Cloning and sequencing the genes encoding uptake-hydrogenase subunits of Rhodocyclus gelatinosus

Summary Rhodocyclus gelatinosus grew photosynthetically in the light and consumed H₂ at a rate of about 665 nmol/min per mg protein. The uptake-hydrogenase (H₂ase) was found to be membrane bound and insensitive to inhibition by CO. The structural genes of R. gelatinosus uptake-H₂ase were isolated from a 40 kb cosmid gene library of R. gelatinosus DNA by hybridization with the structural genes of uptake-H₂ase of Bradyrhizobium japonicum and Rhodobacter capsulatus. The R. gelatinosus genes were localized on two overlapping DNA restriction fragments subcloned into pUC18. Two open reading frames (ORF1 and ORF2) were observed. ORF1 contained 1080 nucleotides and encoded a 39.4 kDa protein. ORF2 had 1854 nucleotides and encoded a 68.5 kDa protein. Amino acid sequence analysis suggested that ORF1 and ORF2 corresponded to the small (HupS) and large (HupL) subunits, respectively, of R. gelatinosus uptake-H₂ase. ORF1 was approximately 80% homologous with the small, and ORF2 was maximally 68% homologous with the large subunit of typical membrane-bound uptake-H₂ases.     

Fine root demography in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.)

In perennial forages like alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), repeated herbage removal may alter root production and mortality which, in turn, could affect deposition of fixed N in soil. Our objective was to determine the extent and patterns of fine-diameter root production and loss during the year of alfalfa stand establishment. The experiment was conducted on a loamy sand soil (Udorthentic Haploboroll) in Minnesota, USA, using horizontally installed minirhizotrons placed directly under the seeded rows at 10, 20, and 40 cm depths in four replicate blocks. We seeded four alfalfa germplasms that differed in N₂ fixation capacity and root system architecture: Agate alfalfa, a winter hardy commercially-available cultivar; Ineffective Agate, which is a non-N₂-fixing near isoline of Agate; a new germplasm that has few fibrous roots and strong tap-rooted traits; and a new germplasm that has many fibrous roots and a strongly branched root system architecture. Video images collected biweekly throughout the initial growing season were processed using C-MAP-ROOTS software.More than one-half of all fine roots in the upper 20 cm were produced during the first 7 weeks of growth. Root production was similar among germplasms, except that the highly fibrous, branch-rooted germplasm produced 29% more fine roots at 20 cm than other germplasms. In all germplasms, about 7% of the fine roots at each depth developed into secondarily thickened roots. By the end of the first growing season, greatest fine root mortality had occurred in the uppermost depth (48%), and least occurred at 40 cm (36%). Survival of contemporaneous root cohorts was not related to soil depth in a simple fashion, although all survivorship curves could be described using only five rates of exponential decline. There was a significant reduction in fine root mortality before the first herbage harvest, followed by a pronounced loss (average 22%) of fine roots at the 10- and 20-cm depths in the 2-week period following herbage removal. Median life spans of these early-season cohorts ranged from 58 to 131 days, based on fitted exponential equations. At all depths, fine roots produced in the 4 weeks before harvest (early- to mid-August) tended to have shorter median life spans than early-season cohorts. Similar patterns of fine root mortality did not occur at the second harvest. Germplasms differed in the pattern, but not the ultimate extent, of fine root mortality. Fine root turnover during the first year of alfalfa establishment in this experiment released an estimated 830 kg C ha^–1 and 60 kg N ha^–1, with no differences due to N₂ fixation capacity or root system architecture.     

Biochemical and bioassay analysis of resistance of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) cultivars to attack by the slug Deroceras reticulatum (Muller)

A method is described for using young field slugs Deroceras reticulatum (Muller) in a bioassay study of biochemical resistance of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) cultivars to slugs. Tuber parts or an artificial diet were provided as food sources. Comparisons were made of feeding, survival and weight gain between the susceptible cultivar Maris Piper and the resistant cultivar Pentland Dell. Biochemical analyses were made of these two cultivars and the resistant cultivars Stormont Enterprise and Majestic. Comparisons of tuber sections and peelings as food sources indicated factors affecting growth were located in the surface layers of the tubers. Phenolics and glycoalkaloids were concentrated in the surface layers but the amounts were similar in the susceptible and resistant cultivars and the bioassays indicated that neither acting alone could explain resistance. The amounts and distribution of free amino acids also did not correlate with resistance although when supplied in the artificial diet they partly inhibited feeding. Proteinaceous inhibitors of slug gut proteolytic enzymes were present throughout the tubers but were not concentrated in the surface layers and the amounts were similar in the different cultivars thus they too did not explain the difference in susceptibility between the cultivars. Bioassays using acetone extracts (low molecular weight substances) and acetone powders (high molecular weight substances) either alone or in combination indicated that the resistant cultivar Pentland Dell contained a high molecular weight substance which together with a low molecular weight substance from either the same cultivar or the susceptible Maris Piper could confer resistance. Bioassays using protein extracts supplied in the presence or absence of chlorogenic acid indicated that this mechanism could comprise enzymic oxidation of phenolics. Assays of phenolase confirmed this since activity was highest in the outer layers of the tubers and was highest in the three resistant cultivars. Thus the chief resistance factor identified was high phenolase activity acting rapidly on phenolics when the slug first bites the tuber surface. The quantity of phenolics per se did not control the resistance. Thus while phenolics must be available, resistance is compatible with low blackening on cutting the tuber.     

Somatic embryogenesis and organogenesis inGuizotia Abyssinica

Summary Induction of somatic embryogenesis, shoot organogenesis, and subsequent plant regeneration in niger seem to be dependent on genotype, choice of explant, and composition of media growth regulators. Two distinct regeneration protocols have been developed for somatic embryogenesis and shoot organogenesis. Somatic embryogenesis was induced from epicotyls and cotyledonary explants (9 to 35%) (but not from hypocotyls and roots) in presence of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid, and 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxypropionic acid. These embryos matured in MS medium containing Kinetin plus naphthalene acetic acid (NAA), Kinetin plus Zeatin, and Kinetin plus abscisic acid (ABA). Matured embryos could be germinated on LS and MS basal media without hormones. Non-embryogenic callus initiated on Linsmaier and Skoog’s (LS) medium from cotyledons of six different genotypes produced shoots (9 to 32%) on Murashige and Skoog’s (MS) medium fortified with 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP, 0.5 mg · liter^−1), and BAP (1 mg · liter^−1) plus NAA (0.1 mg · liter^−1). These shoots were rooted with 100% frequency by using indole-3-acetic acid or NAA and transferred successfully to the soil.     

The genetic control of seven isozymic loci in Vicia faba L. Identification of lines and estimates of outcrossing rates between plants pollinated by bumble bees

A simplified and non-destructive method using starch gel electrophoresis has been developed on seeds to identify inbred lines of Vicia faba and assess outcrossing rates and gene dispersal in pollination experiments. Six enzyme systems (Alcohol dehydrogenase, Aspartate aminotransferase, Glucose-6-phosphate isomerase, Isocitrate dehydrogenase, Phosphogluconate dehydrogenase and Shikimate dehydrogenase) were analysed from parental lines, crosses performed between lines bearing dissimilar isozyme patterns in pollination cages with Bombus and F₂ progenies obtained from manual selfing of F₁ hybrids. The allozymes at each of the seven studied loci segregated in the expected Mendelian fashion and behaved in a co-dominant manner except for the Adh-2 locus where the only variant was a null allele. No evidence of genetic linkage was observed between at least 13 of the 15 pairs of the studied loci. Percentage of cross fertilisation by Bombus between seven pairs of inbred lines ranged between 1.7% and 28.3%. Pollen transfer between a donor line and a recipient line by two species of Bombus did not lead to differences in outcrossing rates (both about 8%). The new PGD marker with two loci at three alleles each is particularly discriminating and valuable in pollination studies and breeding of V. faba.     

Two cDNA clones coding for the legumin protein of Pisum sativum L. contain sequence repeats

The sequence of two cDNA clones coding for the whole of the -subunit and most of the -subunit of legumin are presented together with a considerable amount of protein sequence data to confirm the predicted amino acid sequence. A unique feature shown by these cDNAs is the presence of three 56 base pair tandem repeats in the region encoding the C terminal of the polypeptide. The tandem repeats are also exhibited in the predicted polypeptide sequence as three 18 amino acid repeats which contain extremely high proportions of polar, mainly acidic, residues. The new sequences are compared to the previously published sequence of some shorter legumin cDNAs (Nature 295: 76–79). In the region where the sequences overlap, the previous cDNAs differ from the new ones by only a few base substitutions but most of the repeated region is not present though the sequences on either side are. The possibility that the absence of the repeats may reflect the difference between two types of legumin gene, rather than an artefact of the cloning of the cDNAs, is discussed.     

Field evaluation of symbiotic nitrogen fixation by rhizobial strains using15N methodology

Summary Small differences in N₂ fixation by nodulated soybeans (Glycine max. (L.) Merr.), inoculated with various strains ofRhizobium japonicum, were assessed in field experiments using¹⁵N methodology, and compared with yields of plant dry matter and total N. Percentage of plant-N derived from atmospheric N₂ and from fertilizer, and values of %¹⁵N atom excess had lower coefficients of variation than did total N and dry matter yield. Nevertheless the precision of estimates of kg N/ha fixed were sufficient to differentiate only the extremes of the range of strains tested, and there were discrepancies between ranking of strains based on % N derived from fertilizer and on total N yield.