Acid phosphatase-11, a tightly linked molecular marker for root-knot nematode resistance in tomato: from protein to gene,using PCR and degenerate primers containing deoxyinosine

With a view to cloning the root-knot nematode resistance gene Mi in tomato by chromosome walking, we have developed a molecular probe for the tightly linked acid phosphatase-1 (Aps-1) locus. The acid phosphatase-1 allozyme (APS-1¹), encoded by the Aps-1 ¹ allele originating from Lycopersicon peruvianum, was purified to apparent homogeneity from tomato roots and suspension cells. Microsequencing of CNBr and tryptic peptides generated from APS-1¹ provided a partial amino acid sequence, which accounted for approximately 23% of the protein and revealed two stretches of homology with soybean proteins KSH3 and VSP27, comprising 22 matches within 26 amino acid residues. The partial amino acid sequence information enabled us to isolate a 2.4 kb genomic Aps-1 ¹ sequence by means of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), primed by degenerate pools of oligodeoxyribonucleotides, synthesized on the basis of the amino acid sequences. Synthesis of the 2.4 kb PCR product was specific for genomic templates carrying the L. peruvianum Aps-1 ¹ allele. Crucial to the priming specificity and the synthesis of the 2.4 kb genomic sequence was the use of degenerate primer pools in which the number of different primer species was limited by incorporating deoxyinosine phosphate residues at three and four base ambiguities. In using cDNA as a template, a 490 bp sequence was obtained, indicating a high proportion of intron sequences in the 2.4 kb genomic Aps-1 ¹ sequence. The Aps-1 ¹ origin of the PCR product was confirmed by RFLP (restriction fragment length polymorphism) analysis, using both a chromosome 6 substitution line and a pair of nearly isogenic lines, differing for a small chromosomal region around the Aps-1/Mi loci.     

Species number, species abundance and body length of arboreal arthropods associated with an Australian rainforest tree

Abstract.

• 1 The species number, the abundance per species and the body length of arthropods foraging within the crowns of an over-storey rainforest tree from Australia, Argyrodendron actinophyllum (Sterculiaceae), were investigated by interception trap sampling and restricted canopy fogging. Emphasis was placed upon the interpretation of trap data. Arthropods were trapped continuously day and night, over a 2-year period and the final analyses examined the attributes of 759 species which represented 20,500 individuals.
• 2 The proportion of‘rare’species (Le. collected once) intercepted was high (35.7%), although lower than in other similar rainforest surveys. Neither the α log-series nor the log-normal distribution could be fitted to the relationship between number of species and number of individuals, since the number of rare species was much higher than predicted and the mode of the distribution could not be identified. The proportion of rare species was higher in fogging collections (452%) than in trap collections.
• 3 The data are compared with a study of Bornean arboreal beetles, obtained by fogging trees during a single sampling event. Several patterns were common to both data sets. However, the three-dimensional plot of the variables describing the structure of the arthropod community showed a notably rougher surface than in the case of Bornean beetles.
• 4 Although several factors may complicate the interpretation of the three-dimensional plots, long-term and continuous sampling may alter our perception of complex arthropod communities. This methodology is imperative for a proper understanding of arthropod community structure in rain forests.

     

Models of seasonal growth of the equatorial carp Labeo dussumieri in response to the river flood cycle

Synopsis The phenology of Labeo dussumieri, an omnivorous carp common to South Asia, was investigated in a population inhabiting a flood plain anabranch of the Mahaweli Ganga, Sri Lanka. The Mahaweli Ganga exhibited a bimodal discharge pattern typical of many equatorial rivers, with a minor peak during the S.W. monsoon and a major peak during the N.E. monsoon. Seasonal changes in several lotic variables were measured in an attempt to correlate changes in environmental conditions to reproduction and growth in L. dussumieri. The onset of gonad recrudescence and spawning were synchronized with the increased river discharge during the S.W. and N.E. monsoons: gonad development followed one monsoonal discharge peak and spawning took place at the beginning of the other. Most fish spawned at the beginning of the major discharge peak in October and November, following the September dry season. Increased discharge was concomitant with a fall in temperature, light intensity, pH and conductivity. Growth was shown to be seasonal, exhibiting an annual bimodal pattern with peaks coincident with S.W. and N.E. monsoonal rains. Seasonal changes in growth were expressed by two models in terms of: (a) change of somatic weight or fork length with time, (b) change of specific growth rate in response to river discharge, modified by somatic weight. Gonad recrudescence and spawning stress did not appear to influence growth rate.     

Polymorphism at the Hor 1 locus of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.)

The Hor 1 locus of barley encodes a group of seed storage polypeptides called C hordein. Two-dimensional electrophoretic analysis of C-hordein fractions from six cultivars with different alleles at the Hor 1 locus showed extensive polymorphism. A total of 34 major polypeptides was mapped, with between 4 and 18 present in each cultivar. There was less variation among the same cultivars in the numbers (6 to 10) of restriction fragments of genomic DNA which hybridized to a cDNA clone related to C hordein. The total number of restriction fragments was also lower (22), and most pairs of cultivars had more restriction fragments than polypeptides in common. A total number of about 20–30 C-hordein genes per haploid genome was estimated. The results indicate that cultivars differ mainly in the extent of gene and polypeptide divergence, rather than in the degree of gene reiteration. They are consistent with the proposed origin of the multiple structural genes at the Hor 1 locus by the duplication and divergence of a single ancestral gene.NACB was supported by a grant from the Home Grown Cereals Authority.     

Effect of soil moisture and phosphate level on root hair growth of corn roots

Summary Root hairs have been shown to enhance P uptake by plants growing in low P soil. Little is known of the factors controlling root hair growth. The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of soil moisture and P level on root hair growth of corn (Zea mays L.). The effect of volumetric soil moistures of 22% (M₀), 27% (M₁), and 32% (M₂) and soil (Raub silt loam, Aquic Argiudoll) P levels of, 0.81 (P₀), 12.1 (P₁), 21.6 (P₂), 48.7 (P₃), and 203.3 (P₄) mol P L^–1 initially in the soil solution, on shoot and root growth, P uptake, and root hair growth of corn was studied in a series of pot experiments in a controlled climate chamber. Root hair growth was affected more by soil moisture than soil P. The percentage of total root length with root hairs and the density and length of root hairs on the root sections having root hairs all increased as soil moisture was reduced from M₂ to M₀. No relationship was found between root hair length and soil P. Density of root hairs, however, was found to decrease with an increase in soil P. No correlation was found between root hair growth parameters and plant P content, further suggesting P plays a secondary role to moisture in regulating root hair growth in soils. The increase in root hair growth appears to be a response by the plant to stress as yield and P uptake by corn grown at M₀ were only 0.47 to 0.82, and 0.34 to 0.74, respectively, of that measured at M₁ across the five soil P levels. The increase in root hair growth at M₀, which represents an increase of 2.76 to 4.03 in root surface area, could offset, in part, the reduced rate of root growth, which was the primary reason for reduced P uptake under limited soil moisture conditions.Journal Paper No. 10,066 Purdue Univ. Agric. Exp. Stn., W. Lafayette, IN 47907. Contribution from the Dep. of Agron. This paper was supported in part by a grant from the Tennessee Valley Authority.     

Reproduction and social rank in female stumptail Macaques (Macaca arctoides)

Reproductive physiology was studied in female stumptail macaques. Initially the monkeys were housed indoors (individually and in small groups) and later as one large (92 individuals) social group in an outdoor cage. Most data were collected during the 4-year outdoor period. Plasma progesterone determination in blood samples taken at weekly intervals allowed estimation of ovulation and conception dates. The age at first ovulation (X =3.73 years) was positively correlated with body weight at 3 years of age. The average age at first birth was 4.90 years. Gestation lengths averaged 176.6 days. Following a live birth ovulations returned after a mean interval of 11 months but following an abortion or still birth this interval was 1 month. Usually a number of ovulatory cycles (X =2.37) preceded a conception. Interbirth intervals (IBIs) in the outdoor cage (X =619.4 days) were significantly longer than IBIs during the indoor period (X =523.1), because indoors the infants were weaned at the age of 7 months, while outdoors weaning occurred more naturally. IBIs following abortions or still births (X =291.9 days) were significantly shorter than IBIs following live births. Age at first ovulation, age at first birth, IBIs, and infant production rates were not correlated with dominance rank. Ovarian cycle lengths (X =30.2 days, mode = 28 days) were comparable to previously reported data from laboratory-housed stumptails. No systematic seasonal fluctuations were found in the onset of sexual maturity, in ovarian cycle lengths, in copulation frequencies, and in distribution of births.     

A model of proliferating cell populations with inherited cycle length

A mathematical model of cell population growth introduced by J. L. Lebowitz and S. I. Rubinow is analyzed. Individual cells are distinguished by age and cell cycle length. The cell cycle length is viewed as an inherited property determined at birth. The density of the population satisfies a first order linear partial differential equation with initial and boundary conditions. The boundary condition models the process of cell division of mother cells and the inheritance of cycle length by daughter cells. The mathematical analysis of the model employs the theory of operator semigroups and the spectral theory of linear operators. It is proved that the solutions exhibit the property of asynchronous exponential growth.     

Substance P and enkephalin in transected axons of medulla and spinal cord

The accumulation of transported materials in cut axons is demonstrated by the light and electron microscopic immunocytochemical localization of substance P and enkephalin in the caudal medulla and cervical spinal cord of adult rat. Two days following unilateral knife-cuts in the caudal medulla or spinal (C2-C3) levels, substance P and enkephalin-like immunoreactivity (SPLI and ELI) are detected in lesioned axons located rostral and caudal to the transection. Rostrally, SPLI and ELI are detected in the lateral reticular region and ventrolateral fasciculus corresponding to the location of previously identified bulbospinal pathways. Caudally, previously unidentified, propriospinal pathways showing SPLI are detected in the dorsal columns and in the dorsolateral fasciculus. In contrast, ELI is found caudal to the transection only in the reticular region of the medulla. For both peptides, immunoreactivity is present throughout axons containing numerous large, dense core, and small clear vesicles. These results support the concept of both particulate and soluble modes of transport for substance P and enkephalin within axons of the central nervous system.