Schekman, R., Goldstein L., Rossant, J. (ed.): Annual Review of Cell and Developmental Biology. Vol. 25

T. Gichner

Biologia plantarum 54:46, 2010 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-010-0036-9

Giles W.: Encyclopedia of Exotic Plants for Temperate Climate

I. Boušová

Biologia plantarum 54:75, 2010 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-010-0037-8

Morphogenetic routes of long-term embryogenic callus culture of Areca catechu

H. C. Wang, J. T. Chen, W. C. Chang

Biologia plantarum 54:1-5, 2010 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-010-0001-7

Early morphogenetic events and repetitive embryogenesis from callus culture of betel nut palm (Areca catechu L.) were studied using scanning electron microscopy. On Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 2 mg dm^-3 dicamba, callus culture has capacity to form plantlets via somatic embryogenesis and to form secondary embryos for about 4 years. However, various abnormal embryos without differentiation of the leaf sheath and shoot apical meristem were observed, which showed bell-shaped and then cup-shaped or mushroom-shaped structures. These abnormal embryos contained distinctive structures, including a disk-shape interior...

Organogenesis and Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation of Eucalyptus saligna with P5CS gene

R. Dibax, C. Deschamps, J. C. Bespalhok Filho, L. G. E. Vieira, H. B. C. Molinari, M. K. F. De Campos, M. Quoirin

Biologia plantarum 54:6-12, 2010 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-010-0002-6

The purpose of this research was Eucalyptus saligna in vitro regeneration and transformation with P5CSF129A gene, which encodes Δ¹-pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthetase (P5CS), the key enzyme in proline biosynthesis. After selection of the most responsive genotype, shoot organogenesis was induced on leaf explants cultured on a callus induction medium (CI) followed by subculture on a shoot induction medium (SI). Shoots were subsequently cultured on an elongation medium (BE), then transferred to a rooting medium and finally transplanted to pots and acclimatized in a greenhouse. For genetic transformation, a binary vector...

Efficient in vitro plant regeneration from shoot apices and gene transfer by particle bombardment in Jatropha curcas

J. Purkayastha, T. Sugla, A. Paul, S. K. Solleti, P. Mazumdar, A. Basu, A. Mohommad, Z. Ahmed, L. Sahoo

Biologia plantarum 54:13-20, 2010 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-010-0003-5

An efficient and reproducible in vitro plant regeneration system from shoot apices was developed in Jatropha curcas. Benzylaminopurine (BAP; 2.5 μM) was most effective in inducing an average of 6.2 shoots per shoot apex. Incorporation of gibberellic acid (GA3; 0.5 μM) to basal medium was found essential for elongation of shoots. The BAP-habituated mother explants continuously produced shoots during successive subculture without any loss of morphogenic potential. The shoots rooted efficiently on half-strength MS medium. The rooted plantlets were acclimatized with more than 98 % success and the plants transferred to soil:compost in...

Transformation of chickpea: effect of genotype, explant, Agrobacterium-strain and composition of culture medium

B. Bhattacharjee, M. Mohan, S. Nair

Biologia plantarum 54:21-32, 2010 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-010-0004-4

Reproducible and high-frequency transgenic plant regeneration from callus and embryo axes of four different genotypes of chickpea (Cicer arietinum) was achieved after Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Three different strains of Agrobacterium (EHA105, AGL1 and LBA4404) harboring the binary vector pCAMBIA1301 containing β-glucuronidase (GUS) and hygromycin phosphotransferase (hpt) genes under the control of a CaMV35S promoter were used. The highest number of transgenic plants was obtained from cotyledonary node-derived calli of genotype Pusa-256. A highly efficient rooting was achieved on Murashige and Skoog...

Expressions and dimerization affinities of three highly identical APETALA3 genes in Brassica napus

L. Zhou, Y. -T. Zhou, M. -L. Wang, H. -Y. Wang, Y. Zhao

Biologia plantarum 54:33-40, 2010 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-010-0005-3

Three highly identical cDNA clones of APETALA3 (AP3) gene, BnAP3-2, BnAP3-3 and BnAP3-4 were isolated from Brassica napus L. by RT-PCR. The sequence analysis showed that all the three AP3 cDNAs contained a complete open reading frame. Their nucleotide sequences had 91-97 % similarity and their predicted amino acid sequences shared 93-98 % identity. Real-time quantitative RT-PCR result showed that all the three BnAP3 genes were expressed at the transcriptional level in petals as well as stamens. Among the three BnAP3 genes, BnAP3-3 was expressed at the highest level and BnAP3-2...

Molecular cloning and characterization of a novel microsomal oleate desaturase gene DiFAD2 from Davidia involucrata Baill

N. Lei, S. Peng, B. Niu, J. Chen, J. Zhou, L. Tang, Y. Xu, S. Wang, F. Chen

Biologia plantarum 54:41-46, 2010 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-010-0006-2

In the conversion of oleic acid to linoleic acid, δ¹²-fatty acid desaturase (δ¹²-FAD) is involved. Based on the conserved oligo amino acid residues of the FAD2 genes from other plants, a new full-length cDNA (DiFAD2) encoding a δ¹²-FAD was cloned from Davidia involucrata Baill. Sequence analysis indicated that the DiFAD2 gene had an open reading frame (ORF) of 1 149 bp, coding for 382 amino acids residues of 44.3 kDa, pI of the deduced protein was 8.8. The deduced amino acid sequence of the cloned DiFAD2 showed high identities to those genes of other plant δ¹²-FAD....

Molecular characterization of ginseng farnesyl diphosphate synthase gene and its up-regulation by methyl jasmonate

O. T. Kim, K. H. Bang, S. J. Jung, Y. C. Kim, D. Y. Hyun, S. H. Kim, S. W. Cha

Biologia plantarum 54:47-53, 2010 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-010-0007-1

We isolated a gene encoding for farnesyl diphosphate synthase (FPS) from Panax ginseng, a species that produces a large quantity of triterpene saponins such as ginsenosides. The deduced amino acid sequence of PgFPS was 77, 84 and 95 % identical to those of Arabidopsis, Hevea, and Centella. Southern blot analysis indicated that P. ginseng contained more than two genes encoding for FPS. When the cDNA of PgFPS was expressed in Escherichia coli, the recombinant enzyme, purified with a His-tag column, was found to possess FPS activity. When cultures of ginseng hairy root were treated with 0.1 mM methyl jasmonate...

Comparison of three genetic similarity coefficients based on dominant markers from predominantly self-pollinating species

A. Beharav, M. Maras, M. Kitner, J. Šuštar-Vozlič, G. L. Sun, I. Doležalová, A. Lebeda, V. Meglič

Biologia plantarum 54:54-60, 2010 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-010-0008-0

Three genetic similarity coefficients were estimated and compared for their usefulness: simple matching (S _SM), Jaccard's (S _J) and Dice's (S _D), all based on dominant markers data from individuals representing predominantly self-pollinating species. AFLP markers were used to analyze 139 Phaseolus vulgaris L. (common bean) and 67 Lactuca saligna L. (least lettuce) accessions, and RAPD markers were used to analyze 110 Triticum dicoccoides Koern. (wild emmer wheat) accessions. Similar discriminating structure and power based on the three genetic similarity coefficients was found...

Development of AFLP and STS markers linked to a waterlogging tolerance in Korean soybean landraces

S. -Y. Kang, K. J. Lee, G. -J. Lee, J. -B. Kim, S. -J. Chung, J. Y. Song, B. -M. Lee, D. S. Kim

Biologia plantarum 54:61-68, 2010 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-010-0009-z

Among the 400 soybean (Glycine max) landraces, we selected 3 tolerant (KAS150-9, KAS160-15, and KAS170-9) and 3 susceptible lines (KAS160-14, KAS160-20, and KAS201-6-1) by the survival percentage and injury scores. Susceptible lines showed decrease in chlorophyll content and increase in glucose and malondialdehyde (MDA) contents under waterlogging stress, while tolerant lines did not change significantly. For AFLP analysis, 8 EcoRI (+3) and 8 MseI (+3) primers used in 32 primer combinations generated a total of 2 566 bands with a mean of 80 bands per primer combination, of which 1 117 (43.5 %) were clearly polymorphic between the...

Genetic diversity for morphological traits and seed storage proteins in Spanish rivet wheat

S. Carmona, J. B. Alvarez, L. Caballero

Biologia plantarum 54:69-75, 2010 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-010-0010-6

The objective of the current work was to analyse the variability of high and low molecular mass (HMM and LMM) glutenin subunits, along with some morphological characteristics in sixty Spanish accessions of rivet wheat (Triticum turgidum L. ssp. turgidum). The lines were grouped in sixteen botanical varieties and five additional types, according the morphological criteria. Up to 13 allelic variants (four alleles for the Glu-A1 locus and nine alleles for the Glu-B1 locus) and 34 B-LMMGs patterns were found in the evaluated lines. The current data indicated a clear reduction of morphological variability, along with an asymmetric...

Characterization of the antioxidant system during the vegetative development of pea plants

P. Díaz-Vivancos, G. Barba-Espín, M. J. Clemente-Moreno, J. A. Hernández

Biologia plantarum 54:76-82, 2010 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-010-0011-5

The antioxidative system was studied during the development of pea plants. The reduced glutathione (GSH) content was higher in shoots than in roots, but a greater redox state of glutathione existed in roots compared with shoots, at least after 7 d of growth. The 3-d-old seedlings showed the highest content of oxidised ascorbate (DHA), which correlated with the ascorbate oxidase (AAO) activity. Also, the roots exhibited higher DHA content than shoots, correlated with their higher AAO activity. The activities of antioxidant enzymes were much higher in shoots than in roots. Ascorbate peroxidase (APX) activity decreased during the progression of growth...

The protection of wheat plasma membrane under cold stress by glycine betaine overproduction

X. -Y. Zhang, C. Liang, G. -P. Wang, Y. Luo, W. Wang

Biologia plantarum 54:83-88, 2010 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-010-0012-4

We aimed to study the protection of wheat plasma membrane (PM) under cold stress (0-2 °C) by the overaccumulation of glycine betaine (GB). For this, we used wild-type winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cv. Shi 4185 (WT) and 3 transgenic lines (T1, T4, and T6) expressing the BADH gene isolated from Atriplex hortensis L. Under cold stress, the transgenic lines with higher GB content maintained better membrane integrity and higher plasma membrane H⁺-ATPase activity than WT. In these transgenic lines, ROS production and membrane lipid peroxidation were lower, while antioxidative enzyme activities and compatible solute contents...

Photosynthetic performance and acclimation of Incarvillea delavayi to water stress

Y. -F. Cai, S. -B. Zhang, H. Hu, S. -Y. Li

Biologia plantarum 54:89-96, 2010 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-010-0013-3

The photosynthetic performance and related leaf traits of Incarvillea delavayi Bur. et Franch were studied at different water regimes to assess its capacity for photosynthetic acclimation to water stress. The initial response of I. delavayi to water stress was the closure of stomata, which resulted in down-regulation of photosynthesis. The stomatal limitation (S_L) represented the main component to photosynthetic limitations but non-stomatal limitation (NS_L) increased quickly with the increasing water stress, and had similar magnitude to SL under severe water stress (soil moisture 25-30 % of field capacity)....

Carbon nutrition of mature green orchid Serapias strictiflora and its mycorrhizal fungus Epulorhiza sp.

K. Látalová, M. Baláž

Biologia plantarum 54:97-104, 2010 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-010-0014-2

We studied the nutritional modes of the orchid Serapias strictiflora and its mycorrhizal fungus Epulorhiza sp. using the differences in carbon isotopic composition (δ¹³C) of C₃ orchid and C₄ maize tissues. We found that if cultivated in substrate lacking any organic compounds, the mycorrhizal extraradical mycelia (δ¹³C = -26.3 ± 0.2 ‰) developed well, despite being fully dependent on nutrition from orchid roots (δ¹³C = -28.6 ± 0.1 ‰). If the mycorrhizal fungus had additional access to and colonized decaying maize roots (δ¹³C...

Over-expression of heat shock protein gene hsp26 in Arabidopsis thaliana enhances heat tolerance

Y. Xue, R. Peng, A. Xiong, X. Li, D. Zha, Q. Yao

Biologia plantarum 54:105-111, 2010 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-010-0015-1

In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the molecular chaperone HSP26 has the remarkable ability to sense increases in temperature directly and can switch from an inactive to a chaperone-active state. In this report, we analyzed the effect of expression of HSP26 in Arabidopsis thaliana plants and their response to high temperature stress. The hsp26 transgenic plants exhibited stronger growth than wild type plants at 45 °C for 16 h. The chlorophyll content and chlorophyll fluorescence decreased much more in wild type than in transgenic plants. Moreover, the transgenic plants had higher proline and soluble sugar contents, and lower...

Changes in AFLP and SSR DNA polymorphisms induced by short-term space flight of rice seeds

J. Y. Lu, W. L. Zhang, H. Xue, Y. Pan, C. H. Zhang, X. H. He, M. Liu

Biologia plantarum 54:112-116, 2010 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-010-0016-0

Differences of both amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) and simple sequence repeat (SSR) polymorphisms were compared between the 60-d-old rice (Oryza sativa L. cv. DH7) and F3 rice plants (SP3) derived from seed, which endured a 7-d-space flight in March 2002. Total leaf AFLP DNA bands amplified from 22 primer pairs were 537 in DH7, whereas 562 in SP3. From the total 267 SSR DNA bands generated by 267 primer pairs, 39 were polymorphic with 22 larger (56 %) or 17 smaller (44 %) fragment size bands. The greatest numbers of AFLP DNA bands were amplified by primer E1M1 in DH7 (33) and E3M1 in SP3 (35), whilst the least by E4M3 in DH7 (14)...

ABA or cadmium induced phytochelatin synthesis in potato tubers

A. Stroiński, T. Chadzinikolau, K. Giżewska, M. Zielezińska

Biologia plantarum 54:117-120, 2010 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-010-0017-z

Short-term treatment of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) tuber discs with CdCl₂ solution elevated both the StPCS1 transcript level, phytochelatin synthase (PCS) activity and contents of phytochelatin (PC) and abscisic acid (ABA). Similar effects but less marked were noticed after treatment of tuber tissues with ABA solution. Cd-treatment increased also cysteine (CYS) content but did not change glutathione content. If ABA treatment preceded Cd-treatment, the elevation of CYS and PC contents were limited. The data suggest the participation of ABA in the regulation of PCS.

Direct somatic embryogenesis and plant regeneration from immature explants of chickpea

S. Kiran Ghanti, K. G. Sujata, M. Srinath Rao, P. B. Kavi Kishor

Biologia plantarum 54:121-125, 2010 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-010-0018-y

A protocol for plant regeneration via somatic embryogenesis was developed in two chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) cultivars ICCV-10 and Annigeri. Somatic embryos were induced from immature cotyledons on Murashige and Skoog's (MS) medium supplemented with different concentrations of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4,5-T), α-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) and picloram alone or in combination with 0.5 - 2.0 mg dm^-3 N⁶-benzylaminopurine (BA) or kinetin (KIN). NAA was better for somatic embryo induction compared to other auxins. The well formed, cotyledonary shaped embryos...

In vitro culture of Capparis decidua and assessment of clonal fidelity of the regenerated plants

P. Tyagi, S. Khanduja, S.L. Kothari

Biologia plantarum 54:126-130, 2010 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-010-0019-x

A protocol for in vitro multiplication of Capparis decidua (Forsk.) Edgew. has been developed from cultured leaves procured from multiplying axillary shoots on the cultured nodal explants. The highest efficiency of shoot formation was observed on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium containing 2 mg dm^-3 benzyladenine (BA) and 0.5 mg dm^-3 1-naphthaleneacetic acid. The regenerated shoots were transferred to MS medium containing 3 mg dm^-3 BA for growth and proliferation. Shoots above 2 cm in length were transferred to MS medium supplemented with 1 mg dm-3 indole-3-butyric acid plus 0.5 mg dm^-3 indole-3-acetic...

Efficient regeneration of Eucalyptus urophylla from seedling-derived hypocotyls

Z. -C. Huang, F. -H. Zeng, X. -Y. Lu

Biologia plantarum 54:131-134, 2010 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-010-0020-4

Seedling hypocotyls were used as explants to establish a regeneration protocol for Eucalyptus urophylla and N-phenyl-N'-[6-(2-chlorobenzothiazol)-yl] urea (PBU), one kind of di-substituted urea, was found useful growth regulator. The hypocotyls incubated on a modified Murashige and Skoog medium (SPCa), supplemented with 6.6 μM PBU and 0.57 μM indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) dedifferentiated and form calli (100 % after 7 d). Compared with other growth regulator combinations, PBU stimulated more vigorous calli and restrained their darkening. In addition, the calli induced by PBU showed high frequency of adventitious buds formation (57%). Shoot...

Genetic diversity in important members of Cucurbitaceae using isozyme, RAPD and ISSR markers

B. Sikdar, M. Bhattacharya, A. Mukherjee, A. Banerjee, E. Ghosh, B. Ghosh, S. C. Roy

Biologia plantarum 54:135-140, 2010 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-010-0021-3

Biochemical and molecular markers have been used on eleven species of Cucurbitaceae collected from lower Gangetic plains. Six enzyme systems were selected. Among 40 primers examined, 14 random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and 10 inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) primers were selected for the analysis. Generated RAPD (100) and ISSR (100) fragments showed high variations among the species. Jaccard similarity coefficients were used for the evaluation of pairwise genetic divergence; cluster analysis of the similarity matrices was performed to estimate interspecific diversity. Further, principal coordinate analysis was performed to evaluate...

Transformation of potato via Agrobacterium coated microparticle bombardment

T. T. Nguyen, P. J. Dix, G. D. Nugent

Biologia plantarum 54:141-144, 2010 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-010-0022-2

The transformation of potato (Solanum tuberosum L. cv. Désirée) was extended by the Agrobacterium-mediated biolistic method. Using this approach transgenic shoots could be obtained at a similar frequency to that achieved through conventional biolistics. Leaves from shoot cultures were bombarded with gold particles coated in Agrobacterium tumefaciens cells harboring a binary plasmid encoding three genes of interest in the T-DNA. Nine shoots were obtained from 20 shots, with selection of transgenic shoots on a series of media containing progressively increasing concentrations of hygromycin from 5 to 20 mg dm^-3.

Effects of exogenous spermine on sweet sorghum during germination under salinity

Y. Y. Chai, C. D. Jiang, L. Shi, T. S. Shi, W. B. Gu

Biologia plantarum 54:145-148, 2010 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-010-0023-1

Seedlings of Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench were subjected to 180 mM NaCl with or without 0.25 mM spermine (SPM) for 7 d. NaCl treatment resulted in the inhibition of growth and increased the content of free proline, soluble protein and malondialdehyde (MDA). Additionally, it also enhanced the activity of catalase (CAT), peroxidase (POX) in both shoots and roots, while decreased that of glutathione reductase (GR). When exogenous spermine was added to the test solution, the growth of sweet sorghum seedlings was improved, and a smaller increase in the free proline and MDA contents was observed. The addition of spermine also partially increased the...

Allelochemical effects on net nitrate uptake and plasma membrane H⁺-ATPase activity in maize seedlings

M. R. Abenavoli, A. Lupini, S. Oliva, A. Sorgonà

Biologia plantarum 54:149-153, 2010 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-010-0024-0

Seven-day-old maize seedlings grown in a nitrogen-free hydroponic culture were exposed for 48 h to 0, 100 and 300 μM trans-cinnamic, p-coumaric, ferulic, caffeic acids, umbelliferone and 200 μM KNO₃. Net nitrate uptake was affected by trans-cinnamic, ferulic and p-coumaric acids in a concentration-dependent manner, and trans-cinnamic acid appeared to be the strongest inhibitor. Conversely, at low concentrations, caffeic acid stimulated net nitrate uptake while umbelliferone did not influence it. After 24 h of treatment, plasma membrane H⁺-ATPase activity significantly decreased in a concentration-dependent...

Characterization of a xylanase inhibitor TAXI-I from wheat

X. -Y. Weng, Y. -Y. Huang, H. Gao, J. -Y. Sun

Biologia plantarum 54:154-158, 2010 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-010-0025-z

Xylanase inhibitor TAXI-I gene was cloned from wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and then TAXI-I encoding sequence was expressed in Escherichia coli. The recombinant TAXI-I protein inhibited glycoside hydrolase (GH) family 11 xylanases in Aspergillus niger (Anx; a fungal xylanase), and Thermomonospora fusca (Tfx; a bacterial xylanase), and also inhibited hybrid xylanases Atx (a hybrid xylanase whose parents are T. fusca and A. niger) and Btx (a hybrid xylanase whose parents are T. fusca and Bacillus subtilis). Among the tested xylanases, A. niger xylanase was the most inhibited...

Antioxidative enzymatic protection in leaves of two contrasting cowpea cultivars under salinity

J. M. Maia, C. E. Costa de Macedo, E. L. Voigt, J. B. S. Freitas, J. A. G. Silveira

Biologia plantarum 54:159-163, 2010 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-010-0026-y

The aim of this work was to investigate the role of the antioxidant enzymes in salt tolerance comparing the salt-sensitive (Pérola) and a salt-tolerant (Pitiúba) cultivar of cowpea [Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.]. Salt stress (100 mM NaCl for 8 d) reduced the leaf growth rate more in the sensitive cultivar. The salt-induced decrease in the relative water content, Na⁺ accumulation and increase in leaf electrolyte leakage was similar in both cultivars. Salt stress induced a higher increase in the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and phenol peroxidase (POX) in the tolerant cultivar than in sensitive one.

Characteristics of chlorophyll fluorescence and antioxidative system in super-hybrid rice and its parental cultivars under chilling stress

Y. H. Zhang, L. J. Chen, J. L. He, L. S. Qian, L. Q. Wu, R. F. Wang

Biologia plantarum 54:164-168, 2010 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-010-0027-x

Characteristics of chlorophyll fluorescence and antioxidative system were investigated in rice (Oryza sativa L.) super-hybrid Liangyoupeijiu (LYPJ), maternal cultivar Peiai64s, and paternal cultivar indica rice 9311 under chilling stress. During 6-d chilling treatment, chlorophyll content of all three genotypes was gradually declined. However, the decrease in photosystem 2 (PS 2) maximum photochemical efficiency (F_v/F_m) and quantum yield of PS 2 (Φ_PS2) was less expressive in LYPJ than in parental cultivars The electrolyte leakage and malondialdehyde content in all cultivars increased after chilling treatment,...

Genetic relatedness in different Medicago sativa lines based on polymorphism of mitochondrial DNA specific sequences

L. Skuza, S. M. Dyba, S. M. Rogalska

Biologia plantarum 54:169-172, 2010 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-010-0028-9

Two synthetic populations (Syn-5 and Syn-7), four inbred lines and four landraces of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) were studied for genetic relatedness. These forms were characterized by different amount of seeds set and green mass yield. Two primer pairs of specific nucleotide sequences of mitochondrial DNA isolated from soybean were used. The mtDNA revealed the existence of significant polymorphism among the investigated forms of alfalfa. The genetic similarity (Dice coefficient) among studied forms of alfalfa ranged from 20.1 to 96.1. The greatest resemblances were noticed between D₅ inbred line and the population of Syn-5. The...

Reduction of heteroduplex formation in PCR amplification

E. Michu, M. Mráčková, B. Vyskot, J. Žlůvová

Biologia plantarum 54:173-176, 2010 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-010-0029-8

Heteroduplex formation is known to occur during mixed-template polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using universal primers, and may represent a serious problem in several PCR-based analyses. A common way to eliminate heteroduplex formation is to use reconditioning PCR. Because we detected that reconditioning PCR was not always sufficient to prevent heteroduplex formation, we focused on developing methods for the elimination of heteroduplexes during PCR. We detected that the heteroduplex to homoduplex ratio can be decreased by the addition of Taq polymerase and by a decrease in the number of PCR cycles. An appropriate combination of both of these...

Optimization of Algerian fir somatic embryos maturation

B. Vooková, J. Machava, A. Šalgovičová, A. Kormuťák

Biologia plantarum 54:177-180, 2010 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-010-0030-2

The effect of maturation pretreatment on development and growth of Abies numidica De Lann. somatic embryos was studied. The most beneficial was pre-culturing on Schenk and Hildebrandt medium without growth regulator for 2 weeks. Dry mass accumulation of emblings was lower than that of seedlings after 50 d of culturing. Contents of microelements in seedlings were higher than in emblings, but macroelements contents were higher in emblings. Contents of chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b in cotyledons were higher in seedlings than in emblings while no qualitative differences were detected between the protein profiles of seedlings and emblings.

Cytomixis and associated meiotic abnormalities affecting pollen fertility in Clematis orientalis

P. Kumar, V. K. Singhal, D. Kaur, S. Kaur

Biologia plantarum 54:181-184, 2010 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-010-0031-1

Present cytological investigations from the cold desert regions of Lahaul-Spiti and Kinnaur (India) record the first ever tetraploid (2n=32) chromosome count and cytomixis in Clematis orientalis L. var. acutifolia Hook. f. et Thoms. The phenomenon of cytomixis (9.33-29.80 %) involving chromatin transfer among 2-3 proximate pollen mother cells (PMCs) during male meiosis occurs through narrow and broad cytoplasmic channels from early prophase to tetrad stage. However, frequency of its occurrence during the later meiotic stages is rather low. Chromatin transfer results into the formation of hypo-, hyperploid and enucleated PMCs. Various...

A low-noise multi-channel device for the monitoring of systemic electrical signal propagation in plants

P. Ilík, V. Hlaváčková, P. Krchňák, J. Nauš

Biologia plantarum 54:185-190, 2010 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-010-0032-0

Long-distance electrical signals generated in locally stimulated plants are linked with systemic physiological responses. The propagation of electrical signal through a plant can be measured by multiple electrodes attached to different sites of a plant body. As this signal has to be measured with the sensitivity of tens of microvolts, it can be easily disturbed by power-line hums or external electromagnetic fields. These disturbances can mimic the action potentials generated by a plant. In this work, we present a brief summary of various experimental approaches to the measurement of surface electrical potential (SEP) on a plant and a description of...

Zinc and cadmium effects on growth and ion distribution in Populus tremula × Populus alba

T. C. Durand, J. F. Hausman, S. Carpin, P. Alberic, P. Baillif, P. Label, D. Morabito

Biologia plantarum 54:191-194, 2010 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-010-0033-z

The effects of cadmium and zinc on growth and mineral distribution in Populus tremula × P. alba genotype 717-1B4 were investigated. Exposure to 360 mg(Cd) kg^-1(soil) resulted in accumulation of Cd in all organs and inhibition of primary and secondary growth as well as of the net photosynthetic rate. No growth inhibition occurred under zinc exposure. Cd was mainly stored in the woody parts of stem, whereas zinc was preferentially localized in the leaves. Cd treatment also altered distribution of Zn²⁺, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, K⁺, and Fe²⁺ in different organs.

Concurrent occurrence of α-amylase inhibitor and stimulator in red kidney bean seed: physiological implications

H. Alizadeh, D. W. M. Leung, A. L. J. Cole

Biologia plantarum 54:195-197, 2010 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-010-0034-y

It is hypothesized that since protein α-amylase inhibitor (α-AI) and stimulator might be present together in red kidney bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) seeds, their in vitro interactions might influence their detection and quantification. Assay of α-AI using extracts from the embryonic axes revealed an unexpected finding in that the extracts stimulated rather than inhibited α-amylase activity. The cotyledon extracts exhibited inhibitory or enhancement effect on α-amylase activity depending on whether prior to the α-amylase assay they had been boiled for 10 min or not. Phytohemagglutinin (PHA-L in particular)...

Genetic diversity of durum wheat as determined by AFLP in fluorescence

F. Sciacca, C. Fichera, S. Di Silvestro, E. Conte, M. Palumbo

Biologia plantarum 54:198-200, 2010 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-010-0035-x

The DNA of fifteen Italian cultivars of durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L. ssp. durum) were analyzed by in fluorescence amplified fragment length polymorphism (fAFLP) in order to obtain the characteristic fingerprintings of genotypes and assess their genetic relatedness. Among 64 combinations of fluorescence labelled primers, three different combinations were chosen as producing a total of 6630 AFLP fragments, 2277 (34.3 %) of them being polymorphic. By using this fAFLP methodology a DNA fingerprinting of each durum wheat cultivar was generated for genotype identification. Analysis of the genetic relationships show the low variability...