Genetics of sex determination in flowering plants

Most flowering plant species are hermaphroditic, but a small number of species in most plant families are unisexual (i.e., an individ-ual will produce only male or female gametes). Because species with unisexual flowers have evolved repeatedly from hermaphroditic progenitors, the mechanisms controlling sex determination in flowering plants are extremely diverse. Sex is most strongly determined by genotype in all species but the mechanisms range from a single controlling locus to sex chromosomes bearing several linked locirequired for sex determination. Plant hormones also influence sex expression with variable effects from species to species. Here, we review the genetic control of sex determination from a number of plant species to illustrate the variety of extant mechanisms. We emphasize species that are now used as models to investigate the molecular biology of sex determination. We also present our own investigations of the structure of plant sex chromosomes of white campion (Silene latifolia - Melan-drium album). The cytogenetic basis of sex determination in white campion is similar to mammals in that it has a male-specific Y-chromosome that carries dominant male determining genes. If one copy of this chromosome is in the genome, the plant is male. Otherwise it is female. Like mammalian Y-chromosomes, the white campion Y-chromosome is rich in repetitive DNA. We isolated repetitive sequences from microdissected Y-chromosomes of white campion to study the distribution of homologous repeated sequences on the Y-chromosome and the other chromosomes. We found the Y to be especially rich in repetitive sequences that were generally dispersed over all the white campion chromosomes. Despite its repetitive character, the Y-chromosome is mainly euchromatic. This may be due to the relatively recent evolution of the white campion sex chromosomes compared to the sex chromosomes of animals. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Effect of oxygen abstraction on the peroxidase–luminol–perborate system: Relevance to the HRP enhanced chemiluminescence mechanism

Abstraction of oxygen from the HRP enhanced chemiluminescence system has no significant effect on the chemiluminescence generated. It is, therefore, proposed that in the peroxidase-luminol-perborate system at pH 7.3, chemiluminescence is generated by a direct reaction of diazaquinones with hydrogen peroxide and not, as generally assumed, from the reaction of luminol radicals with the molecular oxygen.     

Conformational analysis of d-tubocurarine: Implications for minimal dimensions of its binding site within ion channels

All the minimum-energy conformations of d-tubocurarine were calculated by the method of molecular mechanics. The energy was minimized from 413 closed forms of the 18-member ring. The set of minimum-energy conformations includes 10 forms with energies less than 6 kcal/mol from the most stable one. Among the four lowest minimum-energy conformations, two forms correspond to those known from X-ray studies, whereas two conformations were not detected experimentally earlier. The flexibility of d-tubocurarine was estimated by calculating six paths of interconversion between the four lowest minimum-energy conformations. Using a molecular graphics technique, it was found that the most extended minimum-energy conformation of d-tubocurarine may fit in an ion channel of a rectangular profile of 8.7 × 11.2 Å, while one tetrahydroisoquinoline head may fit a profile as small as 6.9 × 11.0 Å. A possible model of d-tubocurarine location within the ion channel of the neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor is suggested.     

Osmoregulation and role of nitrate during regrowth after cutting of ryegrass (Lolium perenne)

The osmotic role of nitrate during aftermath growth of Lolium perenne L. cv. Réveille was investigated. Plants were grown from seed in a controlled environment using a liquid medium with 1.0 m M NH₄NO₃ as nitrogen source.
Eight-week-old plants were cut 4.0 cm above the root system and then harvested over a 14-day period of regrowth on the same initial nutrient solution, except that nitrate was ¹⁵N labelled. Throughout the experimental period, nitrate storage and reduction in roots were low. In stubble and especially in leaves, nitrate accumulated during the first 6 days of regrowth whereas nitrate reduction mainly occurred after this period. Analyses of carbohydrate, chloride and potassium contents in stubble and leaves showed that the accumulation of nitrate osmotically compensated for the decrease in soluble sugars during the first 6 days of regrowth.
The cumulative osmotic potential of sugars, chloride and nitrate in differently treated plants was studied in stubble and leaves. Compared with uncut plants, the lower carbohydrate concentrations found in cut plants regrowing on 1.0 m M NH₄NO₃ were compensated for by an accumulation of nitrate. During aftermath growth on low nitrogen nutrition (0.2 m M NH₄NO₃), chloride replaced nitrate, supporting the proposed osmotic function of nitrate.
It is concluded that nitrate is involved in the osmotic adjustment of ryegrass during regrowth after cutting.     

Microwave influence on the isolated heart function: II. Combined effect of radiation and some drugs

The combined effects of microwave radiation and some drugs were studied in an isolated frog auricle preparation. The experiments established that exposure to pulse-modulated 915 MHz microwaves for up to 40 min had no effect on either the rate or the amplitude of spontaneous auricle twitches, unless the average absorbed power was high enough to produce preparation heating. Treatment of the preparation with saline containing (0.6–3.0) 10^?5 M of propranolol or (0.5–1.5) 10^?7 M of atropine altered neither its pacemaker nor its contractile functions; these drugs also had no effect when they were combined with nonthermal microwave irradiation. Caffeine (1 mM) strongly increased the average heart power, which was calculated as the product of twitch rate and amplitude. The caffeine effect appeared to be significantly augmented (by about 15%, P<0.02) under exposure to burst-type pulsed microwaves (pulse width, 1.5 msec; pause, 2.5 msec; 8 pulses/burst, 16 bursts/s; average SAR, 8–10 W/kg). By itself, this modulation was not effective; the heating of the preparation and saline during exposure was approximately 0.1°C, which could not account for the detected changes. The experimental results demonstrate that caffeine treatment increases the microwave sensitivity of the frog auricle preparation and reveals primarily subthreshold, nonthermal microwave effect. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Immunocytochemical Distribution of 5-HT (Serotonin) in the Nervous System of the Gastrotrich Turbanella cornuta

The 5-HT (serotonin) distribution in the nervous system of the macrodasyoid gastrotrich Turbanella cornuta was studied using immunocytochemical methods. Positive immunoreaction was found in two pairs of neurons. The neurons of one pair had processes which extended peripherally to the surface of the body. Central processes of both pairs entered the brain commissure and proceeded into the longitudinal cords. Unlike other acoelomate worms studied so far, the Platyhelminthes and the Nematoda, in this gastrotrich no 5-HT positive perikarya or processes were present in the pharynx innervation, and no positive neurons sent processes directly to the nerve cords     

Clinical and Molecular Characterization of Patients with Distal 11q Deletions

Jacobsen syndrome is caused by segmental aneusomy for the distal end of the long arm of chromosome 11. Typical features include mild to moderate psychomotor retardation, trigonocephaly, facial dysmorphism, cardiac defects, and thrombocytopenia, though none of these features are invariably present. To define the critical regions responsible for these abnormalities, we studied 17 individuals with de novo terminal deletions of 11q. The patients were characterized in a loss-of-heterozygosity analysis using polymorphic dinucleotide repeats. The breakpoints in the complete two-generation families were localized with an average resolution of 3.9 cM. Eight patients with the largest deletions extending from 11q23.3 to 11qter have breakpoints, between D11S924 and D11S1341. This cytogenetic region accounts for the majority of 11q⁻ patients and may be related to the FRA11B fragile site in 11q23.3. One patient with a small terminal deletion distal to D11S1351 had facial dysmorphism, cardiac defects, and thrombocytopenia, suggesting that the genes responsible for these features may lie distal to D11S1351. Twelve of 15 patients with deletion breakpoints as far distal as D11S1345 had trigonocephaly, while patients with deletions distal to D11S912 did not, suggesting that, if hemizygosity for a single gene is responsible for this dysmorphic feature, the gene may lie distal to D11S1345 and proximal to D11S912.