Effects of atmospheric CO2 enrichment and root restriction on leaf gas exchange and growth of banana (Musa)

The effects of atmospheric CO₂ enrichment and root restriction on photosynthetic characteristics and growth of banana (Musa sp. AAA cv. Gros Michel) plants were investigated. Plants were grown aeroponically in root chambers in controlled environment glasshouse rooms at CO₂ concentrations of 350 or 1 000 μmol CO₂ mol^-1. At each CO₂ concentration, plants were grown in large (2001) root chambers that did not restrict root growth or in small (20 1) root chambers that restricted root growth. Plants grown at 350 μmol CO₂ mol^-1 generally had a higher carboxylation efficiency than plants grown at 1 000 μmol CO₂ mol^-1 although actual net CO₂ assimilation (A) was higher at the higher ambient CO₂ concentration due to increased intercellular CO₂ concentrations (C_i resulting from CO₂ enrichment. Thus, plants grown at 1 000 μmol CO₂ mol^-1 accumulated more leaf area and dry weight than plants grown at 350 μmol CO₂ mol^-1. Plants grown in the large root chambers were more photosynthetically efficient than plants grown in the small root chambers. At 350 μmol CO₂ mol^-1, leaf area and dry weights of plant organs were generally greater for plants in the large root chambers compared to those in the small root chambers. Atmospheric CO₂ enrichment may have compensated for the effects of root restriction on plant growth since at 1 000 μmol CO₂ mol^-1 there was generally no effect of root chamber size on plant dry weight.     

Immediate-early regulatory gene mutants define different stages in the establishment and reactivation of herpes simplex virus latency.

Using nonsense and deletion mutants of herpes simplex virus type 1, we investigated the roles of three immediate-early proteins (ICP4, ICP27 and ICP0) in the establishment and reactivation of ganglionic latency in a mouse ocular model. DNA hybridization, superinfection-rescue, and cocultivation techniques provided quantitative data that distinguished between the failure of a virus to establish latency in the ganglion and its failure to reactivate. Null mutants with lesions in the genes for ICP4 and ICP27 did not replicate in the eye or in ganglia and failed to establish reactivatable latent infections. Three ICP0 deletion mutants which could replicate in the eye and ganglia varied in their ability to establish and reactivate from the latent state, demonstrating that ICP0 plays a role both in the establishment and the reactivation of latency. The use of viral mutants and a variety of stage-specific assays allowed us to better define the stages in the establishment and reactivation of herpes simplex virus type 1 latency.     

Qualitative Complementation Test for Temperature-Sensitive Mutants of Herpes Simplex Virus

A simple, rapid, qualitative method for classifying temperature-sensitive mutants of herpes simplex virus into functional complementation groups has been developed. The positive reaction observed in this test reflects the ability of mutant pairs to interact by both complementation and recombination.     

Mutants defective in herpes simplex virus type 2 ICP4: isolation and preliminary characterization.

Vero cells were biochemically transformed with the gene encoding ICP4 of herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2). These cells were used as permissive hosts to isolate and propagate HSV-2 mutants defective in this gene. Two mutants, designated hr259 and hr79, were isolated. Neither mutant grew in nontransformed Vero cells, but both grew to near wild-type levels in HSV-2 ICP4-expressing cells. hr259 contains a deletion of about 0.6 kilobases which eliminates the mRNA start site of the ICP4 gene. hr79 contains a mutation which maps by marker rescue to the portion of the ICP4 gene encoding the carboxy-terminal half of the protein. Although hr259 failed to generate any detectable ICP4 mRNA in nontransformed Vero cells, hr79 encoded an ICP4 mRNA which is wild type with respect to size. In nontransformed Vero cells infected with hr259, only ICP0, ICP6, ICP22, and ICP27 were readily detectable. In the case of hr79, a truncated form of ICP4 appeared to be made in addition to ICP0, ICP6, ICP22, and ICP27. Both hr259 and hr79 grew efficiently on cell lines transformed with the ICP4 gene of HSV-1 as evidenced by plating efficiencies and single-burst experiments. Similarly, cells transformed with the ICP4 gene of HSV-2 served as efficient hosts for the growth of d120, HSV-1 ICP4 deletion mutant.     

Potentiation of the actions of insulin by taurine

Taurine was found to mediate several changes in myocardial metabolism. In the absence of insulin, only oxygen consumption was significantly elevated by taurine; however, in the presence of 2.5 U/L insulin the amino acid caused the stimulation of glycolysis and glycogenesis, as well as oxygen utilization. These effects of taurine were shown to be dependent on insulin concentration, suggesting a link between the two substances. Measurements of key metabolic intermediates revealed that taurine stimulated glycolysis by enhancing flux through phosphofructokinase. Similarly, it was shown that glycogenesis was promoted because of the increase in glycogen synthase I and decrease in phosphorylase alpha activity. Several possible mechanisms for the observed changes are discussed.     

Allozyme Frequency Changes Associated with Selection for Increased Grain Yield in Maize (ZEA MAYS L.)

Frequency changes of alleles at eight enzyme loci were monitored in four long-term maize selection experiments. The results indicate that changes in frequencies of the alleles at these loci are associated with changes due to selection for improved grain yield. The frequencies changed more than is consistent with the hypothesis of selective neutrality. In addition, significant deviations from a random-drift model were nearly always accompanied by significant linear trends as would result if allozyme frequencies respond to directional selection. Evaluations of linkages and linkage disequilibria in the selected populations indicate that the eight enzyme loci responded independently as selection progressed.     

Spontaneous Allozyme Mutations in DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER: Rate of Occurrence and Nature of the Mutants

After additional generations of accumulation of allozyme mutants, the 1,000 lines of Mukai and Cockerham (1977) were again screened for the same five loci (alpha-Gpdh, cMdh, Adh, Hex-C and alpha-Amy), as well as for two new loci (Got-2 and Dip-A). Based on 3,111,598 allele generations: (1) the average mutation rate to new mobility variants with normal function was estimated to be 1.28 x 10(-6), and (2) the average mutation rate to null alleles was estimated to be 3.86 x 10(-6). A qualitative analysis of the nulls provided evidence that most of the mutants recovered are due to base substitutions. No apparent correlation was observed between structural gene size and mutation rate.     

Sucrose Phosphate Synthase, Sucrose Synthase, and Invertase Activities in Developing Fruit of Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. and the Sucrose Accumulating Lycopersicon hirsutum Humb. and Bonpl

The green-fruited Lycopersicon hirsutum Humb. and Bonpl. accumulated sucrose to concentrations of about 118 micromoles per gram fresh weight during the final stages of development. In comparison, Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. cultivars contained less than 15 micromoles per gram fresh weight of sucrose at the ripe stage. Glucose and fructose levels remained relatively constant throughout development in L. hirsutum at 22 to 50 micromoles per gram fresh weight each. Starch content was low even at early stages of development, and declined further with development. Soluble acid invertase (EC 3.2. 1.26) activity declined concomitant with the rise in sucrose content. Acid invertase activity, which was solubilized in 1 molar NaCl (presumably cell-wall bound), remained constant throughout development (about 3 micromoles of reducing sugars (per gram fresh weight) per hour. Sucrose phosphate synthase (EC 2.4.1.14) activity was present at about 5 micromoles of sucrose (per gram fresh weight) per hour even at early stages of development, and increased sharply to about 40 micromoles of sucrose (per gram fresh weight) per hour at the final stages of development studied, parallel to the rise in sucrose content. In comparison, sucrose phosphate synthase activity in L. esculentum remained low throughout development. The possible roles of the sucrose metabolizing enzymes in determining sucrose accumulation are discussed.