Allogibberic acid: An inhibitor of flowering in Lemna perpusilla

Allogibberic acid (I) has been identified as the compound responsible for the inhibition of flowering, increase in frond multiplication rate and decrease in frond size produced in Lemna perpusilla 6746 by autoclaved, unbuffered aqueous solutions of gibberellic acid (VII). 13-Deoxyallogibberic acid (IV), a product of autoclaving aq. GA₇ (VIII) solutions, also inhibits flowering in L. perpusilla and is about 10 times more active than allogibberic acid.     

Rice straw decomposition in rice-field soil

Rice straw, buried in a rice-field during the dry season decomposed at a rate of 0.0075 day-1. Seventy five percent of the biomass, 70 percent carbon, 50 percent nitrogen and 30 percent phosphorus remained after 139 days of decomposition. Rice straw decomposition furnished 33% N and 8% P of the total nitrogen and phosphorus provided by man.     

Survival ofSclerotinia minor Jagger sclerotia in solarized soil

Calcium, magnesium and potassium dynamics in decomposing litter of three tree species were measured over a two-year period. The speices studied were flowering dogwood (Cornus florida), red maple (Acer rubrum) and chestnut oak (Quercus prinus). The order of decomposition was:C. florida>A. rubrum>Q. prinus.Calcium concentrations increased following any initial leaching losses. However, there were net releases of Ca from all three litter types since mass loss exceeded the increases in concentration. Net release of Ca by the end of two years from all three species combined was 42% of initial inputs in litterfall. Magnesium concentrations increased in the second year, following decreases due to leaching during the first year inC. florida andA. rubrum litter. Net release of Mg by the end of two years was 58% of initial inputs. Potassium concentrations decreased rapidly and continued to decline throughout the study. Net release of K by the end of two years was 91% of initial inputs.These data on cation dynamics, and similar data on N, S and P dynamics from a previous study, were combined with annual litterfall data to estimate the release of selected nutrients from foliar litter of these tree species at the end of one and two years of decomposition. The relative mobility of all six elements examined in relation to mass loss after two years was; K>Mg>mass>Ca>S>P>N.     

Expression of circadian rhythmicity in Djungarian hamsters under constant light: Effects of light intensity and the circadian system's state

Summary Djungarian hamsters (Phodopus sungorus), were exposed to constant light with increasing intensities (20, 60, 350 lux), and wheel running activity was recorded. With increasing light intensity the percentage of hamsters showing a split in their daily activity pattern increased and the free running period was lengthened for both the unsplit and the split state. The fact that the free running period of both states depended on the light intensity together with the observation that the highest incidence of acircadian activity occurred under 350 lux, provoked the idea that the emergence of splitting or acircadian rhythmicity is a direct consequence of the light induced lengthening of the free running period. However, analysis of the data failed to support the idea that emergence of a split or acircadian activity is a threshold phenomenon with respect to the free running period.Due to differences in circadian function some Djungarian hamsters do not exhibit photoinduction following short day exposure. In these individuals splitting also occurred but required exposure to a higher light intensity than in photo-responsive hamsters. This observation is in accordance with the idea that the two phenotypes differ in the interaction of the two component oscillators underlying circadian rhythmicity.Abbreviations LD long day photoperiod - LL constant light - SD short day photoperiod - free running period     

Recognition of peat-forming plant communities from their peat deposits in two south Swedish bog complexes

Peat samples, 3 015 from 103 boring points, on two mires (Åkhult mire, Store Mosse mire) south Sweden, have been subjected to macrofossil analysis. Based on plant remains, 9 peat groups were distinguished in the field. A further classification using phytosociological methods revealed 29 peat types. The affinities between the peat types were determined from TABORD classification and a Reciprocal Averaging ordination. The primary floristic differentiation is correlated with a gradient from treeless-to wooded stands, which coincides largely with the mire expanse-mire margin gradient. The poor-rich gradient seems to parallel the treeless-wooded gradient as well and may reflect the natural conditions in this mire before it was affected by man. The hummock-mud-bottom gradient is easy to distinguish in peat, formed by bog communities, but is not distinct in peat formed by fen communities and impossible to detect in peat dominated by wood remains. The amount of identifiable remains depends on the decomposition, which is determined by (1) the period of time the plant litter stays in the acrotelm, and (2) the nutrient status. The decomposition is greatest in fen-peat with abundant wood remains. This probably depends on a good supply of oxygen caused by greater horizontal water movements and better nutrient status.     

A preliminary study of aquatic insect communities and leaf decomposition in acid streams near Dorset,Ontario

Some streams near Dorset in south-central Ontario suffer from acid precipitation via run-off and seepage from thin soils with little buffering capacity. A spring-summer survey of eight headwater streams revealed some characteristics of their insect communities which could be correlated with pH. The streams could be divided into three groups according to pH and community structure. In the most acid group (annual pH range 4.3–4.8), Ephemeroptera were absent from two streams although mature Leptophlebia were collected just after spring thaw from the most acid one (pH 4.3–4.5). One of these three streams also lacked Plecoptera but the others had two or three genera, all shredders. The second group of three streams (pH 5.0–6.3), with one exception, did support Ephemeroptera (3–4 genera) and Plecoptera (1–4 genera), most of the latter being shredders. In all six of these acid streams, Trichoptera were more diverse and more dense than Ephemeroptera and Plecoptera; again, shredders were clearly dominant, especially the limnephilid caddisfly, Frenesia difficilis (Walker). These six streams also had similar chironomid communities (densities were an order of magnitude higher than other insects). Dominance by Chironomini and abundant Tanypodinae typified the most acid streams. In contrast, the two streams in the third group (pH 5.3–6.7) had richer and more balanced communities in general with relatively fewer shredders (no Frenesia), more collectors, and fewer Chironomini and Tanypodinae. As a field experiment showed that autumn-shed leaves decomposed more slowly in acid than in non-acid streams, summer-growing shredders may benefit from the pulse of acidity at snowmelt.     

Decomposition of cellulose,soil organic matter and plant litter in a temperate grassland soil

The formation of mor humus in an experimental grassland plot, which has been acidified by long-term fertiliser treatment, has been studied by comparing the rates of cellulose, soil organic matter and plant litter decay with those in an adjacent plot with near-neutral pH and mull humus. The decomposition of cellulose filter paper in litter bags of 5 mm, 1-mm and 45-μm mesh size buried at 3 to 4 cm depth the plots was followed by measuring the weight loss and changes in glucose content over a 6 month period. Soil pH was either 5.3 or 4.3. Decomposition of native soil organic matter and plant litter in soil from the same plots were followed using CO₂ evolution in laboratory microcosms. Cellulose weight loss at pH 5.3 was greatest from the 5-mm mesh bags and least from the 45-um mesh bags. At pH 4.3 there was little weight loss from bags and no significant differences in weight loss between bags with different sized mesh. There was, however, a reduction in the glucose content of the hydrolysed and derivatised filter paper with time. The decomposition rate of native soil organic matter in the low pH soil was increased to that observed in the less acid soil when the pH of the former was increased from 4.3 to 5.3. The increase in decomposition rate of added plant litter in the more acid soil as a result of CA(OH)₂ addition was only 60% of that observed in the soil with pH 5.3. These data support the hypothesis that the absence of soil animals and the restricted microbial decomposition in the acidic soil was responsible for mor humus formation.     

Evolutionary analysis of the multigene pregnancy-specific β1-Glycoprotein family: Separation of historical and nonhistorical signals

The pregnancy-specific ₁-glycoproteins (PSG) form a large family of closely related proteins. Using newly developed methods of sequence analysis, in combination with protein modeling, we provide a framework for investigating the evolution and biological function of genes like the PSG. Evolutionary trees, based on C-terminal sequence, group PSG genes in a manner consistent with their genomic organization. Trees constructed using the N-terminal domain sequences are unreliable as an indicator of phylogeny because of non-neutral processes of sequence change. During duplication of the PSG genes, evolutionary pressures have resulted in a gradient of constrained change across each gene. The N-terminal domains show a nonrandom pattern of amino acid substitutions clustered in the immunoglobulin complementarity-determining region (CDR)-like regions, which appear to be important in the function of the protein.     

Variable effects of air-drying on leaching losses from tree leaf litter

Leaching of soluble substances may be an important first step in leaf litter decomposition in small streams, but recent research has suggested that large leaching losses (up to 30% of initial mass in 48 h) may be an artifact created by using air-dried leaves in decomposition experiments. In laboratory experiments, we compared 3 d leaching losses from freshly fallen and air-dried senescent leaves of 27 tree species from different regions across Canada. Air-dried leaves from all species leached measurable amounts of original mass (3.6–32.8% dry mass), but leaching losses from fresh leaves (0–35%) were detectable in all but two species. Air-drying increased leaching losses in many species, but in others it reduced leaching losses or had no measurable effect. Results for leaves of the same species collected in different regions or in different years were generally similar, but species within the same genus often behaved very differently. Neither moisture content (fresh or air-dried), leaf thickness, nor cuticle thickness proved of any value as predictors of leaching losses or the effect of air-drying. The propensity of autumn-fallen leaves to leach, whether fresh or air-dried, appears to be a property of the individual tree species.     

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.