A scanning electron microscope study of ectodermal differentiations in the caudal mantle epithelium of embryos and juveniles of Loligo vulgaris,Loligo forbesi and Sepia officinalis

Summary

The mantle epithelium of embryos and early juveniles of the squids Loligo vulgaris and Loligo forbesi and the cuttlefish Sepia officinalis was studied using scanning electron microscopy. In embryos of L. vulgaris and L. forbesi, previously undescribed epidermal structures were found. They are missing in S. officinalis embryos. These so-called “extruding structures” are located near Hoyle's organ and first appear at stage XIII of Naef. At the same embryonic stage, Hoyle's organ starts to differentiate and “uniform-type” ciliated cells become visible in the epidermis of both L. vulgaris and L. forbesi. Directly after hatching the epidermis of the species examined starts to slough off and finally the extruding structures, Hoyle's organ and both types of ciliated cells of the mantle epithelium disappear. The function of the extruding structures remains obscure.     

Two new protease-inhibiting glycosphingolipids from Buddleja crispa

Crispins A (1) and B (2), two new glycosphingolipids, were isolated from the whole plant Buddleja crispa, along with three known compounds: alpha-amyrin, linoleic acid, and stigmasterol. Their structures were elucidated by chemical and spectroscopic techniques. Both 1 and 2 showed significant inhibitory activity against alpha-chymotrypsin in a concentration-dependent manner.     

Flower size variation in Rosmarinus officinalis: individuals, populations and habitats

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Flowers are relatively invariant organs within species, but quantitative variation often exists among conspecifics. These variations represent the raw material that natural selection can magnify, eventually resulting in morphological divergence and diversification. This paper investigates floral variability in Rosmarinus officinalis, a Mediterranean shrub. METHODS: Nine populations were selected in three major southern Spanish habitats (coast, lowland and mountains) along an elevation gradient. Flower samples from randomly chosen plants were collected from each population, and a total of 641 flowers from 237 shrubs were weighed while still fresh to the nearest 0.1 mg. Leaves from the same plants were also measured. Variations among habitats, sites and plants were explored with general linear model ANOVA. Leaf-flower covariation was also investigated. KEY RESULTS: Most (58%) mass in flowers was accounted for by the corolla, whose linear dimensions correlated directly with flower mass. Averaged over plants, the mass of a flower varied between 12 mg and 38 mg. Habitat, site (within habitat) and shrub identity had significant effects on mass variance. Flowers from the coast were the smallest (17 mg) and those from the mountains the largest (25 mg on average). A pattern of continuously increasing flower size with elevation emerged which was largely uncoupled from the geographical pattern of leaf size variation. CONCLUSIONS: As regards flower size, a great potential to local differentiation exists in Rosmarinus. Observed divergences accord with a regime of large-bodied pollinator selection in the mountains, but also with resource-cost hypotheses on floral evolution that postulate that reduced corollas are advantageous under prevailingly stressful conditions.     

On the perils of mycorrhizal status lists: the case of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Buddleja davidii</Emphasis>

One observation in a mycorrhizal check-list that Buddleja davidii is nonmycorrhizal has been perpetuated in subsequent citations and used in a number of analyses of mycorrhizal ecology and evolution. Direct observation of B. davidii from New Zealand and the UK shows extensive arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal structures inside B. davidii roots. The suggestion that B. davidii is nonmycorrhizal is therefore not supported. The use of mycorrhizal checklists for analysis of plant traits and evolution needs to be undertaken with care to ensure the validity of underlying data.     

Sex determination and differentiation in Asparagus officinalis L.

The paper summarizes the coordinated researches conducted by three Italian groups in the area of sex determination and differentiation in the dioecious species Asparagus officinalis. Morphological evidence indicates that sex differentiation in Asparagus consists essentially of selective abortion of gynoecium or androecium of initially hermaphroditic floral primordia occurring in genotypically determined male and female individuals. Abortion occurs in pollen-mother cells and anthers in females and in megaspore-mother cells but not in the vegetative tissues of the ovary in males. The differential developmental pathway is accompanied by changes in relative abundance of auxin and cytokinins. The genetic ssytem controlling abortion of male or female organs is apparently monogenic (possibly a bipartite gene) with factor(s) associated with the homomorphic chromosome pair L5. Other genes influence the development of reproductive structures as indicated by the presence of genetic factors controlling stylar growth in male plants. The presence of extensive polymorphism in isoenzyme and DNA restriction fragment length patterns (RFLP) allows the search for markers associated with ‘sex genes’: a locus encoding a malic dehydrogenase (MDH) isoenzyme has been found about 20 cM from sex genes implying that chromosomes in which sex factors are located could pair and recombine. Searches for messages specifically expressed in reproductive structures were conducted by 2D-electrophoresis of existing and newly synthesized polypeptides or of in vitro translation products of poly(A) ⁺RNA from male and female flowers and by isolating specific monoclonal antibodies against sex specific floral antigens.     

南药巴戟天本草考证

巴戟天(Morinda officinalis)是我国传统四大南药之一。本文系统地梳理了中国历代本草及近现代文献对南药巴戟天的基原、产地变迁、加工炮制和品质评价等方面的记载。经考证,古今巴戟天基原植物差异很大,清末以前本草记载的巴戟天涉及基原植物有6科10属12种,通过比对本草文献中对巴戟天的有效生物学描述,可以明确古代巴戟天来源于葡萄科(Vitaceae)三叶崖爬藤(Tetrastigma hemsleynum Diels et Gilg)、百合科(Liliflorae)沿阶草(Ophiopogon bodinieri Levl.)及开口箭(Campylandra chinensis(Baker)M.N.Tamura et al.)3种;古代巴戟天产地与现代《中国药典》记载的品种产地差异大;炮制方法古今沿用,炮制品有盐巴戟天、制巴戟天和酒巴戟天;品质以条粗大而且呈连珠状、肉厚、色紫质软、内芯木部细、味微甜、无蛀虫、体干者为佳。通过本草考证,可厘清巴戟天古今之变,为巴戟天商品规格研制提供保障。     

药用野生稻TAC克隆转化籼稻的体系初探

采用已构建的药用野生稻TAC文库,比较研究4个籼稻品种在不同培养基的诱导率及愈伤组织对潮霉素抗性。通过2种不同诱导方法产生的愈伤组织,将携带药用野生稻大片段DNA的TAC克隆转化到籼稻品种中的结果表明,除了‘粤香占’以外,其它3个品种在心诱导培养基中添加微量B,后,其愈伤诱导率最高。不同品种的潮霉素筛选适合浓度存在差异,其中‘华粳籼74’的适合筛选浓度为50mg．L-1,‘粤香占’为40mg．L-1。用预培养5d的愈伤组织进行遗传转化,在潮霉素筛选之前先以头孢拉定抑菌处理的,容易获得转基因植株。4个品种中以‘粤香占’的抗性愈伤组织筛选率和分化率最高,分别为22．58％和14．86％。分子检测11株转基因水稻的结果表明,其中8株含有抗性标记基因。据此认为,药用野生稻TAC文库在水稻创新育种中可能有一定的利用前景。     

厚朴基原植物及其4个近缘种的花粉鉴定

采用扫描电镜对2种厚朴基原植物(厚朴Magnolia officinalis Rehd.et Wils.、凹叶厚朴M.officinalis Rehd.et Wils.var.biloba Rehd.et Wils.)及4种近缘植物(玉兰M.denudata Desr.、紫玉兰M.liliiflora Desr.、望春玉兰M.biondii Pampan.、荷花玉兰M.grandiflora L.)的花粉形态、表面纹饰和大小进行了观察研究。结果显示:(1)6种植物的花粉粒均为单粒,具远极单萌发沟,沟长,直达两端,左右对称,异极;侧面观均为舟形,两端较尖,赤道面观为椭圆形或近椭圆形,极面观均为近圆形;外壁均具小穴状或网状纹饰。(2)厚朴的小穴状纹饰小而浅,不明显;凹叶厚朴的小穴状纹饰小但较深,也不甚明显;相比之下,紫玉兰、玉兰、望春玉兰和荷花玉兰的花粉粒表面密布不规则隆起及深穴点,明显。(3)6种植物花粉粒由大至小依次为:荷花玉兰凹叶厚朴厚朴玉兰紫玉兰望春玉兰。3种不同的花粉处理方法中,自然干燥法能清晰地观察到花粉的扫描电镜特征,此方法优于戊二醛固定法和叔丁醇真空冷冻干燥法。本研究结果为厚朴中药资源的基原植物及其近缘种鉴定提供了新的证据,也为现代植物从种及亚种级水平分类提供了参考。     

Geitonogamy: a mechanism responsible for high selfing rates in borage (Borago officinalis L.)

Borage, a species traditionaly defined as allogamous, has revealed a high selfing rate although a mechanism of protandry has been confirmed in this plant. Studies investigating flower behaviour showed that several flowers open every day and that others are also receptive at the same time within a plant. Moreover, pollinator behaviour, mainly by bees, contributes to the selfing rate because it is demonstrated that these insects visit several flowers in a given plant before flying to other plants. The ecological studies reported here reveal the contribution of geitonogamous pollination to the high selfing rate detected in Borago officinalis L. Received: 23 March 2000 / Accepted: 26 May 2000     

厚朴叶和皮不同提取部位的药理作用比较研究

通过小鼠最大耐受量测定法进行厚朴叶的急性毒性研究,采用小鼠浓氨水引咳法、炭末推进法对厚朴叶和皮不同溶剂部位提取物的镇咳和胃肠推进作用进行了比较研究。结果显示厚朴叶小鼠最大耐受量为112g/kg,为厚朴成人每日用量的747倍,且7日内均未出现中毒和死亡现象。厚朴叶石油醚提取部位低剂量组、厚朴皮乙醚提取部位低剂量组和石油醚提取部位能明显延长氨水致小鼠咳嗽潜伏期或减少咳嗽的频率。同时,厚朴叶乙醚提取部位低剂量组能明显提高炭末在小肠中的推进率,厚朴皮乙醚提取部位低剂量组能显著减少炭末在胃中的残留率。以上结果表明:在实验剂量范围内,厚朴叶几无毒性;其低剂量的石油醚和乙醚提取部位有较强的镇咳和胃肠推进效果。提示其药用价值有深入研究的必要。