Ultrastructure and Secretion of Extrafloral Nectaries of Plumeria rubra L.

Extrafloral nectaries situated on the adaxial side of the petiolebase are differentiated into a long head, comprising subepithelialground tissue surrounded by a layer of elongated palisade-likeepithelial cells and a short stalk from the nectary meristem.Many ultrastructural changes occur in epithelial and subepithelialcells of the nectary, from the young to secretory stages, suchas an increase in the amount of cytoplasm rich in mitochondriawith well developed cristae, rough endoplasmic reticulum (rER),smooth endoplasmic reticulum (sER) tubules and Golgi bodies.Plasmalemma invaginations with secretory vesicles occur longthe radial walls. Substantial amounts of secretory materialaccumulate in the gap between the radial walls and subcuticularspace, probably carried by the secretory vesicles from the cytoplasmat the secretory stage. Before cessation of secretion the cytoplasmbecomes vesiculated and the volume of the vacuome increases.At the post secretory stage, cytolytic processes and death ofcells occur. The subepithelial cells attain their maturity priorto epithelial cells. Histochemical localization reveals thepresence of lipids, proteins and insoluble polysaccharides withinthe epithelial cells and in the secretory material depositedin the subcuticular space as well as the gap between the radialwalls of the epithelial cells and outside the cuticle. Fine structure, nectary, Plumeria rubra, granulocrine secretion     

Studies on the Resin Glands of Azadirachta indica A. Juss. (Meliaceae)

The leafy shoots of Azadirachta indica have numerous, yellowresin glands, composed of a short stalk and sub-glandular tissuebeneath an epithelium-like 1-2-layered secretory tissue. Thefoot arises from the epidermis. The resin glands are derivedfrom a single papillate epidermal cell which functions as aresin gland initial. Histochemical localization using fluorescencemicroscopy confirmed the resinous nature of the secretion. Thegeneral structure of the glands shows similarity to extra-floralnectaries. Reports in the literature on the occurrence of extrafloralnectaries in Meliaceae should be confirmed by analysis of thesecretions if they are to be accepted. Azadirachta indica, resin glands, ontogeny, structure, secretion     

Tetratrichomonas gallinarum in the Blood of Chickens Infected with Spirochetes

SYNOPSIS. Tetratrichomonas gallinarum was found in the blood of 3 chickens experimentally infected with Borrelia anserina . The blood infection was successfully reproduced in healthy chickens and was accompanied by evidence that the trichomonads multiplied in the blood, ingested red blood cells, and were themselves phagocytized by leucocytes. T. gallinarum was maintained in serial passage in chicken embryos as well as in the usual trichomonad culture media.     

Specificity of Gibberellin and Sucrose-promoted Flower Bud Growth in Gladiolus

A critical stage in flower bud growth in the spike of Gladioluswhich is initiated by gibberellic acid (GA₃) and sustained bysucrose has been identified. This corresponds to the stage atwhich separation of the outer bract occurs. In buds at differentdevelopmental stages isolated and held in water, it is the samebud stage that first shows increased growth. Buds not inducedby light were shown to respond more significantly to GA₃ andsucrose than those induced by light. Since the separation ofthe outer bract results in light-induced amylase productionand starch hydrolysis leading to petal growth, it is proposedthat growth promotion by GA₃ is related to light-induced petalgrowth at this specific stage. flower bud growth, Gladiolus natalensis, gibberellic acid, sucrose     

Maturation and Ripening of Fruit ofAmelanchier alnifoliaNutt. are Accompanied by Increasing Oxidative Stress

The extent of oxidative stress during ripening of saskatoon(AmelanchieralnifoliaNutt.) fruit was examined. Lipid peroxidation duringfruit development from the mature green to the fully ripe (purple)stage was evidenced by the accumulation of ethane and 2-thiobarbituricacid reactive substances. Fruit polar lipid and free fatty acidconcentrations also declined during ripening. Moreover, thedouble bond index of fatty acids in the polar lipid fractionfell during ripening, reflecting a progressive increase in thesaturation of membrane lipids. This increase in saturation waspartly due to a 65% decline in the concentration of linolenicacid. Activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase(CAT) fell about 4-fold and 18-fold, respectively, during development,indicating higher potential for the accumulation of cytotoxicH₂O₂. Peroxidase activity remained relatively low and constantfrom the mature green to the dark red stage of development,then increased towards the end of ripening as fruits turnedpurple. Lipoxygenase (LOX) activity increased 2.5-fold fromthe mature green to the fully ripe stage. Tissue prints showedLOX to be present throughout fruit development and Western analysisrevealed that the increase in activity during ripening was dueto increased synthesis of the enzyme. Collectively, these resultsprovide evidence that ripening of this climacteric fruit isaccompanied by a substantial increase in free-radical-mediatedperoxidation of membrane lipids, probably as a direct consequenceof a progressive decline in the enzymatic systems responsiblefor catabolism of active oxygen species. The role of glutathione-mediatedfree-radical scavenging was also examined as a potential systemfor coping with this increased oxidative stress. Concentrationsof reduced and oxidized glutathione (GSSG) increased 2-foldand GSSG increased as a percentage of total glutathione, reflectingthe increase in oxidative status of fruits during ripening.Tissue prints of glutathione reductase (GRase) and transferase(GTase) showed these enzymes to be distributed throughout thepericarp at all stages of fruit development. GRase and GTaseactivities rose sharply during the later stages of fruit ripening,correlating well with substantial increases in the levels ofboth enzymes. Hence, the glutathione-mediated free-radical scavengingsystem was up-regulated towards the end of ripening, perhapsin response to the increasing oxidative stress resulting fromthe accumulation of lipid hydroperoxides from increased LOXactivity, in conjunction with a decline in SOD/CAT activities.Copyright1998 Annals of Botany Company Amelanchier alnifoliaNutt.; saskatoon fruit; ripening; oxidative stress.