Modeling the effects of ozone on soybean growth and yield.

A simple mechanistic model was developed based on an existing growth model in order to address the mechanisms of the effects of ozone on growth and yield of soybean [Glycine max. (L.) Merr.

Fast-growing root nodule bacteria produce a novel polyamine, aminobutylhomospermidine.

Polyamines in various root nodule bacteria including Bradyrhizobium japonicum, Rhizobium fredii, R. leguminosarum, R. meliloti and R.

Structure and some characterization of the gene for phenylalanine ammonia-lyase from rice plants.

A nearly full-length cDNA and a genomic clone were isolated that encoded the phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) of rice plants, and the complete nucleotide sequences were determined. The gene encodes a polypeptide of 701 amino acid residues. The deduced amino acid sequence is highly similar to that of PAL from Phaseolus vulgaris deduced from an incomplete cDNA fragment.

'Males second' strategy in the allocation of sexes by the parasitic wasp, Gryon japonicum.

Patterns of the sex ratio allocation of Gryon japonicum (Ashmead) (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae), a solitary egg parasitoid of Riptortus clavatus (Thunberg) (Heteroptera: Alydidae), were investigated in the laboratory, and the result was checked against the field data on the sex composition of the parasitoid. When five host eggs were presented simultaneously to each of the females of G. japonicum in a laboratory experiment, they had a strong tendency to lay a male egg in second host egg and female eggs in the others.

Structure and characterization of a cDNA clone for phenylalanine ammonia-lyase from cut-injured roots of sweet potato.

A cDNA clone for phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) induced in wounded sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas Lam.) root was obtained by immunoscreening a cDNA library. The protein produced in Escherichia coli cells containing the plasmid pPAL02 was indistinguishable from sweet potato PAL as judged by Ouchterlony double diffusion assays.

Host egg kairomones essential for egg-larval parasitoid,Ascogaster reticulatus Watanabe (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) : II. Identification of internal kairomone.

Several components of an internal kairomone were identified inside eggs of the host,Adoxophyes sp. (Lepidoptere: Tortricidae), that releases egg deposition of the egg-larval parasitoid,Ascogaster reticulatus Watanabe (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). Pupal hemolymph with the same activity as an internal host egg kairomone was used as a convenient test sample.

Nucleotide sequence of segment S9 of the rice dwarf virus genome.

The complete nucleotide sequence of genome segment S9, which was reported as the ninth largest among the 12 genome segments of rice dwarf virus, was determined. The segment was 1,305 bp long and coded for a protein composed of 351 amino acids (Mr 38,930). The terminal sequences of the segment were found to consist of an imperfect 14 base pair inverted repeat located at positions 2-15 and 1289-1302, which is similar to that identified in other reoviruses.

Effects of ozone and peroxyacetyl nitrate on polar lipids and Fatty acids in leaves of morning glory and kidney bean.

To compare the effects of ozone and peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN) on leaf lipids, fatty acids and malondialdehyde (MDA), morning glory (Pharbitis nil Choisy cv Scarlet O'Hara) and kidney bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L. cv Gintebo) plants were exposed to either ozone (0.15 microliter per liter for 8 hours) or PAN (0.

Fitting of a binomial distribution to the number of chiasmata per bivalent.

Statistical tests on the distribution of the number of chiasmata per chromosome, collected from literatures, showed that they can be approximated by binomial distributions with one obligatory chiasma, i.e., B(N-1, p).

Effect of Iron Limitation on "Pseudomonas plantarii" Growth and Tropolone and Protein Production.

The addition of iron to an iron-deficient medium markedly enhanced the growth of "Pseudomonas plantarii" and the production of red crystals. However, it markedly reduced the amount of dissolved tropolone, a product of the bacterium and an iron chelator, and the production of an iron-regulated protein (78 kilodaltons). The red crystal was complex, composed of tropolone and iron, the ratio being 3:1.

Biodegradability of pesticides in water by microbes in activated sludge, soil and sediment.

A relatively simple, aerobic and anaerobic biodegradation test method for pesticides is proposed. The method consists of the inoculation of the test substance to a substrate of non-acclimated microbes in activated sludge, field soil and river sediment in a stirred flask. This method was applied to the evaluation for biodegradability of twelve pesticides.