In vitro organogenesis and antioxidant enzymes activity in Acanthophyllum sordidum

A. A. Meratan, S. M. Ghaffari, V. Niknam

Biologia plantarum 2009, 53:5-10 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-009-0002-6

The effect of various hormonal combinations on callus formation and regeneration of shoot and root from leaf derived callus of Acanthophyllum sordidum Bunge ex Boiss. has been studied. Proteins and activity of antioxidant enzymes were also evaluated during shoot and root organogenesis from callus. Calli were induced from leaf explants excised from 30-d-old seedlings grown on Murashige and Skoog medium containing 4.52 µM 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid + 4.65 µM kinetin. Maximum growth of calli and the most efficient regeneration of shoots and roots occurred with 2.69 µM 1-naphthalene acetic acid (NAA), 2.69 µM NAA...

Effect of abscisic acid on photosynthetic parameters during ex vitro transfer of micropropagated tobacco plantlets

J. Pospíšilová, H. Synková, D. Haisel, P. Baťková

Biologia plantarum 2009, 53:11-20 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-009-0003-5

The aim of this research was to determine whether exogenous abscisic acid (ABA) applied immediately after ex vitro transfer of in vitro grown plants can improve their acclimatization. Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) plantlets were transferred into pots with Perlite initially moistened either by water or 50 µM ABA solution and they were grown under low (LI) or high (HI) irradiance of 150 and 700 µmol m^-2 s^-1, respectively. Endogenous content of ABA in tobacco leaves increased considerably after ABA application and even more in plants grown under HI. Stomatal conductance, transpiration rate and net...

Leaf anatomy during leaf development of photoautotrophically in vitro-grown tobacco plants as affected by growth irradiance

B. Radochová, I. Tichá

Biologia plantarum 2009, 53:21-27 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-009-0004-4

Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) plants were cultured in vitro photoautotrophically at three levels of irradiance (PAR 400-700 nm): low (LI, 60 µmol m^-2 s^-1), middle (MI, 180 µmol m^-2 s^-1) and high (HI, 270 µmol m^-2 s^-1). Anatomy of the fourth leaf from bottom was followed during leaf development. In HI and MI plants, leaf area expansion started earlier as compared to LI plants, and both HI and MI plants developed some adaptations of sun species: leaves were thicker with higher proportion of palisade parenchyma to spongy parenchyma tissue. Furthermore, in...

Organization of a dispersed repeated DNA element in the Zamia genome

D. Cafasso, S. Cozzolino, N. J. Vereecken, P. De Luca, G. Chinali

Biologia plantarum 2009, 53:28-36 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-009-0005-3

Occurrence and genomic organization of dispersed elements containing ZpS1 satellite repeats have been investigated in a wide representation of species of the old plant genus Zamia (Zamiaceae, Cycadales). In Z. paucijuga, the ZpS1 repeat is organized as long satellite DNA arrays and as short arrays inserted into AT-rich dispersed elements. A comparative study by Southern analysis shows that these unusual dispersed elements containing the ZpS1 repeat are present with different organizations in all investigated Zamia species. In some species these elements are present with a low copy number, while in other species secondary...

Molecular characterization of two genes encoding plastidic ATP/ADP transport proteins in cassava

C. Y. L. Yuen, O. Leelapon, Y. Chanvivattana, J. Warakanont, J. Narangajavana

Biologia plantarum 2009, 53:37-44 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-009-0006-2

The import of ATP into plastids is facilitated by members of the plastidic ATP/ADP transporter (AATP) family. Our results indicate that the cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) genome possesses two genes encoding for putative ATP/ADP translocases, which we have designated as MeAATP1 and MeAATP2. Their deduced products are 92 % identical, and phylogenetic reconstructions of plant AATP sequences suggest that MeAATP1 and MeAATP2 are the result of a relatively recent duplication event. Both genes were found to be expressed in a wide range of plant organs via RT-PCR, including young and mature leaves, fibrous and...

Genetic relationships among Hystrix patula, H. duthiei and H. longearistata according to meiotic studies and genome-specific RAPD assay

H.-Q. Zhang, Y.-H. Zhou

Biologia plantarum 2009, 53:45-52 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-009-0007-1

Hybrids including Hystrix patula, H. duthiei and H. longearistata were obtained and genetic relationships among them were studied. Meiotic pairing in hybrids of H. duthiei × Psathyrostachys juncea (Ns), H. longearistata × Psa. juncea (Ns), Leymus multicaulis (NsXm) × H. duthiei, L. multicaulis (NsXm) × H. longearistata, Elymus sibiricus (StH) × H. patula, Roegneria ciliaris (StY) × H. patula, R. ciliaris (StY) × H. duthiei and R. ciliaris (StY) × H. longearistata averaged 5.76, 5.44, 11.94, 10.88, 10.08, 3.57, 0.46 and 0.90 bivalents per cell, respectively. The...

Involvement of phospholipase C-independent calcium-mediated abscisic acid signalling during Arabidopsis response to drought

A. Cousson

Biologia plantarum 2009, 53:53-62 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-009-0008-0

The present study investigated whether Ca²⁺ mobilization independent of phosphoinositide-specific phospholipase C (PI-PLC) would delay wilting in Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. cv. Columbia through mediating stomatal closure at abscisic acid (ABA) concentrations rising beyond a drought-specific threshold value. In wild type (WT) epidermis, the PI-PLC inhibitor (U73122) affected the stomatal response to 20 µM ABA but not to 30 µM ABA. Disruption in GTP-binding protein ά subunit 1 (GPA1) affected the stomatal response to 30 µM ABA, but not to 20 µM ABA. In the gpa1-4 mutant, the inhibitory effects...

Calcium is involved in the abscisic acid-induced ascorbate peroxidase, superoxide dismutase and chilling resistance in Stylosanthes guianensis

B. Zhou, Z. Guo

Biologia plantarum 2009, 53:63-68 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-009-0009-z

The objective of this work was to test whether Ca²⁺, a second messenger in stress response, is involved in ABA-induced antioxidant enzyme activities in Stylosanthes guianensis. Plants were sprayed with abscisic acid (ABA), calcium channel blocker, LaCl₃, calcium chelator, ethylene glycol-bis(β-amino ethyl ether)-N,N,N', N'-tetraacetid acid (EGTA), and ABA in combination with LaCl₃ or EGTA. Their effects on superoxide dismutase (SOD) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) activities and chilling resistance were compared. The results showed that ABA decreased electrolyte leakage and lipid peroxidation but increased...

β-1,3-glucanase activity in the stigma of healthy petunia flowers

A. M. Wakelin, D. W. M. Leung

Biologia plantarum 2009, 53:69-74 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-009-0010-6

β-1,3-Glucanase activity was detected in extracts of different tissues of healthy mature petunia flowers except the filament. The stigma was studied further as it had the highest enzyme activity and there is a paucity of information on the occurrence of this enzyme in this tissue. Specific activity of the enzyme was found to increase within the stigmatic tissue from early development until just before anthesis. Following non-denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis at pH 8.8, extracts of dehiscent stigma seem to contain three acidic isoforms of β-1,3-glucanase. Crude extracts of stigma was passed through a pachyman affinity column. A...

Waterlogging induced oxidative stress and antioxidant activity in pigeonpea genotypes

D. Kumutha, K. Ezhilmathi, R. K. Sairam, G. C. Srivastava, P. S. Deshmukh, R. C. Meena

Biologia plantarum 2009, 53:75-84 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-009-0011-5

The objective of this study was to examine the role of antioxidant enzymes in waterlogging tolerance of pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan L. Halls) genotypes ICP 301 (tolerant) and Pusa 207 (susceptible). Waterlogging resulted in visible yellowing and senescence of leaves, decrease in leaf area, dry matter, relative water content and chlorophyll content in leaves, and membrane stability index in roots and leaves. The decline in all parameters was greater in Pusa 207 than ICP 301. Oxidative stress in the form of superoxide radical, hydrogen peroxide and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) contents initially decreased, however at 4 and 6 d...

Microarray analysis of Arabidopsis genome response to aluminum stress

S. B. Goodwin, T. R. Sutter

Biologia plantarum 2009, 53:85-99 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-009-0012-4

To better understand the mechanisms involved in aluminum toxicity and tolerance in plants, microarray technology was used to evaluate changes in gene expression in Arabidopsis thaliana under Al stress. With the use of Affymetrix Arabidopsis ATH1 Genechip, a comparison of RNA expression profiles was made between control and Al-treated Arabidopsis seedlings. A total of 256 genes were identified as Al-responsive. Ninety-four genes were shown to be up-regulated and 162 were down-regulated; comprising 1.1 % of the 24 000 Arabidopsis genes. Real-time RT-PCR was used to confirm the microarray data. The analysis showed that a large...

Chromium increases photosystem 2 activity in Brassica juncea

S. Gupta, S. Srivastava, P. Pardha Saradhi

Biologia plantarum 2009, 53:100-104 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-009-0013-3

In 7-d-old seedlings of Brassica juncea chromium (VI) promoted photosystem 2 (PS 2) mediated photoreactions. The increase in PS 2 activity in the thylakoids from Cr-treated seedlings, in the presence of uncoupler (5 mM NH₄Cl), was similar to that recorded with the control thylakoids. Thus Cr enhanced PS 2 activity was not due to uncoupling of electron transport from photophosphorylation. Photon saturation kinetics revealed that the PS 2 activity of thylakoids from Cr-treated seedlings was significantly higher at almost all irradiances in comparison to that of controls. PS 2 activity of thylakoids from Cr-treated plants at 25 % of...

Physiological responses of Lupinus luteus to different copper concentrations

M. P. Mourato, L. L. Martins, M. P. Campos-Andrada

Biologia plantarum 2009, 53:105-111 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-009-0014-2

Yellow lupin (Lupinus luteus L.) plants were grown in hydroponic solution for 15 d under different copper concentrations (0.1, 0.5, 1.0, 10, 25 and 50 µM). With increasing Cu concentration total biomass was not affected, leaf area slightly decreased, while chlorophyll content decreased considerably. Cu content increased significantly both in roots and in leaves, but the contents of other ions were only slightly affected at the highest Cu concentration (Mn content decreased both in roots and in leaves, P content decreased only in leaves and Zn content increased in roots). Superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity increased up to day 7 after copper...

A new RAPD marker for beet necrotic yellow vein virus resistance gene in Beta vulgaris

R. Amiri, M. Mesbah, M. Moghaddam, M. R. Bihamta, S. A. Mohammadi, P. Norouzi

Biologia plantarum 2009, 53:112-119 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-009-0015-1

RAPD markers linked to beet necrotic yellow vein virus (BNYVV) resistance genes were identified in two Beta vulgaris accessions Holly-1-4 and WB42 using bulked segregant analysis. The polymorphism revealed by the RAPD markers in the F₂ generations of WB42 was higher than that of Holly-1-4. The segregation distortion at marker loci was slightly lower in the B. vulgaris × B. maritima cross than in the B. vulgaris × B. vulgaris cross. For Holly-1-4, a RAPD marker was identified in a long distance from the resistance gene of Rz ₁ . However, a RAPD marker tightly linked with Rz ...

Protect and regulate: Recent findings on plant POT1-like proteins

G. Rotková, E. Sýkorová, J. Fajkus

Biologia plantarum 2009, 53:1-4 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-009-0001-7

Single-stranded DNA-binding proteins form protective caps at the chromosome ends and their binding is important in the regulation of telomerase access to telomeres. This group of proteins is represented by POT1 proteins described in yeast, humans and other model organisms. Here we review recent findings obtained in Arabidopsis POT1-like paralogs, namely the observed diversity in their interaction features and corresponding functions.

Schekman, R., Goldstein L., Rossant, J. (ed.): Annual review of cell and developmental biology

T. Gichner

Biologia plantarum 2009, 53:74 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-009-0035-x

Campbell, A., Jones, E.W., Schupbach, G. (ed.): Annual review of genetics

T. Gichner

Biologia plantarum 2009, 53:84 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-009-0036-9

Koopowitz, H.: Tropical slipper orchids. Paphiopedilum and phragmipedium species and hybrids

I. Tichá

Biologia plantarum 2009, 53:104 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-009-0037-8

La Croix, I.F.: The new encyclopedia of orchids. 1500 species in cultivation

I. Tichá

Biologia plantarum 2009, 53:111 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-009-0038-7

Pinton, R., Varanini, Z., Nannipieri, P. (ed.): The rhizosphere. Biochemistry and organic substances at the soil-plant interface

J. Gloser

Biologia plantarum 2009, 53:119 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-009-0039-6

Effect of boron supply on nitrate concentration and its reduction in roots and leaves of tobacco plants

M. A. Matas, A. González-Fontes, J. J. Camacho-Cristóbal

Biologia plantarum 2009, 53:120-124 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-009-0016-0

Shoot and root mass of tobacco plants treated with only 0.05 µM boron was decreased by 25 and 50 %, respectively, when compared to plants sufficiently supplied with B (2 and 5 µM). Leaf B content of 0.05 µM B-treated plants decreased (about 80-90 %) when compared to 2 µM B treated plants; this drop of B content were not as marked (about 25-45 %) in roots. Leaf and root nitrate contents in B-deficient plants were 45-60 % and 35-45 % lower, respectively, than those from 2 and 5 µM B treated plants. It is suggested that B deficiency might decrease nitrate uptake rather than nitrate reductase activity in tobacco plants.

RAPD markers associated with quercetin accumulation in Psidium guajava

I. A. Feria-Romero, H. Astudillo-de la Vega, M.A. Chavez-Soto, E. Rivera-Arce, M. López, H. Serrano, X. Lozoya

Biologia plantarum 2009, 53:125-128 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-009-0017-z

We used a random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) amplification method to identify molecular markers associated with high quercetin accumulation in the leaves of Psidium guajava L. trees, selected from four different Mexican agronomic regions. We identified six polymorphic RAPD fragments of 620, 590, 370, 690, 480 and 460 bp among individuals of P. guajava. Genetic linkage disequilibrium analysis revealed that three RAPD profiles considered as DNA markers (620/590 bp, 370 bp and 480/460 bp) had a positive, direct association with quercetin content. These informative molecular markers can be used for selective identification of plants...

Determination of oxalate in plant tissues with oxalate oxidase prepared from wheat

E.-E. Liu, W. Luo, H. Zhou, X.-X. Peng

Biologia plantarum 2009, 53:129-132 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-009-0018-y

A method for determination of oxalate with oxalate oxidase (OxO, EC 1.2.3.4) prepared from wheat bran, is based on specific oxidation of oxalate to produce H₂O₂. The H₂O₂ formed was colorimetrically determined using horseradish peroxidase-catalyzed oxidation of 4-aminoantipyrine and N,N-dimethylaniline by H₂O₂. The new method was tested on rice, buckwheat, soybean and oxalis leaves, showing it is precise, sensitive, inexpensive, highly reproducible and simple to perform. Good agreement could be obtained between this method and the HPLC.

Stomatal and non-stomatal limitations to photosynthesis in field-grown grapevine cultivars

D. J. Yu, S. J. Kim, H. J. Lee

Biologia plantarum 2009, 53:133-137 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-009-0019-x

Diurnal changes of photosynthesis in the leaves of grapevine (Vitis vinifera × V. labrusca) cultivars Campbell Early and Kyoho grown in the field were compared with respect to gas exchanges and actual quantum yield of photosystem 2 (Φ_PS2) in late May. Net photosynthetic rate (P_N) of the two cultivars rapidly increased in the morning, saturated at photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) from 1200 to 1500 µmol m^-2 s^-1 between 10:00 and 12:00 and slowly decreased after midday. Maximum P_N was 13.7 and 12.5 µmol m^-2 s^-1 in Campbell Early and Kyoho,...

Developmental expression of β-glucosidase in olive leaves

W. Wang, C. Q. Li, X. L. Hu

Biologia plantarum 2009, 53:138-140 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-009-0020-4

Plant β-glucosidases catalyze the hydrolysis of glycosidic linkages and play a vital role in defense against pathogens and stress. The present work investigated the relationship between leaf development and β-glucosidase protein content in Olea europea L. (cv. Picual) leaves. The total chlorophyll content increased with leaf age in current-season leaves. Immunoblot analysis revealed that the content of 61 kD protein of β-glucosidase also increased with leaf age, and that the enzyme existed in three isoforms (pI 5.8-6.2). Statistical analysis indicated a strong correlation between chlorophyll and β-glucosidase protein contents.

In vitro cultivation of donor quince shoots affects subsequent morphogenesis in leaf explants

M. Mingozzi, S. Morini

Biologia plantarum 2009, 53:141-144 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-009-0021-3

The effect of in vitro cultivation of donor shoots on subsequent morphogenesis in leaf explants of quince (Cydonia oblonga Mill.) clone BA29 was investigated. Proliferating donor shoots were cultured in ventilated or closed vessels under different photosynthetic photon flux densities (PPFD; 200 and 100 µmol m^-2 s^-1) with 0, 15, 30 g dm^-3 sucrose. Shoots grown in ventilated vessels, especially with sucrose at 15 or 30 g dm^-3, were better developed with fully expanded leaves compared to those in standard closed vessels. Leaves collected from pre-treated donor shoots were used to assess regeneration...

Differential expression of LEA proteins in two genotypes of mulberry under salinity

G. Jyothsnakumari, M. Thippeswamy, G. Veeranagamallaiah, C. Sudhakar

Biologia plantarum 2009, 53:145-150 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-009-0022-2

The relative water content (RWC), cell membrane integrity, protein pattern and the expression of late embryogenesis abundant proteins (LEA; group 1, 2, 3 and 4) under different levels of salt stress (0, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 % NaCl) were investigated in mulberry (Morus alba L.) cultivars (S1 and ATP) with contrasting salt tolerance. RWC and membrane integrity decreased with increase in NaCl concentration more in cv. ATP than in cv. S1. SDS-PAGE protein profile of mulberry leaves after the NaCl treatments showed a significant increase in 35, 41, 45 and 70 kDa proteins and significant decrease in 14.3, 18, 23, 28, 30, 42, 47 and 65 kDa proteins. Exposure...

Cadmium-induced oxidative damage and antioxidant responses in Brassica juncea plants

Y. K. Markovska, N. I. Gorinova, M. P. Nedkovska, K. M. Miteva

Biologia plantarum 2009, 53:151-154 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-009-0023-1

Indian mustard (Brassica juncea L. cv. Vitasso) plants exposed to 10, 30, 50 and 100 µM of Cd for 5 d in hydroponic culture were analysed with reference to the distribution of Cd²⁺, the accumulation of biomass and antioxidants and antioxidative enzymes in leaves. Cd induced a decrease in plant biomass. The maximum accumulation of Cd occurred in roots followed by stems and leaves. Cd induced a decrease in catalase (CAT) and guiacol peroxidase (GPX) activities but an increase in ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and monodehydroascorbate reductase (MDHAR) activities. Enhancement in dehydroascorbate reductase (DHAR) activity was also at...

Phylogenetic relationship of China Dendrobium species based on the sequence of the internal transcribed spacer of ribosomal DNA

Z.-Q. Yuan, J.-Y. Zhang, T. Liu

Biologia plantarum 2009, 53:155-158 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-009-0024-0

The genetic relationship of 36 Dendrobium species in China was determined based on sequence analysis of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of ribosomal DNA. Aligned sequences of the complete ITS region obtained from the 36 Dendrobium species and 2 outgroup species (Epigeneium amplum and Epigeneium nakaharaei) by using PCR amplification and direct DNA sequencing. The nrDNA ITS1 of Dendrobium was 225-234 bp and ITS2 was 239-248 bp. Phylogenetic tree was constructed, and seven main clusters were generated among the 36 Dendrobium species. From the results, D. moulmeinense was not grouped in the...

Determination of genetic stability of long-term micropropagated plantlets of Platanus acerifolia using ISSR markers

W. J. Huang, G. G. Ning, G. F. Liu, M. Z. Bao

Biologia plantarum 2009, 53:159-163 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-009-0025-z

Inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers were used to assess the genetic stability of long-term micropropagated plantlets of London plane tree (Platanus acerifolia Willd.). Twenty micropropagated plantlets were chosen from a clonal collection of shoots that originated from a single mother shoot. This clonal collection had been maintained under in vitro culture conditions for at least 8 years, as achieved by axillary branch multiplication. Out of 38 ISSR primers screened, 16 primers were found to produce clear reproducible bands resulting in a total of 103 distinct bands with an average of 6.44 scorable bands per primer. Of these 103...

Development and evaluation of microsatellite markers in Phoenix dactylifera L. and their transferability to other Phoenix species

A. Akkak, V. Scariot, D. Torello Marinoni, P. Boccacci, C. Beltramo, R. Botta

Biologia plantarum 2009, 53:164-166 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-009-0026-y

Forty one simple sequence repeats were isolated from two microsatellite enriched libraries of date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.). After screening, 17 selected microsatellite loci were characterized and evaluated on a set of 31 cultivars and clones from Algerian and Californian germplasm. All primer pairs produced an amplification product of the expected size and detected high polymorphism among the analysed samples. These nuclear simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers are expected to be a very effective tool for evaluating genetic diversity in date palm germplasm. Acrosstaxa amplification showed the usefulness of most SSR markers in 14 other species...

Diurnal changes in chlorophyll fluorescence and light utilization in Colocasia esculenta leaves grown in marshy waterlogged area

S. Roy Chowdhury, Ashwani Kumar, N. Sahoo

Biologia plantarum 2009, 53:167-170 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-009-0027-x

Diurnal cycle of chlorophyll fluorescence parameters was done in Colocasia esculenta L. (swamp taro) grown in marshy land under sun or under shade. The sun leaves maintained higher electron transport rate (ETR) and steady state to initial fluorescence ratio (F_s/F₀) than shade leaves. In spite of lower ETR, higher photochemical quenching (PQ), and effective quantum yield of photosystem 2 (Φ_PS2) was evident in shade plants compared to plants exposed to higher irradiance. ETR increased linearly with increase in irradiance more under low irradiance (r ² = 0.84) compared to higher irradiance...

Nitrate reduction in ramets of a clonal plant Eichhornia crassipes responding to nitrate availability during clonal growth stage

W. G. Li, J. L. Wang, J. J. Shen, J. B. Wang

Biologia plantarum 2009, 53:171-174 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-009-0028-9

Effect of nitrate availability on nitrate reduction was examined in inter-connected ramets of invasive clonal plant Eichhornia crassipes grown with two nitrate supply regimes during different clonal growth stage. Increase of nitrate availability accelerated nitrate reductase activity (NRA) in parent and offspring ramets of E. crassipes, and there was greatly different pattern in inter-connected ramets during clonal growth stage. Leaf NRA was lower in offspring than that in parent ramets in phase 1, while significantly higher leaf NRA in offspring ramets was detected during phase 2. The results indicated NRA in inter-connected ramets of...

Different levels of inbreeding depression between outcrossing and selfing _Serapias species

F. Bellusci, G. Pellegrino, A. Musacchio

Biologia plantarum 2009, 53:175-178 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-009-0029-8

We quantified inbreeding depression for fruit production, embryo vitality and seed germination in three deceptive orchids, Serapias vomeracea, S. cordigera and S. parviflora, which do not provide any reward to their pollinators, and are predicted to experience high outcrossing. Of the three species examined only S. parviflora was autonomously selfing. Both S. vomeracea and S. cordigera showed highly significant differences in fitness between selfed and outcrossed progenies, resulting in high levels of inbreeding depression, which increased in magnitude from seed set to seed germination. Inbreeding depression may promote...

Enhanced chilling tolerance in Zoysia matrella by pre-treatment with salicylic acid, calcium chloride, hydrogen peroxide or 6-benzylaminopurine

Y. Wang, Z. M. Yang, Q. F. Zhang, J. L. Li

Biologia plantarum 2009, 53:179-182 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-009-0030-2

Following leaf application of salicylic acid (SA), calcium chloride, hydrogen peroxide and 6-benzylaminopurine (BA), Manila grass (Zoysia matrella) plants were exposed to day/night temperature of 7/2 °C for 120 h in a growth chamber. The lower content of malondialdehyde (MDA) and H₂O₂ and higher activities of ascorbate peroxidase (APX), guaiacol peroxidase (POD) and catalase (CAT) during exposure to low temperature in pre-treated plants in comparison with control plants demonstrated that these compounds improved the chilling tolerance of Manila grass.

Increased cold tolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana transformed with Choristoneura fumiferana glutathione S-transferase gene

C. Huang, T. Guo, S. C. Zheng, Q. L. Feng, J. H. Liang, L. Li

Biologia plantarum 2009, 53:183-187 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-009-0031-1

A glutathione S-transferase (GST) gene cloned from the lepidopteran spruce budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana Clem. was transformed into the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. The CfGST-transgenic and wild-type A. thaliana were subjected to 4 and 10 °C for 48 h and their cold resistance was studied. The GST activity of the transgenic plants was 46.6 and 35.7 % higher than that of the wild-type plants after 48 h under 4 and 10 °C, respectively. Relative membrane permeability and malondialdehyde content in the transgenic plants were lower while contents of the chlorophyll and proline were higher than those in the wild-type plants...

Responses of tiller growth and related genes expression in rice to red and blue radiation

N. Ying, Y. Tachiiri, H. Tsuchiya, Y. Hua

Biologia plantarum 2009, 53:188-190 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-009-0032-0

In the present study, we investigated tiller formation in rice cultivated under red radiation (R), red supplemented with 10 % of blue radiation (RB), and white radiation (W). In addition, expression of three genes related to tiller formation, OSH1, MOC1, and OsTB1, was analyzed at both vegetative and reproductive stages. RB promoted the outgrowth of tiller buds and increased tiller numbers significantly. Transcription of MOC1 and OsTB1 in RB was higher than in R, whereas OSH1 expression was independent on radiation quality.

Effects of zinc and soil moisture on photosynthetic rate and chlorophyll fluorescence parameters of maize

H. Wang, R. L. Liu, J. Y. Jin

Biologia plantarum 2009, 53:191-194 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-009-0033-z

Effects of zinc [0 and 5.0 mg Zn kg^-1 (soil)] on photosynthetic rate (P_N), and chlorophyll fluorescence in leaves of maize (Zea mays L.) cv. Zhongdan 9409 seedlings grown under different soil moisture regimes (40-45 % and 70-75 % of soil saturated water content) were studied. Zn application did not enhance maize plant adaptation to drought stress. The relative water content and the water potential of leaves were not affected by Zn treatment. Moreover, The P_N of drought-stressed plants was not improved by Zn supply. The increases of plant biomass, stomatal conductance and quantum yield of photosystem 2 due to...

Multiple hormone analysis indicates involvement of jasmonate signalling in the early defence of potato to potato virus Y^NTN

M. Kovač, A. Müller, D. Milovanovič Jarh, M. Milavec, P. Düchting, M. Ravnikar

Biologia plantarum 2009, 53:195-199 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-009-0034-y

The involvement of plant hormones in the very early response of plants to virus infection was studied in potato plants (Solanum tuberosum L.) infected with potato virus Y^NTN (PVY^NTN). Endogenous plant hormones and compounds mediating a stress response (JA-jasmonic acid, OPDA-12-oxo phytodienoic acid, SA-salicylic acid, IAA-indole-3-acetic acid, ABA-abscisic acid) were simultaneously quantified in susceptible cv. Désirée and resistant cv. Santé, one and three hours after inoculation. Of the hormones analysed, only the contents of endogenous JA and its precursor OPDA changed in a way that could be clearly connected with the...