Partitioning between primary and secondary metabolism of carbon allocated to roots in four maize genotypes under water deficit and its effects on productivity

Plants may respond to drought by altering biomass allocation to shoots and roots or by changing the metabolic activities in these organs. To determine how drought changes the partitioning of carbon allocated to growth and secondary metabolism in maize roots and how it affects photosynthesis(A) and productivity in maize, we evaluated leaf gas exchange, yield componentes, root morphology, and primary and secondary metabolites including total soluble sugars(TSS), starch(S), phenolics(PHE), and lignin(LIG). Data were collected from pot-grown plants of four maize genotypes: BRS 1010 and 2B710(sensitive genotypes) and DKB390 and BRS1055(tolerant genotypes) under two soil water tensions: field capacity(FC,-18 kP a) and water deficit(WD,-138 kP a). WD was applied at the pre-flowering stage for 12 days and then the water supply was restored and maintained at optimum levels until the end of the cycle. For genotype BRS 1055 under FC, the greatest A did not result in greater grain biomass(DGB) because the accumulated photoassimilates had already filled the cells, and thus the excessive TSS synthesized in leaves was allocated to roots in large amounts. However, the sharp decrease in A caused by WD imposition in this genotype did not affect the influx pressure of leaf TSS, which was due largely to conversion of primary metabolites to PHE compounds to increase the length of fine roots. In leaves of DKB390 under WD, both S and TSS were reduced, whereas PHE were increased to prevent excessive water loss and xylem cavitation. Under WD, both BRS1010 and2B710 genotypes displayed reduced allocation of biomass to shoots and roots and LIG content in leaves, as well as lower A and DGB values. In BRS1010 this response was coupled to S decrease in leaves and TSS increase in roots, whereas in 2B710 there was a concomitant S increase in roots.

The Tight Coupling and Non-Linear Relationship between the Macroscopic Electrical and Optical Concomitants of Electrochemical CNS Waves Reflect the Non-Linear Dynamics of Neural Glial Propagation

In isolated chick retina, the visualization of electrochemical self-organized patterns is possible due to the presence of macroscopic intrinsic optical signals (IOSs). Isolated circular waves, standing patterns, and self-sustained sequences of spirals are all easily obtained using an IOS approach. In this paper we present the tight coupling and non-linear relationship between optical and electrical wave concomitants, and potassium-induced whole tissue excitability changes. Elementary statistical methods and time series analyses were applied to two sets of data: 1) solitary circular retinal spreading depression waves, and 2) tissue response to exogenous potassium fast pulses. The results were interpreted from the point of view of non-linear thermodynamical concepts and volume phase transitions in polyanionic gels according to the Tasaki action potential model. From these and previous results, it is clear that the glial network and extracellular matrix contribute to the propagation and emergence of these patterns.

Semiclassical Husimi Function of Simple and Chaotic Systems

We review the semiclassical method proposed in [1], a generalization of this method for n-dimensional system is presented. Using the cited method, we present an analytical method of obtain the semiclassical Husimi Function. The validity of the method is tested using Harmonic Oscillator, Morse Potential and Dikie’s Model as example, we found a good accuracy in the classical limit.