From 4coops from hughes.net Wed Apr 2 21:17:46 2008 From: 4coops from hughes.net (The Coopers) Date: Thu Apr 3 12:25:13 2008 Subject: [Plant-education] American Chestnut Seedlings Message-ID: <001301c89530$f0adccf0$0300a8c0@DBZKKW21> I'm looking to grow...or attempt to grow..a few American Chestnut trees and I'm looking for a site on the internet where American chestnut seedlings may be purchased. Thanks R. Cooper 4coops@hughes.net From giniberg from cfu.net Thu Apr 3 16:18:26 2008 From: giniberg from cfu.net (Gini Berg) Date: Fri Apr 4 11:15:03 2008 Subject: [Plant-education] looking for red/far red sensitive lettuce seeds Message-ID: <004f01c895d0$41f21720$b135a186@kanjiroba> Does anybody have a source for (or a big pile of) red/far red sensitive lettuce seeds that I could use for a classic phytochrome teaching experiment? Mine are old, and now either all germinate (regardless of light) or fail to germinate (ditto). I've tried again from the same source, but they all germinate now. Thanks. --Gini Berg From spiro from bucknell.edu Fri Apr 4 11:52:37 2008 From: spiro from bucknell.edu (Mark Spiro) Date: Fri Apr 4 12:39:01 2008 Subject: [Plant-education] looking for red/far red sensitive lettuce seeds In-Reply-To: <004f01c895d0$41f21720$b135a186@kanjiroba> References: <004f01c895d0$41f21720$b135a186@kanjiroba> Message-ID: <009701c89674$4978ded0$063b5286@bucknell.edu> Wards sells Grand Rapids seeds that work well. However, you have to measure germination within a couple of days of imbibition to see a difference in the germination rate of light and dark grown seeds. After a few days the seeds germinate under both light and dark conditions. (Far-red still does prevent germination for several days). It is best to run a test experiment ahead of time to find the optimal time period. Finally, you have to make sure that the seeds have not had any exposure to the cold since this will eliminate the light requirement. Mark D. Spiro Associate Professor Associate Chair Department of Biology Bucknell University Lewisburg, PA 17837 spiro@bucknell.edu phone: 570-577-3486 -----Original Message----- From: plant-ed-bounces@oat.bio.indiana.edu [mailto:plant-ed-bounces@oat.bio.indiana.edu] On Behalf Of Gini Berg Sent: Thursday, April 03, 2008 5:18 PM To: plant-ed@magpie.bio.indiana.edu Subject: [Plant-education] looking for red/far red sensitive lettuce seeds Does anybody have a source for (or a big pile of) red/far red sensitive lettuce seeds that I could use for a classic phytochrome teaching experiment? Mine are old, and now either all germinate (regardless of light) or fail to germinate (ditto). I've tried again from the same source, but they all germinate now. Thanks. --Gini Berg _______________________________________________ Plant-ed mailing list Plant-ed@net.bio.net http://www.bio.net/biomail/listinfo/plant-ed From dave.kristie from acadiau.ca Sat Apr 5 13:45:38 2008 From: dave.kristie from acadiau.ca (Dave Kristie) Date: Sat Apr 5 16:25:02 2008 Subject: [Plant-education] light sensitive lettuce seed References: <200804051704.m35H4FT09126@net.bio.net> Message-ID: If you have already purchased a fresh lot of Grand Rapids seeds, I would suggest that you test the germination of the seeds you already have at a higher temperature. It is quite likely that you will be able to find a temperature where dark germination is low, but germination after R is still very high. There are some seedlots of light sensitive lettuce that exhibit very low dark germination at temperatures ranging from about 10 - 30C, but germinate well after an exposure to light. These seedlots are nice to work with, but not easy to find. More commonly, Grand Rapids and other light sensitive varieties exhibit a high level of dark germination at low temperatures (eg 10-25C) but dark germination levels decline with increasing temperatures, sometimes very abruptly. I have several seedlots that germinate at about 60-100% in the dark at 20-24C, but germinate less then 10% at 27 or 28C. Of course , if temperatures are too high, above (eg >30C) germination in both light and darkness will decline to zero. for a bit of a discussion see Kristie, D.N. and A. Fielding. 1994. Influence of temperature on the Pfr level required for germination in lettuce cv. Grand Rapids. Seed Science Research 19-25. Dave Kristie Dept of Biology Acadia University Wolfville NS From: plant-ed-bounces@oat.bio.indiana.edu on behalf of plant-ed-request@oat.bio.indiana.edu Sent: Sat 4/5/2008 2:04 PM To: plant-ed@magpie.bio.indiana.edu Subject: Plant-ed Digest, Vol 36, Issue 2 Send Plant-ed mailing list submissions to plant-ed@net.bio.net To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://www.bio.net/biomail/listinfo/plant-ed or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to plant-ed-request@net.bio.net You can reach the person managing the list at plant-ed-owner@net.bio.net When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of Plant-ed digest..." Today's Topics: 1. RE: looking for red/far red sensitive lettuce seeds (Mark Spiro) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Fri, 4 Apr 2008 12:52:37 -0400 (EDT) From: "Mark Spiro" Subject: RE: [Plant-education] looking for red/far red sensitive lettuce seeds To: "'Gini Berg'" , Message-ID: <009701c89674$4978ded0$063b5286@bucknell.edu> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Wards sells Grand Rapids seeds that work well. However, you have to measure germination within a couple of days of imbibition to see a difference in the germination rate of light and dark grown seeds. After a few days the seeds germinate under both light and dark conditions. (Far-red still does prevent germination for several days). It is best to run a test experiment ahead of time to find the optimal time period. Finally, you have to make sure that the seeds have not had any exposure to the cold since this will eliminate the light requirement. Mark D. Spiro Associate Professor Associate Chair Department of Biology Bucknell University Lewisburg, PA 17837 spiro@bucknell.edu phone: 570-577-3486 -----Original Message----- From: plant-ed-bounces@oat.bio.indiana.edu [mailto:plant-ed-bounces@oat.bio.indiana.edu] On Behalf Of Gini Berg Sent: Thursday, April 03, 2008 5:18 PM To: plant-ed@magpie.bio.indiana.edu Subject: [Plant-education] looking for red/far red sensitive lettuce seeds Does anybody have a source for (or a big pile of) red/far red sensitive lettuce seeds that I could use for a classic phytochrome teaching experiment? Mine are old, and now either all germinate (regardless of light) or fail to germinate (ditto). I've tried again from the same source, but they all germinate now. Thanks. --Gini Berg _______________________________________________ Plant-ed mailing list Plant-ed@net.bio.net http://www.bio.net/biomail/listinfo/plant-ed ------------------------------ _______________________________________________ Plant-ed mailing list Plant-ed@net.bio.net http://www.bio.net/biomail/listinfo/plant-ed End of Plant-ed Digest, Vol 36, Issue 2 *************************************** From dh321 from excite.com Mon Apr 7 12:22:23 2008 From: dh321 from excite.com (David R. Hershey) Date: Mon Apr 7 13:08:18 2008 Subject: [Plant-education] Scientific American cover article on plants Message-ID: The April, 2008 Scientific American cover proclaims "The Shocking Colors of Alien Plants." The cover article actually has the less sensational title "The Color of Plants on Other Worlds." It is an interesting article but is marred by fundamental errors such as the claims that Earth plants reflect all green wavelengths and that green photons "have neither the energy nor the numbers" to be effective in photosynthesis. David R. Hershey From wise from uwosh.edu Mon Apr 21 16:57:03 2008 From: wise from uwosh.edu (Bob Wise) Date: Mon Apr 21 17:05:05 2008 Subject: [Plant-education] a-amylase expression Message-ID: Dear Plant Edders, I need help. One of the exercises I use in my plant physiology teaching lab is the standard old expression of amylases during wheat seed germination. We take seeds germinated for 0 to 3 days, extract total soluble protein and then run SDS-PAGE. The goal is to monitor the increase in the abundance of a-amylase during germination. The problem is that the bands don't get any darker with germination time. I have repeated the lab several times, and changed to fresh seeds twice, yet I still cannot get an increase in a-amylase expression. The seeds are perfectly viable and work quite well in a starch-digestion assay that forms the basis of a separate lab exercise. Has anyone had success with this one? Carol Reiss, are you out there? On the other hand, if this one is a bust, does anyone have a lab that uses SDS-PAGE to show differential expression of plant proteins? How about a light vs. dark treatment to look for the increase in LHC proteins during greening? All I need is an electrophoresis lab that clearly demonstrates protein synthesis during some plant developmental or physiological process. I would rather not do Westerns, due to time constraints. TIA Bob -- Robert R. Wise Dept. of Biology UW Oshkosh 800 Algoma Blvd Oshkosh, WI 54901 (920) 424-3404 (tel) (920) 424-1101 (fax) Have a look at The Structure and Function of Plastids at http://www.life.uiuc.edu/govindjee/newbook/Vol%2023.html From carl.pike from fandm.edu Mon Apr 21 22:15:19 2008 From: carl.pike from fandm.edu (Carl Pike) Date: Tue Apr 22 05:53:23 2008 Subject: [Plant-education] a-amylase expression In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: I'm interested in the answer to Bob's question too, but would also appreciate any suggestions on a project of this sort that could be expanded into a multi-week investigation, including Westerns perhaps, in which students could hypothesize about the impact of some treatment on expression of the protein. Maybe also link to measuring activity of enzyme in parallel. Carl Pike Department of Biology Franklin and Marshall College On Apr 21, 2008, at 5:57 PM, Bob Wise wrote: > Dear Plant Edders, > > I need help. One of the exercises I use in my plant physiology > teaching lab is the standard old expression of amylases during wheat > seed germination. We take seeds germinated for 0 to 3 days, extract > total soluble protein and then run SDS-PAGE. > > The goal is to monitor the increase in the abundance of a-amylase > during germination. The problem is that the bands don't get any > darker with germination time. I have repeated the lab several times, > and changed to fresh seeds twice, yet I still cannot get an increase > in a-amylase expression. The seeds are perfectly viable and work > quite well in a starch-digestion assay that forms the basis of a > separate lab exercise. > > Has anyone had success with this one? Carol Reiss, are you out there? > > On the other hand, if this one is a bust, does anyone have a lab that > uses SDS-PAGE to show differential expression of plant proteins? How > about a light vs. dark treatment to look for the increase in LHC > proteins during greening? All I need is an electrophoresis lab that > clearly demonstrates protein synthesis during some plant developmental > or physiological process. I would rather not do Westerns, due to time > constraints. > > TIA > > Bob > > -- > Robert R. Wise > Dept. of Biology > UW Oshkosh > 800 Algoma Blvd > Oshkosh, WI 54901 > (920) 424-3404 (tel) > (920) 424-1101 (fax) > Have a look at The Structure and Function of Plastids at > http://www.life.uiuc.edu/govindjee/newbook/Vol%2023.html > > _______________________________________________ > Plant-ed mailing list > Plant-ed@net.bio.net > http://www.bio.net/biomail/listinfo/plant-ed From sshumway from wheatonma.edu Tue Apr 22 13:28:29 2008 From: sshumway from wheatonma.edu (Scott Shumway) Date: Tue Apr 22 13:32:13 2008 Subject: [Plant-education] herbarium use and function Message-ID: <480E2E4D.1000202@wheatonma.edu> Plant Ed, After 17 years I finally found an undergraduate interested in doing an herbarium-based research project. Can you please recommend publications that we could consult that discuss the importance of herbaria in research and how herbarium data can be used in conservation biology? THanks. From monique from mail.bio.tamu.edu Tue Apr 22 13:55:47 2008 From: monique from mail.bio.tamu.edu (monique) Date: Tue Apr 22 14:20:25 2008 Subject: [Plant-education] Re: herbarium use and function In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Scott Shumway wrote: > Plant Ed, > > After 17 years I finally found an undergraduate interested in doing an > herbarium-based research project. Can you please recommend publications > that we could consult that discuss the importance of herbaria in > research and how herbarium data can be used in conservation biology? > THanks. > And then package him carefully, providing food, bedding, and air-holes, and send him to ME. Monique Reed TAMU From dford2 from wvu.edu Tue Apr 22 15:41:43 2008 From: dford2 from wvu.edu (Donna Ford-Werntz) Date: Tue Apr 22 15:53:59 2008 Subject: [Plant-education] herbarium use and function Message-ID: <480E15470200006B0003297C@WVUGW01.wvu.edu> Scott, See McGraw, J. 2001. Evidence for decline of Amer. ginseng from herbarium specimens. Biol. Conservation 98:25-32. Also note the news release (pasted below your message) that appeared last Dec. 2007. Best wishes, Donna >>> Scott Shumway 04/22/08 3:37 PM >>> After 17 years I finally found an undergraduate interested in doing an herbarium-based research project. Can you please recommend publications that we could consult that discuss the importance of herbaria in research and how herbarium data can be used in conservation biology? >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Forensic plant pathologists have identified the original pathogen responsible for the first U.S. outbreak of citrus bacterial canker (CBC), a disease that historically has imperiled the Florida citrus industry. The project was led by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) plant pathologist John Hartung. He and colleagues studied plant specimens dating back nearly 100 years that are preserved in a collection, called an herbarium, housed at the ARS Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center at Beltsville, Md. Historic specimens are valuable for studying the genetics of plants and their pathogens. The findings were described in a recent issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) chief scientific research agency. The ongoing project is a collaboration between Hartung and plant pathologist Wenbin Li, with USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, which provided funding. The scientists selected the 90 oldest specimens from among 741 preserved leaves, bark or fruit peels that showed symptoms of citrus bacterial canker. They carefully cut 10 raised lesions, or cankers, from each selection. Such cankers weaken trees, induce premature fruit drop and reduce the value of the crop. The researchers also developed a sensitive new technique for extracting and analyzing DNA fragments from the removed lesions. The team then matched the DNA fragments with strain-specific, genetic targets taken from a previously sequenced CBC strain. Standard bacterial identification methods require intact DNA that has been removed from live bacteria. The new technique is called IES, for insertion event scanning. IES is especially useful for identifying bacterial strains that are present in preserved specimens, in which the bacteria are no longer viable and their DNA has been degraded. By finding an exact match between CBC pathogens from both Japan and Florida preserved in the herbarium specimens, the researchers revealed the source of the original outbreak of citrus canker in Florida in 1911. Using the new IES method to solve contemporary problems could shed light on how bacteria are disseminated around the world, according to the authors.____________________________________ This is one of the news reports that ARS Information distributes to subscribers on weekdays. From jmglime from mtu.edu Tue Apr 22 20:35:17 2008 From: jmglime from mtu.edu (Janice M. Glime) Date: Tue Apr 22 21:28:38 2008 Subject: [Plant-education] herbarium projects Message-ID: <480E9255.2080502@mtu.edu> One interesting use of herbarium specimens is to trace conserved pollutants through time. Unfortunately, it is destructive, and one has to be sure the specimens were stored in such a way that they did not receive contamination after collection. Geert Raeymaekers did this for sulfur for part of his Ph. D.: Raeymaekers, G. L. M. *DATE 1986. *TITL Eco-physiological effects of simulated acidic rain and lead on Pleurozium schreberi (Hedw.) Brid. *PUBL Ph. D. Dissertation, Michigan Technological University, Houghton. 126 Pp. I think he published it, but I haven't been able to figure out which publication contains it. You can contact him at Janice -- ***************************************** Dr. Janice Glime, Professor President of IAB; Manager of Bryonet Department of Biological Sciences Michigan Technological University 1400 Townsend Dr. Houghton, MI 49931 USA email: jmglime@mtu.edu phone: 906-487-2546 home: 906-482-1610 fax: 906-487-3167 ***************************************** From library from marengo.k12.il.us Wed Apr 23 14:39:37 2008 From: library from marengo.k12.il.us (squeekums93@yahoo.com) Date: Wed Apr 23 15:24:34 2008 Subject: [Plant-education] Effect of sound (music) on plant germination and growth.&In-Reply-To= Message-ID: <20080423T143937Z_E8F1000A0000@marengo.k12.il.us> Wednesday, April 23th, 2008 Dear Ross Koning, I am an eigth grader doing a science fair project. I need help on picking three subjects for my project. It is on how music will affect the plant in eighteen days. I would very well appreciate it if you would email me back and try to help me. Thank you for your time, Annabelle From d.a.walker from sheffield.ac.uk Thu Apr 24 14:10:18 2008 From: d.a.walker from sheffield.ac.uk (David Walker) Date: Thu Apr 24 14:30:26 2008 Subject: [Plant-education] Bioethanol Message-ID: Could anyone please tell me how much ethanol can be obtained from whatever fresh weight of potatoes. The Irish have been doing it since the first potato arrived from Peru and Reichskraftsprit was once important. Any help would be much appreciated. David >From David Alan Walker, FRS; Emeritus Professor of Photosynthesis, University of Sheffield, UK. http://www.oxygraphics.co.uk/ http://www.peerlesspublications.co.uk/ . From WEWilliams from smcm.edu Thu Apr 24 17:07:50 2008 From: WEWilliams from smcm.edu (William E Williams) Date: Thu Apr 24 17:16:43 2008 Subject: [Plant-education] Bioethanol In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <4AC79F4B-2CCF-424F-AE9A-E9F5BF006108@smcm.edu> I think the Russians can speak with Absolut authority on this topic. On Apr 24, 2008, at 15:10 , David Walker wrote: > Could anyone please tell me how much ethanol can be obtained from > whatever > fresh weight of potatoes. > The Irish have been doing it since the first potato arrived from > Peru and > Reichskraftsprit was once important. Any help would be much > appreciated. > David >> From David Alan Walker, FRS; Emeritus Professor of Photosynthesis, > University of Sheffield, UK. > http://www.oxygraphics.co.uk/ > http://www.peerlesspublications.co.uk/ > > . > > _______________________________________________ > Plant-ed mailing list > Plant-ed@net.bio.net > http://www.bio.net/biomail/listinfo/plant-ed William E. Williams Professor of Biology Saint Mary's College of Maryland 18952 E Fisher Rd, Saint Marys City, MD 20686 (240)895-4365 From atoms from exemail.com.au Thu Apr 24 19:09:44 2008 From: atoms from exemail.com.au (Warren Irwin) Date: Thu Apr 24 19:58:04 2008 Subject: [Plant-education] Bioethanol In-Reply-To: <4AC79F4B-2CCF-424F-AE9A-E9F5BF006108@smcm.edu> References: <4AC79F4B-2CCF-424F-AE9A-E9F5BF006108@smcm.edu> Message-ID: I wouldn't be Putin and money on that assertion. From: Warren Irwin Just a humble High School Science Teacher atoms@exemail.com.au On 25/04/2008, at 8:07 AM, William E Williams wrote: > I think the Russians can speak with Absolut authority on this topic. > > On Apr 24, 2008, at 15:10 , David Walker wrote: >> Could anyone please tell me how much ethanol can be obtained from >> whatever >> fresh weight of potatoes. >> The Irish have been doing it since the first potato arrived from >> Peru and >> Reichskraftsprit was once important. Any help would be much >> appreciated. >> David >>> From David Alan Walker, FRS; Emeritus Professor of Photosynthesis, >> University of Sheffield, UK. >> http://www.oxygraphics.co.uk/ >> http://www.peerlesspublications.co.uk/ >> >> . >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Plant-ed mailing list >> Plant-ed@net.bio.net >> http://www.bio.net/biomail/listinfo/plant-ed > > William E. Williams > Professor of Biology > Saint Mary's College of Maryland > 18952 E Fisher Rd, Saint Marys City, MD 20686 > (240)895-4365 > > _______________________________________________ > Plant-ed mailing list > Plant-ed@net.bio.net > http://www.bio.net/biomail/listinfo/plant-ed