Regulation of invertase levels in Avena stem segments by gibberellic Acid, sucrose, glucose, and fructose.

Gibberellic acid and sucrose play significant roles in the increases in invertase and growth in Avena stem segments. About 80% of invertase is readily solubilized, whereas the rest is in the cell wall fraction. The levels of both types of invertase change in a similar manner in the response to gibberellic acid and sucrose treatment. The work described here was carried out with only the soluble enzyme. In response to a treatment, the level of invertase activity typically follows a pattern of increase followed by decrease; the increase in activity is approximately correlated with the active growth phase, whereas the decrease in activity is initiated when growth of the segments slows. A continuous supply of gibberellic acid retards the decline of enzyme activity. When gibberellic acid was pulsed to the segments treated with or without sucrose, the level of invertase activity increased at least twice as high in the presence of sucrose as in its absence, but the lag period is longer with sucrose present. Cycloheximide treatments effectively abolish the gibberellic acid-promoted growth, and the level of enzyme activity drops rapidly. Decay of invertase activity in response to cycloheximide treatment occurs regardless of gibberellic acid or sucrose treatment or both, and it is generally faster when the inhibitor is administered at the peak of enzyme induction than when given at its rising phase. Pulses with sucrose, glucose, fructose, or glucose + fructose elevate the level of invertase significantly with a lag of about 5 to 10 hours. The increase in invertase activity elicited by a sucrose pulse is about one-third that caused by a gibberellic acid pulse given at a comparable time during mid-phase of enzyme induction, and the lag before the enzyme activity increases is nearly twice as long for sucrose as for gibberellic acid. Moreover, the gibberellic acid pulse results in about three times more growth than the sucrose pulse. Our studies support the view that gibberellic acid, as well as substrate (sucrose) and end products (glucose and fructose), play a significant role in regulating invertase levels in Avena stem tissue, and that such regulation provides a mechanism for increasing the level of soluble saccharides needed for gibberellic acid-promoted growth.

Electron-probe microanalysis of silicon in the epidermis of rice (Oryza sativa L.) internodes.

Electron-probe X-ray microanalysis showed that significant amounts of silicon are accumulated in the entire epidermal system of the rice internode except in the stomatal apparatuses. Thus, there is a lack of specific sites for Si deposition from levels just above the base to the tip of the rice internode. In the intercalary meristem region, 1 cm above the base of the internode, point-count data indicate more Si accumulation in the dumb-bell shaped silica cells than in the long epidermal cells. Above this region, Si is accumulated essentially in a uniform pattern in all epidermal cells. Such a pattern for Si accumulation in rice internodes markedly contrasts with that for Avena internodes and may explain, in part, why rice plants have a higher percentage Si (dry weight basis) in their shoots. The adaptive significance of this silicification pattern in rice is discussed.