Influence of pruning management on P and N distribution and use efficiency by N2 fixing and non-N2 fixing trees used in alley cropping systems

Pruning of hedgerow trees is an important management practice for the successful establishment of an alley cropping system. Although pruning affects biomass production, only meager evidence of this management on distribution of nutrients among the different plant organs after tree regrowth is available. This study examined the effect of pruning on the distribution and use efficiency of N and P in a N₂ fixing leguminous tree species, Gliricidia sepium, and two non-N₂ fixing leguminous tree species, Senna siamea and S. spectabilis, grown in a field on an Alfisol (low in P) at Fashola (Guinea Savanna Zone), Southwestern Nigeria. Four P rates, 0, 20, 40 and 80 kg P ha^–1 as single superphosphate were used and management treatments included pruned versus unpruned plants. The ¹⁵N isotope dilution technique was used to measure N₂ fixation in G. sepium. Partitioning of total P among different plant organs was influenced by plant species and pruning management, but was not affected by P application rates. The distribution of total P in the various plant organs followed that of dry matter yield while N partitioning had a different pattern. Pruned plants distributed about 118% more total P to branches and had a higher physiological P use efficiency (PPUE) than unpruned plants. Leaves were the biggest sink for total N and N allocation in the other plant organs was influenced by plant species and pruning management, G. sepium had relatively more of its total N and P partitioned into roots (about double that of the non-N₂ fixing trees) but had a lower PPUE. Unpruned and pruned G. sepium derived 35 and 54% respectively of their total N from atmospheric N2, with about 54% of the fixed N2 being allocated to leaves and roots. Results showed that N and P pools turned over in the branches during plant regrowth after pruning but the causative factors associated with this phenomenon were not clear.     

Biomass production in a nitrogen-fertilized,tallgrass prairie ecosystem exposed to ambient and elevated levels of CO2

Increased biomass production in terrestrial ecosystems with elevated atmospheric CO₂ may be constrained by nutrient limitations as a result of increased requirement or reduced availability caused by reduced turnover rates of nutrients. To determine the short-term impact of nitrogen (N) fertilization on plant biomass production under elevated CO₂, we compared the response of N-fertilized tallgrass prairie at ambient and twice-ambient CO₂ levels over a 2-year period. Native tallgrass prairie plots (4.5 m diameter) were exposed continuously (24 h) to ambient and twice-ambient CO₂ from 1 April to 26 October. We compared our results to an unfertilized companion experiment on the same research site. Above- and belowground biomass production and leaf area of fertilized plots were greater with elevated than ambient CO₂ in both years. The increase in biomass at high CO₂ occurred mainly aboveground in 1991, a dry year, and belowground in 1990, a wet year. Nitrogen concentration was lower in plants exposed to elevated CO₂, but total standing crop N was greater at high CO₂. Increased root biomass under elevated CO₂ apparently increased N uptake. The biomass production response to elevated CO₂ was much greater on N-fertilized than unfertilized prairie, particularly in the dry year. We conclude that biomass production response to elevated CO₂ was suppressed by N limitation in years with below-normal precipitation. Reduced N concentration in above- and belowground biomass could slow microbial degradation of soil organic matter and surface litter, thereby exacerbating N limitation in the long term.     

Ion-translocating ATPases in tendrils ofBryonia dioica Jacq.

Procedures have been developed which allow the preparation of highly pure endoplasmic reticulum and plasma membrane from tendrils ofBryonia dioica. These and further membrane fractions were used to study vanadate-sensitive ATPase activity as well as Mg²⁺ATP-driven transport of⁴⁵Ca²⁺. Calcium-translocating ATPases were detected in the endoplasmic reticulum, the plasma membrane and the mitochondrial fraction and characterized kinetically and with respect to the effects of various inhibitors. The endoplasmic-reticulum Ca²⁺-translocating ATPase was stimulated by KCl and was calmodulin-dependent. The plasma-membrane enzyme was not affected by these agents. These, as well as the inhibitor data, show that the Ca²⁺-translocating ATPases of the endoplasmic reticulum and the plasma membrane are distinctly different enzymes. Upon mechanical stimulation, the activities of the vanadate-sensitive K⁺, Mg²⁺-ATPase and the Ca²⁺-translocating ATPase(s) increased rapidly and transiently, indicating that increasing transmembrane proton and calcium fluxes are involved in the early stages of tendril coiling.Abbreviations CAM calmodulin - CCCP carbonylcyanidem-chlorophenylhydrazone - IC₅₀ concentration giving 50% inhibition - PM plasma membrane - rER rough endoplasmic reticulum - sER smooth endoplasmic reticulum - FC fusicoccin - U₃+U₃ the two PM-rich upper phases obtained after phase partitioning of microsomal membranes The authors wish to thank the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Bonn, Germany, and the Fonds der Chemischen Industrie, Frankfurt, Germany (literature provision) for financial support.     

The effects of continuous illumination on southern and northern Micrasterias strains

Different strains of Micrasterias (Chlorophyta, Conjugatophyceae); M. rotata (Grev.) Ralfs ex. Ralfs and M. denticulata Breb. ex. Ralfs var. angulosa (Hantzsch) W. & G. S. West from northern and southern Finland were treated with continuous illumination in order to study the cellular effects of the treatment and whether the tolerance to continuous light of the northern Finnish strains is related to the different daylenght conditions in northern and southern areas. During the growing season the Finnish strains normally live in long-day conditions or even in continuous light (between 60 and 70°N), and they also tolerated continuous illumination in the laboratory. Ultrastructural changes were found especially in the chloroplasts, where formation of calcium precipitates of different forms and sizes and also formation of plastoglobuli containing lipids appeared. However, even in 4-week treatments the ultrastructure of cells of these northern strains was not totally disrupted, contrary to what was found in southern M. torreyi , studied earlier. Southern and northern strains tolerated continuous illumination in different ways. They seem to differ from each other physiologically, and the differences are possibly located in their ionic metabolism and regulation. The injuries sustained during continuous illumination of Micrasterias may largely be caused by the accumulation of Ca²⁺ in cytoplasm and organelles, especially in the chloroplasts.     

Phenyllactic acid but not tropic acid is an intermediate in the biosynthesis of tropane alkaloids in Datura and Brugmansia transformed root cultures

(S)-(-)-Tropic acid is the acidic moiety of the tropane ester alkaloids, hyoscyamine and scopolamine (hyoscine). When tropic acid is fed to transformed root cultures of Datura stramonium L. or a Brugmansia (Datura) Candida x B. aurea hybrid, the formation of these alkaloids is inhibited. Phenyllactic acid, from which the tropoyl moiety is derived, is considerably less inhibitory. Label from (RS)-phenyl[1,3-¹³C₂]lactic acid is incorporated at high levels into apoatropine, littorine, aposcopolamine, hyoscyamine, 7-hydroxyapoatropine, scopolamine and 7-hydroxyhyoscyamine when fed to these cultures. The presence of an excess concentration of unlabelled tropic acid has little influence on the specific incorporation into these products. It is concluded that free tropic acid is not an intermediate in hyoscyamine biosynthesis but rather that the rearrangement of phenyllactic acid occurs subsequent to its esterification.Abbreviations FM fresh mass - NMR nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy We are grateful to Drs. N.J. Walton, A.J. Parr, M.J.C. Rhodes (Institue of Food Research, Norwich) and B. Dräger (Münster, Germany) for helpful and critical discussions. We also wish to thank Dr. P. Bachmann (Braunschweig, Germany) for suggesting the use of the DB-17 column to separate littorine from hyoscyamine and for the modified Excel programme used to calculate the specific incorporations, Yannick Ford (AFRC Co-operative Award Studentship, University of Oxford) and Abigael Peerless for their able assistance, Dr. I. Colquhoun for assistance with some of the NMR spectroscopy and Drs. K. Shimomura (Tsukuba, Japan) and T. Hashimoto (Kyoto, Japan) for pure samples of 7-hydroxyhyoscyamine. J.G.W, gratefully acknowledges support from the Nuffield Foundation under the Small Grants Scheme to promote collaborative experimentation and M.A. is grateful to the Ministry of Education, Iran for a research scholarship.     

Gas exchange and growth responses to elevated CO2 and light levels in the CAM species Opuntia ficus-indica

Gas exchange and dry-weight production in Opuntia ficus-indica, a CAM species cultivated worldwide for its fruit and cladodes, were studied in 370 and 750 μmol mol⁻¹ CO₂ at three photosynthetic photon flux densities (PPFD: 5, 13 and 20 mol m⁻² d⁻¹). Elevated CO₂ and PPFD enhanced the growth of basal cladodes and roots during the 12-week study. A rise in the PPFD increased the growth of daughter cladodes; elevated CO₂ enhanced the growth of first-daughter cladodes but decreased the growth of the second-daughter cladodes produced on them. CO₂ enrichment enhanced daily net CO₂ uptake during the initial 8 weeks after planting for both basal and first-daughter cladodes. Water vapour conductance was 9 to 15% lower in 750 than in 370 μmol mol⁻¹ CO₂. Cladode chlorophyll content was lower in elevated CO₂ and at higher PPFD. Soluble sugar and starch contents increased with time and were higher in elevated CO₂ and at higher PPFD. The total plant nitrogen content was lower in elevated CO₂. The effect of elevated CO₂ on net CO₂ uptake disappeared at 12 weeks after planting, possibly due to acclimation or feedback inhibition, which in turn could reflect decreases in the sink strength of roots. Despite this decreased effect on net CO₂ uptake, the total plant dry weight at 12 weeks averaged 32% higher in 750 than in 370 μmol mol⁻¹ CO₂. Averaged for the two CO₂ treatments, the total plant dry weight increased by 66% from low to medium PPFD and by 37% from medium to high PPFD.     

Lipase-catalyzed alcoholysis of triglycerides for the preparation of 2-monoglycerides

Rhizopus arrhizus lipase immobilized on celite was used to prepare isomerically pure 2-monoglycerides by alcoholysis of triglycerides in organic media. Reaction parameters such as choice of solvent, choice of alcohol, and alcohol concentration were studied. When 12.5 mM tripalmitin was used as substrate, methyl-tert-butyl ether was the best solvent for alcoholysis at water activity 0.11. Ethanol gave the highest yield (97%) at an optimal ethanol concentration of 200–300 mM. At higher alcohol concentrations, the enzyme activity was substantially lowered. The enzyme preparation showed high stability in repeated-batch reactions.     

Side reactions in the synthesis of phosphotyrosine-containing peptides

Summary A series of phosphopeptides Tyr(PO₃H₂)-Val-Pro-Xxx-Leu (Xxx=Met, Met(O), Nle, Dab or Cys), derived from the native platelet-derived growth factor- receptor (PDGF-) sequence, has been prepared to study their interaction with the src-homology 2 (SH2) domains of the p85 subunit of PI3 kinase. The phosphopeptides were synthesized using Fmoc methodology incorporating N-Boc dibenzyl-protected phosphotyrosine (Boc-Tyr[PO₃(Bzl)₂]) as the N-terminal amino acid, since the benzyl groups can be removed during resin cleavage with TFA. Only peptides containing methionine were found to exist partially as S-benzyl sulfonium salts after TFA cleavage from the resin. The desired peptide could be obtained from the S-benzyl sulfonium salt by hydrogenolysis.     

Cell cycle checkpoints

Checkpoints help ensure that cell cycle events occur in the correct order. Studies on mammalian cells identified inhibitors of complexes of cyclins and cyclin-dependent kinases as components of cell cycle checkpoints and provide the first glimpse of the molecular pathways that prevent cells with damaged DNA from replicating their DNA. In embryos, the extent to which checkpoints arrest the cell cycle reflects the relative strength of inhibitory checkpoints and the machinery driving the cell cycle forward.