, one Madagascan clade and one Asian clade, although the relationships among these clades and American Ceratolacis and Podostemum were poorly resolved. African Podostemoideae were polyphyletic, with Saxicolella pro parte being weakly supported as sister to the remaining Old World Podostemoideae plus Ceratolacis and Podostemum. In contrast to the American and African clades, monophyly of four Asian subclades was well supported. Plants of Tristicha (Tristichoideae) and of Weddellina (Weddellinoideae), which are currently treated as monospecific, had great matK differentiation equivalent to at least interspecific variation. © 2012 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2012, 169 , 461–492.     

Developmental Changes in the Activity of Xanthine Dehydrogenase and closely Related Enzyme in Chick Tissues

Xanthine-oxidizing activities in the chick tissues were measured by a couple of assay procedures during development of chick embryo. With the usual assay using pterine and NAD⁺, no detectable level of XDH activity was observed in the liver and little in the duodenum before hatching, whereas an appreciable activity was detected in the kidney of chick embryo. When assayed with xanthine and dichlorophenol indophenol, an XDH-like enzyme activity was significantly detected in the embryonic liver, while no further enhancement of the activity was detected in the kidney and duodenum. Electrophoregrams obtained with samples from various developmental stages, followed by activity staining with tetrazolium dye, supported the above results and revealed that the embryonic XDH-like enzyme is not distinguishable from XDH of adult tissue in molecular size. This XDH-like enzyme, pre-existing in the liver before hatching, however, exhibited no cross reaction with antibody against intact XDH. The nature of this material was discussed in comparison with deflavinated XDH.