Paclobutrazol Protects Wheat Seedlings from Heat and Paraquat Injury. Is Detoxification of Active Oxygen Involved?

Paclobutrazol (PBZ), a member of the triazole family, protectedwheat (Triticum aestivum L.) seedlings from injury due to heat(50°C for 2.5 h) and paraquat (2 mM). Both stresses inducedphotoinhibition, loss of fresh weight and membrane integrity,suggesting the possible involvement of toxic oxygen species.This study tested the hypothesis that PBZ-induced protectionfrom stress is in part mediated by enhanced detoxification ofactive oxygen. The results support this hypothesis since PBZstimulated a 16, 32 and 21% increase in the activities of superoxidedismutase, ascorbate peroxidase (AP), and glutathione reductase(GR), on a fresh weight basis. The increased activities of APand GR were maintained to a higher degree than their correspondingcontrols after exposure to both heat and paraquat stress. Ascorbateand glutathione pools were l4 and 8% higher respectively inthe PBZ-treated wheat than in the controls. Within the cytoplasm,PBZ increased the activities of catalase (45%) and guaiacolperoxidase (29%) on a fresh weight basis and these higher activities,over the controls, were conserved after stress. It is suggestedthat the damage caused by two different stresses, heat and paraquat,is in part due to increased generation of active oxygen andthat PBZ protects plants by maintaining increased antioxidantenzyme activity. (Received May 10, 1993; Accepted October 29, 1993)     

Vessel-diameter distribution in roots of grapevines (Vitis vinifera L. cv. Shiraz)

The distribution frequency patterns of diameter of xylem vessels and percentage of total predicted axial conductances were studied in 190-day and 212-day-old main roots of grapevine (Vitis vinifera L. cv. Shiraz) grown under well-watered and stressed conditions. The protoxylem were the first to mature and were responsible for most of the theoretical conductance in root segments between the tip and 2.5 cm from the tip. Some large xylem vessels retained cross walls and protoplasm up to 22.5 cm from the tip. Statistical tests using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov two sample test showed that the pattern of distribution frequency of xylem vessels classified in different diameter classes varied with distance from the root tip. The distribution frequency of xylem vessels was similar in both well-watered and stressed plants from the tip up to 15 cm from the tip. At distances further from the tip the distribution frequency of xylem vessels of well-watered plants was significantly different from that of stressed plants, with the former having more larger vessels than the latter. The pattern of vessel distribution frequency was different from that of percent total axial conductance (K_h) predicted with fewer large vessels carrying most of the axial flow.     

The Effects of Excess Irradiance on Photosynthesis in the Marine Diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum

The response of Phaeodactylum tricornutum to excess light was remarkably similar to that observed in higher plants and green algae and was characterized by complex changes in minimal fluorescence yields of fully dark-adapted samples and declines in maximum variable fluorescence levels and oxygen evolution rates. In our study the parallel decreases in the effective rate constant for photosystem II (PSII) photochemistry, the variable fluorescence yield of a dark-adapted sample, and light-limited O2 evolution rates after short (0-10 min) exposures to photoinhibitory conditions could not be attributed to damage or down-regulation of PSII reaction centers. Instead, these changes were consistent with the presence of nonphotochemical quenching of PSII excitation energy in the antennae. This quenching was analogous to that component of nonphotochemical quenching studied in higher plants that is associated with photoinhibition of photosynthesis and/or processes protecting against photoinhibition in that it did not relax readily in the dark and persisted in the absence of a bulk transthylakoid proton gradient. The quenching was most likely associated with photoprotective processes in the PSII antenna that reduced the extent of photoinhibitory damage, particularly after longer exposures. Our results suggest that a large population of damaged, slowly recovering PSII centers did not form in Phaeodactylum even after 60 min of exposure to excess actinic light.     

PRODUCTION OF HYALINE HAIRS BY INTERTIDAL SPECIES OF FUCUS (FUCALES) AND THEIR ROLE IN PHOSPHATE UPTAKE1

A field study to determine the precise times of year at which three intertidal species of Fucus start to produce hyaline hairs and cease producing such hairs was conducted on the Isle of Man, U.K. Hairs were first observed during February, and within 6 days of their initial appearance, all tagged plants of all species at all tidal heights on the shore possessed hairs. Hair production continued until the beginning of October, at which time Fucus plants growing at the lowest stations (+ 3.0 m) had glabrous apical growth. Hair production continued later into the year for plants growing higher on the shore, and it was not until mid-November that glabrous apical growth was observed in all plants. Phosphate uptake rates of pilose (hairy) and glabrous (hairless) apical sections were measured in November 1988 for F. spiralis L. and in January 1989 for F. spiralis and F. serratus L., at phosphate concentrations ranging from 0.8 μM (ambient seawater) to 9.0 μM. In ambient seawater, pilose plants of F. spiralis removed phosphate 2–3 times faster than glabrous plants, whereas the uptake rates of pilose plants of F. serratus were about 50% greater than those of glabrous plants. The differences between uptake rates of pilose and glabrous plants of both species were smaller or nonsignificant at higher phosphate concentrations. The field and laboratory data are consistent with the hypothesis that hairs are formed in Fucus as a response to increased nutrient demand and that hairs facilitate the uptake of nutrients from seawater at concentrations typical of natural situations.     

Chlorophyll Turnover in Skeletonema costatum, a Marine Plankton Diatom

[³H]- and δ-[¹⁴C]Aminolevulinic acids were incorporated into the chlorophylls of Skeletonema costatum, a marine plankton diatom. In the stationary phase of growth, the tetrapyrrole-based pigments reached steady-state labeling after 10 hours. Under conditions of exponential cell division and chlorophyll accumulation, ³H was rapidly lost from the labeled chlorophylls and was replaced with ¹⁴C derived from δ-[4−¹⁴C]aminolevulinic acid. The kinetics of isotope dilution suggests recycling of tetrapyrrole precursors and/or two pigment pools, containing both chlorophyll a and chlorophyllide c, one which turns over rapidly (10 hours) and another which turns over more slowly (100 hours). Calculation of turnover times varied from 3 to 10 hours for chlorophyll a and from 7 to 26 hours for chlorophyllide c. The data suggest the dynamics of chlorophyll metabolism in S. costatum and explain the diatom's ability to undergo light-shade adaptation within a generation time.     

Ethylation pf DNA and protamine by ethyl methanesulfonate in the germ cells of male mice and the relevancy of these molecular targets to the induction of dominant lethals

The molecular dosimetry of ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS) in the germ cells of male mice has been investigated. The mice were injected i.p. with 200 mg/kg of [³H]EMS and the ethylations per sperm head, per deoxynucleotide, and per unit of protamine were then determined over a 2-week period. The ethylations per sperm head closely paralleled the dominant-lethal frequency curve for EMS, reaching a maximum of 5 to 6.5 million ethylations per vas sperm head at 8 to 10 days after treatment. Ethylation of sperm DNA was greatest at 4 h after treatment, with 5.7 ethylations/10⁵ deoxynucleotides, and gradually decreased to 2.2 ethylations/10⁵ deoxynucleotides at 15 days after treatment. The ethylation of sperm DNA did not increase in the germ-cell stages most sensitive to EMS, ans was not correlated with the dominant-lethal frequency curve for EMS. However, ethylation of sperm protamine did increase in the germ-cell stages most sensitive to EMS, and showed an excellent correlation with the incidence of dominant lethals produced by EMS in the germ cells.A model is presented to explain, at a molecular level, how dominant lethals may be induced in mouse germ cells by EMS. Ethylation by cysteine sulfhydryl groups contained in mouse-sperm protamine could block normal disulfidebond formation, preventing proper chromatin condensation in the sperm nucleus. Stresses in the chromatin structure could then eventually lead to chromosome breakage, with resultant dominant lethality.     

Discrimination of LH,FSH, TSH and ACTH in dissociated porcine anterior pituitary cells by light and electron microscope immunocytochemistry

Summary Using the PAP unlabelled antibody method, LH, FSH, TSH and ACTH were localized at light microscope level in cultured cells dissociated from the porcine adenohypophysis. Antisera were shown to be specific for the subunits of the porcine glycoprotein hormones by radioimmunoassay and absorption studies. Using these antisera, it was found that LH and FSH were contained within the same cell, with TSH in a separate cell. When absorbed with LH, anti-porcine ACTH stained a separate distinct population of ACTH cells.Adjacent ultra-thin sections stained with anti-pLH and anti-pFSH, and examined at electron microscope level, showed that the ovoid, 150–400 nm secretory granules of the LH/FSH gonadotrophs contained both LH and FSH.The authors gratefully acknowledge the technical assistance of Carole Smith and Adrian Walsh     

Observations on the regulation of sexual quiescence in juvenile and adult male Mallard (Anas platyrhyncos)

The testicular condition of adult and juvenile Mallard drakes has been studied by exploratory laparotomy after treatment with different daily photoperiods. Juveniles reared from hatching under "long" (20L: 4D) photoperiods slowly adopt adult male plumage and become sexually mature. However, treatment with "short" (8L: 16D) photoperiods from days 21–103 of age hastens the appearance of adult plumage and increases the reproductive response when subsequently returned to long photoperiods. Adult drakes will undergo a cycle of testicular maturation and regression on long photoperiods but, in contrast to other species, do not remain sexually quiescent indefinitely while treatment with long photoperiods is continued. Some degree of similarity between juvenile and adult sexual quiescence in Mallard drakes is suggested by the data.