Notes sobre la flora de la Terra Baixa Catalana.

Durant les nostres excursions hem aplegat una bona quantitat de dades sobre la flora catalana. D'aquestes dades hem seleccionat les que creiem que son mes intéressants tant per la seva novetat com per la seva raresa. Llevat de molt poques excepcions ara només aportem citacions de plantes de la terra baixa i, en especial, de les serralades costeres catalanes. Ultra la indicació de les dades de localització de cada pianta (comarca, municipi, indret concret i altitud) i d'alguna indicació de l'habitat o l'ecologia, hi afegim la notació del quadrat U.T.M. de 10 km de costat. Remarquem que en alguns casos, quan ens ha estât possible, hi afegim, entre claudàtors, la xifra del quadrat d'U.T.M. d'un quilòmetre de costat. A la llista que segueix, les espècies són disposades per ordre alfabètic.

Dendroecologia de Pinus sylvestris en Catalunya

En el presente trabajo se ha llevado a cabo un estudio de las limitaciones climaticas del crecimiento secundario de Pinus sylvestris L. en tres zonas de Catalunya. Para ello se han establecido 10 cronologias en otras tantas localidades, de las que 6 corresponden al Prepirineo, 2 al Montseny y 2 a Prades. La metodologia utilizada para poner de manifiesto las relaciones clima- crecimiento ha sido el análisis de regresión múltiple en componentes principales, obteniéndose asi las funciones respuesta. Los resultados confirmaron la hipotesis de que esta especie, incluso en la zona del Prepirineo, se ve influenciada por el estrés hídric0 durante la estación de crecimiento y aunque existe una respuesta similar en las tres zonas de estudio, también se producen diferencias. El efecto de inercia o el retardo con que las especies responden a 10s estímulos climaticos se ha puesto de manifiesto al presentar, alguno de 10s factores climaticos, coeficientes significativos en periodos anteriores a la estación actual de crecimiento. Los resultados son comentados desde la ecofisiologia de esta especie, comparándolos con 10s obtenidos por otros autores en el norte de su distribución geográfica. Finalmente se hace referencia a la estrategia adaptativa de P. sylvestris, considerada una especie pionera

Un món amb més de mil sexes

En els animals i les plantes, hi ha espècies en què la sexualitat és molt complexa, fins al punt que trenquen amb la divisió en dos sexes que regna en la biologia dels éssers humans

Three-step pathway engineering results in more incidence rate and higher emission of nerolidol and improved attraction of Diadegma semiclausum

The concentration and ratio of terpenoids in the headspace volatile blend of plants have a fundamental role in the communication of plants and insects. The sesquiterpene (E)-nerolidol is one of the important volatiles with effect on beneficial carnivores for biologic pest management in the field. To optimize de novo biosynthesis and reliable and uniform emission of (E)-nerolidol, we engineered different steps of the (E)-nerolidol biosynthesis pathway in Arabidopsis thaliana. Introduction of a mitochondrial nerolidol synthase gene mediates de novo emission of (E)-nerolidol and linalool. Co-expression of the mitochondrial FPS1 and cytosolic HMGR1 increased the number of emitting transgenic plants (incidence rate) and the emission rate of both volatiles. No association between the emission rate of transgenic volatiles and their growth inhibitory effect could be established. (E)-Nerolidol was to a large extent metabolized to non-volatile conjugates.

Numeros cromosomaticos de plantas occidentales 35-37

Se estudió la meyosis en botones florales fijados directamente en el campo. Los testigos se conservan en el Herbario de la Facultad de Farmacia de Barcelona (BCF).

Estudios de los restos vegetales de diversas muestras procedentes del abrigo de Son Gallard- Son Marroig: el resultado de los analisis de fitolitos.

[spa] Los fitólitos son microrestos síliceos que reproducen el tejido celular de las plantas. Su identificación y cuantificación en un yacimiento arqueológico permiten obtener información sobre el tipo de plantas utilizadas en un contexto determinado así como su distribución. Fueron realizados análisis de fitolitos en diversos niveles correspondientes a diferentes períodos cronológicos del abrigo de Son Gallard-Son Marroig. Los resultados obtenidos señalan una deposición de carácter «antrópico» de materia vegetal en dos de los niveles analizados (TB3 y UE5), aunque sin una selección aparente del tipo de plantas depositadas. Por otro lado las muestras analizadas de la Covacha Este parecen indicar que se trata del suelo de hábitat del abrigo sin una deposición intencionada de materia vegetal, mas allá de la derivada por el uso continuado del abrigo. [eng] Phytoliths are silica microremains that reproduce the cellular tissue of plants. The identification and quantification of phytoliths in archaeological sediments, allows for a better understanding of the utilised plants in a pecific area as well as the distribution of the plants used. Phytolith analyses were performed on different levels from different periods in Son Gallard-Son Marroig rockshelter. The results obtained show an «anthropological» deposition of plants in two of the studied levels (TB3 and UE5), without apparent selection of plants. On the other hand, the samples analyzed from the Covacha Este seem to indicate the presence of vegetal remains product of the continued use of the soils with no intentional deposition.

Potential of local bio-geoengineering to mitigate dangerous temperature increases in a global warming scenario

Crops and forests are already responding to rising atmospheric carbon dioxide and air temperatures. Increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations are expected to enhance plant photosynthesis. Nevertheless, after long-term exposure, plants acclimate and show a reduction in photosynthetic activity (i.e. down-regulation). If in the future the Earth"s temperature is allowed to rise further, plant ecosystems and food security will both face significant threats. The scientific community has recognized that an increase in global temperatures should remain below 2°C in order to combat climate change. All this evidence suggests that, in parallel with reductions in CO2 emissions, a more direct approach to mitigate global warming should be considered. We propose here that global warming could be partially mitigated directly through local bio-geoengineering approaches. For example, this could be done through the management of solar radiation at surface level, i.e. by increasing global albedo. Such an effect has been documented in the south-eastern part of Spain, where a significant surface air temperature trend of -0.3°C per decade has been observed due to a dramatic expansion of greenhouse horticulture.

EMS mutagenesis in mature seed-derived rice calli as a new method for rapidly obtaining tilling mutant populations.

Background: TILLING (Targeting Induced Local Lesions IN Genomes) is a reverse genetic method that combines chemical mutagenesis with high-throughput genome-wide screening for point mutation detection in genes of interest. However, this mutation discovery approach faces a particular problem which is how to obtain a mutant population with a sufficiently high mutation density. Furthermore, plant mutagenesis protocols require two successive generations (M1, M2) for mutation fixation to occur before the analysis of the genotype can begin. Results: Here, we describe a new TILLING approach for rice based on ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS) mutagenesis of mature seed-derived calli and direct screening of in vitro regenerated plants. A high mutagenesis rate was obtained (i.e. one mutation in every 451 Kb) when plants were screened for two senescence-related genes. Screening was carried out in 2400 individuals from a mutant population of 6912. Seven sense change mutations out of 15 point mutations were identified. Conclusions: This new strategy represents a significant advantage in terms of time-savings (i.e. more than eight months), greenhouse space and work during the generation of mutant plant populations. Furthermore, this effective chemical mutagenesis protocol ensures high mutagenesis rates thereby saving in waste removal costs and the total amount of mutagen needed thanks to the mutagenesis volume reduction.

Characterization of an antennal carboxylesterase from the pest moth Spodoptera littoralis degrading a host plant odorant.

Background: Carboxyl/cholinesterases (CCEs) are highly diversified in insects. These enzymes have a broad range of proposed functions, in neuro/developmental processes, dietary detoxification, insecticide resistance or hormone/pheromone degradation. As few functional data are available on purified or recombinant CCEs, the physiological role of most of these enzymes is unknown. Concerning their role in olfaction, only two CCEs able to metabolize sex pheromones have been functionally characterized in insects. These enzymes are only expressed in the male antennae, and secreted into the lumen of the pheromone-sensitive sensilla. CCEs able to hydrolyze other odorants than sex pheromones, such as plant volatiles, have not been identified. Methodology: In Spodoptera littoralis, a major crop pest, a diversity of antennal CCEs has been previously identified. We have employed here a combination of molecular biology, biochemistry and electrophysiology approaches to functionally characterize an intracellular CCE, SlCXE10, whose predominant expression in the olfactory sensilla suggested a role in olfaction. A recombinant protein was produced using the baculovirus system and we tested its catabolic properties towards a plant volatile and the sex pheromone components. Conclusion: We showed that SlCXE10 could efficiently hydrolyze a green leaf volatile and to a lesser extent the sex pheromone components. The transcript level in male antennae was also strongly induced by exposure to this plant odorant. In antennae, SlCXE10 expression was associated with sensilla responding to the sex pheromones and to plant odours. These results suggest that a CCE-based intracellular metabolism of odorants could occur in insect antennae, in addition to the extracellular metabolism occurring within the sensillar lumen. This is the first functional characterization of an Odorant- Degrading Enzyme active towards a host plant volatile.

Stereoselective Synthesis of (-)-Spicigerolide

(-)-Spicigerolide was enantioselectively synthesized from a protected (S)-lactaldehyde. The synthesis of the polyacetylated framework relied on two Zn-mediated stereoselective additions of alkynes to aldehydes as well as a regiocontrolled [3,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement of an allylic acetate. The pyranone moiety was constructed via ring-closing metathesis.