Photosynthetic capacity and nitrogen partitioning in foliage of the evergreen shrub Daphniphyllum humile along a natural light gradient

We examined the effects of leaf age and mutual shading on the morphology, photosynthetic properties and nitrogen (N) allocation of foliage of an evergreen understory shrub, Daphniphyllum humile Maxim, growing along a natural light gradient in a deciduous Fagus crenata-dominated forest in Japan. Seedlings in high-light environments were subject to greater mutual shading and 1-year-old foliage survival was lower than in seedlings in low-light environments, indicating that the survival rates of foliage were related to the degree of mutual shading. Although specific leaf area (SLA) in current- and 1-year-old foliage was curvilinearly related to daily photosynthetic photon flux (PPF), SLA was unaffected by leaf age, indicating that foliage in D. humile may not acclimate morphologically to annual changes in light caused by mutual shading. Light-saturated net photosynthetic rates (Pmax) were correlated with daily PPF in current-year foliage. In addition, a strong, positive relationship was found between nitrogen concentration per unit leaf area and Pmax. In contrast, the relationship among PPF, N and photosynthetic parameters in 1-year old foliage was weak because of the strong remobilization of N from older leaves to current-year foliage in plants growing in high light. However, the relationship between daily PPF and both photosynthetic N-use efficiency and the ratio of maximum electron transport rate to maximum carboxylation rate did not differ between current-year and 1-year-old foliage, suggesting that these responses help maintain a high photosynthetic efficiency even in older foliage. We conclude that D. humile maximizes whole-plant carbon gain by maintaining a balance among photosynthetic functions across wide ranges of leaf ages and light environments.     

Complete mitochondrial genome sequence of Brassica oxyrrhina and comparative analysis of the region containing orf108, a male sterility gene for mustard (Brassica juncea), among B. oxyrrhina,Diplotaxis erucoides and Sinapis species

To date, several cytoplasms of wild species have been introduced to Brassica juncea, for inducing cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS). One of the causal genes of CMS is orf108, which is widely distributed in Brassicaceae including Brassica oxyrrhina. To further understand the origin of orf108, we assembled the complete mitochondrial genome sequence of B. oxyrrhina. We also determined the DNA sequences upstream of atp1 including orf108 for D. erucoides and five Sinapis species. The orf108 was definitively placed in the mitochondrial genome of B. oxyrrhina consisting of 247,936 bp. In S. alba, previously reported to possess orf108, the gene was not present, whereas Sinapis arvensis and Sinapis turgida contained orf108. The orf108 sequence in the two Sinapis species showed a novel nucleotide substitution compared to D. erucoides. Northern hybridization suggested, furthermore, that orf108 mRNA was processed in the two species similarly to that in B. oxyrrhina. The results clarified the interspecific differentiation of orf108‐apt1 region in Sinapis.     

鹅掌楸属次生木质部解剖特征及自然种系统演化

比较研究了鹅掌楸属(Liriodendron)中国鹅掌楸、北美鹅掌楸和杂交鹅掌楸3个树种次生木质部的显微构造。经方差分析,3个树种间导管分子、木纤维、轴向薄壁组织和木射线组织等解剖特征存在极显著差异,杂交鹅掌楸次生木质部结构兼具亲本特征。首次发现中国鹅掌楸中存在单穿孔导管,约占4%。中国鹅掌楸较北美鹅掌楸导管分子短、导管端壁穿孔板横隔数少、弦切面木射线组织的宽度、高度小以及轴向薄壁细胞束的细胞个数少。北美鹅掌楸与中国鹅掌楸相比具有更多的原始特征,中国鹅掌楸较北美鹅掌楸进化。     

Highly regioselective amination of unactivated alkanes by hypervalent sulfonylimino-λ³-bromane

Amination of alkanes has generally required metal catalysts and/or high temperatures. Here we report that simple exposure of a broad range of alkanes to N-triflylimino-λ(3)-bromane 1 at ambient temperature results in C-H insertion of the nitrogen functionality to afford triflyl-substituted amines in moderate to high yields. Marked selectivity for tertiary over secondary C-H bonds was observed; primary (methyl) C-H bonds were inert. Addition of hexafluoroisopropanol to inhibit decomposition of 1 dramatically improved the C-H amination efficiencies. Second-order kinetics, activation parameters (negative activation entropy), deuterium isotope effects, and theoretical calculations suggest a concerted asynchronous bimolecular transition state for the metal-free C-H amination event.     

Specific GABAA circuits for visual cortical plasticity

Weak inhibition within visual cortex early in life prevents experience-dependent plasticity. Loss of responsiveness to an eye deprived of vision can be initiated prematurely by enhancing gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-mediated transmission with benzodiazepines. Here, we use a mouse "knockin" mutation to alpha subunits that renders individual GABA type A (GABA(A)) receptors insensitive to diazepam to show that a particular inhibitory network controls expression of the critical period. Only alpha1-containing circuits were found to drive cortical plasticity, whereas alpha2-enriched connections separately regulated neuronal firing. This dissociation carries implications for models of brain development and the safe design of benzodiazepines for use in infants.     

Itokawa dust particles: a direct link between S-type asteroids and ordinary chondrites

The Hayabusa spacecraft successfully recovered dust particles from the surface of near-Earth asteroid 25143 Itokawa. Synchrotron-radiation x-ray diffraction and transmission and scanning electron microscope analyses indicate that the mineralogy and mineral chemistry of the Itokawa dust particles are identical to those of thermally metamorphosed LL chondrites, consistent with spectroscopic observations made from Earth and by the Hayabusa spacecraft. Our results directly demonstrate that ordinary chondrites, the most abundant meteorites found on Earth, come from S-type asteroids. Mineral chemistry indicates that the majority of regolith surface particles suffered long-term thermal annealing and subsequent impact shock, suggesting that Itokawa is an asteroid made of reassembled pieces of the interior portions of a once larger asteroid.     

Diminished pupillary light reflex at high irradiances in melanopsin-knockout mice

In the mammalian retina, a small subset of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) are intrinsically photosensitive, express the opsin-like protein melanopsin, and project to brain nuclei involved in non-image-forming visual functions such as pupillary light reflex and circadian photoentrainment. We report that in mice with the melanopsin gene ablated, RGCs retrograde-labeled from the suprachiasmatic nuclei were no longer intrinsically photosensitive, although their number, morphology, and projections were unchanged. These animals showed a pupillary light reflex indistinguishable from that of the wild type at low irradiances, but at high irradiances the reflex was incomplete, a pattern that suggests that the melanopsin-associated system and the classical rod/cone system are complementary in function.     

Insect sex-pheromone signals mediated by specific combinations of olfactory receptors

We describe two male-specific olfactory receptors (ORs) in the silk moth, Bombyx mori, that are mutually exclusively expressed in a pair of adjacent pheromone-sensitive neurons of male antennae: One is specifically tuned to bombykol, the sex pheromone, and the other to bombykal, its oxidized form. Both pheromone ORs are coexpressed with an OR from the highly conserved insect OR subfamily. This coexpression promotes the functional expression of pheromone receptors and confers ligand-stimulated nonselective cation channel activity. The same effects were also observed for general ORs. Both odorant and pheromone signaling pathways are mediated by means of a common mechanism in insects.