Spatial variation in periphyton fatty acid composition in subtropical streams

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三株耐铅锌菌的分离、鉴定及其吸附能力

以铅锌矿渣盆栽试验中长势较好的耐性植物夹竹桃(Nerium indicum)的根际土壤为材料,进行耐铅锌优势菌株的分离鉴定,探讨影响铅锌吸附的因素及其吸附机理。结果表明:(1)从土样中分离筛选出3株耐铅锌菌株(B1、B4、B14),3株菌均能在Pb2+、Zn2+浓度为600 mg·L-1的牛肉膏蛋白胨培养基上生长,经形态和分子生物学鉴定分别为蜡样芽孢杆菌(Bacillus cereus)或炭疽杆菌(Bacillus anthracis)、解硫胺素硫胺素芽孢杆菌(Aneurinibacillus aneurinilyticus)和藤黄微球菌(Micrococcus luteus)。(2)对影响菌株吸附铅、锌的p H、吸附时间、初始菌量3个因素进行分析,发现菌株B1在p H为5.0、吸附时间为50 min、初始菌量为0.06 g时,对Pb2+、Zn2+的去除率分别可达84.22%和70.66%。菌株B4在p H为6.0、吸附时间为50 min、初始菌量为0.18 g时,对Pb2+、Zn2+的去除率分别可达72.63%和54.17%。菌株B14在p H为4.0、吸附时间为60 min、初始菌量为0.10 g时对Pb2+、Zn2+的吸附率分别为77.56%和50.63%。(3)扫描电镜观察和红外光谱分析显示:3株菌对Pb2+、Zn2+的吸附主要是细胞表面的吸附,还存在一定的内部吸收;羟基(O-H)、胺基(N-H)、烷基、酰胺基(CONH-)是吸附、络合或螯合金属离子或原子的主要活性基团,重金属与菌株表面的活性基团结合反应是其吸附Pb2+、Zn2+的主要作用机制。     

Simplification of a light-based model for estimating final internode length in greenhouse cucumber canopies

Background and Aims

Light quantity and quality affect internode lengths in cucumber (Cucumis sativus), whereby leaf area and the optical properties of the leaves mainly control light quality within a cucumber plant community. This modelling study aimed at providing a simple, non-destructive method to predict final internode lengths (FILs) using light quantity and leaf area data.

Methods

Several simplifications of a light quantity and quality sensitive model for estimating FILs in cucumber have been tested. The direct simplifications substitute the term for the red : far-red (R : FR) ratios, by a term for (a) the leaf area index (LAI, m² m⁻²) or (b) partial LAI, the cumulative leaf area per m² ground, where leaf area per m² ground is accumulated from the top of each plant until a number, n, of leaves per plant is reached. The indirect simplifications estimate the input R : FR ratio based on partial leaf area and plant density.

Key Results

In all models, simulated FILs were in line with the measured FILs over various canopy architectures and light conditions, but the prediction quality varied. The indirect simplification based on leaf area of ten leaves revealed the best fit with measured data. Its prediction quality was even higher than of the original model.

Conclusions

This study showed that for vertically trained cucumber plants, leaf area data can substitute local light quality data for estimating FIL data. In unstressed canopies, leaf area over the upper ten ranks seems to represent the feedback of the growing architecture on internode elongation with respect to light quality. This highlights the role of this domain of leaves as the primary source for the specific R : FR signal controlling the final length of an internode and could therefore guide future research on up-scaling local processes to the crop level.     

Regulation and manipulation of ABA biosynthesis in roots

Overexpression of 9-cis-epoxycarotenoid dioxygenase (NCED) is known to cause abscisic acid (ABA) accumulation in leaves, seeds and whole plants. Here we investigated the manipulation of ABA biosynthesis in roots. Roots from whole tomato plants that constitutively overexpress LeNCED1 had a higher ABA content than wild-type (WT) roots. This could be explained by enhanced in situ ABA biosynthesis, rather than import of ABA from the shoot, because root cultures also had higher ABA content, and because tetracycline (Tc)-induced LeNCED1 expression caused ABA accumulation in isolated tobacco roots. However, the Tc-induced expression led to greater accumulation of ABA in leaves than in roots. This demonstrates for the first time that NCED is rate-limiting in root tissues, but suggests that other steps were also restrictive to pathway flux, more so in roots than in leaves. Dehydration and NCED overexpression acted synergistically in enhancing ABA accumulation in tomato root cultures. One explanation is that xanthophyll synthesis was increased during root dehydration, and, in support of this, dehydration treatments increased beta-carotene hydroxylase mRNA levels. Whole plants overexpressing LeNCED1 exhibited greatly reduced stomatal conductance and grafting experiments from this study demonstrated that this was predominantly due to increased ABA biosynthesis in leaves rather than in roots. Genetic manipulation of both xanthophyll supply and epoxycarotenoid cleavage may be needed to enhance root ABA biosynthesis sufficiently to signal stomatal closure in the shoot.     

Stomatal Morphology during Acclimatization of Tobacco Plantlets to ex vitro Conditions

Image analysis was used in studying stomatal morphology during acclimatization of tobacco plantlets to ex vitro conditions, 45 d after transfer leaf area was 15 times, and total number of stomata per leaf four times increased. During acclimatization stomatal density was decreased considerably on both leaf sides, and was compensated by an increase in stomatal sizes, e.g., in stomatal length and in stomatal area (both guard cells and pore). Elongation of stomata was increased indicating that the originally circular stomata of in vitro plantlets were changed into elliptical ones in ex vitro acclimatized plants. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Hydrogen peroxide effects on root hydraulic properties and plasma membrane aquaporin regulation in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Phaseolus vulgaris</Emphasis>

In the last few years, the role of reactive oxygen species as signaling molecules has emerged, and not only as damage-related roles. Here, we analyzed how root hydraulic properties were modified by different hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) concentrations applied exogenously to the root medium. Two different experimental setups were employed: Phaseolus vulgaris plants growing in hydroponic or in potted soils. In both experimental setups, we found an increase of root hydraulic conductance (L) in response to H₂O₂ application for the first time. Twenty millimolar was the threshold concentration of H₂O₂ for observing an effect on L in the soil experiment, while in the hydroponic experiment, a positive effect on L was observed at 0.25 mM H₂O₂. In the hydroponic experiment, a correlation between increased L and plasma membrane aquaporin amount and their root localization was observed. These findings provide new insights to study how several environmental factors modify L.     

The role of callose in guard-cell wall differentiation and stomatal pore formation in the fern Asplenium nidus

Background and Aims

The pattern of callose deposition was followed in developing stomata of the fern Asplenium nidus to investigate the role of this polysaccharide in guard cell (GC) wall differentiation and stomatal pore formation.

Methods

Callose was localized by aniline blue staining and immunolabelling using an antibody against (1 → 3)-β-d-glucan. The study was carried out in stomata of untreated material as well as of material treated with: (1) 2-deoxy-d-glucose (2-DDG) or tunicamycin, which inhibit callose synthesis; (2) coumarin or 2,6-dichlorobenzonitrile (dichlobenil), which block cellulose synthesis; (3) cyclopiazonic acid (CPA), which disturbs cytoplasmic Ca²⁺ homeostasis; and (d) cytochalasin B or oryzalin, which disintegrate actin filaments and microtubules, respectively.

Results

In post-cytokinetic stomata significant amounts of callose persisted in the nascent ventral wall. Callose then began degrading from the mid-region of the ventral wall towards its periphery, a process which kept pace with the formation of an ‘internal stomatal pore’ by local separation of the partner plasmalemmata. In differentiating GCs, callose was consistently localized in the developing cell-wall thickenings. In 2-DDG-, tunicamycin- and CPA-affected stomata, callose deposition and internal stomatal pore formation were inhibited. The affected ventral walls and GC wall thickenings contained membranous elements. Stomata recovering from the above treatments formed a stomatal pore by a mechanism different from that in untreated stomata. After coumarin or dichlobenil treatment, callose was retained in the nascent ventral wall for longer than in control stomata, while internal stomatal pore formation was blocked. Actin filament disintegration inhibited internal stomatal pore formation, without any effect on callose deposition.

Conclusions

In A. nidus stomata the time and pattern of callose deposition and degradation play an essential role in internal stomatal pore formation, and callose participates in deposition of the local GC wall thickenings.     

Effects of water dependence on the utilization pattern of woody vegetation by elephants in the Tembe Elephant Park, Maputaland, South Africa

The utilization of vegetation and particularly trees in enclosed small reserves where elephant populations are confined is a contentious conservation issue. In Tembe Elephant Park in Maputaland, the diverse Sand Forest is considered the most valuable feature to conserve; yet it is considered at risk from increasing elephant utilization of the park's vegetation in general. The mean canopy removal by elephants across the park was studied over two periods: a recent period including the twelve months before the study and an older period >12 months earlier. Age of utilization was determined from the degree of decay observed on woody fibres. The relationships between intensity of utilization, vegetation unit selection and distance to water were evaluated. Results show that utilization patterns have shifted in the recent drier period, during which elephants used vegetation communities closer to permanent water. Concurringly, a significant decrease in utilization intensity was correlated to an increasing distance from water points in the park during that period, while this effect was not observed during the wetter old period. We debate that active water availability management may be a way to limit elephant utilization in small fenced reserves.     

核果茶属的气孔器类型及其系统学意义

为了检验有关核果茶属气孔器类型不同的研究结果 ,使用从模式标本上获取的实验材料重新观察了耿煊 (H .Keng)在 1 962年报道过的具有毛茛型气孔器的核果茶属 3个种的叶片下表皮 ,得到了与耿煊不同的研究结果 ,即核果茶属的气孔器属大头茶型 ,与邻近的石笔木属、拟核果茶属乃至山茶亚科的气孔器类型一致。结果提示 ,气孔器类型可以作为划分山茶亚科和厚皮香亚科的依据     

Spatial genet dynamics of a dwarf bamboo: Clonal expansion into shaded forest understory contributes to regeneration after an episodic die-off

The ability of clonal plants to spread horizontally and to share resources within genets has long been considered advantageous in spatially heterogeneous environments, yet our understanding of how such traits relate to its widespread success and dominance is still limited. Using a dwarf bamboo, Sasa kurilensis, that often dominates cool-temperate forest understorys, we investigated how population recovery over 20 years after an episodic die-off may be augmented by clonal expansion via rhizomes. Previous analyses on genet demography using 9-m² plots showed that more productive genets were more likely to survive, spread laterally, and replace less productive ones. In this study, we examined whether the recovery of biomass in lower light microsites, where biomass recovery was initially slower, was supported by the spread of productive genets at larger scales, from surrounding higher-light microsites. We found that the biomass recovery in lower-light plots was more supported by genets that spread clonally into the plots. Such genets that spread from outside plots produced larger culms than those that had originally germinated there. Whereas genets that contributed much to the biomass of the low-light plots spread extensively from higher-light microsites, the spatial extent of genets that originally germinated in these plots was quite limited, so that the patterns of clonal expansion appeared to be unidirectional along the light gradient. Our findings suggest that clonal expansion of productive genets from higher-light into shaded microsites may be important for S. kurilensis to proliferate across heterogeneous light environments.