Carl N. McDaniel

Developmental states associated with the floral transition

Floral initiation can be analyzed from a developmental perspective by focusing upon how developmental fates are imprinted, remembered, and expressed. This is not an altogether new perspective, since people studying flowering have been concerned for a long time with the commitment of meristems to form flowers and the morphological, cellular, and molecular changes associated with this commitment. What is novel is the emphasis on developmental states as opposed to physiological processes. This developmental focus indicates that there appear to be at least three major developmental states that are acquired and expressed in the process of a meristem initiating floral morphogenesis. The meristem cells must first become competent to respond to a developmental signal that evokes them into a florally determined state. The leaves are the usual source of this signal and a specific leaf may or may not have the capacity to be inductively active. When a leaf does develop the capacity for inductive activity, this capacity is usually correlated with the ontogeny of the leaf. Inductive activity, however, may be continually expressed as in some day-neutral plants or may be latent as in plants where the photoperiod is the external cue for activity. Competent shoot apical meristems respond to inductive leaf signal by being evoked into a florally determined state. Under permissive conditions this florally determined state is expressed as the initiation of floral morphogenesis. Many mechanisms have evolved to regulate entry into and expression of these developmental states. As we learn more about the developmental states associated with flowering and how they are acquired and expressed, we will understand better how the various patterns of flowering are related to one another as well as which developmental processes are common to all angiosperms.

Floral determination in the terminal and axillary buds of Nicotiana tabacum L.

Abstract The terminal and axillary buds of the day-neutral plant, Nicotiana tabacum cv. Wisconsin 38, become determined for floral development during the growth of the plant. This state of determination can be demonstrated with a simple experiment: buds determined for floral development produce the same number of nodes in situ and if rooted. After several months of growth and the production of many leaves, the terminal bud became determined for floral development within a period of about 2 days. After the terminal bud became florally determined, it produced four nodes and a terminal flower. The buds located in the axils of leaves borne just below the floral branches became florally determined 5 to 9 days after the terminal bud became florally determined. Since florally-determined axillary buds were not clonally derived from a florally-determined terminal meristem, axillary buds and the terminal bud acquired the state of floral determination independently. These data indicate that a pervasive signal induced a state of floral determination in competent terminal and axillary buds.

Influence of leaves and roots on meristem development inNicotiana tabacum L. cv. Wisconsin 38

The terminal, apical shoot meristem ofN. tabacum cv. Wisconsin 38 normally differentiates into a flower after producing 30 to 40 nodes. The influence of leaves and roots on the regulation of flowering was evaluated by counting the number of nodes produced after removal of leaves or the induction of adventitious roots. Leaf removal has no effect on the number of nodes produced before flower formation. Root induction significantly increases the number of nodes produced before flower formation. The plant behaves as if it were measuring the number of nodes between the meristem and the roots as a means of regulating meristem conversion from vegetative to floral differentiation.

Determination for growth pattern in axillary buds of Nicotiana tabacum L.

Abstract The number of nodes produced by a bud meristem before differentiation into a flower is defined as its developmental potential. Decapitation, rooting, and grafting experiments were used to measure the developmental potential of the vegetative axillary bud meristems on Nicotiana tabacum. Decapitation experiments measure the in situ developmental potential while rooting and grafting experiments measure developmental potential in isolation and at a new location on the organism, respectively. A rooted or grafted bud exhibits one of two patterns of development: (1) It develops like an in situ bud or (2) It develops according to its new environment. For example, second axillary buds below the inflorescence produced 18.8 ± 0.8 nodes in situ, 17.9 ± 0.9 or 39.8 ± 1.1 nodes when rooted, and 22.2 ± 0.6 or 34.2 ± 0.7 nodes when grafted to the base of the plant. These results suggest that the buds which develop like in situ buds are developmentally determined while buds that develop according to their new environment are undetermined. On an individual plant, determined and undetermined buds are separated by one internode and only first, second, and third buds below the inflorescence exhibit determination.

One world, one experiment: addressing the biodiversity--economics conflict

Abstract The self-organizing principles of markets that have emerged in human cultures over the past 10 000 years are inherently in conflict with the self-organizing principles of ecosystems that have evolved over the past 3.5 billion years. The rules governing the dynamics of ecosystems, within which all human activity takes place, are ultimately a function of biological laws, not a function of human-created economic systems. The conflict between these systems is illustrated by the fact that economic indicators have shown vigorous growth during the last century while a variety of environmental indicators have exhibited negative trends. Ultimately, however, the growth of human economies faces the constraints that limit all biological systems. In this article we outline the bases for the conflict between biological and economic activity and suggest policy approaches that will enhance the chances for creating cultures that are economically and environmentally sustainable.

Floral determination in axillary buds of Nicotiana silvestris

Abstract At anthesis of the terminal flower the developmental fates of axillary buds of the long-day plant Nicotiana silvestris were assessed in situ and in isolation. The in situ developmental fate was assessed by decapitating the plant above the bud in question and letting the bud mature. The developmental fate of isolated buds was assessed by removing the bud from the main axis, rooting it, and letting it mature. The number of nodes below the terminal flower of the mature shoot was indicative of the developmental fate of the bud. Terminal meristems of rooted axillary buds exhibited two patterns of development: (1) Their developmental fate was the same as that of in situ buds at the same node or (2) their developmental fate was the same as that of seed-derived plants. For example, terminal meristems of rooted buds from the fourth node below the inflorescence produced either 15 to 19 nodes or 36 to 40 nodes. In situ fourth buds produced 12 to 14 nodes while seed-derived plants produced 33 to 39 nodes. Terminal meristems of rooted axillary buds that exhibited the same developmental fate as that of in situ buds were determined for floral development. Although determined buds produced a terminal flower, all but one had abnormal inflorescences. That is, in the place of floral branches determined buds produced vegetative branches. Four buds that were not determined for floral development had their shoot tips rooted each time the plant bolted. Only when the plants were allowed to grow without being rerooted did they flower. These results indicate that roots may prevent and/or destabilize floral determination in N. silvestris.

Amino acid transport in suspension cultured plant cells: I. Methods and kinetics of L-leucine uptake

Abstract A method for studying amino acid transport into suspension-cultured Nicotiana tabacum . cv. Wisc. 38 cells has been developed. Results from experimental analysis of this method demonstrate that the method yields precise measurements of initial uptake rates. This method was employed to measure L-leucine transport and two systems have been identified. At the lower substrate levels investigated (0.08 mM to 20.0 mM) transport is via an energy dependent, saturable system while at the higher substrate levels (20.0 mM to 150.0 mM) uptake increases result from an energy independent, nonsaturable system. The saturable system is stereospecific for L-leucine and an Eadie-Hofstee plot gives a K m of 1.91 mM and a V max of 40.9 nM/ml HV/min.

Selection of amitrole tolerant tobacco calli and the expression of this tolerance in regenerated plants and progeny

SummaryThirty-one clones capable of growth in the presence of 1.9×10−4 M amitrole (3-amino-1,2,4-triazole) were isolated from non-mutagenized cell suspensions of haploid Nicotiana tabacum cv. ‘Wisconsin 38’ plants at a frequency of 2.5×10−8. Seven clones retained tolerance when grown on selective medium for three years. When clones were cultured in the absence of amitrole, tolerance persisted for 9 months in five clones. Some plants regenerated from three amitrole-tolerant clones were tolerant. Seven amitrole-tolerant clones were isolated from diploid N. tabacum cell suspensions and R plant tolerance was followed through two sexual generations. Simple Mendelian inheritance patterns were not observed.

Haemolymph ecdysone concentrations in Hyalophora cecropia pupae, dauer pupae and adults

Haemolymph ecdysone concentrations were determined by radioimmunoassay in diapausing pupae, pharate adults, adults, and chilled dauer pupae. The concentration in diapausing pupae after 6 months chilling (5.35 pg/μl) increased dramatically after 3 days at 27°C (>200 pg/μl) and then decreased to low levels in adult females (1.63 pg/μl). In adult males ecdysone was undetectable in all except one animal. Dauer pupae showed a decrease from 6.1 to 1.7 pg/μl 1 day after being transferred from 6 to 27°C. Over a 3-day period the value increased to 3.19 pg/μl and remained constant for more than a year. These results suggest that diapausing pupae with and without brain neurosecretory cells maintain a low concentration of ecdysone in the haemolymph.

Flowering response of day-neutral and short-day cultivars of Nicotiana tabacum L. interactions among roots, genotype, leaf ontogenic position and growth conditions

The interaction between roots and leaves as a function of the capacity of differently positioned leaves to induce flowering of four cultivars of Nicotiana tabacum L. was assessed under long-and short-day growth conditions with three types of manipulations: 1) repeated rooting of the shoot tip, 2) removal of apical leaves, and 3) removal of basal leaves. Repeated rooting of the shoot tip increased the number of nodes produced by all cultivars; however, a substantial extension of vegetative growth was only caused by rerooting in conditions where apical leaves exhibited little or no inductive capacity. The simplest and most consistent interpretation of these data is that floral initiation in tobacco results from an interaction of inputs from the leaves and the roots and that the root influence can be overridden by a strong leaf signal.