A multivariate diagnosis approach applied to celery

Celery (Apium graveolens L. var Dulce) is a high value crop affected at different growth stages by a variety of nutrient disorders. Each nutrient concentration can be corrected for its dependence on concentrations of other nutrients by recognizing plant composition as a closed system whose components add up to one. New variables z _i are computed as logratioed values of individual nutrients, where each nutrient concentration is corrected for the geometric mean of all nutrient concentrations. The z _i are used together with principal component analysis (PCA) to relate celery composition to yield, deficiency symptoms and quality parameters. A survey of commercial celery fields suggested that (1) celery growth is most often limited by P and N deficiencies associated with Fe toxicity; (2) K uptake is most likely to become limiting when the crop reaches 15 cm in height; (3) blackheart incidence can be traced to low levels of K and Mg in external petioles, and (4) cracked stem incidence is related to low B when the crop is 30 cm in height.     

Queen-worker conflict over sex ratio: A comparison of primary and secondary sex ratios in the Argentine ant,Iridomyrmex humilis

We compare the primary sex ratio (proportion of haploid eggs laid by queens) and the secondary sex ratio (proportion of male pupae produced) in the Argentine ant Iridomyrmex humilis with the aim of investigating whether workers control the secondary sex ratio by selectively eliminating male brood. The proportion of haploid eggs produced by queens was close to 0.5 in late winter, decreased to less than 0.3 in spring and summer, and increased again to a value close to 0.5 in fall. Laboratory experiments indicate that temperture is a proximate factor influencing the primary sex ratio with a higher proportion of haploid eggs being laid at colder temperatures. Production of queen pupae ceased in mid-June, about three weeks before that of male pupae. After this time only worker pupae were produced. During the period of production of sexuals, the proportion of male pupae ranged from 0.30 to 0.38. Outside this period no males were reared although haploid eggs were produced all the year round by queens. Workers thus exert a control on the secondary sex ratio by eliminating a proportion of the male brood during the period of sexual production and eliminating all the males during the remainder of the cycle. These data are consistent with workers preferring a more female-biased sex ratio than queens. The evolutionary significance of the production of male eggs by queens all the year round is as yet unclear. It may be a mechanism allowing queen replacement in the case of the death of the queens in the colony.     

Differential localization of two isoforms of the regulatory subunit RIIα of cAMP-dependent protein kinase in human sperm: Biochemical and cytochemical study

In the present study, immunogold labeling of ultrathin sections of ejaculated sperm was used to obtain insight into the ultrastructural localization and presumable function of type II cAMP-dependent protein kinase in sperm motion. In the flagellum, a human-specific isoform of the RIIα subunit was located on the axonemal microtubule wall, whereas a different isoform of broader specificity was present in the cytoplasm at the periphery of the coarse fibers and fibrous sheath. This isoform was also found in the mitochondria. The human-specific RIIα subunit is likely linked to microtubules by a unique binding protein of M_r 72kD. These findings are in agreement with the concept of a concerted mechanism involving phosphorylation of both the axonemal microtubules and the fibrous structures for the regulation of mammalian sperm motion. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Measuring production and viability of eggs in Calanus helgolandicus

The effect of several biotic and abiotic factors on the fecundityand hatching success of Calanus helgolandicus was tested duringshort- and long-term incubations. The results show that thevariations of the reproductive responses of C.helgolandicusare time dependent and rely on the type of factor tested. Whenstandardized over a 24 h incubation period, estimates ofin situproduction and egg viability can be obtained with good accuracy.     

Transformation of chicory and expression of the bacterial uidA and nptll genes in the transgenic regenerants

Transgenic chicory plants were obtained from different explantsco-cultured with Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Among tap-root,leaf and cotyledonary tissues, etiolated cotyledons showed thegreatest competence for transformation. The Agrobacterium strainsused contained either pGSGLUC1 or pTDE4 as a vector which carryboth the neomycin phosphotransferase II gene (nptll) for kanamycinresistance and ß-glucuronidase gene (uidA) under thecontrol of different promoters. Transformation was confirmedby NPTII enzymatic assay, histochemical analysis of GUS activityand DNA hybridization. Transgenic plants expressed both markergenes in root and shoot tissues. In leaves, GUS activity wasexpressed in all tissue types, whatever the nature of the promoter.Nevertheless, variable heterogeneous patterns of expressionwere observed in the different root tissues. Differential expression of the GUS fusions controlled by thedual TR or the CaMV 35S promoters are discussed. Key words: Chicory, genetic transformation, GUS activity, kanamycin resistance     

Induction of alternative oxidase synthesis by herbicides inhibiting branched-chain amino acid synthesis

Sycamore suspension cells ( Acer pseudoplatanus L.) were incubated in the presence of sulfonylurea and imidazolinone herbicides. These inhibitors of acetolactate synthase (ALS), a key enzyme of branched-chain amino acid synthesis, triggered a dramatic induction of the alternative oxidase (AOX). AOX activity increased in treated cells, eventually exceeding cytochrome (cyt) pathway activity. This induction of AOX activity was correlated with the accumulation of a 35 kDa AOX protein in isolated mitochondria, detected by Western blotting with a monoclonal antibody against Sauromatum guttatum AOX. It was preceded by the accumulation of putative 1.6 kb AOX mRNA, detected using an Aox cDNA probe from soybean. The metabolic perturbations induced by the herbicides rather than the herbicide molecules themselves were responsible for this induction of AOX. However, α-oxobutyrate (one of the substrates of ALS) and its transamination product, α-aminobutyrate, which accumulated after herbicide treatment, were not involved. The inhibition of branched-chain amino acid synthesis was probably somehow responsible for the AOX induction since: (i) a mixture of those amino acids (leucine, isoleucine, valine) prevented AOX induction by ALS inhibitors; (ii) the herbicide Hoe 704, a potent inhibitor of acetolactate reducto-isomerase (the enzyme following ALS in the branched-chain amino acid pathway), also triggered AOX induction.     

Equine infectious anemia virus utilizes a YXXL motif within the late assembly domain of the Gag p9 protein.

We have previously demonstrated that the Gag p9 protein of equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) is functionally homologous with Rous sarcoma virus (RSV) p2b and human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) p6 in providing a critical late assembly function in RSV Gag-mediated budding from transfected COS-1 cells (L. J. Parent et al., J. Virol. 69:5455-5460, 1995). In light of the absence of amino acid sequence homology between EIAV p9 and the functional homologs of RSV and HIV-1, we have now designed an EIAV Gag-mediated budding assay to define the late assembly (L) domain peptide sequences contained in the EIAV p9 protein. The results of these particle budding assays revealed that expression of EIAV Gag polyprotein in COS-1 cells yielded extracellular Gag particles with a characteristic density of 1.18 g/ml, while expression of EIAV Gag polyprotein lacking p9 resulted in a severe reduction in the release of extracellular Gag particles. The defect in EIAV Gag polyprotein particle assembly could be corrected by substituting either the RSV p2b or HIV-1 p6 protein for EIAV p9. These observations demonstrated that the L domains of EIAV, HIV-1, and RSV were interchangeable in mediating assembly of EIAV Gag particles in the COS-1 cell budding assay. To localize the L domain of EIAV p9, we next assayed the effects of deletions and site-specific mutations in the p9 protein on its ability to mediate budding of EIAV Gag particles. Analyses of EIAV Gag constructs with progressive N-terminal or C-terminal deletions of the p9 protein identified a minimum sequence of 11 amino acids (Q20N21L22Y23P24D25L26S27E28I29K30) capable of providing the late assembly function. Alanine scanning studies of this L-domain sequence demonstrated that mutations of residues Y23, P24, and L26 abrogated the p9 late budding function; mutations of other residues in the p9 L domain did not substantially affect the level of EIAV Gag particle assembly. These data indicate that the L domain in EIAV p9 utilizes a YXXL motif which we hypothesize may interact with cellular proteins to facilitate virus particle budding from infected cells.