Mycorrhizal weathering: A true case of mineral plant nutrition?

Weatherable minerals in all podzol surface soils andshallow granitic rock under European coniferousforests studied hitherto are criss-crossed bynumerous open, tubular pores, 3–10 µm in width. Wehypothesize that these pores were formed bycomplex-forming, low-molecular weight organic acidsexuded by or formed in association with mycorrhizalfungi. It is well known that ectomycorrhizal myceliumrepresents a greatly extended, and better distributed,surface area for the absorption of nutrients. However, there have been few investigations of how thewhereabouts of individual hypha affect nutrientuptake. The results presented here provide directevidence that the mycelium is able to penetrate, andmost probably create, microsites which areinaccessible to plant roots and isolated from bulksoil solution phenomena. Dissolved products could betranslocated to the host plant roots, bypassing thesoil solution with often toxic concentration ofAl³⁺ from acid rain, and bypassing competitionfor nutrient uptake by other organisms. Furthermore,there is strong evidence that ``rock-eating'mycorrhizal fungi play a role in the formation ofpodzol E horizons. The partly speculativeinterpretations presented here challenge conventionalideas about (1) the importance of nutrient uptakefrom the bulk soil solution (2) criteria for criticalloads of acid atmospheric deposition for forests, and(3) the process of podzolization.     

Potential Nitrification as an Indicator of Preferential Uptake of Ammonium or Nitrate by Plants in an Oak Woodland Understorey

The preferences of some woodland understorey species for ammoniumand nitrate were investigated by measuring the potential nitrification(conversion of ammonium to nitrate) in the rhizosphere comparedwith the bulk soil. Less acid-tolerant species, which usuallyprefer nitrate or a mixture of ammonium and nitrate in hydroponicculture, should have a higher potential nitrification in therhizosphere compared to the bulk soil due to a low uptake ofammonium (since ammonium is relatively immobile). Acid-tolerantspecies should have a high uptake of ammonium and thereby loweror equal potential nitrification in the rhizosphere comparedto the bulk soil. The hypothesis was tested in a field investigationof five understorey herb species, Deschampsia flexuosa, Convallariamajalis, Poa nemoralis, Geum urbanum andAegopodium podagrariaperformed in oak forests in southern Sweden. Overall, the twoless acid-tolerant species, Geum urbanum and Aegopodium podagraria,had high potential nitrification in the rhizosphere comparedto the bulk soil (indicating a relatively low uptake of ammonium),whilst the acid tolerant species, Deschampsia flexuosa andConvallariamajalis , had approximately equal potential nitrification inthe rhizosphere compared to the bulk soil (indicating a relativelyhigh uptake of ammonium). In the case of Poa nemoralis, a specieswhich grows in both acid and less acid soils, we found the potentialnitrification in the rhizosphere and in the bulk soil to besimilar at low inorganic nitrogen concentrations, but the difference(rhizosphere > bulk) increased when nitrification in thebulk soil was enhanced (i.e. when the nitrogen availabilityincreased). The potential nitrification in the bulk soil variedbetween 0 and 16 nmol g^-1h^-1and was positively correlated withpH. When species occurred at the same site, the potential nitrificationin the bulk soil tended to be lower for the acid tolerant species.Despite a large variation in potential nitrification, the methodoffers a possibility of measuring the preference of plants forammonium/nitrate in a soil system, under natural conditions.Copyright 2000 Annals of Botany Company Ammonium uptake, nitrate uptake, nitrogen preference, potential nitrification, rhizosphere, Deschampsia flexuosa, Convallaria majalis, Poa nemoralis, Geum urbanum, Aegopodium podagraria     

Phylogeny of the tribe Antirrhineae (Scrophulariaceae) based on morphological andndhF sequence data

Phylogenetic relationships within the tribe Antirrhineae (Scrophulariaceae) are analysed and discussed on the basis of parsimony analyses of morphological andndhF gene sequence data. The results indicate that the tribe Antirrhineae consists of four major groups of genera, theAnarrhinum clade, theGambelia clade, theMaurandya clade, and theAntirrhinum clade. TheAnarrhinum clade, consisting of the Old World bee-pollinated generaAnarrhinum andKickxia, is sister to the rest of the tribe. TheGambelia clade consists of the New World generaGambelia andGalvezia, which are very closely related and pollinated by hummingbirds. TheMaurandya clade consists of one subclade includingMaurandya and a number of related bee- or hummingbird-pollinated New World genera and another subclade with the Old World bee-pollinated generaAsarina andCymbalaria. TheAntirrhinum clade consists mainly of bee-pollinated Old World genera, such asAntirrhinum, Linaria, Chaenorhinum, and their segregates, but also includes the New World generaMohavea andHowelliella, of which the latter is known to be partly pollinated by hummingbirds. It is concluded that hummingbirdpollination has evolved independently within Antirrhineae at least three times from bee-pollinated ancestors.     

Effects of different handling systems on pig feed quality

Separation of feed mixtures and its effect on the production traits of growing-finishing pigs was studied in three experiments. In Experiments I and II the effects of different types of equipment to prevent separation in a silo were studied. Experiment III dealt with separation along a feed transport chain.Experiments I and II clearly demonstrated an increase in feed quality variation by filling a silo without any arrangement to reduce separation. The last feed to be extracted from a silo filled in this manner showed an increasing amount of small particles and contents of crude fibre and ash, a decrease in the bulk density and also in the digestibility of nutrients and in the performance of the pigs. Filling a silo equipped with chutes by an auger or pneumatically through a cyclone did not create separation problems, and consequently there were no differences between these treatments in the production experiments.Separation measured by particle size, bulk density or chemical composition was not noticeable along the feed transport chain (Experiment III). There was no effect on performance of the pigs of their location along the chain.     

Assessment of the specific activity of commercial allergen preparations made of house dust in the bacteriosorption reaction: a comparison with the results of the radioallergosorbent inhibition test

The activity of the commercial batches of house-dust (HD) allergens was compared in the inhibition of the radioallergosorbent test (RAST) and in the direct bacteriosorbent test (BST), detecting IgG to the antigens by adsorption on the complexes of whole staphylococcal cells containing protein A. BST was made with rabbit antiserum to HD allergen. This antiserum inhibited RAST by 76% and, therefore, contained antibodies to most of the allergenic determinants of HD. At the same time, no significant correlation between the activity of 15 batches of HD allergen was revealed in RAST inhibition and in BST with the above antiserum. Nevertheless, the exhaustion of the antiserum with a batch of HD allergen showing low activity in RAST inhibition, but high activity in BST made it possible to obtain BST results significantly correlating with the data resulting from RAST inhibition in two series of experiments.     

Discovery of non-peptidergic MrgX1 and MrgX2 receptor agonists and exploration of an initial SAR using solid-phase synthesis

A class of small molecules displaying comparable activities with peptide ligands BAM22 and corticostatin-14 at both the human and rhesus monkey MrgX1 and MrgX2 receptors, respectively, was discovered. A comparative study to compare solid-phase and solution-phase chemistries for the efficient synthesis of the active class, tetracyclic benzimidazoles, was undertaken. The solid-phase chemistry was found to be superior both for the synthesis of analogs and for the synthesis of gram quantities.     

Evolution and loss of long-fringed petals: a case study using a dated phylogeny of the snake gourds, Trichosanthes (Cucurbitaceae)

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: The Cucurbitaceae genus Trichosanthes comprises 90-100 species that occur from India to Japan and southeast to Australia and Fiji. Most species have large white or pale yellow petals with conspicuously fringed margins, the fringes sometimes several cm long. Pollination is usually by hawkmoths. Previous molecular data for a small number of species suggested that a monophyletic Trichosanthes might include the Asian genera Gymnopetalum (four species, lacking long petal fringes) and Hodgsonia (two species with petals fringed). Here we test these groups' relationships using a species sampling of c. 60% and 4759 nucleotides of nuclear and plastid DNA. To infer the time and direction of the geographic expansion of the Trichosanthes clade we employ molecular clock dating and statistical biogeographic reconstruction, and we also address the gain or loss of petal fringes. RESULTS: Trichosanthes is monophyletic as long as it includes Gymnopetalum, which itself is polyphyletic. The closest relative of Trichosanthes appears to be the sponge gourds, Luffa, while Hodgsonia is more distantly related. Of six morphology-based sections in Trichosanthes with more than one species, three are supported by the molecular results; two new sections appear warranted. Molecular dating and biogeographic analyses suggest an Oligocene origin of Trichosanthes in Eurasia or East Asia, followed by diversification and spread throughout the Malesian biogeographic region and into the Australian continent. CONCLUSIONS: Long-fringed corollas evolved independently in Hodgsonia and Trichosanthes, followed by two losses in the latter coincident with shifts to other pollinators but not with long-distance dispersal events. Together with the Caribbean Linnaeosicyos, the Madagascan Ampelosicyos and the tropical African Telfairia, these cucurbit lineages represent an ideal system for more detailed studies of the evolution and function of petal fringes in plant-pollinator mutualisms.     

Automation of cell line development

An automated platform for development of high producing cell lines for biopharmaceutical production has been established in order to increase throughput and reduce development costs. The concept is based on the Cello robotic system (The Automation Partnership) and covers screening for colonies and expansion of static cultures. In this study, the glutamine synthetase expression system (Lonza Biologics) for production of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies in Chinese hamster ovary cells was used for evaluation of the automation approach. It is shown that the automated procedure is capable of producing cell lines of equal quality to the traditionally generated cell lines in terms of colony detection following transfection and distribution of IgG titer in the screening steps. In a generic fed-batch evaluation in stirred tank bioreactors, IgG titers of 4.7 and 5.0 g/L were obtained for best expressing cell lines. We have estimated that the number of completed cell line development projects can be increased up to three times using the automated process without increasing manual workload, compared to the manual process. Correlation between IgG titers obtained in early screens and titers achieved in fed-batch cultures in shake flasks was found to be poor. This further implies the benefits of utilizing a high throughput system capable of screening and expanding a high number of transfectants. Two concentrations, 56 and 75 μM, of selection agent, methionine sulphoximine (MSX), were applied to evaluate the impact on the number of colonies obtained post transfection. When applying selection medium containing 75 μM MSX, fewer low producing transfectants were obtained, compared to cell lines selected with 56 μM MSX, but an equal number of high producing cell lines were found. By using the higher MSX concentration, the number of cell line development projects run in parallel could be increased and thereby increasing the overall capacity of the automated platform process. A. Salmén and K. Lindgren contributed equally to the work.     

Effects of surfactant use and peat amendment on leaching of fungicides and nitrate from golf greens

Soil water repellency in golf putting greens may induce preferential “finger flow”, leading to enhanced leaching of surface applied agrochemicals such as fungicides and nitrate. We examined the effects of root zone composition and the use of the non-ionic surfactant Revolution on soil water repellency, soil water content distributions, infiltration rates, turf quality, and fungicide and nitrate leaching from April 2007 to April 2008. The study was made on 4-year-old experimental green seeded with creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera L.) ‘Penn A-4’ at Landvik in southeast Norway. Eight lysimeters with two different root zone materials: (i) straight sand (1% gravel, 96% sand, 3% silt and clay, and 4 g kg⁻¹ organic matter) (SS) and (ii) straight sand mixed with Sphagnum peat to an organic matter content of 25 g kg⁻¹ (SP) were used in this study. Surfactant treatment reduced the spatial variability of water contents, increased infiltration rates and reduced water drop penetration times (WDPTs) by on average 99% in and just below the thatch layer. These effects were most evident for SS lysimeters. Surfactant treatment resulted on average in an 80% reduction of total fungicide leaching, presumably due to reduced preferential finger flow facilitated by decreased soil water repellency. Peat amendment reduced fungicide leaching by 90%, probably due to increased sorption of the fungicides to organic matter. Nitrate leaching was also smaller from surfactant-treated straight-sand root zones, but this effect was not significant. The use of trade names in this paper does not imply endorsement of a product.