Mutations associated with floral organ number in rice

How floral organ number is specified is an interesting subject and has been intensively studied in Arabidopsis thaliana. In rice (Oryza sativa L.), mutations associated with floral organ number have been identified. In three mutants of rice, floral organ number 1 (fon1) and the two alleles, floral organ number 2-1 (fon2-1) and floral organ number 2-2 (fon2-2), the floral organs were increased in number centripetally. Lodicules, homologous to petals, were rarely affected, and stamens were frequently increased from six to seven or eight. Of all the floral organs the number of pistils was the most frequently increased. Among the mutants, fon1 showed a different spectrum of organ number from fon2 -1 and fon2 -2. Lodicules were the most frequently affected in fon1, but pistils of more than half of fon1 flowers were unaffected; in contrast, the pistils of most flowers were increased in fon2 -1 and fon2-2. Homeotic conversion of organ identity was also detected at a low frequency in ectopically formed lodicules and stamens. Lodicules and stamens were partially converted into anthers and stigmas, respectively. Concomitant with the increased number of floral organs, each mutant had an enlarged apical meristem. Although meristem size was comparable among the three mutants and wild type in the early phase of flower development, a significant difference became apparent after the lemma primordium had differentiated. In these mutants, the size of the shoot apical meristem in the embryo and in the vegetative phase was not affected, and no phenotypic abnormalities were detected. These results do not coincide with those for Arabidopsis in which clavatal affects the sizes of both shoot and floral meristems, leading to abnormal phyllotaxis, inflorescence fasciation and increased floral organs. Accordingly, it is considered that FON1 and FON2 function exclusively in the regulation of the floral meristem, not of the vegetative meristem.Abbreviation DIC differential interference contrast This work was supported in part by Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Priority Areas from the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture of Japan.     

Rhythmic melatonin secretion in different teleost species: an in vitro study

The rhythmic production of melatonin is governed by intrapineal oscillators in all fish species so far investigated except the rainbow trout. To determine whether the latter represents an exception among fish, we measured in vitro melatonin secretion in pineal organs of nine wild freshwater and six marine teleost species cultured at constant temperature and under different photic conditions. The results demonstrate that pineal organs of all species maintain a rhythmic secretion of melatonin under light:dark cycles and complete darkness, and strongly suggest that most fish possess endogenous intrapineal oscillators driving the rhythm of melatonin production, with the exception of the rainbow trout.Abbreviations LD light:dark - DD dark:dark - NAT N-acetyltransferase - RIA radioimmunoassay     

The tympanal hearing organ of the parasitoid fly Ormia ochracea (Diptera, Tachinidae, Ormiini)

Tympanate hearing has evolved in at least 6 different orders of insects, but had not been reported until recently in the Diptera. This study presents a newly discovered tympanal hearing organ, in the parasitoid tachinid fly, Ormia ochracea. The hearing organ is described in terms of external and internal morphology, cellular organization of the sensory organ and preliminary neuroanatomy of the primary auditory afferents. The ear is located on the frontal face of the prothorax, directly behind the head capsule. Conspicuously visible are a pair of thin cuticular membranes specialized for audition, the prosternal tympanal membranes. Directly attached to these membranes, within the enlarged prosternal chamber, are a pair of auditory sensory organs, the bulbae acusticae. These sensory organs are unique among all auditory organs known so far because both are contained within an unpartitioned acoustic chamber. The prosternal chamber is connected to the outside by a pair of tracheae. The cellular anatomy of the fly's scolopophorous organ was investigated by light and electron microscopy. The bulba acustica is a typical chordotonal organ and it contains approximately 70 receptor cells. It is similar to other insect sensory organs associated with tympanal ears. The similarity of the cellular organization and tympanal morphology of the ormiine ear to the ears of other tympanate insects suggests that there are potent constraints in the design features of tympanal hearing organs, which must function to detect high frequency auditory signals over long distances. Each sensory organ is innervated by a branch of the frontal nerve of the fused thoracic ganglia. The primary auditory afferents project to each of the pro-, meso-, and metathoracic neuropils. The fly's hearing organ is sexually dimorphic, whereby the tympanal membranes are larger in females and the spiracles larger in males. The dimorphism presumably reflects differences in the acoustic behavior in the two sexes.     

Impact of density of Aphis craccivora (Aphididae) on growth and yield of susceptible and resistant cowpea cultivars

Impact of initial density of cowpea aphid Aphis craccivora Koch (Aphididae) at infestation on the growth and yield of aphid-susceptible cowpea cultivar ICV-1 and aphid-resistant cultivar ICV-12, was investigated. Plants at the seedling, flowering and podding stages of development were infested with five aphid densities consisting of 0, 2, 5, 10 and. 20 aphids per plant and maintained for 22 days. Extended leaf heights of plants and aphid counts were recorded at 7, 12, 17 and 22 days after infestation. Two crop growth parameters (biomass duration and leaf area duration), and two plant yield parameters (number of pods per plant and number of seeds per pod) were recorded. Due to the occurrence of parthenogenesis and changes in population dynamics during infestations, aphid densities were converted into cumulative cowpea aphid-days, to facilitate data analyses and interpretation. ANOVA indicated that there was significant (P=s 0.05) difference in aphid-day accumulations between the two cultivars when infested at the seedling stage. Accumulations on cv. ICV-1 were greater than on cv. ICV-12. However, no such differences between the cultivars were detected when plants were infested at flowering and podding stages. Therefore, the seedling stage was used for comparisons of the impact of cowpea aphid-days on the growth and yield parameters of the two cultivars. At the 95% confidence intervals, ICV-12 plants were consistently taller than ICV-1 plants. Infested ICV-1 seedlings showed stunting and other growth deformities which were not observed on ICV-12 plants. Regression analyses revealed substantial reductions in the growth and yield parameters of ICV-1 relative to ICV-12. Overall, cowpea aphid-days provided a convenient and reliable method for studying the aphid population dynamics and the subsequent impact on plant growth and yield performance.     

Gas exchange in leaves of the root hemiparasitemelampyrum arvense L. before and after attachment to the host plant

Gas exchange characteristics of a hemiparasiteMelampyrum arvense L. before and after attachment to the hostCapsella bursa pastoris (L.) Med. were compared. The net photosynthetic rates (P_N) on a leaf area basis were extremely low and in comparison to the value obtained for the host were about 15 % and 23 % for the unattached and attached hemiparasite, respectively. Also the concentration of photosynthetic pigments was low (as compared with the host the content of chlorophylls was about 33 % and 49 % and of carotenoids about 38 % and 36 % in the unattached and attached hemiparasite, respectively). On the other hand the rates of respiration were high (about 1.8 and 2.6 times higher in the unattached and attached hemiparasite, respectively, than in the host). In darkness stomatal conductance (g_S) of the host and the unattached hemiparasite was rapidly reduced to 10 % of the value obtained in light, g_S of the attached hemiparasite was decreased only by about 30%. A total reduction of g_S occurred at relative water content (RWC) of 85 %, 75% and 45 % for the unattached hemiparasite, the host, and the attached hemiparasite, respectively. The transpiration (E) rate in the preparasitic stage was very low, being 2.6 and 4.5 times smaller than in the host and the attached hemiparasite, respectively. In the attached hemiparasite WUE was 7.5 and 3 times poorer than in the host and in the preparasitic stage, respectively.     

Rat metanephric organ culture in terato-embryology

The development of the permanent mammalian kidney, or metanephros, depends on mesenchymal-epithelial interactions, leading to branching morphogenesis of the ureteric bud that forms the collecting ducts and to conversion of the metanephric mesenchyme into epithelium that forms the nephrons. Rat metanephric organ culture in which these interactions are maintained is a valuable in vitro model system for investigating normal and abnormal renal organogenesis. Methods were designed to evaluate either the capacity of the ureteric bud to branch or that of the mesenchyme to form nephrons. Both are based on specific staining of the ureteric bud and the glomeruli with lectins. Using this approach, we have shown that retinoids are potent stimulating factors of nephrogenesis, acting through an increase in the branching capacity of the ureteric bud. On the other hand, several drugs such as gentamicin and cyclosporin A were found to reduce the number of nephrons formed in vitro. While gentamicin affects the early branching pattern of the ureteric bud, cyclosporin may affect the capacity of the mesencyme to convert into epithelium. This methodology therefore appears a potentially useful tool for toxicological studies new drugs.     

Leaf litterfall,leaf area index,and radiation transmittance in cypress wetlands and slash pine plantations in north-central Florida

The seasonal dynamics of leaf litterfall and leaf area index (LAI, all-sided basis), light penetration and the vertical distribution of surface area index, and the feasibility of estimating LAI from radiation transmittance were studied from April 1993 to March 1994 in the canopies of three cypress (Taxodium ascendens) wetlands and their surrounding slash pine (Pinus elliottii) uplands in Florida flatwoods. Annual leaf litterfall ranged from 324 to 359 g m^–2 in the wetlands, which was very close to the average for 11 sites throughout Florida of 340±26 g m^–2. The seasonal pattern of the normalized LAI obtained for the dominant tree species in the ecosystems could be used to construct the seasonal dynamics of LAI at the ecosystem scale. The vertical distribution of surface area index in the wetlands was significantly different from that in the surrounding pine uplands. The maximum LAI of cypress wetlands in this area was about 8 m² m^–2, which was higher than the maximum of slash pine plantations of 6 m² m^–2. Cypress leaves were strongly erectophile in space. Results showed that the LAI-2000 canopy analyzer could generally be used to estimate forest LAI, whether the forest canopy was closed or not, if an overall clumping index of 2.00 was applied. However, as LAI decreased, the relative error contained in the radiation-based LAI estimates increased. This indicated that foliage clumping at the stand scale was more important than that at the tree or branch scale.     

Changes in foliage distribution with relative irradiance and tree size: Differences between the saplings ofAcer platanoides andQuercus robur

Dependencies of foliage arrangement and structure on relative irradiance and total height (TH) were studied in saplings ofAcer platanoides andQuercus robur. The distribution of relative foliar area and dry weight (leaf area and weight in a crown layer per total tree leaf area and weight, respectively) were examined with respect to relative height (RH, height in the crown per TH) and characterized by the Weibull function. The distributions of relative area and weight were nearly identical, and the differences between them were attributable to a systematic decline in leaf dry weight per area with increasing crown depth. Foliage distribution was similarly altered by tree size in both species; RH at foliage maximum was lower and relative canopy size (RCS, length of live crown per TH) greater in taller trees. However, the distribution was more uniform inA. platanoides than inQ. robur. Apart from the size effects, relative irradiance also influenced canopy structure; RCS increased inQ. platanoides and decreased inQ. robur with increasing irradiance. As crown architecture was modified by irradiance, foliage distribution was shifted upwards with decreasing irradiance inA. platanoides, but it was independent of irradiance inQ. robur. Higher foliage maximum at lower irradiance in more shade-tolerantA. platanoides is likely to contribute towards more efficient foliar display for light interception and increase the competitive ability of this species in light-limited environments. Consequently, these differences in crown architecture and foliage distribution may partly explain the superior behavior ofA. platanoides in understory.     

我国某些苏铁类生殖器官化石的发现兼论苏铁类起源

本文对苏铁类化石的系统分类作了概要的介绍。重点报道了笔者在近廿年来所采集的苏铁类生殖器官化石,特别是中晚石炭世的一枚苏铁大孢子叶化石的发现,将苏铁类起源的时间大大地推前了,并指出其起源地应在中国西北的甘肃地区。所有这些生殖器官的发现将推动苏铁化石生殖生物学的发展,对其起源、分布、演化和苏铁植物区系的形成和发展提供了极为重要的材料。     

午间强光胁迫下SOD对大豆叶片光合机构的保护作用

晴天田间大豆叶片Ｐｎ与Ｐｒ均表现出明显的日变化,Ｐｎ日变化曲线里双峰型,中午前后降低。Ｐｒ随日照强度的增加而增加,至上午１１时左右达最大值,然后缓慢下降。普通空气及低氧空气中的ＡＱＹ均在中午前后降低。ＳＯＤ活性也有明显的日变化,最高值出现在下午１６时左右。强光下喷施ＳＯＤ抑制剂ＤＤＴＣ明显降低Ｐｎ及低氧空气中的ＡＱＹ;而在低于叶片光合作用饱和光强下喷施同样浓度ＤＤＴＣ则对Ｐｎ及低氧空气中的ＡＱＹ无明显影响。中午前后ＳＯＤ活性及Ｐｒ的增加对于保护光合机构免受强光的破坏具有重要意义。