Cytokinin metabolism in tomato plants. II. Metabolites of kinetin and benzyladenine in decapitated roots

Decapitated tomato plants were supplied via the roots with [8-¹⁴C]-kinetin or [8-¹⁴C]-benzyladenine in a nutrient solution for a period of 24 h. After this time the root material, the root sap produced during the 24 h period and the nutrient solution remaining at the end of the experiments were analysed for cytokinins. HPLC techniques and chemical treatments were used to tentatively identify radioactive metabolites formed. Uptake of kinetin and benzyladenine by the roots was found to be limited but once within the root tissues metabolism was both rapid and extensive.At least 14 metabolites of kinetin were recovered from root tissue and root sap. Many of these appeared to be degradation products. There was, however, some evidence of formation of zeatin-like derivatives. Side-chain cleavage of the original kinetin which occurs rapidly is suggested as a possible route for the eventual production of these endogenous cytokinin forms.The benzyladenine taken up by the roots was apparently both ribosylated and glucosylated. No unmetabolized benzyladenine was detected in the root tissues after 24 h. Only very low levels of radioactivity were associated with the retention time of adenine, suggesting that in the case of benzyladenine side-chain cleavage is of limited importance.The significance of these reactions in relation to the potential use of cytokinins in the regulation of plant growth is discussed.     

Normalizing the thermal effects of radiofrequency radiation: body mass versus total body surface area

The current guideline for exposure to radiofrequency radiation (RFR) was developed through assessment of the biological effects data collected primarily from the rat. The consensus that a lack of hazardous biological effects occurred below a whole-body-averaged specific absorption rate (SAR) of 4.0 W/kg led to the proposition of a 0.4 W/kg guideline with a built-in safety factor of 10. This paper demonstrates that if the RFR absorption rate in the rat had been normalized with respect to total body surface area rather than body mass, the exposure guideline would be 2.3 W/m2, which translates to an SAR of approximately 0.06 W/kg for an adult human. It is further shown that a given RFR absorption rate, normalized as a fraction of a species' heat loss per unit of surface area, is independent of body mass over a range of 0.03-100 kg; however, a normalization of the RFR absorption rate to heat loss per unit of body mass is highly dependent on the species' mass. Normalizing the rate of RFR absorption to the surface area of the rat indicates that the current RFR exposure guideline of 0.4 W/kg may be too high.     

Waterlogging responses in dune,swale and marsh populations of Spartina patens under field conditions

Summary Soil waterlogging responses were examined in three Spartina patens populations along a steep flooding gradient in coastal Louisiana. Root anatomy and physiological indicators of anaerobic metabolism were examined to identify and compare flooding responses in dune, swale and marsh populations, while soil physicochemical factors were measured to characterize the three habitats. Soil waterlogging increased along the gradient from dune to marsh habitats and was accompanied by increases in root porosity (aerenchyma). Aerenchyma in marsh roots was apparently insufficient to provide enough oxygen for aerobic respiratory demand, as indicated by high root alcohol dehydrogenase activities and low energy charge ratios. Patterns of root metabolic indicators suggest that dune and swale roots generally respired aerobically, while anaerobic metabolism was important in marsh roots. However, in each population, relatively greater soil waterloging was accompanied by differences in enzyme activities leading to malate accumulation. In dune and swale roots under these circumstances, depressed adenylate energy charge ratios may have been the result of an absence of increased ethanol fermentation. These trends suggest that: 1) Aerenchyma formation was an important, albeit incomplete, long-term adaptation to the prevalent degree of soil waterlogging. 2) All populations adjusted root metabolism in response to a relative (short-term) increase in soil waterlogging.     

The relationship between turgor pressure and titratable acidity in mesophyll cells of intact leaves of a Crassulacean-acid-metabolism plant,Kalanchoe daigremontiana Hamet et Perr

Day/night changes in turgor pressure (P) and titratable acidity content were investigated in the (Crassulacean-acid-metabolism (CAM) plant Kalanchoe daigremontiana. Measurements of P were made on individual mesophyll cells of intact attached leaves using the pressure-probe technique. Under conditions of high relative humidity, when transpiration rates were minimal, changes in P correlated well with changes in the level of titratable acidity. During the standard 12 h light/12 h dark cycle, maximum turgor pressure (0.15 MPa) occurred at the end of the dark period when the level of titratable acidity was highest (about 300 eq H⁺·g^-1 fresh weight). A close relationship between P and titratable acidity was also seen in leaves exposed to perturbations of the standard light/dark cycle. (The dark period was either prolonged, or else only CO₂-free air was supplied in this period). In plants deprived of irrigation for five weeks, diurnal changes in titratable acidity of the leaves were reduced (H=160 eq H⁺·g^-1 fresh weight) and P increased from essentially zero at the end of the light period to 0.02 MPa at the end of the dark period. Following more severe water stress (experiments were made on leaves which had been detached for five weeks), P was zero throughout day and night, yet small diurnal changes in titratable acidity were still measured. These findings are discussed in relation to a hypothesis by Lüttge et al. 1975 (Plant Physiol. 56,613-616) for the role of P in the regulation of acidification/de-acidification cycles of plants exhibiting CAM.Abbreviations CAM crassulacean acid metabolism - FW fresh weight - P turgor pressure     

Effects of glyphosate on phenolic metabolism in yellow nutsedge leaves

The action of the herbicide glyphosate [N-(phosphonomethyl)-glycine] on phenolic metabolism and phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL; EC 4.3.1.5) activity was investigated in yellow nutsedge (Cyperus esculentus L.). Glyphosate caused significant increases in the amount of total soluble hydroxyphenolics in the three fractions studied (neutral, acid and residual). Qualitative and quantitative differences in relation to these fractions and the amount of applied glyphosate were observed. Most of the phenolic compounds which increased after glyphosate treatment were benzoic acids (gentisic. p -OH-benzoic, salicylic and vanillic). Gentisic acid showed the greatest increase in neutral and acid fractions, being twenty- and four-fold, respectively, of the amount found in the control. PAL activity was not affected by the lowest doses of glyphosate (10−⁴and 10−³ M) , but a dramatic decrease in PAL activity was observed after 10−² M treatment. These findings, together with the low levels of cinnamic acids measured in treated yellow nutsedge plants, suggest that PAL activity is only marginally involved in glyphosate action. Since the herbicidal action probably takes place at 5-enol-pyruvylshikimate-3-P synthase (EC 2.5.1.19), an alternative pathway to PAL in phenolic biosynthesis should be activated yielding benzoic acids.     

Uptake and metabolism of taurine in the green alga Chlorella fusca

Taurine entered the alga Chlorella fusca Shihira et Krauss strain 21l-8b via a pH and energy-dependent system ("permease"). Transport followed triphasic kinetics from 10⁻⁶ to 10⁻² M with K_m values for taurine of 5.4 × 10⁻⁵, 4.1 × l0⁻⁴ and l.5 × 10⁻³ M. This uptake system was specific for sulfonic acids and showed no affinity for α- and β -amino acids or Na⁺; thus the permease of C. fusca is different from all known taurine transport systems with respect to structural specificity and lack of Na⁺ -dependence. Uptake was not observed in sulfate-grown algae but developed as a response to sulfate limitation within 2 h. Sulfate addition caused a rapid decline in taurine transport capacity. Labeled taurine was rapidly metabolized in C. fusca to sulfate and ethanolamine, suggesting oxidative hydrolysis as the mechanism of C-S bond cleavage. Further incorporation of these catabolic products in C - and S -metabolism was demonstrated. Taurine catabolism was also detected in other green algae and some cyanobacteria.     

Micronutrients and nitrogen metabolism

A sand-culture experiment was conducted to study the influence of a deficiency of and an excess of micronutrients on the uptake and assimilation of NH ₄ ⁺ and NO ₃ ⁻ ions by maize. By studying the fate of¹⁵N supplied as¹⁵NH₄NO₃ or NH₄ ¹⁵NO₃, it was demonstrated that in maize plants NH₄−N was absorbed in preference to NO ₃ ⁻ −N. The uptake and distribution of N originating from both NH ₄ ⁺ and NO ₃ ⁻ was considerably modified by deficiency of, or an excess of, micronutrients in the growth medium. The translocation of NH ₄ ⁺ −N from roots to shoots was relatively less than that of NO ₃ ⁻ −N. Deficiency as well as excessive amounts of micronutrients, in the growth medium, substantially reduced the translocation of absorbed N into protein. This effect was more pronounced in the case of N supplied as NO ₃ ⁻ . Amino-N was the predominant non-protein fraction in which N from both NH ₄ ⁺ and NO ₃ ⁻ tended to accumulate. The next important non-protein fractions were NO ₃ ⁻ −N when N was supplied as NO ₃ ⁻ and amide-N when NH ₄ ⁺ was the source. The relative accumulation of¹⁵N into different protein fractions was also a function of imposed micronutrient levels.     

Stimulatory Effect of the D2 Antagonist Sulpiride on Glucose Utilization in Dopaminergic Regions of Rat Brain

Local cerebral glucose utilization (LCGU) was measured, using the quantitative autoradiographic [14C]2-deoxy-D-glucose method, in 56 brain regions of 3-month-old, awake Fischer-344 rats, after intraperitoneal administration of sulpiride (SULP) 100 mg/kg. SULP, an "atypical" neuroleptic, is a selective antagonist of D2 dopamine receptors. LCGU was reduced in a few nondopaminergic regions at 1 h after drug administration. Thereafter, SULP progressively elevated LCGU in many other regions. At 3 h, LCGU was elevated in 23% of the regions examined, most of which are related to the CNS dopaminergic system (caudate-putamen, nucleus accumbens, olfactory tubercle, lateral habenula, median eminence, paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus). Increases of LCGU were observed also in the suprachiasmatic nucleus, lateral geniculate, and inferior olive. These effects of SULP on LCGU differ from the effects of the "typical" neuroleptic haloperidol, which produces widespread decreases in LCGU in the rat brain. Selective actions on different subpopulations of dopamine receptors may explain the different effects of the two neuroleptics on brain metabolism, which correspond to their different clinical and behavioral actions.