Cortical Intracellular Electrical Potential in Roots of Unstressed and Stressed Sunflower Seedlings. II. Radial Profiles and Oscillations

1997 ◽  
Vol 24 (5) ◽  
pp. 651 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. M. Cortes

Various models have been proposed to explain how plants can extract water from dry soil against a gradient in water potential. According to one model, it is hypothesised that water uptake from dry soil is associated with a radial gradient in the intracellular electrical potential (Ec) of root cortical cells such that the potential in the outer cells is relatively hyperpolarised. As a partial test of this model, a microelectrode was used to measure radial profiles of Ec in intact roots of sunflower (Helianthus annuus) seedlings. The seedlings were subjected to either a control (unstressed) or one of two stress treatments. Water stress was rapidly imposed and relieved by lowering and raising the level of nutrient solution in a tank which contained all the seedling roots except the lateral root in which Ec was measured. There was a gradient in Ec in roots of unstressed plants with the potential of the outer cortical cells being relatively depolarised. The imposition of stress shifted the gradient in accordance with the hypothesis. Increasing the magnitude of the osmotic potential of the solution perfusing the measured portion of a lateral root of a stressed seedling resulted in a discontinuity in the profile between the second and third cortical layers. The gradients in the profile of Ec indicate there is a limitation in intercellular electrical coupling and the appearance of a discontinuity may indicate a decrease in coupling. Three types of occasional, spontaneous oscillations in Ec are characterised. One type of oscillation may be additional evidence that the electrical coupling between the cortical cell layers is variable and depends on the transport and status of water in the roots.

1997 ◽  
Vol 24 (5) ◽  
pp. 643 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. M. Cortes

The intracellular electrical potential (Ec) was measured with a microelectrode in cortical cells of intact roots of sunflower (Helianthus annuus) seedlings subjected to differing levels of water stress and illumination. Water stress was rapidly imposed and relieved by lowering and raising the level of nutrient solution in a tank which contained all the seedling roots except the lateral root in which Ec was measured. The base value of Ec for unstressed, illuminated seedlings was –120 mV. When placed in the dark, a small reversible depolarisation of approximately 10 mV could be measured in roots of seedlings grown under low levels of radiation but was not evident in seedlings grown under high levels of radiation. The imposition of and relief from extreme water stress (leaves and apex severely wilted) resulted in a reversible depolarisation of approximately 50 mV. The effect of water stress was greatly reduced by the presence of sucrose and glucose in the nutrient solution perfusing the 30 mm portion of the lateral root in which Ec was measured. It appears likely that the variation in potential was mediated by a reduction in the supply of photosynthate to the roots.


Science ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 366 (6468) ◽  
pp. 1021-1023 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takashi Soyano ◽  
Yoshikazu Shimoda ◽  
Masayoshi Kawaguchi ◽  
Makoto Hayashi

Legumes develop root nodules in symbiosis with nitrogen-fixing rhizobial bacteria. Rhizobia evoke cell division of differentiated cortical cells into root nodule primordia for accommodating bacterial symbionts. In this study, we show that NODULE INCEPTION (NIN), a transcription factor in Lotus japonicus that is essential for initiating cortical cell divisions during nodulation, regulates the gene ASYMMETRIC LEAVES 2-LIKE18/LATERAL ORGAN BOUNDARIES DOMAIN16a (ASL18/LBD16a). Orthologs of ASL18/LBD16a in nonlegume plants are required for lateral root development. Coexpression of ASL18a and the CCAAT box–binding protein Nuclear Factor-Y (NF-Y) subunits, which are also directly targeted by NIN, partially suppressed the nodulation-defective phenotype of L. japonicusdaphne mutants, in which cortical expression of NIN was attenuated. Our results demonstrate that ASL18a and NF-Y together regulate nodule organogenesis. Thus, a lateral root developmental pathway is incorporated downstream of NIN to drive nodule symbiosis.


Endocrinology ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 156 (6) ◽  
pp. 2338-2348 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chen-Che Jeff Huang ◽  
Cary Kraft ◽  
Nicole Moy ◽  
Lily Ng ◽  
Douglas Forrest

Abstract The development of the adrenal cortex involves the formation and then subsequent regression of immature or fetal inner cell layers as the mature steroidogenic outer layers expand. However, controls over this remodeling, especially in the immature inner layer, are incompletely understood. Here we identify an inner cortical cell population that expresses thyroid hormone receptor-β1 (TRβ1), one of two receptor isoforms encoded by the Thrb gene. Using mice with a Thrbb1 reporter allele that expresses lacZ instead of TRβ1, β-galactosidase was detected in the inner cortex from early stages. Expression peaked at juvenile ages in an inner zone that included cells expressing 20-α-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase, a marker of the transient, so-called X-zone in mice. The β-galactosidase-positive zone displayed sexually dimorphic regression in males after approximately 4 weeks of age but persisted in females into adulthood in either nulliparous or parous states. T3 treatment promoted hypertrophy of inner cortical cells, induced some markers of mature cortical cells, and, in males, delayed the regression of the TRβ1-positive zone, suggesting that TRβ1 could partly divert the differentiation fate and counteract male-specific regression of inner zone cells. TRβ1-deficient mice were resistant to these actions of T3, supporting a functional role for TRβ1 in the inner cortex.


1977 ◽  
Vol 55 (17) ◽  
pp. 2306-2318 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dale Callaham ◽  
John G. Torrey

Seedlings of the sweet fern, Comptonia peregrina (L.) Coult., grown aeroponically, were inoculated with a nodule suspension to allow infection by the actinomycete-like organism which causes nodule formation. Roots with early stages of infection and nodule initiation were fixed, embedded in resin, sectioned, and examined. Infection is infrequent in Comptonia with only a few nodules per seedling root system. Infection via root hair invasion causes the retention of the curled and deformed root hair in an intensely cytoplasmic state with ramification of multiple filamentous strands of the endophyte. A limited cortical proliferation occurs in response to the infection forming the prenodule; endophyte filaments grow radially inward from the base of the infected epidermal root hair and invade a portion of the prenodular cells resulting in their hypertrophy. Distal and proximal to the prenodule site, a number of primary nodule primordia are initiated, varying from a few up to a dozen or more. These primordia appear to develop more or less simultaneously under the stimulus of the invading endophyte; they are like lateral roots in their site of origin, occurring largely opposite the protoxylem poles and involving pericyclic and endodermal cell proliferation. They differ in that the cortical cells external to each primordium are stimulated to undergo divisions and these cortical cell derivatives are incorporated into the developing primordium. The endophyte enters the cortical tissues of the lateral root on which the prenodule has formed and then invades proximal and distal to the infection site, progressing into the cortical tissues of each of the developing nodule primordia. A cork-like layer develops on the original lateral root in areas not occupied by primordia by initiation of subepidermal cell divisions and wall thickening. Normal lateral root primordium formation occurs in the pericycle opposite the protoxylem poles and involves cellular derivatives of the pericycle and endodermis but no cortical cells, which instead are crushed and displaced by the lateral root primordium as it develops. Nodule formation clearly involves complex chemical interactions, which remain for further study, between the host cells and the invading endophyte.


1977 ◽  
Vol 25 (5) ◽  
pp. 483 ◽  
Author(s):  
N Malajczuk ◽  
AJ Mccomb ◽  
CA Parker

On lateritic podzolic soils in Western Australia Eucalyptus calophylla is resistant to Phytophthora cinnamomi whereas Eucalyptus marginata is susceptible and eventually killed by the pathogen. On loam soils both eucalypts are resistant. Possible mechanisms for resistance of E. calophylla in lateritic soil and the inhibitory action of loam soils were investigated. Aseptically raised eucalypt seedlings succumbed to infection in liquid culture tubes. The mechanism of infection was compared by light and electron microscopy which showed similar fungal invasion and penetration into roots of both eucalypt species. Vegetative hyphae initially penetrated intercellularly and proliferated rapidly within cortical and stelar tissue. Intracellular invasion of these tissues occurred 48hr after initial infection through dissolution of the host cell wall. Chlamydospores were formed within a number of cortical cells. Unsuberized roots of mature trees produced aseptically showed reactions to invasion similar to those of the eucalypt seedling roots. Suberized roots were not invaded. The addition of small quantities of lateritic soil to sterile sand so as to introduce soil micro-organisms without altering the chemical and physical status of the sand, and subsequent inoculation of the sand with P.cinnamomi, resulted in a reduction of root damage on both eucalypts when compared with seedlings raised in sterile sand. Roots of E.calophylla were less severely damaged than those of E.marginata. The addition of small quantities of loam soil significantly reduced root damage in seedlings of both species. These results parallel both pot experiments and field observations, and suggest that microorganisms of the rhizosphere may be an important factor in the resistance of E.calophylla to infection, and in the inhibitory effect of loam soil on P.cinnamomi.


2002 ◽  
Vol 80 (9) ◽  
pp. 907-915 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter F Giordano ◽  
Michelle R Lum ◽  
Ann M Hirsch

We have initiated studies on the molecular biology and genetics of white sweetclover (Melilotus alba Desr.) and its responses to inoculation with the nitrogen-fixing symbiont Sinorhizobium meliloti. Early nodulin genes such as ENOD40 serve as markers for the transition from root to nodule development even before visible stages of nodule formation are evident. Using Northern blot analysis, we found that the ENOD40 gene was expressed within 6 h after inoculation with two different strains of S. meliloti, one of which overproduces symbiotic Nod factors. Inoculation with this strain resulted in an additional increase in ENOD40 gene expression over a typical wild-type S. meliloti strain. Moreover, the increase in mRNA brought about by the Nod-factor-overproducing strain 24 h after inoculation was correlated with lateral root formation by using whole-mount in situ hybridization to localize ENOD40 transcripts in lateral root meristems and by counting lateral root initiation sites. Cortical cell divisions were not detected. We also found that nodulation occurred more rapidly on white sweetclover in response to the Nod-factor-overproducing strain, but ultimately there was no difference in nodulation efficiency in terms of nodule number or the number of roots nodulated by the two strains. Also, the two strains could effectively co-colonize the host when inoculated together, although a few host cells were occupied by both strains.Key words: ENOD40, Nod factor, Melilotus, Sinorhizobium, symbiosis.


1999 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas A. Miller ◽  
Steven W. Zucker

We present a model of visual computation based on tightly inter-connected cliques of pyramidal cells. It leads to a formal theory of cell assemblies, a specific relationship between correlated firing patterns and abstract functionality, and a direct calculation relating estimates of cortical cell counts to orientation hyperacuity. Our network architecture is unique in that (1) it supports a mode of computation that is both reliable and efficent; (2) the current-spike relations are modeled as an analog dynamical system in which the requisite computations can take place on the time scale required for an early stage of visual processing; and (3) the dynamics are triggered by the spatiotemporal response of cortical cells. This final point could explain why moving stimuli improve vernier sensitivity.


Development ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 121 (10) ◽  
pp. 3303-3310 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.J. Laskowski ◽  
M.E. Williams ◽  
H.C. Nusbaum ◽  
I.M. Sussex

In both radish and Arabidopsis, lateral root initiation involves a series of rapid divisions in pericycle cells located on the xylem radius of the root. In Arabidopsis, the number of pericycle cells that divide to form a primordium was estimated to be about 11. To determine the stage at which primordia are able to function as root meristems, primordia of different stages were excised and cultured without added hormones. Under these conditions, primordia that consist of 2 cell layers fail to develop while primordia that consist of at least 3–5 cell layers develop as lateral roots. We hypothesize that meristem formation is a two-step process involving an initial period during which a population of rapidly dividing, approximately isodiametric cells that constitutes the primordium is formed, and a subsequent stage during which meristem organization takes place within the primordium.


1972 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. A. Borger ◽  
T. T. Kozlowski

The subepidermal cell layer was the site of origin of the first periderm in the hypocotyl and internodes of Fraxinuspennsylvanica and Ailanthusaltissima. In the hypocotyl of Robiniapsendoacacia, the first periderm arose in cortical cells near the phloem; in the internodes it originated in the subepidermal, second, or third cortical cell layer. The outermost cell layer of the pericycle gave rise to the first periderm in the hypocotyl of Pinusresinosa. In all four species, periderm appeared first near the base of the hypocotyl and developed acropetally. In A. altissima and R. pseudoaeacia, phellem mother cells were cut off by the phellogen. These subsequently divided to produce phellem cells. In F. pennsylvanica and P. resinosa, phellem cells were produced directly from the phellogen.


2001 ◽  
Vol 280 (2) ◽  
pp. F283-F290 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Chalumeau ◽  
D. Du Cheyron ◽  
N. Defontaine ◽  
O. Kellermann ◽  
M. Paillard ◽  
...  

The present study was addressed to define the contribution of cytoskeleton elements in the kidney proximal tubule Na+/H+ exchanger 3 (NHE3) activity under basal conditions. We used luminal membrane vesicles (LMV) isolated from suspensions of rat cortical tubules pretreated with either colchicine (Colch) or cytochalasin D (Cyto D). Colch pretreatment of suspensions (200 μM for 60 min) moderately decreased LMV NHE3 activity. Cyto D pretreatment (1 μM for 60 min) elicited an increase in LMV NHE3 transport activity but did not increase Na-glucose cotransport activity. Cyto D pretreatment of suspensions did not change the apparent affinity of NHE3 for internal H+. In contrast, after Cyto D pretreatment of the suspensions, NHE3 protein abundance was increased in LMV and remained unchanged in cortical cell homogenates. The effect of Cyto D on NHE3 was further assessed with cultures of murine cortical cells. The amount of surface biotinylated NHE3 increased on Cyto D treatment, whereas NHE3 protein abundance was unchanged in cell homogenates. In conclusion, under basal conditions NHE3 activity depends on the state of actin organization possibly involved in trafficking processes between luminal membrane and intracellular compartment.


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