Morphological and ontogenetic studies on southern African podocarps. Shoot apex morphology and ovuliferous cone initiation

STOFFBERG, E., 1991. Morphological and ontogenetic studies on southern African podocarps. Shoot apex morphology and ovuliferous cone initiation. Four species of Podocarpus indigenous to southern Africa were investigated. The morphology of the primordium of the female cone is compared with that of the shoot apex. Rhythmic growth occurs in Podocarpus. The external morphology of bud scales protecting dormant shoot apices is described and illustrated. Female strobili of the three species of section Podocarpus studied are initiated in the axils of euphylls during the spring growth flush as laterally flattened triangular structures. The axillary position of a female cone indicates that it is a modified shoot. The first two cone bracts (prophylls) are formed approximately at right angles to the subtending bract (one or both are fertile), while the 3rd and 4th bracts originate on the anterior and posterior sides of the strobilus respectively. Two to four bracts per cone are formed, not in pairs–the phyllotaxis is spiral. In P.falcatus primordia of female strobili and vegetative branches could be distinguished only after emergence of the seed scale complex. Based on cell differentiation, well-defined cytological zones can be distinguished in the shoot apex and it is classified as being of the Abies-Cryptomeria-lype. Meristematic zones of cone primordia and vegetative branches are basically similar, although the former are less well defined. No gradual transition from a vegetative to a reproductive apex could be identified and it would seem that the fate of axillary buds are determined at the time of their origination or even before.     

明适应条件下鲤属鱼L-型外水平细胞反应的给光-瞬变成分

在明适应条件下鲤属鱼 L-型外水平细胞的反应显示明显的给光-瞬变成分(on-transient)、它与刺激波长有关——对蓝、绿光的反应比对红光的反应有更明显的瞬变成分,其光谱特性提示它与绿敏锥细胞的输入信号有关。与已报道的其它动物 L 型水平细胞的给光-瞬变成分不同,它的出现在一定范围内与网膜受照射的面积无关。绿色(502nm)和红色(706nm)闪光同时照射所引起反应的给光-瞬变成分比各自单独刺激时要显著得多,提示它也与绿敏锥细胞和红敏锥细胞输入的相互作用有关。     

Developmental Changes in the Calcium Dependency of γ-Aminobutyric Acid Release from Isolated Growth Cones: Correlation with Growth Cone Morphology

We have investigated the development of Ca2+-dependent gamma-[3H]aminobutyric acid [( 3H]GABA) release in superfused growth cone fractions isolated from rats between the postnatal ages of 1 and 11 days. We have compared this release with the overall morphology of the subcellular fractions, and identified those structures taking up [3H]GABA by electron microscopical autoradiography. In fractions isolated from rats between 1 and 5 days, K+-evoked [3H]GABA release was completely independent of extracellular Ca2+. After 5 days a Ca2+ dependency appeared, which increased with age, such that by 10 days approximately 50% of the K+-evoked release was Ca2+ dependent. Electron microscopical analysis showed that, at all ages, large numbers of GABAergic growth cones were present in the subcellular fractions. Up to postnatal day 5, the growth cones were synaptic vesicle sparse but, after this age, increasing numbers of synaptic vesicle-containing growth cones were seen. These results suggest that during maturation of GABAergic growth cones into synapses there is, initially, a mechanism for release that is independent of extracellular Ca2+ and that the appearance of a Ca2+-dependent [3H]GABA release from growth cones correlates with the appearance of synaptic vesicles.     

Pinus MUTOI (Pinaceae), a new species of permineralized seed cone from the upper Cretaceous of Hokkaido,Japan

Pinus mutoi is described as a new species on the basis of a permineralized seed cone from the Upper Cretaceous of Hokkaido, Japan. The cone is at least 20 cm long and up to 6 cm in diameter, consisting of a cone axis and numerous cone-scale complexes that are arranged helically around the axis. Two winged seeds are borne on the adaxial surface of each ovuliferous scale. Each complex receives a single trace from the vascular cylinder of the cone axis. In the scale base, all the resin canals occur abaxially to the vascular strand. The spatulate bract of the fossil is unique to the specimen among the cones of both living and fossil Pinus. The central umbo, broad sclerotic cortex of cone axis, and absence of serotinous features of the fossil cone suggest affinity with the subsection Sylvestres of the section Pinus, subgenus Pinus. This is the first record of permineralized preserved Pinus cone from the Cretaceous of Eastern Eurasia.     

不同森林群落结构与光能利用率的关系

本文在人工落叶松纯林及人工落叶松与水典柳混交林的林冠观测数据的基础上建立了落叶松松和水曲柳的树冠锥体模型。通过对上述两种森林群落结构的太阳辐射的观测,利用电磁波的吸收,反射和透射理论分别对以上两种森林群落的光能利用率进行了计算。结果表明理论计算值与实测结果基本一致;双层次混交林的光能利用率高于单层纯林的光能利用率。     

Phenology and anatomy of the reproductive phase of Abies pinsapo Boiss. (Pinaceae)

Phenology and anatomy of the reproductive phase of Abies pinsapo were studied. Male cones and female cones were differentiated in the autumn, and the dormant microsporangia contained pollen mother cells (PMCs) in the premeiotic stage. The male cones broke dormancy at the end of February when the pollen mother cells began meiosis. Pollen grains were shed at the five-celled stage at the end of April-early May. The female cones broke dormancy in mid-April. Anthesis took place at the end of April. No micropylar-pollination droplet was observed. After pollination the female cones developed quickly. The most important loss of cones occurred during the pollination period. The number of archegonia varied from one to three but two was most common. Fertilization took place at the end of June. The embryos developed during the summer, and seeds were dispersed in autumn. The results are discussed in relation to other conifers.     

Kinase requirement for retinal growth cone motility

Since cytoplasmic Ca²⁺ levels are reported to regulate neurite elongation, we tested whether calcium-activated kinases might be necessary for growth cone motility and neurite elongation in explant cultures of goldfish retina. Kinase inhibitors and activators were locally applied by micropipette to retinal growth cones and the responses were observed via phase-contrast videomicroscopy. In some cases, growth rates were also quantifed over several hours after general application in the medium. The selective inhibitors of protein kinase C, calphostin C (0.1–1 μM) and chelerythrin (up to 50 μM), caused no obvious changes in growth cones or neurite elongation, and activators of PKC (phorbols, arachidonic acid, and diacylglycerol) also were generally without effects, although phorbols slowed the growth rate. Inhibitors of protein kinase A and tyrosine kinases also produced no obvious effects. The calmodulin antagonists, calmidazolium (0.1 μM), trifluoperazine (100 μM), and CGS9343B (50 μM), however, caused a reversible growth cone arrest with loss of filopodia and lamellipodia. The growth cone became a club-shaped swelling which sometimes moved a short distance back the shaft, leaving evacuated filaments at points of strong filopodial attachments. A similar reversible growth cone arrest occurred with the general kinase inhibitors: H7 at 200 but not at 100 μM, and staurosporine at 100 but not 10 nM, suggesting possible involvement of a calmodulin-dependent kinase (camK) rather than PKC. The selective inhibitor of camKII, KN-62 (tested up to 50 μM), produced no effects but the specific myosin light-chain kinase (MLCK) inhibitors ML-7 (3–5 μM) and ML-9 (5–10 μM) reversibly reproduced the effect, suggesting that MLCK rather than camKII is necessary for growth cone motility. The MLCK inhibitors' effects both on growth cone morphology and on F-actin filaments (rhodamine-phalloidin staining) were similar to those caused by cytochalasin D (5 μM), and are discussed in light of findings that inhibiting MLCK disrupts actin filaments in astrocytes and fibroblasts. 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Eviostachya hoegii Stockmans在中国五通组的首次发现

首次描述了Eviostachya hoegii Stockmans的营养部分,通过大量标本的观察,修订了前人有关其生殖部分和解剖部分的描述,并对其生殖部分进行了复原.同意Emberger(1968)的观点,将其归于Eviostachyrales中.     

Spring dispersal ofSitona lineatus: The use of aggregation pheromone traps for monitoring

The spring dispersal ofSitona lineatus L. (Coleoptera; Curculionidae) was investigated on a Danish farm.S. lineatus dispersed by flight in the early spring on sunny, calm days with temperatures above ca. 15°C. Two thirds of the population ofS. lineatus dispersed from perennial leguminous crops (clover and lucerne) in the first period of flight activity. The next dispersal did not occur until one month later despite several intermediate flight activity periods. The first period of dispersal occurred before the germination of the spring sown summer host crop,Vicia faba L. The field bean crop was infested in three later invasions during a period of more than three weeks. The aggregation pheromone, 4-methyl-3,5-heptanedione, had a significant effect on captures of both males and females in cone traps placed on the ground. There was no effect of the pheromone on captures in yellow sticky traps placed 1.5 m above ground. The pheromone effect is discussed in relation to behavioural observations. Both types of traps may be used in a survey system for monitoring spring dispersal ofS. lineatus and optimal timing of insecticide spraying. However, the pheromone cone traps were highly specific whereas all kinds of flying insects were caught in the yellow sticky traps, thus making the latter traps less suitable for monitoring.