The Casparian strip in pea epicotyls: Effects of light on its development

The Casparian strip, which is specific to roots, was studied in the epicotyls of dark-grown seedlings of pea (Pisum sativum L.) where it was found to have the same morphology and properties as the strip in roots. In dark-grown seedlings, the distance between the upper-most position of the Casparian strip and the bending point of the hook (about 37 mm) did not change during growth of the seedlings. In the uppermost 0.5-mm region of the region in which the Casparian strip could be detected by fluorescence microscopy, the plasma membrane was not firmly attached to the cell wall. The development of the Casparian strip continued for about 42 h after dark-grown seedlings were transferred to the light, indicating that (i) the cells that have been determined to form the Casparian strip in darkness form the strip in the light, and that (ii) it takes about 42 h for the cells to complete formation of the strip. Cells in the hook of dark-grown seedlings did not form a Casparian strip when such seedlings were transferred to the light. The Casparian strip was formed in rapidly elongating internodes of light-grown seedlings when the seedlings were transferred to darkness. Light did not control the formation of the Casparian strip in roots.Abbreviation PBS phosphate-buffered saline     

Non-offspring nursing by a nulliparous pregnant female just before first parturition in free-ranging Japanese macaques

A nulliparous pregnant Japanese macaque, Macaca fuscata, suckled her 1-year-old sister 44 days before her own parturition. Other Japanese macaque yearlings did not hold the nipples of this nulliparous female in their mouths. Although this non-offspring nursing before first parturition did not improve the rate of milk secretion, the nulliparous female may have improved her indirect fitness and her suckling behavior.     

Lead tolerance and accumulation in the gametophytes of the fern Athyrium yokoscense

The fern Athyrium yokoscense is known to be highly tolerant to lead toxicity, and is a lead hyperaccumulator that can accumulate over 1,000 g g^–1 of lead in its dry matter. In this work, we examined whether the gametophytic generation of A. yokoscense also resists lead toxicity like the sporophytic generation. Spore germination in A. yokoscense was more tolerant to Pb²⁺, compared to that in other fern species, such as Pteridium aquilinum, Lygodium japonicum and Pteris vittata. In addition, the early gametophyte development of A. yokoscense was not much affected by 10 M Pb²⁺, as evaluated from the prothallial growth and rhizoid development. We also showed that Athyrium gametophytes could accumulate more than 10,000 g g^–1 of lead, and that the lead was localized in the cytosol and vacuole of rhizoidal cells, as determined by a transmission electron micrograph. These results indicate that Athyrium gametophytes have the ability to accumulate lead in the rhizoids. Furthermore, the gametophytes were found to include a large amount of proanthocyanidins (condensed tannins). Because proanthocyanidins have a latent ability to complex with lead ions, the possible roles of proanthocyanidins in the lead tolerance and accumulation of Athyrium gametophytes are discussed.     

Demonstration of osmotically dependent promotion of aerenchyma formation at different levels in the primary roots of rice using a 'sandwich' method and X-ray computed tomography

Background and Aims

The effect of environmental factors on the regulation of aerenchyma formation in rice roots has been discussed for a long time, because aerenchyma is constitutively formed under aerated conditions. To elucidate this problem, a unique method has been developed that enables sensitive detection of differences in the development of aerenchyma under two different environmental conditions. The method is tested to determine whether aerenchyma development in rice roots is affected by osmotic stress.

Methods

To examine aerenchyma formation both with and without mannitol treatment in the same root, germinating rice (Oryza sativa) caryopses were sandwiched between two agar slabs, one of which contained 270 mm of mannitol. The roots were grown touching both slabs and were thereby exposed unilaterally to osmotic stress. As a non-invasive approach, refraction contrast X-ray computed tomography (CT) using a third-generation synchrotron facility, SPring-8 (Super photon ring 8 GeV, Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute), was used to visualize the three-dimensional (3-D) intact structure of aerenchyma and its formation in situ in rice roots. The effects of unilateral mannitol treatment on the development of aerenchyma were quantitatively examined using conventional light microscopy.

Key Results

Structural continuity of aerenchyma was clearly visualized in 3-D in the primary root of rice and in situ using X-ray CT. Light microscopy and X-ray CT showed that the development of aerenchyma was promoted on the mannitol-treated side of the root. Detailed light microscopic analysis of cross-sections cut along the root axis from the tip to the basal region demonstrated that aerenchyma developed significantly closer to the root tip on the mannitol-treated side of the root.

Conclusions

Continuity of the aerenchyma along the rice root axis was morphologically demonstrated using X-ray CT. By using this ‘sandwich’ method it was shown that mannitol promoted aerenchyma formation in the primary roots of rice.     

Effects of hypergravity environment on lignin formation in Arabidopsis.

Lignin and the secondary wall formation are essential for evolution of land plants. In this study, effects of hypergravity environment on the morphology of the secondary wall and the lignin content were examined in Arabidopsis thaliana. Xylem vessels showed intense staining with phloroglucinol-HCl and autofluorescence under UV light at the basal region of the flower stalk when seedlings grown for 3 days after hypergravity treatment for 24 hours. And, the flower stalk exposed to hypergravity showed slight increase in the lignin content. These results suggest that the lignin formation is positively regulated under hypergravity.     

Development of the Casparian strip is delayed by blue light in pea stems

To understand the regulatory mechanisms involved in tissue development by light, the kinetics of regulation of Casparian strip (CS) development in garden pea stems was studied. We found that short-term irradiation with white light delayed the development of the CS and used this delay to assess the quantitative effect of light on CS development. We examined the effect of the duration and fluence rates of white light treatment on CS development and observed a significant relationship between fluence and the delay in CS development indicating that the Bunsen–Roscoe law of reciprocity holds for this response. The effect of white light irradiation was not inhibited in the presence of a photosynthetic inhibitor, DCMU, or a carotenoid biosynthesis inhibitor, Norflurazon, indicating that the delay in CS development by light is a photomorphogenetic response rather than a subsidiary effect mediated by photosynthetic activity. An action spectrum for the response displayed a major peak in the blue-light region, suggesting a dominant role for blue-light receptors. A minor peak in the red-light region also suggested the possible involvement of phytochromes. Although phytochromes are known to contribute to blue-light responses, phytochrome-deficient mutants showed a normal delay of CS development in response to blue light, indicating that the response is not mediated by phytochrome and suggesting a role for one or more specific blue-light receptors.     

The preprophase band is a localized center of clathrin-mediated endocytosis in late prophase cells of the onion cotyledon epidermis

The preprophase band (PPB) marks the site on the plant cell cortex where the cell plate will fuse during the final stage of cytokinesis. Recent studies have shown that several cytoskeletal proteins are depleted at the PPB site, but the processes that bring about these changes are still unknown. We have investigated the membrane systems associated with the PPB regions of epidermal cells of onion cotyledons by means of serial thin sections and electron tomograms. In contrast with specimens preserved by chemical fixatives, our high-pressure frozen cells demonstrated the presence of large numbers of clathrin-coated pits and vesicles in the PPB regions. The vesicles were of two types: clathrin-coated and structurally related, non-coated vesicles. Quantitative analysis of the data revealed that the number of clathrin-coated pits and vesicles is higher in the PPB regions than outside of these regions. Immunofluorescent microscopy using anti-plant clathrin-antibody confirmed this result. In contrast, no differences in secretory activities were observed. We postulate that the removal of membrane proteins by endocytosis plays a role in the formation of PPB 'memory' structures.     

Intestinal Endocellular Symbiotic Bacterium of the Macaque Louse Pedicinus obtusus: Distinct Endosymbiont Origins in Anthropoid Primate Lice and the Old World Monkey Louse

A symbiotic bacterium of the macaque louse, Pedicinus obtusus, was characterized. The symbiont constituted a gammaproteobacterial lineage distinct from the symbionts of anthropoid primate lice, localized in the midgut epithelium and the ovaries and exhibiting AT-biased genes and accelerated molecular evolution. The designation “Candidatus Puchtella pedicinophila” was proposed for it.Sucking lice (Insecta: Phthiraptera: Anoplura), ectoparasitic insects that feed exclusively on the blood of their specific mammalian hosts, are generally associated with endosymbiotic bacteria (2, 13). Recent molecular studies have demonstrated that symbiotic bacteria of sucking lice are of multiple evolutionary origins (1, 8, 10, 16).From primates, three louse genera, Pediculus, Pthirus, and Pedicinus, have been recorded. Three Pediculus and two Pthirus species are known from anthropoid primates, harboring gammaproteobacterial “Candidatus Riesia spp.” in the stomach disc (1, 16). Meanwhile, 14 Pedicinus species, whose symbiotic bacteria have not been characterized, have been recorded from Old World monkeys (3).Samples of Pedicinus obtusus were collected in 2008 at the Jigokudani Monkey Park, Nagano, Japan, where a wild population of the Japanese macaque, Macaca fuscata, is exhibited to the public under careful control. When animals were caught and inspected, samples of P. obtusus were collected from the anesthetized animals under the supervision of a veterinary doctor (permission number 19-26-24, Nagano Prefecture, Japan). Samples of P. obtusus were collected in November 2008 by courtesy of Kiyoyasu Kowaki from a subspecies of the Japanese macaque, M. fuscata yakui, that is endemic in Yakushima Island, Kagoshima, Japan. Each of the insect samples was subjected to DNA extraction, and a 1.5-kb segment of the 16S rRNA gene (5) and a 1.6-kb segment of the groEL gene (7) were amplified by PCR, cloned, and sequenced. Molecular phylogenetic analyses were performed using the programs PAUP 4.0b10 (Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, MA), RAxML version 7.0.0 (17), and MrBayes 3.1.2 (15).The 1,490-bp 16S rRNA gene sequences formed a distinct lineage in the Gammaproteobacteria, exhibiting no phylogenetic affinity to the symbionts of other louse species, including those of human lice and the chimpanzee louse (see Fig. S1 in the supplemental material). The 1,601-bp groEL gene sequences also constituted a gammaproteobacterial lineage, exhibiting no phylogenetic affinity to the symbiont of human lice (Fig. ​(Fig.1)1) These results indicated that the endosymbiotic bacterium of the Old World monkey louse evolved independently of the endosymbiotic bacteria of the anthropoid primate lice. Considering that the date of divergence of Old World monkeys and anthropoid primates has been inferred as 23 to 31 million years ago, the endosymbiotic evolution in the primate lice must have occurred within this time scale (12).Open in a separate windowFIG. 1.groEL gene sequence-based molecular phylogenetic analysis of the symbiont of P. obtusus in the Gammaproteobacteria. A maximum-likelihood tree inferred from 1,040 unambiguously aligned nucleotide sites is shown. Bayesian and neighbor-joining analyses gave essentially the same results (data not shown). Statistical support values higher than 70% are indicated at the nodes in the order of maximum-likelihood/Bayesian/neighbor-joining values. Asterisks indicate statistical support values lower than 70%. Sequence accession numbers are shown in brackets. AT contents of the sequences are also shown. The sequences from the symbionts of human and monkey lice are highlighted in boldface. P-symbiont, primary symbiont; S-symbiont, secondary symbiont.The molecular evolutionary rates of the symbiont gene sequences were analyzed with a relative rate test using the program RRTree (14). The evolutionary rates of the 16S rRNA and groEL gene sequences in the lineage of the P. obtusus symbiont were significantly higher than those in the lineages of related free-living gammaproteobacteria (see Table S1 in the supplemental material).The AT contents of the 16S rRNA and groEL gene sequences of the P. obtusus symbiont were 53.5% and 64.8%, respectively. These values were equivalent to those of obligate endosymbionts of other insects (>50% for the 16S rRNA gene and >60% for the groEL gene) and were remarkably higher than those of allied free-living gammaproteobacteria (∼45% for the 16S rRNA gene and 45 to 50% for the groEL gene) (Fig. ​(Fig.1;1; see Fig. S1 in the supplemental material).Obligate endosymbiotic bacteria that cospeciate with their host insects commonly exhibit peculiar genetic traits, including AT-biased nucleotide composition, an accelerated rate of molecular evolution, and significant genome reduction (18). The AT-biased nucleotide composition and the accelerated evolution observed with the P. obtusus symbiont (Fig. ​(Fig.1;1; see Fig. S1 and Table S1 in the supplemental material) are suggestive of a stable and intimate host-symbiont association over evolutionary time.Fluorescent in situ hybridization targeting 16S rRNA of the symbiont was performed using the Alexa Fluor 555-labeled oligonucleotide probes Al555-ML439 (Al555-5′-ATAATATCTTCTTTCCTACCGA-3′) and Al555-ML1256 (Al555-5′-GCTAATTCTTGCGAATTTGCTT-3′) as described previously (9). In first-, second-, and third-instar nymphs, the symbiont signals were detected in the posterior half of the stomach in the abdomen (Fig. ​(Fig.2A).2A). In the posterior stomach, the signals exhibited a periodical and striated pattern (Fig. ​(Fig.2B).2B). Magnified images located the symbiont signals endocellularly in the intestinal wall tissue (Fig. ​(Fig.2C).2C). In some of the third-instar nymphs, the symbiont signals were found not only in the posterior stomach but also in the ovaries (Fig. ​(Fig.2A).2A). In adult females, the symbiont signals were restricted to the lateral oviducts (Fig. ​(Fig.2A),2A), where many bacteriocytes formed a pair of symbiotic organs called ovarial ampullae (Fig. ​(Fig.2D).2D). The ovarial ampullae were located adjacent to developing oocytes in the ovarioles, where the symbiont was passed to the developing eggs (Fig. ​(Fig.2E2E).Open in a separate windowFIG. 2.Localization of the symbiont in nymphs and adults of P. obtusus. (A) General localization of the symbiont in nymphal and adult insects. The symbiont signals are seen in the posterior stomach (green arrows) and the ovarial ampullae (yellow arrows). (B) An image of the posterior stomach of a second-instar nymph. Periodical and striped regions are densely populated by the symbiont. (C) An image of the posterior stomach of a third-instar nymph. The symbiont signals are restricted to the gut epithelial cells and not detected in the stomach lumen. Bacteriocytes are intercalated with uninfected cells, forming a striated pattern. (D) An enlarged image of the ovarial ampulla, consisting of a number of uninucleated bacteriocytes. (E) An image of the ovary in an adult female, wherein developing oocytes are found in the ovarioles. Ovarial ampullae (yellow arrows) are located at the anterior tip of the lateral oviducts, where symbiont transmission to oocytes occurs (white arrow). Panel A shows epifluorescent images, while panels B to E are confocal optical sectioning images. Red and blue signals reflect the symbiont 16S rRNA and the host nuclear DNA, respectively. Abbreviations: lu, stomach lumen; oc, oocyte.These results suggested that in third-instar female nymphs of P. obtusus, the symbiont localization drastically changes, from the posterior stomach to the ovarial ampullae (Fig. ​(Fig.2A).2A). Presumably, the endocellular symbiont escapes the host cells and somehow moves to the female reproductive organ, establishing a new endocellular association and finding a way to the next host generation. Interestingly, such symbiont migrations from a symbiotic organ to the ovaries in third-instar female nymphs have been reported for the human body louse Pediculus humanus (4, 13) and the slender pigeon louse Columbicola columbae (6, 13). Here it is notable that the symbiotic bacteria of P. obtusus, P. humanus, and C. columbae are phylogenetically not related to each other (see Fig. S1 in the supplemental material). The mechanisms underpinning the symbiont migration are currently unknown. Eberle and McLean (4) suggested by a series of experiments that the ovary of the human body louse might emanate a humoral factor that attracts the symbiotic bacteria to induce the migration. Whether or not this hypothesis is true deserves future experimental studies of these louse species and their symbiotic bacteria.On the basis of these results, we propose the designation “Candidatus Puchtella pedicinophila” for the novel endosymbiont lineage. The generic name honors Otto Puchta, who identified the biological role of the human louse symbiont as the provision of B vitamins (11). The specific name indicates association with a Pedicinus monkey louse. Whether the other monkey lice harbor symbiotic bacteria allied to the symbiont of P. obtusus deserves future studies.     

The effect of exposure to negative air ions on the recovery of physiological responses after moderate endurance exercise

 This study examined the effects of negative air ion exposure on the human cardiovascular and endocrine systems during rest and during the recovery period following moderate endurance exercise. Ten healthy adult men were studied in the presence (8,000–10,000 cm⁻³) or absence (200–400 cm⁻³) of negative air ions (25° C, 50% humidity) after 1 h of exercise. The level of exercise was adjusted to represent a 50–60% load compared with the subjects’ maximal oxygen uptake, which was determined using a bicycle ergometer in an unmodified environment (22–23° C, 30–35% humidity, 200–400 negative air ions·cm⁻³). The diastolic blood pressure (DBP) values during the recovery period were significantly lower in the presence of negative ions than in their absence. The plasma levels of serotonin (5-HT) and dopamine (DA) were significantly lower in the presence of negative ions than in their absence. These results demonstrated that exposure to negative air ions produced a slow recovery of DBP and decreases in the levels of 5-HT and DA in the recovery period after moderate endurance exercise. 5-HT is thought to have contributed to the slow recovery of DBP. Received: 29 July 1996 / Revised: 3 April 1997 / Accepted: 28 October 1997     

Milk secretion in pregnancy among free-ranging Japanese macaques

Milking under anesthesia in pregnant free-ranging Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) directly revealed lactation in gestation at Jigokudani Monkey Park, the Shiga Heights, Nagano Prefecture, Japan, from 12 to 14 February 1992. Multiparae secreted milk at 76–97 days of estimated fertilization age when the birth intervals to the next offspring were 2 years. The observation of sucking behavior from February 1991 to March 1992 indicated that concurrent suckling by these multiparae terminated approximately 70 days before the next parturition after the growth of fetuses had accelerated and the embryos survived the crisis of abortion. Thus, Japanese macaque mothers appear to hedge maternal investment with concurrent lactation against possible miscarriage. Two nulliparous pregnant females secreted milk 3 months before the first parturition although they had no suckers. The first preparation of lactation appears to require the duration of longer than 3 months in nulliparae although worked mammary glands appear to be able to resume within 1 month in multiparae. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.