Separation and Identification of Differentially Expressed Proteins in Pistillate Flowers between Different Mulberry Cultivars

[Objective] This study aimed to explore the proteins related to pistillate flower development in different mulberry cultivars. [Method] The total proteins of the pistillate flowers of two mulberry cultivars Dal0 （Morus atropurpurea Roxb.） and SG01 （Morus muIticaulis Perr.） were extracted, separated and detected through two- dimensional electrophoresis （2-DE） and mass spectrometry. [Result] There was sig- nificant difference in the expression of proteins from the pistillate flowers of different mulberry cultivars. From the 2-DE images of Dal0 and SG01, 445_＋17 and 425_＋12 protein spots were respectively detected. The expression levels of 75 protein spots differed significantly. Thirteen spots those were expressed at high levels and well separated were analyzed by mass spectrometry, and nine of them were identified successfully. The nine proteins are involved in the glycometabolism, protein and amino acid metabolism and defense responses during the development of mulberry pistillate flower after they were pollinated. [Conclusion] The findings will provide reference for further study on the molecular mechanism of mulberry pistillate flower de- velopment.

Pistillate Flower Development and Stigma Receptivity of Euphorbia pulcherrima

Objective] This study aimed to investigate the relationship between pistil-late flower developmental morphology and stigma receptivity in Euphorbia pulcherri-ma. [Method] One-year-old adult plants of E. pulcherrima cultivar ‘Mil enium’ were used as experimental materials to analyze pistil ate flower development process by macroscopic and scanning electron microscope （SEM） observation. Stigma receptivity was detected with benzidine-hydrogen peroxide method and in vivo pol en germina-tion method. [Result] The pistil ate flower development process of E. pulcherrima was consisted of columnar stigma phase, stigma lobe slightly opening phase, Y-shape stigma lobe phase, inverse V-shaped stigma lobe phase and stigma curling phase. Pistil ate flower development and stigma receptivity of E. pulcherrima exhibit-ed certain correlation. The stigma receptive period lasted from stigma lobe slightly opening phase to inverse V-shaped stigma lobe phase; inverse V-shaped stigma lobe phase was appropriate for pol ination, lasting for 3-5 d, with V-shaped stigma lobe and a large amount of exudates on stigma surface according to SEM obser-vation. Stigma receptivity of E. pulcherrima detected with benzidine-hydrogen perox-ide method was consistent with that detected in vivo pol en germination method. [Conclusion] ln breeding practice, the optimal pol ination period of E. pulcherrima can be determined based on the developmental morphology of pistil ate flower.

Separation and Identification of Stage-specific Proteins in Pistillate Flowers of Mulberry

In order to excavate the function genes of stage-specific proteins in the development process of mulberry pistillate flowers, using fruit mulberry cuhivar ＇ Da 10＇ as experiment material, two-dimensional electrophoresis and mass-spectrometric technology were used to investigate specifically expressed proteins of mul- berry pistillate flowers in different flowering periods. The results showed that 471 ± 4,450 ± 15 and 446 ± 14 protein spots were determined in mulberry pistil- late flowers at full-bloom stage, initial flowering stage and terminal flowering stage respectively, including nine protein spots with characteristics of stage-specific ex- pression and clear electrophoretic bands.. By mass spectrometry analysis, database retrieval and bioinformatics analysis, five components were successfully identi- fied as lactoylglutathione lyase-like protein, perchloric acid soluble translation inhibitor protein, ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme 1 like protein, putative ethylene re- sponse protein and 3-hydroxyisobutyrate dehychngenase, which were involved in stress resistance reaction, protein catabolism, signal transduction, glycometabolism and other biological processes in plants, which indicated that these proteins might play an important biological function in the normal development and pollination fertilization of mulberry pistillate flowers.

Morphogenesis of Pistillate Flowers of Cercidiphyllum japonicum(Cercidiphyllaceae)

Floral morphogenesis and the development of Cercidiphyllumjaponicum Sieb. et Zucc. were observed by scanning electron microscopy （SEM）. The results showed that the pistillate inflorescences were congested spikes with the flowers arranged opposite. Great differences between the so-called ＂bract＂ and the vegetative leaf were observed both in morphogenesis and morphology. In morphogenesis, the ＂bract＂ primordium is crescent-shaped, truncated at the apex and not conduplicate, has no stipule primordium at the base but does have some inconspicuous teeth in the margin that are not glandular. The leaf primordium is triangular, cycloidal at the apex, conduplicate, has two stipule primordia at the base, has one gland-tooth at the apex occurring at first and some gland-teeth in the margin that occur later. In morphology, the ＂bract＂ is also different to the vegetative leaf in some characteristics that were also illustrated in the present paper. Based on the hypothesis that the bract is more similar to the vegetative leaf than the tepal, we considered that the so-called ＂bract＂ of C.japonicum might be the tepal of the pistillate flower in morphological nature. Therefore, each pistillate flower contains a tepal and a carpel. We did not find any trace of other floral organs in the morphogenesis of the pistillate flower. Therefore we considered that the unicarpellate status of extant Cercidiphyllum might be to highly reduce and advance characteristics that make the extant Cercidiphyllum isolated from both fossil Cercidiphyllum-like plants and its extant affinities.

Diversity of Sex Types and Seasonal Sexual Plasticity in a Cucumber Germplasm Collection

The sex type of a cucumber plant is determined by the proportion of male, female and hermaphrodite flowers that it bears and is an important factor that affects fruit yield. In this paper, the sex types and seasonal sexual stabilities of 322 accessions of cucumber germplasm were identified. This germplasm collection displayed a great variety of sex types. We used an updated 10-type sex classification system based on the flower types present and the proportion of nodes with pistillate flowers(PNPF). The PNPF ranges of all the accessions were 2.12%–100% in spring and 0–100% in autumn. A total of 81.37% of the accessions had PNPFs of 10%–50% in spring, but most(84.78%) accessions were reduced to 0–20% PNPF in autumn. The range of reduction of PNPF from spring to autumn was 0–67.91%. In other words, most of the germplasm was normal monoecious(31.68%) or subandroecious(62.73%) in spring, but 94.10% of the accessions were subandroecious in autumn. According to the statistical evaluation of the difference in PNPFs between the two seasons, each accession could be classified into one of three groups: seasonally stable, seasonally sensitive and highly seasonally sensitive, accounting for 10.56%, 20.50% and 68.94% of the accessions, respectively. With a few exceptions, the seasonal PNPF differences were positively correlated with the PNPFs in a given season for most accessions. These results provided useful information and materials for sex expression mechanism research and for breeding cucumbers with high and stable yields.