On the specific status of Gossypium lanceolatum Todaro

Summary Gossypium lanceolatum comprises a group of laciniate-leaved commensal cottons from the Mexican states of Oaxaca and Guerrero. This geographically restricted, morphologically distinct group of perennial cottons has been considered conspecific with G. hirsutum, with which it is sympatric. In addition to its questionable specific status, G. lanceolatum has added importance because it represents the focal point of an hypothesis that New World tetraploid Gossypium have a polyphyletic origin—an hypothesis that conflicts with the more widely accepted view that New World tetraploid Gossypium have a monophyletic origin. To reassess the systematic and genetic relationships between G. lanceolatum and G. hirsutum, historical data were reconsidered in the context of recently published molecular marker based data. Chloroplast and nuclear DNA markers fail to discriminate G. lanceolatum from G. hirsutum, uniting both into a single phylogenetic lineage. A new analysis of allelic variability at 50 allozyme loci in 11 G. lanceolatum and 527 G. hirsutum accessions demonstrates that G. lanceolatum has no unique alleles relative to G. hirsutum. Genetic identity estimates were uniformly high (> 0.96) among G. lanceolatum and geographically adjacent, mainland Mesoamerican groups of G. hirsutum accessions. Multivariate analyses demonstrated that G. lanceolatum is genetically embedded within geographically adjacent populations of G. hirsutum. These data, in conjunction with the complete interfertility between the two taxa and previous evidence for conspecificity, lead to the conclusion that G. lanceolatum does not warrant specific status. Rather, it is more properly recognized as a locally developed, domesticated form of G. hirsutum, i.e., G. hirsutum race palmeri.     

Rates of sulfide oxidation in cotton,carrot, and tobacco cultured plant cells measured with a model aromatic alkyl-sulfide

p-Chlorophenylmethylsulfide (PCPMS) was enzymatically sulfoxidized to p-chlorophenylmethylsulfoxide (PCPMSO) in aerobic cotton, carrot, and tobacco cell suspension cultures. Neither boiled nor freeze-killed cell cultures were competent to sulfoxidize PCPMS to PCPMSO. The sulfone, p-chlorophenylmethylsulfone (PCPMSO₂), was not produced in any of the three species. The rates of PCPMS sulfoxidation, were cotton > carrot > tobacco. The apparent K_m for carrot cells was 88 μM PCPMS (14 μg/ml), while the apparent V_max was 7 nmol PCPMSO/mg whole cell protein/hr. These rates of sulfide oxidation are higher than previously reported in intact plants.     

Evolutionary rate in the protein interaction network

High-throughput screens have begun to reveal the protein interaction network that underpins most cellular functions in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. How the organization of this network affects the evolution of the proteins that compose it is a fundamental question in molecular evolution. We show that the connectivity of well-conserved proteins in the network is negatively correlated with their rate of evolution. Proteins with more interactors evolve more slowly not because they are more important to the organism, but because a greater proportion of the protein is directly involved in its function. At sites important for interaction between proteins, evolutionary changes may occur largely by coevolution, in which substitutions in one protein result in selection pressure for reciprocal changes in interacting partners. We confirm one predicted outcome of this process-namely, that interacting proteins evolve at similar rates.     

Extraction and Activation of Wheat Polyphenol Oxidase by Detergents: Biochemistry and Applications

Polyphenol oxidases (PPOs) from several plant species, including wheat, have been implicated in undesirable brown discolorations of food products. It has been demonstrated that these enzymes are often present in a latent form or are membrane‐associated, necessitating detergent or other treatments to obtain fully active preparations. Here, the influence of different detergents on wheat meal and flour PPOs was investigated. Extraction in presence of 50 mM SDS led to a 5‐ to 15‐fold increase in PPO activity, making quantitative assays in flour from low‐PPO lines more robust. Among a series of additional nonionic, anionic, and cationic detergents tested, only n ‐lauroylsarcosine increased extractable PPO activity to a degree comparable to that of SDS. Additional experiments suggested that a large fraction of wheat meal PPOs may be membrane‐associated and that SDS is able to activate PPOs extracted from high‐activity but not from low‐activity wheat lines. PPO activities assayed after SDS extraction of meal and flour were highly correlated with each other and with activity determined in whole (intact) kernels in absence of SDS. Correlation coefficients between PPO activities measured with all these methods and noodle brightness were about equal, indicating that activities assayed after SDS extraction are useful for germplasm screening and quality prediction.