Fine root demography in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.)

In perennial forages like alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), repeated herbage removal may alter root production and mortality which, in turn, could affect deposition of fixed N in soil. Our objective was to determine the extent and patterns of fine-diameter root production and loss during the year of alfalfa stand establishment. The experiment was conducted on a loamy sand soil (Udorthentic Haploboroll) in Minnesota, USA, using horizontally installed minirhizotrons placed directly under the seeded rows at 10, 20, and 40 cm depths in four replicate blocks. We seeded four alfalfa germplasms that differed in N₂ fixation capacity and root system architecture: Agate alfalfa, a winter hardy commercially-available cultivar; Ineffective Agate, which is a non-N₂-fixing near isoline of Agate; a new germplasm that has few fibrous roots and strong tap-rooted traits; and a new germplasm that has many fibrous roots and a strongly branched root system architecture. Video images collected biweekly throughout the initial growing season were processed using C-MAP-ROOTS software.More than one-half of all fine roots in the upper 20 cm were produced during the first 7 weeks of growth. Root production was similar among germplasms, except that the highly fibrous, branch-rooted germplasm produced 29% more fine roots at 20 cm than other germplasms. In all germplasms, about 7% of the fine roots at each depth developed into secondarily thickened roots. By the end of the first growing season, greatest fine root mortality had occurred in the uppermost depth (48%), and least occurred at 40 cm (36%). Survival of contemporaneous root cohorts was not related to soil depth in a simple fashion, although all survivorship curves could be described using only five rates of exponential decline. There was a significant reduction in fine root mortality before the first herbage harvest, followed by a pronounced loss (average 22%) of fine roots at the 10- and 20-cm depths in the 2-week period following herbage removal. Median life spans of these early-season cohorts ranged from 58 to 131 days, based on fitted exponential equations. At all depths, fine roots produced in the 4 weeks before harvest (early- to mid-August) tended to have shorter median life spans than early-season cohorts. Similar patterns of fine root mortality did not occur at the second harvest. Germplasms differed in the pattern, but not the ultimate extent, of fine root mortality. Fine root turnover during the first year of alfalfa establishment in this experiment released an estimated 830 kg C ha^–1 and 60 kg N ha^–1, with no differences due to N₂ fixation capacity or root system architecture.     

Applications of minirhizotrons to understand root function in forests and other natural ecosystems

Minirhizotrons have proved useful to understand the dynamics and function of fine roots. However, they have been used comparatively infrequently in forests and other natural plant communities. Several factors have contributed to this situation, including anomalous root distributions along the minirhizotron surface and the difficulty of extracting data from minirhizotron images. Technical and methodological advances have ameliorated some of these difficulties, and minirhizotrons have considerable potential to address some questions of long standing interest. These questions include more fully understanding the role of roots in carbon and nutrient cycling, rates of root decomposition, responses to resource availability and the functional significance of interactions between plant roots and soil organisms. Maximizing the potential for minirhizotrons to help us better understand the functional importance of fine roots in natural plant communities depends upon using them to answer only those questions appropriate to both their inherent strengths and limitations.     

ADP-ribosylation of actin from the green algaChara corallina byClostridium botulinum C2 toxin andClostridium perfringens iota toxin

Summary The ability of two bacterial toxins to modify a plant actin by covalent ADP-ribosylation was tested in the green algaChara corallina. Using [³²P]NAD, bothClostridium botulinum C2 toxin andClostridium perfringens iota toxin labelled a protein of M_r 42 kDa which comigrated with actin and was immunoprecipitated by a monoclonal anti-actin antibody. ADP-ribosylation ofChara actin was more efficient with iota toxin than with C2 toxin. The actin bundles in perfusedChara cells were not affected by toxin-containing media competent for ADP-ribosylation. The data indicate that monomeric plant actin is substrate for ADP-ribosylation by the bacterial toxins.Abbreviations ADP adenosine-diphosphate - EGTA ethyleneglycol-bis-(-aminoethyl)N,N,N,N-tetraacetic acid - NAD nicotinamide dinucleotide - pCA -log [Ca²⁺] - PIPES piperazine-N,N-bis(2-ethanesulfonic acid) Dedicated to Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Eberhard Schnepf on the occasion of his retirement     

Stimulation of the growth and solamargine production by Solanum paludosum multiple shoot cultures using a new culture medium

Organogenic callus cultures of Solanum paludosum were obtained from root, hypocotyle and cotyledon explants of plantlets cultured in sterile conditions. These callus cultures developed multiple shoots which proliferated in Murashige and Skoog basal liquid medium. These multiple shoots produced solamargine, the main steroidal glycoalkaloid present in the unripe fruits.The optimization of the macronutrient composition of the liquid medium was performed by a method derived from the plant composition. This approach results in the establishment of an appropriate medium (SPOM medium) suitable for the improvement of both growth and solamargine production by multiple shoot cultures of S. paludosum.     

Flower heliotropism in an alpine population of Ranunculus acris (Ranunculaceae): effects on flower temperature,insect visitation,and seed production

Some plants in arctic and alpine habitats have heliotropic flowers that track the sun. This results in a heating of the flower's interior, which may improve the possibilities for insect pollination and seed production. Here, I examine whether flower heliotropism in an alpine population of the self-incompatible Ranunculus acris L. (Ranunculaceae) enhances pollinator visitation and seed production. Flowers of Ranunculus acris tracked the sun during the day. Tracking accuracy was greatest during the middle of the day. The temperature elevation in flowers was negatively correlated with the flower's angle of deviation from the sun. Despite the increased temperature, insects did not discriminate among flowers on the basis of their angle of deviation from the sun, or tend to stay longer in the flowers aligned closest towards the sun. A tethering experiment was conducted on three groups of plants flowering at different times in the 1993 season and on one group the following season. Manipulation plants were constrained not to track the sun, whereas control plants tracked the sun naturally. Solar tracking had no effect on seed:ovule ratio, seed mass, or abortion rate in any of the groups. There is probably a very narrow range of weather conditions (cold, sunny, and calm) where flower heliotropism may enhance visitation rate to flowers and their seed production.     

The comparison of selected life-history characteristics of Mesembryanthema species occurring on and off Mima-like mounds (heuweltjies) in semi arid southern Africa

Selected life-history characteristics of Mesembryanthema species occurring on and off mima-like mounds (heuweltjies) were compared at Tierberg in the southern Succulent Karoo, South Africa. Seed production, the number of seeds retained in seed capsules and germination behaviour were measured in fourteen species of Mesembryanthema which were representatives of two sub-families: the Ruschioideae and the Mesembryanthemoideae. Species occurring onheuweltjies had low overall germination and high seed retention compared with those species occurring offheuweltjies. A strong negative correlation was found between the degree of seed retention and maximum germination. It was proposed that rapid germination and low seed dormancy in species occurring on the flats would be a viable strategy where competition for safe recruitment sites is strong. Species occurring on the flats are long-lived woody shrubs, thus the resulting high levels of seedling mortality probably do not have a major impact on population dynamics.Heuweltjies are sites of intense disturbance. Plant species that occur onheuweltjies can also occur offheuweltjies in disturbed vegetation. Opportunistic life-history characteristics allow these species to colonise disturbed areas.Heuweltjie species thus act as pioneers in a successional process which results ultimately in the re-colonisation of the long-lived flats species. Phylogenetic factors may also determine the species distributions. Members of the Mesembryanthemoideae did not occur offheuweltjies in undisturbed areas. Most Ruschioideae were found on the flats but the few species that occurred onheuweltjies shared similar characteristics with the Mesembryanthemoideae. The primitive life-history characteristics exhibited by the Mesembryanthemoideae enable them to exploit disturbed conditions.     

Does the energy equivalence rule apply to intertidal macrobenthic communities?

Energy equivalence assumes equal contribution of large and small species to production and energy flow in communities. As in a double logarithmic plot, physiological rates decline with body weight by –0.25, log biomass should increase by 0.25 and log abundance decline by –0.75 with log species weight, when this concept is valid. This was tested with annual data sets of the macrobenthos of 4 intertidal sites in the German Wadden Sea (Königshafen) and 3 sites in a south Portuguese lagoon (Ria Formosa). Only abundance data from two of these sites displayed significantly negative slopes with mean body size of the species. Biomass and secondary production data were significantly positively correlated with mean body size for all Ria Formosa sites and also for the biomass of a mussel bed in Königshafen. However, high variation in body size of the individuals of a species limits interpretation of these plots.It is preferable to test this concept by body weight classes regardless of its species composition. At Königshafen, biomass and production displayed two distinct peaks. One peak at small body size was caused by browsing species. The other peak at larger body size was caused by animals which potentially extract their food from the water column. This bimodality was only vaguely reflected at one station in the Ria Formosa, possibly because of a dominance of detritus feeding species. In a normalized form (log biomass or production / width of size classvs. log size class), these spectra imply a dominance of small individuals in biomass and production at all sites (except for a mussel bank at Königshafen). This is interpreted as a consequence of permanent disturbances.     

The Effect of Photoinhibition on Photosynthetic Oxygen Production in the Brown Alga Dictyota dichotoma

Photoinhibition of photosynthesis in the brown alga, Dictyota dichotoma, was studied with a PAM fluorometer (Walz, Effeltrich, Germany) and a homemade oxygen measuring device. As a measure of fluorescence, Fv/Fm, and for the photosynthetic yield, ΔF/Fm', were used. Oxygen measurements show clearly that the observed degree, as well as the time course, of photoinhibition depends on the fluence rate of the light used to measure changes of the production rate. After photoinhibition of photosynthesis the depression of oxygen production caused by non-saturating fluence rates was generally much more pronounced than that caused by saturating or nearly saturating fluence rates. At minimal photoinhibition the initial slope and the convexity of the fluence rate-response curve of oxygen evolution decrease, whereas the level of light saturation decreases only after strong photoinhibition. Nevertheless, at different degrees of photoinhibition, changes in the degree of the upper bending of the fluence rate-response curve of oxygen production are also linearly correlated to changes in the fluorescence ratios (Fv/Fm and ΔF/Fm'). The action spectrum of photoinhibition, calculated on the basis of changes of Fv/Fm, indicates that the reaction center of PS I is not involved in photoinhibition. The lower effectiveness of blue light in comparison to effects of green and red light may be due to chloroplast displacement, as in the so-called strong light position, the light absorbed by the thalli in vivo is decreased.     

赤霉素A_4、A_7的发酵研究

初选藤仓赤霉菌(Gibberella fujikuroi)农大17菌株为赤霉素A_4、A_7(GA_4、GA_7)的生产菌,该菌株GA_(4+7)的积累量,除与营养条件有关外,温度和pH是极为重要的因子,随着发酵温度从28℃上升至32℃,GA_(4+7)的产量由21μg/ml增至81μg/ml,GA_3由702μg/ml降至328μg/ml。pH回调至中性,GA_(4+7)的产量由75μg/ml增至180μg/ml,GA_3由322μg/ml降至211μg/ml。此外,设法延长发酵周期也是增加GA_(4+7)的一个因素。综合上述条件,即发酵过程中,发酵液的pH由48h前的4回调并维持在6.7左右,温度由28℃上调并控制在32℃,摇瓶培养12天,GA_(4+7)的产量达890μg/ml,20—600L发酵罐发酵240h,GA_(4+7)产量达680μg/ml左右。GA_(4+7)浓度的测定亦作了简化处理,发酵液不经提取,可直接用硅胶板G薄层层析(TLC)后进行荧光比色,产品测定宜采用高效液相色谱法(HPLC)。按照上述条件培养的农大17菌株,产生GA_3、GA_7和GA_4的比例为23.131:16.105:31.258,GA_4高于有关报道。     

水杉人工林树冠结构及生物生产力的研究

研究了水杉人工林的树冠结构和林分生物生产力。结果表明,不同密度及林龄的林分树冠结构存在较大差异,随着树冠部位上升和林分密度增大,分枝角度逐渐减小;径阶大小与枝叶率成反比,与树冠重量成正比,径阶增大,树冠最大叶量层的集团上移,有效光合面积相对减少,树冠结构的变化直接影响到林分的生物量生产、分配分配和经济生物量,林分干、枝、叶的干物质累积趋势可用Ｒｉｃｈａｒｄ方程描述;林龄增大,分配到主干的生物量比例