Rice resistance to blast caused by leaf surface moistening prior to inoculation

Effect of water droplets placed onto rice (Oryza sativa L.) leaves before inoculation with blast fungus Magnaporthe grisea (Hebert) Barr on disease severity and superoxide radical generation by the leaves was investigated. The leaves were inoculated by placement of spore suspension droplets. One day before, droplets of distilled water were placed to the same sites as an inoculum. It was found, that such a pretreatment decreased frequency of susceptible-type lesions by 2 to 2.5 times and increased that of symptomless outcome by 1.5 times in comparison with the nontreated control. Besides, the pretreatment enhanced superoxide radical generation in diffusates of healthy leaves of susceptible cultivar and in diffusates of infected leaves of resistant cultivar one day post inoculation. It is suggested that water contacting with the leaf surface for a rather long time washes out from its cells compounds possessing properties of plant endogenous elicitors. The latter induce superoxide radical formation by plants and, as a consequence, their disease resistance. This may be interpreted as plant adaptation to high humidity, which usually favors infections.     

Phenotypic plasticity in response to light in the coffee tree

Phenotypic plasticity to light availability was examined at the leaf level in field-grown coffee trees (Coffea arabica). This species has been traditionally considered as shade-demanding, although it performs well without shade and even out-yields shaded coffee. Specifically, we focused our attention on the morpho-anatomical plasticity, the balance between light capture and excess light energy dissipation, as well as on physiological traits associated with carbon gain. A wide natural light gradient, i.e., a diurnal intercepted photon irradiance differing by a factor of 25 between the deepest shade leaves and the more exposed leaves in the canopy, was explored. Responses of most traits to light were non-linear, revealing the classic leaf sun vs. leaf shade dichotomy (e.g., compared with sun leaves, shade leaves had a lower stomatal density, a thinner palisade mesophyll, a higher specific leaf area, an improved light capture, a lower respiration rate, a lower light compensating point and a limited capacity for photoprotection). The light-saturated rates of net photosynthesis were higher in sunlit than in shade leaves, although sun leaves were not efficient enough to use the extra light supply. However, sun leaves showed well-developed photoprotection mechanisms in comparison to shade leaves, which proved sufficient for avoiding photoinhibition. Specifically, a higher non-photochemical quenching coefficient was found in parallel to increases in: (i) zeaxanthin pools, (ii) de-epoxidation state of the xanthophyll cycle, and (iii) activities of some antioxidant enzymes. Intracanopy plasticity depended on the suite of traits considered, and was high for some physiological traits associated with photoprotection and maintenance of a positive carbon balance under low light, but low for most morpho-anatomical features. Our data largely explain the successful cultivation of the coffee tree in both exposed and shade environments, although with a poor resource-use efficiency in high light.     

八角茴香春果和秋果以及不同部位的莽草酸含量分析

采用HPLC法对不同季节和不同部位的八角茴香药材主成分莽草酸的含量进行分析,发现枝条、叶片、春果、秋果的莽草酸含量依次为2.64%、4.94%、8.63%、12.16%;色谱条件:Venusil HILIC(5μm,4.6 mm×250 mm)色谱柱,流动相:乙腈-0.5%三氟乙酸(95:5),流速1.0 mL·min~(-1),检测波长为210 nm。莽草酸进样量在0.001～6μg范围内线性关系良好。莽草酸的线性回归相关系数r=0.9984,平均回收率为98.4%,相对标准偏差(RSD)为1.26%。该研究为制定八角茴香药材质量检测标准提供了简便、快速、准确的方法。     

一氧化氮在光延缓小麦叶片衰老中的作用

以小麦(Triticum aestivum L.)离体叶片为材料,采用药理学实验和激光扫描共聚焦显微镜技术,对内源一氧化氮(NO)在光延缓离体小麦叶片衰老过程中的作用进行了研究.结果显示:光照处理的同时添加NO清除剂血红蛋白(Hb)或硝酸还原酶抑制剂钨酸钠(Na2WO4)后,光抑制离体小麦叶片叶绿素和可溶性蛋白含量降低及丙二醛累积的效应均显著减弱;光照处理下小麦叶片硝酸还原酶活性和内源NO水平均明显高于黑暗条件下,而Na2WO4处理不仅能抑制光诱导的硝酸还原酶活性提高,还与Hb处理一样能显著降低光下叶片内源NO水平.结果表明,硝酸还原酶途径来源的NO参与了光抑制离体小麦叶片衰老的过程.     

藜叶中黄酮类化合物体外抗氧化活性研究

为了探讨藜叶中黄酮类化合物的体外抗氧化活性,采用有机溶剂提取法和色谱柱法对藜叶中化学成分进行提取与分离;以Vc作对照,对分离纯化的芦丁、乙酸乙酯浸膏和正丁醇浸膏进行DPPH·、O2^-·和·OH的清除效果试验。结果表明：三者对DPPH·、O2^-·、·OH均具有清除作用,且与浓度呈量效关系,芦丁对·OH清除效果优于Vc,芦丁具有较强的清除DPPH·能力,其IC50为0．05μg／mL。     

连翘叶黄酮对力竭游泳恢复小鼠的抗疲劳作用研究

为探讨连翘叶黄酮(flavonoids from Forsythia suspense leaves,FFL)对力竭运动恢复小鼠的抗疲劳作用,对小鼠以FFL或同体积生理盐水灌胃30 d,进行一次性力竭游泳,恢复24 h后,测定小鼠肝脏、心肌和股四头肌的SOD活性和MDA含量,并观察这几个脏器的亚显微结构.结果表明,运动+FFL大剂量组这三种组织的SOD活性较运动对照组和安静对照组高(P＜0.05),而MDA水平则较运动对照组低(P＜0.05),与安静对照组无显著差异(P＞0.05).透射电镜的观察结果表明,运动+FFL大剂量组小鼠三种组织中的微损伤均较运动对照组轻.该结果说明,连翘叶黄酮可有效保护一次性力竭运动对小鼠的肝脏、心肌和股四头肌造成的微损伤.     

Oral immunogenicity and protective efficacy in mice of transgenic rice plants producing a vaccine candidate antigen (As16) of Ascaris suum fused with cholera toxin B subunit

Cereal crops such as maize and rice are considered attractive for vaccine production and oral delivery. Here, we evaluated the rice Oryza sativa for production of As16—an antigen protective against the roundworm Ascaris suum. The antigen was produced as a chimeric protein fused with cholera toxin B subunit (CTB), and its expression level in the endosperm reached 50 μg/g seed. Feeding the transgenic (Tg) rice seeds to mice elicited an As16-specific serum antibody response when administered in combination with cholera toxin (CT) as the mucosal adjuvant. Although omitting the adjuvant from the vaccine formulation resulted in failure to develop the specific immune response, subcutaneous booster immunization with bacterially expressed As16 induced the antibody response, indicating priming capability of the Tg rice. Tg rice/CT-fed mice orally administered A. suum eggs had a lower lung worm burden than control mice. This suggests that the rice-delivered antigen functions as a prophylactic edible vaccine for controlling parasitic infection in animals.     

Expression of Dm-AMP1 in rice confers resistance to Magnaporthe oryzae and Rhizoctonia solani

Magnaporthe oryzae and Rhizoctonia solani, are among the most important pathogens of rice, severely limiting its productivity. Dm-AMP1, an antifungal plant defensin from Dahlia merckii, was expressed in rice (Oryza sativa L. sp. indica cv. Pusa basmati 1) using Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation. Expression levels of Dm-AMP1 ranged from 0.43% to 0.57% of total soluble protein in transgenic plants. It was observed that constitutive expression of Dm-AMP1 suppresses the growth of M. oryzae and R. solani by 84% and 72%, respectively. Transgenic expression of Dm-AMP1 was not accompanied by an induction of pathogenesis-related (PR) gene expression, indicating that the expression of DmAMP1 directly inhibits the pathogen. The results of in vitro, in planta and microscopic analyses suggest that Dm-AMP1 expression has the potential to provide broad-spectrum disease resistance in rice.     

PiA水稻悬浮细胞系的建立

本研究以抗稻瘟病的粳稻PiA开花后12～15d的幼胚为材料,将诱导10～15d的愈伤不经固体培养基继代,直接转到AA液体培养基上,在较短时间内成功建立起了优良的水稻悬浮细胞系;并测定了该悬浮细胞系不同时期的生长特性和分化情况,结果表明悬浮培养适宜的继代天数是7～10d;培养30～120d的细胞分化能力和植株再生能力较好,细胞分化率和成苗率分别为57.1%和20%,为进一步利用悬浮细胞进行遗传转化和原生质体分离奠定了基础。