Effect of boron application on barley in a sierozem sandy soil

Summary In a pot culture experiment on a sierozem sandy soil (pH 8.2) rates of added B at 3 ppm although decreased root yield significantly but shoot and grain yield was unaffected even at 6 ppm added B, even though shoot B concentration was as high as 360 ppm and Ca/B ratio as low as 11. At 6 ppm applied B, shoot yield was increased by 18.5 per cent, whereas grain yield was at par with control. The results suggested that Ca/B ratio in barley straw was not a reliable index for determing the magnitude of B problem in the soil.     

Variabilin,a 6a-hydroxypterocarpan from Dalbergia variabilis

Bark and wood of the creeper Dalbergia variabilis contain the previously described friedelin, O-acetyl-oleanolic acid, formononetin, 8-O-methylretusin, (+)-vestitol, (±)-mucronulatol, (+)- and (±)-medicarpin, besides (+)-variabilin [(6aR,11aR)-6a-hydroxy-3,9-dimethoxypterocarpan]. This structure was confirmed by the conversion of (+)-variabilin into di-O-methylcoumestrol.     

The growth and nutrient uptake of winter wheat

Summary Measurements with an ion selective electrode under winter wheat and in adjacent fallow soil, from April to July 1976, showed that nitrate concentrations were high in the 0–25 cm zone and correspondingly lower at 50 cm, because of the extreme drying conditions. Maximum differences in nitrate concentrations between cropped and fallow soil occurred at Feekes' stages 6, 10, and 11.1 indicating periods of maximum uptake by the crop (cf Ref.⁴).Dry matter weight of wheat, sampled biweekly, was maximum 15 days before maturity. The foliage senesced and lost weight from Feekes' stage 10.1 onwards. Nutrient concentrations in the foliage decreased from Feekes' stage 4, but N, P and Mg concentrations in the ears increased during Feekes' stage 11. N, P and Mg accumulated in the ears at the expense of the foliage during stage 11, maximum uptake occurring at stages 11.3, 11.1 and 11.2 respectively. In contrast, K and Ca uptake ceased at stages 10.1 and 10.5 respectively and then both were lost from the foliage in heavy showers.Rates of N uptake and soil nitrate depletion correlated significantly, enabling N uptake to be deduced approximately from thesein situ soil nitrate measurements.     

Reduction of trimethylamine N-oxide by Escherichia coli as anaerobic respiration.

E. coli was found to grow anaerobically on lactate in the presence of trimethylamine N-oxide (TMANO), reducing it to trimethylamine. Anaerobic growth on glucose was promoted in the presence of TMANO. When a culture grown in complex medium was transferred to defined medium, growth on glucose and ammonia took place in the presence of TMANO after consumption of complex nutrients introduced with the preculture, in contrast to growth in nitrate respiration. The amounts of ethanol, succinate, and lactate among the fermentation products were decreased and that of acetate was increased in the presence of TMANO. Formate generation was much reduced at pH 7.4, whereas stoichiometric formation of formate was observed in the absence of TMANO. Cells grown anaerobically in the presence of TMANO had a higher activity of amine N-oxide reductase than cells grown under other conditions. The content of cytochrome-558 was elevated in the presence of TMANO during growth in complex medium. Cytochrome c-552 found in cells grown in diluted complex medium or defined medium in the presence of TMANO was oxidized by TMANO in cell extracts. The molar growth yield on glucose was higher in the presence of TMANO than in its absence and lower than that in the presence of nitrate.     

Differential response to irradiation in offspring of freshwater and seawater substrains of Poecilia (Lebistes) reticulata peters in the “guppy male courtship activity test”

Summary An inbred strain (Istanbul) of guppies was divided into two substrains, one of which was maintained and bred in seawater. The offspring of irradiated animals of both substrains (1000 R X-rays to spermatogonia and oogonia of neonatal fish) were tested in a new gruppy male courtship activity test and compared with control groups. The postirradiation response in the seawater substrain was more intense than in the freshwater substrain.Dedicated to Prof.Dr.Dr.h.c.mult. Curt Kosswig on the occasion of his 75th birthday     

Red cell enzyme polymorphisms in the Yoruba.

In this study are presented the results of an investigation of variation in 17 red cell enzyme systems in the Yoruba, a Negro population of western Nigeria. Nine of the systems were found not to be polymorphic. The other eight systems revealed a close resemblance to the Negroes of Southern Africa, and a marked contrast with the San ('Bushmen'). The Yoruba have a history of many centuries of urbanization, while the Southern African Negroes have only recently begun to inhabit large towns. It would appear not only that the polymorphisms investigated are irrelevant to adaptation to urban conditions, but also that no selective forces, and very little drift, has operated on them since the remote ancestral separation of the populations. These results also suggest that the Khoisan contribution to the Southern African Negro gene pool might not be as uniform or as considerable as might be supposed.