Characteristics of nucleotides and amino acids in cDNA sequence of xyloglucan endotransglycosylase cloned from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Anthocephalus chinensis</Emphasis>

Xyloglucan endotransglycosylase is an identified relaxation factor with functions of easing and extending of plant cell walls.Its activities are directly related to plant growth and elongation of organisms.Anthocephalus chinensis is a tall and fast growing evergreen tree species.We cloned the full cDNA sequence of AcEXT genes which is abundantly expressed in the cambium of A.chinensis.The sequence analysis of nucleotides and amino acids revealed the presence of a 1396 bp full cDNA sequence,including a 960 bp complete open reading frame(ORF) encoding a 320 amino acid protein.The deduced amino acid sequence of AcXET was homologous to the other known XET proteins and contained the conserved EIDFE catalytic site which was specific to all the XETs.Our data should serve as a foundation for further insight into AcXET gene molecular mechanisms during wood formation and cell wall engineering of woody plants.     

Oxygen consumption of the earthworm species Dendrobaena mrazeki

Dendrobaena mrazeki is an endemic earthworm species inhabiting dry habitats such as pine and thermophilous oak forests in Central Europe. Metabolically, D. mrazeki showed some features typical for endogeic species and some of epigeic ones. In comparison with the related Dendrobaena octaedra, D. mrazeki was a larger earthworm with fresh body mass of adult and subadult individuals of W = 0.59 ± 0.05 g. Its body mass-specific oxygen consumption (M/W = 48 ± 5 μl O₂ g^?1 h^?1, at 15 °C) was the lowest of all earthworms studied (Aporrectodea caliginosa, Aporrectodea rosea, D. octaedra, Lumbricus castaneus, Lumbricus rubellus and Octolasion lacteum), being strongly dependent on W (b from the equation M/W = aW^b about ?0.8). D. mrazeki had low relative water content (77.4% of fresh body mass) and small relative amount of dry weight of the intestinal content (20.1% of dry body mass), which is similar to the epigeic D. octaedra. The respiration rate of D. mrazeki remained the lowest even after recalculating M/W to respiration rate per dry mass or per dry mass without the intestine content to correct for the differences among species in body water content and gut content.     

Modes of action of the protective strain Fo47 in controlling verticillium wilt of pepper

The protective fungus Fusarium oxysporum Fo47 reduces the severity of wilt caused by the soilborne pathogen Verticillium dahliae in pepper. Modes of action responsible for the biocontrol activity were studied. Microscopic observations of fluorescent protein‐transformed strains colonizing the root surface show that the colonization patterns of Fo47 and V. dahliae were similar. Pixel counting of the images obtained by confocal microscopy showed that Fo47 reduces colonization of the root surface by V. dahliae, suggesting a possible role of competition for nutrients at the root surface. Besides these effects on surface colonization, the hormonal pathways activated during priming of plant defence responses were identified by measuring the amount of some phytohormones and their derivatives in roots and stems of pepper. Results showed an early, slight increase of jasmonyl isoleucine, followed by a transient increase of salicylic acid during the pre‐challenged phase of priming and an increase of 12‐oxo‐phytodienoic acid during the challenge phase of priming. The caffeic, ferulic and chlorogenic acids, known to play a role in plant defence reactions, showed a strong antimicrobial activity against V. dahliae in vitro. In pepper roots, Fo47 stimulated the biosynthesis of caffeic acid and primed that of chlorogenic acid. These results demonstrated that the effective control of V. dahliae provided by Fo47 is based on different but complementary mechanisms.     

Effective nitrification inhibitors may improve fertilizer recovery in irrigated cotton

N fertilizer is often poorly recovered in irrigated cotton production, due to N loss through denitrification. We researched the ability of inhibitors to delay nitrition and reduce the availability of NO₃ ^- to denitrifying microorganisms and thus improve N fertilizer recovery, 2-Ethynylpyridine, etridiazole, and nitrapyrin proved highly effective nitrification inhibitors, although nitrification was evident several weeks after their application. CaC₂ was relatively ineffective, even when wax-coated to prolong the evolution of C₂H₂. Phenylacetylene and ethynylcyclohexanol were also ineffective, despite having a chemical structure similar to 2-ethynylpyridine. A strong association was identified between each compound's ability to inhibit nitrification and its capacity to improve N fertilizer recovery. In one experiment, N fertilizer recovery was increased by 50% with 2-ethynylpyridine, etridiazole, or nitrapyrin application, from 33% without inhibitors. The inhibitors had little effect on fertilizer recovery where N losses were relatively small. 3-Methyl pyrazole significantly increased N uptake and lint yield, but the nitrification inhibitors had no significant effect on N uptake or on yield in two of the three of the cotton crops. A laboratory study confirmed that nitrification inhibitor effectiveness declined in the order 2-ethynylpyridine>etridiazole>nitrapyrin>3-methyl pyrazole>phenylacetylene>CaC₂>ethynylcyclohexanolThis research was conducted at Australian Cotton Research Institute, CSIRO Division of Plant Industry, Locked Bag 59, Narrabri, NSW 2390, Australia     

A simple and efficient method for isolating small RNAs from different plant species

Background  

Small RNAs emerged over the last decade as key regulators in diverse biological processes in eukaryotic organisms. To identify and study small RNAs, good and efficient protocols are necessary to isolate them, which sometimes may be challenging due to the composition of specific tissues of certain plant species. Here we describe a simple and efficient method to isolate small RNAs from different plant species.