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- Author or Editor: Murray E. Duysen x
- HortScience x
The effects of the expression of the rolC gene on protein accumulation in the chloroplasts of transgenic Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.) were investigated. Coleoptile tissues excised from 3-day dark-grown seedlings were bombarded with tungsten particles coated with DNA of the engineered plasmid, pGA-GUSGF, containing the npt II, gus, and rolC genes. The tissues were cultured on callus induction medium, which consists of MS salts supplemented with 0.2 mg/L picloram, 0.01 mg/L naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) 250 mg/L kanamycin, and 100 mM acetosyringone. The putative transformants were either albinos or variegated plants composed of white and green sections. These albino plants had little or no stroma-based 56-kDa and 14-kDa subunits of the suspected Rubisco proteins, which are expressed in response to genes in the nucleus and plastid, respectively. The albino plants also lacked the 110-kDa and 57–58-kDa, and 43, 47-kDa polypeptides in PS I, coupling factor, and PS II in thylakoid membranes, respectively. These proteins involved in photosynthesis are translated from plastidbased genes. No light-harvesting complex proteins (LHC) were observed in these albino plants. LHC genes are encoded in the nucleus. The thylakoid membrane proteins in the chloroplasts of the rolC transgenic variegated plants contained these proteins. Our data suggest that the nucleus and plastid gene products for plastid development are concomitantly impaired by expression of genes in the transgenic plants.
The influences of elevated iron concentrations in the nutrient solution and light intensity on growth and the chlorophyll and chloroplast development in Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis) `Touchdown' (C3), creeping bentgrass (Agrostis palustris) `Penncross' (C3), and buffalograss (Buchloe dactyloides) (C4) were investigated. Plants established in peatlite medium in 11-cm pots were fertilized with a Hoagland solution containing various iron concentrations (0, 0.01, 0.1, 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 mM Fe+2) under two different light regimes. Preliminary results indicated that no biomass reduction or toxic symptoms developed in buffalograss when grown with iron levels up to 8 mM under high light conditions. As Fe+' levels were raised, plants became progressively greener with both the chlorophyll-a and chlorophyll-b contents increased. In Kentucky bluegrass, the sizes of chloroplasts and grana stacks in the cell were larger when grown with 2 mM than 0.05 mM Fe+2 in the fertilizer solution. The interactions of iron concentration and light intensity on pigmentation and photosynthesis of the three species are currently being determined.
The influence of potassium (K) nutrition on the growth and sugar contents of carrot (Daucus carota L.) cv. Navajo was investigated in a greenhouse study. Seeds were germinated in 15-cm plastic pots (volume1.5 L) containing a peatlite mix (2 parts peat:1 part vermiculite:1 part perlite, v/v). Starting at 6 true-leaf stage (5 weeks from germination), plants were watered with nutrient solutions containing 0, 1, 2, 4, or 8 meq K/L for 10 weeks. While plants receiving no potassium had the lowest biomass yield, there was little or no difference in shoot or root biomass yields between different K concentrations. Root glucose and sucrose contents were the highest when plants grown with 8 meq K/L and 4 meq K/L, respectively, from the nutrient solution. The influence of nutrient solution K concentration on tissue content of K and other macronutrient elements was also determined.
A study was initiated to characterize key enzymes that influence sweetness in carrot (Daucus carota L.) roots. Sucrose synthase (SS), sucrose phosphate synthase (SPS), and UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase (UDPL) genes were isolated from potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) and cloned in an anti-sense orientation into Agrobacterium tumefaciens Bin19, which has a CaMV 35S promoter. Seedling hypocotyl sections of selected carrot lines were pre-incubated on B5 medium for 2 days, co-cultivated with A. tumefaciens Bin 19 for additional 3 days, and then transferred to a modified B5 medium containing 50 g/mL kanamycin and 400 g/mL carbenicillin. In 4 weeks, 18.6%, 33.3%, and 26.7% of the cultures from a breeding line (W204-C) were found to be transformed, respectively, with SS, SPS, and UDPL as determined by kanamycin resistance. In contrast, no kanamycin-resistant calli were obtained from a commercial cultivar (Navajo) in these transformation studies. The transformed calli proliferated in the medium containing 50 g/mL kanamycin and 400 g/mL carbenicillin, whereas non-transformed calli died in the same medium. These transformed calli are currently being used to regenerate plants via asexual embryogenesis using a suspension culture. The influence of these additional genes on sugar metabolism and accumulation in root tissues of transformed carrots will be characterized in the future.
The relative concentrations of sucrose, glucose, and starch in the xylem and cortex tissues of carrot (Daucus carota) roots were evaluated after harvest and during storage. For the three cultivars (Apache, Bolero, Danvers 126) tested, the cortex tissue contained 76.6, 49.1, and 33.6 mg·g–1 dry weight of sucrose, glucose, and starch, respectively. In comparison, the average contents of sucrose, glucose, and starch in xylem tissues were 57.4, 52.4, and 11.6 mg·g–1 dry weight, respectively. In general, cortex tissue contained higher concentrations of sucrose and starch than the xylem tissues. The glucose concentrations in cortex and xylem were similar. In `Apache', for example, the cortex tissue contained 40% and 57% higher concentrations of sucrose and starch, respectively, than the xylem tissues, whereas glucose content of the cortex was only 7.5% higher than that of the xylem. Since sweetness is largely influenced by sucrose, the relative volume of cortex to xylem must be considered in evaluating carrot cultivars for sweet taste.
The effect of increasing micronutrient levels on buffalograss (Buchloe dactyloides) was investigated. Seedling plants established in peat-lite mix in 10-cm pots were irrigated with solutions containing 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, or 12 mM of boron (B), chloride (Cl), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), molybdenum (Mo), or zinc (Zn). The control solution contained (in μM): 20 B, 0.5 Cu, 40 Fe, 10 Mn, 0.5 Mo and 4 Zn. A standard macronutrient concentration was used for all treatment solutions. Boron and Mo induced visual toxicity symptoms more readily than other micronutrients. Boron toxicity was characterized by chlorosis often accompanied by bleached leaf tips, while Mo toxicity resulted in leaf necrosis. The lowest levels that induced foliar toxicity symptoms were: 0.5 mM B, 2 mM Cu, 4 mM Fe, 6 mM Mn, 1 mM Mo, and 4 mM Zn. Chloride did not induce foliar abnormalities in the concentration range tested. Biomass yield was reduced when the nutrient solution contained 2 mM B, 8 mM Cu, 2 mM Mo, or 12 mM Zn. Elevated levels of Cl, Fe and Mn did not alter dry matter yield. Tissue concentrations of micronutrients were also determined.
Cleistogamy in Salpiglossis sinuatu L. involves a sequence of events, including arrested corolla development, precocious pollen germination inside anther, pollen tube penetration of the pistil, and eventual self fertilization, that takes place. within a tightly closed flower bud. A single dominant gene (C) controls cleistogamy in this plant. During early blooming period, cleistogamous (CC, Cc) plants produce both chasmogamous (open) and cleistogamous (closed) flowers. Enzymes in various tissues of both cleistogamous and chasmogamous buds were detected by isozyme banding patterns in starch gel electrophoresis. The onset of cleistogamy may be signalled in the calyx and corolla tissues in the early stage of flower development. The levels of specific enzymes (PGM, PGI, G-6PD, PGD, MPI) involved in gluconeogenesis, pentose phosphate shunt and glycolysis in both calyx and corolla tissues of the cleistogamous buds were greatly reduced. These enzymes were present in the pistil and anthers of cleistogamous buds and in all floral parts of the chasmogamous buds.