Cytoskeletal elements in cotton seed hair developmentin vitro: Their possible regulatory role in cell wall organization

Summary The localization and orientation of cytoskeletal elements in developing cotton fibres were studied by the indirect immunofluorescence and the dry cleaving technique. Microtubules are transversely arranged to the cell axis, most probably in a flat helix, in the cortex of expanding fibres. Since the innermost deposited cellulose microfibrils always show primarily the same orientation it is postulated that the microtubules control the transverse deposition of the cellulose fibrils. Little further cell expansion takes place during secondary wall formation and the microfibril pattern corresponds to that of the cortical microtubules,e.g., in the steepness of their helicoidal turns. Microtubules with a length of 7–20 m were observed, probably they are longer. The importance of microtubule length on microfibril deposition is discussed. The density of microtubule packing is in the range of 8–14 m^-1 as in other comparable cell types. In contrast to the microtubules, actin filaments are most likely longitudinally oriented during different phases of fibre development. The dry cleaving technique reveals numerous coated pits in the plasma membrane which are not crossed by microtubules. They seem to be linked to the latter by filamentous structures.     

Anaerobic degradation of papermill sludge in a two-phase digester containing rumen microorganisms and colonized polyurethane foam

Summary The use of reticulated polyurethane foam as a support material for the immobilization of methanogenic associations and its application to the anaerobic treatment of fine particulate solid wastes was investigated. The colonization of polyurethane support particles in a continuous upflow reactor fed on a mixture of acetate, propionate and butyrate, was both rapid and dense. The combination of rumen microorganisms and colonized support particles in a two-phase digester resulted in an efficient anaerobic decomposition of papermill sludge.     

Root and leaf attributes accounting for the performance of fast- and slow-growing grasses at different nutrient supply

Despite their difference in potential growth rate, the slow-growing Brachypodium pinnatum and the fast-growing Dactylis glomerata co-occur in many nutrient-poor calcareous grasslands. They are known to respond differently to increasing levels of N and P. An experiment was designed to measure which characteristics are affected by nutrient supply and contribute to the ecological performance of these species. Nutrient acquisition and root and shoot traits of these grasses were studied in a garden experiment with nine nutrient treatments in a factorial design of 3 N and 3 P levels each. D. glomerata was superior to B. pinnatum in nutrient acquisition and growth in all treatments. B. pinnatum was especially poor in P acquisition. Both species responded to increasing N supply and to a lesser extent to increasing P supply by decreasing their root length and increasing their leaf area per total plant weight. D. glomerata showed a higher plasticity. In most treatments, the root length ratio (RLR) and the leaf area ratio (LAR) were higher for D. glomerata. A factorization of these parameters into components expressing biomass allocation, form (root fineness or leaf thickness) and density (dry matter content) shows that the low density of the biomass of D. glomerata was the main cause for the higher RLR and LAR. The biomass allocation to the roots showed a considerable plasticity but did not differ between the species. B. pinnatum had the highest leaf weight ratio. Root fineness was highly plastic in D. glomerata, the difference with B. pinnatum being mainly due to the thick roots of D. glomerata at high nutrient supply. The leaf area/leaf fresh weight ratio did not show any plasticity and was slightly higher for B. pinnatum. It is concluded, that the low density of the biomass of D. glomerata is the pivotal trait responsible for its faster growth at all nutrient levels. It enables simultaneously a good nutrient acquisition capacity by the roots as well as a superior carbon acquisition by the leaves. The high biomass density of B. pinnatum will then result in a lower nutrient requirement due to a slower turnover, which in the long term is advantageous under nutrient-poor conditions.     

Separate Determination of the Electrical Properties of the Tonoplast and the Plasmalemma of the Giant-Celled Alga Valonia utricularis: Vacuolar Perfusion of Turgescent Cells with Nystatin and Other Agents

In the giant-celled marine algae Valonia utricularis the turgor-sensing mechanism of the plasmalemma and the role of the tonoplast in turgor regulation is unknown because of the lack of solid data about the individual electrical properties of the plasmalemma and the vacuolar membrane. For this reason, a vacuolar perfusion technique was developed that allowed controlled manipulation of the vacuolar sap under turgescent conditions (up to about 0.3 MPa). Charge-pulse relaxation studies on vacuolarly perfused cells at different turgor pressure values showed that the area-specific resistance of the total membrane barrier (tonoplast and plasmalemma) exhibited a similar dependence on turgor pressure as reported in the literature for nonperfused cells: the resistance assumed a minimum value at the physiological turgor pressure of about 0.1 MPa. The agreement of the data suggested that the perfusion process did not alter the transport properties of the membrane barrier. Addition of 16 μm of the H⁺-carrier FCCP (carbonylcyanide p-trifluoromethoxyphenyhydrazone) to the perfusion solution resulted in a drop of the total membrane potential from +4 mV to −22 mV and in an increase of the area-specific membrane resistance from 6.8 × 10⁻² to 40.6 × 10⁻²Ωm². The time constants of the two exponentials of the charge pulse relaxation spectrum increased significantly. These results are inconsistent with the assumption of a high-conductance state of the tonoplast (R. Lainson and C.P. Field, J. Membrane Biol. 29:81–94, 1976). Depending on the site of addition, the pore-forming antibiotics nystatin and amphotericin B affected either the time constant of the fast or of the slow relaxation (provided that the composition of the perfusion solution and the artificial sea water were replaced by a cytoplasma-analogous medium). When 50 μm of the antibiotics were added externally, the fast relaxation process disappeared. Contrastingly, the slow relaxation process disappeared upon vacuolar addition. The antibiotics cannot penetrate biomembranes rapidly, and therefore, the findings suggested that the fast and slow relaxations originated exclusively from the electrical properties of the plasmalemma and the tonoplast respectively. This interpretation implies that the area-specific resistance of the tonoplast is significantly larger than that of the plasmalemma (consistent with the FCCP data) and that the area-specific capacitance of the tonoplast is unusually high (6.21 × 10⁻² Fm⁻² compared to 0.77 × 10⁻² Fm⁻² of the plasmalemma). Thus, we have to assume that the vacuolar membrane of V. utricularis is highly folded (by a factor of about 9 in relation to the geometric area) and/or contains a fairly high concentration of mobile charges of an unknown electrogenic ion carrier system. Received: 22 October 1996/Revised: 16 January 1997     

Colorimetric determination of microgram quantities of polylysine by trypan blue precipitation

A simple and sensitive method for the determination of polylysine in solution is described. Polylysine is quantitatively precipitated with trypan blue. The absorbance of unbound dye in the supernatant is inversely proportional to the concentration of this polyamino acid. The precipitation is identical for all sizes of polylysine of molecular weight 13,000 or higher, and is prevented by the addition of either polyanions or serum. The measurable range of polylysine hydrobromide is between 1 and 10 micrograms/ml, which is about 10-fold lower than that by the published methyl orange precipitation method.     

Ultrastructural Localization of a Bean Glycine-Rich Protein in Unlignified Primary Walls of Protoxylem Cells

A polyclonal antibody was used to localize a glycine-rich cell wall protein (GRP 1.8) in French bean hypocotyls with the indirect immunogold method. GRP 1.8 could be localized mainly in the unlignified primary cell walls of the oldest protoxylem elements and also in cell corners of both proto- and metaxylem elements. In addition, GRP 1.8 was detected in phloem using tissue printing. The labeled primary walls of dead protoxylem cells showed a characteristically dispersed ultrastructure, resulting from the action of hydrolases during the final steps of cell maturation and from mechanical stress due to hypocotyl growth. Primary walls of living protoxylem and adjacent parenchyma cells were only weakly labeled. This was true also for the secondary walls of proto- and metaxylem cells, which in addition showed high background labeling. Inhibition of lignification with a specific and potent inhibitor of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase did not lead to enhanced labeling of secondary walls, showing that lignin does not mask the presence of GRP 1.8 in these walls. Dictyosomes of living proto- and metaxylem cells were not labeled, but dictyosomes of xylem parenchyma cells without secondary walls, adjacent to strongly labeled protoxylem elements, were clearly labeled. These observations suggest that GRP 1.8 is not produced by xylem vessels but by xylem parenchyma cells that export the protein to the wall of protoxylem vessels.     

The effect of genomic information on optimal contribution selection in livestock breeding programs

Background

Long-term benefits in animal breeding programs require that increases in genetic merit be balanced with the need to maintain diversity (lost due to inbreeding). This can be achieved by using optimal contribution selection. The availability of high-density DNA marker information enables the incorporation of genomic data into optimal contribution selection but this raises the question about how this information affects the balance between genetic merit and diversity.

Methods

The effect of using genomic information in optimal contribution selection was examined based on simulated and real data on dairy bulls. We compared the genetic merit of selected animals at various levels of co-ancestry restrictions when using estimated breeding values based on parent average, genomic or progeny test information. Furthermore, we estimated the proportion of variation in estimated breeding values that is due to within-family differences.

Results

Optimal selection on genomic estimated breeding values increased genetic gain. Genetic merit was further increased using genomic rather than pedigree-based measures of co-ancestry under an inbreeding restriction policy. Using genomic instead of pedigree relationships to restrict inbreeding had a significant effect only when the population consisted of many large full-sib families; with a half-sib family structure, no difference was observed. In real data from dairy bulls, optimal contribution selection based on genomic estimated breeding values allowed for additional improvements in genetic merit at low to moderate inbreeding levels. Genomic estimated breeding values were more accurate and showed more within-family variation than parent average breeding values; for genomic estimated breeding values, 30 to 40% of the variation was due to within-family differences. Finally, there was no difference between constraining inbreeding via pedigree or genomic relationships in the real data.

Conclusions

The use of genomic estimated breeding values increased genetic gain in optimal contribution selection. Genomic estimated breeding values were more accurate and showed more within-family variation, which led to higher genetic gains for the same restriction on inbreeding. Using genomic relationships to restrict inbreeding provided no additional gain, except in the case of very large full-sib families.     

Heme histidine ligands within gp91(phox) modulate proton conduction by the phagocyte NADPH oxidase

The membrane subunit of the phagocyte NADPH oxidase, gp91(phox), possesses a H(+) channel motif formed by membrane-spanning histidines postulated to coordinate the two heme groups forming the redox center of the flavocytochrome. To study the role of heme-binding histidines on proton conduction, we stably expressed the gp91(phox) cytochrome in human embryonic kidney 293 cells and measured proton currents with the patch clamp technique. Similar to its shorter homologue, NADPH oxidase homologue 1, which is predicted not to bind heme, gp91(phox) generated voltage-activated, pH-dependent, H(+)-selective currents that were reversibly blocked by Zn(2+). The gp91(phox) currents, however, activated faster, deactivated more slowly, and were markedly affected by the inhibition of heme synthesis. Upon heme removal, the currents had larger amplitude, activated faster and at lower voltages, and became sensitive to the histidine reagent diethylpyrocarbonate. Mutation of the His-115 residue to leucine abolished both the gp91(phox) characteristic 558-nm absorbance peak and voltage-activated currents, indicating that His-115 is involved in both heme ligation and proton conduction. These results indicate that the gp91(phox) proton channel is activated upon release of heme from its His-115 ligand. During activation of the oxidase complex, changes in heme coordination within the cytochrome might increase the mobility of histidine ligands, thereby coupling electron and proton transport.     

Determination of the Individual Electrical and Transport Properties of the Plasmalemma and the Tonoplast of the Giant Marine Alga Ventricaria ventricosa by Means of the Integrated Perfusion/Charge-Pulse Technique: Evidence for a Multifolded Tonoplast

The charge-pulse relaxation spectrum of nonperfused and perfused (turgescent) cells of the giant marine alga Ventricaria ventricosa showed two main exponential decays with time constants of approximately 0.1 msec and 10 msec, respectively, when the cells were bathed in artificial sea water (pH 8). Variation of the external pH did not change the relaxation pattern (in contrast to other giant marine algae). Addition of nystatin (a membrane-impermeable and pore-forming antibiotic) to the vacuolar perfusion solution resulted in the disappearance of the slow exponential, whereas external nystatin decreased dramatically the time constant of the fast one. This indicated (by analogy to corresponding experiments with Valonia utricularis, J. Wang, I. Spiess, C. Ryser, U. Zimmermann, J. Membrane Biol. 157: 311-321, 1997) that the fast relaxation must be assigned to the RC-properties of the plasmalemma and the slow one to those of the tonoplast. Consistent with this, external variation of [K+]o or of [Cl-]o as well as external addition of K+- or Cl--channel/carrier inhibitors (TEA, Ba2+, DIDS) affected only the fast relaxation, but not the slow one. In contrast, addition of these inhibitors to the vacuolar perfusion solution had no measurable effect on the charge-pulse relaxation spectrum. The analysis of the data in terms of the "two membrane model" showed that K+- and (to a smaller extent) Cl--conducting elements dominated the plasmalemma conductance. The analysis of the charge-pulse relaxation spectra also yielded the following area-specific data for the capacitance and the conductance for the plasmalemma and tonoplast (by assuming that both membranes have a planar surface): (plasmalemma) Cp = 0.82 * 10(-2) F m-2, Rp = 1.69 * 10(-2) Omega m2, Gp = 5.9 * 10(4) mS m-2, (tonoplast) Ct = 7. 1 * 10(-2) F m-2, Rt = 14.9 * 10(-2) Omega m2 and Gt = 0.67 * 10(4) mS m-2. The electrical data for the tonoplast show that (in contrast to the literature) the area-specific membrane resistance of the tonoplast of these marine giant algal cells is apparently very high as reported already for V. utricularis. The exceptionally high value of the area-specific capacitance could be explained - among other interpretations - by assuming a 9-fold enlargement of the tonoplast surface. The hypothesis of a multifolded tonoplast was supported by transmission electronmicroscopy of cells fixed under maintenance of turgor pressure and of the electrical parameters of the membranes. This finding indicates that the tonoplast of this species exhibited a sponge-like appearance. Taking this result into account, it can be easily shown that the tonoplast exhibits a high-resistance (1.1 Omega m2). Vacuolar membrane potential measurements (performed in parallel with charge-pulse relaxation studies) showed that the potential difference across the plasmalemma was mainly controlled by the external K+-concentration which suggested that the resting membrane potential of the plasmalemma is largely a K+-diffusion potential. After permeabilization of the tonoplast with nystatin the potential of the intact membrane barrier dropped from about slightly negative or positive (-5.1 to +18 mV, n = 13) to negative values (-15 up to -68 mV; n = 8). This indicated that the cytoplasm of V. ventricosa was apparently negatively charged relative to the external medium. Permeabilization of the plasmalemma by addition of external nystatin resulted generally in an increase in the potential to slightly more positive values (-0.8 to +4.3 mV; n = 5), indicating that the vacuole is positively charged relative to the cytoplasm. These findings apparently end the long-term debate about the electrical properties of V. ventricosa. The results presented here support the findings of Davis (Plant Physiol. 67: 825-831, 1981), but are contrary to the results of Lainson and Field (J. Membrane Biol. 29: 81-94, 1976).