Cellulose Microfibril Orientation in Rubbery Wood

The fibre length L and average helical angle of microfibrilorientation in fibres from successive growth rings in both normaland ‘rubbery’ wood of stems of apple var. Lord Lambournehave been measured. It has been shown that the normal relationship,L = A+B cot , does not hold for ‘rubbery wood’.There is a tendency for the helix to remain flat, the angle fairly constant independently of fibre length. This, togetherwith abnormalities in the lignin chemistry, causes the rubberywood to have low tensile strength and high extensibility.     

Amoeboid Locomotion of Naegleria gruberi: the Effects of Cytochalasin B on Cell-Substratum Interactions and Motile Behaviour

The major manifestations of amoeboid locomotion in Naegleria—cytoplasmic streaming, pseudopod production, cell polarity and focal contact production—require that the actin-based cytoskeleton be extremely dynamic. Whether these features are causally linked is unclear. In an attempt to answer this question we have used the fungal product cytochalasin B (cyt B) to dissect the motility process. This drug can perturb the organisation of actin filaments both in vivo and in vitro. Essentially cyt B acts as a molecule which can cap the barbed ends of actin filaments. Not surprisingly therefore cyt B has an effect on rates of actin polymerization and the dynamic state of actin in the cytoplasm. We have found that cyt B has a profound effect on focal contact production and breakdown. Within minutes of addition of cyt B focal contact production ceases, existing focal contacts are stabilised but cytoplasmic streaming and pseudopod production are not blocked. In conclusion it is now clear that the state of actin required for focal contact production is different from that required for pseudopod extension and cytoplasmic streaming.     

Genetic structure and morphological variation of British populations of the hybrid Potamogeton x salicifolius

Potamogeton x salicifolius Wolfg. is one of the three most frequently recorded Potamogeton hybrids in the British Isles and Europe. It is thought to be the hybrid between P. lucens and P. perfoliatus. Its scattered distribution suggests that it has arisen several times in Britain. Most British populations of P. x salicifolius can be identified by their morphological characteristics, which are intermediate between those of the putative parents P. lucens and P. perfoliatus . However, the population at the Ouse Washes, Cambridgeshire, differs from other populations in its greater similarity to P . lucens . A genetic study of eight British populations, using six isozyme systems, revealed that most populations consist of a single multi-enzyme phenotype. This suggests that they were the result of a single hybridization event and are therefore maintained through vegetative reproduction. By contrast, the Ouse Washes population consists of three multi-enzyme phenotypes. This variation is likely to have resulted from multiple hybridization events, although we cannot exclude the possibility that the plants are partially fertile. The isozyme systems studied were unable to identify P. lucens and P. perfoliatus unambiguously, and consequently did not provide evidence for their putative parentage of P. x salicifolius. However, at a local level the banding patterns of the hybrids were generally consistent with the local multi-enzyme phenotypes of these putative parents.  © 2004 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society , 2004, 144 , 99–111.     

Electron microscopic structure and oxygen evolution activity of thylakoids from Avicennia marina prepared under different osmotic and ionic conditions

Abstract Stacking of thylakoid membranes in vitro was assessed using electron microscopy. Grana stacks of spinach thylakoids formed when 5 mol m^?3 MgCl₂ was present, but no stacking of thylakoids from the mangrove Avicennia marina occurred in the presence of 10 mol m^?3? MgCl₂. Isolation of mangrove thylakoids with a high osmotic strength medium did not induce grana formation if the medium consisted only of sorbitol or glycinebetaine. Addition of cations to the high osmotic strength medium did induce some loose-grana formation, with divalent cations being more effective than monovalent cations. Glycinebetaine was a better osmoticum than sorbitol for grana formation provided divalent cations had been added. Oxygen evolution activity of the preparations was influenced by the amount of membrane stacking, with the preparations with the greatest amount of stacked membrane having the highest activity. Isolation with sorbitol or glycinebetaine based media did not alter this pattern, nor did assay in sorbitol or glycinebetaine. Mangrove thylakoids have a requirement for both a high osmotic strength and divalent cations for grana formation in vitro which may be related to the low water potential of the plant environment in vivo.     

Arrays of Granules Associated with the Plasmalemma in Swarmers of Cladophora

The surface region of swarmers of the green alga, Cladophorarupestris, has been studied in both chemically fixed and freeze-etchedmaterial. Swarmers prepared by each of these methods show arraysof granules outside the plasmalemma, covered by a layer of fibrousmaterial of unknown composition which completely surrounds thecell. In the case of freeze-etched swarmers, the granules areformed into a lattice closely similar to that predicted earlierin the ‘ordered granule hypothesis’ of cellulosebiosynthesis. No microfibrils have yet been observed in associationwith the granules, but their location in the region of wallformation, at a time when this process is in its early stages,lends support to the possibility that the granules may be theorganelles responsible for the production and orientation ofthe cellulose microfibrillar component of the cell wall. Noevidence was observed during this work to suggest that any otherorganelle is responsible for cellulose formation.     

Tolerance of several wild oat herbicides by a range of winter wheat varieties

Screening tests exposed varietal differences in the tolerance of winter wheat to high doses of the wild oat herbicides difenzoquat and diclofop-methyl. Subsequent yield trials at recommended and higher doses confirmed the sensitivity of Score and Sportsman to difenzoquat and showed Atou, Bouquet and Hobbit to be less tolerant than some other varieties. In most varieties, earlier spraying proved safer than treatment at or beyond the beginning of jointing. Varietal differences with diclofop-methyl were smaller and inconsistent. Crops damage from these two herbicides was more severe in another experiment the following season, in which isoproturon at double the recommended dose also caused severe damage but flamprop-methyl was fairly well tolerated by all varieties.     

An Electron-microscopic Investigation of the Walls of Conifer Cambium

Electron-micrographs of the primary walls of conifer cambiumreveal the type of structure already found in other primarywalls, except that no area of ‘loose’ microfibrilsappear to be present. In addition, groups of fibrils are visibleradiating from a centre which appears to be granular and recallingstrongly the putative islands of synthesis reported in Valonia.