ABSTRACT
A fluorinated analogue of coniferyl alcohol has been reported to be a specific inhibitor of oxidases involved in the biosynthesis of lignin. The Z isomer of beta-fluoro-coniferyl alcohol was synthesized and used for the preparation of dehydrogenation polymers (DHPs) and was also tested on lignin producing suspension cultures of spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.). The growth of the cells or the production of lignin by the suspension cultures was not significantly affected by the addition of fluoroconiferyl alcohol. This analogue did not form polymers quite as easily as did coniferyl alcohol in oxidation with hydrogen peroxide and horseradish peroxidase. In both cases the beta-fluoroconiferyl alcohol became incorporated in the polymeric product. We were unable to detect any specific inhibition of peroxidase activity, which is at variance with earlier reports of pronounced inhibition of lignin biosynthesis in poplar plantlets by fluoroconiferin, a potential inhibitor of oxidases involved in lignin biosynthesis.
Subject(s)
Lignin/antagonists & inhibitors , Phenols/isolation & purification , Picea/metabolism , Culture Media , Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel , Kinetics , Lignin/biosynthesis , Phenols/chemistry , Picea/cytologyABSTRACT
A significant mechanism of arsenate toxicity to Pisum sativum is interference with its mineral nutrient balance. This conclusion is supported by assessments made after exposing P. sativum L. cv. "Phenomen" for 12 days to 12.5, 20.8, and 33.3 mg, and for 32 days to 7.5, 22.1, 36.7, and 73.3 mg of sodium arsenate/kg dry wt soil in the greenhouse. At 20.8 mg of arsenate, mobilization of manganese from the cotyledons was significantly increased and that of zinc decreased. Nitrogen accumulated in the roots. On Day 32, at 22.1 mg of arsenate, magnesium, zinc, and manganese contents of the roots increased, but that of phosphorus of the shoot decreased. The distribution pattern and the ratios between individual elements were severely altered. Relatively more arsenic accumulated from the low than the high soil concentrations. Growth of the shoot was more affected than that of the roots. After a 32-day exposure, chlorophyll content of the leaves increased, but the chlorophyll a/b ratio decreased. On Day 12, at 12.5 mg and 20.8 mg of arsenate, in vivo phytase activity was 64 and 66% that of the controls, respectively.
Subject(s)
6-Phytase/metabolism , Arsenates/toxicity , Chlorophyll/metabolism , Pisum sativum/drug effects , Trace Elements/metabolism , Arsenates/pharmacology , Cotyledon/drug effects , Cotyledon/metabolism , Culture Media/analysis , In Vitro Techniques , Nutritive Value , Pisum sativum/enzymology , Pisum sativum/growth & development , Plant Roots/drug effects , Plant Roots/metabolism , Soil/analysis , Time FactorsABSTRACT
Tested haploid embryogenic lines (n=12) of Larix dedicua Mill, initiated from megagametophyte tissue were maintained on half-strength LM medium without growth regulators. The cultures were analyzed for ploidy level after 1-9 years. All lines tested were found to have doubled (2n=24) their chromosome number at the end of the experiment, though there were a few lines that still gave occasional haploid counts. Flow cytometric data of embryogenic tissue confirmed these results. Protoplasts were stained in ethidium bromide, and cultured human leucocytes and chicken erythrocytes were used as internal standards. Haploid megagametophytes from immature seeds of L. decidua and known diploid culture lines of a related hybrid (L. x eurolepis) were also analyzed by flow cytometry. Haploid reference material had 12.3-13.6 pg DNA per cell, whereas formerly haploid callus lines had an average of 25.0 pg DNA per cell. The one exception was a known, genetically unstable line of L. decidua (34.8 pg DNA per cell). The diploid cell line of L. x eurolepis had 27.6 pg DNA per cell. The results show that spontaneous diploidization of megagametophyte lines is relatively rapid and that both haploid and dihaploid lines are embryogenic in larch.
Subject(s)
Atropa belladonna/cytology , Chloroplasts , Plants, Medicinal , Plants, Toxic , Atropa belladonna/growth & development , Cell Differentiation , Cell Division , Cell Nucleus , Cell Wall , Cells, Cultured , Cytoplasmic Granules , Endoplasmic Reticulum , Inclusion Bodies , Microscopy, Electron , Mitochondria , Photosynthesis , RibosomesABSTRACT
The effects of canavanine, α,γ-diaminobutyric acid, homoarginine and lathyrine on the germination of pollen and on in-vitro growth of pollen tubes were studied in the following species: Lathyrus niger, L. silvestris, Vicia unijuga, Pisum sativum and Cicer arietinum.The effects of these non-protein amino acids depended on their quantity and on the plant species. Every amino acid had a promoting effect on germination and growth at some concentration in some species. Inhibition or promotion of pollen germination and pollen-tube growth were usually parallel. The stronger influence of some amino acid on growth than on germination may be due to slow penetration of the acid into the cell.Homoarginine and lathyrine had a promoting effect at all concentrations in L. niger, a species in which these amino acids occur naturally. In most other species they had, if anything, a very slight inhibitory effect, α,γ-Diaminobutyric acid and canavanine had the strongest inhibitory effects on the species studied. It seems possible that these amino acids are antimetabolites of common amino acids.It is obvious that non-protein amino acids can form effective hybridization barries, although the conditions in nature are more complex than in vitro. The ability to synthesize a new amino acid may therefore be of evolutionary significance in the isolation of new species and genera.
