Plant Physiology

Vance, Carroll P.; Heichel, Gary H.; Barnes, Donald K.; Bryan, Jeff W.; Johnson, Lois E.

doi: 10.1104/pp.64.1.1pmid: 16660893

Abstract Nitrogenase-dependent acetylene reduction, nodule function, and nodule regrowth were studied during vegetative regrowth of harvested (detopped) alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) seedlings grown in the glasshouse. Compared with controls, harvesting caused an 88% decline in acetylene reduction capacity of detached root systems within 24 hours. Acetylene reduction in harvested plants remained low for 13 days, then increased to a level comparable to the controls by day 18. Protease activity increased in nodules from harvested plants, reached a maximum at day 7 after harvest, and then declined to a level almost equal to the control by day 22 after harvest. Soluble protein and leghemoglobin decreased in nodules from harvested plants in an inverse relationship to protease activity. Nitrate reductase activity of nodules from harvested plants increased significantly within 24 hours and was inversely associated with acetylene reduction. The difference in nitrate reductase between nodules from harvested plants and control plants became less evident as shoot regrowth occurred and as acetylene reduction increased in the harvested plants. No massive loss of nodules occurred after harvest as evidenced by little net change in nodule fresh weight. There was, however, a rapid localized senescence which occurred in nodules of harvested plants. Histology of nodules from harvested plants showed that they degenerated at the proximal end after harvest. Starch in the nodule was depleted by 10 days after harvest. The meristem and vascular bundles of nodules from harvested plants remained intact. The senescent nodules began to regrow and fix nitrogen after shoot growth resumed. 1 Contribution No. 10422 from the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station. This content is only available as a PDF. © 1979 American Society of Plant Biologists This article is published and distributed under the terms of the Oxford University Press, Standard Journals Publication Model (https://academic.oup.com/journals/pages/open_access/funder_policies/chorus/standard_publication_model)

Nagata, Yoko

doi: 10.1104/pp.64.1.9pmid: 16660922

Abstract Localization of phytochrome which mediates rhizoid differentiation in Spirogyra was investigated. The red-absorbing form of phytochrome (Pr) seems to be distributed all over the cell periphery which remained in the centripetal end part after the centrifugation, as rhizoids formed equally well with red spotlight irradiation of three different parts of an end cell, i.e. distal end, middle, and proximal end, and with irradiation of centrifugal and centripetal end parts of a centrifuged end cell. The Pr distribution was confirmed with an experiment using far red irradiation over the entire cell, centrifugation, and red spotlight irradiation. The Pr-phytochrome molecules appeared to be mobile because no dichroic orientation was shown with polarized red spotlight irradiation. On the contrary, it is suggested that far red-absorbing form of phytochrome molecules are evacuated from the centripetal end part by the centrifugation in an experiment involving red irradiation over the entire cell-centrifugation-far red spot irradiation. Rhizoid formation was repressed markedly by far red irradiation of the centrifugal end part but not of the centripetal end part. 1 Present address: Department of Leprosy, Institute for Microbial Diseases, Osaka University Suita, Osaka 565 JAPAN 2 Address for reprint requests. This content is only available as a PDF. © 1979 American Society of Plant Biologists This article is published and distributed under the terms of the Oxford University Press, Standard Journals Publication Model (https://academic.oup.com/journals/pages/open_access/funder_policies/chorus/standard_publication_model)

Krochko, Joan E.; Winner, William E.; Bewley, J. Derek

doi: 10.1104/pp.64.1.13pmid: 16660900

Abstract O2 consumption by the desiccation-tolerant moss Tortula ruralis and the desiccation-intolerant Cratoneuron filicinum increased markedly during the latter stages of desiccation. ATP content of the mosses during desiccation was not correlated with O2 consumption, but was influenced by the rate at which the mosses lost water. The more rapid the water loss, the more ATP that was present in the dry mosses. The pattern of O2 consumption on rehydration also was influenced by the previous rate of desiccation. After rapid desiccation of T. ruralis O2 consumption upon rehydration was considerably elevated, and for up to 24 hours. After very slow desiccation the elevation was small and brief. Normal O2 consumption did not occur in C. filicinum after rapid desiccation, but did so within a few hours of rehydration after slower speeds of drying. ATP levels in T. ruralis returned to normal within 5 to 10 minutes of rehydration. In C. filicinum, increases in ATP were closely correlated with O2 consumption. These observations are considered to be related to differential damage caused to mitochondria and to cellular integrity by different speeds of water loss. The desiccation-tolerant moss appears to be able to repair the severe damage imposed by rapid desiccation whereas the desiccation-intolerant moss cannot. 2 Present address: Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305. 3 Addressee for reprints. 1 Work supported by National Research Council of Canada Grant A6352 and appropriations from the University of Calgary Research Grants Committee. This content is only available as a PDF. © 1979 American Society of Plant Biologists This article is published and distributed under the terms of the Oxford University Press, Standard Journals Publication Model (https://academic.oup.com/journals/pages/open_access/funder_policies/chorus/standard_publication_model)

Zimmermann, Ulrich; Hüsken, Dieter

doi: 10.1104/pp.64.1.18pmid: 16660908

Abstract The volumetric elastic modulus of the cell wall and the hydraulic conductivity of the cell membranes were measured on ligatured compartments of different sizes of Chara corallina internodes using the pressure probe technique. The ratio between intact cell surface area and the area of puncture in the cell wall and membrane introduced by the microcapillary of the pressure probe was varied over a large range by inserting microcapillaries of widely varying diameters in different sized compartments. The relationship of the elastic modulus and the hydraulic conductivity to turgor pressure was independent of the ratio of intact cell surface area to the area of injury. The increase in the hydraulic conductivity below 2 bar turgor pressure and the volume dependence of the elastic modulus were shown to be the same as those observed in intact nonligatured cells. Theoretical considerations of the possible influence of injury of the cell wall and cell membrane around the inserted microcapillary on the measurement of the water transport and cell wall parameters do not explain the experimental findings. Thus, mechanical artifacts, if at all present, are too small to account for the observed dependence of the hydraulic conductivity and the elastic modulus on turgor pressure. The pressure probe technique thus represents an accurate method for measuring water transport parameters in both giant algal cells and in tissue cells of higher plants. 1 Supported by a grant from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Sonderforschungsbereich 160. 2 Dedicated to Prof. Dr. N. Higinbotham on the occasion of his 65th birthday. This content is only available as a PDF. © 1979 American Society of Plant Biologists This article is published and distributed under the terms of the Oxford University Press, Standard Journals Publication Model (https://academic.oup.com/journals/pages/open_access/funder_policies/chorus/standard_publication_model)

Clough, John M.; Alberte, Randall S.; Teeri, James A.

doi: 10.1104/pp.64.1.25pmid: 16660909

Abstract Photosynthetic and growth properties of Solanum dulcamara L. were studied under controlled environments. The 200 experimentally tested plants were clonal replicates of five field-collected individuals, three from fully exposed habitats and two from deeply shaded habitats. After 4 weeks of growth in one of eight environmental treatments, each plant was measured for leaf adaxial and abaxial conductance to water vapor, specific leaf weight, chlorophyll per square decimeter of leaf, photosynthetic unit size, light-saturated photosynthetic rate, total leaf area, and total leaf, stem, and root dry weights. Changes in light level influenced photosynthesis and growth of each plant more than changes in water availability or temperature. It is strongly suggested that the primary adaptive response of the tested individuals to changes in levels of light involves the regulation of leaf thickness. 2 Present address: Department of Botany, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27706. 1 This research was supported by The DeKalb Foundation, The Sprague Memorial Institute, The Louis Block Fund and The Hinds Fund of The University of Chicago, The Southeastern Plant Environment Laboratories (NSF DEB 76-04150), and NSF PCM 76-11142 to P. J. Kramer and a USDA-ARS Cooperative Agreement to R. S. A. This content is only available as a PDF. © 1979 American Society of Plant Biologists This article is published and distributed under the terms of the Oxford University Press, Standard Journals Publication Model (https://academic.oup.com/journals/pages/open_access/funder_policies/chorus/standard_publication_model)

Nishimura, Mikio; Beevers, Harry

doi: 10.1104/pp.64.1.31pmid: 16660910

Abstract The intracellular distribution of enzymes capable of catalyzing the reactions from oxaloacetate to sucrose in germinating castor bean endosperm has been studied by sucrose density gradient centrifugation. One set of glycolytic enzyme activities was detected in the plastids and another in the cytosol. The percentages of their activities in the plastids were less than 10% of total activities except for aldolase and fructose diphosphatase. The activities of several of the enzymes present in the plastids seem to be too low to account for the in vivo rate of gluconeogenesis whereas those in the cytosol are quite adequate. Furthermore, phosphoenolypyruvate carboxykinase, sucrose phosphate synthetase, and sucrose synthetase, which catalyze the first and final steps in the conversion of oxaloacetate to sucrose, were found only in the cytosol. It is deduced that in germinating castor bean endosperm the complete conversion of oxaloacetate to sucrose and CO2 occurs in the cytosol. The plastids contain some enzymes of the pentose phosphate pathway, pyruvate dehydrogenase and fatty acid synthetase in addition to the set of glycolytic enzymes. This suggests that the role of the plastid in the endosperm of germinating castor bean is the production of fatty acids from sugar phosphates, as it is known to be in the endosperm during seed development. 2 Recipient of a travel grant from the Japan Society for Promotion of Science and a grant from Matsunaga Foundation (Tokyo). 3 Present address: Research Institute for Biochemical Regulation, School of Agriculture, Nagoya University, Chikusa, Nagoya 464, Japan. 1 Supported by DOE Contract EY-76-03-0034. This content is only available as a PDF. © 1979 American Society of Plant Biologists This article is published and distributed under the terms of the Oxford University Press, Standard Journals Publication Model (https://academic.oup.com/journals/pages/open_access/funder_policies/chorus/standard_publication_model)

Gilkes, Neil R.; Herman, Eliot M.; Chrispeels, Maarten J.

doi: 10.1104/pp.64.1.38pmid: 16660911

Abstract Seedling growth of mung bean is accompanied by the rapid catabolism of the three major phospholipids in the cotyledons (phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, and phosphatidylinositol). The decline starts 24 hours after the beginning of imbibition and by the 4th day of growth more than 50% of the phospholipids have been catabolized. Extracts of cotyledons of 24-hour-imbibed beans contain enzymes capable of degrading membrane-associated phospholipids in vitro. This degradation involves phospholipase D and phosphatase activity. Studies with radioactive acetate, glycerol, and orthophosphate indicate that the three major phospholipids are also synthesized in the cotyledons. Incorporation of glycerol and acetate into phospholipids of cotyledons is relatively constant throughout seedling growth, while the incorporation of [32P]orthophosphate steadily declines from a high value 24 hours after the start of imbibition. The newly synthesized phospholipids become associated with membranous organelles, especially the endoplasmic reticulum, and have an in situ half-life of 2 to 2.5 days. Determination of the activities of two enzymes involved in phospholipid biosynthesis (phosphorylcholine-glyceride transferase and CDP-diglyceride-inositol transferase) shows that the enzymes have their highest activities 12 hours after the start of imbibition. High activities for both enzymes were found in cotyledons of beans incubated at 1 C, indicating that the enzymes may preexist in the dry seeds. The experiments demonstrate that cotyledons start synthesizing new phospholipids immediately after imbibition, but that the rate of phospholipid catabolism far exceeds the rate of synthesis long before the cotyledons start to senesce. 2 To whom inquiries should be addressed. 1 This research has been supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation (Metabolic Biology). This content is only available as a PDF. © 1979 American Society of Plant Biologists This article is published and distributed under the terms of the Oxford University Press, Standard Journals Publication Model (https://academic.oup.com/journals/pages/open_access/funder_policies/chorus/standard_publication_model)

Dashek, William V.; Singh, Bibhuti N.; Walton, Daniel C.

doi: 10.1104/pp.64.1.43pmid: 16660912

Abstract Aleurone layers of Hordeum vulgare, cv. `Himalaya' took up [14C]-abscisic acid (ABA) when incubated for various times. Radioactivity accumulated with time in a low speed, DNA-containing pellet accounting for 1.6 to 2.3% of the radioactivity recovered in subcellular fractions at 18 hours. Thin layer chromatography of ethanolic or methanolic extracts of the cytosol, which contained greater than 95% of the radioactivity taken up by layers, revealed that labeled ABA was metabolized to phaseic acid (PA) and 4′-dihydrophaseic acid (DPA) and three polar metabolites Mx1, Mx2, and Mx3. ABA was not metabolized by endosperm, incubated under conditions used for layers, indicating that metabolism was tissue-specific. Layers metabolized [3H]DPA to Mx1 and Mx2. ABA, PA, and DPA-methyl ester and epi-DPA-methyl ester inhibited synthesis of α-amylase by layers incubated for either 37 or 48 hours. These layers converted the methyl DPA and epi-methyl-DPA esters to their respective acids. DPA did not inhibit Lactuca sativa germination or root and coleoptile elongation of germinating Hordeum vulgare seeds, or coleoptile elongation of germinating Zea mays seeds. 1 Present address: Department of Biology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia 26506. 2 Work was supported by funds from the Herman Frasch Foundation and National Science Foundation Grant PCM 76-81196 to D. C. W. 3 To whom reprint requests should be sent. This content is only available as a PDF. © 1979 American Society of Plant Biologists This article is published and distributed under the terms of the Oxford University Press, Standard Journals Publication Model (https://academic.oup.com/journals/pages/open_access/funder_policies/chorus/standard_publication_model)

Riper, David M.; Owens, Thomas G.; Falkowski, Paul G.

doi: 10.1104/pp.64.1.49pmid: 16660913

Abstract [3H]- and δ-[14C]Aminolevulinic acids were incorporated into the chlorophylls of Skeletonema costatum, a marine plankton diatom. In the stationary phase of growth, the tetrapyrrole-based pigments reached steady-state labeling after 10 hours. Under conditions of exponential cell division and chlorophyll accumulation, 3H was rapidly lost from the labeled chlorophylls and was replaced with 14C derived from δ-[4−14C]aminolevulinic acid. The kinetics of isotope dilution suggests recycling of tetrapyrrole precursors and/or two pigment pools, containing both chlorophyll a and chlorophyllide c, one which turns over rapidly (10 hours) and another which turns over more slowly (100 hours). Calculation of turnover times varied from 3 to 10 hours for chlorophyll a and from 7 to 26 hours for chlorophyllide c. The data suggest the dynamics of chlorophyll metabolism in S. costatum and explain the diatom's ability to undergo light-shade adaptation within a generation time. 2 This research is in partial fulfillment of the requirements of Master of Sciences Degree for the State University of New York at Stony Brook. 3 To whom reprint requests should be addressed. 1 This research was performed under the auspices of the United States Department of Energy under Contract EY-76-C-02-0016. This content is only available as a PDF. © 1979 American Society of Plant Biologists This article is published and distributed under the terms of the Oxford University Press, Standard Journals Publication Model (https://academic.oup.com/journals/pages/open_access/funder_policies/chorus/standard_publication_model)

Mattoo, Autar K.; Chalutz, Edo; Anderson, James D.; Lieberman, Morris

doi: 10.1104/pp.64.1.55pmid: 16660914

Abstract Characterization of the phosphate effect on ethylene production by Penicillium digitatum is reported. A low level of phosphate (0.001 millimolar) was about 200 to 500 times as effective as a high phosphate level (100 millimolar) in stimulating ethylene production and the stimulation was readily reversed by addition of phosphate. This phosphate effect did not operate in static cultures. The precursor of ethylene in the stimulated low phosphate system was glutamate but not α-ketoglutarate, which is a precursor in static systems. Actinomycin D and cycloheximide effectively inhibited the low phosphate/high ethylene-producing system. Alkaline phosphatase and protein kinase activities were higher in low than in high phosphate systems. We suggest that phosphate level regulates ethylene production by P. digitatum and that the regulation involves a phosphorylation or dephosphorylation reaction of some enzyme system associated with ethylene production. Phosphate-mediated control of ethylene production may also involve the transcriptional and translational machinery of the fungal cell. P. digitatum apparently can produce widely different levels of ethylene by different pathways, depending on culture conditions under which it is grown. 1 On leave from the M.S. University of Baroda, India. 2 On leave from the Agricultural Research Organization, The Volcani Center, Israel. This content is only available as a PDF. © 1979 American Society of Plant Biologists This article is published and distributed under the terms of the Oxford University Press, Standard Journals Publication Model (https://academic.oup.com/journals/pages/open_access/funder_policies/chorus/standard_publication_model)