Fine structure of protonemal apical cells of the mossPhyscomitrium turbinatum

Summary Elongating caulonemal apical cells of the mossPhyscomitrium turbinatum were cultivatedin vitro and observed during successive stages of cell elongation and division. Actively-growing cells which had completed approximately half of their growth in length were examined by electron microscopy. The distribution of many organelles changes progressively from the cell tip to the distal edge of the large basal vacuole, establishing an apical-basal gradient in organization. Whereas the vacuoles become progressively more extensive in more mature parts of the cell, the dictyosomes, chloroplasts and smooth endoplasmic reticulum are more numerous in younger regions. Some mitochondria in the younger regions of the cell contain localized areas of membrane invagination. Attempts were made to clarify the origin and growth of vacuoles, which become increasingly prominent as the apical cell elongates.Morphological evidence suggests that vacuoles arise in close association with endoplasmic reticulum and dictyosomes as a result of ER dilation and/or cytoplasmic sequestration. The number of vacuolar profiles is highest at the cell tip, decreasing progressively toward the base of the cell, Conversely, the mean area of vacuolar profiles increases progressively toward more basal regions of the cell. These features, along with the increasing number of closely grouped vacuolar profiles along an apical-basal gradient are compatible with the concept of vacuolar growth by coalescence, culminating in their union with the basal vacuole.     

A cytokinin-sensitive mutant of the moss,Physcomitrella patens,defective in chloroplast division

Summary An X-ray induced mutant (PC22) of the moss,Physcomitrella patens was analysed with respect to its morphology, physiology and suitability for microculture techniques. The mutant protonemata are defective in bud formation and in chloroplast division. As a consequence of the latter, giant chloroplasts are formed which disturb the development of the phragmoplast, the formation of regular cross walls, and cell division. Abnormal cross walls are rich in callose. The actin cytoskeleton was found to be less regularly developed in the mutant than in the wild type. Three-dimensional analysis of the microtubular arrangement with confocal laser scan microscopy demonstrates a close association between spindle- or phragmoplast- and interphase-microtubules. The deficiencies in chloroplast division and in bud formation can partly be compensated for by exogeneously applied cytokinin. The suitability of this particular developmental mutant for further studies was shown by regeneration of protoplasts in microculture and microinjection of the fluorochrome Lucifer yellow into the chloroplast.Abbreviations CLSM confocal laser scan microscope - DAPI diamidinophenyl indole - DiOC 3,3-dihexyloxacarbocyanine iodide - EGTA ethylene glycol-bis-(-amino-ethylether-N,N,N,N-tetraacetic acid - i⁶Ade N⁶-(²-isopentenyladenine) - PIPES piperazine-N, N-bis-2-ethanesulfonic acid - ptDNA chloroplast DNA Devoted to the memory of Prof. Dr. O. Kiermayer, our colleague and friend.     

Blue light but not red light induces a calcium transient in the moss Physcomitrella patens (Hedw.) B., S. & G.

In caulonemal filaments of the moss, Physcomitrella patens, which had been incubated in darkness, 3 s irradiation with blue light (λ_max 450 nm) at fluence rates of 100 μmol m⁻² s⁻¹ and above caused a transient␣increase in cytosolic calcium ion concentration, [Ca²⁺]_cyt, which was both intensity- and time-dependent. Measurements of [Ca²⁺]_cyt were made using moss transformed with the cDNA for apoaequorin and reconstituting the Ca²⁺-dependent photoprotein aequorin in the cytosol by incubation in coelenterazine.␣In response to blue light at fluence rates of 100–1000 μmol photons m⁻² s⁻¹, [Ca²⁺]_cyt increased transiently from a basal level of approximately 50 nM to between 200 and 700 nM. Irradiation with red light did not evoke any measurable change in [Ca²⁺]_cyt. The presence of calcium in the incubating medium was not required for the increase in [Ca²⁺]_cyt to occur. A mutant strain, gad-139, was identified which required an irradiance of only 1 s to evoke a response. The kinetics showed a delay of approximately 6 s from the beginning of illumination before the beginning of the increase in [Ca²⁺]_cyt. The data suggest that the activation of a photoreceptor rather than the direct opening of calcium channels is involved in this blue-light response. Received: 4 December 1997 / Accepted: 4 May 1998     

秦岭十四种藓类植物的染色体观察

本文以藓类植物的幼嫩孢蒴为材料,对秦岭地区14种藓类植物的染色体作了观察,并对其中的长尖提灯藓进行了核型分析。结果如下：细叶真藓Bryum capillare L.ex Hedw．n＝10;长尖提灯藓Mnium lycopodioides Schwaegr．n＝6,核型公式为n＝6＝3m+3sm(1SAT)侧枝匍灯藓Plagiomnium maximoviczii(Lindb．)T．Kop．n＝6;梨蒴珠藓皱叶变种Bartramia pomiformis var．elongata Turn. n=10+2m;细枝羽藓Thuidium delicatulum (Hedw.) Mitt. n=11;尖叶羽藓Thuidium philibortii Limpr. n=10+1m;褐黄水灰藓Hygrohypnum ochraceum (Wils.) Loesk. n=10;钩枝镰刀藓Drepanocladus uncinatus (Hedw.) Warnst. n=7+3m; 黄叶细湿藓Campylium chrysophyllum (Brid.) J. Lange. n=10;林地青藓Brachythecium starkei (Brid.) B. S. G. n=16;多褶青藓 Brachythecium buchananii (Hook.) Jaeg. n=6;扁枝小锦藓Brotherella yokohamae (Broth.) Broth. n=9+2m; 粗枝藓Gollania neckerella (C. Mull.) Broth. n=7; 暖地金发藓, Pogonatum fastigiatum Mitt. n=7;其中粗枝藓和扁枝小锦藓的染色体数尚未见报道;林地青藓和多褶青藓的染色体数与所见报道的结果不同：其余10种与前人报道的结果一致。     

Monoplastidic mitosis in the mossTimmiella barbuloides (Bryophyta)

Summary Mitotic cell division of monoplastidic sporogones was investigated in the mossTimmiella barbuloides (Brid.) Moenk. (Pottiales, Bryophyta) by TEM. Division polarity of sporogones is established by the interphase position of the single oblong cup-shaped plastid, which is orientated with its long axis parallel to one of the cell walls. In preprophase the plastid elongates and its extremities bend at right angles. Plastid growth is directed by microtubules and accompanied by plastid tubules. The plastid begins the process of duplication by constricting centrally in the plane of the future cytokinetic septum. There is no preprophase band of microtubules at the division site. The large central nucleus becomes fusiform and aligned parallel to the main plastid axis. By the end of prophase the daughter plastids are positioned at the opposite poles of the nucleus where they probably function as nucleating or organizing centres for the spindle microtubules. Metaphase and anaphase spindles contain long sheets of ER. Cytokinesis involves the formation of a well developed phragmoplast.Abbreviations TEM transmission electron microscopy - PPB preprophase band of microtubules - ER endoplasmic reticulum     

藏药的历史及研究进展

藏族是分布于我国青藏高原的一个古老民族。藏医药学的文字记载始于1300多年前。八世纪以后流传下来的藏医药文献很多,本文就其中6种进行论述,着重指出：①对藏药正品的考证来说,十七八世纪之交时桑杰嘉措主编的《蓝琉璃》和与之配套的彩色药物挂图是很好的资料。②丹增彭措著的《晶珠本草》成书年代宜暂作1743士9年,而不是目前一些文献流行的1840年或1800年。③丹增再传弟子蒙古人绛贝多杰著藏文本草《正确认药图鉴》,约半数附图注汉文药名,此书能反映当时蒙医使用藏药名的实际情况。但不是全部藏药,且导致后世汉译与英译古藏医药文献时对藏药名的误译,但其正文中引用许多藏医药名著对该药的生境、形态等描述而为《晶珠本草》未记载的,对考证藏药仍有重要作用。本文还就七十年代两种藏药方剂405个,统计出现20次以上的最常用藏药50种,列表供参考。此外还介绍近30年来对藏药的调查开发情况。文末附参考文献121篇。     

Recruitment filtering by a moss layer disadvantages large-seeded grassland species

Calcareous grasslands are rich in biodiversity and thus receive much attention in nature conservation. In such grasslands, the formation of moss layers is perceived as a management problem. However, its impacts on the community level are complex, as not only inhibition but also facilitation of vascular plant recruitment occur. Possible filters of recruitment are shading by mosses, isolation from soil resources and the resulting desiccation. To understand how seed size and shape moderate moss effects, a combined glasshouse and field experiment was conducted in southern Germany. Seeds of 14 species from calcareous grasslands were sown either on top or underneath a moss layer, or on bare soil without moss. We determined the total number of emerged and established seedlings, i.e. the ones that survived until the end of the experiment. Both measures were reduced for most species sown on moss, while mortality was slightly enhanced by moss presence. Seed size explained a significant proportion of the moss effects on plant recruitment. Inhibitive effects on recruitment increased with seed size when seeds were placed on top of moss. When germinating underneath moss, the effect on emergence changed from negative in small-seeded plant species to positive in large-seeded species, but this effect was insignificant for establishment. The positive response in large seeds was probably due to their higher moisture requirements for imbibition, and lower dependency on light for germination. However, moss-seed-interactions were not affected by seed shape. Seedling establishment of plants with large seeds strongly depended on their initial position in moss, while small-seeded species showed no effect. Hence, moss layers constitute a selective recruitment filter by modifying seed penetration and hence germination conditions. This effect could increase beta diversity of vascular plant species in calcareous grasslands, and thus conservation should aim at intermediate and patchy moss abundance.     

Bryophytes of St Helena,South Atlantic Ocean. 8. Lepidopilidium crispifolium,sp. nov. (Hookeriales,Pilotrichaceae)

Abstract

A new species of Lepidopilidium (Pilotrichaceae, Hookeriales), L. crispifolium, sp. nov. from St Helena, South Atlantic Ocean is described and illustrated.