The Role of Photosynthesis in Flowering of the Long-Day Plant Sinapis alba

1977 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 467 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Bodson ◽  
RW King ◽  
LT Evans ◽  
G Bernier

Flowering can be induced in the long-day plant Sinapis alba in 8-h photoperiods provided that the irradiance is close to that at which leaf photosynthesis is light-saturated (e.g. 96 J m-2 s-1). Three such 8-h cycles result in 10% flowering and six are required for full flowering, whereas only one long-day cycle of 16-20 h duration at a much lower irradiance (25 J m-2 s-1) is required for full flowering. High irradiance during the single long day promotes flowering when given for the first 8 h of a 16-h photoperiod, but is inhibitory over the last 8 h. Photosynthetic CO2 uptake is crucial for this response to high irradiance, as both its inhibitory and promotive effects on flowering are reversed by the removal of atmospheric CO2 during the period of high irradiance. Compared with plants kept in short days (8-h photoperiod), export of 14C-labelled assimilates from the leaf during a 24-h period was only 50-60% greater in plants exposed to a long day (20-h photoperiod), because plants in short days compensated to a degree for their shorter photosynthetic period by mobilizing leaf reserves during darkness. However, flowering can occur with no evident enhancement of supply of assimilate to the shoot apex, for example following dis- placement of the short day or on removal of atmospheric CO2 during the last 12 h of exposure to a 20-h long day. Also, the flowering response to radiant flux density during the second half of a long day shows an optimum between 15 and 70 J m-2 s-1, with reduced flowering both above and below this irradiance. Thus, although there is no absolute requirement for long days to induce flowering in S. alba, light reactions cther than photosynthesis probably contribute to photoperiodic induction in this species.

1987 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 277 ◽  
Author(s):  
LT Evans

Experiments in the Canberra phytotron with several European winter wheat varieties, especially cv. Templar, have shown that their need for vernalisation at low temperature can be replaced entirely by growth in short days at 21/16°C for the same period. In fact, although wheat is usually classified as a long day plant, inflorescence initiation at 21/16°C in unvernalised plants was twice as rapid in 8 h photoperiods as in 16 h ones. Short day induction was fastest in photoperiods of less than 12 h and was relatively insensitive to irradiance. Inflorescence development following initiation was faster the longer the photoperiod. At high irradiance, anthesis eventually occurred in 8 h days, but not at lower irradiance. These wheats are therefore short-long day plants, and may appear to be indifferent to daylength if only their time to anthesis is observed. Although short days can replace low temperatures, there are several important differences in their modes of action, and short day induction is better not referred to as short day vernalisation. Vernalisation of developing grains in the ear was more effective in long days.


2003 ◽  
Vol 285 (4) ◽  
pp. R873-R879 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory E. Demas ◽  
Timothy J. Bartness ◽  
Randy J. Nelson ◽  
Deborah L. Drazen

Siberian hamsters ( Phodopus sungorus) rely on photoperiod to coordinate seasonally appropriate changes in physiology, including immune function. Immunity is regulated, in part, by the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), although the precise role of the SNS in regulating photoperiodic changes in immunity remains unspecified. The goal of the present study was to examine the contributions of norepinephrine (NE), the predominant neurotransmitter of the SNS, to photoperiodic changes in lymphocyte proliferation. In experiment 1, animals were maintained in long [16:8-h light-dark cycle (16:8 LD)] or short days (8:16 LD) for 10 wk, and splenic NE content was determined. In experiment 2, in vitro splenocyte proliferation in response to mitogenic stimulation (concanavalin A) was assessed in spleen cell suspensions taken from long- or short-day hamsters in which varying concentrations of NE were added to the cultures. In experiment 3, splenocyte proliferation was examined in the presence of NE and selective α- and β-noradrenergic receptor antagonists (phenoxybenzamine and propranolol, respectively) in vitro. Short-day animals had increased splenic NE content compared with long-day animals. Long-day animals had higher proliferation compared with short-day animals independent of NE. NE (1 μM) further suppressed splenocyte proliferation in short but not long days. Last, NE-induced suppression of proliferation in short-day hamsters was blocked by propranolol but not phenoxybenzamine. The present results suggest that NE plays a role in photoperiodic changes in lymphocyte proliferation. Additionally, the data suggest that the effects of NE on proliferation are specific to activation of β-adrenergic receptors located on splenic tissue. Collectively, these results provide further support that photoperiodic changes in immunity are influenced by changes in SNS activity.


1976 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 207 ◽  
Author(s):  
LT Evans

Plants of L. temulentum grown in short days were exposed at various times during one night to mixtures of red (R) and far red (FR) light or to prolonged irradiation on a spectrograph. Irradiation with red light through the latter half of the 16-h night was inductive of flowering, its effect being enhanced by exposure to FR during the first 6 h after the period in daylight. Brief exposure to FR during this initial period was as effective as continuous irradiation with FR, and its effect was reversible by brief subsequent exposure to R, implicating the pigment phytochrome. Brief exposures to mixtures of R + FR at various times during the first 6 h in darkness were used to chart apparent changes in the two forms of phytochrome. To judge from the R + FR mixtures giving null responses, phytochrome reverted from the Pfr to the Pr form progressively over the first 5 h of darkness. There was no evidence of inverse reversion after an initial exposure to FR. Optimum flowering response required most of the phytochrome to be present in the Pfr form in the initial hours after daylight, followed by a rise in the proportion of the Pfr form to that set by R. Reflecting this shift during the night in the optimum proportion of Pfr, the spectrograph experiments indicated peak effectiveness in the far red region of the spectrum for irradiation at the end of the period in daylight, and in the red region (~670 nm) for irradiation during the latter part of the night. Flower induction in this long day plant is optimal when phytochrome is mostly in the Pr form early in the night, and in the Pfr form later, a sequence opposite to that required by short day plants such as Pharbitis nil and Chenopodium rubrum.


1969 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 773 ◽  
Author(s):  
LT Evans

Both stem growth and flowering in plants exposed to 1 long day showed an increasing response to gibberellins with increase in the concentration of the injected solution, up to 12 X 10-4M. With plants in short days both responses were asymptotic or showed an optimum at 4 X 1O-4M, depending on the light intensity.


1991 ◽  
Vol 260 (1) ◽  
pp. R102-R112 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. J. Bartness ◽  
B. D. Goldman ◽  
E. L. Bittman

The role of the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) in the response to short-day melatonin (MEL) signals was examined in long-day-housed pinealectomized (PINX) Siberian hamsters. Five- or ten-hour MEL infusions that mimicked the peak nocturnal durations of serum MEL levels in long or short days, respectively, or control saline infusions were given for 5 wk. Half the hamsters in each infusion group also received bilateral electrolytic SCN lesions. The 10-h MEL infusions reduced testes weight, body and fat pad weights, and serum prolactin (PRL) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) concentrations in unoperated controls. These short-day-type effects were blocked by SCN lesions, which often produced hyperprolactinemia. Circadian rhythms of locomotor activity were disrupted or sparse in hamsters with lesions in or near the SCN. In a second experiment, 5 wk of long-day-like, short-duration (5-h) MEL infusions were administered to hamsters that had been PINX after 8 wk of short-day exposure. Control hamsters given 5-h MEL infusions, but not 10-h MEL or saline infusions, exhibited testicular growth and increased serum PRL levels. Hamsters with SCN lesions showed similar responses, regardless of the duration or type of infusion. Although the blockade of 10-h MEL infusion-induced testicular regression by SCN lesions in experiment 1 may have been due to stimulation of the testes by PRL, it is unlikely that the hyperprolactinemia accounted for the ability of SCN lesions to block effects of 10-h MEL infusions on fat pad and body weights. Therefore, the SCN and/or neighboring structures may participate in the response to short-day MEL signals in Siberian hamsters.


Author(s):  
Amit Kumar ◽  
Kirtikumar R Kondhare ◽  
Nilam N Malankar ◽  
Anjan K Banerjee

Abstract Polycomb repressive complex (PRC) group proteins regulate various developmental processes in plants by repressing target genes via H3K27 trimethylation, and they function antagonistically with H3K4 trimethylation mediated by Trithorax group proteins. Tuberization in potato has been widely studied, but the role of histone modifications in this process is unknown. Recently, we showed that overexpression of StMSI1, a PRC2 member, alters the expression of tuberization genes in potato. As MSI1 lacks histone-modification activity, we hypothesized that this altered expression could be caused by another PRC2 member, StE(z)2, a potential H3K27 methyltransferase in potato. Here, we demonstrate that a short-day photoperiod influences StE(z)2 expression in the leaves and stolons. StE(z)2 overexpression alters plant architecture and reduces tuber yield, whereas its knockdown enhances yield. ChIP-sequencing using stolons induced by short-days indicated that several genes related to tuberization and phytohormones, such as StBEL5/11/29, StSWEET11B, StGA2OX1, and StPIN1 carry H3K4me3 or H3K27me3 marks and/or are StE(z)2 targets. Interestingly, we observed that another important tuberization gene, StSP6A, is targeted by StE(z)2 in leaves and that it has increased deposition of H3K27me3 under long-day (non-induced) conditions compared to short days. Overall, our results show that StE(z)2 and deposition of H3K27me3 and/or H3K4me3 marks might regulate the expression of key tuberization genes in potato.


1993 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 337 ◽  
Author(s):  
RW King ◽  
C Blundell ◽  
LT Evans

Previous experiments have shown that shoot apices excised from plants of L. temulentum that had been exposed to one long day (LD) could form inflorescence primordia in vitro if gibberellic acid (GA3) was present in the medium whereas apices from plants in short days (SD) could not. We show here that apices from older plants grown under high irradiance can undergo inflorescence differentiation in vitro after one LD even in the absence of GA3, as can apices from plants in SD if GA3 is present in the medium. For apices excised from both SD and one LD plants, the order of effectiveness of gibberellins for inflorescence induction was 2,2-dimethyl GA4 > GA5 > GA3 > GA1, in agreement with their ranking for effectiveness on intact plants. Application of GA3 to leaves before apex excision can substitute for GA3 in the growth medium. The presence of GA3 in the medium is not required until 4-6 days after excision from plants given one LD, and appears to be necessary for differentiation beyond the spikelet primordia stage. Three hypotheses concerning the relation between GAs and the LD stimulus to flowering, as affected by plant age, are considered.


2020 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 362-376
Author(s):  
Rebecca Andrews ◽  
Penny Van Bergen

This study investigated the characteristics of educators’ talk about decontextualised events with young children in seven early childhood long day care centres in Sydney, Australia. Educators were partnered with up to six children aged between 27 and 60 months. Across two time points, 85 educator–child dyads discussed past and future events. Educators’ use of questions, contextual statements, evaluations and prompts and children’s use of questions, open-ended responses, yes-no responses and spontaneous information statements were examined. Educators’ evaluative statements were highly correlated and educators’ questions were moderately correlated with children’s open-ended responses in past event conversations. Educators’ evaluative statements were highly correlated with children’s open-ended responses in future event conversations and were the only significant predictor for children’s talk. Given the important role of educators in scaffolding children’s thinking and communication skills, the recommended strategies for educators’ talk in decontextualised conversations include: sharing the conversational load, making frequent contextual statements and following the child’s lead/interests.


2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 827-841 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. M. de Boer ◽  
A. J. Watson ◽  
N. R. Edwards ◽  
K. I. C. Oliver

Abstract. The canonical question of which physical, chemical or biological mechanisms were responsible for oceanic uptake of atmospheric CO2 during the last glacial is yet unanswered. Insight from paleo-proxies has led to a multitude of hypotheses but none so far have been convincingly supported in three dimensional numerical modelling experiments. The processes that influence the CO2 uptake and export production are inter-related and too complex to solve conceptually while complex numerical models are time consuming and expensive to run which severely limits the combinations of mechanisms that can be explored. Instead, an intermediate inverse box model approach of the soft tissue pump is used here in which the whole parameter space is explored. The glacial circulation and biological production states are derived from these using proxies of glacial export production and the need to draw down CO2 into the ocean. We find that circulation patterns which explain glacial observations include reduced Antarctic Bottom Water formation and high latitude upwelling and mixing of deep water and to a lesser extent reduced equatorial upwelling. The proposed mechanism of CO2 uptake by an increase of eddies in the Southern Ocean, leading to a reduced residual circulation, is not supported. Regarding biological mechanisms, an increase in the nutrient utilization in either the equatorial regions or the northern polar latitudes can reduce atmospheric CO2 and satisfy proxies of glacial export production. Consistent with previous studies, CO2 is drawn down more easily through increased productivity in the Antarctic region than the sub-Antarctic, but that violates observations of lower export production there. The glacial states are more sensitive to changes in the circulation and less sensitive to changes in nutrient utilization rates than the interglacial states.


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