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At least 199 records · Page 11

Thigmomorphogenesis: anatomical, morphological and mechanical analysis of genetically different sibs of Pinus taeda in response to mechanical perturbation

Twenty-three open pollinated families (half-sibs) and four controlled pollinated families (full-sibs) of Pinus taeda L. (loblolly pine) were grown in a greenhouse and analyzed for changes induced by mechanical perturbation (MP). These changes included inhibition of stem and needle elongation, bracing of branch nodes, and increased radial growth in the direction of the MP. Inhibition of stem elongation was the least variable feature measured. Leaf extension and stem diameter were highly variable between half-sibs. MP induced increased drag in greenhouse grown P. taeda in wind-tunnel tests. In P. taeda, MP induced decreased flexibility and increased elasticity and plasticity of the stem. The increased radial growth of the stems overrode the increase in elasticity, resulting in an overall decrease in flexibility. MP trees had a higher rupture point than non-MP controls. Increased radial growth is a result of more rapid cell divisions of the vascular cambium, resulting in increased numbers of tracheids. The decreased leader growth is partly due to a decreased tracheid length in response to MP.

Non-NASA Center↗

Discussion of Yellow Starthistle Response to Photosynthetic Irradiance, Photoperiod, and CO2

Yellow Starthistle (Centaurea solstitialis) is a native annual weed of Eurasia and since introduction into the United STates has become an invasive and noxious weed. It grows in a rosette habit during the vegetative state and usually bolts in summer to produce a large and branched flowering stem. Time to flowering in Yellow Starthistle has been attributed to photoperiod, nitrogen nutrition, temperature, and water stress. We executed a series of studies to investigate the role of light, both photoperiod and photosynthetic photon flux, on flowering and development in Yellow Starthistle. Treatments were presented in 4 ways: 1) varying day length with constant photosynthetic photon flus (PPF) providing increasing daily integrated Photosynthetic Photon (PP) exposure with longer day lengths 2) varying day length while adjusting PPF to maintain daily PP exposure for all treatments 3) extending photoperiod treatments beyond common 12-h photosynthetic period with low light levels to maintain both PPF and daily PP across all treatments4)reciprocal exchange of plant among photoperiod treatments Yellow Starthistle appears to be a long-day plant with a critical day length requirement between 14-h and 16-h to induce transition from vegetative to floral stages in development. PPF and daily absorbed photons did not affect time to vegetative floral stage transition, but did affect factors such as biomass accumulation and canopy parameters such as specific leaf mass. Reciprocal exchange of plants between floral inducing and inhibiting photoperiod treatments, starting at 2-weeks post germination, had no effect on to flower. Flowering was determined by photoperiod experienced during the first 2-weeks (or less) post germination.Yellow Starthistle net photosynthetic response to elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations over a range of photosynthetically active radiation flux rates and temperatures will also be presented and discussed.

Photosynthetic↗

Discussion of Yellow Starthistle Response to Irradiance, Photoperiod, and CO2

Yellow Starthistle (Centaurea solstitialis) is a native annual weed of Eurasia and since introduction into the US has become an invasive and noxious weed. It grows in a rosette habit during the vegetative state and usually bolts in summer to produce a large and branched flowering stem. Time to flowering in Yellow Starthistle has been attributed to photoperiod, nitrogen nutrition, temperature, and water stress. We executed a series of studies to investigate the role of light, both photoperiod and photosynthetic photon flux, on flowering and development in Yellow Starthistle. Treatments were presented in 4 ways: (1) Varying day length with constant photosynthetic photon flus (PPF) - providing increasing daily integrated Photosynthetic Photon (PP) exposure with longer day lengths, (2) Varying day length while adjusting PPF to maintain daily PP exposure for all treatments, (3) Extending photoperiod treatments beyond common 12-h photosynthetic period with low light levels to maintain both PPF and daily PP across all treatments; and (4) Reciprocal exchange of plant among photoperiod treatments. Yellow Starthistle appears to be a long-day plant with a critical day length requirement between 14-h and 16-h to induce transition from vegetative to floral stages in development. PPF and daily absorbed photons did not affect time to vegetative / floral stage transition, but did affect factors such as biomass accumulation and canopy parameters such as specific leaf mass. Reciprocal exchange of plants between floral inducing and inhibiting photoperiod treatments, starting at 2-weeks post germination, had no effect on to flower. Flowering was determined by photoperiod experienced during the first 2-weeks (or less) post germination. Yellow Starthistle net photosynthetic response to elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations over a range of photosynthetically active radiation flux rates and temperatures will also be presented and discussed.

Photons↗

Gravitropism of cucumber hypocotyls: biophysical mechanism of altered growth

The biophysical basis for the changes in cell elongation rate during gravitropism was examined in aetiolated cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) hypocotyls. Bulk osmotic pressures on the two sides of the stem and in the epidermal cells were not altered during the early time course of gravitropism. By the pressure-probe technique, a small increase in turgor (0.3 bar, 30 kPa) was detected on the upper (inhibited) side, whereas there was a negligible decrease in turgor on the lower (stimulated) side. These small changes in turgor and water potential appeared to be indirect, passive consequences of the altered growth and the small resistance for water movement from the xylem, and indicated that the change in growth was principally due to changes in wall properties. The results indicate that the hydraulic conductance of the water-transport pathway was large (.25 h-1 bar-1) and the water potential difference supporting cell expansion was no greater than 0.3 bar (30 kPa). From pressure-block experiments, it appeared that upon gravitropic stimulation (1) the yield threshold of the lower half of the stem did not decrease and (2) the wall on the upper side of the stem was not made more rigid by a cross-linking process. Mechanical measurements of the stress/strain properties of the walls showed that the initial development of gravitropism did not involve an alteration of the mechanical behaviour of the isolated walls. Thus, gravitropism in cucumber hypocotyls occurs principally by an alteration of the wall relaxation process, without a necessary change in wall mechanical properties.

Non-NASA Center↗

Dirigent proteins and dirigent sites in lignifying tissues

Tissue-specific dirigent protein gene expression and associated dirigent (site) localization were examined in various organs of Forsythia intermedia using tissue printing, in situ mRNA hybridization and immunolabeling techniques, respectively. Dirigent protein gene expression was primarily noted in the undifferentiated cambial regions of stem sections, whereas dirigent protein sites were detected mainly in the vascular cambium and ray parenchyma cell initials. Immunolocalization also revealed cross-reactivity with particular regions of the lignified cell walls, these being coincident with the known sites of initiation of lignin deposition. These latter regions are considered to harbor contiguous arrays of dirigent (monomer binding) sites for initiation of lignin biopolymer assembly. Dirigent protein mRNA expression was also localized in the vascular regions of roots and petioles, whereas in leaves the dirigent sites were primarily associated with the palisade layers and the vascular bundle. That is, dirigent protein mediated lignan biosynthesis was initiated primarily in the cambium and ray cell initial regions of stems as well as in the leaf palisade layers, this being in accordance with the occurrence of the lignans for defense purposes. Within lignified secondary xylem cell walls, however, dirigent sites were primarily localized in the S(1) sublayer and compound middle lamella, these being coincident with previously established sites for initiation of macromolecular lignin biosynthesis. Once initiation occurs, lignification is proposed to continue through template polymerization.

NASA Discipline Plant Biology↗

Generation and multiplication of plantlets from callus derived from Haplopappus gracilus (Nutt.) Gray and their karyotype analysis

Unopened flower heads of Haplopappus gracilis (2n = 4) provided primary explants for callus production and subsequent induction of organized growth. Callus was initiated from small (3-5 mm in length) floral buds with benzylaminopurine (BAP) (44.4 micromoles; 10 mg/l) and naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) (0.54 micromole; 0.1 mg/l). Lowering the BAP level to 4.44 micromoles (1 mg/l) but maintaining the NAA level, gave rise to organized but highly compressed shoot growing points from an otherwise undifferentiated callus mass. Shoots selected from such cultures were maintainable and could be proliferated by growing 1-1.5-cm stem tip cuttings on Murashige and Skoog basal medium (solidified with agar) containing 0.444 micromole (0.1 mg/l) BAP and 0.054 micromole (0.01 mg/l) NAA. The stem tip multiplication rates obtainable by these means permit reliable strategies for shoot multiplication or production of rooted plantlets. Prolonged subculture and maintenance of shoots on growth regulator-free medium leads to in vitro flowering and greatly reduces rooting capacity. Karyotype analysis of chromosomes from root tip cells at metaphase and chromosome measurements show that karyologically uniform plantlets (based on chromosome number and morphology) can be obtained.

NASA Discipline Plant Biology↗

Lignin Formation and the Effects of Gravity: A New Approach

Two aspects of considerable importance in the enigmatic processes associated with lignification have made excellent progress. The first is that, even in a microgravity environment, compression wood formation, and hence altered lignin deposition, can be induced upon mechanically bending the stems of woody gymnosperms. It now needs to be established if an organism reorientating its woody stem tissue will generate this tissue in microgravity, in the absence of externally applied pressure. If it does not, then gravity has no effect on its formation, and instead it results from alterations in the stress gradient experienced by the organism impacted. The second area of progress involves establishing how the biochemical pathway to lignin is regulated, particularly with respect to selective monolignol biosynthesis. This is an important question since individual monomer deposition occurs in a temporally and spatially specific manner. In this regard, the elusive metabolic switch between E-p-coumaryl alcohol and E-coniferyl alcohol synthesis has been detected, the significance of which now needs to be defined at the enzyme and gene level. Switching between monolignol synthesis is important, since it is viewed to be a consequence of different perceptions by plants in the gravitational load experienced, and thus in the control of the type of lignification response. Additional experiments also revealed the rate-limiting processes involved in monolignol synthesis, and suggest that a biological system (involving metabolite concentrations, as well as enzymatic and gene (in)activation processes) is involved, rather than a single rate-limiting step.

Lewis, Norman G.↗

Structure of the coding region and mRNA variants of the apyrase gene from pea (Pisum sativum)

Partial amino acid sequences of a 49 kDa apyrase (ATP diphosphohydrolase, EC 3.6.1.5) from the cytoskeletal fraction of etiolated pea stems were used to derive oligonucleotide DNA primers to generate a cDNA fragment of pea apyrase mRNA by RT-PCR and these primers were used to screen a pea stem cDNA library. Two almost identical cDNAs differing in just 6 nucleotides within the coding regions were found, and these cDNA sequences were used to clone genomic fragments by PCR. Two nearly identical gene fragments containing 8 exons and 7 introns were obtained. One of them (H-type) encoded the mRNA sequence described by Hsieh et al. (1996) (DDBJ/EMBL/GenBank Z32743), while the other (S-type) differed by the same 6 nucleotides as the mRNAs, suggesting that these genes may be alleles. The six nucleotide differences between these two alleles were found solely in the first exon, and these mutation sites had two types of consensus sequences. These mRNAs were found with varying lengths of 3' untranslated regions (3'-UTR). There are some similarities between the 3'-UTR of these mRNAs and those of actin and actin binding proteins in plants. The putative roles of the 3'-UTR and alternative polyadenylation sites are discussed in relation to their possible role in targeting the mRNAs to different subcellular compartments.

NASA Discipline Plant Biology↗

Effects of shoot inversion on stem structure in Pharbitis nil

The effects of shoot inversion on stem structure over 72 hr were investigated in Pharbitis nil by analyzing cell number, cell length, and the cross sectional areas of cells, tissues, and regions. An increase in stem diameter can be attributed to an increase in both cell number and cross sectional area of pith (primarily) and vascular tissue (secondarily). Qualitative observations of cell wall thickness in the light microscope did not reveal any significant effects of shoot inversion on this parameter. The inhibition of shoot elongation was accompanied by a significant decrease in cell length in the pith. The results are generally consistent with an ethylene effect on cell dimensions, especially in the pith.

Non-NASA Center↗

Auxin asymmetry during gravitropism by tomato hypocotyls

Gravitropic asymmetry of auxin was observed in hypocotyls of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) soon after horizontal placement: the ratio of apically supplied [3H]IAA collected from the lower sides to that from the upper sides was about 1.4 between 5 and 10 minutes. This was adequately early to account for the beginning of curvature. The auxin asymmetry ratio rose to about 2.5 between 20 and 25 minutes, and to 3.5 during the main phase of curvature. This compares reasonably well with the roughly 3.9 ratio for elongation on the lower side to elongation on the upper side that is the basis for the curvature. These data extend evidence that the Went-Cholodny theory for the mediation of tropisms is valid for dicot stems. Also consistent with the theory, an auxin asymmetry ratio of 2.5 was observed when wrong-way gravitropic curvature developed following application of a high level of auxin. In addition to reversing the asymmetry of elongation, the large supplement of auxin resulted in lower net elongation. Previous data established that ethylene is not involved in this decrease of growth as a function of increasing level of auxin.

NASA Program Space Biology↗

Voltage transients elicited by brief chilling

Chilling auxin-depleted, etiolated stems of Pisum sativum L. to 4 degrees C for 60 s enhanced the production of previously described voltage transients 20-fold. It is postulated that plasmalemmal permeability to Ca2+ is increased at low temperature, permitting influx of the ion from the apoplast to the cytosol and thereby promoting production of transients. Heating to 40 degrees C or 45 degrees C elicits no increase in transients, and heating to 50 degrees C leads to loss of turgor.

Calcium/metabolism↗

Growth inhibition, turgor maintenance, and changes in yield threshold after cessation of solute import in pea epicotyls

The dependence of stem elongation on solute import was investigated in etiolated pea seedlings (Pisum sativum L. var Alaska) by excising the cotyledons. Stem elongation was inhibited by 60% within 5 hours of excision. Dry weight accumulation into the growing region stopped and osmotic pressure of the cell sap declined by 0.14 megapascal over 5 hours. Attempts to assay phloem transport via ethylenediaminetetraacetate-enhanced exudation from cut stems revealed no effect of cotyledon excision, indicating that the technique measured artifactual leakage from cells. Despite the drop in cell osmotic pressure, turgor pressure (measured directly via a pressure probe) did not decline. Turgor maintenance is postulated to occur via uptake of solutes from the free space, thereby maintaining the osmotic pressure difference across the cell membrane. Cell wall properties were measured by the pressure-block stress relaxation technique. Results indicate that growth inhibition after cotyledon excision was mediated primarily via an increase in the wall yield threshold.

NASA Discipline Number 40-30↗

Modeling the effects of light, carbon dioxide, and temperature on the growth of potato

This study examined the effects of light, temperature and carbon dioxide on the growth of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) in a controlled environment in order to ascertain the best growing conditions for potato in life support systems in space. 'Norland' and 'Russet Burbank' were grown in 6-L pots of peat-vermiculite for 56 d in growth chambers at the University of Wisconsin Biotron. Environmental factor levels included continuous light (24-h photoperiod) at 250, 400, and 550 micromoles m-2 s-1 PPF; constant temperature at 16, 20, and 24 degrees C; and CO2 at approximately 400, 1000, and 1600 microliters L-1. Separate effects analysis and ridge analysis provided a means to examine the effects of individual environmental factors and to determine combinations of factors that are expected to give the best increases in yields over the central design point. The response surface of Norland indicated that tuber yields were highest with moderately low temperature (18.7 degrees C), low CO2 (400 microliters L-1) and high light (550 micromoles m-2 s-1 PPF). These conditions also favored shorter stem growth. Russet Burbank tuber yields were highest at moderately low temperature (17.5 degrees C), high CO2 (1600 microliters L-1) and medium analyses will be used to project the most efficient conditions for growth of potatoes in closed ecological life support systems (CELSS) in space colonies.

NASA Discipline Life Support Systems↗

Kinetic separation of phototropism from blue-light inhibition of stem elongation

These experiments tested the hypothesis that phototropic bending arises when a light gradient across the stem differentially inhibits cell elongation because of direct inhibition of cell elongation by light (the Blaauw hypothesis). Continuous irradiation of dark-grown cucumber seedlings (Cucumis sativus L.) with unilateral blue light inhibited hypocotyl elongation within 30 s, but did not induce phototropic curvature until 4.5 h after the start of irradiation. Marking experiments showed that curvature began simultaneously at the top and bottom of the growing region. In situ measurements of the light gradient across the stem with a glass fiber optic indicated that a 5- to 6-fold difference in fluence rate was established on the two sides of the stem. The light gradient established at the start of irradiation was the same as that after 6 h of irradiation. Changes in gravitropic responsiveness during this period were also ruled out. Calculations show that the light gradient should have caused curvature which would be detectable within 30 to 60 min and which would extrapolate to the start of irradiation--if the Blaauw hypothesis were correct. The long lag for phototropism in this case indicates that rapid inhibition of cell elongation by blue light does not cause the asymmetrical growth of phototropism. Rather, phototropism is superimposed upon this separate light growth response.

NASA Discipline Number 40-30↗

Modeling and Prediction of Wildfire Hazard in Southern California, Integration of Models with Imaging Spectrometry

Large urban wildfires throughout southern California have caused billions of dollars of damage and significant loss of life over the last few decades. Rapid urban growth along the wildland interface, high fuel loads and a potential increase in the frequency of large fires due to climatic change suggest that the problem will worsen in the future. Improved fire spread prediction and reduced uncertainty in assessing fire hazard would be significant, both economically and socially. Current problems in the modeling of fire spread include the role of plant community differences, spatial heterogeneity in fuels and spatio-temporal changes in fuels. In this research, we evaluated the potential of Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) and Airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (AIRSAR) data for providing improved maps of wildfire fuel properties. Analysis concentrated in two areas of Southern California, the Santa Monica Mountains and Santa Barbara Front Range. Wildfire fuel information can be divided into four basic categories: fuel type, fuel load (live green and woody biomass), fuel moisture and fuel condition (live vs senesced fuels). To map fuel type, AVIRIS data were used to map vegetation species using Multiple Endmember Spectral Mixture Analysis (MESMA) and Binary Decision Trees. Green live biomass and canopy moisture were mapped using AVIRIS through analysis of the 980 nm liquid water absorption feature and compared to alternate measures of moisture and field measurements. Woody biomass was mapped using L and P band cross polarimetric data acquired in 1998 and 1999. Fuel condition was mapped using spectral mixture analysis to map green vegetation (green leaves), nonphotosynthetic vegetation (NPV; stems, wood and litter), shade and soil. Summaries describing the potential of hyperspectral and SAR data for fuel mapping are provided by Roberts et al. and Dennison et al. To utilize remotely sensed data to assess fire hazard, fuel-type maps were translated into standard fuel models accessible to the FARSITE fire spread simulator. The FARSITE model and BEHAVE are considered industry standards for fire behavior analysis. Anderson level fuels map, generated using a binary decision tree classifier are available for multiple dates in the Santa Monica Mountains and at least one date for Santa Barbara. Fuel maps that will fill in the areas between Santa Barbara and the Santa Monica Mountains study sites are in progress, as part of a NASA Regional Earth Science Application Center, the Southern California Wildfire Hazard Center. Species-level maps, were supplied to fire managing agencies (Los Angeles County Fire, California Department of Forestry). Research results were published extensively in the refereed and non-refereed literature. Educational outreach included funding of several graduate students, undergraduate intern training and an article featured in the California Alliance for Minorities Program (CAMP) Quarterly Journal.

Roberts, Dar A.↗

Wall relaxation in growing stems: comparison of four species and assessment of measurement techniques

This study was carried out to develop improved methods for measuring in-vivo stress relaxation of growing tissues and to compare relaxation in the stems of four different species. When water uptake by growing tissue is prevented, in-vivo stress relaxation occurs because continued wall loosening reduces wall stress and cell turgor pressure. With this procedure one may measure the yield threshold for growth (Y), the turgor pressure in excess of the yield threshold (P-Y), and the physiological wall extensibility (phi). Three relaxation techniques proved useful: "turgor-relaxation", "balance-pressure" and "pressure-block". In the turgor-relaxation method, water is withheld from growing tissue and the reduction in turgor is measured directly with the pressure probe. This technique gives absolute values for P and Y, but requires tissue excision. In the balance-pressure technique, the excised growing region is sealed in a pressure chamber, and the subsequent reduction in water potential is measured as the applied pressure needed to return xylem sap to the cut surface. This method is simple, but only measures (P-Y), not the individual values of P and Y. In the pressure-block technique, the growing tissue is sealed into a pressure chamber, growth is monitored continuously, and just sufficient pressure is applied to the chamber to block growth. The method gives high-resolution kinetics of relaxation and does not require tissue excision, but only measures (P-Y). The three methods gave similar results when applied to the growing stems of pea (Pisum sativum L.), cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.), soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) and zucchini (Curcubita pepo L.) seedlings. Values for (P-Y) averaged between 1.4 and 2.7 bar, depending on species. Yield thresholds averaged between 1.3 and 3.0 bar. Compared with the other methods, relaxation by pressure-block was faster and exhibited dynamic changes in wall-yielding properties. The two pressure-chamber methods were also used to measure the internal water-potential gradient (between the xylem and the epidermis) which drives water uptake for growth. For the four species it was small, between 0.3 and 0.6 bar, and so did not limit growth substantially.

NASA Program Space Biology↗

Mechanism of rapid suppression of cell expansion in cucumber hypocotyls after blue-light irradiation

Rapid suppression of hypocotyl elongation by blue light in cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) was studied to examine possible hydraulic and wall changes responsible for diminished growth. Cell-sap osmotic pressure, measured by vapor-pressure osmometry, was not decreased by blue light; turgor pressure, measured by the pressure-probe technique, remained constant during the growth inhibition; and stem hydraulic conductance, measured by dynamic and static methods, was likewise unaffected by blue light. Wall yielding properties were assessed by the pressure-block technique for in-vivo stress relaxation. Blue light reduced the initial rate of relaxation by 77%, but had little effect on the final amount of relaxation. The results demonstrate that blue irradiation acts to decrease the wall yielding coefficient, but not the yield threshold. Stress-strain (Instron) analysis showed that irradiation of the seedlings had little effect on the mechanical extensibilities of the isolated wall. The results indicate that blue light can reduce cell-wall loosening without affecting bulk viscoelastic properties, and indicate a chemorheological mechanism of cell-wall expansion.

NASA Discipline Number 40-30↗

Apatite Nanoresponse to Acidic Dissolution

Phosphorus uptake by plants and organisms is one of the most important life-sustaining processes occurring in the critical zone (CZ). Because 95% of Earth’s reserves is relatively immobile in the form of apatite, plants and organisms rely on molecular scale solubilization process to extract available P. As the world experiences a global P shortage, influencing food production, it becomes increasingly important to understand apatite dissolution. The detailed study of chemically weathered apatite surfaces at the μm to nm-scale is key to understanding P solubilization and uptake in the CZ, allowing for better crop management and efficient fertilization. Apatite weathering is generally viewed in terms of a pH-dependent process where protons weaken atomic bonds, this leading to the disintegration of the apatite structure. A general feature of apatite weathering in acid and near neutral pH conditions is an apparent non-stoichiometric dissolution characterized by [Ca/P]aq > 1.66 in both fluorapatites (FAP) and hydroxyapatites (HAP). This process leads to the formation of a surface altered layer (SAL) with a different composition from the bulk, which many have argued is a Ca-depleted “leached layer.” We investigated apatite weathering at the nanoscale using FIB-prepared TEM-foils. Our preliminary results based on laboratory-altered FAP at ambient T and pH 3 show the formation of amorphous SALs with a maximum thickness of ~10 nm. High resolution chemical mapping and profiling using STEM-EELS and STEM-EDXS indicate that the SALs are generally, but not always, depleted in Ca and enriched in P. These results provide an alternate view of the mechanism of apatite dissolution with stoichiometric breakdown of the apatite structure, followed by the reprecipitation of an amorphous surface layer depleted in Ca. This mechanism can be described in terms of coupled interfacial dissolution-reprecipitation (CIDR), which is increasingly viewed as a universal mechanism of silicate mineral and glass dissolution. Our observation that apatite may dissolve similarly to silicates implies not only that apatite weathering may be more complex than originally thought, but also that the CIDR mechanism may extend beyond silicates.

mineralogy↗