Incongruity in the interspecific crosses of Vitis L. Reproductive expression in the F1 progeny

Summary F₁ progeny from three classes of crosses were studied for indications of incongruity in the form of reproductive dysfunction. Percent fruit set was found to be approximately equivalent to the additive inverse of percent aborted flowers, as the effect of shot berries was small and not significant. In interspecific crosses, barriers were manifested as reduced fruit set and seed number per berry. These two characters were used to create an index of reproductive efficiency. Nine F₁s from crosses of most divergent class, V. riparia × V. vinifera (R × V), displayed significantly tower reproductive efficiency, percent fruit set, and seed number per berry. Four female F₁s from the least divergent class, V. riparia × V. riparia (R × R), had the highest reproductive efficiency, percent fruit set and seed number per berry, when pollinated by two V. riparia pollen sources. Seventeen F₁s from the highly-intercrossed class, V. riparia × French Hybrid (R × FH), displayed intermediate levels of reproductive efficiency, percent fruit set, and seed number per berry. The R × FH class involved V. vinifera, V. rupestris, V. aestivalis, V. labrusca, V. berlandieri, V. cinerea, and V. riparia. It is proposed that the complex intercrossing in the pedigrees of the R × FH class ameliorated incongruity. In the most divergent class, R × V, progenies of one of the V. riparia parents displayed fewer incongruity effects than progenies of the other V. riparia parents. Progeny testing of many proposed parental combinations may be used to uncover useful congruent combinations.Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station, Scientific Journal Series No. 20835     

Episodic acidification of freshwater systems in Canada — Physical and geochemical processes

The occurrence of episodic acidification in Canadian streams, lake waters and shallow groundwaters has been reviewed, and the contolling mechanisms identified. ‘Episodes’, which are periods of depressed alkalinity during hydrological events, have been studied mainly in southeastern Canada, and occur at all sites where there is sufficient time resolution of the observations, viz. Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia. An ‘alkaline episode’, where acidity decreases during an event, has been reported from one lake in the Canadian Artic. There is a bias towards the examination of episodes stimulated by snowmelt or rain-on-snow, since rainfall-stimulated episodes are poorly documented. Pre-event, rather than event, water dominates runoff during episodes. For this reason, biogeochemical reactions and the hydrological flowpaths in operation through the vadose and saturated zones are the principal controls on the chemical characteristics of episodes. Most episodes are dominated by base cation ‘dilution’ in circumneutral systems, and ‘increase in strong acid anions’ (particularly sulphate) in acidic systems. Episodes dominated by nitrification or organic acids or stimulated by sea salt input are rare or have not been decumented. Direct input of event water may dominate only during particular circumstances at snowmelt. Then, direct chemical inputs from lake ice and lake snow cover may be of importance in some systems.     

Inverse gas chromatographic method for measurement of interactions between soy protein isolate and selected flavor compounds under controlled relative humidity

An inverse gas chromatographic (IGC) method was developed to study the binding interactions between selected volatile flavor compounds and soy protein isolate (SPI) under controlled relative humidity (RH). Three volatile probes (hexane, 1-hexanol, and hexanal) at very low levels were used to evaluate and validate system performance. On the basis of the thermodynamic data and the isotherms measured at 0% RH, 1-hexanol and hexanal had higher binding affinities than hexane, which could be attributed to hydrogen-bonding interactions with SPI. At 30% RH, 1-hexanol and hexanal were retained less than at 0% RH, indicating possible competition for binding sites on the SPI surface between water and volatile probe molecules. Results showed that the thermodynamic data determined were comparable to the available literature values. Use of IGC allowed for the rapid and precise generation of sorption isotherms. Repeatability between replicate injections and reproducibility across columns were very good. IGC is a potentially high-throughput method for the sensitive, precise, and accurate measurement of flavor-ingredient interactions in low-moisture food systems.     

Effects of gibberellin A<Subscript>4/7</Subscript>, 6-benzylaminopurine and chlormequat chloride on the number of male and female strobili and immature cones in Chinese pine (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Pinus tabuliformis</Emphasis>) with foliar sprays

Three kinds of plant growth regulators, gibberellinA 4/7 (GA 4/7 ), 6-benzylaminopurine (BA), and chlormequat chloride (CCC), were evaluated for their ability to promote strobilus and cone production in a Chinese pine (Pinus tabuliformis Carr.) clonal seed orchard. Treatments (0, 250, 500, or 1000 mg L -1 ) were applied during three periods (June- July, July-August and August-September) in 2005. Of the three plant growth regulators, GA 4/7 was the best for promoting flower and cone production. Trees sprayed...     

Acid deposition: Effects of sulphuric acid at pH 3 on chemical and biochemical properties of bracken litter

The effects of increased acid deposition on some biochemical and chemical properties of bracken litter overlying a podzolic soil contained in monolith lysimeters were investigated. Pairs of lysimeters each received 1500 mm yr^?1 of “rain” consisting either of distilled water or pH 3.0 sulphuric acid applied evenly over a 5-yr period. The acid-treatment resulted in a marked acidification of the litter, associated with accelerated leaching of Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, K⁺ and Mn²⁺. Acid treatment also increased the concentration of extractable Al³⁺ in the litter. The biochemical changes observed in the litter as a consequence of acidification included decreases of 33% in ATP content and 54% in respiration rate. Significant reductions in the mineralization rates of urea, glucose and acetate, and in the activities of 4-nitrophenylphosphatase, $\text{β-N-}\text{acetyl-}\text{d}\text{-glucosaminidase}$, exo-1,4,β-d-xylosidase and peroxidase were also observed in the acid-treated litter. The acid-treated litter also contained slightly less total N, ammonium-N and total P, and slightly more residual hexose carbohydrate than the control litter. The effects observed were consistent with a decrease in microbial activity associated with litter acidification and were reflected in a small (5.5%) but significant (P < 0.05) decrease in litter decomposition. Acid treatment decreased the ATP content of the mineral soil by about 13% in the 3 cm immediately beneath the litter, but below this depth no significant difference was observed.     

Characterization of organic phosphorus in leachate from a grassland soil

The degree of eutrophication in fresh water ecosystems may be influenced by the forms of phosphorus (P) leached from agricultural systems. Physico-chemical fractionation of P in leachate from a grassland soil carried out over a two year period indicated that the majority of the P loss from the Lismore soil occurred in unreactive particulate (55-76%) P forms. ³¹P nuclear magnetic resonance analysis of a selected leachate sample indicated that unreactive P was mainly comprised of monoester and diester forms of organic P. The presence of phosphomonoesterase (20-200 μg p nitrophenol l⁻¹ h⁻¹) and phosphodiesterase (68 μg bis-p nitrophenol l⁻¹ h⁻¹) activity in leachate resulted in hydrolysis of 10-21% of total unreactive P (TUP), indicating that some of the monoesters and diesters can be eventually hydrolyzed into inorganic P forms during P transport. Enzyme hydrolysis showed that 23% of the TUP was present as labile monoester P (LMP), followed by 20% as inositol hexakisphosphate (IHP) and 14% as diesters (phospholipids and nucleic acids). The findings of this study suggest that LMP, IHP and diesters are an important component of organic P leaching from the grassland soil.     

Aerosol and precipitation chemistry relationships at big bend national park

Aerosol chemistry, precipitation and visibility parameters are currently being measured at Big Bend National Park in Texas. This is part of a large-scale air resource evaluation program which the National Park Service is sponsoring in several southwestern national parks and monuments to determine the potential impact of local and distant pollutant sources on the environmental quality within these areas. Analysis of aerosol samples collected at six sites in the Southwest indicates that soil-derived components, organic materials and the acid-base ions of sulfate, nitrate, and ammonium are the major constituents of suspended airborne particulate matter in the remote areas of the arid region. Comparison of particulate matter chemistry and precipitation chemistry data at Big Bend National Park shows consistent features which indicate that the airborne alkaline soil material and NH₃ largely neutralize the atmospheric acidic species of H₂SO₄ and HNO₃. Given the similarity of the particulate matter composition and loading at the other monitoring sites, it is suggested that the trace chemical composition of precipitation will be similar in many remote regions of the Southwest.