Physical and chemical plant characters inhibiting the searching behaviour of shape Trichogramma chilonis

Several plant characters are known to affect the searching behaviour and parasitization efficiency of Trichogramma spp. (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae). In this study, plant characters contributing to the low Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) egg parasitism levels on pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan (L.) Millspaugh) were investigated. The efficiency of T. chilonis on pigeonpea was dependent on the plant structure on which the host eggs were found. In a cage experiment, more than 55% of eggs placed on leaves were parasitized, while 1% of eggs on calyxes and no eggs on pods were parasitized. In a filter paper bioassay, parasitoids were deterred by acetone and hexane surface extracts from pigeonpea pods but showed no response to water extract. The searching behaviour of the parasitoids was not affected by different solvent extracts from the surface of pigeonpea leaves. In a four-armed airflow olfactometer, T. chilonis was repelled by volatiles from pigeonpea pods but showed no response to volatiles derived from hexane extract of pod surfaces. Volatile infochemicals and hexane surface extracts from pods of two wild Cajanus species, C. scarabaeoides (L.) Thours and C. platycarpus (Bentham) van der Maesen, were similarly deterrent to T. chilonis. The movement of the parasitoids on pigeonpea pods and calyxes was inhibited by long trichomes and wasps were trapped by sticky trichome exudates. Parasitoids walked significantly faster on leaves than on pods. The walking speed on both pods and leaves increased significantly after washing with hexane. The results presented in this paper show that the plant growth stage and the plant structures preferred by H. armigera for oviposition are the least suitable for T. chilonis, contributing to the low parasitoid efficiency on pigeonpea.     

Some Acacia gum exudates of the section Phyllodineae

Australian gum specimens from Acacia saliciformis, A. xanthina, A. rostellifera, A. murrayana (two specimens differing in the mode of initiation of gum exudation), A. georginae, A. cyclops, A. implexa, and an un-named species (Maslin ‘P31’) have been analysed. The first four of these are placed within Bentham's Series 1, subseries 6F, A. georginae within subseries 7E, and the remainder within subseries 7F. These data extend considerably the ranges of the analytical parameters reported previously for phyllodine species. The molecular weights of the gums from A. cyclops and A. implexa are much higher than those reported earlier for South African specimens; this may affect some taxonomic deductions based on their examination. The gum composition of A. saligna can no longer be regarded as atypical of a phyllodinous species; a suggestion that A. saligna should be transferred to the section Juliflorae may require reconsideration. The major difference between the specimens of gum from A. murrayana lies in their nitrogenous content. Data are reported for the amino acid compositions of the gums from A. saliciformis and A. xanthina.     

Gum polysaccharides from three Parkia species

Nigerian gum exudates from Parkia bicolor and P. biglobosa, and gum from the seed pods of P. pendula growing in Costa Rica have been analysed. The two gum exudates are proteinaceous and have closely similar physicochemical properties and compositions, with galactose, arabinose, glucuronic acid and 4-O-methylglucuronic acid as their constituent sugars; rhamnose is absent, and they are dextrorotatory. The gum from the seed pods of P. pendula contains the same constituent sugars in different proportions, and is laevorotatory. These data may be of interest in the continuing studies of plant-animal interactions and mechanisms of seed dispersal associated with the genus Parkia.     

Studies on the attractional effect of root exudates on hyphal growth of an arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus in a soil compartment-membrane system

The effects of tomato and bean rhizospheres on hyphal spreading of the arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungus Glomus mosseae were studied using a soil compartment system in combination with hydrophobic polytetrafluorethylene (PTFE) membranes. Both the nylon screen and the PTFE membrane were freely permeable to hyphae but not to roots. Furthermore, the hydrophobic PTFE membrane seemed to be a barrier to the flux of soil solutions containing root exudates. The results show that water soluble exudates of tomato and bean roots greatly stimulate hyphal growth in the soil compartment system used. Moreover, water soluble root exudates of bean exert a clear attractional effect on AM hyphal growth.     

Micropropagation of gum karaya (Sterculia urens) by adventitious shoot formation and somatic embryogenesis

Nodal explants from selected trees of gum karaya (Sterculia urens Roxb.) in the adult growth phase cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 6.62 μm N⁶-benzylaminopurine (BAP) produced an average of six adventitious shoots in 30 days. Shoots were rooted in vitro on 1/4-strength MS medium containing 9.82 μm indole-3-butyric acid. Nodulated callus was produced from hypocotyl explants cultured on MS medium supplemented with 4.52 μm 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid and 8.90 μm BAP. Somatic embryos developed when the nodulated callus was transferred to MS medium containing 0.45 μm thidiazuron (TDZ). TDZ treatment for 2 days gave the optimum response. Over 30% of the somatic embryos developed into plantlets when transferred to 1/4-strength MS basal medium without any growth regulators. Plantlets produced from adventitious shoots and somatic embryos were acclimatized to ex vitro conditions and established in the field. Received: 26 November 1997 / Revision received: 14 April 1998 / Accepted: 11 May 1998     

A diallel cross analysis of gum content in barley (Hordeum vulgare)

Summary A diallel cross analysis of gum content in barley (Hordeum vulgare) was made using six cultivars of two-rowed spring barley as parents. A Jinks-Hayman analysis of F2 progeny means showed that gum content was controlled by a simple additive-dominance genetic system and that low gum content was strongly dominant. The analysis suggested that gum content was principally controlled by two or three genes showing a high degree of dominance. Some genotype-environment interaction was detected in a comparison between the F2 and F3 generations which were grown in different years and locations. However, the character was found to be highly heritable both within and between generations, suggesting that the selection and breeding of barleys of reduced gum content should not be difficult.     

亚种间杂交稻根系伤流液与地上部细胞分裂素的变化

本文以水稻亚种间杂交组合Ⅱ优2070及恢复系2070、Ⅱ优419及恢复系中419为材料．应用HPLC和ELISA法测定灌浆期间根系伤流液中根源细胞分裂素(CTKs)种类和数量以及稻叶和籽粒中细胞分裂素组分含量的变化,研究表明在亚种杂交稻及其恢复系灌浆起始阶段,玉米素(Z) 占总CTKs的比例高达62．8％-89．1％,是根系伤流液中细胞分裂素的主要成分,而二氢玉米素(di- HZ)和二氢玉米素核苷(diHZR)则在灌浆后期明显上升．这种变化动态与Ⅱ优2070和2070剑叶中ZRs(Z ZR)、diHZRs(diHZ diHZR)的波动变化是相符合的。与根系伤流液的主要细胞分裂素组成不同,IPAs在叶片和籽粒中占总CTKs量的比例最高。说明在灌浆期间,根系伤流液中CTKs的种类及其活性存在着变化,这种变化可能与细胞分裂素代谢酶活性变化及其相关酶基因表达的不同有关。讨论了强、弱势粒的CTKs组分的变化与籽粒结实的可能关系。     

亚种间杂交稻根系伤流液与地上部细胞分裂素的变化

本文以水稻亚种间杂交组合Ⅱ优2070及恢复系2070、Ⅱ优419及恢复系中419为材料．应用HPLC和ELISA法测定灌浆期间根系伤流液中根源细胞分裂素（CTKs）种类和数量以及稻叶和籽粒中细胞分裂素组分含量的变化．研究表明在亚种杂交稻及其恢复系灌浆起始阶段,玉米素（Z）占总CTKs的比例高达62．8％-89．1％,是根系伤流液中细胞分裂素的主要成分．而二氢玉米素（diHZ）和二氢玉米素核苷（diHZR）则在灌浆后期明显上升,这种变化动态与II优2070和2070剑叶中ZRs（Z＋ZR）、diHZRs（diHZ＋diHZR）的波动变化是相符合的。与根系伤流液的主要细胞分裂素组成不同,IPAs在叶片和籽粒中占总CTKs量的比例最高。说明在灌浆期间．根系伤流液中CTKs的种类及其活性存在着变化,这种变化可能与细胞分裂素代谢酶活性变化及其相关酶基因表达的不同有关。讨论了强、弱势粒的CTKs组分的变化与籽粒结实的可能关系。     

Effect of polymeric cosolutes on calcium pectinate gelation. Part 3. Gum arabic and overview

Addition of gum arabic (average M_r≈450 kDa; 0.5–2.0 wt%) to solutions of low methoxy pectin (DE 31; 2.0 wt%; pH≈2.9–3.0) with stoichiometric Ca²⁺ caused massive increases in G′ and G″ in the pre-gel state at 90 °C (attributed to segregative interactions promoting formation of calcium-mediated ‘egg-box’ junctions between pectin chains) but had little effect on the gels formed on cooling to 5 °C. This is in marked contrast to the behaviour of other polymeric cosolutes studied in the investigations reported in the two preceding papers, which caused large reductions in gel moduli (attributed to excessive association of calcium pectinate into large aggregated bundles); the difference is tentatively ascribed to strengthening of the calcium pectinate network by divalent counterions to the uronate residues in gum arabic. When the complication of cation exchange was eliminated by extensive dialysis of gum arabic against 100 mM Na⁺ and use of the final dialysate in preparation of mixtures with calcium pectinate, massive increases in G′ and G″ at high temperature were again observed, but with accompanying reductions in moduli at low temperature, which, at gum arabic concentrations above 1.0 wt%, arose from collapse of the developing calcium pectinate network during cooling. The tentative conclusion from this work, and from the two preceding papers, is that enthalpically unfavourable (segregative) interactions between low methoxy pectin and polymeric cosolutes can be relieved in two ways: (i) Ca²⁺-mediated self-association of pectin into compact ordered assemblies which occupy less of the total volume, and (ii) conformational rearrangement of the cosolute molecules to minimise segmental interactions with pectin; conformational rearrangement is inhibited by chain stiffness and by branching; thus polymeric cosolute molecules of limited flexibility are more effective in promoting self-association of pectin than more flexible molecules of comparable size, and branched molecules are more effective than linear chains of comparable stiffness.     

转基因植物外源基因逃逸的途径

随着转基因植物商品化进程的加快,对其进行生态风险性评价也日益引起许多学者和科学家的重视,人们对转基因逃逸到其它亲缘物种中能否产生超级杂草,昆虫是否会产生耐受性及转基因植物对生物多样性的影响等问题进行了广泛的研究,本文对转基因植物外中源基因逃逸的几种主要途径作了综述,并对研究方法与手段进行了简要讨论,希望能为有关决策和科研部门提供一些思路。