From microarrays to mechanisms of brain development and function

Microarray technology provides a powerful approach to understand complex biological systems. The most common application of microarray technology is to document gene expression profiles of all genes within a genome in response to specific conditions such as disease, drug application, or genotype. One result of this technology is the ability to ascribe activities to genes with unknown functions - such rationale is the basis behind ‘functional genomics’. This approach is particularly well-suited to studies of the brain because roughly one third to one half of all genes in vertebrate genomes are expressed in the brain. However, less than half of such genes have any defined function. While a large number of studies have applied microarray technology to the brain, few studies have followed up the expression profiling approach with functional characterization of the genes identified. In this review, I highlight recent research that reflects the initial promise of functional genomics in the brain. I focus on neural differentiation with particular emphasis on synapse development.     

What is disjunctive xylem parenchyma? A case study of the African tropical hardwood Okoubaka aubrevillei (Santalaceae)

The morphological variation and structure-function relationships of xylem parenchyma still remain open to discussion. We analyzed the three-dimensional structure of a poorly known type of xylem parenchyma with disjunctive walls in the tropical hardwood Okoubaka aubrevillei (Santalaceae). Disjunctive cells occurred among the apotracheal parenchyma cells and at connections between axial and ray parenchyma cells. The disjunctive cells were partly detached one from another, but their tubular structures connected them into a continuous network of axial and ray parenchyma. The connecting tubules had thick secondary walls and simple pits with plasmodesmata at the points where one cell contacted a tubule of another cell. The imperforate tracheary elements of the ground tissue were seven times longer than the axial parenchyma strands, a fact that supports a hypothesis that parenchyma cells develop disjunctive walls because they are pulled apart and partly separated during the intrusive growth of fibers. We discuss unresolved details of the formation of disjunctive cell walls and the possible biomechanical advantage of the wood with disjunctive parenchyma: the proportion of tissue that improves mechanical strength is increased by the intrusive elongation of fibers (thick-walled tracheids), whereas the symplastic continuum of the parenchyma is maintained through formation of disjunctive cells.     

Brief communication: dental development and enamel thickness in the Lakonis Neanderthal molar

Developmental and structural affinities between modern human and Neanderthal dental remains continue to be a subject of debate as well as their utility for informing assessments of life history and taxonomy. Excavation of the Middle Paleolithic cave site Lakonis in southern Greece has yielded a lower third molar (LKH 1). Here, we detail the crown development and enamel thickness of the distal cusps of the LKH 1 specimen, which has been classified as a Neanderthal based on the presence of an anterior fovea and mid-trigonid crest. Crown formation was determined using standard histological techniques, and enamel thickness was measured from a virtual plane of section. Developmental differences include thinner cuspal enamel and a lower periodicity than modern humans. Crown formation in the LKH 1 hypoconid is estimated to be 2.6-2.7 years, which is shorter than modern human times. The LKH 1 hypoconid also shows a more rapid overall crown extension rate than modern humans. Relative enamel thickness was approximately half that of a modern human sample mean; enamel on the distal cusps of modern human third molars is extremely thick in absolute and relative terms. These findings are consistent with recent studies that demonstrate differences in crown development, tissue proportions, and enamel thickness between Neanderthals and modern humans. Although overlap in some developmental variables may be found, the results of this and other studies suggest that Neanderthal molars formed in shorter periods of time than modern humans, due in part to thinner enamel and faster crown extension rates.     

In vitro organogenesis of Citrus volkameriana and Citrus aurantium

In vitro organogenesis of Citrus volkameriana and C. aurantium was studied considering three explant types: epicotyl segment, internodal segment, and hypocotyl segment with attached cotyledon fragment. The explants were cultured in medium according to Grosser and Gmitter (EME) supplemented with 0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 mg dm^{− 3} 6-benzyl-aminopurine (BAP), incubated firstly in darkness for 4 weeks, and then transferred to 16-h photoperiod for 2 weeks. Comparing epicotyl and internodal segments, a higher percentage of responsive explants and a higher number of shoots per explant were obtained with epicotyl segments, regardless of the BAP concentration. For C. volkameriana the highest percentage of responsive epicotyl segments (42 %) was obtained in EME with 1.0 mg dm⁻³ BAP, while for C. aurantium (59 %) in EME with 0.5 mg dm⁻³ BAP. The organogenesis efficiency was the best with the use of the hypocotyl segment with attached cotyledon fragment (77 % for C. volkameriana and to 75 % for C. aurantium). With this explant the morphogenesis occurred only in the hypocotyl region. The in vitro organogenesis was characterized by histological analyses showing that the morphogenic process started in the cambium region near the explant cut end.     

High frequency plant regeneration from the cotyledonary node of common bean

An efficient regeneration system for Phaseolus vulgaris was developed from mature seeds germinated on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with thidiazuron or N⁶-benzylaminopurine (BA) for 6 d. Using cotyledonary nodes, multiple buds were induced on the MS medium supplemented with 5.0 mg dm⁻³ BA with the induction frequency 71.9 % after 4-week culture. The buds were then transferred onto shoot formation medium containing 1.0 mg dm⁻³ BA, 0.1 mg dm⁻³ gibberellic acid and 2.0 mg dm⁻³ silver nitrate. The addition of AgNO₃ enhanced the frequency of the shoot formation from 61.3 to 87.6 %. Root induction medium was half-strength MS medium with 0.75 mg dm⁻³ indolebutyric acid and 0.02 mg dm⁻³ BA. The average root frequency was 84.3 %. The regenerated plantlets with healthy roots grew successfully when transferred to soil. Using this system we obtained over 10 regenerated plantlets from one explant.     

濒危植物珙桐的组织培养与植株再生

以珙桐冬芽为材料进行组织培养和植株再生研究,结果表明：珙桐冬芽直接诱导丛生芽的最适培养基为WPM+NAA 0.2 mg·L^-1+6-BA 3.0 mg·L^-1+AC 2.0 g·L^-1;珙桐带芽茎段增殖的适宜培养基为WPM+NAA 0.05 mg·L^-1+6-BA 1.0 mg·L^-1+GA₃ 2.0 mg·L^-1+AC 2.0 g·L^-1;生根最佳培养基为White+IBA3.0 mg·L^-1+6-BA 1.0 mg·L^-1+AC 2.0 g·L^-1,在此条件下,根发育良好,植株健壮;组培苗炼苗后移栽,成活率可达80%。     

Morphology and biomass production of prairie cordgrass on marginal lands

Prairie cordgrass (Spartina pectinata Link.) is indigenous throughout most of the continental United States and Canada to 60°N latitude and is well suited to marginal land too wet for maize (Zea mays L.) and switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.). Evaluations of prairie cordgrass in Europe and North America indicated it has high potential for biomass production, relative to switchgrass, in short‐season areas. Our objective was to describe morphology and biomass production and partitioning in mature stands of ‘Red River’ prairie cordgrass and determine biomass production of natural populations on marginal land. This study was conducted from 2000 to 2008 in eastern South Dakota. Mean biomass production of mature stands of Red River was 12.7 Mg ha^?1. Leaves composed >88% of the biomass, and 60% of the tillers had no internodes. Belowground biomass to a depth of approximately 25 cm, not including roots, was 21 Mg ha^?1. Tiller density ranged from 683 tillers m^?2 for a 10‐year‐old stand to 1140 tillers m^?2 for a 4‐year‐old stand. The proaxis was composed of about eight phytomers, with rhizomes originating at proximal nodes and erect tillers at distal nodes. Vegetative propagation was achieved by both phalanx and guerilla growth. Differences among natural populations for biomass were expressed on gravelly marginal land. However, production, averaged across populations, was low (1.37 Mg ha^?1) and comparable to ‘Cave‐In‐Rock’ switchgrass (1.67 Mg ha^?1) over a 4‐year period. The large carbon storage capacity of prairie cordgrass in proaxes and rhizomes makes it useful for carbon sequestration purposes. Prairie cordgrass should be compared with switchgrass and other C₄ perennial grasses along environmental gradients to determine optimum landscape positions for each and to maximize bioenergy production and minimize inputs.     

Live optical projection tomography

Optical projection tomography (OPT) is a technology ideally suited for imaging embryonic organs. We emphasize here recent successes in translating this potential into the field of live imaging. Live OPT (also known as 4D OPT, or time-lapse OPT) is already in position to accumulate good quantitative data on the developmental dynamics of organogenesis, a prerequisite for building realistic computer models and tackling new biological problems. Yet, live OPT is being further developed by merging state-of-the-art mouse embryo culture with the OPT system. We discuss the technological challenges that this entails and the prospects for expansion of this molecular imaging technique into a wider range of applications.     

The resource regulation hypothesis and positive feedback loops in plant–herbivore interactions

Resource regulation occurs when herbivory maintains or increases plant susceptibility to further herbivory by the same species. A review of the literature indicates it is a widespread plant–animal interaction involving a diverse array of herbivores. At least three mechanisms can produce this positive feedback cycle. First, phytophagous insect and mammalian herbivore damage can stimulate dormant buds to produce vigorous juvenile growth, which is preferred for further attack. Juvenilization cycles may have repeatedly evolved because herbivores are able to take advantage of a generalized plant compensatory response to any type of damage. Second, herbivores can manipulate plant source–sink relationships to attain more resources, and this alteration of plant growth may benefit subsequent herbivore generations. Third, herbivory can alter plant nutrition or defensive chemistry in a way that makes a plant susceptible to more herbivory. Resource regulation probably occurs because damage to resources preferred by the herbivores induces a generalized plant response that produces more preferred resources. Alternatively, manipulation of plant resources to induce resource regulation may have evolved in herbivores with a high degree of philopatry due to selection to alter plant resources to benefit their offspring. Resource regulation can stabilize insect population dynamics by maintaining a supply of high-quality plant resources. It can also increase the heterogeneity of host-plant resources for herbivores by altering the physiological age structure and the distribution of resources within plants. Resource regulation may have strong plant-mediated effects on other organisms that use that host plant, but these effects have not yet been explored.