Taxonomic studies of the genusPoa of Japan

With the aim of making clear the boundaries between species in thePoa acroleucahisauchii-nipponica aggregate, chromosomes and morphological features of 746 collections gathered from 125 localities in Japan were examined. For morphological observations, the voucher specimens of 95 collections whose chromosome numbers were reported previously (Tateoka, 1985) were also used. Tetraploids (2n=28) and hexaploids (2n=42), as well as a few pentaploids which were the hybrids between 4× and 6×, were found. By examining morphological features of these collections, two groups were recognized in tetraploids and one in hexaploids. The two tetraploid groups corresponded toPoa acroleuca Steud. andP. hisauchii Honda, and the hexaploid group toP. nipponica Koidz. It was confirmed that the hairiness on the internerve surface of lemma, ligule hairiness and the length ratio of anther/ lemma are the most important features for discriminating between these species; panicle shape, leaf shape and anther length are also helpful for the identification. The ambiguity of the boundaries between species which was hitherto present in the taxonomy of this species aggregate was unrelated to the creation of nature itself but was attributable to the insufficiency of our research work.     

Comparative leaf development ofOsmunda lancea andO. japonica (osmundaceae): Heterochronic origin of rheophytic stenophylly

Comparative development of the narrow pinnules of rheophyticOsmunda lancea and of the broad pinnules of a related dryland species,O. japonica, was examined and the origin of rheophytic stenophylly was discussed. The mature leaves and their various parts ofO. lancea are smaller and narrower than those ofO. japonica. The young pinnules ofO. lancea at the initiation of cell expansion are smaller than those ofO. japonica. The growth pattern of the pinnules is fundamentally the same in the two species, but pinnule growth period is shorter inO. lancea than inO. japonica. While the largest growth rate in pinnule length is quite similar, inO. lancea the pinnules are less elongated and much less broadened during ontogeny. Cell expansion in the mesophyll and epidermis proceeds acropetally and toward the margin along the axes of costules and veins. Although the numbers of mesophyll and epidermal cells between two adjacent veinlets are almost the same inO. lancea andO. japonica, during the subsequent growth period inO. lancea, the cells expand to a smaller extent and the veinlets become more narrowly oblique to the costule. This oblique distortion of laminar segments framed by veins causes stenophylly, an allometric modification. The stenophylly ofO. lancea is believed to have arisen by heterochronic evolution, in particular, progenesis.     

NOTES ON SOME GRASSES. XVI. EMBRYO STRUCTURE OF THE GENUS ORYZA IN RELATION TO THE SYSTEMATICS

Three distinct types of embryo have been found in 18 species of the genus Oryza. Type 1 is characterized by lateral fusion of the epiblast and the scutellum and also by the development of auricles. Type 2 has no auricle, and the epiblast is not laterally fused with the scutellum. Type 3 has a cleft between the lower part of the scutellum and the coleorhiza, a long epiblast which is free from the scutellum, and lacks auricles. Type 1 has been found in 13 species of section Sativae, Type 2 in 4 species of sections Granulatae and Coarctatae, and Type 3 in O. coarctata only. The results indicate that species of section Sativae are more or less closely related, while section Coarctatae is a heterogeneous group. A new section, Ridleyianae, has been described for Oryza ridleyi and some other species. Oryza coarctata has unique features in embryo structure, morphology and leaf anatomy, and this species has been moved from the genus Oryza to a separate genus, Sclerophyllum, which is here revived.     

Mutagenic activity of pyrolysates of cyanocobalamin and some other water-soluble vitamins in the model system with the Salmonella/mammalian microsomes

Pyrolysates of cyanocobalamin, thiamine hydrochloride, riboflavin, pyridoxine hydrochloride, and ascorbic acid were tested for mutagenicity in the histidine-requiring mutants Salmonella typhimurium TA98 and TA100. Each vitamin was sealed in a glass tube and heated at 100-600 degrees C in a muffle furnace. Methanol-chloroform extracts of the pyrolysate of each vitamin tested did not show any mutagenicity in either TA98 or TA100 without rat liver 9000 x g supernatant fraction (S9) added. In the presence of S9, the B-group vitamins (cyanocobalamin, thiamine hydrochloride, riboflavin, and pyridoxine hydrochloride) were all mutagenic in TA98 and TA100, with the highest activity among the vitamins tested found in the pyrolysate of cyanocobalamin. The pyrolysate of 0.25 mumole cyanocobalamin produced 3200 revertants, while the pyrolysates of 0.25 mumole thiamine hydrochloride and riboflavin produced only 910 revertants, and the pyrolysate of pyridoxine hydrochloride did not show any mutagenicity at that amount. The mutagenicity was generally more active to TA98 than to TA100, indicating that frameshift-type mutagens were contained in the pyrolysates. The pyrolysate of ascorbic acid did not show any mutagenic activity in either TA98 or TA100 under the present experimental conditions.     

Cloning and chromosomal mapping of the mouse DNA-dependent protein kinase gene

 Severe combined immune deficiency (scid) mice are assumed to have two types of abnormalities: one is high radiosensitivity and the other is abnormal recombination in immunoglobulin and T-cell receptor genes. The human chromosome 8 q1.1 region has an ability to complement the scid aberrations. Moreover, the localization of the subunit DNA-dependent protein kinase [DNA-PK_cs] participating in DNA double-strand break repair in the same locus was clarified. In scid mouse cells, the number of DNA-PK_cs products and extent of DNA-PK activity remarkably decrease. These observations gave rise to the assumption that DNA-PK_cs is the scid factor itself. In order to determine whether the DNA-PK _cs gene is the scid gene, we isolated the mouse DNA-PK _cs gene and investigated its chromosomal locus by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). Consequently, it became clear that the mouse DNA-PK _cs gene existed in the centromeric region of mouse chromosome 16, determined by cross-genetic study, as a scid locus. This finding strongly suggests that mouse DNA-PK _cs is the scid gene. Received: 22 March 1996     

A comparison of sweating responses during exercise and recovery in terms of sweating rate and body temperature

Based on the hypothesis that the relation between sweating rate and body temperature should be different during exercise and rest after exercise, we compared the sweating response during exercise and recovery at a similar body temperature. Healthy male subjects performed submaximal exercise (Experiment 1) and maximal exercise (Experiment 2) in a room at 27° C and 35% relative humidity. During exercise and recovery of 20 min after exercise, esophageal temperature (Tes), mean skin temperature, mean body temperature ( ), chest sweating rate ( ), and the frequency of sweat expulsion (F _SW) were measured. In both experiments, andF _SW were clearly higher during exercise than recovery at a similar body temperature (Tes, ). was similar during exercise and recovery, or a little less during the former, at a similarF _SW. It is concluded that the sweating rate during exercise is greater than that during recovery at the same body temperature, due to greater central sudomotor activity during exercise. The difference between the two values is thought to be related to non-thermal factors and the rate of change in mean skin temperature.     

Clinical analysis on steroids. XII. Occurrence of D-homoannulation during the hot acid hydrolysis of 5β-pregnane-3α,20α-diol disulfate

Two D-homosteroids were isolated from the hydrolyzate of 5β-pregnane -3α,20α-diol disulfate (II) when it was refluxed in 3N hydrochloric acid. The structures of these steroids have been elucidated as 17α-methyl-D-homo-5β-androstane-3α, 17aβ-diol (VI) and 17α-methyl-17aγb-chloro-D-homo-5β-androstan-3α-ol (VIII) by instrumental analyses. The former was identical with a synthetic specimen derived from 5β-pregnane-3α,20β-diol di-sulfate (IV) by uranediol rearrangement. The main hydrolyzates obtained were 17α-ethyl-17β-methyl-18-nor-5β-androst-13-en-3α-ol (V) and 5β-pregnane-3α, 20α-diol (III).     

Developmental study onHypolepis punctata (Thunb.) Mett.

The third petiolar bud ofHypolepis punctata appears on the basiscopic lateral side of the petiole above the fairly developed first petiolar bud. This investigation clarified the fact that the third bud is formed neither by the activity of the meristem of the first bud nor by the meristem directly detached from the shoot apical meristem, but is initiated in the cells involved in the abaxial basal part of the elevated portion of the leaf primordium. Thus the third bud is of phyllogenous origin. This investigation further revealed that the cells to initiate the third bud are originally located in the abaxial side of the leaf apical cell complex like the cells to initiate the first bud, but are not incorporated into the meristem of the first. After the first, second and third petiolar buds have been initiated, they are carried up into fairly high regions on the petiolar base by the intercalary growth which occurs in the leaf base below the insertion level of the first and the second buds.     

Generality of the action of various maturation-promoting factors

It has been known in amphibians and starfishes that a cytoplasmic factor called maturation-promoting factor (MPF), produced in maturing oocytes under the influence of the maturation-inducing hormones, can induce germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD) and the subsequent process of meiotic maturation. The present study revealed that injection of cytoplasm of maturing starfish oocytes (starfish MPF) into immature sea cucumber oocytes brought about maturation of the recipients. Amphibian MPF obtained from mature oocytes of Xenopus laevis or Bufo bufo was found to induce maturation of starfish oocytes following injection. Cytoplasm taken from cleaving starfish blastomeres induced maturation when injected into immature starfish oocytes. The maturation-inducing activity of cytoplasm of starfish blastomeres changed along with the mitotic cell cycle during 1- to 4-cell stages so far tested and reached a peak just before cleaving. Furthermore, an extract of mammalian cultured cells, CHO or V-79, synchronized in M phase, induced GVBD in starfish oocytes following injection, whereas S phase extract had little activity. These facts suggest that MPF generally brings about nuclear membrane breakdown in both meiosis and mitosis, and that the nature of MPF is very similar among vertebrates and invertebrates.     

Developmental studies on the leaf and the extra-axillary bud ofHistiopteris incisa

Anatomical and developmental studies have been made ofHistiopteris incisa in order to obtain a reasonable interpretation of the so-called extra-axillary bud. Single, or rarely two extra-axillary buds arise on the lateral side of the petiolar base. The branch trace appears to depart from the basiscopic margin of the leaf trace. At the earliest stage of the leaf initiation, the leaf apical cell is cut off in one of the prismatic cells of the shoot apical meristem. The leaf apical cell, then, cuts off segments successively to form a well-defined group of derivatives. On the other hand, a well-recognized cell group called “outer neighboring cell group”,onc, is found adjacent to the abaxial boundary of the derivatives of the leaf apical cell. This group of cells does not originate directly in the mother cell of the leaf apical cell. The primordium of the extra-axillary bud is always initiated in the superficial pillar-shaped cell layer ofonc. The leaf primordium may consist of two parts, the distal part derived from the leaf apical cell and the basal part from the adjacent cells includingonc. These facts suggest that the extra-axillary bud is of foliar nature. This study was partly supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Encouragement of Young Scientists by the Ministry of Education of Japan; no. 374222 in 1978.