Inhibition and Requirement of Natural Stimulator for Cambial Xylem Production in Isolated Stem Segments of Pinus silvestris

Formation of xylem in sterile culture of isolated pine stem segments supplied with synthetic media continues only for 4–6 weeks. The stem segments originally do not contain an eluable inhibitor affecting elongation in the test of pine hypocotyl sections. After 4 weeks inhibition is detected. Supplying the medium with a methanolic extract from the cambial region of pine stem prolongs xylem production up to 15 weeks. IAA interacts synergistically with a natural stimulator of cambial activity.     

The skull of an early Late Triassic aetosaur and the evolution of the stagonolepidid archosaurian reptiles

Disarticulated bones of several individuals recovered from the Late Triassic fluvial and lacustrine deposits at Krasiejów, Poland, are here described, allowing the restoration of the skull structure of a new aetosaurian archosaur: Stagonolepis olenkae sp. nov. The Krasiejów deposits probably correspond in age to the Lehrberg Beds (late Carnian) of Baden‐Württemberg, Germany. The stratigraphical position of the new taxon combined with other available evidence is used to propose a model of aetosaurian evolution. The proposed phylogenetic position of Aetosaurus ferratus (Norian, Germany) as the basal aetosaurid is refuted and this species is instead proposed to be the most derived member of the Stagonolepis–Aetosaurus evolutionary lineage. Gradual change in several morphological characters can be observed from Stagonolepis robertsoni, through the new species from Krasiejów, to the stratigraphically youngest Aetosaurus ferratus. These changes include a decrease in the number of teeth and a decrease in the convexity of the ventral profile of the maxilla. The anterior elongation of the maxilla is associated with the expansion of the anterior tip of the maxilla towards the naris. In S. robertsoni and S. olenkae, the maxilla extends to middle of the naris, whereas in Aetosaurus, it reaches the anterior half of the naris. © 2010 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2010, 158 , 860–881.     

Taphonomy as a guide to hnctional morphology of Holocrinus, the first post-Paleozoic crinoid

Baumiller, T. K. & Hagdorn, H. 1995 1130: Taphonomy as a guide to functional morphology of Holoainus , the first post-Paleozoic crinoid.
A taphonomic approach, in which patterns of fragmentation are used to infer the organization of soft tissue and function in crinoid stalks, was applied to pluricolumnals of the first post-Paleozoic crinoid, Holocrinus . The observed patterns are analogous to those for isocrinid crinoids, suggesting that Holoctinus and isocrinid stalks are functionally similar in having specialized sites for autotomy. Stalk autotomy in Holocrinus could not have been predicted based on morphological criteria alone: the stalk of Holocrinus lacks synostosial articulations, which among the isocrinids are the sites of autotomy. This implies that taphonomic data can supplement and sometimes supersede morphological data as a basis for functional reconstructions. Stalk autotomy in Holocrinus indicates that this trait was not derived independently by the isocrinids and comatulids, but rather that it was primitively shared by them. If pentacrinitids could not autotomize their stalks, as is likely, this would represent a loss of this ability through paedomorphosis. □ Holocrinus, articulates, arinoids, taphonomy, autotomy, heterochrony .     

Nicotiana plumbaginifolia plants silenced for the ATP-binding cassette transporter gene NpPDR1 show increased susceptibility to a group of fungal and oomycete pathogens

The behaviour of Nicotiana plumbaginifolia plants silenced for the ATP-binding cassette transporter gene NpPDR1 was investigated in response to fungal and oomycete infections. The importance of NpPDR1 in plant defence was demonstrated for two organs in which NpPDR1 is constitutively expressed: the roots and the petal epidermis. The roots of the plantlets of two lines silenced for NpPDR1 expression were clearly more sensitive than those of controls to the fungal pathogens Botrytis cinerea , Fusarium oxysporum sp., F. oxysporum f. sp. nicotianae , F. oxysporum f. sp. melonis and Rhizoctonia solani , as well as to the oomycete pathogen Phytophthora nicotianae race 0. The Ph gene-linked resistance of N. plumbaginifolia to P. nicotianae race 0 was totally ineffective in NpPDR1 -silenced lines. In addition, the petals of the NpPDR1 -silenced lines were spotted 15%–20% more rapidly by B. cinerea than were the controls. The rapid induction (after 2–4 days) of NpPDR1 expression in N. plumbaginifolia and N. tabacum mature leaves in response to pathogen presence was demonstrated for the first time with fungi and one oomycete: R. solani , F. oxysporum and P. nicotianae . With B. cinerea , such rapid expression was not observed in healthy mature leaves. NpPDR1 expression was not observed during latent infections of B. cinerea in N. plumbaginifolia and N. tabacum , but was induced when conditions facilitated B. cinerea development in leaves, such as leaf ageing or an initial root infection. This work demonstrates the increased sensitivity of NpPDR1 -silenced N. plumbaginifolia plants to all of the fungal and oomycete pathogens investigated.     

Intense drilling in the Carboniferous brachiopod Cardiarina cordata Cooper, 1956

The brachiopod Cardiarina cordata, collected from a Late Pennsylvanian (Virgilian) limestone unit in Grapevine Canyon (Sacramento Mts., New Mexico), reveals frequent drillings: 32.7% (n = 400) of these small, invariably articulated specimens (<2 mm size) display small (<0.2 mm), round often beveled holes that are typically single and penetrate one valve of an articulated shell. The observed drilling frequency is comparable with frequencies observed in the Late Mesozoic and Cenozoic. The drilling organism displayed high valve and site selectivity, although the exact nature of the biotic interaction recorded by drill holes (parasitism vs. predation) cannot be established. In addition, prey/host size may have been an important factor in the selection of prey/host taxa by the predator/parasite. These results suggest that drilling interactions occasionally occurred at high (Cenozoic-like) frequencies in the Paleozoic. However, such anomalously high frequencies may have been restricted to small prey/host with small drill holes. Small drillings in C. cordata, and other Paleozoic brachiopods, may record a different guild of predators/parasites than the larger, but less common, drill holes previously documented for Paleozoic brachiopods, echinoderms, and mollusks.     

Seasonal abscisic acid accumulation in stem cambial region of Pinus silvestris, and its contribution to the hypothesis of a late-wood control system in conifers

Gradual accumulation of natural inhibitor in tissues comprising the cambial zone and about 1 mm of the youngest phloem of the basal region of the Pinus silvestris stem during the season was detected by both extraction and diffusion methods followed by bioassays. The purified inhibitor was chromatographically identified as similar to abscisic acid. Taking into account earlier numerous results, the hypothesis is formulated that the seasonal accumulation of abscisic acid affects phenomena associated with auxin polar transport, so that autolytic breakdown of protoplasts, which terminates differentiation of tracheids in stem secondary xylem is delayed. This effect extends the maturation phase and results in formation of thick-walled tracheids, characteristic for the late-wood in conifers.