Potassium humate stimulated growth of wheat, increased the activity of phosphatase in the leaves and roots and and the activity of catalase in the roots.
A higher temperature (30° C) during cultivation caused a decline in the activity of phosphatase in the roots and leaves and a decline in the activity of catalase in the leaves. Anaesthetization of the embryos with chloroform retarded growth, increased the activity of the phosphatase only during the first days and increased the activity of the catalase. Similarly, removal of the endosperm caused growth to slow down. Wheat cultivated in this way had increased activity of catalase and phosphatase. The activity of phosphatase in the leaves of all variants and controls, was substantially lower than in the roots as compared with catalase, which was several times as active in the leaves as in the roots. Activity of catalase in both leaves and roots declined, in most cases, with age. Catalase activity declined with age only in the roots while it increased in the leaves.
The activity of the catalase is probably less dependent on the growth rate and depends rather on nutrition, the formation of chlorophyl, photosynthetic activity and like that. From both sources of reference and our experimental results, it can be seen that no simple relation exists between the activity of observed enzymes and the growth rate; the relationship is more complicated.

The authors submit the results of a chromatographic determination of free amino acids and protein fractions, soluble in ethanol and alkali, and insoluble, in the flower and vegetative buds of two almond varieties showing a different frost-resistance i.e. Non-plus-ultra and Vochtchaberdi. The buds were removed at different times between autumn (20.9.59) and spring (31.3.60). The Chromatographie determination of amino acids in buds showed the following:
1. During the autumn-winter season there is a clearly perceptible difference in the content and pattern of amino acids of almost all fractions in flower and vegetative buds. The sharpest difference is found in the content and pattern of free amino acids and protein fractions soluble in ethanol, while in those soluble in alkali and insoluble, it is less.
2. The difference in the amino acid content in the buds disappears during the spring when they are bursting and growing.
3. In the almond Vochtchaberdi which is highly frost-resistant, preparation for the winter begins earlier than in the Non-plus-ultra, a variety with a weak frost-resistance. An earlier increase of the number of amino acids and total amino-acid content of the buds is indicative of this fact.

Two techniques recently described for the demonstration of protein SH in animal material were appllied to plant objects in this work: the technique with β-oxynaphthylmercurichloride and that with p-nitrobromacetophenone. These techniques together with DDD¹ and RSR¹ usually produced more intense staining in plant cell nuclei than in the cytoplasm. When reactions for protein carboxyls and tyrosine were used, similar differences in the intensity of staining the nuclei and cytoplasm were observed. It appears that the differences in the intensity of reactions for protein SH groups correspond to the differences in the concentration of total protein in plant meristematic cell nuclei and cytoplasm.

Leaf cells of healthy cucumber and cucumber infected with Cucumber virus 4 were studied living and fixed, using optical and electron microscopy. Under the electron microscope the infected leaves displayed changes in the structure of the ergastoplasm, Golgi apparatus, mitochondria, bodies with an osmiophil matrix and chloroplasts. The chloroplasts exhibit symptoms of fatty degeneration which affects above all the lamellar systems of grana and intergrana. Weakly osmiophil globules, abundant in damaged chloroplasts, are probably formed through degeneration of grana. Chloroplasts of infected plants resemble some transitional stages of plastids observed during chromoplast formation. The problems of localization of viruses in the cell and degeneration are discussed.

Auf Grund morphologischer Versuche mit Syringa vulgaris, Ligustrum ovalifolium, Philadelphus coronarius, Aesculus hippocastanum, Acer negundo und Bryophyllum crenatum wurde in dieser Arbeit die Abhängigkeit der Erhaltung entspreiteter Blattstiele von den korrelativen Einflüssen anderer Teile der Pflanze untersucht und die Möglichkeit der Nachahmung dieser Korrelationen mittels synthetischer Wuchsstoffe geprüft. Es zeigte sich, dass die Ganzheit der Pflanze, die vor allem durch die Regulationswirkungen der Wurzeln und Blätter bedingt ist, aus dem Verhalten der entspreiteten Stiele klarer hervorgeht als aus dem der ganzen Blätter. Dabei kommen Kompensationen, Polaritätsverhältnisse und embryonale Determinationen zur Geltung.

It was the objective of the present communication to establish the effect of short-term aeration with air alone or air enriched with 5% carbon dioxide on growth and oxidative metabolism of Chlorella pyrenoidosa. An organic medium was used to permit the investigation of the effect of aeration (one hour a day) both under illumination and in continual darkness.
Short-term aeration with air either alone or enriched with carbon dioxide increases dry-weight production both in the light and darkness. We are thus not dealing here with a mere effect on photosynthesis. This treatment affects the oxidative metabolism of the alga: oxygen uptake was always higher in those cultures which were more aerobic during cultivation (aerated cultures in the dark and non-aerated, or only with pure air cultures in light). Cultures in the individual variants display different endogenous respiration when measured manometrically.

The buds remowed from the fruit-bearing cluster bases of trees with fruit had a higher concentration of free asparagine and of some free amino-acids than the buds taken from trees without fruit. The quantitative relationship between amino acids in the hydrolyzates of the buds from the trees with and without fruit was very similar.

From photoperiodic experiments and an anatomic study of the shoot apex in the facultative short-day plantsPerilla ocimoides L. it was shown in all cases that gibberellic acid (GA) application did not accelerate flower induction. Between the development grades 2 and 4, GA caused a certain temporary acceleration which, however, completely equalised in a short period and plants of both variants SD and SD+GA flowered at the same time. Long day plants (LDand LD+GA) also flowered simultaneously with a certain delay. GA caused the total length of the plant to increase in both cases by more than a double, while preserving practically the same number of leaf pairs in variants under the same photoperiodic regime.

Analyses of free amino acids and amides in the axial parts of apple-trees with and without flower-bud initiation were carried out. The results obtained mostly on the basis of investigations carried out during a single vegetation season, indicate that the ratio and content of free amino acids and amides in the axial parts of apple-trees are influenced primarily by the growth of the axial parts and by nitrogen supply to the roots. These findings are in agreement with the results of Oland (1959). In fruit-bearing trees a high content of free amino acids and amides could be demonstrated, together with an increased ratio of soluble to insoluble nitrogenous compounds solely in the fruit-bearing new cluster bases (bourses). This finding is in accord with the results of Haeley and co-workers (1942). No apparent relationship could be established between the content and ratio of free amino acids and amides, and the ratio between soluble and insoluble nitrogen compounds on the one hand, and flower-bud initiation, on the other. The investigation is being continued.

The influence of 6-benzylaminopurine on the respiration of apple buds of the Boskoop variety for 5 days after application of kinine was observed. It was discovered that the consumption of oxygen determined by the direct method of Warburg is higher from the first day after application of 6-benzyl-amonipurine and the increase is continually more marked up to the fifth day, when the consumption of oxygen in stimulated buds is 75 per cent higher than in the control buds.

Wenn wir die Keimwurzeln der Puffbohne (Vicia faba L.) chloralisieren und später die Seitenwurzeln untersuchen, die in ihren chloralisierten Zonen entstanden, sehen wir, dass sich alle in einem verschiedenen Grade der Mixoploidie befinden (Němec 1961). Nach einer fünffachen Chloralisierung enthielten sie allermeist etwa bis zu einem Drittel polyploide Zellen, doch gibt es auch Vegetationsspitzen, die bis zu vier Fünftel polyploide Zellen enthalten. Die Zellen der Wurzelspitzen der Puffbohne ertragen unter dem Einfluss der Chloralisierung eine Erhöhung der Chromosomenzahl nur etwa auf 32n; solche Zellen können sich noch einigemale teilen, dann aber sterben sie früher oder später ab. Eine Restitution der mixoploiden Wurzelspitzen, sei es nun nach einer Dekapitierung oder nach einem Längsschnitt in die Vegetationsspitzen, geht normal vor sich und es beteiligen sich an ihr harmonisch diploide wie polyploide Zellen. Es ist nicht beobachtet worden, dass die polyploiden Zellen vielleicht aus dem Restitutionsvorgang ausgeschlossen worden wären oder dass es zu unregelmässigen Wucherungen gekommen wäre. Die mixoploide Spitze verhält sich bei der Restitution wie ein ganzes, einheitliches, lebendes Organ.

The cluster bases (bourses) in each case had a higher content of total nitrogen and both absolute and relative soluble organic nitrogen than the new secondary growth of cluster bases on trees both with fruit and without fruit than new spurs on trees with fruit. This higher content of total and soluble nitrogen is primarily a feature of the organ and has no connection with the initiation of flower buds. The secondary growth of cluster bases on the trees with fruit never had a significantly higher content of soluble nitrogen than the new secondary growth of cluster bases and new growth of spurs on trees without fruit. In all apple varieties observed the same qualitative pattern of free amino acids and amides was determined and a similar ratio of free amino acids and amides in the corresponding axial parts. The highest amount of free amino acids and amides-especially asparagine and arginine-was determined in the cluster bases. Arginine was accumulated in large quantities in the cluster bases much earlier than in the secondary growth of cluster bases or in the new growth of spurs. An accumulation of arginine and asparagine occurred in the cluster bases even when the supply of nitrogen was insufficient, in the secondary growths of cluster bases, however, their content was very low during nitrogen deficiency. The content of glutamine and sometimes threonine in cluster bases with fruit was also considerably increased. There was more glutamic acid, glutamine and sometimes threonine too in younger axils than in older ones already lignified.
From results given in this work it can be concluded that there is no obvious relation between the content and proportion of soluble and insoluble nitrogen in the spurs of apple trees on the one hand and the initiating of flower buds on the other. Neither was any obvious relation determined between the content of free amino acids and amides in the axillary parts of apple trees under observation and the initiating of flower buds.

The spraying of 26-day-old sunflower plants with a solution containing 50 μg. gibberellic acid/ml. brought about morphological changes in leaves and a statistically significant increase in the leaf shape index (length: width of leaves). The number of leaves on the stem also increased, together with a rise in the value of the ratio of dry weight of stems to dry weight of leaves.

As the species hybridSalvia němecii (= S. nutans x S. jurišićii) is highly fertile, genetic analysis of the segregating F2 generation has been carried out. In 238 plants of F2 the following leaf characters were investigated: type of the vascular bundle course in the petiole, the ratio of the petiole to leaf blade length, the ratio of the length of the leaf blade to the breadth, and the segmentation of the leaves, i.e. ratio between an ideal contour surface and the actual surface of the leaf blade. All these characteristics were compared with those of the original parental species as well as of the F1 generation. It was found that:
1. Type II of vascular bundle course has simple dominance over type III (segregating ratiol72 : 66, X²(1) = 0.94, P = 0.35).
2. All morphological characteristics of the leaves behave as though governed by polygenic systems. The segregation in F₂ is always very wide and the extreme segregants exceed the values present in both parental species.
3. The type of vascular bundle course in the petiole is inherited independently of the morphological signs of the leaves. There is practically no correlation between vascular bundle type and any of the morphological ratio indices.
4. Between the morphological characters, on the other hand, there are significant correlations, especially between the length of the petiole and segmentation of the leaf (r = 0.31), and between the segmentation and the length-breadth ratio (r = -0.42). Therefore, some of the polygenes concerned may be linked together, i.e. localized in the same chromosome, but most of them are transferred independently.

Při pěstování rostlin kukuřice ve sterilních kulturách je třeba obilky desinfi-kovat, aby se zniěily zárodky mikroorganismů. To snižuje jejich klíčivost, zpozdí růst a tvorbu chlorofylu během prvních několika týdnů vyvoje klíčních rost-linek. Nejde o specfflcké inhibice, nýbrž o vývojové opoždění neprojevující se ani v poměru dlouživého růstu a hromadění suŠiny. Opoždění je nejvě tší při po-užití roztoku sublimáta nebo ethanolu. Vhodnější je desinfekce roztokem chlor-aminu. Změny vyvolané tříhodinovým namáčením jsou vyrovnány během cca 3 tydnů, bězně užívaná sedmihodinová desinfekce vyvolává kromě silného sní-zeni klíčivosti (téměř ? 50 %) déle trvající, avšak nezásadní změny. Chloramin neovlivnil tvorbu pohlavních organů, intensità fotosynthesy byla úměrná množství chlorofylu. Desinfekce chloraminem lze tedy užít, aniž by se rostliny podstatně lišily od těch, které byly vypěstovány ze suchých obilek.

Po inhibici jarovizace azidem sodnym byla u ozimé pšenice sle dována délka čepele prvního listu. Srovnáním různych variant a jamí odrůdy se ukázalo, že zkrácení délky čepele prvního listu nemá přímý vztah k jarovizaci.

The author carried out a cytological evaluation of 40 varieties of the basic Czechoslovak assortment of pears. Thirty of these were diploid and ten were diploid.
In addition to the chromosome number of these varieties, he determined the average dimension of the leaf stomata, to prove that it is possible to use this method in pear trees to make a reliable differentiation between diploid and triploid varieties. From a determination of the average lengths of the stomata it follows that the diploid varieties of pears can be distinguished from the triploid varieties by means of this criterion.
A further, very accurate mark of difference between diploid and triploid varieties, is the lagging of chromosomes in the spindle during the anaphase of the heterotypical division.
In the various varieties a divergent susceptibility to staining of the tissues was found which is not dependent on the method of microtechnical processing but in the first place, on the properties of each individual variety.
Regarding the statements of Darlington and Moffet on the one hand and Sax's objections on the other, the author's cytological findings in the case of triploid varieties are in agreement with those of Sax and also with his opinion on the debatableness of polyvalent associations found by Darlington and Moffet.

1. Le cicadineCalligypona pellucida FABR. est très vraisemblablement le vecteur des souches européennes de la jaunisse à virus des asters, les transmettant sur le poireau et l'oignon; cette maladie se manifeste surtout par la prolifération de 1'inflorescence.
2. Cette maladie n'était pas transmise par greffage des secteurs du bulbe du poireau atteint sur les bulbes de poireaux sains. On en peut donc conclure que le virus n'est pas présent dans le bulbe, ou qu'il n'y est qu'en quantité très petite, ou encore qu'il ne peut persister en état actif.
3. Le rapport entre les poireaux proliférés et les fleurs en l'inflorescence des plantes malades est variable, et il prouve ainsi la variabilité du niveau des virus dans l'inflorescence même.
4. Chez les plantes malades il n'y a que peu de graines qui se développent, et leur capacité de germination est faible.
5. Les expériences citées prouvent de nouveau tant l'acropétalité que la variabilité du niveau des virus dans les parties individuelles des plantes.

The levels of l-ascorbic acid, dehydroascorbic acid and of the bound form of vitamin C were investigated in the tissue from the vicinity of eyelets of dormant potatoes after treating the tubers with ethylene chlorhydrin. During the first week after exposure the l-ascorbic acid level does not change, significantly while the dehydroascorbic acid level decreases markedly. This decrease persists even during the following weeks and returns to normal only on the fourth week after treatment. The l-ascorbic acid level displays a decreasing tendency but a marked decrease may be observed only during the fourth experimental week. The level of the bound form of vitamin C does not change significantly for the whole duration of the experiment.
It can be concluded on the basis of the results obtained that ethylene chlorhydrin deeply affects the oxidation-reduction systems of the potato cell, among other possibilities by disturbing the equilibrium of the important oxidation-reduction system formed by l-ascorbic and dehydroascorbic acid. The bound form of vitamin C does not appear to play a significant role in the process of sprouting.