Glucosylation of esculetin by plant cell suspension cultures

Cell suspension cultures of Lithospermum erythrorhizon, Gardenia jasminoides and Nicotiana tabacum were capable of glucosylating esculetin to esculin (7-hydroxycoumarin-6-O--D-glucoside). Especially, a culture strain of Lithospermum erythrorhizon was superior in the esculetin glucosylating capability; 40 to 50% of esculetin administered to the culture medium at early stationary growth stage was converted into esculin within 24 h. The rate of glucosylation was also dependent on the growth stage and the medium composition especially growth hormones and sugar.     

Long term regeneration by somatic embryogenesis in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) tissue cultures derived from apical meristem explants

Callus cultures were initiated from apical meristem explants of one to four-week-old aseptically-grown barley (Hordeum vulgare L. cv. Atlas 57) plants. Embryogenic callus and plants were produced in three separate experiments; the cultures have retained regenerative capacity for three years after initiation. Our results demonstrate that explants other than immature embryos are embryogenically competent in barley and that regeneration occurs by both somatic embryogenesis and organogenesis.     

Restriction fragment polymorphisms as probes for plant diversity and their development as tools for applied plant breeding

Summary Maize and tomato cDNA clones have been hybridized in Southern blotting experiments to plant genomic DNA prepared from different lines to detect restriction fragment polymorphisms (RFPs). In maize we have found that a high degree of genetic variability is present, even among domestic inbred lines. Most randomly chosen maize cDNA clones can be used to detect elements of this variability. Similar levels of polymorphism are observed when genomic DNA is digested with any of a number of different restriction enzymes and probed with individual clones. When a clone is hybridized to genomic DNAs prepared from several different maize lines, a number of different alleles are often detected at a single locus. At the same time one clone can often detect more than one independently segregating locus by cross hybridization to related sequences at other loci. As expected these markers are inherited as simple codominant Mendelian alleles from one generation to the next and colinkage of these markers can be demonstrated in the progeny from a heterozygous parent. In similar studies with tomato, remarkably different results were found. Few RFPs were demonstrable among domestic Lycopersicon esculentum lines although a higher level of variability could be detected when comparing esculentum with its wild Lycopersicon relatives. These results are discussed in relation to the applied uses of RFPs in plant breeding as well as the inherent variability of different plant genomes.This work was supported in part by funds from Sandoz Ltd. (Basel, Switzerland) and its subsidiary company, Northrup King Co. (Minneapolis, Minn., U.S.A.) as well as by NSF SBIR grant #BSR-8360870.     

元江干热河谷山地五百年来植被变迁探讨

元江河谷是云南省最干热地区之一,在海拔800—900米以下的山地上广泛分布着稀树灌草丛。根据《元江府志》(1714年编纂)、《元江州志》(1826年编纂)、《元江志稿》(1922年编篡)及对现存植被的考察,本文探讨了元江干热河谷山地五百年来植被的变迁。 元江县森林复盖率的减少与人口的增加有密切关系,十七世纪中期以前,森林复盖率在75％以上,十八、十九世纪时为70％左右,1958年为61.5％,1975年为27.3％,至1982年则为19.3％。研究表明,在十九世纪以前,这个地区分布的主要植被是热带季雨林,甚而热带季节雨林,以后热带稀树灌草丛则迅速发展。植被的历史变化与土壤流失密切相关。植物群落的演变是由以乔木树种为优势演变为以灌木种类为优势,再演变为以多年生草木植物为优势,而最后则成为裸地。本文也讨论了这个地区植被恢复的方法。     

Auxin action: the search for the receptor

Abstract. The molecular specificity of the substances which have auxin activity implies the existence of specific receptors. There have been many efforts to identify and isolate these receptors on the assumption that they should bind auxins with affinities coordinate to their activities in bioassays. However, the known complexity of auxin uptake and metabolism make this assumption seriously deficient. Although several such binding sites have, in fact, been identified, proof of a connection between these sites and auxin action has been lacking. Definite proof would include a requirement that the site be reconstituted, together with the appropriate macro-molecular machinery, to construct a model of an auxin response. At the moment, our ignorance of the biochemistry and molecular biology of auxin growth responses makes such a proof difficult. However, two avenues of research promise to accelerate the rate of progress. The increasingly potent tools of molecular biology should soon allow the dissection of auxin-regulated gene expression, while improved knowledge of plasma membrane proton pumps and the mechanism of cell wall biosynthesis should produce, in parallel, an understanding of the auxin regulation of acid growth.     

棉株根系伤流中的细胞分裂素类物质

棉株根系伤流有明显昼夜节奏,白天多,夜晚较少。白天中又以上午9～12时的伤流量为最高。伤流中CTK量及其浓度也以白天为高。在切除地上部4天以后,从蕾期和铃期棉株已不再能收集到伤流液,但盛花期棉株在切除地上部6天以后,仍产生了相当多的伤流,其中仍含有丰富的CTK类物质。盛花期棉株根系伤流量及其中CTK水平高于铃期棉株,提示铃期棉株根系活力已开始趋向衰老。根据Sephadex LH-20柱层析及高效液相层析鉴定出棉株根系伤流中的CTK类物质有Z,ZR,和IPA。     

新疆20种药用植物的染色体观察

本文对在新疆生长和引种栽培的10科20种药用植物染色体进行了计数和研究,其中5种进行了核型分析,6种为首次报道。     

The influence of food plant dispersion on caterpillar searching success

Abstract. 1. Collards (Brassica oleracea L.) grown in clumps were more difficult for unstarved, early instar cabbage white caterpillars (Pieris rapae L.) to find than collards spaced at regular intervals, although total plant densities were identical.
2. Early instar, unstarved larvae are less mobile than later instar larvae (our data) or starved larvae (Jones' 1977 data).
3. Starved larvae and late instar larvae tend to find plants more readily than do unstarved or younger larvae.
4. We contend that larval mobility governs the success of searching caterpillars and their sensitivity to variations in plant dispersion.
5. Our results show that the dispersion of targets can influence searching success even though target density is constant. This means that the degree of clumping in host plants is capable of influencing their availability to herbivores.     

Differentiation of cotton fibers from single cells in suspension culture

Summary A cotton cell suspension culture has been developed that provides unique opportunities for plant biologists to investigate early developmental events regulating cotton fiber properties, plant cell elongation, and cell wall biogenesis. The suspension culture was derived from cells of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) ovule callus. These cells undergo the stages of fiber development previously described for in vivo fiber development. Fibers range in length up to 11 mm and have secondary walls. Supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Southern Regional Research Laboratory, New Orleans, Louisiana, and Cotton Incorporated, Raleigh, North Carolina.