Probing by aphids in the leaf tissues of resistant and susceptible sugar beet

The probing of Aphis fabae and Myzus persicae in the leaves of sugar beet with inherited resistance or susceptibility to aphids was studied by microscopic examination of samples of whole leaves, prepared after 48 h exposure to adult aphids at approximately three aphids cm^-2.The density of saliva stylet-sheaths left by the aphids (cm^-2) and the proportion reaching phloem differed between sugar beet stocks and were inversely associated. Differences in resistance between stocks could not, however, be related directly to either. All beet stocks examined were probed freely. Seasonal differences in sugar beet grown in the glasshouse affected the proportion of sheaths reaching the phloem, but the differences between beet stocks were similar at all times.The densities of sheaths left by different clones of M. persicae corresponded with the aphids' response to sugar beet as a host plant. Among aphid clones which readily colonize sugar beet, the densities of stylet sheaths which reached phloem suggested that the adults of both A. fabae and M. persicae gained sufficient access to sieve tubes to satisfy their nutritional needs. The phloem of sugar beet from the glasshouse was always within the estimated maximum depth to which the aphids probe; but, in leaves from the field, it appeared that the phloem might be inaccessible to young M. persicae in the sugar beet crop during late summer.

---

Zusammenfassung Das Proben von Aphis fabae und Myzus persicae in Blättern von Zuckerrüben mit erblicher Blattlausresistenz bzw.-anfälligkeit wurde untersucht durch mikroskopische Durchmusterung von Speichelscheiden in Proben von ganzen Blatt. Rübenblätter wurden mit genähert drei adulten Läusen cm^-2 besetzt und nach 48 Stunden quergeschnittene Streifen der Blätter in Alkohol fixiert, gefärbt und mit der Unterseite nach oben auf Objektträgern eingeschlossen.23890 Speichelscheiden wurden registriert. Die Dichte der Scheiden von M. persicae (cm^-2) und der Anteil der das Phloem erreichenden Scheiden (SRP) unterschieden sich signifikant zwischen den Rübenstämmen. Bei A. fabae ergaben sich entsprechende, aber nicht gesicherte Unterschiede. Scheidendichte und Prozentsatz SRP waren gegenläufig, zwei Rübenstämme zeigten eine hohe Scheidendichte, zwei andere hatten weniger Scheiden, aber einen höheren Prozentsatz SRP. Diese Gruppierung der Stämme korrespondierte aber nicht mit ihrer Blattlausresistenz. Aus der Scheidendichte ergab sich, dass M. persicae und A. fabae auf allen geprüften Rübenstämmen, resistenten und anfälligen, unbehindert probten, so dass jede Laus das Phloem durchschnittlich etwa viermal am Tag erreichte. Ein Klon von M. persicae, der sich an Rüben nicht entwickelt, hinterliess weniger Scheiden in den Blättern aller Stämme.Der Anteil von SRP war bei Prüfungen im März grösser als im November. Dieser Unterschied war besonders deutlich bei Scheiden von Larven, die im übrigen zu allen Zeiten das Phloem weniger oft erreichten als ihre Eltern. Messungen des Abstandes von der unteren Blattfläche zum Phloem ergaben, dass das Phloem den Läusen in Gewächshaus-Zuckerrüben immer zugänglich war. M. persicae-Larven konnten jedoch in Blättern von Freilandrüben das Phloem nicht erreichen.

     

The thermal denaturation of DNA: average length and composition of denatured areas

A spectral study of melting curves of DNA ranging from 73 to 32% AT indicates that the base ratio of sequences melting within DNA are a linear function of temperature. A study of partially denatured DNA by electron microscopy, reversible renaturation and fractionation on hydroxylapatite suggests that the melting curve of DNA represents the melting of sequences which average 3-4 million daltons in length. These sequences appear to be a combination of two areas, one which is high in AT and denatures in the first three-quarters of the melting curve, and one which is high in GC and denatures in the final quarter. The length of these sequences appears to vary between 1.5-6 million daltons.     

Determination of Melting Sequences in DNA and DNA-Protein Complexes by Difference Spectra

A graphical formula is presented for determining the base ratio of melted DNA. By use of this formula, the composition of sequences which melt in different portions of the melting curves of Clostridium DNA, Escherichia coli DNA, and mouse DNA were determined. As the DNA melts, the per cent of adenine and thymine (AT) in the melted sequences decreases linearly with temperature. The average composition of sequences which melt in a given part of the melting curve is proportional to the base ratio of the DNA. The concentration and average composition of sequences were determined for three parts of the melting curves of the DNA samples, and a frequency distribution curve was constructed. The curve is symmetrical and has a maximum at about 56% AT. The distribution of GC-rich sequences on the E. coli chromosome was estimated by shearing, partially melting, and fractionating the DNA on hydroxylapatite. GC-rich sequences appear to occur every thousand base pairs, and have a maximum length of about 180 base pairs. The graphical formula was applied to the determination of the composition of sequences which melt in different parts of the melting curve of chromatin. Throughout the melting curve, the composition of the melting sequences is about 60% AT, which appears to suggest that relatively long sequences are melting simultaneously. Their melting temperature may be a function of the composition of the protein on different parts of the DNA. The problem of light scattering in DNA-protein and DNA was also investigated. A formula is presented which corrects for light scattering by relating the intensity of the scattered light to the rate of change of absorbance of DNA with wavelength.     

Absence of Free Aldehydes in Fresh Tissues, as Shown with a Neutralized Schiff Reagent

A neutralized Schiff's reagent (pH 6.7) was prepared and used to investigate the role of the acidic nature of the routine Schiff's reagent (pH 2.6) in the plasmal reaction. The neutralized reagent was satisfactory as an aldehyde reagent in the nucleal reaction on gut and, although giving a less intense reaction than the routine reagent in the PAS reaction on the gut and plasmal reaction on the aorta, was satisfactory here in respect to localization and thus to aldehyde specificity. Control sections for the plasmal reaction of unfixed nerve and aorta gave positive results when placed in the routine Schiff's, this increasing with time left in the reagent. Similar control sections in the neutralized Schiff's reagent remained consistently negative even though left in this reagent for 0.5 hr. The positive reaction of such control sections is apparently due to acid hydrolysis of labile plasmalogens by the routine Schiff's reagent in myelin and elastin and not to the presence of “free” aldehydes in these tissue elements     

Factors Influencing the Survival and Revival of Heat-treated Escherichia coli

Maximal revival of heat-damaged Escherichia coli occurred in nutrient media containing 0.8 to 1.0% (w/v) of Difco yeast extract. Vitamins did not appear to be involved in the recovery process. The situation with amino acids was less clear-cut, and, although certain of these may be essential for revival, proof for this is as yet inconclusive. Replica plating, in which colonies (from cells which had survived a heating process) on a rich medium were replicated onto minimal agar, revealed that no auxotrophic mutants had been formed as a result of heat treatment. Bacteria which were heated in 1% (w/v) yeast extract were killed more slowly than those heated in water.     

Quantitative Analyses of Certain Enteric Bacteria and Bacterial Extracts: II. Discrimination of Sonic Extracts by Interfacial Densitometry of Precipitin Systems

Bacterial extracts prepared by ultrasonic disruption were reacted with both narrow- and broad-spectrum reference (homologous) and cross-reacting (heterologous) precipitins produced in rabbits. Quantitation of the reaction was obtained by densitometry of the antigen-antibody interface. Comparisons were made of sonic extracts from various starting populations all equated to the same nitrogen concentrations, and of various nitrogen levels derived from five bacterial population levels prepared separately. Sources of error are probed to show under what circumstances cross-reactions would be of greater magnitude than reference ones. The feasibility was shown of using quantitative densitometry of the interface combined with broadly reacting precipitins to identify bacteria on an intergeneric and interspecies scale. Problems associated with the use of absorbed or monospecific precipitins are explained.