Responses of Different Pakchoi (Brassica chinensis L.) Cultivars to Cu Toxicity

Two pot experiments with a completely random design and 4 replications were performed in a greenhouse to examine the response difference of 17 cultivars of pakchoi (Brassica chinensis L.) grown in a Cu-spiked and a clean soil to Cu.relatively tolerant. When the 17 cultivars of pakchoi grew in clean garden soil, the Cu concentrations in the aboveground part were positively correlated (r = 0.6693) with their root Cu concentrations. However, when they grew in the Cu-spiked soil a highly negative correlation coefficient (r = -0.5376) was obtained in the Cu concentration between the aboveground part and the root. This meant that the Cu tolerant cultivars had a weak ability to transfer Cu from their root to their aboveground part, and therefore stored much more Cu in their root than the Cu sensitive cultivars.

Responses of ABA and CTK to soil drought in leafless and leafy apple tree

The authors tested the contents of ABA (abscisic acid) , ZR (zeatin riboside), DHZR (dihydrozeatin riboside) and iPA (isopentenyl adenosine) in leafless and leafy apple trees ( Red Fufi/Malus micromalus Makino) during soil drought stress. ABA concentration in drought stressed leafless trees increased significantly compared to the controls. ABA both in roots and xylem rose steadily in the earlier drought stage, reaching a maximum of 1.46 ± 0.35 nmol g^-1 FW and 117 nmol l^-1 after the 8th day. Similar change patterns of ABA concentration was observed in the leafy trees during soil drought stress; ABA concentrations in roots and xylem sap increased and reached the maximum in the first three days; after 8th day , it decreased slightly, whereas leaf ABA concentration increased steadily in drought stressed plants throughout the duration of the experiment.Between drought stressed and control trees, no significant differences were observed in concentration of ZR and DHZR in both leafless and leafy trees ; whereas iPA concentration of the drought stressed leafless and leafy plants decreased markedly in the later stage of drought. These results showed that endogenous ABA originated mainly from the roots in the earlier drought stage, and mainly from the leaves in the later drought stage. Total CTK showed no reduction in the earlier drought stage and decreased in the later drought stage.

Efects of Tetcyclacis on Plant Growth and Development in Triticale cv. Lasko

Experiments with tetcyclacis applied as a seed-dressing carried out with triticale cv. lasko in pots in the glasshouse and in hand-sown plots in the field. The results showed that tetcyclacis significantly delayed seedling emergence and inhibited the elongating growth in plant seedling stage, but not affected the growth and development of the adult plant during the late stage of stem extension and the stage of grain expansion. No significant difference was found in fertile stem number, grain quality and yield between the treated plants with tetcyclacis and control.

OsDREB4 Genes in Rice Encode AP2-Containing Proteins that Bind Specifically to the Dehydration-Responsive Element

Most dehydration-responsive element-binding (DREB) factors interact specifically with the dehydration-responsive element (DRE) and control the expression of many stress-inducible genes in Arabidopsis. In rice (Oryza sativa L. cv. Lansheng), we cloned three DREB homologs: OsDREB1-1, OsDREB4- 1, and OsDREB4-2. The deduced amino acid sequences revealed that each protein contained a potential nuclear localization signal, an AP2 DNA-binding domain, and a possible acidic activation domain. The yeast one-hybrid assay indicated that both OsDREB4-1 and OsDREB4-2 proteins specifically bound to DRE and activated expression of the dual reporter genes of histidine (HIS3) and galactosidase (LacZ). In rice seedlings,expression of OsDREB4-1 was induced by dehydration and high salt, whereas OsDREB1-1 and OsDREB4-2 were expressed constitutively. Under normal growth conditions, OsDREB1-1 was expressed strongly in the leaf, sheath, and spike, was expressed relatively weak in the stem and only faintly expressed in the roots,whereas expression of transcripts of OsDREB4-1 and OsDREB4-2 was higher in the roots, stem, and spike,lower in the leaf, and undetectable in the sheath. Together, these results imply that expression of the OsDREB genes could be controlled by specific aspects of differentiation or development. Thus, OsDREB4-1 could function as a trans-acting factor in the DRE/DREB regulated stress-responsive pathway.

Estimating the spatial distribution of organic carbon density for the soils of Ohio, USA

Historical database of National Soil Survey Center containing 1424 geo-referenced soil profiles was used in this study for estimating the organic carbon （SOC） for the soils of Ohio, USA. Specific objective of the study was to estimate the spatial distribution of SOC density （C stock per unit area） to 1.0-m depth for soils of Ohio using geographically weighted regression （GWR）, and compare the results with that obtained from multiple linear regression （MLR）. About 80% of the analytical data were used for calibration and 20% for validation. A total of 20 variables including terrain attributes, climate data, bedrock geology, and land use data were used for mapping the SOC density. Results showed that the GWR provided better estimations with the lowest （3.81 kg m-2） root mean square error （RMSE） than MLR approach Total estimated SOC pool for soils in Ohio ranged from 727 to 742 Tg. This study demon strates that, the local spatial statistical technique, the GWR can perform better in capturing the spatial distribution of SOC across the study region as compared to other global spatial statistical techniques such as MLR. Thus, GWR enhances the accuracy for mapping SOC density.