A very low, for the most part unmeasurable glutamic-aspartio transminase activity and a very high glutamic-alanine transaminase activity was found in the overground parts and roots of young wheat plants. The roots had a higher glutamic-alanine transaminase activity than the overground parts in the first and second leaf stage.
Plants cultivated in Knop's nutrient solution (variant with humate and without) showed a higher glutamic-alanine transaminase activity than poorly growing plants, cultivated in distilled water (with humate and without). In plants cultivated in nutrient solutions, transaminase activity increased with the age of the wheat plants.
As in the previous experiments, the effect of humate was only significant, in the roots of plants cultivated in distilled water with humate, where transamination activity was greater than in the control without humate. The roots of this variant with a stimulatory growth effect showed a large accumulation of free sugars in the previous experiments.
The connection between these effects of humate on the roots of young winter wheat plants is discussed.

The effects of constant soil moisture levels of 90, 60 and 40% of the maximum capillary capacity, applied beginning from the planting of the germinated kernels, on the dynamics of the foliage development of maize was studied in relation to ontogenical changes in leaf area of individual leaves. There were two maxima in the growth of total leaf area (characterized by leaf area duration and loaf area relative growth rate) unrelated to the soil mositure. The first maximum which was less marked, appeared in the phase of 5-8 leaves, the second and main increase being observed before flowering in the phase of 10-12 leaves. The effects of continued decrease in soil moisture were a correspondingly progressive reduction in leaf area and delayed development of the whole plants. Plants with 60% soil moisture attained the same leaf area as those with 90% but only after the end of the vegetative phase. The greatest differences in rate of development between watering treatments appeared at the time of greatest increase in leaf area of control plants. Continued decrease in soil moisture markedly affected the development of the leaves at different insertion levels (especially in elder leaves). Clear-cut prolongation of ontogenesis took place under dry conditions. In conditions of higher soil moisture growth was rather limited or stopped after reaching a certain maximum.

A virus having 300 nm long rod-shaped particles was isolated fromPlantago media L. in Yugoslavia. The virus was transmitted to 15 species of host plants the symptoms of which are described in detail. The symptoms corresponded to those that appeared after infection by the original Holmes' ribgrass virus (HRV).
The investigated virus was compared both with the common strain of tobacco mosaic and the original Holmes' ribgrass viruses by means of serological tests. The agar double-diffusion tests showed that it is closely related to HRV and remotely related to the common strain of TMV. On the basis of these results we concluded that this virus represented a strain of the HRV.
The investigations of the cell inclusions showed that our virus produced rounded plates instead of hexagonal prisms. Electron micrographs of ultrathin sectioned material demonstrated that these plates were formed by virus particles lying perpendicularly to the layers of the plates. The presence of plates also points to the fact that the investigated virus belongs to the HRV.

The following work deals with the role of auxin in growth and differentiation processes of isolated shoot tips ofZea mays L. It seems that an optimal auxin concentration is apparently a function of a photoperiod duration. In case of a short day the optimal concentration is approximately 5 mg/l and in case of a long day it represents 1 mg/l. The duration of photoperiod influences even the level of exogenous auxins in explants. The plants exposed to the short photoperiod contain more substances of stimulative character while the ones exposed to the long day possess inhibitive substances. Externally applied auxin takes part in differentiation processes, especially in the formation of female elements in tassel spikelets and in transformation of the tassel primordium in pistillate ear.

The effect of Ca-deficiency on changes in the protein content of cotyledons and roots of germinating pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo L.) plants was studied by means of immunoelectrophoresis. Antiserum against seed proteins gave 11 clear precipitation zones in homological reactions and 7 zones with proteins from cotyledons of 10 day-old plants. Several less mobile zones in the area of start appeared in variant "-Ca". Using antiserum against root proteins of 10 day-old control plants, 8 precipitation zones in the homological reaction and 6 zones (two cathodic zones are missing) in the heterological reaction were obtained. The patterns of proteins from the root and those arising from the protein of seed are both changed under Ca-deficiency.

A water-soluble germination- and growth-inhibitor present in plants of Brassica genus was studied. Aqueous eluates from chromatograms of methanolic extracts of Savoy cabbage, cabbage and Brussels' sprouts leaves, and of Brussels' sprouts roots, inhibited the growth of wheat; the chromatographic behaviour of this inhibitor was similar to that of the thioglycoside glucobrassicin (GLUBR). GLUBRat 10^-3 m, and the supposed product of its enzymatic degradation, 3-indolylacetonitrile (IAN) at 10^-4 m, inhibited the growth of wheat and clover in a similar manner. At lower concentrations, both substances gradually enhanced growth. In contrast to IAN, GLUBR did not appreciably influence the growth of Savoy cabbage. Other products of GLUBR degradation, such as thiocyanate ion and ascorbigen, influenced the growth to a lesser extent and in a different way. At higher concentrations GLUBR and IAN also inhibited the germination of clover seeds. The biological effect of GLUBR is dependent on the presence of the indole nucleus in its molecule; the thioglycoside glucoiberin, which is not of indolic character, does not influence growth. The presence of free myrosinase was shown in intact wheat seedlings. Hence, GLUBR taken in by the germinating plants must undergo enzymatic cleavage. The in vitro activity of myrosinase in wheat and clover was lower than in Savoy cabbage, but the quantity of IAN formed at a pH corresponding to the natural pH was higher in wheat and clover than in Savoy cabbage, where the formation of the growth-inactive ascorbigen prevailed. On the basis of these results the hypothesis was formulated that GLUBR, the indolic complex from the generaBrassica, Raphanus, Cochleria, Nasturtium, Barbarea andSisymbrium, is a representative of a class of potential inhibitors of growth and germination, whose activity can be explained by the liberation of large amounts of growth-affecting substances during their specific enzymatic cleavage.

The interactions between cereals-wheat, barley, rye and oats-in combined cultivation in mixtures of always two species in relation 1:1 in the initial phase of growth were studied. During thirty days' cultivation in pots the growth of the experimental plants in pure cultures and in mixtures and the changes of the nitrate nitrogen content of the soil in the experimental vessels were followed.
The experiments showed that all tested species of cereals interacted with each other during the growth in mixture. The growth changes began soon after sowing, were of a stimulating and inhibiting character and increased during the growth. An exception was the small reaction of oats to rye.
Decrease of the nitrate nitrogen content was determined in the soil of the experimental vessels during the cultivation of the plants. The changes of the nitrate nitrogen in the soil corresponded on the whole with the exception of the last phases of the experiments to the growth intensity of the experimental plants. No essential differences, either in the content or in the rate of the decrease of nitrate nitrogen, were found in the soil of control plants and in the soil of plant mixtures. Small differences which were manifested cannot be considered the primary cause of the mutual relations of cereals. The cause of the mutual relations may be attributed to allelopathic factors.

Samples of the leaf tissue (14cm²) were placed in a plexiglass chamber which consisted of three parts. Water absorbed by the leaf tissue on one side of the sample was transported through the middle part of the sample to the opposite side and was transpirated there. The intensity of transpiration the intensity of water absorption and water saturation deficit (w.s.d.) were determined simultaneously in this tissue by gravimetry. Water balance was studied either in saturated samples of leaf tissue or in tissue where w.s.d. (10%, 20%, 30%, 40%) was established in advance. Although conditions for water absorption in leaf segments were optimal, w.s.d. originated in the saturated leaf tissue under all given external conditions (evaporation from 41.7 to 17.8 mg cm^-2 h^-1). W.s.d. which was established in advance for the most part increased during the experiment and reached even high values (more than 60%). the equilibration was reached only under conditions of low evaporation and initial w.s.d. higher than 20% in young leaves and higher than 30% in adult leaves. A positive correlation between the ratio of the intensity of water absorption to the intensity of transpiration and w.s.d. was found only under conditions of lower evaporation (17.8 and 23.2mg cm^-2h^-1). The maximal values of w.s.d. were limited in this way.
Water balance was studied: 1. in leaf tissue of upper, middle and lower leaves of fodder cabbage, 2. in leaf tissue of middle leaves of young and adult plants of fodder cabbage, 3. in leaf tissue of dicots (fodder cabbage) with different vessel orientation in respect to water transport, 4. in leaf tissue of monocots (banana-tree) with water transport upright to the vessel orientation.
Considerable change of water balance was observed when the water transport was prolonged by two incisions in the middle part of the sample.
Results of all these experiments revealed the possibility of water stress origin even in leaf tissue sufficiently supplied with water.

A new mathematical model, representing the transpiration process during ontogenesis and a circadian transpiration cycle, analysed in detail statistically, was designed using data obtained by the new modification of the gravimetric determination of the transpiration of intact plants. Regression analysis applied to the circadian cycle makes it possible to characterize basis parameters of the intensity and of the extent of this process and may serve as a starting point when studying transpiration methodologically in greater detail.

In the pea test a highly positive response to the treatment with IAA reversed to a negative one or became 5 to 6 times weaker when CCC was applied together with IAA. In cultivating pea seedlings, following their decapitation, for two days in a 0.25 per cent CCC solution and then in water, growth of their cotyledonous axillaries (cotylaries) were inhibited. This inhibitive action of CCC could be made ineffective when the seedlings, following two-days' cultivation in the CCC solution, were grown further in kinetin solutions (0.37-3 mg per 1). Cotylaries of decapitated pea seedlings, when grown in kinetin solutions were inhibited. With kinetin solutions of 6-12 mg/l a strong inhibition also occured in the growth of roots at the apical parts of which spherical swellings were developing.
The CCC supplied to the roots of intact etiolated pea seedlings is translocated acropetally into the stem at a rate of about 5 cm per hour. Decapitation of the plant causes retardation of this transport, yet a coat of 0.00001-1% IAA or kinetin paste produces acceleration of the stream.
Existence of an antagonism between CCC and IAA, demonstrated earlier, was found holding true also for B-9 (N, N-dimethyl-aminesuccinamic acid) and IAA, as the inhibitive action of B-9, 0.06% solution on the growth of lettuce hypocotyls was reduced to a highly significant degree when the plants were supplied with B-9 together with IAA at a concentration of 10 mg/l.

The authors studied the growth intensity, the accumulation and distribution of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium in maize and pea plants under conditions of hydroponic culture. They found that RGR dropped by about 50% within 32 days of cultivation. The content (in mg/g dry weight) of nitrogen and potassium in maize, and of nitrogen and phosphorus in peas registered a substantial decrease, while the content of phosphorus in maize and that of potassium in peas exhibited a slight increase and a slight decrease towards the end of the experiments. The relative absorption rates of nitrogen and phosphorus in maize were maximum after 28 days of cultivation, while that of potassium reached a maximum immediately at the beginning; nitrogen and potassium absorption in peas reached maximum values after 28 to 30 days, whereas phosphorus was highest at the beginning. In the course of growth, the ratio of accumulated ions of N:P:K changed; maize accumulated relatively less potassium, and peas more nitrogen and potassium.

A now mathematical model, representing the transpiration process during ontogenesis and a circadian transpiration cycle, analysed in detail statistically, was designed using data obtained by the new modification of the gravimetric determination of the transpiration of intact plants. Regression analysis applied to the circadian cycle makes it possible to characterize basis parameters of the intensity and of the extent of this process and may serve a s a starting point when studying transpiration methodologically in greater detail.

Beet yellows virus (BYV) was mechanically transmitted by sap from sugar-beet plants, infected with BYV, to the plants of Chenopodium quinoa Willd. and of Chenopodium foliosum (Moench) Asch. Mechanical transmission of BYV to the plants of Tetragonia expansa Murr. failed. Infectious material was homogenized in phosphate buffer with veronal and EDTA, pH 7-8. Experimental plants were darkened three days before infection and kept at a temperature of 5°C. Plants of C. quinoa Willd. were decapitated. Back transmissions from C. quinoa Willd. and C. foliosum (Moench) Asch. infected with BYV, to sugar-beet plants were carried out by the aveid Myzus persicae Sulz. These transmissions were positive. Filamentous particles of BYV, of an average length 1275 nm, were found in plants of C. quinoa Willd. and C. Foliosum (Moench) Asch., infected with BYV.

Changes in the nucleic acid (NA) content were studied in roots of young wheat plants cultivated under various nutritive conditions, namely in a nutrient solution, in distilled water and in a solution of sodium humate in distilled water. Changes in the ribosomal ribonucleic acid (RNA) in particular and their connection with growth rate were investigated. The amount of the NA fraction investigated (more than 90 per cent of which is represented by the ribosomal RNA) changed substantially under the cultivation conditions studied. In roots of one plant cultivated in water the content of the NA fraction investigated was at the most about 25 μg and it began to decrease as early as from the second day of cultivation. After 12 days of cultivation it decreased to 15 μg. When cultivated in Na-humate the roots contained at the most 33 μg NA, between the 5th-7th day, followed by an intensive decrease after 12 days, to 17 μg. The content of the fraction investigated in wheat plants cultivated in a nutrient solution was about double the value in comparison to these two cases with the maximal value about 60 μg between the 7th-9th day. After 12 days this amount decreased to 45 μg.
The ratio between the growth rate and the NA content presented positive values only when plants were cultivated in a nutrient solution and in Na-humate until the day when the NA content ceased to increase. In the case of Na-humate this took place on the 6th day and in the case of a nutrient solution on the 9th day. Under conditions favourable for growth (in a nutrient solution and in field conditions) the precultivation of wheat plants in Na-humate resulted in a more intensive growth of roots in comparison with the root growth of plants precultivated in distilled water. In plants precultivated in distilled water for 4 days the growth rate continuously increased under favourable nutrition conditions in contrast to plants transferred from distilled water as late as on the 6th day. Their growth stopped after the transplantation and was restored only after a 2 day lag phase. On the other hand, in plants precultivated in Na-humate the transfer to favourable nutritive conditions resulted in both cases in a short term cessation of growth.

Apical buds ofChenopodium rubrum from plants treated with CCC contain more endogenous auxins than buds from control plants, the level of these compounds increasing with the application of rising concentrations of the retardant. An especially marked increase was observed in the level of substance "X" which on chromatographic separation runs in the zone of tryptamine or its derivative. Since it has been shown in previous experiments that the inhibitory effect of CCC on flowering ofChenopodium rubrum may be reversed by indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) it is believed that the increase in auxins after application of CCC does not concern biologically active substances immediately available to the plant. It seems more likely that inactive precursors are involved which cannot be converted to the active substance in the presence of CCC, possibly due to blocking of the pertinent enzyme. If we assume that the wheat coleoptile used in the auxin bioassay in our experiments contains the pertinent enzyme it might convert the inactive precursors to active substances and, therefore, exhibit a growth stimulation even though the substances concerned would not necessarily be active in the buds from which they were extracted.

The pathophysiology of tomato plants infected with potato witches' broom was studied. Changes in dry weight, content and composition of ash and the amount of different phosphorus and nitrogen fractions were investigated. All analyses were carried out separately in leaves, stems and preliminarily also in flowers. Considerable disproportions found in the distribution of metabolites among the individual organs investigated correspond to a great extent to the morphological picture of the disease. The leaves of diseased plants are actually starving and their growth and development are greatly inhibited. On the other hand, the stems are overflowing with metabolites, in particular with nitrogenous ones. They are thickened and along their entire length rootlets and sprouts appear forming the characteristic brooms. The authors assume that the disturbances in flower formation in diseased plants are due to the lack of essential metabolites. Diseased plants contain an increased amount of alkaline metals and alkaline earths.

Influence on individual types (fractions) of nucleic acids (NA) was studied in roots of wheat plants grown in various cultivation media, namely in distilled water, in sodium humate and in a nutrient solution. NA's were prepared by means of the phenol technique. Using separation on a methylalbumine column (MAK) five fractions were obtained, namely: fraction I.- low molecular weight substances, fraction II.-soluble RNA, fraction III.-DNA-RNA, and the ribosomal RNA in two fractions, IV.-(l r-RNA) and V.-(h r-RNA). Of the NA fractions investigated, the r-RNA fraction was noticeably influenced by the kind of nutrition, its amount varying in a certain proportion to the growth intensity affected by the cultivation medium. The other NA fractions were not apparently affected.
The metabolical turnover of the individual NA types (as observed from the specific³²P activity) was considerably influenced by the kind of nutrition as well. The specific³²P activity in all NA fractions of wheat roots cultivated in a nutrient solution was approximately double that in roots of wheat plants cultivated in distilled water and Na-humate.
Changes in the specific³²P activity of r-RNA were again considerably evident. With regard to root growth their relative values appeared in an inverse proportion to the changes in the r-RNA content. The specific³²P activity decreased with increasing growth intensity.
Besides changes in the r-RNA fraction, changes in fraction I. were apparent. An especially striking decrease in the specific³²P activity was found in roots of plants grown in H₂O, namely by about one order in comparison with its specific activity in fraction I. from roots of plants grown in Na-humate and in a nutrient solution.

The following paper deals with the character of endogenous auxins and gibberellinlike substances in the maize tassel and ear primordia during differentiation. Using bioassay the character of substances extracted from tassel primordia, internodes below the tassel, ear primordia and stem base was determined and correlated with the course of morphogenesis and differentiation. A low level of auxins and a high content of gibberellin-like substances accompanies the differentiation of terminal tassel. The differentiation of an ear is associated with an increment in auxin content while the level of gibberellin-like substances decreases. The character of growth substances in primordia remains practically unchanged in the course of further differentiation. The inhibitions appear in the plant and probably start numerous morphological reductions in the pistillate inflorescence structure or inhibit the growth of lateral primordia on the stemetc. The treatment of plants with maleic hydrazide at the beginning of tassel differentiation shifts the normal levels of endogenous regulators and brings about the transformation of tassel primordia into an ear. This transformation is accompanied by a marked rise in gibberellin-like substances, by an increment in auxins and the appearance of inhibitors.

In experiments with double-hybrid maize grown in the field and in a greenhouse, we analysed the value of the suction force as related to the regime of irrigation.
The results showed that the level of water supply to the plants is in good connection with the value of the suction force and the coefficient H (the relative degree of water saturation of the cells) analysed at the same time.
In the case of the 2 hybrids under investigation the highest value of coefficient H was found to be between 35-48.
The data indicate that the use of these two indices should take part in a physiological method for the settlement and the application of water rules in irrigation.

Several methods of NA isolation and estimation were examined in order to determine RNA in the whole root systems of young wheat plants. It was found out that during the hydrolysis of roots with perchloric acid according toOgur andRosen (1950),Spirin (1958) andHeitefuss (1965) a considerable amount of orcine-positive compounds is released which cannot be adequate to the RNA content. Therefore the separate RNA determination in the presence of DNA was excluded even after the NA fractionation by hydrolysis at various temperature and perchloric acid concentration. Besides NA hydrolysates contained a high amount of other compounds absorbing in the UV-region. Compounds interfering with both these methods were present especially in the basal parts of roots.
Using the method ofKern (1960) a nucleoprotein fraction was isolated containing about 75 per cent of the total NA content in the tissue. This fraction consisted of more than 90 per cent RNA combined with proteins, namely the ribosomal RNA. After the hydrolysis it could be estimated spectrophotometrically for the hydrolysate did not contain other compounds absorbing in the UV-region. In the root tips the content of this fraction was high in comparison with the basal parts of roots and it changed with the kind of nutrition.

Using paper chromatography and conventional methods of isolation, natural growth inhibitors were isolated from green leaves of different plants (Brassica oleracea, Zea mays, Pisum sativum andSalix rubra). All isolated inhibitors were found to be phenolic compounds and the chemical structure of most of them was determined; only the final structure of theBrassica inhibitor has not yet been ascertained. 500 mg of natural inhibitor ofPisum sativum was isolated from 1500 g of leaves and was identified as quercetin-glucosil-p-coumarate (QGC), described earlier byFuruya, Galston andStowe (1961). The structure of the natural inhibitor ofZea mays (4 mg from 100 g of leaves) was identical with p-coumaric acid and the chemical nature of the plant growth inhibitor fromSalix rubra (700 mg from 1,5 kg of leaves and young bark) was that of 2-chalconaringenin-glucoside or isosalipurposide, described earlier byCharaux andRabaté (1931) andHarborne (1966). All isolated substances had inhibiting properties in the straight growth test of wheat coleoptile sections and decreased the growth of isolated stem sections prepared from plants-donors of inhibitors. Thus, maximum growth inhibition (LG max) was attained, if wheat coleoptile sections were incubated with:Brassica inhibitor in the concentration of 0.5 mg/ml, withPisum inhibitor (QGC) in the concentration of 16 mg/ml, withZea inhibitor (p-coumaric acid)-0.35 mg/ml and with Salix inhibitor (isosalipurposide) in the concentration of 0.5 mg/ml. In small concentrations no mentioned substances were able to enhance the growth as actively as indolic auxins (on 250-300%); only slight growth activation in biotests was sometimes observed for low concentrations. Inhibition in p-coumaric acid was much more active in a free form than in the bound form as an acyl-rest of QGC. As a rule, the wheat coleoptile test was much more sensitive (3-5 times) to the plant growth inhibitors, than tests prepared from tissue and organs of plants-donors. The retardation activity of plant growth inhibitors is not correlated with their molecular weight. Dormin (or±abscissin II) was also tested on wheat coleoptile sections. In neither of the applied concentrations (10-0.05 μg/l range) was dormin able to depress straight growth of wheat coleoptile sections, but even in a 1.7 μg/l concentration it inhibited the IAA-activated growth of sections. However, additional experiments showed that dormin in higher concentrations (40 μg/l and more was able even to depress endogenous straight growth of wheat coleoptise sections. The differences between the properties of natural phenolic growth inhibitors and dormin were discussed.

In estimating the water-holding power and thus also their drought resistance, the portion of curvature as shown by the desiccation curves (transpiration, loss curves) appears most suitable in which the water-binding forces within a plant body feature a steep and characteristic rise. Since this portion of the curving stage coincides, in the majority of cases, also with the linear stage for the desiccation curves as described byCetl, this author's method of establishing drought resistance of plants (Cetl, 1953, 1957) may be applied to good advantage also to the woody species seedlings. For particularly urgent instances serving the purpose of orientation a modification of this method has been suggested, as follows: following cutting off the seedling the output of water is weighed at these intervals only: 0, 60, 120, and 240 minutes; as the criterion for drought sistance the resulting value for the rate of water output (v) is taken as measured between the interval of 60 and 120 minutes. When a detailed analysis is made it is advisable to consider the v value measured for the interval between 0 and 60 minutes and for that between 120 and 240 minutes. Moreover, it is likewise advisable to maintain the soil with experimental seedlings at the level of optimum moisture (60 to 80 per cent maximum capillary water capacity), for some 18 to 22 hours prior to the seedling's abscission.

Experimental investigations on the course of yellows-type virus infections in plantsTrifolium repens L. gave the following results:
During 24 and 48 hours after the completion of the test feeding period the clover phyllody and clover dwarf viruses spread in the plant maximally up to 5 cm. from the point of inoculation.
In the infected plants, the reproduced clover phyllody and clover dwarf viruses appeared on the average 5-6 days earlier than disease symptoms.
Acquisition feeding of leafhoppers onT. repens plants infected with the clover dwarf virus for different periods of time, revealed a decline in the virus concentration in the plants after 45 days from the appearance of disease symptoms. In plants infected with the parastolbur virus, this decline was not found.

Transpiration rates of leaf blades of irrigated and not irrigated spring wheat plants were studied in relation to the water content and growth changes in the test plants during their development. The applied irrigation stimulated the growth and slightly delayed the development of the test plants. It increased chiefly the water content and to a lesser degree the dry solid weight in the plant body. The quantitative and qualitative properties of the water content in the plant affected not only transpiration rates, but also the development of new and the dying off of old organs and tissues, especially of leaf blades. Transpiration rates in irrigated plants were markedly higher than in not irrigated plants. Mean transpiration rates of different leaf blades varied and were typical for each leaf blade. From the static aspect it was possible to express and even to explain some of the relationships and the heterogenity of the leaf blades on the same stem by the "Law of Zalensky". This involved mainly the mean values of growth characteristics and the investigated features of the water regime. On the other hand, from the dynamic viewpoint it was possible to divide the different leaf blades according to their transpiration changes into two groups. The first group includes the blades of the first to third leaf, the second group the blades of the fourth to sixth leaf and the ear. The capacity to control the water regime in the different blades is greatest at the stage of tillering, shooting and milk ripeness. During these developmental stages the marked decrease in transpiration, caused in the first place by a number of internal and not only external factors, was explained.

Identification trials were carried out to determine what virus causes a mosaic disease of sweet peas in Czechoslovakia. The found properties of the identified sweet pea mosaic virus, the character of its transmission and its host range prove that sweet peas in Czechoslovakia are attacked by common pea mosaic virus (CPMV). Some insignificant differences in properties between our virus isolate and CPMV were observed in the course of the determination of properties of our virus isolate on various host plants. The possible existence of more strains of CPMV is discussed. The transmission of sweet pea mosaic to the plants ofPhaseolus vulgaris L. was negative. For this reason bean yellow mosaic virus (BYMV) was eliminated as a possible pathogen of our virus isolate. At the same time the indicator plantsChenopodium giganteum Don. andChenopodium guinoa Willd. with eight developed leaves were established to be most suitable for the determination of the properties of the isolate by the half-leaf test. The transmission of the virus isolate by seeds was not proved.

A study was made of the effect of different constant soil moisture (90, 60 and 30 or 40% maximum capillary capacity) on the net assimilation rate (N.A.R.) in maize in relation to changes in relative transpiration (R.T.), water saturation deficit of the leaves (W.S.D.) and osmotic pressure of the cell sap (O.P.). The soil moisture was maintained constant either from the planting of the germinating grain, or from the phase of 4-6 leaves. An attempt was made to interpret the mechanism of action of water deficit on photosynthesis and at a rough differentiation between the indirect effect through changes in internal diffusive resistance to carbon dioxide and the direct effect on the hydration of the photosynthetizing tissue. In plants exposed to different constant soil moisture levels from the phase of 4-6 leaves, the initial difference in N.A.R. corresponding to the degree of lowering of soil moisture gradually evened out during the vegetation season. On applying different constant soil moisture levels from the time of planting no marked differences in N.A.R. were found between plants cultivated at high values of soil moisture (60% and 90%). In plants cultivated from planting at 40% soil moisture, the course of changes in N.A.R. was qualitatively different from that of the above two variants and corresponded more or less to changes characteristic for the process of adaptation to unfavourable conditions. From the analogous course of N.A.R. and R.T. it can be assumed that in all cases the intensity of photosynthesis was very markedly influenced by changes in diffusive resistance to carbon dioxide. On the basis of an analysis of changes in O.P. of the cell sap and W.S.D. of the leaf tissue, the assumption was made that in plants cultivated from planting at 40% and to some extent at 60% soil moisture, irreversible adaptation changes occurred in the structural conditions of photosynthesis as a result of continuous dehydration. In plants cultivated at similar soil moisture levels from the phase of 4-6 leaves, the changes in the intensity of photosynthesis were more likely caused by actual dehydration of the photosynthetizing tissue.

The chlorophyll mutation rate on a large number of plants after the dose rates 0.004-16.800 R/day during the whole vegetation cycle was examined. The mutation frequency increases as early as after the dose rate 4 mR/day. The dose rate of approximately 8 mR/day is necessary to double the mutation frequency.

In studying the character of the relationship between the porphyrin metabolites containing iron and magnesium the catalytic activity of Fe-porphyrins and the possibility of their participation in chlorophyll formation in leaves and roots of plants was considered.
The results obtained elucidate the changes in the pigment content of leaves in the course of iron utilization by the plant (i.e. of the activity of iron-containing enzymes, synthesis of protohematin). The main trend of changes was observed in the following cases: (1) during utilization of various compounds affecting the individual components of the oxidation-reduction systems and the pigment content of the plant; (2) during changes of metabolism due to altered conditions of mineral nutrition: (3) in comparing the metabolism of variegated plants.
It is assumed that in all the cases the process of chlorophyll formation is directly associated with the processes of iron utilization by the plant both in the leaves and in the roots.
Data concerning the synthesis of protohematin in the isolated roots of some plants, on the activity of Fe-porphyrin enzymes therein and on the formation of chlorophylls during illumination of roots are presented. The question of the significance of synthesis of Fe- and Mg-containing porphyrins in roots for the metabolism of the whole plant is discussed.
The possible relationship between the processes of energy conservation or utilization by the cell and the equilibrium between the processes of pigment synthesis and catabolism in plastids are taken up.

The induced meiotic abnormalities as a result of sprayingVicia faba plants with aqueous saturated solutions of podophyllin and 8-hydroxyquinoline were studied. The 2 drugs induced the same types of abnormalities including lagging chromosomes, stickiness, and bridges. The main difference between the 2 agents was the induction of polyploid P.M.Cs. by 8-hydroxyquinoline.

A method suitable for serial determinations in genetic experiments is described. Colorimetric determination of HCN (by 1-phenyl-3-methyl-5-pyra-zolone and pyridine, phenolphthalin or sodium picrate) facilitates processing of samples releasing 0.2 μg to 20 μg of HCN. Before hydrolysis of the glycoside the oil content in the seeds can be determined. Variance analysis of the cyanogenic properties of the particular seeds of two sorts of flax with an average HCN content of 0.4 and 0.9 μg shows that the differences between plants and between capsulae of the same plant can be determined.