Identification of integrin-like in guard cells ofVicia faba

We addressed the existence and localization of integrin-like in guard cells ofVicia faba by using a probe of polyclonal antibody against the human integrin (α_vβ₃/β₅). Western blot results showed that three integrins-like of about 47.3, 43.7 and 41.1 ku were detected from the preparation of membrane fragments of purified guard cell protoplasts. Further research with immunofluorescent scanning microscopy indicated that those integrins-like were localized on plasma membrane of guard cells, most nearing the dorsal wall, which is consistent with the reception of signals from epidermal cells to guard cells. Thus our results indicate, for the first time, that integrins-like are present at guard cell plasma membrane ofVicia faba.     

Ca^2＋ is involved in muscarine-acetylcholine-receptor-mediated acetylcholine signal transduction in guard cells of Vicia faba L.

Acetyicholine (ACh) is an important neuro-chemical transmitter in animals; it also exists in plants and plays a significant role in various kinds of physiological functions in plants. ACh has been known to induce the stomatal opening. By monitoring the changes of cytusolic Ca^2 with fluorescent probe Fiuo-3 AM under the confocal microscopy, we found that exogenous ACh increased cytosolic Ca^2 concentration of guard cells of Vicia faba L. Muscarlne, an agonist of muscarine acetyicholine receptor (mAChR), could do so as well. In contrast, atropine, the antagonist of mAChR abolished the ability of ACh to increase Ca^2 in guard cells. This mechanism is similar to mAChR in animals. When EGTA was used to chelate Ca^2 or ruthenium red to block Ca^2 released from vacuole respectively, the results showed that the increased cytosolic Ca^2 mainly come from intracellular Ca^2 store. The evidence supports that Ca^2 is involved in guard-cell response to ACh and that Ca^2 sigual is coupled to mAChRs in ACh signal transduction in guard cells.     

Nitric oxide involved in signal transduction of Jasmonic acid-induced stomatal closure of Vicia faba L.

Nitric oxide (NO) and Jasmonic acid (JA) are two key signaling molecules involved in many and diverse biological pathways in plants. Growing evidence suggested that NO signaling interacts with JA signaling. In this work, Our experiment showed that NO exists in guard cell of Vicia faba L., and NO is involved in signal transduction of JAinduced stomata closuring: ( i ) JA enhances NO synthesis in guard cell; ( ii ) both JA and NO induced stomatal closure, and had dose response to their effects; ( iU ) there are synergetic correlation between JA and lower NO concentration in regulation of stomatal movement; (iV) JA-induced stomatal closure was largely prevented by 2-phenyl-4,4,5,5-tetramethylimidazoline-l-oxyl-3-oxide (PTIO), a specific NO scavenger. An inhibitor of NO synthase (NOS) in mammalian cells, N^G-nitro-L-Arg-methyl eater (L-NAME) also inhibits plant NOS, repressing JA-induced NO generation and JA-induced stomatal closure. We presumed that NO mainly comes from NOS after JA treatment.     

Protein tyrosine phosphatases involved in signaling of the ABA-induced H2O2 generation in guard cells of Vicia faba L.

Although protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPases) play an important role in signal transduction in animal cells, little is known about the function of PTPases in higher plants. Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) are the critical components of ABA signaling pathway in guard cells. PTPase is an important regulator of MAPK, which is believed to mediate ABA-induced H2O2 generation in guard cells of Vicia faba L. Here, we investigate the possible role of PTPases in stomatal movement process. Phenylarsine oxide (PAO), a specific inhibitor of PTPases, could prevent ABA or H2O2-induced stomatal closure of Vicia faba L; furthermore, it could promote opening of the stomata closed by ABA or H2O2. The activity of PTPases can be effectively inhibited by PAO and H2O2. DTT had no effect on the PAO-induced inhibition of PTPases activity, but it could relieve the inhibition of H2O2 on PTPases activity. PAO could also inhibit the ABA-induced H2O2 generation in guard cells of V‘wia faba L. These results suggested that PTPases is a critical signaling component in ABA-induced stomatal closure, and serve as targets for H2O2 lying on the signaling pathways downstream of ABA induced H2O2 generation.     

pH induced elastic modulus of guard cell wall in stomatal movement

Guard cell wall properties are important in stomatal movement. Previous research focused on the structure and anatomy of guard cell walls, but little is known about the physical changes that take place within the walls during stomatal opening and closure. In this work, we investigate the volumetric elastic modulus (ε) of the guard cell wall at different pH values during stomatal opening in Vicia faba epidermal strips using a cell pressure probe. The volumetric elastic modulus of the guard cell wall decrease...     

An α-expansin, <Emphasis Type="Italic">VfEXPA1</Emphasis>, is involved in regulation of stomatal movement in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Vicia faba</Emphasis> L.

The wall loosening of guard cells differs from other types of plant cells. However, the regulation of wall loosening during stomatal movement is poorly understood. VfEXPA1 is an α-expansin gene cloned from Vicia faba epidermal strips. Expression of VfEXPA1 is regulated by darkness and submergence, and is not affected by light and abscisic acid (ABA). In situ hybridization showed that VfEXPA1 is expressed primarily in the guard cells. Overexpression of VfEXPA1 in transgenic tobacco accelerated light-induced stomatal opening, and increased both transpiration and photosynthetic rates under favorable growth conditions. Our results indicate the guard cell-expressed expansin VfEXPA1 plays an important role in regulation of stomatal opening.     

Involvement of nitric oxide in the signal transduction of salicylic acid regulating stomatal movement

The effects and the relationship between sali-cylic acid(SA)and nitric oxide(NO) on Vicia faba L.stomatal movement were studied.The results here showed that exogenous SA and NO induced stomatal closure,100μmol/L SA induced a rapid and striking NO increase in the cytosol of guard cells.This phenomenon was largely prevented by 2000μmol/L 2-phenyl-4,4,5,5-tetramethylimidazoline-l-oxyl-3-oxide(PTIO),a specific NO scavenger,and 25μmol/L N^G-nitro-L-Arg-methyl eater (L-NAME),an inhibitor of NO synthase(NOS) in mammalian cells that also inhibits plant NOS.In addition,SA-induced stomatal closure was largely prevented by PTIO and L-NAME.These results provide evidence that guard cells generate NO in response to SA via NOS-like activity,and that such NO production is required for full stomatal closure in response to SA.H-(1,2,4)-oxadiazole-[4,3-α]quinoxalin-l-one(ODQ),an inhibitor of guanylate cyclase,and nicotinamide,an antagonist of cADPR production,inhibited the effects of SA-and NO-induced stomatal closure.It suggests that both cGMP and cADPR might mediate the signal transduction of SA and NO-induced stomatal closure.     

Role of acetylcholine on plant root-shoot signal transduction

The role of accetylcholine (ACh) on plant root-shoot communication was investigated using the root-split system of Vicia faba L.In the experiments,slight osmotic stress caused the decrease of ACh content in root tips and the xylem sap transported up per time unit from root tip to the shool when the water potential of the shoot was kept unchanged .It also caused the decrease of ACh content in the abaxial epidermis,The decrease was highly correlative to the changes of transpiration rate,suggesting that the decrase of ACh content probably functions as a signal to regulate stomatal behavior,The effect of osmotic stress might be mainly through the inhibition of the ACh synthesis in root tip ;thus further influences the ACh content in root tip ,xylem sap and abaxial epidermis and resulting in the changes of stomata behavior,These results provide new evdence that plants transduce positive and negative signals among roots and shoot to coordinate stomatal behavior and adapt to variable environments.     

Analysis of F1 hybrid and BC1 monosomic alien addition line plants from Brassica oleracea × Sinapis alba by GISH

Sterile and semi-fertile F₁ plants were obtained by intergeneric sexual hybridization between paternal Brassica oleracea var. alboglabra (genome CC, 2n=18) and maternal Sinapis alba (genome SS, 2n=24), BC₁ plants were obtained by backcrossing between paternal B. oleracea and maternal semi-fertile F₁ plants. Genomic in situ hybridization (GISH) combined with dual-colour fluorescence in situ hybridization (dcFISH) showed that sterile F₁ plants contained 21 chromosomes consisting of one B. oleracea chromosome set and one S. alba chromosome set, belonging to expected hybrids, and semi-fertile F₁ plants contained 30 chromosomes consisting of two B. oleracea chromosome sets and one S. alba chromosome set. It is obvious that the semi-fertile F₁ plants belong to unexpected hybrids. 1―3 trivalents were detected at meiotic metaphase I of semi-fertile F₁ pollen mother cells (PMCs). Different separation ratios of S chromosomes were detected at anaphase I. A monosomic alien addition line (MAAL) was identified by GISH-dcFISH from BC₁ plants; it contained 19 chromosomes consisting of 18 C chromosomes and 1 S chromosome. At meiotic metaphase I, 9 divalents from B. oleracea and one univalent from S. alba could be detected. Sometimes, one putative C-S trivalent could also be detected. The achievement of B. oleracea-S. alba monosomic alien addition lines lays a foundation for gene introgression, location and cloning.     

Expression ofChlamydomonas actin-gfp fusion gene in tobacco suspension cell and polymerization of the actin-gfp proteinin vitro

The fusion gene of actin (cDNA ofChlamydomonas reinhardtii) and green fluorescence protein (gfp) had been constructed into two expression vectors which could be expressed inE. coli and tobacco suspension cells BY2. The correct expression was observed inE. coli and BY2 with a fluorescence microscopy. The fusion protein, which took part in the membrane skeleton, was mainly located peripherally along the membrane, specially the fusion protein was distributed around nucleus and cell plate, while the fusion protein also forms F-actin in the cell. The fusion protein was purified from Bl21plus by ammonium sulfate fractionation, ion exchange chromatography and hydrophobic interaction chromatography. The purified production could polymerize into F-actin when the actin polymerizing buffer was added. It was demonstrated that the characteristics and function of actin inChlamydomonas was similar with those of animals and higher plants.     

The foxtail millet Si69 gene is a Wali7 (wheat aluminum-induced protein 7) homologue and may function in aluminum tolerance

We isolated a clone, named Si69, from a foxtail millet immature seed cDNA library. The protein encoded by Si69 contains a conserved Wali7 (wheat aluminum induced protein 7) domain and shares high-level homology with aluminum-induced proteins from other species including rice and Arabidopsis. The Si69 gene presents as a single locus in foxtail millet genome and is globally expressed in all tissues examined. Its expression is up-regulated by aluminum. The sequence feature and expression pattern suggest that the Si69 gene is involved in aluminum tolerance or detoxification. To confirm its biological functions, Si69 controlled by the CaMV35S promoter was introduced into Arabidopsis. Transgenic plants did not show any visible morphological changes compared to wild-type plants under normal growth conditions. However, when treated with 20 or 50 μmol/L Aluminum (Al), the root apices of wild-type plants were heavily stained by hematoxylin, whereas those of Si69 transgenic plants were not stained when treated with 20 μmol/L Al and slightly stained when treated with 50 μmol/L Al. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) results further demonstrated that the damage of the root apices was severer in wild-type plants than in transgenic plants. Inhibition of root growth and accumulation of malondialdehyde (MDA), an indicator of lipid peroxidation, were lower in transgenic plants than in wild-type plants. The results show that overexpression of Si69 may increase Al tolerance in transgenic plants, indicating that a series of Wali7-containing genes may play similar roles in Al tolerance/detoxification.     

Synergistic defensive mechanism of phytochelatins and antioxidative enzymes in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Brassica chinensis</Emphasis> L. against Cd stress

Brassica chinensis L. was chosen and exposed to different concentrations of Cd exposure to evaluate its Cd-accumulating capacity and its potential cellular defensive mechanisms. Cd accumulation in the shoots and roots of B. chinensis was up to 1348.3±461.8 and 3761.0±795.0 mg per killogram of dry weight, respectively, under 200 μmol/L of Cd exposure. Increasing Cd accumulation in the plant was accompanied by rapid accumulation of phytochelatins （PCs）, and the sequestration of Cd by PCs provided a primary cellular mechanism for Cd detoxification and tolerance of B. chinensis. Furthermore, malondialdehyde formation, hydrogen peroxide content and antioxidative enzyme activities such as superoxide dismutase, catalase, guaiacol peroxidase and ascorbate peroxidase were observed in the shoots of Cd-stressed B. chinensis. Increasing enzyme activities in response to concentrations of 5 to 50 μmol/L Cd showed an efficient defense against oxidative stress, suggesting that the antioxidative system was a secondary defensive mechanism. These resulted in reduced free Cd damage and enhanced Cd accumulation and tolerance. Glutathione plays a pivotal role in these two detoxification pathways. In general, these results suggested that PCs and the antioxidative system are synergistic in combatting Cd-induced oxidative stress and that they play important roles in Cd detoxification of B. chinensis, and also give a deep understanding of the natural defensive mechanisms in plants under heavy metal stress.     

不同浓度锰胁迫对向日葵幼苗叶片生理生化特性的影响

为研究锰胁迫对向日葵幼苗的影响,以向日葵幼苗为实验材料,通过沙培盆栽法研究不同Mn 2+浓度胁迫下向日葵生长和生理生化特性的变化.结果显示:随着Mn2+浓度的增加,向日葵幼苗叶片中丙二醛(MDA)、可溶性糖(SS)以及游离脯氨酸(Pro)的含量都呈现上升趋势;而幼苗叶片叶绿素、蛋白质(Pr)含量则呈现先升高再下降的趋势...     

Vegetation evolution on the central Chinese Loess Plateau since late Quaternary evidenced by elemental carbon isotopic composition

There are many controversial issues in loess studies such as natural vegetation types on the Chinese Loess Plateau during the historical periods and the spatial and temporal evolution of C3/C4 plants. Elemental carbon isotopic composition （δ^13Cec） in the loess section may offer new evidence for these problems. Elemental carbon （EC） is produced by incomplete combustion of vegetation, and its carbon isotopic composition has a very small difference from that of the formal vegetation, then δ^13Cec can be used as a record to recover the changes of vegetation. Elemental carbon was extracted by applying the oxidation method from the Ioess-paleosol sequence in the central Chinese Loess Plateau, and its car- bon isotope composition was analyzed by the isotope mass spectrometer. The results showed that the vegetation in this region was a mixed type of C3 and C4 plants, dominated with C3 plants in most of the time. Since late Quaternary, C3/C4 plants may not follow a simple glacial-interglacial cycle mode on the Chinese Loess Plateau, but showing fluctuations. C3 plants increased gradually in L4 period, and more C3 plants occurred during $3 period, and C4 plants increased again during L3-- L2 periods, after that, Cs plants dominated again during S1 --S0 periods. During periods of paleosol development, C3 plants were abundant in S3 and S1, and there were more Ca plants in S2 and SO. During periods of loess sedimen- tation, there were more C3 plants in L4 and L1, and there were more C4 plants in L3 and L2. On the orbital timescale, the vegetation variations revealed by δ^13Cec record are consistent with the results of pollen data and also similar to the results obtained by organic carbon isotopic composition since the last glacial period.     

活性氧与NO在SO2诱导蚕豆气孔运动中的作用

以蚕豆叶表皮为材料,研究SO2胁迫时叶面气孔运动及其调节途径.研究发现,用浓度1～200μmol/L的SO2衍生物(亚硫酸钠与亚硫酸氢钠混合液)处理蚕豆叶下表皮后,气孔开度明显减小,气孔保卫细胞内活性氧(ROS)、一氧化氮(NO)和钙离子(Ca2+)水平显著升高.采用抗氧化剂抗坏血酸和过氧化氢酶,钙离子干扰剂EGTA和LaCl3,以及NO合成抑制剂NaN3与NO清除剂c-PTIO,分别与SO2衍生物同时作用时,SO2诱发的气孔关闭效应得到有效缓解,保卫细胞内ROS、NO和Ca2+水平随之改变.抗氧化剂和NO干扰剂能阻止SO2诱导的胞内ROS、NO和Ca2+水平升高;EGTA和LaCl3能降低SO2诱导的胞内NO和Ca2+升高,但不影响ROS水平.研究结果表明,较高浓度SO2能诱导气孔关闭,SO2胁迫诱导ROS和NO合成增加,ROS和NO通过钙信号系统调节气孔开度.     

Expression analysis ofgdcsP promoter from C3-C4 intermediate plantFlaveria anomala in transgenic rice

ThegdcsP promoter isolated from C₃-C₄ intermediate plantFlaveria anomala was fused to the β-glucuronidase (GUS) gene. The chimeric gene was inserted into the binary vector pBin19 and introduced into the rice (Oryza sativa L.) cv. 8706 byAgrobacteriummediated gene transfer. GUS activity can be detected in leaf, leaf sheath, stem and root tissues via fluorometric GUS assay. However, no GUS activity was found in mature endosperm. Histochemical localization revealed that GUS expression was exclusively restricted to vascular tissues in transgenic plants. This promoter also showed spatial-temporal expression patterns that GUS expression declined significantly with the maturity of plants. These expression patterns make thegdcsP promoter extremely valuable in the applied biotechnology that needs target gene expression restricted to vascular tissues.     

Salt tolerance conferred by over-expression ofOsNHX1 gene in Poplar 84K

OsNHX1 gene (Na⁺/H⁺ antiporter gene ofOryza sativa L.) was introduced into Poplar 84K withAgrobacterium tumefaciens- mediated transformation. PCR, Southern and Northern blot analysis showed thatOsNHX1 gene was incorporated successfully into the genome of Poplar 84K and expressed in these transgenic plants. Salt tolerance test showed that three lines of transgenic plants grew normally in the presence of 200 mmol/L NaCl, while the Na⁺ content in the leaves of the transgenic plants grown at 200 mmol/L NaCl was significantly higher than that in plants grown at 0 mmol/L NaCl. The osmotic potential in the transgenic plants with high salinity treatment was lower than that of control plants. Our results demonstrate the potential use of these transgenic plants for agricultural use in saline soils.     

Rapid plant regeneration from cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.)

A simple and rapid regeneration method of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L. cv. Xinluzao 4) is described. The proper use of phytohormone KT and IBA validly promoted the survival rate of test-tube plants and shortened the period of culture in combination with the techniques of micro-propagation and graft.     

铜、镉及其复合胁迫对麻疯树幼苗生理生化特性的影响

为了研究铜(Cu)、镉(Cd)及其复合胁迫对麻疯树(Jatropha curcas Linn.)幼苗生理生化指标的影响,测定经Cu、Cd及其复合处理后麻疯树幼苗的丙二醛(MDA)含量、根系活力、叶绿素含量、细胞膜透性、可溶性蛋白质含量、可溶性糖含量、过氧化物酶(POD)和脯氨酸含量等的变化情况.研究表明,Cu和Cd的浓...