Ion and Water Uptake in Relation to Root Development in Norway Spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.)

Endospores of Bacillus subtilis are enclosed in a proteinaceous coat which can be differentiated into a thick, striated outer layer and a thinner, lamellar inner layer. We found that the N-terminal sequence of a 25-kDa protein present in a preparation of spore coat proteins matched that of the Mn-dependent superoxide dismutase (SOD) encoded by the sodA locus. sodA is transcribed throughout the growth and sporulation of a wild-type strain and is responsible for the SOD activity detected in total cell extracts prepared from B. subtilis. Disruption of the sodA locus produced a mutant that lacked any detectable SOD activity during vegetative growth and sporulation. The sodA mutant was not impaired in the ability to form heat- or lysozyme-resistant spores. However, examination of the coat layers of sodA mutant spores revealed increased extractability of the tyrosine-rich outer coat protein CotG. We showed that this condition was not accompanied by augmented transcription of the cotG gene in sporulating cells of the sodA mutant. We conclude that SodA is required for the assembly of CotG into the insoluble matrix of the spore and suggest that CotG is covalently cross-linked into the insoluble matrix by an oxidative reaction dependent on SodA. Ultrastructural analysis revealed that the inner coat formed by a sodA mutant was incomplete. Moreover, the outer coat lacked the characteristic striated appearance of wild-type spores, a pattern that was accentuated in a cotG mutant. These observations suggest that the SodA-dependent formation of the insoluble matrix containing CotG is largely responsible for the striated appearance of this coat layer.

Involvement of Superoxide Dismutase in Spore Coat Assembly in Bacillus subtilis

Dry black beans stored at high temperatures (41°C) and humidities (75%, 100%) for short time periods showed alterations in attachments between plasmalemma and cell wall as well as disintegration of organelles and inclusions of the cytoplasm. Although those structural changes did not affect the mode of water penetration into aged beans, as determined by autoradiography, electron micrographs clearly revealed structural differences between fresh and aged beans during imbibition.

Hard‐to‐Cook Phenomenon in Beans: Structural Changes During Storage and lmbibition

Zoospores of 17 species in 14 genera of Laminariales, collected in the northeast Pacific Ocean, were studied by electron microscopy. These zoospores are unique in the brown algae in lacking both an eyespot in the single chloroplast and any associated swelling at the base of the shorter, posterior flagellum. Spores of all species examined possess a distal whiplash portion on the longer, mastigoneme-bearing anterior flagellum. This appendage may sometimes be as long as the mastigoneme-bearing portion of the flagellum, but it is only seldom preserved in the preparations for electron microscopy. A microtubular cytoskeleton is probably responsible for maintaining the shape of the spore. It consists of a short band of about 10 microtubules between the two basal bodies, scattered tubules converging at the anterior of the spore, a band of 7–9 tubules directed anteriorly from the anterior basal body, and a band directed posteriorly from the posterior basal body. These anterior and posterior bands may form one continuous band looping around the periphery of the spore. Variation with possible taxonomic significance was found in the ultrastructure of vesicles which apparently contain adhesive material, and which are extruded through the plasmalemma when the zoospores settle.

Ultrastructure of swarmers in the laminariales (phaeophyceae). ii. sperm1

The entry of calcium and magnesium from external sources into mycorrhizal roots of 3-year-old Norway spruce trees (Piceaabies [L.] Karst.) was monitored. Roots of intact plants were exposed for various periods of time, ranging from 2 min to 48 h, to nutrient solutions which contained the stable-isotope tracers 25Mg and 44Ca. After labelling, samples of roots were excised from the plants, shock-frozen, cryosubstituted and embedded. The resulting isotope composition in this material was analysed by a laser-microprobe-mass-analyser (LAMMA) at relevant positions within cross-sections of the roots. For both elements, we determined (i) the fractions of the isotopes originating from the plant prior to labelling, and (ii) the fraction of isotopes originating from the corresponding tracer that penetrated into the root. Both divalent cations rapidly penetrated across the cortical apoplast and reached the endodermis. After 2 min of exposure to the labelling solution, an initial transient gradient of the tracers could be observed within the root cortex. Subsequently, calcium as well as magnesium equilibrated between the apoplast of the entire cortex and the external tracer with a half-time, t1/2, of about 3 min. In contrast, the kinetics of radial movement into the vascular stele showed a delay with a t1/2 of 100–120 min. We take this as strong evidence that there exists a free apoplastic path for divalent cations in the cortex and that the endodermis is a major barrier to the further passage of Mg and Ca into the xylem. While 25Mg in the labelling solution exchanged rapidly with Mg in the cortical apoplast, the exchange across the plasma membrane with Mg present in the protoplasm of the same cortical cells was almost 2 orders of magnitude slower. The kinetics of Ca and Mg entry at +6 °C were similar to those obtained at a root temperature of +22 °C.

The kinetics of calcium and magnesium entry into mycorrhizal spruce roots.

Rapid Infiltration of Biological Tissues Utilizing n-Hexenyl Succinic Anhydride (HXSA)/Vinyl Cyclohexene Dioxide (VCD), An Ultra-Low Viscosity Embedding Medium.

Male and female A/Jax mice 10–18 days of age were given one, two, or three daily subcutaneous injections of Serpasil (Reserpine USP; 2.5 mg/kg) and sacrificed 24 hours after the last injection. Abdominal extra-adrenal tissue was processed for electron microscopy to determine the effects of this catecholamine depleting drug on the dense cored cytoplasmic granules of the parenchymal chief cells.



Electron microscopic investigations of sympathetic paraganglia from treated animals revealed a marked decrease in granule opacity as compared to that seen in cells from control animals. The cells with granules reduced in opacity following reserpine treatment could be consistently distinguished from those of non-treated animals which led us to assume that the drug depleted the amine content from its storage site in the granule without completely destroying the granule structure. These results further substantiate our earlier speculations that the granules in abdominal paraganglion chief cells of the mouse contain catecholamines.

Joe A. Mascorro

Papers

Rapid Infiltration of Biological Tissues Utilizing n-Hexenyl Succinic Anhydride (HXSA)/Vinyl Cyclohexene Dioxide (VCD), An Ultra-Low Viscosity Embedding Medium.

Ultrastructural studies of the effects of reserpine on mouse abdominal sympathetic paraganglia

Morphological Observations on the Granule Types in Rabbit Extra-Adrenal Chromaffin Cells.

Ultrastructural Similarities Between Adrenal Medullary and Paraganglion Cells

Localization of Alpha Bungarotoxin Binding Sites in the Rat Carotid Body Using Horseradish Peroxidase-Conjugated Toxin