Contrast in chloride exclusion between two grapevine genotypes and its variation in their hybrid progeny

Potted grapevines of 140 Ruggeri (Vitis berlandieri × Vitis rupestris), a good Cl− excluder, and K 51-40 (Vitis champinii × Vitis riparia ‘Gloire’), a poor Cl− excluder, and of a family obtained by crossing the two genotypes, were used to examine the inheritance of Cl− exclusion. Rooted leaves were then used to further investigate the mechanism for Cl− exclusion in 140 Ruggeri. In both a potting mix trial (plants watered with 50 mM Cl−) and a solution culture trial (plants grown in 25 mM Cl−), the variation in Cl− accumulation was continuous, indicating multiple rather than single gene control for Cl− exclusion between hybrids within the family. Upper limits of 42% and 35% of the phenotypic variation in Cl− concentration could be attributed to heritable sources in the potting mix and solution culture trials, respectively. Chloride transport in roots of rooted leaves of both genotypes appeared to be via the symplastic pathway, since addition of 8-hydroxy-1,3,6-pyrenetrisulphonic acid (PTS), an apoplastic tracer, revealed no obvious PTS fluorescence in the laminae of either genotype, despite significant accumulation of Cl− in laminae of K 51-40 during the PTS uptake period. There was no significant difference in either unidirectional 36Cl− flux (10 min) or 36Cl− uptake (3 h) into roots of rooted leaves exposed to 5, 10, or 25 mM Cl−. However, the percentage of 36Cl− transported to the lamina (3 h) was significantly lower in 140 Ruggeri than in K 51-40, supporting reduced Cl− loading into xylem and implicating the root stele in the Cl− exclusion mechanism

The Socio-Economic Value of the Shark-Diving Industry in Fiji

Based on a survey of divers, dive operators, resort managers, estimates business revenues from shark diving and related expenditures by area; tax revenues; and economic benefit to local communities

Site percolation and random walks on d-dimensional Kagome lattices

The site percolation problem is studied on d-dimensional generalisations of the Kagome' lattice. These lattices are isotropic and have the same coordination number q as the hyper-cubic lattices in d dimensions, namely q=2d. The site percolation thresholds are calculated numerically for d= 3, 4, 5, and 6. The scaling of these thresholds as a function of dimension d, or alternatively q, is different than for hypercubic lattices: p_c ~ 2/q instead of p_c ~ 1/(q-1). The latter is the Bethe approximation, which is usually assumed to hold for all lattices in high dimensions. A series expansion is calculated, in order to understand the different behaviour of the Kagome' lattice. The return probability of a random walker on these lattices is also shown to scale as 2/q. For bond percolation on d-dimensional diamond lattices these results imply p_c ~ 1/(q-1).Comment: 11 pages, LaTeX, 8 figures (EPS format), submitted to J. Phys.

Variation for potassium and sodium accumulation in a family from a cross between grapevine rootstocks K 51-40 and 140 Ruggeri

The variation in potassium (K+) and sodium (Na+) accumulation was investigated between 60 hybrids within a family obtained by crossing grapevine rootstocks K 51-40 (Vitis champinii 'Dogridge' × V. riparia 'Gloire', seed parent) with 140 Ruggeri (V. cinerea var. helleri 'Resseguier #2' × V. rupestris'St. George', pollen parent), which are known to result in higher and lower concentrations of K+, respectively, but similar concentrations of Na+, in grape juice and resultant wine from scions grafted to them. The hybrids, their parents and two standard rootstocks, Ramsey (V. champinii 'Ramsey') and 1103 Paulsen (V. cinerea var. helleri 'Resseguier #2' x V. rupestris'St. George') were replicated by clonal propagation and grown under glasshouse conditions either in potting mix, drip-irrigated with a nutrient solution containing 50, 1.7 and 30 mM Cl-, K+ and Na+, respectively, or in aerated nutrient solution containing 25, 1.7 and 15 mM Cl-, K+ and Na+, respectively. In both pot and solution culture trials, there were significant (P < 0.001) differences between parents for mean K+ (but not Na+) concentrations, and between hybrids for mean K+ and Na+ concentrations in laminae. This variation between the hybrids was continuous, indicating multiple rather than single gene control for K+ and Na+ accumulation within the family. Differences among the hybrids for lamina K+ accumulation were not strongly associated with plant vigour. While the ranking of some hybrids for K+ and Na+ accumulation was consistent between the trials, others responded differently, suggesting the environment of the rootzone may affect the K+ and Na+ accumulation phenotype.

Soft Listeria: actin-based propulsion of liquid drops

We study the motion of oil drops propelled by actin polymerization in cell extracts. Drops deform and acquire a pear-like shape under the action of the elastic stresses exerted by the actin comet. We solve this free boundary problem and calculate the drop shape taking into account the elasticity of the actin gel and the variation of the polymerization velocity with normal stress. The pressure balance on the liquid drop imposes a zero propulsive force if gradients in surface tension or internal pressure are not taken into account. Quantitative parameters of actin polymerization are obtained by fitting theory to experiment.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Planetary Science Goals for the Spitzer Warm Era

The overarching goal of planetary astronomy is to deduce how the present collection of objects found in our Solar System were formed from the original material present in the proto-solar nebula. As over two hundred exo-planetary systems are now known, and multitudes more are expected, the Solar System represents the closest and best system which we can study, and the only one in which we can clearly resolve individual bodies other than planets. In this White Paper we demonstrate how to use Spitzer Space Telescope InfraRed Array Camera Channels 1 and 2 (3.6 and 4.5 µm) imaging photometry with large dedicated surveys to advance our knowledge of Solar System formation and evolution. There are a number of vital, key projects to be pursued using dedicated large programs that have not been pursued during the five years of Spitzer cold operations. We present a number of the largest and most important projects here; more will certainly be proposed once the warm era has begun, including important observations of newly discovered objects

Complex-Temperature Singularities in the d=2d=2 Ising Model. III. Honeycomb Lattice

We study complex-temperature properties of the uniform and staggered susceptibilities $\chi$ and $\chi^{(a)}$ of the Ising model on the honeycomb lattice. From an analysis of low-temperature series expansions, we find evidence that $\chi$ and $\chi^{(a)}$ both have divergent singularities at the point $z=-1 \equiv z_{\ell}$ (where $z=e^{-2K}$), with exponents $\gamma_{\ell}'= \gamma_{\ell,a}'=5/2$. The critical amplitudes at this singularity are calculated. Using exact results, we extract the behaviour of the magnetisation $M$ and specific heat $C$ at complex-temperature singularities. We find that, in addition to its zero at the physical critical point, $M$ diverges at $z=-1$ with exponent $\beta_{\ell}=-1/4$, vanishes continuously at $z=\pm i$ with exponent $\beta_s=3/8$, and vanishes discontinuously elsewhere along the boundary of the complex-temperature ferromagnetic phase. $C$ diverges at $z=-1$ with exponent $\alpha_{\ell}'=2$ and at $v=\pm i/\sqrt{3}$ (where $v = \tanh K$) with exponent $\alpha_e=1$, and diverges logarithmically at $z=\pm i$. We find that the exponent relation $\alpha'+2\beta+\gamma'=2$ is violated at $z=-1$; the right-hand side is 4 rather than 2. The connections of these results with complex-temperature properties of the Ising model on the triangular lattice are discussed.Comment: 22 pages, latex, figures appended after the end of the text as a compressed, uuencoded postscript fil